Love it or list it MN edition

[loveitorlistit22]

Struggling with what to do really given the current housing market - rang up about a property yesterday- 55 enquiries and full day of viewings booked in within hours of the listing going on Rightmove. Expecting minimum offers 10% above asking price.

To be the honest the whole process scares me a bit! We have 3 kids - 4 year old and 1 year old twins.

Our current house

Pros - 3 decent bedrooms
Location close to school
Close to lots of shops
Close to DH work
Only need 1 car
Massive 100ft garden

Cons - very small lounge with stairs off it so no hallway - downstairs' basically open plan which in practice with 3 kids running round just makes the space feel like one massive tip 😩
Integral garage which is storage/utility so house feels top heavy
No downstairs loo! So one bathroom and honestly the thought of toilet training the twins with 1 upstairs loo makes me feel faint 😂

So do we bite the bullet and just sell - I know it will sell quick but it could take us literally months to find somewhere ourselves?
Or do we love it - take equity out and commit to building work and the hassle that comes with that with finding a good builder?

Is the school a good school? Because if it is then that, coupled with massive garden for your three small’uns, near to other amenities and needing only one car, then I’d definitely be staying put and extending/reconfiguring. I’m also assuming you like the area generally?

Love it definitely! So many positives and space in the garden to extend the downstairs.

can you put a second downstairs loo in the garage? if the plumbing is nearby, that is a LOT cheaper than moving.

can you plan to extend into the garden to get more downstairs space?

There are so many positives in your list, I'd stay and do an extension. Yes it's a hassle, but if you move then it's likely you will want to do some work on the new property to get it how you'd like it, and that will be just as difficult to live with.

Can you convert the garage to provide a downstairs loo? Reconfigure the downstairs layout using the garage and living room? Also spend some money on good storage and declutter so it doesn't feel like a tip. Even a couple of kallax units and let the kids get out one or two boxes of toys a day and get them in the habit of putting away again when they're finished. Having said that you do have three kids, so you might spend all that money and stress moving and find it's still a tip because where the kids go, the mess follows!

I don't think id move. Your current house sounds fine to me. I live in a small 3 bed terrace with toddler twins and an older one and it's fine. A big garden is worth its weight in gold and i don't think the stress of moving is worth it if the house you are in now is adequate. Maybe add a garden building to give yourself more space?

Love it ... take time to design what you need, find a builder by recommendation and then wait until they can fit your work in.

Love it! Sounds ideal for an extension project

I'd definitely look at extending, particularly if you've got a massive garden. It's horrible having building work done, but you get exactly what you want when it's finished, whereas with any new house there are always compromises and a big garden and proximity to schools is not to be sneezed at.

Thanks all!

So yes in theory could convert the garage (properly) and put a WC in there - it's already plastered and has utility in there and electrics and plumbing. We'd have to put a window in where the (fake) garage door is. It's long and thin - only really good for a 1970s Morris minor as wouldnt fit a modern car in there

@MandyMotherOfBrian yes the schools are all outstanding and DD is in a feeder primary for an outstanding secondary (we planned long term!)

It's semi detached and next door rented and they don't really look after the place - the last tenants were really noisy but the current ones are quiet and I guess with the twins we are the noisy ones! But we'd need probably another £200k to go for detached

I work full time and whilst lived out of one room when we first bought the house that was pre kids couldn't do that now!

I'm almost just thinking sticking a conservatory on as a minimum rather than full extension as at least can just get one company in to do it and a garden office (I WFH a lot) which can double as a weekend den for the kids? then just make nicer what we've already got like the downstairs wc as I don't think that will be disruptive as it's just contained in one small area?

I guess it's different types of disruption

If you go for a proper extension you can choose an option that will make the space work for you for years to come.

If you go for a half hearted approach with a conservatory and garden office, it might be better than what you have now. But you'll end up regretting spending the money for an option that's a temporary sticking plaster, rather than fixing the problems you have.

If you move then you'll be faced with months of disruption, the stress of searching for a property, potential for chains to collapse etc, and then if you make it to exchange and completion the work will start all over again making the new property into what you want.

My advice, do the extension and make your current home the very best it can be.

@Whinge

Yes that's my fear too! That the conservatory is an easier option but a sticking plaster.

My gut feel though is that this will never be our forever home - when we aren't paying out £2k a month in childcare fees - which is more than our current mortgage - we can afford to move somewhere bigger and with a hallway! 😂 and hopefully by then this current housing market nonsense will be a thing of the past - so would it be a waste of money to do the conservatory now to see us through 3 years or so and at least make the house more sellable?

I agree with @Whinge if you're going to stay and make the best of it, don't go for a half-arsed job. No one has conservatories any more and for good reason - they're freezing in the winter, boiling in the summer and they're really hard to keep clean. The number of Love it or List its I've seen where a family have made a conservatory into a playroom ... and the kids hate it because it's either too hot or too cold and instead of being a garden room it's just piled high with plastic toys. Do a proper garage conversion. There are many examples if you do a quick search through the episodes of LioLi.

I would do a garage conversion op- one house we looked at split it into 2 small rooms- a utility room with a loo and clothes lines etc and a small storage room for 'stuff' - I would also add a garden office (a good one) and properly insulated with electrics etc- can be used as an office/teen den /stay over for friends etc (if well done) - the positives you have really aren't to be sniffed at . Also look at the storeage you have in kitchen/lounge - if it's not enough put some built in cupboards or shelves in garage conversion

Rather than a conservatory id go for a garden room to use as a playroom and office. I've had one installed a couple of months ago. Insulated log cabin with a heater/aircon included and high speed wifi - total cost around £15k.

I wouldn't buy a house with a conservatory. They make your house too hot in summer and too cold in winter.

I think a simple garage conversion plus garden office will totally maximise your value OP and make it very sellable

I guess at least if I found a decent builder I can get him to do all the other "bits" that would make life easier like boarding out the loft properly etc

I have a 4 year old and 1 year old twins too. I can’t imagine anything more daunting than trying to move us all! All that tidying for viewings and massive declutter scares me. Assume also that your eldest starts school in September?

We did some renovations prior to the twins arriving- we moved our kitchen into one of the reception rooms and turned the old, small kitchen into a big utility and wc. It’s perfectly set up for a young family now. We will probably need to move eventually but this will do for a few more years at least.

We had French doors knocked through an external wall and that was seriously messy and dusty. I took DD to my mum’s on the days that the building work was done, but most of it was contained so the trades could shut the doors and get on with it. If your eldest is at school, that’s just your twins to keep away from the works.

Putting the wc in the garage sounds like a plan- just check where your existing soil pipe is. A good kitchen/bathroom fitter with some carpentry skills or trades should be able to advise.

@TheMagicDeckchair

Yes September in reception!

Maybe I'm too hung up on having a hallway 😂 as no matter the building work we'd never fit one in - we'd have to move the stairs totally.

We remortgaged and took loans out to pay for IVF for the twins so in my head I always just thought we'd move once we got 30 hours childcare and problem solved but now the housing market has gone silly and prices rising quicker than we keep up with seems a bit unreachable. Plus the bloody stress of it all

Going to have a dig around for builders I think - I did keep a list of contractors I see working on neighbouring houses/streets

I think I'll try and get a quote for

1. Adding full width extension on the back
2. Maybe fit Wc in the extension
3. Convert the garage "properly" with a window to make a proper utility and laundry room because god knows I have enough washing and maybe I'd fit a study in there for WFH - study at the end where the window would be and utility at the front nearest kitchen

My gut feel though is that this will never be our forever home

This was us. It was a genuinely great house in lots of ways but we never felt it was the best out there for us.

We did do work to maximize our enjoyment (and did love it for a bit longer) but ultimately had one eye out the door, moved on and it's the best thing we did.

We had friends saying "why not just extend?" Just! Given the cost and difficulty with getting a builder I don't think Loving is necessarily the simpler option anymore.

I think you should ask yourself - what would it take for us to Love the house again? If the answer is still "it will never be the One" then I would make the simpler short-term changes but plan for a move.

I definitely think you should start off by properly converting the garage - if it doesn’t fit a modern car there is no point in having it!! What size is it? - could it do downstairs loo with washing machine & tumble stacked plus a snug/kids play area? Yes, board the loft - storage is invaluable! If you could do loft, garage plus an extension eventually would it be your forever home?

Yes I would think about this in a different way OP- what can we do with(set a budget - say £35k ) to maximise value, make it more saleable and make it more comfortable whilst we are here-- also don't spend so much that you out it out the range of similar homes in the area. Your suggestions above are sensible- although a full width brick built extension would be quite pricey

Hey sister! 😂
Having been through a similar dilemma we are opting to love it with some major renovation work. We just couldn’t find anything in the next bracket up that we liked anywhere near as much as our current home and then the very few houses we looked at that were contenders were just way too expensive (and DH wasn’t even totally sold on them).

We love the area, neighbours, and the vibe of the house plus it had some hard to get benefits such as south west facing garden and big rooms…it is however falling apart, needs pretty much everything replaced and we are short of bathrooms and utility.

We are going to end up spending more on the renovation than the ceiling value of houses on our street but given we have decided never to move, I’m at ease with that decision (although it took me a while to get there!)

good luck with your decision!

Have you got a floor plan? doing more with the internal garage seems a no brained. It would probably add more than it costs as it's not particularly material heavy compared to building out.

With the need for extra living space, is a separate utility the best use of it? Appreciate you'll do a lot of washing but we took ours out (though it was too small and more like a janitors cupboard!) And instead built the washing machine into a run of built in cupboards (great for hiding all the toys) freeing up enough space for a little corner sofa and a desk. Tumble dryer has gone into the shed which is fine as I usually peg out and walk past it if just for finishing. Set washer on a timer as we are on economy 10 anyway.

Getting rid of the wash basket has been amazing. I now just put stuff away. I don't iron. If it needs ironing it gets hung anyway until it's needed (by which time creases have come out usually!). Who really wants to stand in a small utility room. Nicer to fold onto a sofa with telly on.

It sounds like you will move eventually but now is a terrible time with market and so many toddlers so look at the easiest ways to get though another couple of years

I'll try and mock up a floor plan and post it!

I do think the utility is oversized - it's basically the size of a single garage (for a 1970s car - they appear to have made cars waaaay smaller back then 😂)

It's probably bigger than most peoples galley kitchens though that I've seen from stalking Rightmove today