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?

Not to scale clearly but you get the gist 😂

So I think my options are

1- single storey extension on the back. Keep the kitchen where it is and the extension can be a bigger lounge den/more relaxed kids space. Keep lounge at front as sitting room adults space. Put a WC in the utility by putting window where fake garage door is and make better use of that space

2 - take down wall between lounge and utility - it is structural as only one on the ground floor and it's block work. or form big opening anyway. Move kitchen into utility space and lounge becomes dining. Current kitchen and dining becomes lounge.
But would still need an extension to get a WC in. Also probably means no utility which I do think I need. But I think this is a lot of work and disruption

I would say love it.

House prices, mortgage rates are gonna keep going up.

If you can make the house more tenable, even for another 5-10 years that would be better.

Don't think short term, what you need now might not be what you need when the kids are pre teens.

It's hard to tell from your plan, as not to scale , but could you move the front door over to the "storage bit" and create a hallway through the utility, and then have a utility and downstairs wc coming off that?

@princesssparklepants

Unfortunately not - the porch is basically an enclosed glazed box would be a pig to reconfigure the front too much

What is it specifically that you want and don't currently have?

I.e do you regularly use the dining space for entertaining or is it more for family dinners? My brother had a huge dining space in similar lay out that was underused. He rejigged the kitchen with a big peninsula that doubles as dining and used the other end with a sofa and TV. But that wouldn't suit everyone.

Is it lack of toy storage?

Think deciding what you need to gain other than a downstairs loo is key.

You could combine that with the oversize utility

Can the storage area be converted into some sort of boot room?

Then section off part of the utility into a downstairs wc (doesn’t need to be big, 1m x 2m will do it) and a workspace/utility. I reckon you could get a fold down desk attached to a wall, and use that space when you’re not working for laundry sorting/drying. Build in under sink units in the wc and you can store potties and steps there.

I think that would be the cheapest and easiest option. It might cost £10k - £15k rather than say £100k for extensions. You won’t gain extra square feet but the house will work better for your needs.

If it’s your forever home then spend the money- but if you think you might move in a few years’ time it may make more sense to spend less.

I once saw a tv show with Sarah Beeny where the family managed to make a hallway through the converted garage and used the rest of the space for storage/utility. It crossed my mind to try this but we decided to move instead.