Looking for Advice – Stay, Renovate or Move? Feeling Stuck!

[sunnylife2]

Hi everyone,

Hoping to get some honest advice on our current situation as we’re feeling really stuck and unsure of our next move.

We’re both 35 and bought our 2-bedroom semi-detached “upside down” house in mid 2022, located on a lovely, quiet estate that we still really love. At the time, we knew we were buying at the peak (post-COVID) and probably overpaid, which we’re now kicking ourselves for.

I do want to say upfront that I feel a little uncomfortable even writing this post. We’re incredibly grateful to have a roof over our heads after renting for many years, and we know we’re in a much more fortunate position than many. Since buying, we’ve both worked really hard in our jobs, and we’ve each received pay rises since 2022 — something we’re proud of. But we’re still trying to be very careful and sensible with our finances and this next decision.

Since moving in, our circumstances have changed – I now work from home full time and use the second small bedroom as my office. That means we effectively don’t have a spare bedroom anymore, and with a dog, cat and hopes to start a family in the near future, the space is starting to feel too limited.

The house does have potential – there’s a garage underneath that could be converted into more living space. It would involve adding an internal staircase (currently we only have steps up to the front door), and quotes are coming in around £50k. However, we’re concerned that this sort of conversion might not add the same value to the house in 5–10 years’ time, especially given the layout and limited garden. It feels like a risk — and we really don’t want my husband to waste his recent £60k inheritance from a family member on a project that might not pay off.

The garden itself is on a hill, has several steps, and no side access – not ideal with a dog, and could be dangerous if we’re lucky enough to have a child. I’m currently undergoing fertility treatment, so there’s a lot of uncertainty and emotional weight around our future plans, which is making the decision even harder.

We’ve had the house on the market for about 4 weeks now, listed at £15k under what we paid to be realistic, but interest has been minimal. We’ve also looked into new builds with part exchange schemes – appealing for the ease, but we’re nervous about making another financial misstep.

To add to the pressure, we’ve heard our next-door neighbours (in a smaller 3-bed version of our house) are about to put theirs on the market too, which could further impact our chances of selling.

So right now, we’re torn between:

1. Staying and investing in the garage conversion to make the house work longer term (but with concerns over value return).
2. Waiting it out on the market, hoping the right buyer eventually comes along.
3. Part exchanging for a new build – much simpler and quicker, but possibly a financial step back.

Would really appreciate any advice or perspective – especially from anyone who’s been in a similar situation. What would you do in our shoes?

Thanks so much for reading.

Are you brave enough to post a link?

Either way, it sounds like you need to move. I'm intrigued by your house, but it doesn't sound suitable for a growing family with pets. Can't you put your higher salaries and inheritance towards a bigger property and offset potential loss on selling your current one?

Thanks so much for your response, I really appreciate it!

I’m hesitant to post a link only because we haven’t told family a few things (fertility) and worried someone will recognise our house! Hope you can understand.
To give more info, our home is over 1000 sq ft so fairly large for a 2 bedroom. It’s accessed from steps up to the house outside but we have a garage underneath with the same footprint of our current liveable space downstairs which could be converted. It is very quirky/higgaldy piggaldy!
I think you are right, we need to move ideally but it’s frustrating the market is so slow 😞

Buying in the peak was horrendous. We did it too and also badly overpaid. I’m in a similar dilemma and worry about making another costly misstep. we’re somewhere between option 1 and 2.

we’re only doing renovations that will make it more appealing to sell AND improve our lives while we live here. That rules out any extensions but not like things that increase storage. We’re not listing because there are 4 houses on our street for sale right now, and we don’t want to compete with that so we’ll wait til market conditions look better.

is the house too small for you now or you’re worried it will be too small for you when you have children? Do you want to buy a new build?

Thanks so much for your reply and so sorry you are in the same boat. I feel that we hit everything at the wrong time. Our rental was expiring so we thought we were doing the right thing in buying in 2022, but turns out we were hugely stung by the market.

We are finding a detached new build tempting. There is a new development about 20 mins from us in a nice area and although I’ve never thought of ourselves as ‘new build’ people, everything being done and no renovations required is tempting in the current climate/stage of life we are in. We have enquired and are waiting to see if they’d offer us a part exchange option which would also make things so much easier.

Our current home is feeling a bit of a squeeze, especially as I work fully from home too. If we have a baby, it will definitely be hard work. It’s essentially a maisonette as the living area is all on one floor and we have steps up to the front door and garden which I know will be a bit of a nightmare.
We have a builder coming over to quote for the garage conversion this week but I think it’ll be in the region of 50k. I like the idea of not increasing our mortgage but don’t think it’ll add the value to the house in 5-10 years time if we want to move.

At a complete crossroads with it all!

It really depends on the extension. We bought our home three years ago. Since then, we demolished a conservatory, built a proper room in its place (now it's our living room), and added another room upstairs with a bathroom. We spent over £120,000 on the extension, but now our house is worth £200,000 more. We recently had a valuation done, as my husband was concerned that the money we spent might not reflect in the property’s value.

We were lucky to have the space to extend, and it added a real living area without compromising the original foundation.

I don’t think £60,000 is a lot to spend to make your home more livable. You’d already be losing money by selling it for less. Plus, when you factor in stamp duty, moving costs, and the stress of relocating, it makes more sense to stay put. If you extend, your home's value will likely increase over time, and with your rising salary, you'll be in a better position to reassess your needs later.

If you rush into moving now, I believe you’ll lose far more than £60,000 in the long run.

Also, I don’t want to scare you, but I just wanted to mention something. The idea that 'if we buy a new build, we won’t have to spend money' isn’t really accurate. A few of my friends who bought new builds said things kept falling apart — they’re built quickly and cheaply, so the quality isn’t always great.
I only bring this up because I thought the same when we were looking, but now I’m really glad we didn’t go that route.

(I couldn't edit my previous post for some reason)

Thank you so much for your reply. You make some really good points.
I think 60k just sounds such a huge amount of money in my mind as we’ve never had that kind of money before. You are right though, I suppose it would add value to the house in the long run and I keep questioning whether it’s the right time to move in the current economy.
We are in South Devon, are you in the South East/close to London? That is amazing your home has increased so much in value with the extension and additions you’ve made!

You need Kirsty and Phil…

https://www.channel4.com/4viewers/take-part/kirstie-and-phils-love-it-or-list-it

I wouldn’t put any money into a house you are already struggling to sell.

Your neighbours might give more interest to yours. I’d speak to your estate agent, do they think it’s overpriced or is the market just slow.

I would really focus on selling.

Garden is a big negative point for potential buyers. Dont invest anymore in this property, as you will eventually grow out and garden will keep annoying you. If you are selling it at a loss, then you are also potentially buying at a discounted price so that factor is gone and in falling market it makes sense to buy a bigger property. I would say, if you can, then buy a larger house, keep 60K as buffer for emergencies and dont buy new build as normally they come with smaller plot size, smaller room sizes etc. If you find a property that interests you then dont hestitate to reduce price further ( look at holistic picture rather than just comparing price you paid vs sale).

Perhaps ask your estate agent what they'd value your house at with the garage conversion done. This might give you an idea of how the increase in value compares to the cost to do the work

I'd go for option 3 and move forward. It's only a mis-step if you're not planning on living there a while. If you can afford the repayments and like the house then you've solved the problem and beyond that, what the market does or doesn't do is beyond anyone's control or foresight. I wouldn't try to make the current house work given the drawbacks. The quote actually sounds cheap to me for that amount of work, with the staircase, but it's not going to solve the other issues with the house and if you do have a DC, then a downstairs bedroom in an upside down house has its own drawbacks. See the current home for what it's been, a brilliant start home for you as a couple. Course the fertility treatment is also an unknown but even with the pets, it sounds like you've outgrown this home so trying to hang onto it in case other places don't measure up is just fear talking and you can't really plan your life that way. Your tangible issue is trying to sell this house so if it's not going to happen - and the neighbour going on sale definitely won't help - then investigate the third option to see if it suits you or not.

It sounds like your house is already a bit niche and if you convert the underneath garage into a study say, that will make it even more niche.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to spend a huge amount of money on your existing house. I would be tempted to do a part exchange deal if you are keen on the newbuild houses and if they offer you a good deal.

If they can't offer you a good deal, I would still be trying to sell the current house because I can see that you would benefit from having an extra bedroom and a more accessible garden. You may not get that close to what you paid for it, but equally, the next house you buy should also be cheaper than it would have been to buy during the Covid peak. House prices are a bit stagnant in most areas at the moment but that could benefit anyone trading up.

Best of Luck with your fertility treatment.

Firstly! Really hope your treatment goes well!
As starting a family is definitely on your plans, you also need to start considering school catchment areas. If you live in the catchment area for good schools, maybe you will be living in this house for the next 10 years and thus renovation makes sense. Otherwise, you would have to move anyway, so there’s no point spending all this money. Unless you are considering private schools, and then location doesn’t really matter.
I bought my flat last year and it was a 2 bedroom and small office flat and I will spend a significant amount of money to re-design the entire floor plan and create a proper 3-bedroom flat. Even though I don’t think I will recover all this money, it’s worth for me as I can’t really afford a bigger place and I know I will be living here until my DC finish secondary school (so 10+ years)

What kind of conversion would you achieve for your 50k? Is it effectively a full extra storey of the house so adding something like 50% of fully functional space to the size or is it a staircase and a bit of insulation in a single garage? 50% more area is a large addition to a house and at that price its what I would expect.

PP is right - get an agent to value it with and without the conversion done but also get feedback from your buyers. South/Mid Devon is a popular area are prices have mostly held well. Is your upside down layout designed to optimise spectacular views or is it just a bit odd and deterring buyers?

Garden size is a funny one - I hate small gardens others love them. You will win or lose buyers with either variant.

Considering your situation with TTC, if the agent said the conversion costs would be recouped or mostly recouped I’d do the work and stay put for a while. You don’t need a large house for a. baby and keeping your day to day expenses and stresses under control whilst undergoing treatment or taking maternity leave can be a good thing. You can still move in a few years time if you choose.

We do! Just not sure I want to go on TV 😆

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment — lots of really useful points here.

To clarify the scope of the conversion: the £50k would give us around 40% more liveable space. It’s not just insulation and a staircase — we’d be adding a proper living room, a utility room, and a third bedroom with an en-suite, so it’s a significant functional addition. We’d also widen the driveway to fit a second car, which will really help day to day.

We’re definitely planning to get an agent’s opinion both on the current value and potential post-conversion value, as you and PP suggest. However, I’m concerned the estate agent will play any renovations down as to try and keep the sale. And yes, South/Mid Devon seems to be holding up fairly well, which is encouraging but it seems 2 bedrooms are not selling.

As for the upside-down layout — the previous owners extended the kitchen to give a large kitchen diner so it’s on the ‘first floor’. It’s built into a hillside, so the way it’s constructed is essentially built into the hill
The garden is a good size plot (approx 30 metres x 8 metres) but as it’s on a hill it’s 3 levels (a sunny patio, 2 lawned areas and a barked area with shade at the back - somewhere we have considered putting a summerhouse if we stay). The frustration is the garden has no side access since the kitchen/diner extension and it’s accessed up approx 10 steps from the kitchen door.
It’s a tricky one to explain!

Really appreciate your perspective on balancing TTC with financial and emotional stress too. That’s exactly what we’re weighing up — whether it’s better to create the space we need here and give ourselves a bit of breathing room, or cut our losses and move now.
Your advice and experience is hugely appreciated 😊

UPDATE: just for reference, my husband drew out our current existing floorplan (left) and proposed floor plan if we do the work (right) to explain the house a bit better! We purchased the house for £295k so trying to weigh up if we spent 50k would we make our money back….

Agree with this.

If you think the extra space and layout would be functional, and you are in a nice location with good schools, I would do the work. The cost of moving will be high with stamp duty etc and it seems like you could make the space work for a family if you convert the garage. We did some work to our property and it’s allowed us to stay here longer term and saved us a bomb in moving costs/extra mortgage etc.

Yes I tend to agree. If its a good area and you like the local facilities/schools its worth seriously considering the upgrade and saving the cost of moving. Its not an accident that so many of Kirsty and Phil’s people stay put once the house is sorted.

@sunnylife2 40% more space is a lot and your then three bed house will move up a bracket in house categories. There is often a ceiling for a road based on numbers of bedrooms as the market for a three bed house is much greater than a two bed. Does your architect/builder have 3d visualisation available to help you get it exactly as you need?

Try differing agents for the valuation, maybe also ask a surveyor. Even if the full 50k isn’t quite recouped you also have the intangible value of not needing to move for a good few years by which time the market will have moved on anyway and you will have a clearer idea of your long term futures.

A 30m garden isn’t a bad size at all - could you terrace it if it slopes a lot?

One other point - new builds are not necessarily trouble free. Look at the thread here seeking names of builders to avoid and problems experienced in new houses.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5314483-developers-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

There is a huge amount of building going on in south/mid Devon at the moment. Look at the site plans closely - quite a lot have tiny gardens, parking for only one car (to “encourage” people to use the barely existent public transport) and insufficient supporting infrastructure. Look at the plans closely.

One other thought - if your extension enables you to stay put for 5+ years you will be past the point of competing with new build special offers just down the road and those houses will be at peak depreciation point.

Thank you so much. The other pro to staying put and renovating is, although it’ll cost us 50k our mortgage payments won’t increase as we won’t be borrowing more. If we move to a new build/older home we are looking at approx a £550-600 increase in mortgage payments per month (and all the moving costs)….

I would move (eventually). It sounds like the extension would be downstairs and so you could end up with a bottom heavy house, which was still only two bedrooms and be left with issues such as the steep garden that can’t be resolved.
However do you have to move or extend now? Honestly, I would do nothing whilst you are going through fertility treatments and don’t need the space at the moment, you have enough on and neither moving or extending is stress free. Take one step at a time and good luck!

Thank you, you’re right, it’s a lot with the fertility treatment too! But our thinking is it would be easier to be either settled in a new home or convert the house before a baby (hopefully) arrives x