House not selling - what can we do to make it work better for us?

[TinyHousemouse]

I am donning my hard hat a bit because I’m posting a Rightmove link but hoping that by doing so we can get some inspiration and help.

We have lived in our terraced cottage for 12 years and have loved it. We love the setting, we love our neighbours to bits, we are close to friends and work - all great. It’s a really special community where everyone looks out for each other and gets together in summer and at Christmas. We have done various improvements over the years, garden, new roof, new windows, loft conversion being the main ones. When we bought it, we thought we wouldn’t have any children and would be here forever. We now have one 3 year old DD (who loves it here, loves all the outdoor space and is often in and out of neighbour’s houses 😂) we can’t have any more children so it will stay the three of us plus two (in the next year likely one as our boy is old 😢) Labradors.

Made the painful decision to put the house on the market for the following reasons:

• all open plan downstairs, so no separate living area
• No spare room for elderly parents to stay
• Can’t walk to school when DD goes next year
• No rear access without going through other people’s gardens, and no hallway so coming in with bikes/wet dogs/wet child is a PITA
• More storage would be great

We have had a steady stream of viewings but no offers. Nearly every single one has said bedrooms too small, bar one who said kitchen too small. I know that suggests price is wrong. We went with what agents recommended and it seemed reasonable based on what a smaller cottage in our row went for in 2023, and prices in the area in general. It also reflects what we would need to be able to move to something bigger. I would rather stay put and find a way to make a house we have loved so much work better for us, than drop the price by loads just to sell it and end up regretting it forever because we couldn’t get something much bigger round here anyway and the grass isn’t greener.

I do not want to do an extension to the rear under permitted development. We were dicked over by cowboys in the past and it took forever to sort, plus the extortionate cost of it for the negligible amount of extra space doesn’t seem worth it.

What else could we do?! Our minds just don’t work this way and we could be missing some clever things that would help.

That's the most beautiful terrace, I don't think you should move, that community you've got is really hard to find. We live in a much smaller 2 bed terrace with 2 kids and we just adapt, there's always ways to make it work. I found looking at the actual tiny house designs are really helpful for ideas, if it works in a boat or caravan it can work in a house. Think of how often your parents or other guests stay, it's unlikely to be frequently enough for them to need their own bedroom is it? How far away is your nearest school? We're a 30 minute walk and that's fine for us, but I couldn't do much more as it's 2 hours out of my day to drop and collect twice. Is driving or getting a bus an option or is this a sticking point where you'll have to move?

Unfortunately the aforementioned cowboy is the same guy who did the neighbour’s….we both suffered!

Thank you @ConflictofInterest ❤️ the school we like most is split over three sites unless you live in the village where the year 5 and 6 site is - which is where we would look to move to, as you can be on the one site all the way through. If we stayed, the closest site is 1.8 miles (reception) middle just over 2 miles and year 5 and 6 site is approx 3 miles. There are no pavements so you couldn’t walk it with a young child. There are no afterschool clubs at the other sites either, only at the main one.

I would have to drive, which is what others here did and say it was a bit of an arse parking but otherwise manageable.

Could you bike to school?
and as pp have suggested, bike shed in front garden?

Goodness, it’s absolutely gorgeous OP. It’s where I would imagine I’d like to live if I lived in the UK. Especially with a quaint little pub opposite, and a lovely community.

How much of wanting to move is to do with your parents and them staying at your house? I live abroad, and we have a similar, small-ish terrace with far steeper stairs. We often have family come and stay. My ILs have trouble sleeping on the sofa bed and with the staircase. We calculated that it was cheaper to help them with a hotel than move from a house we love in a nice area.

Is that a possibility? How often do they come to stay with you?

Sorry just saw you have covered these!!

Whatever you do, do not leave that perfect cottage!

Are there other neighbours with kids in the same school as the one you are looking at? Could you car share?

The house is a little top heavy so an extension would be ideal. I quite like the idea of otherwise just moving the internal wall between the kitchen and living room to create two more equally sized rooms.

Is adding a porch a possibility?

If you otherwise love the house and location I would look into ways of making the house work for you. If it’s just getting DD to the primary school that’s a pain then it’s worth considering that you would only be doing that journey for 7 years - if the house is otherwise your forever home then that’s not such a long time (even though it sounds like it! You could be in that house for decades!). I get that the access to the garden can’t be changed - but I wouldn’t look to move to have better guest accommodation - I’m sure your parents wouldn’t expect you to move just for them to have a more comfortable stay? Worst case scenario for long stays could they do a night or two in a hotel? Or they stay in your room and you have a couple of nights on the sofa/ air bed(I know it’s not ideal but maybe easier than moving!)
I have relatives who live in your part of the world and know how expensive the properties are there and how there is always a compromise be it size, price or location - and they aren’t in half as a nice a spot as you are!

take it as a positive that a lot of us on here love your house and want you to stay!

Parents don’t come that often to be honest and I could see in-laws coming even less over the next few years as they’re a 3+ hour drive away. My brother and sister in law would be the ones who’d love to come more, they don’t have kids but do have two big dogs so downstairs becomes insane with four dogs and their beds 🤦🏼‍♀️ but there are good points here re how often that actually is in the grand scheme of things.

My neighbour and I have been talking about porches for about 10 years 😆 the front of these cottages have been the same since they were built in 1900, we recreated a photo recently with us all stood outside so while it’s not a conservation area I know some of the other cottages would be disappointed to change it.

I have no imagination for this sort of thing @TinyHousemouse ... But what a sweet house. Just lovely.

I really am! I was nervous to post and after receiving another set of “no”s from the agent today was feeling so down in the dumps. I feel a lot more positive now ❤️

It's a lovely house! TBH - as someone who can't be arsed with a major renovation - I would plump for an all-singing-all-dancing insulated and electrified posh shed in the garden, which could be an office and accommodate occasional guests. Go full tilt David Cameron and get a shepherd's hut, it,'ll still be pennies compared to an extension.

The other thing is just live with less 'stuff'.
Have a ruthless clear out.

I agree! A de-luxe garden building with en-suite can be so many things. Perfect for guests, parties, an office, teenage hang-out etc. and of course in later years - storage for all your crap. Plus it's so much cheaper than an extension. I would also do something with the kitchen but not sure what.
I would forget moving for a few years. See how the school run, play dates, clubs etc work out driving-wise. Re-visit later and especially when teens need taxiing all over the place.

I would just put a sofa bed in the smallest bedroom. Even if it takes up all the room when in use, it’s only for your parents to sleep in. They don’t need additional space do they?

DD in second bedroom.

I think it’s lovely. I wouldn’t move.

The same drawbacks for you will likely occur to 75% of your viewers. But the property looks perfect on its Area360 stats. You may very well get your price if you're happy to wait. Alternatively you could just drop the price to, say, £600K and try to get the 25% to bite more quickly.

If you’ve got access across others gardens to your garden just use the access. My house has a weird set up with access where we have to go in bits of others land and we just go over their land. It’s no issue
it’s a lovely house. I would divide the living room.

Could you build a posh garden room that could be a work space, with shower and toilet in it and a sofa bed.

About to drag DH over to the pub to go through this thread. DD asleep and being watched by neighbour which another thing I’d miss, bonus grandparents everywhere ❤️

I've had a nose at some of your neighbours' extensions. I'd definitely consider that as it would transform your indoor space. Ask your neighbours about who did their extensions so you can avoid the cowboy.

Your cottage is lovely! I wouldn't move as you are not going to expand your family and you won't be able to find such a wonderful community again.

I like the ideas of moving the downstairs wall to make the kitchen larger and the garden room to use as a guest bedroom/office/additional play area when DD is older.

We’ve had a great chat about it all, DH says thank you for all the ideas 😂 he’s a big fan of the garden room idea much to my surprise, he wants to make it so there’s a door out of it onto the firepit area we’ve got at the bottom of the garden.

We are leaning towards staying on the market until the contract expires in a couple of weeks, then take it off and explore all the things said on this thread. It is nice to feel optimistic again, thank you all so much.

You have a beautiful home in such a pretty location there OP and the community around you sound like gold dust. You would be giving up such a lot to move from there - perhaps things that you don't even really value fully until you lose them.

I'm Team Garden Room. Your house is so lovely and light and I've seen many places where extending out makes the centre of the house very dark and spoils the flow of the house.

How much do you really need/use that dresser in the dining room. Could you put your desk there? As people don't stay too frequently you could Then you could use the box room as a guest room (I know it's small but it's not often and not for months on end I assume). A sofa bed in there for infrequent guests and the rest of the time a play room for your DD giving her more space in addition to her bedroom.

This is priceless: do NOT move. You can’t replicate that, or that view.

Are you currently in the loft bedroom? Can you make that the spare instead and have your desk in there too, then you’re in the biggest bedroom on the same floor as DD, and DD in the box room? Kids really don’t need much space for a while and you can always rejig bedrooms later.

Agree with suggestions about decluttering ruthlessly, splitting the kitchen/living area and adding a garden room.