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.

If you want to work out ways to stay:

• easy to section off living room so that you get two seperate areas, one to make into sofa and tv area, the other to make into play area for your DD you can close off. I would do this by putting in big double doors across the section that looks like it’s been knocked through rather than reinstating a proper wall This way, if you want to remove it when DD gets older then you can do easily, and also the double doors can be left open to keep an eye on her / make house feel bigger at times when you don’t want it shut off
• While I don’t agree DD needs a bigger room as she gets older (many kids grow up in single rooms), could you alter the room she is in by moving the wall as per the picture I’ve attached, or do you need to walk down that space to access the stairs going up? I couldn’t work out on the floor plan which stairs were going up and which were going down.
• If you can’t move the small bedroom’s wall then that room would fit a double Murphy bed, there wouldn’t be a lot of space around if but if it’s just for occasional grandparent stays then it would be fine. When not being used by guests the bed folds up against the wall and room can be used as a study
• you need to face your demons and do the rear PD extension to get a bigger kitchen! It will change the whole feeling of your house and mean you can also get a proper dining table in there
• rear access issue: it is what it is

You have so much scope to do so so much more with this house to make it perfect - not needing to move. You have room to extend , alter rooms/ adjust their proportions and / or add ‘space’ in the garden. A garden office / building could be lovely.

When your parents visit, is there a local hotel or Air bnb? Will cost a lot less than an extension. I’d build a garden room-will be fantastic when your dc gets older and will be cheaper than an extension. How would you access the rear for an extension anyway? The pp idea of enlarging the kitchen and creating a stud wall to have a smaller but separate living room is a great one. And a bike shed at the front?

If you want to move: could you look at getting permitted development permission and get some floor plans drawn up of what is possible for the kitchen rear extension? I can understand why buyers are being put off by the kitchen. Maybe having it spelt out to them and being able to see plans and know it’s all ready to go ahead would pursuade them it’s a solvable problem.

Bedroom size is what it is, if buyers are saying they are too small it’s probably because the house is overpriced.

FWIW my neighbour has just dropped her house price by £200k after it being on the market for 9 months. I don’t think the crazy covid bidding wars are happening anymore, it’s a tough market to sell in. Hers is now on the market for less than ours was when we bought 4 years ago. It may be better to try and stay, unless you have significant savings to help you upgrade to a bigger house

Just out of interest-people suggesting a sofa bed for elderly parents. I’m now in my sixties and really don’t want to sleep on a sofa bed and have nowhere to put my things. When visiting my mil or other relatives, we always stay in a hotel or pub with rooms, use it to sleep and spend the rest of the time at the house. Your parents/in-laws might prefer to do that.

To be honest I'd stay.

To me it's incredibly expensive for the size but I don't know the area. You don't need a spare room for elderly relatives. Walking to school is rarely guaranteed. The bikes really wouldn't bother me.

I don’t think you should move

extending the kitchen looks doable.

most people I know don’t have space for grandparents to stay. Including us. This can be a good thing.

admittedly if you have an additional child and as they get bigger you might outgrow it. But for now I think you’re ok.

I do understand this. A Murphy bed does feel v different from a sofa bed though, it’s an actual bed with a proper mattress and support that folds down from the wall. We put one in for my parents and they like staying on it (hated the previous sofa bed). You are right though that there wouldn’t be much space for belongings aside from under the bed. You can buy the Murphy beds with tall thin storage units each side of them, so guests have mini wardrobes. However I’m not sure this would fit in the room. A pub/hotel/airbnb would be more comfy. As would separate cabin in the garden, although I think this is a bit like marmite - some grandparents would love it (space, privacy) and some (like my partners parents) hate the idea!

On one of the many property shows I watched they put in a sliding dividing wall to split the downstairs space so it could be open plan or separate rooms depending on need. You could put a sofa bed downstairs for somewhere for parents to sleep then.

Is a garden room a consideration or too hard to build as no outside access?

First time buyers probably cannot afford £650k. That's the key issue.
If you are serious about selling you need to massively declutter so it looks more spacious, put half your stuff into storage. And reduce the price very significantly.

I think it is and isn’t the price. I live near(ish) Reigate and I think the market still prices things quite high as say in order to move up you would need that price. Everything has kind of stagnated a bit - people are leaving (our primary has just gone down to 2 from 3 form entry because there isn’t the need - partly cos people aren’t moving) and starter houses are really expensive so the FTB is looking to get far more than they actually are. And those who bought at the height of it in 2022/2023 don’t want to sell either. The only ones who do who are still keeping it up come in from London!

all of that to say it isn’t the right time to move full stop in this area becuase of all of that and reducing the price wouldn’t help

They don't want to move. They want ideas how to make it work for them.

So glad to hear you’ll probably stay. The community and support around you is worth so much, you’ll really miss it if you move.
If it were my house I’d make the second bedroom bigger like a pp suggested by incorporating the landing part of the bedroom.
I’d put some kind of divide between dining and sitting areas.
Also I’d put in a fabulous garden building, it’s use will change over the years to whatever suits your family.

If it still feels too small you could extend the kitchen, but I’d find a very reputable builder first!

Good luck!

It already has a bedroom and en-suite in it. :-s

This sounds priceless and even more so as you have both been so unlucky with your health. 😪 I would stay for now and make it work.

This country is batshit. Who cares about the view? You're actually trying to double the value of your house in 10 years? No wonder it isnt selling

You have a three bedroom house for three people, I wouldn’t even say it is particularly small tbh. And it’s very lovely.

On the rare occasion you get visitors who can’t stay in a hotel/ short let they stay in dds room and dd comes in with you or on a small camp bed in the smaller bedroom. DD’s room has a double or a single with a pullout that converts to a double. My mum stays in one of the dc’s rooms when she stays and they go in a blow up bed in the spare room.

I’m unclear what the issue is with downstairs. I’d watch a few episodes of sort your life out to get ideas for toy storage or make the box room a playroom/ office if that is the issue. Or do something interesting with the dining area as you only use it when you’re eating. So it could be play/ dining area.

I don’t actually know many people who live easy walking distance to a primary school. Just under a 2 mile drive sounds like what we’ve been doing for around ten years - it is what it is.

I think it’s really lovely. Similar to a lot of terraced houses near where I live (northern town) but except for the price! Here, everyone uses their back doors. Front doors are often blocked by the sofa! It’s totally normal to walk down the alley and across the back of the other houses through small gates. Is that not the done thing there?

Hello!

Some thoughts from me:

Don't move to provide space for visitors unless you are a massive social butterfly who is hosting people every other weekend or have in laws visiting from Oz for 3 months at a time! Parents can stay in a hotel or airb&b (which you can pay for and will be infinitely cheaper than moving!) Others like siblings/mates can have your room for a few nights and you on a blow up bed etc.

Very high spec garden room/office with a loo would work brilliantly- can be a teenage snug later

School run for primary will be a bit of a pain but if you stay where you are your DD will be able to walk, cycle or bus to secondary school independently as you are just on the edge of Reigate. Don’t move to a village which means you will be trapped into driving DD from years 7-13!!

Knowing the area well I think your house is over -priced - lovely but over priced unfortunately.

It’s a really lovely house and the community pub and friendships are Invaluable.

Things change so quickly with the needs of a family that it is easy to put too much store .

Firstly forget a bedroom for the elderly parents - older people stop wanting to travel and sleep in other people’s houses very quickly . Find a guest house locally with downstairs rooms and comfortable beds and develop a little routine including pub meals out when they come.

There are enough bedrooms for you as it is.
DD should have the bigger room very soon so she can use it to play and keep her toys in .

I would make the house work well for the three of you plus the dogs, entertain in the summer mainly
You need a garden store - I would get a keter box as a temporary measure and put a porch on the front for every day coats, wellies and Brompton bike.

There is wasted space between your kitchen and dining table . I would turn that half wall into an island with storage underneath. The kitchen should be bigger and a kitchen diner.
You could have folding doors between kitchen diner and living room but I wouldn’t bother.

Personally the rear extension is a no brainer. The extensions either side have made that terrace outside the kitchen a concrete space .

You’ll still have a great garden.
If you do choose to sell , I would see how you can make the terrace by the house prettier with climbing plants on trellises and pot plants .

Walking to school is not that attractive in the winter . If you drive it’s not an issue .

Another here who om thinks it's lovely and I wouldn't drop the price either to try and make a move work.

The market will NOT be able to account for the lovely neighbours and good community either. I wouldn't move for that reason alone.

If you lived in New York or Hong Kong or Paris you would feel blessed to have this "crazy" amount of space. It's not too small to live in I think reframing in your head is indeed easier than moving.

Good luck either way.

I know a garden room might be a nice idea but think about how this would work as your relatives get older - staying over at Christmas and having to go into their garden room to bed at night when they're getting less stable on their feet. I agree with PPs that neighbours all doing the kitchen extensions makes it a no brainer for you to do the same so your houses all match. I know you're no longer planning to sell but potential buyers will have been adding the cost of doing that extension to the cost of buying your house.

I would definitely make the kitchen bigger by going out into the garden, not by eating into the living room. That will also create more space for visiting dogs!

Don't let one dodgy builder put you off. Get local recommendations and make sure payment is in stages. It wouldn't be a huge job.

I know the field isn't official rear access, but is there REALLY no rear access? For example, in the park near me, although there is no official access to the back gardens of the houses that back onto the park, a couple of them have a gate.

You don't really have a fence to the rear of your garden. Could you get into the back garden if your fence wasn't there? Couldn't that be an unofficial rear access if you brought a proper gate and fence further into the rear of your garden and took the boundary planking off?

Why not just apply for planning permission to extend at the rear and then sell it with the permission?