Sudden panic we are buying the wrong house.

[flownthecoopkiwi]

Originally wanted to buy in the village where our daughter goes to school but the house we wanted fell through. Then fell in love with another house, but in a village 6 minutes drive away, but there's a bus for when she goes to big school.

This is house 1 www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/41402395#Cjb5zIViYopjp0zG.97

But just seen this come up, walkable distance to her school.

House 2 www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56983375.html

This is supposed to be a long term move for us. We wanted size and feeling like we were moving upwards from our small semi ex council house.

ARGH. Thoughts?

[blueistheonlycolourwefeel]

I think number 1 has more potential to make your own but I think £100k is a big price difference!!

[Billingsgatedoxy]

The second one is very over-looked. Lots of other houses facing onto the garden from all angles would definitely put me off.

[blueistheonlycolourwefeel]

And I think having a detached house is a better move than moving to a semi but how much do you want to be in that village?
I drive my son 7 miles to school every day.

[DancingDinosaur]

I like house 1.

[blueistheonlycolourwefeel]

Much bigger bedrooms in number 1 too!!

[PurpleDaisies]

We had this-just as we were about to complete I got mega cold feet and started hoping the sale would fall through so we could buy somewhere I thought would be better.

We have been in for five and a half weeks and love it here. I think it was just stress at the whole moving thing. Apparently it's pretty common to feel like that.

[Needmoresleep]

Having to drive your child to school every day, no matter how far, is a huge commitment. And access to local friends makes it much easier to develop a good friendship group at school, and later on the independence of going to school on you own.

[Titsywoo]

House 1 is lovely. House 2 is horrid. 6 mins away is nothing and it's good for kids to get the bus to school.

[justaweeone]

House one -
How far down the line are you i.e. Survey, rest of chain etc. What is the chain like on other house
lots of potential but more expensive however maybe more chance to add value
Detached
How important is it to live in the village with the school, how long until secondary, other children to consider etc

House two-
Cheaper, already done but probably not able to add more value
Very overlooked which I would hate
Semi
Walk to school

It's a tricky one! Which house makes your heart sing? But on the flip side which is going to be a better long term move?

[hmcAsWas]

House 1. Why go semi when you can go detached.

[wooooofudge]

House 1 is nicer, bigger rooms. Detached, lovely big and private garden.

[tiredvommachine]

House 1! It's lovely apart from some carpets

[Finola1step]

The second one is very over looked. I would query why house 2 are moving. There is rather a tall fence separating the two houses out the front. IME, big fences in front gardens suggest neighbours dislike each other (a massive generalisation, I know).

A tall fence dividing neighbours out front in what should be a family friendly neighbourhood, would always put me off.

[allthegoodnameshavebeentaken]

House 1 is way nicer.

[RaptorInaPorkPieHat]

House 2 is very nicely finished but looking on street view, House 1 seems to be in a nicer area.

I vote house 1

[Oogle]

House 1 is so much nicer, it's bigger, detached...definitely the better house.

House 2 is really overlooked and I don't get such a nice vibe from the photos (Daft I know! but it just seems a bit...meh.)

[flownthecoopkiwi]

Thanks for your feedback. We are completing in next couple of weeks on house 1.

[therealpippi]

House 1

[JaneAustinAllegro]

if you have the money to go for the more expensive one that could do with a bit of work, then house 1 has masses more potential and that garden is way nicer. YOu can stick a lovely kitchen like house 2's in it.
I suspect you could also extend over the garages one day if needed?

[viques]

House 1 much more attractive and lovely garden space. Only other drawback I can see is that is has oil fired ch. Oil prices only seem to go one way so I would be worried about future costs.

House 2 has an extra bathroom but that is its only redeeming feature, it is extremely ugly.

[YelloDraw]

House 1 is bigger and has a nicer upstairs layout (4x doubles) and a much nicer garden/outlook.

House 2 has a better downstairs layout for me, and an extra bathroom and is nicer inside.

#onthefence

House 1 would be much better with a slight re-jigging of walls to have a big kitchen diner and a smaller sitting room IMO.

[YelloDraw]

Based on those asking prices you are valuing House 1 at 17% more on a £/sq ft basis than House 2.

[Allthebestnamesareused]

I'd definitely go for house one and spend your time doing it up to how you want it than house 2. Pretty much for all the same reasons as above

[Allthebestnamesareused]

Just realised you are local to me. I'm in Cambridge.

[SquinkiesRule]

House 1 seems much nicer. Not overlooked as much and detached.