House A is affordable, can move in straightaway, nice village neighbourhood, good schools, large manicured garden. 5 beds but one is tiny. We could extend a bit to make the kitchen and said bedroom bigger.
It's a house that is at its peak, so to speak. Nothing we could do to add value. It's a nice house. I like it. We could be happy there although we would probably grow out of it in 7-10 years as our 4 children reach teens.
House B costs £120k more.
It's 1/2 a mile away from House A and is more rural but on a road that cars zoom down. It's a farmhouse that has had some work done on it but the owners have run out of cash and so haven't finished it off.
It is 800 sq feet bigger, 5 beds too although one bed and one reception room is on the side of the house that hasn't been attended to for 40 years (!), is a bit tatty in general, sits on an acre plot, huge rough garden and we'd be totally strapped for a cash for at least three years to even buy it.
We could just afford it but then couldn't afford professional work done on it, no holidays, tight budget, no new car etc for this minimum time of 3+ years and after that it would be one or the other e.g. holiday or rebuild the dreadfully shabby side of the house, demolish the derelict garage for a new one, get new fences done.
But I think House B has fantastic potential. I don't know if we'd make ££££s on it but it could be the most amazing family home for us over the next few even ten years. We could do the work on planning and developing the garden ourselves.
We wouldn't need to move again but it would be a good few years of hard (and I mean hard!) budgeting.
Is it worth it?
Our children will only be children once (eldest is 8, current youngest is 10 months, would like another baby) and would they notice i). smaller house but holidays abroad more often or ii). serious budgeting and therefore not having great holidays but having a fantastic garden to roam in etc.
I don't know what to do. I really really like both houses for their qualities. Our current house isn't sold yet so in a way, I'm hoping that someone else will come along and buy one to make the decision for us!
What would you do? Or do you have any advice to give, please?
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Property/DIY
Which house do we go for?
WinkyWinkola · 04/05/2013 13:37
I personally would choose A.
For me, reasons are:
- village location, can walk everywhere, when your children are older, they could walk to school with friends and back, won't need as much ferrying around.
- we don't have the time to do up a house like B. DH works long hours and he would rather spend his weekends with the DC than doing DIY the whole time.
- there doesn't seem anything wrong with A except small Bed 5. It might be more saleable if good location, when you outgrow it. You don't know what condition B would be in if you ever decided to sell, or need to sell.
- we like having enough money to go on holiday.
Thanks, ChippyMinton
Just wanted to add that it's usually choice between a do-it-up house and extra cash for holidays, and a done-up house and no spare cash. Nice to be in a position to buy a house you like which doesn't need work doing and still have the holiday money!
Also, you can add value to A if you do the kitchen and bedroom extension that you mentioned, but it wouldn't be urgent either.
Good luck!
A for me definitely.
You already know that house B would be a financial stretch, what if your circumstances change in the future? Mortgage rate rises a bit? Even just a little bit could cause you problems if you were already on a tight budget.
House A sounds great to me, I wish I could afford a 5 bed 
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This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Did a 'b' a few years ago. Spent a fortune, house looked amazing. House prices crashed and 18 months later had to relocate because of work. Sold the house in 10 days for only £15k more than we'd bought it for. We'd spent £40k doing it up 
Moved to an 'a' house which was recently valued at £70k + more than we paid. All we've done is paint the walls.
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