Dream House vs. Dream Location

[hooliodancer]

I'm just interested in what other people have gone for to help me decide!

We are relocating 200 miles away for a new life. We were meant to go 6 months ago, but the people we were buying from pulled out on the day of exchange, which was only 2 days before completion. The house we were buying was in the dream location, but not a dream house. It had a breathtaking garden and amazing sea views though.

Dream house is what I always imagined as my ideal house. 17th century, huge farmhouse kitchen, aga, massive sitting room with log burner. It overlooks a river, so fabulous views. It is in a hamlet of 4 other houses. It is pretty remote, but only a 5 minute drive from the dream location and a 30 minute walk along the river to the nearest town. The house is just achingly beautiful! It needs a new bathroom and carpets.

Dream Location is the place we fell in love with that prompted the move. The house is on the edge of a thriving village, but set up a long drive so feels rural. It is a 5 minute walk to pubs, restaurants, beach, shops. You can walk for miles along the coast. It is an Edwardian house, but messed around with in the 80's so needs a new kitchen, bathroom, carpets, complete redecoration. The house is ok to look at, but not a stunner! It is 50k cheaper than the dream house though.

Of course this could all be academic as we may not get either...

[Rightmovestalker]

Will it be a stunner once you've spent the £50k?

[whiskyowl]

You will get a range of responses on here.

Personally, I'd choose location because being a part of a community is important for me. I would be miserable in an isolated place where shops etc. were miles away, even if the house itself were perfect. It's important to me that I can walk to local restaurants and the pub and have a lovely evening, and then walk back. I don't know how old you are, but I also think it makes life easier as you get older if you are near to services etc.

Also, I think you could do a lot of the work you need to do for £50k, which might well change your view of the Edwardian place.

[woodchuckchuck]

Always location.

We live in a pretty ugly house but the location is absolutely fabulous. We love our house (very nice inside but certainly not a dream house) because of the amazing location.

[mrsBeverleyGoldberg]

Location for me too. We moved to this house as it was the only one out of three for sale in the catchment area of the schools we wanted.

[grasspigeons]

think about the worst weather possible
which house will you be better off inside.

[hooliodancer]

50k will make a big difference to the inside. But the outside won't ever be stunning. But I suppose, as someone said to me, you can't see the outside once you are inside!

Yes, the getting older thing has crossed my mind. I don't think I would want to be so isolated in 20 years time.

[bilbodog]

Can you post links to the two houses so we can give you proper advice (dying to see these houses - not nosey at all) 😃

[Longhairmightcare]

We bought the ‘dream’ house over location, it was fabulous. But ended up selling and moving to the dream location 4 years later and accepting a smaller house. We came to realise that the compromises we made in location couldn’t be fixed and we did in fact want to be able to walk to cafes/shops/the park, be in a quiet leafy street etc more than we wanted spare bedrooms, high spec everything that the dream house provided.
We’re in the smaller house now but I never want to leave this area, but we can (and will) add the extra rooms, upgrade specifications in due time.

I imagine our idea of dream houses and locations are different to each other, but if I could go back in time and give myself advice, I’d tell myself to choose the area over the house.

Good luck with the move and I hope there’s no more spanner’s in the world for you.

[ElspethFlashman]

In your case, location.

Especially as that Dream House sounds like it may be a stealth money pit. 17th century = potential problems. Aga = expensive to run.

[Longhairmightcare]

spanners in the works* not world.
You’ll probably be needing the odd spanner when you’re upgrading the house in your dream location

[Auntpetunia2015]

Location location location

[SoupDragon]

What makes the dream location your dream location?

I watched Phil and Kirsty last night on “love it or lost it” and they also said you can't see the outside once you are inside!. There are always things you can do to change a house (George Clarke’s Ugly House programme is proof of that) but you can’t change the location.

[another20]

You can always give a house a facelift - not even that expensive - have a look at the before and after photos here:

www.backtofrontexteriordesign.com/projects/finished-projects/

Always location you can't change that but you can change everything about the building on the plot to the extent of knocking it down and starting again.....

[goldangel]

Location every time, we learnt the hard way but it was pre dc so we managed to start again, thankfully the market was on our side so financially we came out ok.

[hooliodancer]

I have to make this decision in the next 4 hours!!!!!

My head is telling me location. It is the sensible choice. The garden and kitchen are both dreadful at the moment, but we can do something about that.

My heart keeps screaming 'house' though. Aaaarrggghhh.

[Kismett]

Location. I know it’s difficult to leave behind a house that you’ve fallen in love with. But if you lived there for a bit, you might fall out of love with it anyway, because of the location. You don’t want to be isolated in this beautiful house. You could grow to resent it.

We were looking in a very small area, handful of streets. One house was very charming but had several issues, so we went for the other one. I didn’t love this house in the same way. The whole process was so stressful but that moment when everything was signed and it was ours, I loved it a little more. We’ve been in it a few months and I love it a little more each day. And although the other house was only ten minutes further from the shops, I’m already so glad for our proximity. The smallest amount can still make a difference to your lifestyle.

[JoJoSM2]

What decision did you make? Personally, I’d prefer being able to walk places and having to get in the car for every little thing sounds a nightmare. Also, getting a project will allow you to make the layout and decor be just perfect for you.

[Hithere1981]

Dream location. No hesitation.

£600k 2 bed flat i am in. Could move out and have a five bedroom beauty, but be bored and no network of friends.

[Hithere1981]

think about the worst weather possible
which house will you be better off inside.

[Hithere1981]

Location isn’t just the sensible decision.

It’s the decision for the best quality of life IMP

[grasspigeons]

17th century farmhouse with a log burner, sounded cold, draughty and expensive to run to me - and half hour walk along a river sounded irritating if it snowed and I needed to get to the shop.

In my defence it was sleeting and my house was freezing.

[thecatsthecats]

Location. I am sure you'll be able to make something wonderful of the house once you're in it.

Looking forward another 5 years or so, I can't see myself affording everything on our wishlist, and I've found that it's the location that stands out to me as important. I can drop an extra bedroom in my mind, or a look of house, but I can't change the money I have and the kind of place I want to be.

[MammaAgata]

Location all the time I think. Before we bought the house we are in now we viewed many, most of them were my dream houses. Period cottages, completely renovated, beautiful kitchens etc. However, looking back and not at all wistfully I realise now they were all in pretty rubbish locations in either a bad road with very limited parking, or a busy road with again, limited parking and in one case, my actual dream dream dream house, no parking at all apart from in a layby across a busy A road. All of those points I didn't really take into account at the time because I was so swayed with the houses themselves. We ended up buying a bit of a wreck in a fab location. It is a 1450's period cottage that had nothing really done to it for years, the outside had been painted in white gloss which had blown and had green mold growing over it as the building couldn't breath. The windows were shot, the roof had a few holes in it, the garden was like a jungle and generally it was very very unloved. A eyesore really. We have completely renovated it and now its as beautiful as those other houses I nearly bought, in fact, probably much much better. We have 1/2 acre garden and parking in our own driveway for 4-5 cars and a double garage. When i come home from shopping in the dark with many shopping bags, the dog in the boot of the car etc, I shudder to think I could of been parking in a layby across the road and trying to get across a busy A road in rush hour. Don't know what i was thinking! Watch Love it or List it, there are so many things you can do yourself to make your own home beautiful. Even (in the case of this weeks show) a 70's square box can be transformed!

[hooliodancer]

We went for location! Offer now accepted.

I don't feel excited though. I wonder if it's because we have had 4 fall through and I don't want to get my hopes up.

I know we can make this house beautiful though as it has just so much potential. In the summer I can be on the beach in 10 minutes. Which was the whole point of this big move- a lifestyle change.

[Kismett]

Congrats! So excited for you! It's okay to be cautious; I didn't realize how reserved I was until the moment we finally stepped in the door.