Home buying - what would you do?

[HomeBuyingDilemma]

We’ve recently decided to move homes but have come across a bit of a dilemma.

Two homes:

A) a new build. 4 bedroom detached with separate garage. Large downstairs, 3 doubles and 1 single. Obviously no work to do. Asking price £359k.

B) home approx 30 years old. 4 bedroom detached with integrated garage. Humongous downstairs, humongous garden. 3 double bedrooms, 1 (small) single. Lots of work needed including new kitchen and bathroom. Asking price £280k.

B is in a slightly better area than A but the work is a lot.

2 adults with 1 DC (but plan to have one or two more in the coming years).

Which would you pick?

B & do the work gradually if possible

I'd go with A actually but I can't stand the idea of living in a house while tons of work is being done on it. Just sounds like a nightmare. Especially when you have children and are planning on having more.

B
Live in it for a while before you do any work. Get a feel of what you want. Don't rush into it or it will become overwhelming

A

30 years old is a "new" house in terms of build quality but old in terms of insulation, windows, wiring, central heating. Likely to have 30 years of accumulated bad DIY and decor as well. Bigger rooms = higher running costs. Does it have the same number of bathrooms?

Sounds like a large unmanageable garden which is no fun to manage with work and small children to balance.

I don't like integrated garages so that would decide it for me anyway.

We have a new estate going up beside us. It is same school catchment as the "better" area. So far the new homes are selling because of builder incentives etc and the older ones have reduced in value and are becoming difficult to sell. It depends on the area whether new houses have a premium to lose.

30 years is not very old so I wouldn't assume build quality will be better. My house is newer than my parent's 30 year old house and better quality too.

Every time there’s a thread about new versus older, people say that new builds are crap. No. Some new builds are crap, some are great. Just as some older houses are badly built, damp, cold, under insulated, short on parking etc etc.

It depends every time on the quality of the build and the better developers are out there. Generally, small local builders are good, but there are some quality higher end, higher volume ones. I hate these generalisations.

B

B because of the integrated garage. I wouldn't want to have to go outside every time I wanted to get something out of the garage.

B for the garden alone

I’d need to know which house builder it was before I decided. Some eg Taylor Wimpey and Barratt are known for being pretty awful.

B
Houses are no longer built to last

Definitely B

Having spent a night in an Airbnb that was a new build I don’t believe for one moment there isn’t work to be done.

I could have created a huge snagging list of things that needed doing to the new build

A- my personal experience is this and we went for the new build. However my husband was unwell and with young children, a house needing lots of work doing to it would have been unmanageable. It depends on what else you have on and coping abilities!

B, as pp said it will probably be a better build and being in a slightly better area, plus a huge garden, why wouldn't you?

B. I’d go for the better area.

B, you’ll add value

Buying A you will regret because you’ll never feel properly happy

B. It looks a good investment.
A sounds very pedestrian.

B would be my instinct. However, I'd fully inspect the 30 year old house, get a full survey and investigate whether there are any other problems in the estate.

We currently live in a new build (5 years old) and are looking to move. Several of the houses we've considered are 30 years old. The standard of building quality was often worse then than the regulations now, which we've seen when viewing places.

Don't rule out B because of it, but bear in mind that even though you'll have snagging etc, a new build will come with lots of warranties!

B definitely. That's £80,000 difference! You could get a builder in to do all your work for that much while you rent for 3 months.

B all day long. Why pay so much more for a house in a less good area, smaller plot, simply because the work is done. Getting a new kitchen and bathroom isn't difficult, pop to wicks, they will do it for you. And anything else is cosmetic, painting a few walls and shoving down some rugs doesn't cost much.

You mention outstanding secondary schools but if you’re planning on having more kids you need to also consider the primary schools.

I would probably go with B for the extra space and nicer area.

Beware of people saying that older houses are better quality than new builds. a 30 year old house is hardly old. They are just as flimsy and poorly made in my experience.

B

Definitely B, often allsorts of issues with new builds