Which house to buy- head or heart? House or location?

[rabbitparsley]

DH and I are really struggling to pick between 2 houses. We really want to get it right as wanting a long term house to raise our 2 children in, would ideally not want to move again until they leave home. We are have a second viewing on both booked in for this week which will hopefully help settle it but just not sure. Feel like house A is the sensible option but house B is the one where I got a feeling that it just felt like home. House B is also quite a bit cheaper. Not sure what to do and we need to make a decision fast as we have accepted an offer on ours a couple of weeks ago and really need to move. Which would you choose?

House A:
4 bed detached.
Corner plot which means has front, side and back garden but back garden is fairly small. In total there is plenty of garden and space but just laid out differently as it is all around the house rather than just at back IYSWIM.
Offstreet parking- drive and garage.
In a small naice village with 1 pub, shop, cafe, post office, great primary school but 20 mins walk from small town with more amenities. House is 5 mins walk from train station so great for commuting to bigger city where DH works. Village is quite quiet with not too much going on but well located to getting to other areas by bus or rail.
Would need a fair bit of work (mainly decorative but also knocking a wall down and new kitchen & bathroom). Totally liveable in as it is but to make it what we want it is more of a project than house B. I do think we could add value though. As it is at the moment not as wow as house B and while we could make it nice it wouldn't have the same high ceilings etc.

House b:
5 bed semi (1 bedroom on 2nd floor which we would use as guest room)
Gorgeous high ceilings, period features etc which I have fallen in love with but would be more expensive to heat etc.
No offroad parking (originally one of our must-haves) but could potentially pave front garden. Smaller plot than House A but back garden bigger.
Not as well-regarded an area- schools not as good (still a choice of good ofsted rated but other area is outstanding) there are some quite rough parts of town though this is in the nice bit. The sort of place where if you say you live there people might raise eyebrows but it is getting better and this part of it is lovely. And a bigger town with more going on than village where House A is.
15 mins walk to station so still fine but not as handy as house A.
Would need less work (just decorative and new kitchen at some point but nothing urgent)
£70k cheaper than house A- mainly due to area and semi rather than detached.

Why does it have to be those two houses. You clearly arent actually that into A at all (even though it is the sensible option) and B just has too many issues.

Did it take a long time even to find these two that you liked? Dont rush just because you have an offer. You don't need to go for the first house you find.

Better to lose your buyer then end up in a house you dont like or isnt right

Remember to think about what you can change and what you can’t. You can decorate/renovate but you can’t change the area.

Definitely A. If you're not planning to stay there forever does it matter if you don't fall in love with it as soon as you walk through the door?

If those were my only two choices I think I’d probably choose A. We’re going for detached next time (from a semi) so we can be as loud as we like 😂 However, are you sure either are definitely the house for you? It almost sounds that if you could amalgamate certain features from both houses then you’d have the perfect house. Is there another which fits the bill?

Hmm im leaning towards A even though we've just sale agreed a house which i would describe as your house B, it has lovely period features, it does have a drive but its far to small for either of our cars (which was also a must for us). I think the feel is very important, especially considering we've temporarily moved into a rental which is alot smaller than our house we just sold but it works, the layout works and it feels really homely and i dont miss our old house at all. So personally ive essentially picked your house B for myself

Location, Location, Location!

House A, without a shadow of a doubt.

A's having outstanding schools has got to be important, too, surely? You say the other area has a choice of good schools in its area, but you don't always get the school of your choice.

Move to your perfect period home when the DC have left home.

I'd go for A too, probably. If you're intending on staying there until the kids leave, where are the secondary schools? No point asking what they're like, as they will have changed most likely by the time your children are old enough to go there.

I think A because it's in a nicer area, but if you're not that taken with it, you could just keep looking. All house purchase involves compromise unless you're extremely wealthy, it's just a matter of deciding what aspects are negotiable and which are not. And also, sometimes circumstances do change which might necessitate another house move. You can't foresee everything, so look for what suits you best now.