Which house would you choose from these three?

[Flamingoose]

(Rental, not buying. If we were buying it would be different.)

Maybe I should ask which should WE go for? We're a family of 5: 2 adults, 3 kids aged between 9 - 15. DH and I both work a couple of days a week at home.

House 1: Stunning house in great location but absolutely tiny.
4 bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, sitting room, bathroom all on one level. That's it. No study, no second living space, no laundry room, nothing. It's like a little doll's house. But beautiful and right where we need to be.

House 2: Nice house, good size, I like it and we'd be comfortable. It's not a horrible location either - near some nice parks, shops, beach. But it's not where we need to be. Would make DH's commute quite long. Teenagers would probably need a lift to school (at the moment they bus or walk). Miles from friends. My 5 minute walk to work would become a 20 minute drive.

House 3: Bit of a shitty house but big enough and where we need to be. Crappy old kitchen. 20 yr old bathrooms.

(Or, I suppose, House 4: A nice house, big enough, in our location, but over budget).

And learn to live with less stuff! Have a huge de clutter before you move in and be strict about what you let in.

House 1. Smiling at the thought of a four bedroom house being a doll’s house.

House 1

I'd go for No.1 - couldn't deal with a crappy kitchen.

How tiny can a 4-bedroom house be? Not many people have a dining room - is the kitchen big enough to eat in?

3 or 4.

House 3. What's the problem with a 20 year old bathroom?

House 4, or 3 if busting the budget is a bad idea, or keep looking.

I was imagining avocado here. Because the 1970s was 20 years ago.

I find it hard to visualise that a 4 bedroom house with separate sitting and dining room is tiny. I consider that large. Lots of people live in small flats with families. I presume you are in a cheap part of the country.

House 3. That's what we rent, yes the bathroom, kitchen and decorating hasn't been touched since the 90's (at best) but who cares? We're 3 minutes walk from schools and 7 minutes to the train station and all their friends live right nearby. It also means I don't stress about damaging anything too like marks on the wall or a spill on the carpet as I know whoever buys it will rip everything out and refurb the whole thing anyway and clearly the landlord isn't bothered about appearences

Living in the right location is way more important. What's helped us is getting it unfurnished and putting all our own things in. Putting up our own curtains, mirrors, pictures. Big rugs to cover the ancient worn carpets. Maybe negotiate with the landlord and see what you are allowed to do, we were allowed to paint a few rooms white.

3, ideally with a new kitchen put in by the landlord. Plan to move again when the right size house that is modern enough comes up.

House 1, it doesn't sound that small and could you arrange the dining room so that it doubles up as a study? You could make two of your children share a bedroom, to free up a room for a snug or office. If this isn't going to work for you, then it would be house 3, unless you want a longer commute and associated less time. Good luck whatever you decide.

House 1, everyone has their own space. Use dining room as a office during the week as only occasional. What do the children think?

How many people are bidding on the rental houses. Not sure with the market you may have the luxury to wait.

Dining room, get rid of dining table and put a sofa bed and desk in as a snug/ tv room.

How much over budget is house 4?

If you move to the wrong location the cost of your commutes will drastically increase. Could the increase in rent match the difference in fuel cost?

House 1

Long commutes and school runs and kids not being near friends will impact your quality of life & reduce your spare time.

We have never had a study (have a desk in the bedroom) second living space, or laundry. All things I'd have dearly loved but those things would have cost another 50-75% in our area. We've been very happy here, but I guess it depends whether having less space Will be a major issue for you. It doesn't have to be, I think it's largely mindset rather than real practical issues.

Depends how bad house 3 is and I've seen some shocking rentals - and you have to bear in mind it's unlikely to change but if it's clean and works that's different.

I'd still favour house 1 - as frankly that sounds similarish to what we have - but we do have kitchen/dinner which I image make a massive difference as appose to a small galley kitchen -so what should be dinning room is second space/office in our house and washing can be accommodated in kitchen.

3 if you have the willpower and money to do the work to renovate it.
If house 1 feels tiny now it'll feel even smaller by the time the kids are older (unless you can be certain that the 15yr old will go to uni at 18 and not return, in which case, you might stand a chance!)

We have an avocado suite, assume it's the original as house was built in the 70s!
Also renting. Similar size family, 3 bedrooms. Not ideal, but plenty of people live in smaller houses!

OP I'd go with location, as the DCs will mostly be in the hiding in rooms stage. Declutter.

oh sorry it's a rental, then maybe house 1 is an option......

House 1 doesn't sound at all tiny to me. It has 4 bedrooms and two reception rooms. Not many people have the luxury of seperate play, laundry or study rooms. I would probably go for that one or 3 if you really do need more space.

If you do go for No3, make sure that you get a condition report so that, when you leave, you can't be blamed for existing problems.

House 1
Easier to heat
Better for DH
All can walk
Near to mates
Sounds lovely
Teens live in their rooms anyway(!)

All you need to do is declutter/Marie Kondo now, which is no bad thing!

Which one of House 1 & 3 will be cheaper to heat? Big consideration right now. House 4 is out due to higher rent on top of rising living costs and House 2 for the location for teens, commuting times & costs for you & DH.

Otherwise I'd go House 3 and ask the landlord for permission to do some painting and cosmetic updates that don't cost a fortune. GIve it a deep clean before you move in, often old & tired looks massively better when cleaned up. I'm also not a minimalist and can't stay tidy without extra space & storage, not matter how much I declutter.

Everyone saying teens will be in their rooms all the time may be right but it's not great to encourage it even more with limited family space.

Are your kids likely to have friends over often, do they play sport with lots of trailing in with muddy, sweaty clothes etc. Because house 3 would sit them better.

If they're not likely to be in their rooms on computers, then house 1 is possible.

Do you know why house 3 is so out of date? Any idea if the landlord is crap about maintenance? That would concern me the most. Heating costs are also a consideration, are windows properly fitted etc if the house is a bit shabby.

Definitely not house 2.