Big house in ok location or small house in great location

[FlowersLucy]

We live overseas. We have the equivalent of about 700GBP (with a mortgage) to use for a house where we live now.

At the moment we live (rent) in a very sought after beach town by the sea. No gardens, or space but the sea is on the doorstep and the atmosphere is great. That amount would buy us an ok but VERY small house with a tiny slip of a garden (we have two DSs - 6&8). Houses very close together.

OR we could move further inland to a more quiet town and buy essentially what is a mansion in my eyes, with a pool and huge garden, heaps of space but quite a boring area. 45 min / 60 mins drive from the sea and beach.

WWYD?

Agree with thjs

I’d love to see a couple of examples of houses!

Location every time. When you have teenagers, I’m guessing if you stay by the beach they can get to things like shops etc as well? What a wonderful childhood to live on the beach!
inland sounds dull… also will you have to drive them everywhere as teenagers? Even duller!

I would stay by the sea, especially as you have a good climate. It sounds like you don't have any garden in your current home, so you'd be gaining some outside space (even if it's small).
The bigger house with a pool sounds tempting, but your children would have the option to be more independent when they're older. Your eldest will be a teen in just five years (sorry!) And it's not just about them - how would you feel living more remotely?

I also agree that a seaside property is more likely to be a better investment, long term.

God no. Big house all the way. We live in a tiny house in a nice town and the lack of space impacts us every single day, we hate it. It's worse as the children get older. Teenagers are way more difficult in a small space.

If you are always on the beach then certainly go for the beach. An hour's drive is totally different than being able to simply walk to the beach. If the area is great, teenagers will also spend their time in town and not necessarily always sitting in the house, as there's nothing else to do in the boring village.

I think it depends how tiny it is. I live in a flat in a country with great weather (not near a beach) and it is no problem at all having no garden. I appreciate all the amenities nearby and really wouldn't like having to drive everywhere.

However, if your potential home is something like 40m2 and two teenagers will be sharing a box room, then I would have doubts.

How much is a slightly bigger house, 5-10 mins from the beach?
I wouldn't move an hour away just for an amazing house, but I would compromise on location to get the space.

The big house might cause problems if you have relatives thinking they can have a free holiday in your warm country by coming to stay with you.

Beach house with great location. Otherwise when they’re teens,which will be sooner than you think,you’ll end up driving them back and forth to the beach. live where there is life! It will be better for you as you become older too, less need to drive for things you need, keep you fit and not cut off from society as much.

Is there nowhere in between? Maybe 20 mins from beach but get a bit more space?
If not I’d choose location every time. We did with our house, we could have afforded a bigger house elsewhere but I love where we live and I don’t regret it one bit.

I moved from a small flat in a great location, a bustling area with parks, cafes, restaurants, museums etc on my doorstep. We went an hour away to a detached house with big gardens in a leafy neighbourhood one mile from a village.

I'm so bored. I miss walking to the patisseries and pizzeria. I hate suburbia at least 50% of the time. I need the space to WFH. I spend a lot of time gardening and have animals now, I love it for my DC and want more land. But no longer having the lifestyle of walking for brunch and a museum etc is sad and lonely.

It's a hard decision. One I can't make myself and have been thinking about for a while.

Do you have a settled community in the beach area or is it all second home and holiday makers? Where are the good schools (primary and secondary)? That would influence my decision.

Schools? Jobs? Opportunities?

Schools (now and future schools/colleges) and work locations would influence decisions as well
Also, where can your children become independent - meet up with friends without being driven to and from?
Public transport options for them?

Yep I'd go for this too. Something a bit bigger but without a Seaview but still a walk or short drive to the beach? I'm guessing schools are also a consideration?

It’s easy to say this when your kids are little.

I would go for a bigger house but not in a boring area. Somewhere where there’s a regular bus service to where you want to go so you don’t end up a taxi service, but also where you have enough space for you all.

As long as you have somewhere to sit, can make it nice with a few plants or pots and hang your washing, I wouldn't worry about size of garden. DC can easily play in local parks or on the beach, and there will be things they can do even in a small garden.

Beach area would be best, but what size house are you talking about?

Better location and smaller house.

With a bigger house you're more likely to fill it with stuff just because you have the space and it's more to clean.

That’s a tricky dilemma. We have the huge house in a very quiet (sometimes lonely) area

i love the space. House is easy to maintain and quiet and great school and safe

however I would give that up for a more buzzy environment and the sea I think ?

whats your gut telling you ??

another yes to space and pool with big garden.

I think it depends on your definition of tiny and how it meets your needs.

I live in a three bed terrace which isn't massive but ticks what I need. Kids have a reasonable sized bedroom each, plenty of storage. Rejigged layout so kitchen is very practical but not huge and we have another sitting area. Squeezed in upstairs toilet as we only have downstairs bathroom.

I can't see us moving as love location and it would be a massive increase in mortgage to get a utility or upstairs bathroom, neither of which bother me.

However, if it meant the kids couldn't have their own room, or the living room couldn't fit us all in then I'd make different choices.

What I'm trying to say is work out your minimum requirements for family life and go from there.

I live in Portugal and just had the same conundrum. Went for a smaller house with a smaller garden in a great location- less than a five minute walk to the beach and surrounded by bars. Enough room for a tiny pool.

Definitely the right choice for me- I also have a 6 year old DS 50% of the time :-)

So grateful for the comments. To answer some questions:

• Living in between could be an option, but those houses are still quite expensive and not massively bigger than the beach ones.
• Hadn’t thought of schools, however yes they would need to change and there is a lot less choice in the quiet town.
• to give you an example, the beach house might be 80 m² , three beds. The house in the quiet town is humongous with five bedrooms, massive area of garden around it and a pool. I would love to send photo but it’s too outing.
• Hadn’t thought of the teen thing, and I think that is a really good point. I can see the boys going down to the beach and surfing with their mates more than hanging out in a pool.