Which house would you buy?

[moosloverlover]

House 1:

• three bed (third bedroom is a box room but is currently set up as a nursery and would fit a single bed; other two bedrooms are massive)
• smallish garden
• very large living/dining room
• small kitchen
• very very close to the perfect location (two minutes to public transport, two minutes to high street, ten minute walk to beach)
• no scope to extend
• £360k

House 2:

• Four bed (two large, two small but small ones are both bigger than the box room of house 1)
• Smaller living/dining areas (still not tiny)
• bigger kitchen
• huge garden
• close to public transport
• fifteen minutes from house 1, so an extra fifteen minutes from the high street and beach (approx 25 mins walk to beach)
• scope to extend
• £400k

Can’t share rightmove links as one isn’t online yet (EA rang and offered us a viewing).

For context, we have DD9mo, DDog and planning another baby soon.

Thanks!

House 2 sounds the clear winner, but is 40k more.

Does that work in your budget?

I’d say house 2 but then I basically
moved from your house 1 to house 2. I found the box room aspect basically meant we would have outgrown the house as soon as we had more than one DC.

How do the houses compare in other ways - schools, crime, noise, neighbourhood (are your neighbours mainly families or young people in houseshares, are there lots of BnBs if it is a seaside resort) or facilities (GP, local shops, parking, playgrounds etc)?

House 2 if it fits the budget. More likely to be sustainable for the future, unless you’re planning to move again in the foreseeable future.

House 2. We had two children in a house like house 1 but it wasn’t big enough so we had an extension done at vast expense. All fine for a few years then properly outgrew it and then moved to a house like house 2. If you can afford it go for the house with proper room for a growing family.

However
it’s early days but you don’t mention schools. No decisions needed yet but is there a decent looking primary school with easy reach of house 2. Things could change but I’d bear in mind the current situation.

I'd go house 2, too. Big garden with dog and DC ideal, as is bigger living space. How often do you go to the beach, if only once a week then 25min walk is fine. I'd worry you'd outgrow house one within a few years.

House 2. Because it has larger kitchen and garden, and room to extend.

Definitely house two if you can afford it. Those compromises sound absolutely fine. I’ve always tried to buy the biggest houses I can afford because moving is annoying and expensive. Having recently gone from one to two kids, you’ll be grateful for the extra space.

2 definitely

House 2.
Bigger garden. Bigger bedrooms. Bigger kitchen.

You will spend more time living in the house than travelling to and from it. Scope to extend in the future too.

Definitely house 2

Another House 2 vote. The garden and extension opportunities will most likely positively affect its price in future.

House 2. If you're going to the beach you're going when the weather is dry/nice so a bit of an extra walk is worth it and it's still not miles from transport etc. you'll outgrow house 1 quickly.

2

the only thing going for 1 is proximity to the beach

Thanks everyone!

Both houses are in catchment for the same middle and high schools, House 1 is in catchment for an outstanding first school, House 2 is in catchment for a good first school.

In terms of the location/surrounding area, they’re the same village, crime stats are about the same, no airbnbs etc around.

We go to the beach most days; any closer than House 1 and you’re in a slightly different and significantly more expensive postcode. House 1 definitely has the charm appeal (1930s mock tutor cottage style!) whereas House 2 has less curb appeal.

Or do we wait it out (in a 2 bed semi in between the two at the moment) and see if anything else comes up?

Definitely house 2

Don’t buy a house that you pour money and baby memories into but then end up leaving because you don’t have enough bedrooms

You sound like you want House 1. How much difference will the location make to your lifestyle?

Could you split one of the two massive bedrooms in house 1? It sounds like that one is in a much better location for you.

With plans for 2 DC and a dog though it sounds like House 2 is actually better. What a pity it isn't in the location of House 1. But you know what they say - location, location, location.

@Aknifewith16blades probably very little, I do a lot of walking the streets with the baby and walk by both houses regularly anyway!

For the sake of openness, we viewed House 2 about four years ago when it was significantly cheaper (closer to 250k which is what we paid for our current house); loved it then but missed out on it. The current owners have added a bedroom, extended the kitchen and decorated it to quite a high standard. I think the reason I’m not sure on it is more that I don’t feel like it’s worth 150k more than it was a few years ago (despite it being priced suspiciously cheaply back then), and also I’m not sure why they’re so keen to sell up already (it’s a family with one child living there I think!).

I think you’re all probably right about us outgrowing House 1 quickly, but it’s so pretty!

We bought our current house with our hearts rather than our heads, though, and I’m worried House 1 would be the same thing again.

@cheezncrackers unlikely due to where the windows are, but definitely something we chatted about!

house 2. you need bigger garden for the baby and doggy to play in!

Detached, semi or terraced? Less attached neighbours the better in my experience. Sounds like No2 is right for you but you feel you're no getting value for money due to the price hike. No1 doesn't sound like it's worth the upheaval of moving for but the location is the one you're really after. Can you hang on and see if a better option comes up over the next months?

@fussychica both are semi!

Definitely could hang on for a bit (we weren’t actually looking, both of these just came up!) but houses around this area go very quickly, so when you see something you have to snap it up!

House 1 if it really is the perfect location for you. If you can walk the dog on the beach most days that sounds wonderful. But then I grew up in a tiny box room and loved the cosiness and being efficient with space and my stuff.

House 2.