4 Bed Semi or 3 Bed Detached???

[littledetails]

My partner and I are looking to purchase a house together, but cant decide on what to buy. Ideally we would like a 4 bed detached but finances wont stretch to this.

My partner has two dd's aged 6 (who he see's every other weekend) and I have a dd aged 7 and a ds aged 4. My partner would prefer a 4 bed semi so that his dd's get a bedroom to themselves. I however would prefer a 3 bed detached and have all the girls share, which they prefer to do when they sleep at my partners house (he has a 4 bed house and my dd has her own room when we stay).

My partner is concerned that as the girls grow up they will want more space and wont want to share. I think if we buy a house with an attached garage that we could easily convert the garage into a bedroom for either my dd or his dd's or even convert the lost if money allows.

I personally think a detatched house would have a greater selling value than a semi. We also have an active (and noisy, when we dont have the children)!!!! sex life and I think this would become very limited in a semi, as most semi's are mirror image and bedrooms back on to one another.

Would really appreciate any view/comments.

Thanks

I would sacrifice being detached for an extra bedroom personally. Did we really need to know about your noisy sex life ? Can't you just choose a bedroom which isn't on same wall as your neighbours?!

How about looking at a "link detached" style property as a compromise?

Persnally in your situation I'd go for the 4-bed semi. I think your partner is right about the girls wanting their own room as they get older. Can you not find a semi with a good layout?

I'm in a semi and the rooms in the middle are the hallway and kitchen downstairs. Then upstairs its the bathroom and smallest bedroom. So the other 2 big bedrooms, the sitting room and dining room are all away from next door.

Detached 3 bed. If it's got a garage you can convert that as you say, also you could extend. When you look at property always look at the back/side to see if an extension is viable. Definitely detached :)

previously to the house i had now i had a large four bed semi (barn conversion) and the main bedrooms where at the opposite ends of the house. so its not always a mirror.

personally i would go four the four bed semi, your dh is right teen girls won't want to share.

you could look at it another way. buy the three bed now pay off as much as the mortgage as possible, then move to the four bed detached in a few years when you have more equity.

Would probably go for 3 bed detached as 4 bed semis may be harder to sell.

I would go for the one with the most space -ie the four bed.

Too much information regarding your sex life.

I think you can only really compare specific houses rather than 3 bed detached v 4 bed semi.

If I was going to sacrifice a bedroom I'd try and get a house that had a lounge that could be separated off (i.e. not one that also functions as a hallway) that could be used as a bedroom on occasions.

I would go for the 4 bed, we spent ages trying to find a 4 bed semi when we were house hunting and couldn't get a good one. I have a 4 bed townhouse with 3dds and whilst the older two share a room now, I can't see the peace lasting

I'd actually go for floor area over number of rooms or semi versus detached everytime but this seems to be at odds to most of the UK population

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha at the sex life! Give it a couple of years ...

detached every time.

Ohhh those are all very interesting and lots to consider. Sorry about the sex life info....but to us its important and I would hate to have to avoid the neighbours through embarrassment!!!

I am in a 4bed semi and it's the same layout as Viva's. I honestly don't hear my neighbours.

semis aren't necessarily cheaper than detached-it depends on so many factors

Please don't buy a house next to me jealous about sex life

I agree with Tyler look at the square metres.

I think it might be nice for the visiting dds to have a space to leave their stuff without it taking up space in your dds room.

Whilst your dc are all so young could you move to a cheaper area and get a four bed detached?

Bite each other instead of being noisy.

Detached for me. I'd happily sacrifice space for not hearing the neighbours' TV sex life

Detached

Definitely detached.

There's always more scope to extend after a few years when the mortgage gets more manageable, and I'm sure the girls will be happy to share for a few years yet. It's not as though they're having to do it all the time.

You are also right about the resale value.

Blimey this looks 50/50.....confused

Go for the largest. Detached isn't always better. Look at kitchen sizes and how good is the garden for the children

Detached all the way.
The freedom from worrying about noisy neighbours takes priority for me and reading some of the neighbour threads on here confirms it!

Detached= higher heating bills, no contest really

Our house is a 3 bed semi with the two bigger bedrooms away from the adjoining wall. We converted the loft to give a 4th bedroom which cost a lot less than a 4 bed semi or detached in West Herts. You could consider this option as you don't need 4 beds right away.