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

Your family has 4 dcs OP. I would go for the house that best meets their needs - so a 4 bed.

Especially as you and DP may end up having a baby? YOur dcs are all quite young. Don't rule out the possibility. I have a friend whose dc were older as were her dp's 3 and very unexpectedly they found themselves broody and had a beautiful little boy. They do require a minibus for all the family now though.....:)

I'd go three bed detached with scope to extend or four bed link detached. With 3 bed properties try something older so you get a decent sized sized third bedroom. Wow don't your kids get woken up? (don't answer) am as my DDs are light sleepers.

detached.

I have just spat tea all over my computer screen at the noisy and active sex life

roar

Space every time. We're in a tiny semi but it's Victorian so the walls are about 3ft thick. The most noise we hear is from the neighbour two doors down who is in a detached new build.

i suspect it may depend on whether it's a manky 3 bed detached new build with tiny bedrooms etc v an older 4 bed semi with massive rooms or whether they're all comparable. we're in an older 4 bed semi, it's massive, massive rooms, loads of room downstairs and i would always choose this over a new build stamp size gardened "detached" by 5cm house. however, if you're talking 3 bed victorian villa in an acre plot, then that could win i suppose. generally i'd go for the 4 bed semi though - especially with 4 kids.

Detached all the way even without the noisy sex life but especially with 4 DC kicking around the house. You can build up into the loft or extend eventually but I'd sacrifice space for neighbour-on-the-other-side-of-my-wall ishoos any day of the week.

Am currently bitterly regretting not pushing harder for the smaller detached instead of the slightly larger semi-detached when we were looking. Luckily our neighbour is hard of hearing but I'm sure even her rocking chair shakes when DC1 - despite my best efforts - thumps around on the floorboards to Boogie Beebies.

Thank you for all your comments. I will clear some things up tho!! The girls all do sleep in the same room when they are together, I'm not quite sure for how long this will continue tho. If we were to buy a three bed an convert a garage/loft, I'm sure it would be my dd who would want to sleep in there, I would never make my partners dd's feel they wasnt part of the family. An It would be a proper convention, heating windows etc. Also if it were a 3 bed then the girls would have the largest bedroom and all would have proper beds, not camp beds. Oh an regards our sex life, we are very lucky that we are child free every other wkend....so tend to let our hair down a little ;)

4 bed semi every time. More space is more important than being detached imo.

I say detached BUT in a newer build also think about garden size. If you are very close to your neighbours all might be peaceful when the doors and windows are shut but not if you are living in close proximity to other houses with small gardens backing onto each-other (trust me!!). In that case I would always go for a semi with a bigger garden

We are in a 4 bed semi and in the process of purchasing a beautiful 3 bed detached cottage. We're using the downstairs dining room/snug as an extra bedroom. I think it's better to lose a room but gain the extra privacy and space from being detached. If you find one with a connected or integral garage, you can convert them out pretty quickly and easily from about £4-£5k.

I'd go for the 4 bed personally.

In your circumstances I would go for the 4 bed, unless you can find a 3 bed with a garage to covert to bedroom 4 with a layout that would work). I think your DP is right. His girls will need their own room at some stage.

Given that this was 7 years ago, I’m sure they’ve sorted it all out!

I can’t help thinking that if you had two children and he had one you would not be expecting them to share a bedroom but demanding a 4 bed.

It would be interesting to know what they decided and how it worked out!

Go for the 4 bed semi.

Considering your noisy sex life I would have to say detached, please do not go semi...those poor neighbours.

Detached homes are more marketable I think .Also you could possibly do a loft conversion later on to free up more space .We used to live in a semi and could hear an awful lot ! Maybe older style more solid walls would be better I dont know.

Get the 4 bed. 3 bed houses tend to be 2 normal sized bedrooms and a box. You are more likely to get decent sized bedrooms in a 4 bed.

Dont narrow down your options yet. Look at both 4 bed semis and 3 bed detached and wait until you find a house you love. It sounds like you would be happy with either for whatever reason.

As for the sex thing, maybe you could have a slightly smaller bedroom which isnt against the party wall.

Would your converted garage have heating and air conditioning
Assuming OP is in the UK, they definitely wouldnt need air con!

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