To ask you which house you would buy

[Throughtheday]

Two houses, similar listing price (although who knows what will happen with offers). One is 2 beds, main road, location we want but less community because of busy road. Has been recently renoed but not to my taste and looks a bit cheaply done.
The other one is 3 beds, perfect location, but is really run down, dated, might even need some minorish structural stuff. In the short and probably medium term I won’t have money to do anything except paint and maybe redo the bathroom OR fix the floor issues. But it would be my preferred option if money was no object.
Which would you offer on and why? In other words, how do I decide what is more important, not having the stress of it potentially being a dump for years, but perfect location (esp for my children), or being a bit small but not in a dire state even if not to my taste?

Should have said the attic is finishable, not fixable—high enough ceilings, already has power wired up and a permanent ladder/staircase thing.

The main structural concern that struck me was how wonky the upstairs floor is (and I’ve lived in lots of houses with slanted floors, but nothing like this!). And pp have very good points about what the cheap finishes/Reno in the other house might be hiding!

Can you take a few photos and ask a builder about the wonky floors.
That IS strange.

If there is a noticeable slant could there be subsidence of any sort?

Location Location - Location wins almost every time.j So House 1 (2 bed).

"Done up" sounds like things could be changed over time to your taste. And you won't mind young children trashing those features a bit when they do just that.

Op I was in this position last year one house was in great condition 3 beds but no room to extend if I ever wanted but had a tiny garden and was not in the area I wanted the second house was in an amazing location massive garden and had room to extend but was in absolutely shocking condition

on the surface it looked habitable but when we got in there we realised the wiring wasn't up to scratch and the whole thing needed to be plumbed and no heating system, it was an absolute money pit I stopped counting how much I was putting into it after the 45k mark but I knew what I was getting into and my house is now worth more than my total investment.

To be honest you need to have some sort of back up money when purchasing a doer upper. I have used up every penny of savings and also had to take out a loan to finish the house and it is so stressful owing that money but my house is fab now. Before putting in an offer you need to make sure your not gonna be caught with an unexpected cost you can't afford.

I'd go for the wreck, provided it's safe to live in. A renovated house that still needs work would annoy me everyday and so would the road.

I wouldn't waste money on quick fixes though. Live with it as it is until you can do it properly. Even painting soon adds up and the money is better saved for the job you really want.

We had peeling flock wallpaper in our hall and an orange bathroom suite for three years

I'd knock house 1 out of the running.
It's not where you want it and it's smaller and isn't to your taste.
You are never going to be happy with it.

Looks like the décision has been made for me: was allowed to take a builder in and it actually needs something doing to strengthen the foundation if we wanted to finish the loft and quite possibly even if we don’t. Which apparently involves engineers and months of drawings and planning permission applications and literally jacking up the house, which might then mean replastering/redoing ceilings. He also noticed a leaky roof and some issue with the foundation. Leaky too, maybe? I stopped taking it in . It’s going to be beautiful with tons of money poured in but too big a project for me. Some person who’s sold their house for a million will buy it and make it amazing.

Location location location! Go for the larger broken one as the potential and extra utility is there compared to the smaller turn key property. The return on investment and asset value appreciation potential is much more in your favour with this property especially if you can economise with own work to your taste. Main busy roads tend to get busier from my experience too.