Which house would you buy?

[User112]

We want to buy a 4 bed house. Most detached houses here in our budget are on busy roads.

House A: Around £850k for about 1850 sft detached. Needs a bit of work and new bathrooms. Backs on to a busy road.

House B: £750k for a 2000sft detached. But the road connects two busy roads. There is a bit of traffic with the bus stop diagonally opposite the house. Very small garden but backs on to a public park.

House C: The other day we drove past a quiet neighbourhood and there was a 4 bed semi for sale. It’s at £570k and needs a full refurb. It’s 2000sft and the room sizes are good too. One more problem is it has a north facing garden and the front garden is really small.

I want to go with the semi (option c) and slowly get work done. Can buy a second buy-to-let with the money we save. DH wants to wait for a suitable detached to come to the market.

Which option would you chose?

My old house was north facing, was totally fine, we made a little outside lounge at the end of the garden and would do the same in the future (current property has a courtyard - preferred our old garden).

Having had a north facing and a south facing garden, I'd never buy another house with a north facing garden, so C would not be my choice.

I would say A because of backing onto the busy Road but it depends on garden and which way it faced.

I’d never, ever buy a house with a north facing garden. I’m team DH. Fuck the buy to let.

I'm with @Blueuggboots. We chose the house we are in now as much as anything for the orientation of the garden. When DCs were small they were in it constantly. We had a house with a NE facing back garden and hardly used it.

Id never buy another house with a north facing garden again either. They are totally unusable, damp, shaded, mossy etc.

House A would be my choice i think.

Evening sun is crucial so the semi is out.
A pity as being back from a main road is also crucial.

Don't underestimate how wearing constant traffic noise is.

Just being one road back will make a huge difference.

Keep looking would be my thinking, unless you don't care about a dark garden.

Keep looking!!!

I also think wait, but if any, house A

Keep looking.

None of them

I’d never, ever, ever, ever buy another house near a busy road again. I think it’s one of only a few regrets I have in life. So for me the third house or none of them.

North facing gardens and traffic noise are my 2 deal breakers so I wouldn't buy any. I do have a bit of a caveat to add though - if a house is on a very desirable road in a very sought after area then it wouldn't matter.
If those 3 are your only options then C wins. I wouldn't discount a house just because it's not detached. Plus C sounds like you will be able to add value and make a bit more on top with a BTL. Save your move to your dream detached for the next time when you will have more money to spend.

I'd agree with your husband and want to wait for a suitable detached house

I have a north facing garden and it is fine.

I'd never buy on / near a busy road.

how are the houses located for work / school / shops? Being in walking/biking distance to the places you go often makes a big difference to your quality of life.

I'd stalk B a bit and see how bad traffic is in am and pm rush hour but backing onto park will be lovely views at rear and not feel packed on top of other houses. Does it have parking? Would you need to reverse onto a main road. I live on a relatively small road which turned out to be a thoroughfare as a 'back route' to a few locations. I wish I'd looked at it more carefully! It's only busy during rush hours particularly morning school rush hour but it's really bad at that time and I don't like it for that.

I would also be wary of buying a house backing on to a park or open space incase of anti-social behaviour. Go for location, location, location.

None of them sounds quite right. If I had to choose one, I'd go for B because I love overlooking a park and it has more square footage and more money to play with to do it up. Also, being close to a bus stop is not a bad thing when DC are teens.

With B, how big is the back garden, and how close are the busy roads?

Do you need to move? If so then c. If you have somewhere acceptable to live but would like a bigger house, then wait.

How long is the garden in the semi? If it's long not a massive issue. We have a NE facing garden and it's brilliant but it is massive and the house is not so gets sun all day

B - lower price, larger square footage, nearby park and public transport. No work to be done.

Can buy a second buy-to-let with the money we save.

Danger!

Absolutely depends on your attitudes to risk (vis buy to let) and building work. Not easy to get good contractors nowadays, all very busy. Do not underestimate the stress and energy involved in building work, even if you are very handy or know people in the trades.

I'm standing looking at a sunny area right now in my north facing garden. We got sun in our old one too, because of the surrounding houses and layout. I wouldn't have it as a black or white deal breaker but road noise would be a total no for me.

I'd never buy a house on a busy road. Period.

The condition of interior decor and kitchen/bathroom fittings doesn't matter to us. I design my own and we DIY fit them as and when when we can afford it. Until then we just scrub it and improvise.

Backing onto a park; think hard. If you have kids and a dog, making a gate into the park could be great green boon to all. But not if that gate becomes an invitation to thieves or gangs of drunk/high yobs . So look at number and type of local crimes (community police/neighbourhood watch); count the alarm boxes and security cameras on local houses; take a walk round the park on a weekend evening and suss it out.