To ask you to help me choose a house

[Quaggainexcelsius]

House 1
Thirty minutes by bus out of town (work)
Ex council so large rooms (3 doubles) but needs a lot of work (new kitchen, stairs)
Backs onto a large building trade centre (noisy but only 7am- 5pm weekdays)
Unknown neighbours but seem ok
Roughish area, lots of people leaving sofas mattresses etc outside, dog poo, litter
Close (walking distance) to nice inner city parts
Thirty minute cycle in opposite direction to traffic from kids school which I hope to keep them in
Similar diversity to where we live now which is good
On busy-ish main road (we have cats also air pollution? Noise?)
Choice of two great secondary schools
Further from family (elderly parents)

House 2
One hour plus from town on bus (work)
Cute cottage with no work needed, done to high spec
Smaller rooms, less storage
Quiet road, mostly old people and families
Forty minute drive to school but in same direction as work
Majority white British, very suburban
One secondary (not great)
Closer to family

I wouldn’t be able to relax knowing my kids had to walk home from school to or through a rough area with drug dealers hanging about. They will get pulled into crappy and dangerous situations as soon as they are old enough to be out without you. so property one is definitely out for me.

property two gives more peace of mind, but sounds quite boring, and the kids friends will be 40 minutes away, they certainly won’t have many play dates. Is there no option of moving them to a local school.

Roughish area, lots of people leaving sofas mattresses etc outside, dog poo, litter

People actually consider buying this when they are lucky enough to have choice?! Bizarre.

As my son would say wherever I come up with a difficult 'Would you rather...' : "Neither".

Neither is ideal. Secondary school important, busy road not great.

House 2

The kids will have to move schools

To be honest, neither sound great but if you had to choose I’d go for option 2.

The commute to school and work isn’t great.

What is your motivation for moving? Which meets this better?

How many years will your kids be at their current school?

Neither. I'd rather compromise on space for the right area. I wouldn't want to commute 1 hr to work either.

House 2. Good location + no work needed gives you chance to move again if you want.

Never ever house 1, bad location + work needed sounds like nightmare.

Have you absolutely exhausted all avenues for an option 3? Approached estate agents about what you are looking for, considered other areas? There’s a reason the tv show has its name and I think option 2 is the more sound investment.

House 2.

If you have kids who are approaching yr6, I would be guided by secondary schools more than the cute area or room size. Of course, your minimum requirements need to be met but I’m assuming you’ve filtered for that already.

You can move to a cute area in a decade or so when the kids’ needs don’t need to factor in.

Neither

Absolutely no 2 . The first sounds horrendous tbh

This is an old thread, suspect the decision has been made. Curious to hear what was decided

Surely house 1 for the secondary places ??

House 2

I would keep
looking for an option c.

Jesus Christ - this thread is nuts.

Can’t even mention a specific area and that it’s mostly white British without being accused of racism. Fuck me, do you people who throw the word racism about not realise you are just making the word redundant using it for every little thing.

OP - neither sounds great, I agree with a PP about keeping looking. Your dream house may pop up in the next few days.

Neither:
I wouldn’t move to a rough area if I had children, or the main road with cats.
I wouldn’t move to an area with a rubbish school as I’d then be thinking I’d have to move again.

What’s wrong with your current house?

I’m the only one leaning towards house 1 but the builders yard….. maybe not.

How rough is rough?

The commuting on house 2 sounds nasty. could you find something in area 1 ish but not by a yard and in a nicer bit of it?

My first instinct was also House 1 - more storage/space, more diversity.
For me, other important issues would be outdoor space/ garden? And what are the local food shops like?

House 2 for me but everyobe has different needs

Keep looking.

I’d chose neither and keep looking. But it depends what your priorities are. Otherwise I’d find something that ticks most boxes

Neither!

What age/sex are your dcs? Do you need 3 bedrooms?

I'd try to find a smaller flat in a more convenient area.

It also depends on dcs schools. I'd prioritise catchments over everything else. You can always move again in 2 years but you only get one shot at s1 entrance.

I take it this is London?