To choose heart over head when buying a house?

[VeryWeirdBarbie]

It's just DH and me and we're moving house - trying to choose between two good options. We're in our 50s and DH is about to retire. I'll still be working.

House 1 is a small modern 3 bedroom detached in a nice estate with its own private drive. It's on at £350k and needs about £30k of work. It's a practical house - it has a garage, it's near a small park for walking the dog, great neighbourhood, lots of shops nearby. It's an estate mostly full of young families. The house is maybe a bit boring but also quiet and calm and very practical.

House 2 is a slightly larger 3 bedroom but is less quiet and private. It's a Victorian end terraced with a residents parking scheme and no front garden so people would be walking right past the living room window. It's on a cul de sac and there's a pub with live music a couple of streets away. It's also a great convenient neighbourhood with lots of shops but younger - lots of renters in their 20s live on the street.There always seem to be parking spots available.

The thing we love about house 2 is that it's right by the canal (not the towpath side). There's a lovely extension with big windows over the canal and a pretty canalside garden, and views of the canal from many other windows. Pretty canal boats pass by. It has a shed but no garage. It's on at £300k and probably needs £10k of work.

So do we choose house 1 (head) or house 2 (heart)? We'd be cash buyers for either, but house 2 would leave us with money spare for lots of nice holidays. House 1 would mean tightening our belts a little bit.

Which would you choose please?
YABU = buy House 1 don't buy an impractical house, that would be stressful
YANBU = but House 2 it would be more interesting and charming and you only live once

Houses are SUCH a personal thing. I have always lived in period properties in very bustling parts of towns and difficult parking – it's my ideal and I wouldn't have it any other way. For many others this would be their worst nightmare. Only you can decide.

The parking situation with house 1 would annoy me and would be a big no from my dh even if we moved the house. How many cars do you have and do you see yourselves coming and going a lot during the day?

However location is so important and it sounds like you're swaying to A because of the lifestyle. Do a bit more exploring around house A at different times of day.

There is a saying 'make big decisions with your heart and small decisions with your head'. A house is a home and it's nice to love it (I love my home, but many would think that I have compromised on a lot of practicality)

I would go with the second property in you circumstances.

If it was you and children - especially small ones - I'd probably go with the other.

We moved in order to get away from very noisy neighbours in a terrace, hot tub parties in the garden every weekend noisy. And also the parking was driving us mad, often ended up parking 10 minutes walk away, a pain with shopping.

Also is it a lovely quiet canal or is it party boats on the weekend canal? Also rats.

Sounds like you might need to keep looking.

Go and see how noisy it is. And visit the pub at different times of day....

Detached wins over.

Noise potential and car parking, no way.

All you need are a couple of changes of neighbours and as it has a lot of rental properties that’s more of a possibility who then have multiple cars and it becomes a nightmare. Was chatting to a customer in the charity shop I volunteer in. He lives in a terrace house the neighbours across the road children have grown up now but still live at home. The house now has four cars that need to park.

All I can say is spend time in both places at different times of day on weekdays and weekends. Make sure you have the full picture of what it would be like to live there.

For me, noise, lack of privacy and rats would put me off the canal side property.

Thanks @prawncow. I do think our dog and large cat would give any rats short shrift. But leaning detached at the moment (which would be much easier to sell on I think if we did decide to move again).

I know they say heart over head but I've been practical all my life and it's a hard habit to break!

❤️ Every time. We bought our 400 year old house that way 25 years ago. We haven’t regretted it for a second.

Neither of those. The right house will be out there. I’m your age and my next home will be a luxury apartment overlooking the sea. There will be a lift and parking. My knees are ok now, but my mother’s are wrecked and I don’t want to struggle up and down stairs the way she does.

I hope it wouldn't flood. The insurance people ask whether you live near water, etc. Anyway I wouldn't want to live near water. Living with no front separating space or garden probably would be awful - people gawping etc. Heaven forbid that cars should stop and park there. Where are you in this cul de sac - and where do people park in it? Cul de sac is another thing to think about before buying. There are often problems in them, especially with parking but also other issues, with people not getting on or fitting in, cliques, gossip etc.

The first house is 'a good package'. Drive, garden, garage etc. And a downstairs loo is invaluable. I wouldn't want a house without. How modern is modern, though? Thinking of construction and pipes and plumbing etc with possible new energy policies in mind for heat pumps and that. My house is 'modern' but not so modern in those respects. And what's the parking like with neighbours and visitors - and the general appearance and condition of other houses etc?

Detached for me every time. The only time I've been attached to another property I was unlucky enough to land up with neighbour issues.

Imagine the noise from the pub in summer when you'll have windows open and want to spend time outside.

It's an odd question, to ask which one we would choose, as, to me House 1 sounds much more preferable.
I wouldn't want to go back to living in a house where people walk right past you window, for example.

The point is, I am not going to live there, you and your dh are.
From your opening post alone, you both obviously prefer House 2, so, even if they were the same price you should choose House 2.
The fact that then also leaves you with cash in the bank is even more of a bonus for you.

The pub’s a couple of streets away.

Detached with a garden, parking and garage would be strong pluses for me.

House 2 is missing all of these and also has a lack of privacy and I can't see much of an upside from anything you've written.

Flooding would be my only concern, otherwise House 2 sounds much nicer option.