To ask if it’s better to buy the worst house in the best street or the best house in the worst street?

[BluntLilacGuide]

I’m currently house hunting and I’ve come across two very different options. One is a not-so-great house in a highly desirable area, and the other is a beautiful, well-maintained home but in a not-so-great area. I’ve heard the phrase ‘buy the worst house in the best street’ so many times, but does that always make sense?

AIBU to wonder whether it’s better to invest in the location even if the house needs a lot of work, or to go for the nicer house in a less desirable area? Would love to hear your thoughts or experiences on this kind of decision.

Best street.

Depends.
Buy the worst house on the best street if you
A)have the money to do it up in a reasonable time frame or
B) have the energy and skills/money to do it yourself in a reasonable timeframe

If you have neither of these, you will just be living in a crappy house when you could be living in a much nicer home a few streets along.

A good house in an up and coming area can be a good deal.

I bought a house in what many people would have perceive as a 'bad' area. I looked at the area closely and made a decision.

Apart from a kid breaking a pane of glass in my front door with an apple once (I know) I peacefully lived in a detached house with a big garden, lovely neighbours, no problems parkings, etc, etc. And the house doubled in value before I sold to relocate.

But for the same amount I could have bough the worst house in the 'best' road a couple of miles away, crammed into a terrace with arguments about limited on street parking and hardly any garden and spend a load of money to bring it up to scratch. Just a nice address and slightly cheaper insurance.

Personally, I like to live in an area with mix of people and life. My advice is to keep an open mind about the area in which you are buying.

I agree with the consensus but also think that locations can change. My university boyfriend inherited his grandmother's flat in Brixton when she passed away in the early 00s. It was worth a small fortune by then due to gentrification of the area.

This is terrible advice. You can't change the area you live in but you can change your house.

Even estate agents say this.

The most expensive house in an area will always be difficult to sell.

Worst house, best street. Every time.

Our first house was tiny, run down, ugly, but was in a trendy, popular suburb with loads of great amenities, low crime, generally just very nice, leafy, full of gorgeous Victorian and Edwardian houses (with the exception of our 70s “new” build).

Never ever regretted that decision. When we came to sell it was snapped up in days, over asking, because of the area / street. We made a packet on it too, and now live in one of the gorgeous period houses.

Used to be all about the location when the building work was cheap and you just had to put up with the disruption as a penalty, but now that building work is so expensive, the premium may well be too high to do up the worst house any more. So leave to people who actually enjoy renovation.

Always the best street. You can change the house, not the neighbours (she says listening to her alcoholic neighbour stomping around at 11pm on a Wednesday night, but hey, my house is great!)

I'd go for the worst house in the best street. They usually have the nicest neighbours.

Can u imagine living in the nicest house on the worst street, with the worst neighbours, the noisiest, inconsiderate ones. You'd be wishing you bought the other house.

Well, it's your choice, but it's not unanimous. And it really depends on what you mean by 'best' and 'worst'.
You may not believe this. But we bought during Covid... a 2.5 bed run-down shell of a house (95 year old moved out to a nursing home, it didn't even have a working bathroom or kitchen) in a naice, middle-class area was going for the same price as our 4-bed in the 'nice' bit of a more downmarket area.

Everything was going for silly money but we had to buy. So we choose the latter, and I'm glad we did! People are lovely, we're close to some nice countryside, and we don't need to move or do any major renovations.

The 'worst street' means different things to different people. An area just being more working class (by the MN snobby definition) is different from it being genuinely unsafe, stabbings, burglaries etc.

FYI Hale (in Cheshire) is a very rich area, full of footballers etc. But the town centre stinks of weed and when I lived there temporarily there was a spate of burglaries. Never had any issues where we live now.

There's more to consider really beyond a binary choice between best street and worst street.

Erm yes the comments from people who gave no stake in the outcome and just enjoy parroting a phrase that might have made sense years ago but may or may not be relevant to your situation at this time.
How about this for a better truism - you get what you pay for! So you decide what's of value to you, and pick that overall best option.

Location is everything
Buy the worst house in the best street

However perfect you think the other house is there will be things you want to change about it - much better to spend uour money improving the worst house & making it 100% to your taste

Always the best street.

I think that even if you dont do major renovations but keep the house the same, the good area will mean it will always sell and be in demand.
The best house in a poorer area will not, because everyones taste is not the same.

There tends to be a ceiling in rougher areas where as in an excellent location you csn have very deep pockets vying for the same doer upper.
This is my experience.
I live in a great location with probate houses frequently up for sale.
They will need 100's of thousands spent on them but they are whipped up because of the location.
Money can change most things in a house except location.

Disagree. People who bought the best house in the worst street (to live in, not as a money making exercise) have seriously cashed in over the past few decades.

For example, we moved into a pleasant NW coastal town 15 years ago. Few slightly dodgy streets close to the town square then (lots of bedsit’s, transient residents, hostels, etc.). Now, most have been bought up , turned into family homes and significantly upgraded. Worth several times the original value. Lots of families who live there now could not afford to buy at current prices had they not taken a chance. They took a punt and it paid off because once a few houses upgrade, other people notice and are willing to take the risk.

Notting Hill, Islington, Camberwell in London perfect examples. Dumps when I was a sarf London kid. Couldn’t afford to live in any of those places now!

Location UNLESS you can't face doing a house up and living with redecoration etc

We bought the worst house in the best area we could afford. It took time to get it how we wanted it, but it’s so worth it. The area is great, the amenities are great, and it has a good aspect.

All the money and time in the world can’t provide those to a rotten area.

Like the programme says, Location, Location Location

@RampantIvy I meant as long as the house is liveable and safe, get a not so nice house in a nice street. Then you can do the house up.

You should not even have to ask.

I'm going against the grain, my home is my sanctuary and I'm not thinking about it's monetary value in a decade. I'm enjoying it now.
Although caveat would be - how 'awful' the area is.

I agree with everyone (worst house/best street) but it's fairly unusual that this is a decision people make IRL.

It really depends on your particular situation. Do you have small kids that will be disrupted by ongoing house improvements? Does the worst street mean a dangerous street or a normal street (not posh)? What are the amenities in both areas like? How about the neighbours? What are they like? How long do you plan to stay at the house? Forever or you aim to upgrade in a few years?

Worst house in the best street as you can personally change the property. Whereas the best property in the worst street - the neighbourhood could be drug fuelled, claiming every benefit under the sun.