Big house bad area, small house good area?

[MmmmMama]

DH and I bought our first house in a bit of a bad area, which was fine as it was just us. When we had children, we decided to move to a lovely village with outstanding schools. We've gone from a big house to a small two bed (and have just had another child.) A mama at my ds's pre school said she'd never entertain the idea of moving to a small house just for the area? Would you?

The way I see it is its easier to change or adapt a house than an area.

It really depends on the area. If I, for some reason, absolutely wanted to live there, then I could imagine making some amends.

There’s a reason the programme is called location, location, location. It means a lot to buyers. I’d rather live in a good area.

It depends on how bad the area was

I’d go for the small house and hopefully build an extension on it at a later date

Definitely a small house in a nice area. Although it depends on what you mean by a nice area. e.g. good school, safety, transport etc. I would guess the other mother doesn't care about these things.

Small house in a good area will always sell quicker than a big house in a bad area, giving you better options in the longer term

The area.
We have just bought the worst house on the -best- decent street.
It's awful. Peach toilet, genuine original period features, such as 70's DIY elecrics, awful.
We will get there. Hope it's the right choice tbh.

PP made the exact same point I was about to make. It's easier to move on from the small house in the good area, if you can't make it fit your needs, long term.

that makes no sense. They have already moved on from thr bad area and so clearly it wasn't an issue.

The question is would you downsize significantly, to a house potentially too small for you, to live in a better area.

Yes we did. Bought a tiny 2 bed somewhere lovely and don’t regret it at all given the alternatives at the time.

Location, location, location. Small house in nice area every time.

When we bought our first house (two years ago) our options were either three bed semi with a tiny patio or small strip of lawn masquerading as a garden, in a run down part of a not particularly nice town OR a tiny two bed cottage, with a large garden, in a tiny village surrounded by countryside.

Not once have I regretted buying the tiny house, despite starting our family sooner than planned and now having a (nearly) toddler.

It depends - how bad is bad, especially in respect of schools, parks and transport?

Area every time. At the very least it will hold/increase its value and be easier to sell as and when you're ready.

Small house, good area.

We did this, waited a couple of years and extended. Well worth it in my opinion! I wouldn't want my kids growing up where we brought our first house!

A smaller house in a nice area.

We have a 2 bedroom house in a nice area. The rooms are quite big, as is the garden but it's a 2 bedroom so not very big overall.

We could of got a 3/4 bedroom house in a rougher area but we chose not to

Definitely buy for the area. Twice now we’ve bought for the house (clearly we don’t learn) and I will never do that again!

Always the location - I should really have listened to my own advice. But I didn’t hey ho.

We swapped a big house in an area that was considered good in terms of schools and transport links, but was very busy in terms of traffic, no parking, on a busy main road, for a smaller house in a much quieter area, but has no schools nearby, no local shops, poor transport links. However, our kids have grown up and left home, we both drive, we crave peace and quiet.
The definition of a 'good' area differs depending on your situation. So in answer to your question, in your circumstances the area is important in terms of schools, shops, transport links whilst you have small children so buy what you can afford in the place that offers those things.