Large 3 bed or smaller 4 bed?

[Dillydollydaydream]

We are currently under offer on the house we are selling. We have been to view a few houses over the weekend and liked two. We currently live in a 3 bed semi and we were hoping for a 4 bed but there is only a few available in our area.

One of the houses we like is detached but only a 3 bed, it does have lots of space downstairs and has a good size playroom/family room, theres a log burner in the living Room.
It's only a short walk to dc school and nursery. There is potential in the future to convert garage or extend above garage for a fourth bedroom but will be a few years before we'd have the money.

The other house has the fourth room upstairs but doesn't have the extra space downstairs like the 3 bed so no playroom/ family room unless we extended. This house is also over a mile away from dcs school and nursery which I'll be walking 3x a day as my husband uses the car for work.

So, is it silly to go for a 3 bed house with 3 dc; ds 3 and 6yrs will need to share but all their toys could be downstairs? Is it better to go for the 4 bed even though the location isn't good for school runs?

Just having a head vs heart debate and wanted an impartial view!

How long before you could afford to extend?

I think if you could within 5 years then I'd go for the 3 bed. Whilst they are little you need the space downstairs, and if you really had to you could use a reception room as a bedroom?

Being able to walk easily to school makes life SO much easier IME

Could you turn the play room in the first house into another bedroom? The house I bought has two bedrooms downstairs (one of which I use as a playroom) and two upstairs which is a common layout round here. Works fine although I would recommend making sure there is a loo on each floor!

How big is the smallest bedroom in the 4 bed? ie is it large enough to be a bedroom with a desk, wardrobe, chest of drawers etc, or will whoever gets that bedroom not be able to use it to the same extent as the other kids?

I'd always go for downstairs space, and then extend up / out at a later date, or rent for a bit til the "right" house comes up.

House we've just bought has the 4th bedroom downstairs. To begin with we'll use it as a playroom and 2 of the girls will share the 3rd upstairs bedroom. They don't want split up yet as they've always shared but I do think in a few years they'll both want their own space. If it helps we lived in a 5 bed house when I was growing up and my sister and I always shared even though there were 2 spare rooms.

I would personally go with the one closest to the school especially since you're doing the round trip 3 times a day like I do. We will be exactly 1 mile from school which is further than we are just now but there were no suitable houses any closer to the school we wanted. We're 2 mins walk from the beach now though so that makes up for it

Good luck with your move

The 3 bed sounds best. Your DS s will be better sharing to sleep with a great playroom and all the benefits of being close to school etc. IMO

It would probably be about 3 years before we'd have saved enough to do an extension. There is a dining room but it has double doors from the living room so couldnt use it as a bedroom really. We only have a 10min max. walk at the moment and it is lovely.

The room we'd use as the playroom/family room is a 17ft conservatory so that couldnt be a bedroom unfortunately.

Ooh more replies while I was typing!
My ds like sharing at the moment and have asked for a bunk bed. My 3yr old ds currently has a junior size bed so if we go for the 3 bed we'll get them bunk beds.

The fourth bedroom in 4 bed house is 8' 10'' x 6' 4'' so not huge really by the time a bed is in there's not much room for any toys which is why we are considering keeping my 2 ds sharing then having the playroom downstairs.

I'm stressed already!

I'd go for the 3 bed without a doubt.

I too would opt for the 3 bed.

3 bed, definitely

Another vote for the three bed. Lack of living space downstairs is a bigger killer (diff of course if they were moving into teenage years).

We're 2 mins walk from the beach now though so that makes up for it - v jealous!

I'd go for the 3 bed too (remember that the time of doing the school run x3 per day is relatively short in the scheme of things, though it's really useful to be near school to drop in forgotten lunch boxes/PE kits/swimming stuff and go to the many, many, many evening events )

Another vote for the three bed - extend later - Good Luck!

3 bed. The shorter school run would be the key for me.

Ah thanks for all your opinions. I wondered of people would think I was nuts for moving from a 3 bed to another 3 bed. Yes the amount of events at my Dc school is unreal, they have learning cafes, assemblies, Maths mornings etc. it's crazy! I was thinking of my dc were Poorly I'd need to go to collect them on foot and they'd have to wander home bless them.

We have a spreadsheet [geek] and have worked out downstairs is double what we have now so it's definitely bigger!

You could easily remedy the doors between the dining and living room area if need be

Def the 3 bed.

Go for the three bed. We've moved from a smaller 3 bed to a larger 2 bed and it's much better. Ah the space!

It's definitely top of our list now. There is another house I'd like to view but it's about 15k over our max. budget, not sure the vendors would accept a very cheeky offer! Will have to get Hunting under the mattress and down the back of the sofa for extra ££'s