It's like buses - 2 came along at once. WWYD?

[LtEveDallas]

House hunting is going better. But this week has put the cat amongst the pigeons.

House 1. Newish build (5-10 years). Detached. On an estate. Large rooms, flows very well. 3 good doubles and a single. Large kitchen diner. Downstairs loo. Small walled garden. On the edge of town, DD could walk to primary and secondary (half mile or so). Great house but no character£200k.

House 2. 1930s Semi. In a village 3 miles from town. Smaller rooms but again flows well, separate dining room and a conservatory. 3 small doubles. No downstairs loo. Larger very private garden. Village has a pub and a primary school just in walking distance, there is a school bus for secondary. Lots of green fields and potential to expand for utility/loo. Bags of character and quirks. £240k

We saw house 1 first and it blew all the others out of the water - until we got to house 2. Now we just don't know what we want. DH thinks house 2 could be the 'forever' home, so is worth the extra. I agree that I can't see myself on a new build estate in my 60's, but loved the space in house 1, and the price is excellent.

We can afford house 2, but I'm not convinced its worth 40k more than house 1. Maybe 20? Or I'm possibly just a miser!

It really is a location vs house dilemma. WWYD?

Hello Kitttty (that felt strange!). We are moving to Stourport because we have to live somewhere, and don't really have huge ties anywhere. All we really want is to be within a good distance of major travel routes (in our case the M5) be able to get to our caravan within a couple of hours, and be able to get to parents/home towns using major routes. Worcester was the starting point up as far as Shrewsbury and the Bewdley/Stourport area looked to tick all the boxes.

We don't need 4 beds, we need 3 doubles - us, DD and DSD/visitors. It just happened that house 1 had a 4th single - that I would turn into a Laundry Room in lieu of a utility room (actually quite excited about being able to do that - how sad am I? )

Yama/overthehill, that's my head/heart issue. Head says House 1 is better for DD and the future teen years, Heart says "but aww, House 2 is so pretty". I'm a taxi service now and she's only 8 - it's gonna get worse...

I am still veering towards House 1 for the ease of more central living, but if it turns out that the village has a good bus service then I'll be happier. It is only 3 miles from town, so not really isolated.

From what I gather there are 32 HA houses being built in the village so not many. Hopefully that will mean lots of kids for DD to play with!

We have found out that there is another house in the village that would be suitable for us, it's not as 'pretty' but it has got a great kitchen, even bigger garden and large lounge. It's 10k cheaper than House 2, so whilst we are not that interested in it, we may be able to use that as a tool to bring down House 2's price if we decide to go that way.

Personally, I think the taxi service duties get much worse from yr 7

House 1 for me!

I'd honestly go for number 1. I've moved this year & faced similar dilemmas.
We went for the most convenient for schools and couldn't be more pleased with out choice.

I'd try and find out more about the family ratio in the house 2 area perhaps? When we've bought houses I've approached friendly looking people, ideally with one of the DC in tow so I don't look scary! And asked them about how many children are in the area. We live in a village and the kids have all really bonded on the school bus, more so perhaps than if they lived in a larger area. They all look out for each other and parents share car journeys/school runs/trips to birthday parties etc. It is do-able..

I'm resurrecting my old thread!

Well in the end, the choice between House 1 and House 2 became academic. We got an email from the catchment school of house 1 that told us there wouldn't be a place at the school for DD, no matter what. Checked the next 3 closest schools - and they were full (and over-bearing) too.

So if we don't move to the village, then we have to look somewhere else entirely.

We went back to the village this weekend. It is lovely. The school is within walking distance of the furthest away houses (although DD moaned continuously about the walk back uphill). The pub was very friendly - DH talks to anyone about anything and was happily chatting to locals. It's a great area for dog walking and is commutable, easily, to 3 major towns.

However. We saw a different house! One I mentioned upthread and unless DH drops a bombshell today, then I'll be offering on it on Monday.

I still love House 2, but the new house has the scope to put our 'stamp' on it whereas House 2 doesn't without extending. Just got to think about an offer now (and finally Eve gets to the point of the post)

House is on at 230K. I would pay that, DH wouldn't. I think it needs maybe 5K spending on it to make it 'mine'. Mostly cosmetic, but it all adds up (new front door, woodburner, skimming ceilings, opening up the fireplace, shower installing, new carpets throughout). I think it's all easily do-able.

DH says 220K shit or bust.

One of my problems with that is I know that the owner paid 221K in 2007 and I know that she had put in new kitchen (bloody fab - I have another thread!) bathroom, shower room for starters. I don't want to offer less than she paid for it - it just feels wrong.

What do people think? Am I just being a wuss because I really liked the owner (and I did - I actually wish she wasn't moving out of the village!) DH thinks I am.

Which house us is the AGA in? go for that one.

Ah - cross post OP.

Hahaha! Mateysmum, it's the Aga house that I am wanting to buy now - and that isn't House 1 or 2 (but is in the same village as House 2). Just got to argue price with DH now.

I think start at £215k and aim to get around the £220k mark, but if the owner isn't prepared to sell it at that, you'll need to think about what it's worth to you to pay. You should get a feel for what they are looking for after your first offer. Has your DH said why £220k is "shit or bust" ? Sometimes it's not worth quibbling for if it's the house you really want.

I would pay the asking price Olivia, so would be happy to start at 220 and reach asking price if necessary.

DH is a funny bugger. He has to 'win'. If the house was marketed at 250 and he got it for 230 or even 240 he'd be happy, but because it's marketed at 230 he just wont pay it. He drives me mad.