Torn between 2 houses in Surrey. Help!

[Happymum1702]

Need help deciding between 2 houses. Sorry for the long post. But we are really struggling so I've put as much detail as possible. We've been saving for a long time to be able to afford a large family home and are sellingour current two bed. (Sale agreed) Opinions would be HUGELY appreciated!

We have a 9 month old and are planning at least one, if not two more (if we are lucky)

house A is in a town by the river where we live now. We love living here and have lots of friends in walking distance. It has great town centre in walking distance, the river and nice walks are 200m away, train station is 5 mins walk with a quick 30min train to Central London (where hubby works)

House is good size with a large garden and a garage. 4 double bedrooms (3 large, 1 small double) all bedrooms have sloping roofs = less practical to furnish. They are also not on the same floor (does that matter? Easier to be on same floor as the kids?) two bathrooms but one is on the ground floor.
it Has limited storage throughout, as the loft has been converted. Needs new floors and painting throughout. Also at least 1 new bathroom. The kitchen is an ok size but it also needs replacing.
We could live with it for now, but to get the house to be how we'd really like it, and to add the storage space we need, we'd need to extend (definitely possible, but obviously costly) Hence we are debating the point of putting in a new kitchen now or waiting until we can afford the extension (means living with a rubbish kitchen for a few years) It's on a busy through road with lots of cars going past all day, not at night.
The area is rocketing in value due to the transport links. We could make a lot of money, IF we decided to one day sell, but we need to spend to do so. It's a period property so has feature fireplaces etc. But the neighbours on one side are 'horders' their house is a TIP. The back garden has old cars in it! But apparently they've been there 30+ years, The seller has been there 20+ years and never had any issues with them.

House B is in a small town also on the river (but the house is further away from it, so it would be a 20min walk plus the path on that stretch is not buggy friendly anyway)
It's short walk to the small historic town centre which is sweet, but nothing like town A. We don't know anyone living locally but then again it's not very far from where we currently live- would just need to drive to see people instead of walking.
Station is 5 min walk away and train is just over 1 hour to Central London, or 45mins with a change. For my husband it means his commute becomes really bad. 2 trains & then the tube taking 1hr25mins. Vs house A- 1train & then the tube taking 1hr. My commute would also be extra 15mins (1hour 10 vs 55ins) but as it's driving it's not such a hassle.

The house itself is the DREAM, large, fantastic layout and space. Large garden. It could be our home forever or at least the long term. 4 large doubles & 1 ok sized single. All bedrooms are on same floor with two bathrooms, plus downstairs cloakroom. Needs renovating, with new floors and painting throughout but the rooms are huge and lovely.
Is on a very quiet cul de sac., with hardly any traffic. We've never seen such a great house within our budget. It's cheaper than house A. We can take a lower Mortgage to get it.
The house was built in 50's so the street itself & house design is less attractive. We believe the ceiling price of the house is therefore almost reached once we invest in renovating inside. The area is going up in value but not as fast as area A.
As this is the largest on the street, we are aware that the much lower value of the other houses will keep this one in check.

Schools- how much of a consideration at this time? Who knows what the primary schools will be like by the time our daughter is old enough in 2021, or the secondary schools by 2025??)

Primary Schools in both areas are the same (at the moment)
Area A has ok secondary schools but would need to go outward to get a really good one. Area B has an outstanding secondary school at the end of the road - it's one of the reasons people move to that town. But it's heavily over subscribed and very catholic (we are not) so chances of getting in are slim anyway I think. Apart from that one secondary schools are ok.

PHEW! It's so hard. Please help!

A- Because of your DH commute, town and sounds like that's where you want to be, but the busy road and neighbours would make me think seriously. Neighbours might move or tidy up and they might otherwise be very nice.
Is it detached?
I wouldn't worry about secondary yet tbh.

Not much help I see your dilemma.

Neither. You dont like the location of the dream home, and the commute for your dh.

It sounds like you want to live in Town A, where you have friends, and an easy commute, so it looks like you need to compromise on the type of home you want/can afford in this location.

(SW London person with some knowledge of towns by the river....)

I think commuting is really significant and can negatively impact your life so shorter commute would be my preference. Schools would be the 2nd priority on my list - especially if you don't want to move again in a few years and can't afford private. I'm leaning towards house A as better commute and the potential for greater return. We bought a house that needed loads of work and wasn't a good investment - we may now need to move due to work (which wasn't expected) and we could lose money. It's so hard to accept that the last 5 years pain haven't been worth it in financial terms and emotionally it's hard to take but you never know what will happen in the future, so building equity is important.

Space for a growing family is also key - how big is house A? Does it have a large garden so storage could be shed?

Just to add a spanner into the works, have you checked the flood risk for both properties? ( sorry, married to a property underwriter)

Town A but not the house. Because of the neighbours.

I would look for other houses and rent until you find the ideal. I would worry about flooding too with house A. House B the best aspect is the school - and you won't get in.
Its often better to be Catholic and live further away than to be non-Catholic next to an excellent Catholic school (in the first case you might get in, in the second you probably won't).

There's a reason property B is so much affordable - the commute. For most people its the dealbreaker. You have to decide whether it is for you too.

Secondary school is a red herring, for now. Children can travel farther for this than primary.

Personally the proximity of friends and commute would be deciding factors for me, but everyone has different priorities.

House A.
You sound like that's where you heart is!

Schools ARE important, but I ended up sending my dc1 to a school nearby and I never thought (the whole way along) that I would do that. So, you can change your mind totally about secondary schools (single sex, mixed, catholic, non-denominational, a school's rep can rise or fall, or a new school can be built, an all=boys school can take in girls, two local schools can be amalgamated). ALL of these things have happened in the last 11 years in my area. Oh yes, and a bus route that would have lead to a school I thought was a consideration, it was axed. So, I think, if you know there's a few contenders for secondary school out there, that's enough.

Sounds like house A is better due to the shorter commute and better location. How busy is the road at weekends? Is it noisy in the garden? How old are the next-door-neighbours? New people moving in there might be ok (I hope that doesn't sound too morbid). Or they might spend ages cleaning and redecorating after hoarders.

I would think A. I would be looking at primary schools now but not secondary - it's just too far into the future, anything could happen.

Be aware that there is a shortage of school places around here. See it as a 8 year home, would you really need to extend & spend all that money on it??? If you are short of storage then learn to have less clutter In the short term you would have a spare bed or 2 to use for storage anyway...

Is it a town beginning with G?
I think town A.

You can improve the house, you can't improve the location or make it a shorter commute.
Also, why is house b so cheap?
And, as above, flood risk?

Thanks for all the inputs! Yes it's basically coming down to the question of-do we compromise on the location in order to get the dream house or do we compromise on the house in order to get the location. It's tough. Waiting I don't think is an option as the prices continue to rise and am absolutely convinced we won't find anything as good as this in our budget, as we've been looking around for over a year before two ideal homes suddenly came up at the same time. No, the town doesn't start with G :) Also no flood risk with either property despite the river proximity.
We went to see A again last night and I 'think' we have decided against it. It's so much work and money to get it to where we want it to be. Plus the bedrooms are large but actually really impractical- you can hardly get a wardrobe in any of them due to the sloping roof everywhere and the chimneys sticking out. So when I say storage I mean simple space for for clothes, shoes, etc as well as the usual stuff you'd have in the loft! Hence the garden shed option doesn't work for that! Also, when I though last night about going for A, it made me stressed about not going for B. But this thread really helped actually as the more people said A, the more I realised I wanted B so thanks for your help!

How exciting. Are you going to put in an offer?

1h + commute for you both is not going to be practical unless you have very flexible workplaces, family nearby, or are planning to employ a live-in nannym(or you or your DH are going to give up work forever). It will be beyond stressful trying to race back in time for nursery pickups, and in time, for multiple childcare provider pickups. Really, it is not worth the hassle just for an extra bit of stress. If you're relying on driving to work, in my experience this is much much more unpredictable than public transport. Check out whether your routes are known to be problematic. There are some that are a bloody nightmare and which may be somewhere around where you're planning to be - e.g., Hampton, Thames Ditton, certain areas around Guildford/ Woking/ Weybridge/ Oatlands etc. Nightmare traffic. Apols if I've taken the wrong geographical punt there!

House 'B' sounds like it's a bit in the sticks and when you need childcare it mightn't work very well. It will be a schlep to after-school clubs, playdates, etc.

Just for an extra bit of space, that should read. Freudian slip!

As regards the sloping/ oddly-shaped rooms in house 'A', you could always get a local carpenter to put you in some simple built-in wardrobes. It's not cheap but it's not that much more than getting the full kit and kaboodle from Ikea.

Having said that, if A is a period building, is it in a conservation area or listed? If so, extensions or alterations will be both more difficult and more costly.

I would keep looking in location A

The longer commute would be a deal breaker for us. We live on a HS rail line, essential for childcare when they're at school.

go for the shorter commute. adding 1 hour per day to your commute adds 5 hrs per week = 250 hrs per year of wasted time that you aren't spending with your family. So either go for house A or keep looking in that town.

Yes, plus finding wraparound that starts that early/late.

Neither one. Sorry! I would dislike the busy road and junky neighbors of A, and that is a very long commute for B.

I bet House A is in Guildford but that's not helpful :-)

Like a few others said: Keep looking in Town A. There are lots of things you can change about a house but busy traffic will get on your nerves and put off future buyers when you come to sell. Instead, find a house that is on a better street without junkyard neighbours. Consider an ugly 60s or 70s house that you could transform in the long term. They are extremely good value for money and there is a lot that can be done to make them pretty.

Town B's long commute will drag you both down and it doesn't sound like you like the area enough to put up with that. Keep looking even if it means moving into rented (a revolting thought but hopefully the next house you buy will be the forever one).

good luck!

She said it wasn't a town beginning with G - but I do know houses like that in Guildford, but they don't totally fit the description.

I know you've decided but i would still go for A. My everyday life, working with two small children, is only possible because I have a short commute. And because DH can get home at roughly the same time. If he had that long a commute every day, we'd never see him, and I would have to do all the children's stuff on my own.

I honestly didn't care how far my house was from my 'dream' when we bought it - it was in the right place and in our budget and that was that. We're slowly doing it up and although I don't always love its features, it's our family home and we manage.

I'm in a large Surrey town that starts with K - is that it?