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Which house would you choose?

43 replies

MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 17:31

House A. Nicely done up but too small for us. Most of our furniture won't fit as a lot of built in (but nice) cupboards. Need to convert garage into a bedroom and do an extension across the back to create decent sized kitchen -diner. No houses at the back, but not a huge garden. Good schools both close by (walking).

House B. In really bad nick. Needs new kitchen and bathroom but most of other work is done. A little bit bigger than house A (even when A is extended). Potential for loft to be done one day but it is not a straightforward job. All rooms have wallpaper everywhere including on the ceiling! Bathroom and kitchen are tiled horribly also floor to ceiling so redecoration is a major job, but it is still basically redecoration, not building work. Nice primary catchment, and only slightly further walk to secondary (maybe 10mins further). Nearer to forest (couple of mins walk as opposed to other one is about 15 mins walk to forest).

House A is 50 grand less so there is a building budget.

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MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 17:34

Here the are:

house A

house B

NB. House A says it is a 4 bed, but it is not as one bed is teeeeeeeeeeeeny. House B says it is a 3 bed as the garage conversion is a study, but is actually a decent sized 4th bedroom.

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Cacofonix · 19/02/2015 17:34

Hard to say. If house A is too small for you then it has to be House B.

MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 17:35

House A won't be too small if we do the work

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wobblebobblehat · 19/02/2015 17:35

If you have the time and inclination I would go for house B.

Sounds like house A is too small even before you move in...

Cacofonix · 19/02/2015 17:35

House B has really low ceilings (pet hate of mine). I prefer A.

FunMitFlags · 19/02/2015 17:39

Does it have to be one of those? Too many compromises with both by the sound of things.

FoxyVeganJane · 19/02/2015 17:41

I would go A but I agree you sound unhappy with both. Are there others you like?

Tournesol · 19/02/2015 17:41

House A looks like it has already had quite a lot of money spent on it, so bear in mind you are paying for the nice finish.

House B doesn't look brill in the photos but the kitchen looks massive.

I think if B is bigger and easier to make fit your needs by redecoration then that one is prob the best.

CarbeDiem · 19/02/2015 17:41

I prefer A.

MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 17:42

We can wait but our friends have been renting in the area for 3 years waiting for the right thing to come along!!! Also, anything which is right is out of our budget. Cocofonix, that is why I didn't gel with House B. I like high ceilings. Dh prefers B, I think, but I didn't leave feeling that positive. Wasn't sure if it was all the 3D wallpaper though.

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MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 17:43

I'm happy with A, but I don't think dh is.

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SoupDragon · 19/02/2015 17:47

Why just convert the garage with A? You could build above the garage (depending on foundations) which is what I think B has done isn't it?

wobblebobblehat · 19/02/2015 17:50

How long have you been looking?

I would wait a bit longer and see what else comes up. A lot of people put their houses on the market in the spring...

SoupDragon · 19/02/2015 17:50

The ceilings are only low in the kitchen of B aren't they? I wonder if it has a suspended ceiling to put the recessed spots in.

ScaryChicken · 19/02/2015 17:50

Could you live in house A while you build the extension?

Could you live in house b while you do the decoration?

How important is it for you to decorate a home to your taste? And does house A fit that taste?

What is the approx cost of

House A + extention?

House B + decoration?

SwedishEdith · 19/02/2015 17:53

House B. Much better shaped kitchen. Not really keen on A at all.

RandomFriend · 19/02/2015 18:20

Do you want to live close to the forest or close to the school? Remember DCs have to go to school every day, but how often would you be going to the forest even if you are two minutes away?

The kitchen in House B looks to be a very good size.

MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 18:50

Thanks all. Ok, maybe we should wait. I have been nosing on rightmove for quite a while, but only seriously looking for about a month. I'm just fearful that if House A goes, we won't find anything as good again in terms of our budget plus being able to put a kitchen in. When I've got my head around something (it's taken me a while to want to move), I want to do it asap!

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MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 18:55

I think there is just TOO much with House B. Just looking at kitchen again and I hate the lighting and artex ceiling. Everything is a relatively big job in that place. House B, we could redecorate a bit longer term, some painting or whatever (not urgent though) and I can live with it long term. I just find House B a bit grim I think.

Yes dh would like to do double storey on the garage but I am not sure the neighbours would be happy since they have a window on the side of their house.

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Boofy27 · 19/02/2015 18:56

House B will probably have been described as a three bed because the forth doesn't have planning permission and/or meet building control regulations. That would put me off the whole house.

MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 18:57

Ah, thanks Boofy.

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FunMitFlags · 19/02/2015 19:00

Give it a few weeks and lots more houses should come onto the market.

MadameJulienBaptiste · 19/02/2015 19:11

house a has already been extended by the dormer. This might limit the size of any other extensions you can build as irrc you can't extend more than a certain percentage of the original house size?
Personally I prefer house b but I could live in a bigger house with dated decorating..
you don't seem to actually like either house enough, so just keep looking for something with less compromise.

yawningbear · 19/02/2015 19:14

I agree, house B is grim. House A could be lovely with a big kitchen/diner on the back.

MerryMarigold · 19/02/2015 19:14

AH, ok, I didn't know that, MadameJulien. I thought it was 3m off the back of the house. If we couldn't do that much, it would ruin the whole thing!

I will try and be patient.

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