What's better?

[FagAshMIL]

Assuming you have children in the 7 - 10 range and your family is 'done' and that you are WOH

1. small (20 ft x 20 ft) courtyard South facing garden OR a bigger (40 x 20ft) North facing garden

2. a 10 minute walk to local shops (restaurants/bars/grocers/fishmongers/butchers/newsagent supermarket) with an average sized house suitable for your needs but not much room for additional guests comfortably OR same shops 1 10/15 minute drive away with ample room for a family of 4 to stay with you every now and again

3. Being in the middle of two train stations (2 different lines which enable you to get to work), both a 15 minute walk away OR Close to one station (less than 5 minutes walk away) but not the other

4. Being close to a new mixed secondary school (so new there hasn't been an OFSTED) OR being close to an established single sex school with a 'good' OFSTED

I know everyone's situation is different but just interested in what people will say

My top preference from that list is walking distance to amenities. So handy and also the children can walk to the shops/run errands/socialise independently as they get older.

Schools - I'd prefer mixed for my two.

Train station - would probably prefer to be closer to one station than halfway between two. It's only (hopefully) the odd occasion that you'd have to use the back-up route.

Garden - much prefer south-facing but that is the bottom of the list compared to the things above. Also depends on how desirable the property is as I know some people don't like courtyard gardens so might affect resale potential.

I have a north facing garden, it's not dark or gloomy and I grow allsorts. In the summer it's nice not to be too hot.

Anyway.

I like the sound of your second house. Big, large garden. It's what I'd go for.

So the double fronted one has a south facing garden, is bigger and a bit cheaper, and there are shops nearby, they're just not as naice as the shops 15 mins away? In other words the only downside is that the area is scruffier?

I have to say, if that's all true then I would seriously consider the double fronted larger one - especially if you are talking about London. Longer term the scruffy area is likely to smarten up and prices will increase more there, you might be glad you got the larger option while you could...

Have 7 & 11yr olds. Top priority would be walking distance to the best secondary school in the area. Makes such a difference - they can walk home with friends, pop into local ice cream shop on a Friday, can stay for after school activities without missing bus / train etc home or without relying on us for lifts.

Then walking distance to decent shops / cinema / cafes etc - so they have some independence and you're not being a taxi service.

H loves gardening so he'd struggle with a courtyard but would not like north facing so neither of those options unfortunately.

We had a similar dilemma of bigger house further out or smaller house with the "right" location and we went for the latter option. Best decision we made!

My top priorities would be:

1. Walking distance to train station
2. Walking distance to shops
3. South-facing garden
4. Mixed school (but pretty weak preference)