Which property?! Head vs. Heart

[headvsheart]

DP and I have one DS and I'm currently pg. We have totally outgrown our one bed flat which we're putting on the market next week.

The problem is there are two properties that we really like. One makes sense for us as a family (3 bed house with enclosed garden), is cheaper but the location isn't as good. The other is a fantastic 2 bed flat with loads of light in a great area (especially for schools and a 20 min walk to DPs work) but it is £20k more expensive (had to go in way above AP) and has v high maintenance fees.

I know it makes so much sense to go for the house but my heart says the flat, despite all the drawbacks.

I'll link them both below and any opinions would be gratefully received.

The house: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-80801591.html

The flat: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60866394.html

I’m gasping at property prices prices (I’m from Yorkshire)

Maybe neither of them is right for you OP?

We recently moved and basically found the perfect house for us in the perfect place. The things that are no ideal about it (3 bedroom but four would be better, needs updating throughout) are things we can change. We were quite lucky and I appreciate you often can’t have everything within budget but is it worth it to keep looking?

We v nearly bought a house that wasn’t quite right and I’m so glad we didn’t. I was thinking about moving again after five years before we’d even moved in!

You're right @Bluntness100 it is a lot bigger and the rooms are lovely and spacious. Also knowing that the DC would be sleeping upstairs and not just a few metres away would be a nice change (currently sharing a bedroom with DS!) so we could have friends over and not have to keep quiet all the time.

@Bluntness100 DS is 18mo and will be just over 2 when DC2 is born

A bedroom each for the kids, not one waking up thr other at bed time every night, a social life downstairs, is really not to be sniffed at.

How do expenses compare? Wrt mortgage + fees at the flat and mortgage + commute at the house? Also if you own flat isnt yet on the market try not to fall too much in love with one particular one unless you have a secure offer on yours

The house any day.

I wouldn't touch a leasehold property, the bills are out of your control plus flat-living is too squashed-in with other people - far too close to your neighbours if they're horrible.

@Racheyg we think we could get £100-150 for the garage per month which could potentially swallow the fees. Don't think we want to move again for a good while, especially since it's so expensive just to move!

Also two little kids in a flat and trying to keep them quiet is also a ball ache, let's be honest.

I love the flat.

for me the only downside of the flat is the garden situation - the conventional enclosed garden is loads better for little ones. I think the house is quite nice too but style, layout, location of the flat is ace

Think they're both nice, have no clue on the areas though! Funnily the house has my old sofa and the flat has my current one 😁. Although the flat looks great, personally I'd go for the house. 2 small people accumulate alot of stuff... We had to move to a generous 4 bed last year due to the lack of space we were finding our 3 bed had, and still feels like we could do with more room (or probably less shit!) Usually when moving you have to compromise on space due to extra cost, but in this case, the bigger property is the cheaper option, which makes it even more appealing. I stumbled across a gorgeous (completely impractical) 2 bed cottage the other week (need to stop my Rightmove obsession) literally fell in love with everything about it, and was trying to talk myself into how I could make it work. Would save us a fortune as about half the price of our current house, but realistically there is no way with 2 kids it would be feasible. We struggle with the space we have now. Picture yourself in the properties in 5/10 years time, can you imagine the space still working then? Moving is such a huge expense you really don't want to be outgrowing a property within a few years as it will cost you in the long run. X

The house is absolutely beautiful. That's a big beautiful family kitchen and an extra bedroom as well as a garden for less money. Likewise you posted about this flat having insane bills as well as the Dulwich estate charges. The house is still near Crystal Palace.

Maybe if you can't decide, the universe it telling you there's another property waiting to come on the market 😊 alternatively think how you would feel if the house/flat was sold before you could put in the offer...which one would you be most gutted about.

@AliceRR glad you found the right place for you. And yes we're definitely still keeping our eyes peeled for other places! There isn't loads available in our budget, especially house wise though. And I still gasp at the prices even though I've lived in London for 10 years!

I’d go for the house for space and price reasons if the flat will be an extra £150 on top of the mortgage. I must admit, the 8 pictures of the sofa on the pictures of the flat made me and DH laugh

The garden of the house is South facing too! Perfect.

Definitely the house. Huge bonus in having your own garden, especially with kids. Communal gardens can be a nightmare (I write this from my flat overlooking a communal garden). No potentially noisy neighbours above you. Freehold so much better than leasehold, especially as no service charges to pay (and you have control over who your building insurance is with etc).

@Aldicheckoutworkout flat would be £553 each for everything (mortgage, fees, outgoings, commutes etc but not incl. any saving with renting out garage). Haven totally worked out the house costs but tbf I think it could work out the same. I'd have the travel but bus to get to the places I go most often (MILs, the shops etc) so that would rack up

An extra loo, in the house! Makes it a no brainer for me.

Did you post about the flat the other day? It was on here about a week ago.

Sometimes it's about more than location, it's about quality of life.

I strongly suspect if you'd had your second child now, and were going through thr pain of trying to get one to bed without waking the other you'd jump at rhe house.

Or if you were going through the pain of your upstairs neighbours complaining about your kids making noise or crying.

But more than that, even if you extended the study, you're going to have a kid right there in your living room sleeping. So you've years of being quiet and no one over. Even your own evenings alone would be difficult. The tv would need to be kept low.

So as much as the location may be better for the flat, the reality of living in it with two small kids, will be no where near as pleasant or easy as living in the house.

That for me would swing it, because I like an easy life, and not to go through thr pain barriers daily.

House.

You can't guarantee your neighbours upstairs won't be elephantine.
Plus there's the safety aspect of ground floor flat/communal garden.

I grew up a half mile down the road from the flat, still have family in the area. I found an enamel earring in wells park once, it was treasure! So wells park is special to me
Also very close to the great horniman museum. Close to the family vibe of the CP triangle and Lordship Lane.
I think the house has the best of both worlds.

I do miss London.

The flat might be lovely but will you enjoy looking out at people in the shared garden. What if they smoke?

The house is lovely. Garden, near a park, extra bedroom, big kitchen - these are all so helpful when you have kids.

The areas is what makes the most difference. Most 3 bedsin briatin are too small for a family of four so you will have to go out anyway. Ask yourself where you want to go out to? Also I would disregard the garden altogether, they tend to be redundant for about 80% of the time and only become really useful when children get old enough to enjoy ball games (unless they are very very big).

I like the look of The house location is so so, a friend of mine used to live close by.
Plus: you are very close to Wells Park which is a lovely local park, even with water play. You also have Sydenham high street close by.
Negatives: isn’t it surrounded by estates?

Also just seen that the flat garden isn't private... That's a massive drawback, especially as it means strangers can basically see into the entirety of your home while using the communal space 😬. It creates a huge lack of privacy, and I'd be worried about safety with children around. As the flats are privately owned do you know if that means owners are allowed pets? Wouldn't like the thought of a random dog slobbering down my windows or worse, coming in my home if the door was left ajar (I have dogs, and this is the kind of shit they'd pull if we had a shared garden!) As your dc get older having a secure garden to let them run free in is a godsend, and if you can afford somewhere with one, it's worth every penny.