House vs bungalow?

[aliteralAIBUforonce]

We have one toddler and hoping for another.

We've narrowed or choices down to two properties- one a semi and one a bungalow. Both three bed, both thirties build, same estate.

I've never lived in a bungalow. Pros and cons? It does have a bigger garden.

Have lived in 2 bungalows. One normal bungalow one chalet bungalow. Pros if you're keen to renovate is they come with a lot of land so you can add value by extending them. We DOUBLED the price of our last simply by gutting the place throughout and adding a 6m extension & landscaping the garden.
We're in the process of changing the chalet bungalow we live in now in to a house- this also came with a lot of land & scope to build.
Cons- storage, and the distinct lack of! We had none in our last bungalow, we had to build a utility room & be really clever with kitchen units to create storage space. Where we've turned the current chalet in to a house we have lost the loft space, therefore we've had to build a garage for storage purposes (for Xmas stuff etc) and again build a utility room with additional cupboard space, and a coat /shoe cupboard.
We think we'll have almost doubled the price on this bungalow by the time we have finished too... so that has got to be the biggest pro for us. Although I'm not doing this renovating lark again lol 😂

Oh and yes I agree with the stairs issue. It winds me up now we have stairs from going in the loft & extending that I have to go up and down stairs - I preferred being all on one floor as I'm forgetful so often leave stuff upstairs that I need!

I've been in a number of bungalows for 24 years now and love them. I've had good plots each time and they have sold pretty much straightaway.

They are easy to maintain as I can keep clean all the windows, and the guttering, facias and soffits myself...without calling in tradesmen.

I have a very large loft which would easily convert to give 2 bedrooms and a shower room...I don't need them but it's a good selling point.

Here there is a kitchen extension making a large kitchen diner...and still a fair sized garden with that eating into it.

And no deep stairwell drop to decorate...something I always hated doing when I had houses.

Stairs are overrated.
I miss my large three bed bungalow. We had plenty of storage, the kids wandered between their rooms and the living area and I could keep an eye on them better.
For some reason it seemed to stay tidier too. Now we are in a 3 bed semi, I want to move back to a bungalow.

My parents moved to a bungalow when I was 16 and my sister 20, it was awful. Even once my sister had moved out, it was still impossible not to be able to hear tv/conversation from somewhere when trying to read or study. Had a colleague with the same experience. I can see points made by pp on the appeal with young children but definitely not if you plan to still be there once at secondary school age unless it's enormous.

This is meant to be our forever home

As PP have said where do your bedrooms sit in relation to your next door neighbors rooms?

Any sound issues are dependent on how it is built.

We've just bought a bungalow because it was a bigger plot. We've also got potential to extend out the back, to the side and up!

I'm in Australia, where single-storey houses aren't called bungalows, just houses, it's the two-storey ones that have to distinguish themselves from the norm.

Anyway, the noise issue is down to build, quality of doors rather than proximity to the living room. Storage wasn't an issue, but I think that was due to when the various houses I've lived in were built/renovated, as cellars and attics are the exception here. That's what the garage is for:o

One odd thing about noise was that when living in the UK, I'd go daft about doors not being closed when I was trying to sleep. When living where this wasn't possible I learned to discount it. The empty boat syndrome.

The thing that worries me about bungalows is you can't sleep with the windows open .. well you can but you are way more vulnerable .. as are your kids ..
That's all i think about when I think of bungalows .

Wondering this myself, I'm not getting any younger and I'm hoping this will be my last move but the bungalows I've seen are so depressing - 70's, awful decor, artex etc.
I may compromise by buying a house with a downstairs bathroom, but that isn't very convenient when you have kids though.
The joy of a bungalow is at least a bigger garden and you always know where the kids are, they can't fall down the stairs or anything.

You have a point there gubbsy, no way can you leave the windows open and who is staring in at you and prowling round your home while you are asleep [shocked]. Yes definitely a house.

Where were all you lovely people when I was trying to sell my bungalow?! I was told by the estate agent we were trying to sell with that that would be off-putting for people!

ours is semi very good insulation (though our books cases might help) very rarely hear them & dn is a musician. Its more about the quality of build, our bedrooms are at not near the entrance the bathroom & kitchen are which can be quite useful!