I've sold my house but lost out on the one I was buying so we're currently living in a temporary rental and getting desperate to buy. I have 2 properties I'm very interested in but can't decide. For context I have 2 young DC + 1 DC on the way and horses at home. I've bought a complete renovation property before. They are up for the same price and both will be worth a lot more finished but property B will be worth more due to the location despite being smaller.
Property A: 4 bedrooms (2 large double, 2 single/small double), 2 bathrooms including an en-suite, lounge, kitchen diner, utility room, large games room, storage room, study - basically perfect for us. A bit of land but we will need to rent extra as it's not available to buy and I keep my horses at home, the instability of renting concerns me. Neighbours seem nice, other kids same age and lots of horsey children for the kids to ride with. The house is in okay condition but wasn't properly ever finished so needs heating/boiler/sewerage/electric connecting and the land is very overgrown but that's not work that concerns me as I've bought much worse before. The negative points other than having to rent extra land are that it's not walking distance to a shop (8 min drive) and it's a 20-25 min drive to town where the kids have clubs each day. Definitely won't go for under asking price as there are offers being entered so I'm anticipating paying up to 10% over asking if I decide to buy it, but I need to decide fast.
Property B: 4 bedrooms (all double), 1 bathroom (shower room), smaller kitchen without dining area, lounge - will need an extension later but we won't have the budget to extend immediately so will only have 1 bathroom at first. Structurally sound but needing complete renovation. We can live on site in a mobile home while the renovation is happening over the summer which we've done before while building. Comes with enough land for the horses and space to build a ménage. Although it's the same price as property A, I think I can get it for around 15% below asking price. The best part about this property is the location. It's in the town making the land very valuable and it's walking distance to everything you could need so the location is excellent. It's just a few minutes walk to places we frequently go such as the swimming pool, nursery, supermarket, soft play etc.
So which would you go for?