Which house?

[applesauce1]

We live in a small riverside town. We have found two houses that would be great for us. Which would you choose? They are very nearly the exact same price

House A:
'Right side of the river' (More affluent side)
Quiet private cul-de-sac
Walking distance to friends' houses
5 bedrooms
Double garage
Large lounge
Beautifully done kitchen diner
Modern conservatory (small)
Utility but no laundry. Machines are in the garage
Smaller bedrooms (1 has extreme sloping walls on both sides)
All rooms upstairs in urgent need of replastering and new flooring
All upstairs bathrooms need urgent replacing
Steep hills from town
Currently being "done up" for sale.
Average, but south facing garden
Windows need replacing

House B
'Wrong' side of the river
On a fairly busy road, but set back (there's a gated driveway).
4 bedrooms
Large lounge
Playroom
Huge kitchen/diner/sunroom lounge
Garden double the size of house A with nothing but fields behind. North-West facing.
Utility laundry
Enormous master bedroom
2 large doubles and 1 tiny box room
House is 'done', but we'd redecorate most rooms eventually.
No garage.
Easier for our commutes.
No hills for walking to town.

I feel that the estate agent would love for us to buy house B as we would complete a ready to go chain and we have nothing to sell anymore. Both houses are on with the same agent. House A won't be finished for a few weeks yet.

Which would you buy?

I wouldn’t contemplate a busy road on the wrong side of town so House A. Hopefully, you could have an input into finishes so that it’s done to your taste.

You say house A is being done up - what does that mean? New bathrooms? Replastered living rooms?
Two things you can't change about a house: plot size and location. You can knock walls down, extend up and/or out, improve kitchens, bathrooms etc.
Does the location of house A outweigh the work needed (unless it's being done) and smaller garden? Do you regularly walk to and from town or drive (making the hills irrelevant).
Does the larger garden and fields in house B (check they are not part of your towns development plan) make up for busy road? Does an easier commute outweigh closer distance to friends? Only you can answer these questions.

I buy A for two reasons. Firstly, always go with the more desirable location. Secondly, the large empty land backing on to the B’s garden could well become a 300-house new build estate, especially given the recent announcements on planning.

Location always.

House A, is there potential to build into the loft in the future?

Nothing but fields behind means larger housing estate within a few years.

I'd keep looking. I wouldn't want a house with a washing machine in the garage. And unless I was a ftb I'd want a house with a garage.

Which one is less likely to flood?

House A. No brainer imo

Location location location

do you have links to the properties.

House A. If you want to be on the "right" side of the river, so will any other future buyers (if you plan on selling again) and that will always help. I live in a similar town and house prices are always higher - and the houses sell much faster - than the less desirable areas.

A purely because of the south facing garden, I hate a dark house.