Dilemma! Same house on same street, £34k cheaper

[Parisah]

Hi all!
This scenario in the SE:
House A: decent enough interior, few steps away from amazing school, north facing garden, last sold 2016, chain free, further from train tracks, north facing garden.

House B: older interior but not awful, other end of road so further from school (but relatively close still), last sold 1998, not chain free, closer to train tracks (they are at the end of the road) south facing garden.

Both Victorian semis. House B is £34k cheaper.

Can house A be worth so much more, maybe because of train tracks?

Away from the train tracks. It's not just the noise of the trains but the engineering works at weekends etc.

We’re really quite far from train tracks, about 1km, we never hear any trains. We do hear the engineering works.

I bloody love living near a trainline so I'd go for that one personally. I love the sound of trains - helps me sleep.

Train tracks at end of garden would really put me off both sound and vibration and is probably a factor...
Also depending on how much updating is required could be expensive..
You will probably add value to house b by updating but nearness to school and tgd fact its a long-term move and no chain I would go for A if I could afford it.
We didn't get into 2 form catchment primary as 31 siblings in dc year! So a bit scarred

Could be a problem that only the survey might tell you esp if it's an older house- damp, roof problems, stuff like that.

From experience exact direction a garden faces is less important than size and how hemmed in it is by other buildings. Old house had a massive long plot (quirk of estate design as ex council) and although east facing got late evening light thanks to slope and length of garden. Current house has a technically south west facing garden but it and the house behind's garden are small so the light is gone by 6.30 pm in high summer.

From this I learned that compass aspect is less crucial to garden enjoyment than the surrounding buildings!

Have t RTFT but school catchment is more likely the reason for the difference in price.
Pity as the north facing garden would be a deal breaker for me unless that houses was the only affordable guaranteed way to the school catchment.

A wants to sell because they’ve been renting it out - so market rubbish now for investors with rental income tax/capital gains tax changes.

I wonder why the owners of house A want to move already, doesn't sound like it was a doer upper if the interior is only "decent enough"?

OP said only 2 beds - they may need more space as DC get older/having another baby/have got DC into the school and now want separate bedrooms for them/any other reason people like to get bigger house.

Oh, just seen latest update.

Is there definitely vacant possession?

@Ellmau think we would eventually go into the loft for another room and bathroom, but that’s when we have much more money (and grey hair!) they’ll have to share for now. First world problem for them!

@Ellmau yep tenants out end of Oct

I can tell you from my nana living in a flat approx 5 minutes near to a very busy train station (a junction station) and my best friend living in a Victorian terraced house right next to train tracks of a fairly busy outskirts of SE London to London train-line that both of them had no double glazing and both didn't mind the train noise at all and when I visited both properties you zoned out the noise.

depends on catchments for school and also services being old for a rewire etc as this can add up from past experience.

The other thing I might be slightly bothered about if the house B is closer to train tracks is rodents generally (rats) if you have cats etc - I knew someone else who had a 1930s semi which backed onto train tracks (again no problem with noise) but she said she had a cat and it was forever bringing in rats said to have been attracted by the area and due to trains (rubbish from them?), I think at one point she spoke to Network Rail or whoever was responsible for train verge areas besides tracks and apart from the occasional clear up right by the tracks anything else they weren't that bothered about.

@MadamHoooch

I bloody love living near a trainline so I'd go for that one personally. I love the sound of trains - helps me sleep.

It's very soothing isn't it? I recall when I stayed with both my best friend and my nana where they lived the noise of the trains helped me drop off to sleep!

Update - viewing both later today!

@Branleuse

id be bothered about train tracks if I had cats, but otherwise not

Oh that's interesting due to accidents with cats?

Funnily enough years ago my DM had a friend who moved to a very picturesque farm with land in SW England - she wasn't very near the station but was near the train track where we used to place pennies on and watch the trains buckle them , as children, but she had a collie dog who sadly got run over by a train on that track and was buried in her garden. I suppose cats can get hit by trains too.

Ooh good luck OP! hope viewing goes well

Good luck!

It depends on the work needing doing on both houses, if B is really bad then £34k won't go far.

Happy viewing!

I grew up with two houses between us and an above-ground Underground line and it was barely noticeable.

[quote Parisah]@PurBal two beds, both.[/quote]
Apologies for asking but I'd be checking:-

can you extend into the loft or an extension anywhere else? Are these properties Victorian?

How many children do you have/what ages? e.g. would 2 bedrooms be enough?

I just remembered that my friend who lived right by the train track but about 2-3 minute train ride down it - her house was a long house if you see what I mean - and as it was the house right at the end of the street and not far from a tunnel then they got the least bit of noise that way. but the kitchen and garden were at the side of the house - length ways if that makes sense? A lovely house though, she moved there when she was 11 with her parents and when my friend had her own DC years later there was never any problems when they stayed at that house with the DGP due to noise. Now sold a long time ago but my friend wishes she could have bought it.

No. You won't regret overpaying. You aren't actually 'over-paying' can't you see that? Buy A. Pay the extra £34k, in house terms, that's nothing.

Makes sense. Train tracks are rubbish (is it the central line, or one that’s 24 hours? Would drive me mad). Also, the further away from the school the better otherwise you’ll have parents blocking outside your house.

You will not be overpaying, OP, you’ll be paying the full amount now rather than later if you went for house B (redecor, maybe plumbing, etc.).

OP be careful of a theoretical chain free situation when tenants are involved. It’s a 3 month notice due to Covid 2020 housing act at the moment. I am renting and was issued a section 21 in mid July as owners are selling. Owners thought my leave date was early October, but it’s actually early November. It has to also coincide with date of tenancy and they missed that too.
That said, my vote is south garden no question. Good luck with the viewings!