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?

Just to add to the garden orientation debate.... it really does matter if gardens are important to you.

It's true that buildings etc can affect it, but for me having a South or West facing garden was almost top of my must have list. Mine is South facing. It has zero shade throughout the summer... but I can add shade. I can't add sun! My lounge is at the front so north facing. It's lovely and cool in the summer. It still looks bright out the window, so I've never found it dreary at all. Plus my soft furnishings don't get sun-bleached! Most importantly, on days when it's sunny but not baking, it's still lovely to sit out there, those kind of days where it's chilly in the shade. And let's be honest, we have many more of those!

My very long old East facing garden had patio next to the house (lowest level) then grass then deck as you moved away from the house. All the "garden" except the close in patio got decent sunlight most of the day with the deck (clearly planned by previous owners) getting sun light late into the evening. Because all the gardens lined up there was plenty of opportunity for the sun to come in from the south all day.

My new garden is hemmed by houses much closer, others I've looked at have had houses relatively close on all sides (twisty new estate roads) meaning far less light (especially in the evening) than the bigger garden facing the wrong way!

West facing onto open fields/a hillside is great, in the middle of a flat housing estate type location you have to look at how far to the nearest roofline to get an idea of how much light you get when you can use it!

The you can add shade but not sun is so true.

So, B was fine but that side of the street just isn’t as pleasant in general and I think it’s down to the tracks. It’s also a bit lower, so at greater flood risk. Also owners are moving out of town to downsize - they do not have their skates on!

B was great. Garden fine, esp since I’m not much of a garden person. It’s really just for the kids to potter around in without risking Covid. They have rejected 25 under asking and have lots more viewings this weekend. I offered 15 under asking. That was a no. Was told seller not in a rush (lucky him eh). Asked what it would take for it to come off market, viewings cancelled and it was the asking price. So have done it! Asking price offer and it was accepted, further viewings cancelled.

Am relieved since we’ve been looking for months. It’s a bit of a stretch but cheaper than private education :))

Thanks so much for all your replies. You made things v clear for me.

Of course I meant A was fine, and B was great 👍🏾

@PavoReal good to know, will double check on that. I’m happy to wait until the tenants are ready to leave. Hopefully we can compromise if needed. Let’s see.

@Parisah

Of course I meant A was fine, and B was great 👍🏾

I'm confused I thought you liked A more?? Congrats which ever you have put offer on but I do need to know is it north garden closer to school or south garden closer to the tracks!

Ergh sorry am so tired. House A is the winner! Near the school and with a northy garden.

B still up for grabs for the more green fingered among us :)

I was going to say don't rule out a north facing garden. It was one of my no nos but the house we are living in has a north west garden and we get tons of sun. You'll soon learn where the sun shines the most as to where to put any garden furniture, and there are lovely plants which prefer a more shaded area.
I'm glad your offer was accepted and I hope the sale and move goes well (just don't read the moving day horror stories thread in here )

Parisah So glad your viewing went well and offer on A was accepted. I've also paid asking price a number of times and have never regretted it even when a downturn followed. If it's going to be a longterm home the value won't suffer!

@sunshinesupermum thank you so much for saying this. We also paid asking for our current house and while there's a bit of envy for those who achieve better deals, in the end we hope it goes up. It's not an investment anyway, it's a home and we need one right now. What to do.

My pleasure Parisah Home not investment is always the way to go for me no matter what Phil and Kirsty say! Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly now.

Train tracks, older interior and they probably want a fast sale. If it’s a popular area, they just want the cash before the crash. (If there’s a crash) Id take south facing any day!

House a - south facing garden

Absolutely.

Based on decor and noise level, anything is possible.

I would buy the cheapest. The train wouldn't bother me. I live next to a track and it's not even noticeable after a while. In fact I like the noise.

Plus South facing is much better.

You often get rat colonies near train tracks because they are hardly ever disturbed by direct human activity. This would put me right off.

I would honestly go for house A. A north facing garden would get light at some point during the day.

Plus you are closer to the school.

Chain free makes an enormous difference.

Try to negotiate, but others are going to want house A for the same reasons you do.

North facing garden would be a deal-breaker for me, so easy choice even if more has to be spent on the interior.

I disagree that you can't grow anything in a shaded garden.

There are plenty of plants that can thrive in the shade, and in the SE you are not talking about bracing winds off the North Sea causing Arctic conditions, so your choice of plants would be huge.

When the DCs are older you could create a gorgeous outdoor environment.

In would but as far away as possible from train tracks. When house prices start to rise again and there is more choice the house with the least noise and a south facing garden will command more and be more desirable.

We have North facing garden.

It is in shade all day in winter. This means that it stays wet longer after rain. It has a strip of sun at top end in summer.

There are plants that like shade though.

My garden faces NW and shedloads grows in it. Gets lots of sun too. I used to live nearish to railway tracks and it honestly wasn't as bad as when I lived on a busy main road. The train noise was soothing and repetitive compared to buses, cars, emergency vehicles, etc.

The main thing is to check the school catchment, if you're set on that school.