Which house do we buy?

[YellowEllis]

Help please, this is a very last minute thought and I'm struggling to weigh up the pros/cons. These are both new builds, both by small local developers and both done to a high standard/similar spec.

House A.

4 bed detached, front and rear gardens, 2 parking spaces
Garage optional extra, can't be added on to mortgage and is £15k (we can't afford this, so can't have it)
Great location, walking distance to beach, park, childcare, shops and public transport links
Downstairs room sizes are a generous length, but slightly narrower than we would ideally like. However we have planned rooms out and measured everything and all our furniture will fit comfortably, so it's more preference than need.
Upstairs, child's room, spare room and bathroom are perfectly fine. The master bedroom is smaller than we'd like, although we can fit our king bed, chest of drawers and 2 bedside tables in there, we can't fit our wardrobes. The second spare room (smaller) would need to be used as a dressing room/office so all hung up clothes would need to be stored in there.
General concerns about storage space, between lack of built in storage and being unable to afford the garage.
Garden is private, not overlooked and a decent size.
We have reserved, completed valuation/solicitor searches and have an approved mortgage in place and are literally days from exchanging on this house. It would be ready to move in to by March.

House B.

4 bed detached, front and rear gardens, 2 parking spaces and internal garage included in price and can be mortgaged
10 minute drive from house A, but into a more rural area. Unable to walk to shops, childcare, park etc and would need to drive 10 mins to the location of house A for these things.
All room sizes are bigger, not loads bigger but enough to make the house feel more comfortable. There are built in wardrobes in two of the four bedrooms (however not the master with en-suite, so clothes would still be in a different room)
Garden is a bit smaller than house A.
We would lose our valuation fee/solicitor searches fee, be back to square one on application and the house won't be ready for 18 months.

House A. Being walking distance to everything is particularly important as children grow, otherwise you'll always be a taxi service. A garage is nice to have, but not essential if you can fit a shed in the garden, and if your clothes won't fit in your bedroom in either house then built in storage in 2 bedrooms isn't fantastic. Plus house A will be ready in 6 months!

Definitely A

Which one makes you feel happier when you walk in the door? Heart has a say as well as head in choosing a home I find...

@FauxFox

Which one makes you feel happier when you walk in the door? Heart has a say as well as head in choosing a home I find...

I can't walk in either as neither are built yet Going purely off floor plans and the plots themselves that we've walked around.

House B. It sounds to me like you might end up constantly frustrated in house A.

How big is the master bedroom in both? you can't get a cupboard in either???

I was always told to go for location over aethetics. you can always extend and change further down the line but you can't move where a house is

Neither one sounds what you want. I think house B sounds better but not being ready for 18 months is a complete waste of time.

We live in a fairly rural area, none of the big name developers build here and the small local ones are limited. We will need to compromise on something and we are aware of this. It has to be a new build as we need to use H2B.

House A definitely. So much better being able to walk to things.

I would not buy house A as clearly it is not what you want or you wouldn’t be considering house B. Then with a clear mind look again. If you buy A you will be frustrated on size and no garage

We weren't looking for a different house, we'd made our choice on house A. I just had a conversation with a friend about how most new builds over a certain price include a garage so I searched zoopla for local new builds to see if they included it and happened to find that one. It's the built in storage and garage that are making us even consider it, but we prefer the location of house one and it's ready so much sooner.

House A for miles. Can you put a small shed in the garden for storage?

Having shops, schools etc walkable makes a huge difference and it will normally involve a compromise on property / increased budget but that doesn't sound like too many compromises to me. It sounds like last minute nerves which is normal.

I’d go with A because being within walking distance to amenities is a non-negotiable for me.

The slightly narrow rooms sound a little annoying but then I’d try to make them work with appropriately sized furniture. Eg have a queen sized bed with a divan base and a wall mounted headboard would free up lots of room.

The master in house A is 3.10m x 3.25m. Besides the lack of garage it's my biggest concern about the house! If I could fit a wardrobe in there I'd be so much less concerned but I can't see it.

But having to keep my wardrobe in another room and not being able to have a spare freezer in the garage probably aren't valid enough reasons to go for a house in a more inconvenient location and with such a longer wait really. I think we will stick with A.

A I think. Walking distance to amenities is so useful. And will keep the house price up in the future I’d have thought. It’d be a dream of mine to be able to walk to a beach!

We are moving somewhere with no wardrobes and not a huge amount of space for them - is if a def no go? We are loosing our chest of drawers but buying the narrowest Ikea Pax that will be filled with draws & shelves.

Also - how desperate are you to move? Do you want in next year or can you happily wait 18 months? I know I couldn’t but we are on school application deadlines plus just really ready to move now!

Neither, if I had the choice- if A was the right one why would I be thinking about B? But B doesn't seem to tick enough boxes to be worth waiting for.

@MoirasRoses

A I think. Walking distance to amenities is so useful. And will keep the house price up in the future I’d have thought. It’d be a dream of mine to be able to walk to a beach!

We are moving somewhere with no wardrobes and not a huge amount of space for them - is if a def no go? We are loosing our chest of drawers but buying the narrowest Ikea Pax that will be filled with draws & shelves.

Also - how desperate are you to move? Do you want in next year or can you happily wait 18 months? I know I couldn’t but we are on school application deadlines plus just really ready to move now!

The beach is one thing I'd be devastated to lose if we went for house B! And would be a faff to drive everywhere. Will look at IKEA pax ta!

We are desperate to move. An 18 month wait sounds like hell to be fair, I just thought I had to atleast think it over. I think we're decided.

MoirasRoses Also love the username Schitts creek is the best.

Neither sound like right for you.

But I would always always choose location over other features

Unless you need the 4th bedroom as a bedroom, then A all the way. You can't underestimate the QOL enhancement of having everything on your doorstep.

We don't need the 4th bedroom yet no, if we ever did in future we could look at converting the master bedroom en-suite into a wardrobe or we could move, obviously.

I admit neither house is absolutely perfect but you always have to compromise somewhere, especially on our first house with a more limited budget. It might not be our forever house but that's fine. I can't see us finding better anytime soon in the area we want.

House A. I think the storage problem is solvable. Can you get rid of your wardrobes and the chest of drawers and get built in wardrobes installed instead? You can get one of those secure bike sheds to go outside to store bikes and sport kit etc in.

Of those 2 house a due being able to walk places.. but that is small for a master..