Help us decide on a house!

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Wise MNers are possibly v good for this dilemma. So we are looking to move house. We are mid 30s, both work FT but we live in my town of work (I am higher earner) and my spouse normally has a 1.5 hour drive each way but not at the moment as Wfh. Kids are Reception and 13 months (goes to workplace nursery). It’s a pricey town in the south east so for a budget of about 550,000 - it appears that we are constantly oscillating between 3 categories of houses. Reason for move is needing more space for home office as a spare bedroom and a second loo.

Category 1: Houses close to my work and kids school (currently school is 5 min drive away but in this case would become 5 min walk). Get two solid extra rooms. Cons: in a primarily lettings dominated area with student and professional renters given desirable location near main line station and major university.

Category 2: houses more gorgeous, less extra room, school 10 mins drive away, not in lettings dominated region, leafy area. Same price but further out and less room

Category 3: house 100k under budget, at various places in the town, but with potential to extend/convert to get that extra room/s.

Also need to consider how well it will sell in a few years as this won’t be forever home or anything - but a step further up on the ladder. For context: super pricey town, in super pricey area of south east.

Any thoughts?

Given that you're moving for more space I would discount category 2. Is category 1 easy for your DPs commute? Are you prepared to invest the time/money/hassle into category 3? Living near renters wouldn't bother me and it would also mean your house might be easier to sell to an investor in the future (so potentially a cash buyer).

Thank you! They are all similar for commute when that returns for my spouse. The lettings issue doesn’t bother him but I’m peculiarly semi bothered by it not entirely sure why..... you’re quite right that category 3 involving extension and disruption - whether that’s feasible with a 13 month old and a 5 year old and a dog and two FT jobs with our work offices still out of bounds meaning restricted to WFH - is that hassle really something we are in a position to take on.... good question.

From reading your description, no. 2 seems to be your favourite (“gorgeous”). House 1) and 3) are compromises.

If you are planning to sell, and make money, then you should buy a doer-upper.

No 1) area wouldn’t bother me if it’s a nice house.
No 3) - are you project people?

We're currently buying for similar reasons and in a similar (pricey, S. East) location though letting is less prevalent.

We instantly discounted your option 3. We knew that we couldn't take the stress of major building works, particularly while both WFH. What we're buying is like your option 1. It's what we need (extra bedroom/office, downstairs loo, closer to school/kids friends) with just decoration and minor work needed for it to be exactly what we want right now and the next 10 years or so, but it is a 1970's semi, nice and functional but not beautiful!

We could have stretched to something pretty in a 'naice' location but actually that would have had so many compromises on space and the reasons we want/need to move that it would of been silly to spend the money moving just to be in worse position day to day.

What you write reads like your heart wants option 2 but your head wants option 1.

1. It's lovely being a short walk from school/nursery. Being close to the station is great for you and should mean your house holds its value.

However, we don't have a car and dislike driving so I guess priortise that more than most.

Category 1 is best out of those, as the rental thing also doesn't bother me. But a 1.5 hr each way commute would - I'd be relocation way closer to work if that's going to become a thing again.

Whilst option 3 might make sense long term, realistically you’d have to live in it for probably quite some time before you could start an extension, let alone finish it. Would you be back in the office by that point anyway?!

Hi @Pinkdelight3 we live here because it’s close to MY work (5 mins to work) so we’ve cut out my commute entirely by living here. We didn’t want both of us with mid range commutes. So that’s not up for changing now. But yes within the locality really useful thoughts everyone. I have just viewed something that perfectly ticks all boxes and gives us the ability to do some work if we need to extend/convert but absolutely doesn’t require it at all as it stands for our current needs. Excited!