Which property to buy?

[Whathousetobuy]

So we’ve sold our home (which we have loved) in the hope for more space internally and a bigger garden. We can’t decide between 2 houses.
#1 5 beds (but 2 small) with separate kitchen, dining room, study and playroom. This one also has a double garage and big garden. The decor is dated but the kitchen and bathrooms are perfectly useable (not necessarily to our taste).
#2 4 beds (all doubles). A huge kitchen diner living room with a brand new kitchen in the last 12 months. Really carefully thought out with lots of storage, big laundry room, a smaller living room but half of the double garage has been turned into a study. The garden is smaller. The house needs very little work apart from perhaps some redecoration for some slightly bold decorating choices. House number 2 will probably cost about £25k more (but square footage wise is bigger).
Now the quandary. I love house number 2, OH loves house number 1. The stock coming on the market is really limited and our buyers are getting a little nervous. I think house number 2 is the easy choice. We have a young family and are very busy. OH likes the idea of pottering around fixing things in house #1 but I’m not sure feasibly how much time we will have in the next 5 years with spending time with family.
Should I really put the hard sell on property #2 knowing that I probably could persuade him and thinking it is definitely right the space for our family (when I think OH has an idillic fantasy of having the time to do lots of work himself) and definitely the easy choice. Or is this really not the right thing to do when we are making the biggest purchase of our lives. It should be both of us loving it?

Small children, take the easy house where they both get a good sized bedroom and you don’t lose every weekend to DIY.

No2, no debate!

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House number 1 for me. IMHO the first house offers more flexible space and you're not paying the extra for it to be "done". The double garage and bigger garden are big pluses for me too. Do you need 4/5 double bedrooms or can you manage with 3?

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On paper it'd be 1 for me, sounds like there's lots more potential. But appreciate with young kids why the second requiring no work is more appealing!

Putting aside any work, which one is in a nicer street/location? Your surroundings can have a large impact on how content you are somewhere.

I like the sound of 2, but if it's a long term purchase and especially if you have more than one DC, then having individual rooms is great for teenagers and their visitors, or if they just want individual space without being sat in their bedroom. Our 19 year old is presently in the dining room talking to her friends on social media. It's also much easier if they want friends around.

How old are your children, and what are the schools like in the two locations?

I would definitely choose 1. The idea of open plan living leaves me cold especially with younger children. The first one has a playroom which is a huge blessing, don't underestimate how amazing a playroom is, plus a bigger garden. After lockdown having a house with different rooms for people to spread out in is much more desirable. Room for kids to play inside and out, a study to wfh and living room for adults to relax in on an evening, away from kids toys + clutter. As a mum to 3 number 1 is ideal for family life, number 2 will look good/Instagram ready but not as practical in real life

1 sounds better to me! I’d be wary of being too keen to persuade your OH as if “your” house has problems it will be your fault. If you’ve saved 25k can’t you pay to have quite a bit on work done on house 1, certainly I would think that you could get a new kitchen and then maybe do the rest gradually (or let the kids trash the old stuff and replace when they’re older).

Thanks for the comments. I agree that we both have to love the house but I think I’m scared about the amount of work we could have to do in #1. @Heronwatcher I definitely don’t want that to happen.
In answer to other questions, it would be the same school for both houses. We have 4 children. One lives part time so would have their own room in either choice and then we would either have sharing/own rooms for others who are 6,4 and 1.

Location #1 is at the end of a cul de sac but is nearer to a slightly busier (not really busy) road and house #2 is on the way into a cul de sac so would have some passing traffic. Both are nice locations.
Definitely #2 has no chance to add any more value but #1 would need much more than £25k to bring it up to the same finish.

I would go for 2, but that is assuming location is equivalent.

Are they in similar locations? If not, that should be your deciding factor. You can change either house but can't move it.

1. Those diy jobs never get done, especially with four young kids. And I was thinking exactly as you say: it would take way more than £25k to get house 1 up to same standard, so don't think you'll be adding much value as one is either overpriced or under.

I would go for 1 - at some point the kids will want thier own rooms and you will want to move!

Can you put links so we can have a look. It’s easier to get a feel for a house and how to make it work when you can see photos/floorplan

@Whathousetobuy

Thanks for the comments. I agree that we both have to love the house but I think I’m scared about the amount of work we could have to do in #1. *@Heronwatcher* I definitely don’t want that to happen. In answer to other questions, it would be the same school for both houses. We have 4 children. One lives part time so would have their own room in either choice and then we would either have sharing/own rooms for others who are 6,4 and 1.

Location #1 is at the end of a cul de sac but is nearer to a slightly busier (not really busy) road and house #2 is on the way into a cul de sac so would have some passing traffic. Both are nice locations.
Definitely #2 has no chance to add any more value but #1 would need much more than £25k to bring it up to the same finish.

We have 4 young children too and we chose a house similar to number 1 (there wasn't any number 2 type houses available) the house is completely livable but needs updating. We never get a second to do anything. In 3 years we have only managed to completely do downstairs toilet, a quick spruce up of kitchen (until we replace it entirely) and have decorated the children's bedrooms. Oh and we recently converted back part of garage/utility to a small study. Everything takes so long. We are about to do some work on the garden. Nothing major and only able to do it as my husband is starting a new job so has a week off beforehand. We could honestly do with both having 6m off work without kids around and just doing the house. We have attempted to get trades in to do some of the work but are finding that either they never send a quote through or they are ridiculously expensive so we are doing the bulk ourselves. It'll take us years in all honesty. In your position I'd go for house 2,not only is a bigger but also like you say it'd take more than 25k (plus the hassle) to get house 1 to the same standard

Thanks for all the input. I said my piece about why I thought #2 was the way to go yesterday morning and then just left it.

We have spent the day with friends who have a similar layout to #2 and OH now wants a second look. We have already viewed #1 a couple of times.

I appreciate the differing views as it does put it into perspective that there is no right answer 😂, you just need to try and pick the best choice for both of you (from what is available and what you can afford)

I am just going to add to the equation - unless you absolutely love gardening, a "big garden" is not all it is cracked up to be. The majority of gardening is like housework outside. Hedge trimming, mowing, weeding, edges etc. Just dull, hard work and never ending.

A 300 foot garden equals 300 foot of fencing on one side (maintainence free - yay....fucking expensive to put in. 300 foot of hedges on the other....= 300 foot of hedge trimming, 300 foot of cuttings to get rid of. Or pay ££££ for someone else to do it. 300 foot of lawn. 300 foot of grass cuttings 300 foot of edges to sort. Actually, I have let half the lawn grow to "meadow" weeds but even so at some point I'll need to strim them.

Oh. And then the front garden...100 foot of the same. But all hedges....weeps.

So big gardens. Meh. Not an attraction as far as I am concerned.

How long could you manage to live in #1 without doing any work to it (or at least nothing apart from a repaint)?

Renovation projects are, by all accounts, booked up well in advance and costing c 40-50% more than quoted because of materials costs and delays.

Definitely 2. 25K doesn’t go far at all, especially at the moment when buildings materials are getting more and more expensive.

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I think you can change the cosmetic appearance slowly over time as hopefully it is a forever home for your family to grow up in. There is no rush as long as the house is safe and water tight. You need to decide which layout works, and area works best for you. The cosmetic things are not important in the long term as both homes will evolve as you own them but factors like area and plot that can't be changed need to be considered carefully as that is what you are really buying. In 15 years time which one will work best for your family?

Can you post floor plans?