WWYD?

[goldpendant]

Housing conundrum:

Current home, lovely, terraced, plenty big enough for long term. But - Main road, no parking. In catchment for a decent (but what would be second choice secondary for DC - we are 3yrs off). An almost 'town centre' location in SW London.

This has just come on the market; lovely house, semi, very desirable area, a few miles away, in catchment for first choice secondary, very leafy. Driveway, and big garden but needs full refurb - can extend up and back and sideways, but bags and bags of potential. Commuting transport is much trickier though (no station so bus to nearest train).

Price wise it'd be an almost straight swap, we'd be paying our fees etc but unlikely much more. The main difference is we've done ours up to the max but the one for sale needs loads of work. Work certainly doesn't put us off, it's a bonus.

WWYD?

Have a punt? Get this on market quickly (market super hot here) with a view to making offer? We know these houses and this is well priced but likely to go to sealed bids. They don't come on terribly often and most are out of our budget.

Or?? Stay put, school is years away still.

Help!!!

How much would it add to your commute and would you need to go in every day?

Apart from the commute it sounds like no brainer. How important is that to you?

Commute - I'm down to two days a week in the office. DH possibly more. It'd add an extra 20 mins to the commute.

Houses are different. Ours is big Victorian terrace, character, grand spaces.

One for sale is 1930's semi but with potential for more sq footage.

It sounds like a no brainer but I do love our house! I'm sure I could love the doer upper too.

The cycle to the nearest station is a lovely 13 minutes...

I'd go for the doer-upper myself. You'd be adding value and moving up the ladder, and as you say, can expand it as funds permit and needs change. But the school thing.... just bear in mind that schools can change rapidly from good to bad and vice-versa.

can you use a bike for the commute instead of the bus?

if you like the process of the doing-up, then go for it.

Go for it.

The new house sounds amazing, I'd go for it.

I loved my old Edwardian semi, but like you, it was on a main road, though it had an unofficial (no dropped kerb) driveway. I've sold that, and now buying a 1930's semi, which I'll be able to extend in a similar way to yours.

The thought of creating all that extra space downstairs, plus an extra bedroom and bathroom upstairs means it's a no brainer for me.

Hmm in the current market I probably wouldn't. High risk of things not working out for your purchase + renovation isn't fun at the moment either due to issues with materials and labour shortages. If you make a mistake and discover unforeseen difficulties you may struggle to sell at an adequate price in order to move on. I'd wait it out and would only move in these crazy times if desperate. But then again I'm not a doer-upper person, I've done a full renovation last year but wouldn't choose it if there were better options for me at the time. So we may be looking at these things differently as well.

We moved from our v nice perfectly sized Victorian terrace which we’d made ours to a 1908 semi. Not far away so no difference in commute.

Living in it while it’s updated from 1980s everything.

We now have a garage and a drive, i so don’t miss the fight for park8ng spaces. We’ve got a garden now. You can walk round the back of the house! Yeah. .

Work is costing a lot more than we originally thought. 250£k in total.

Supplies are hard to get hold of as are trades. The architect we used isn’t taking on any new clients till feb next year.

I miss the big Victorian windows and high ceilings. But love the leafy surroundings and big rooms. Walk past the old place sometimes, don’t miss it at all.

I’d absolutely go for the doer-upper if you’ve got the money and the temperament for a renovation.

Leafy, semi, off-road parking, not a main road = all things I’d take over Victorian character. (We’re in a crap terrace on a main road and I don’t care what we swap it for so long as it’s a better area.) And a 1930s house can still have character, particularly if you’re doing a reno so can make considered choices.

So, we've decided to stay. The market feels mad at the moment and this will go for significantly more than the asking price I'm sure. Then at least a further £200/300k for ALL the renos.

Tried the additional bike ride commutey but last night which is heavenly in good weather but less so in rain/dangerous in the dark.

Going to be cautious and see what schools do over next year or so. The second choice hasn't actually released any results yet as it's still new.