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Original poster

Moving from detached to semi (same price)

71 replies

moveblues · 29/10/2021 08:20

Morning all

I'm just not sure
We've found a beautiful 3bed 20's house in an area we love (semi, left floor plan). Current house 4 bed detached on the right. Both same £.

The semi is smaller by 30 sq ft approx, but in our preferred city. It has a glorious south facing garden (see previous post if interested to see) but definitely needs a bit of work to bring it up to what we want, and it's a semi.

We moved to our current 30's house in our current small city during lockdown and for various reasons it just hasn't been what we were after. The garden is about a 5ft drop with (beautiful) decking leading down but just feels disconnected. North west facing with slight south aspect. Busy main road, and we don't use all of the rooms! We could grow into it (babies?) but I can't see myself being a mum here, with the busy road, awkward garden and loft room just feeling a tad impractical. It's done to a T, to the previous owners spec. It's beautiful but to change it would probably lead to loss of value as it's so well done (lovely carpets and wallpaper but where we wouldn't have them)

I've felt like I'm living in a posh Airbnb for a year!

I keep looking at this plan we have made to move, and thinking 'are we mad to be moving to a smaller semi for the same price which needs more work with same (poor) EPC' etc etc. What do you think?

Moving from detached to semi (same price)
Moving from detached to semi (same price)
OP posts:
hotmeatymilk · 30/10/2021 16:00

Location is more important though – it’s why they called it Location, Location, Location and not Size and Quality, Size and Quality, Size and Quality.

Buy the worst house on the best street (the best street being in this case OP’s preferred city and not on a main road), not the best house on the worst street.

Floralnomad · 30/10/2021 16:00

No way would I move from a detached to a semi .

Original poster
moveblues · 30/10/2021 16:04

@Fadingout

We’re lucky to live in a detached. Previously lived in a terrace. I would prefer not to move back to a semi or terrace again. Your current house looks really lovely from the outside. How different is the location?
The location of the new house is in a bohemian Birmingham suburb with a new station due to be built 5 min walk away in 2023 (looks fairly certain, work started etc). Good transport links already though if ok with buses! Lots of green areas and city parks, good schools. It's near enough where we moved from to be here but a bit 'cooler'. Because it's a bigger city there is more crime there. The road is very very quiet though besides the odd boy racer. Walking distance to the very cool 'village'

Current location poor public transport links, cathedral city. Main road as above where people drive up to 50. Not much around... good schools though and low crime rate!

Both about 10 min drive to city centre.

Ho hummmmmm

Current location main

OP posts:
TheAntiGardener · 30/10/2021 16:07

My noise sensitivity is much more acute for roads than neighbours.

This really stands out. All noise is not the same, and I’m the exact reverse of you. I’d rather a main road than noisy neighbours (or if I’m being honest, a lot of normal noise like TVs) any day of the week and wouldn’t completely rule out something like living under a flight path if I loved a house. If this is how you feel, you know your current house is never going to get better and you will need to move.

Although I agree with pps that your current house is much prettier and would be my choice out of the two, you’re sounding more and more sure that the move is the right decision.

Original poster
moveblues · 30/10/2021 16:07

@hotmeatymilk

Location is more important though – it’s why they called it Location, Location, Location and not Size and Quality, Size and Quality, Size and Quality.

Buy the worst house on the best street (the best street being in this case OP’s preferred city and not on a main road), not the best house on the worst street.

We have the best(or nearly) house on a main road essentially! Mix of detached and semis on the current road. Quite concerned it might go down in value tbh. The semi over the road which is identical but a semi is struggling to sell for 80k less than ours, that kinda road. However ours IS stunning inside and out...
OP posts:
MinesAPintOfTea · 30/10/2021 16:08

Location is key. You call your children “babies” - I’m guessing that means below school age. Once they are in school, moving location will be hard. Moving in the same area to a bigger house if finances permit is much easier - no school changes to consider

Get to the area you want now, and you can always move house in that area later.

Bluntness100 · 30/10/2021 16:13

I think if both houses are worth the same amount then clearly the areas make a huge difference in price because the proposed house is a significant down grade.

It’s your call, only you can decide what’s more important, house or area.

Original poster
moveblues · 30/10/2021 16:18

@MinesAPintOfTea

Location is key. You call your children “babies” - I’m guessing that means below school age. Once they are in school, moving location will be hard. Moving in the same area to a bigger house if finances permit is much easier - no school changes to consider

Get to the area you want now, and you can always move house in that area later.

We haven't yet had kids but are thinking about one or max 2 in the next few years. Smile
OP posts:
TheAntiGardener · 30/10/2021 16:19

Slightly off topic, but ‘location, location, location‘ makes my head hurt a bit, I have to say. I mean, for roughly the same value of my house I could live in a nicer location, but would then have to deal with no parking, no garden and less space. Or, alternatively, I could move far away to somewhere not nearly as convenient or interesting and get myself a beautiful detached listed villa with gorgeous garden. Both choices friends of mine have made. Everyone arrives at what they’re prepared to compromise on or not, surely, and location is just another factor?

I’d go for what you love, op, based on your preferences, and it’s clearly the house in Birmingham. Good luck with it!

Anycolourwilldo · 30/10/2021 16:22

Location location location. Be where you want to be and everything else will work

Original poster
moveblues · 30/10/2021 16:25

I guess you could say my heart says the Birmingham one, head says stay (besides the traffic throng). Gut in between.
It'll be a lot of work for DH to do up the new place to our standard!!! I'm worried about the stress and expense for sure.
If only there was a crystal ball!

OP posts:
eightlivesdown · 30/10/2021 17:00

Given that you hate living on a main road, the question is do you move now to the Birmingham semi or later to a different house. So is the Birmingham semi the house for you? If yes, move now. If not, wait for the right house to come up.

OriginalLilibet · 30/10/2021 17:01

Location location location is a tired, worn out mantra repeated endlessly by people devoid of original thought.

campion · 30/10/2021 17:19

If your present house feels like someone else's then you'll be happier living somewhere that you can invest your own personality and ideas. 1920s semis usually have plenty of character, as long as someone hasn't gutted it.
I couldn't live on a main road either.

crimsonlake · 30/10/2021 17:58

Tou say you live on a main road but your current house looks very well set back from the road. I am wondering how much traffic noise you can actually hear?

Original poster
moveblues · 30/10/2021 18:15

@crimsonlake

Tou say you live on a main road but your current house looks very well set back from the road. I am wondering how much traffic noise you can actually hear?
It's set back about 5 metres I'd guess? But it's the main road into the little city. Having viewed in lockdown I think we totally didn't appreciate how bad it is
OP posts:
Mantlemoose · 30/10/2021 18:20

I would never ever move from a detached to a semi

Original poster
moveblues · 30/10/2021 18:46

@Mantlemoose

I would never ever move from a detached to a semi
Interesting! Do you live in a detached ?
OP posts:
RacketeerRalph · 30/10/2021 19:23

You want the semi.

I've loved in both and honestly, the location and the house being what I want have been much bigger factors. You can get bad neighbors anywhere - the detached house across from one of our semis was awful, screaming shouting and door slamming, engines revving at all hours. Yes it would have been worse if they'd been our attached neighbors, but still!

PumpkinsandTea · 30/10/2021 20:02

This is our floor plan. SPACE IS EVERYTHING

Moving from detached to semi (same price)
PumpkinsandTea · 30/10/2021 20:03

We have none whatsoever, as you can see!

PumpkinsandTea · 30/10/2021 20:04

Oh and we live in a (new build) semi and never hear a sound from next door!

CovidCorvid · 30/10/2021 20:13

I think you’d be mad to move to a semi, especially one with the master bedrooms next to each other….you run the risk of being able to hear them snoring, shagging, etc. Your bed heads could be inches apart.

I live in a halls together Edwardian semi and next door are loud. Their living room is at the far side of their house and I can be in my bedroom upstairs at the far side of my house and still hear their tv! He shouts on the phone and I can hear his conversations word for word. And as for their music playing volume!

Original poster
moveblues · 30/10/2021 20:26

This is really interesting in terms of which noises affect people. I mean don't get me wrong, loud arguing or shagging would drive us round the bend, but I'd turn my music well up and have words the next day.

Unfortunately the road noise means that when we go to sleep we need to wear ear plugs and have 'sleep music' on :( it's really dull. I like to be tuned into my senses (this is quite a core value of mine), but here I can't be. Even then I am often awakened by the vibration the house makes when an hgv goes past at around 40 mph. I sleep roughly 6 hours a night, I have no kids. In my previous house it was 7.5ish roughly.

On reflection today DH and I realised that when we were looking at houses, we never looked for a detached. We just happened upon this and saw detached as an added bonus. I'd forgotten this but maybe this is part of my answer.

OP posts:
Original poster
moveblues · 30/10/2021 20:31

Again thinking about this, I can count about 10-15 times neighbour noise has irked me. Twice where it's disturbed us in some significant way. Maybe just lucky.
But we've lived here 8 months, and the road noise is nightly!
Being detached it actually seems louder as the noise wraps around the house
We are sleeping in the back bedroom (not the master room) but ... still
I think the problem is our houses location rather than semi vs not.

OP posts:
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