Which House Would You Buy?

[Independant]

DP and I have sold our house and currently looking for our next (potentially forever) home.

We have one DS who is 2 in January and would like to star TTC this time next year.

We’ve got two houses that we are both interested in. Both houses we both really like but DP prefers one and I prefer the other (typical!)

House A - DP prefers this house:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107852696#/?channel=RES_BUY

Great semi-rural location
3 good size bedrooms
Large garden and great dog walks on the doorstep
Great schools nearby
Close enough to both sets of parents
Still within reach of friends
Will need a second car to get to work

House B (the house I prefer)

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/115529915#/?channel=RES_BUY

20k cheaper
Looks more appealing / pretty
Detached
Garage
3 bedrooms (but one is a box room)
Big garden
Not as great location
Still within catchment of great schools
Parents / friends still relatively close by
Would need second car
Needs a bit of cosmetic work (old person has lived in it)

We feel we could live in either house. We just can’t choose?!

Which one would you pick and why? Maybe you think of something we haven’t considered?

I think the first house that your DP likes. Much more versatile. Just needs a lot of painting, as its a bit green and woody. But look at the garden and the space you'd have, eat in kitchen etc. Plus its got a great outlook of fields and in the better location. No brainer for me.

Also, and without knowing the areas, I think if you're planning a baby the location of B is better as you're closer to doctors, shops, chidren's centres and more families with babies.

Don't like house B at all. Box room and what looks like a small kitchen. That may be resolvable but hard to tell from a picture.

House A looks better to me with spacious rooms. But with the loft converted and a conservatory on the back you have no room for expansion in the future.

@stingofthebutterfly yep, that’s right. There is a door separating the staircase from the hallway at the bottom.

Definitely house B. I'd hate having to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen in house A, house B has all the downstairs rooms off the hall. House B just feels so much nicer, and don't underestimate a box room, loads of children love having small rooms and you have the bonus of loft storage space too

For me it would be house B. Then I'd put an attic room in and have 4 bed. You could even extend the extension. House A too limited and you would be looking to move in 5 years as your children get bigger

House B but only if you have the cash to modernise it and change the kitchen layout (possibly knock through a wall). The box room... would you have money to extend upstairs over the kitchen extension in the future?

As someone who knows the areas and lives locally I would say A. While I do agree it looks a little unloved, I think it has more potential at a lower coat overall - assuming there are no real horrors hidden there. And the area is way better. Newthorpe is NOT a village as someone described it - it's just suburbia. A is nearer shops, nicer parks and better schools - a better area overall imo. Unless the survey showed a nightmare with A I'd have no hesitation in going with it,

@WickedWitchOfTheTrent

My head says A, heart says B

Yes, this.

OP I think neither are quite right for you. House A looks scruffy and costly. In House B that box room is just too small. Wait for House C to turn up, won’t be long.

@coffeerevelsrock thanks. We are local-ish to both areas but don’t know either very well so it is nice to hear comments on the area from people who know it! We are viewing both houses again on Tuesday so hopefully after another look we will make a decision. X

Keep looking or wait until spring if you can. I don’t think either are right for you.

B is detached and has more kerb appeal, but A is better in all other respects. B would need a lot of work.

Looking at then again, I really don't like House A and think it would be more difficult to adapt for future requirements (plus as others have said, do you really want to be on a different floor to young dcs?). House B "feels" better to me with more potential for changes as and when you want them at a later date - but fine for the moment with just paint and carpets.

I'm a great believer in the "feel" of a house (which is not about whether it looks the prettiest): if neither you nor your dh can agree on which house feels better when you visit again on Tuesday, then you probably need to find House C

Bit late to the party here but it’s a no brainer for me, house B has so much curb appeal, loads more potential for adding value and £20k towards it! I’m not familiar with the area at all though, but I’ve never seen a bad 30s style street etc

House a

House B - because it is detached which is priceless. Also it's a lovely 1930s house. They have not kept the original stained glass window bits, but it's still lovely. I would pay a lot more for house B than house A.

No brainer, house B. Its detached, chain free & has potential for extension or loft conversion, which is no doubt more affordable there than where I live. House A needs complete redecoration & unfinished jobs finished off. Could easily spend 10K on that. Plus its a semi so could have shit neighbours. If you've ever had noisy neighbours you'd never consider paying more money on a semi to risk that if a detached house is available.

OMG the OP's thread is making me cry. I think I should move to Nottingham. My budget is £600k and I cannot find anything like this

What way do the back gardens face ?
A deal breaker for me.
A sunny back garden is a top priority for me.

House A is now under offer, so hopefully OP had a fruitfull Tuesday... I would have gone house B though

Same @areyouhavingagiraffe
For those prices, I couldn’t even get a studio flat where I am :-(
Anything like the houses in those links is between 750-1M near me.
Can’t wait to move out of London!!!

On another note, house A is under offer anyway. Hope OP decided on house B in the end!

House A no brainer

Update!
We went to see both houses yesterday.
House A we saw for the first time (due to PB cancelling our other viewings!)
House B was second viewing.

House A = absolutely no way. Everything was bodge-job (kitchen cupboard doors all fit wonky, no space for plumbing for washing machine, couldn’t even locate boiler and couldn’t find a thermostat?!)

We are putting in an offer on House B today because we have just fallen in love with the garden - the photos don’t do it justice. IF our offer is accepted (the vendors have had multiple offers … sob!) we will knock down the wall between box room and master bedroom as it is a stud wall (from what we can gather - will get it checked out properly of course!) and put wall back up taking some space from the master to make box room a bit bigger for a short term fix. Then in a few years maybe pay for extension or loft conversion.

I am just very nervous now about the offer stage especially as the house has had so much interest. Hoping I can pitch us as the best buyers! X

@shrugitoff both gardens south facing I believe. House A garden no where near as big as photos make it look.

House A garden goes on forever and is gorgeous x

I hope you get it.

I wouldn't bother moving the wall, it will be lots of mess and cost for a temporary solution. Save that money and do the loft when a new baby is on or way or in its first year.

That's great if they are both south facing.
Check it out.
You say Garden A is no where near as big as photos make it look.
Then you say Garden A goes on forever and is gorgeous.
I presume you mean Garden B.

Best of luck with your offer.