House or location - help us choose pls

[Magnoliabakery]

Looking for experiences please from anyone who’s been a similar situation.

We currently live 20 mins away from our kid’s schools and are deciding between two properties we love, for different reasons.

property 1- 20 year old property,

pros: lovely 50ft mature south facing garden, really nice cul de sac, en suite, downstairs toilet, main bathroom, utility for 2 appliances, good condition & cared for by current owners, 10-15 mins walk from school or 3 min drive.Garage conversion already done. Driveway for 2/3 cars side by side

cons: has just enough space for now but bedroom 4 would feel small over time for DC3 , study/playroom would be combined (we both WFH part of the week, so need office space), we could afford to refit a
kitchen diner with space for existing American fridge freezer, but would need to wait at least 2years to finance it, & there may be an option to do a loft conversion but no neighbours on that side of road/same house type have done so …… also no garage for storage

property 2- new build

pros: also in a nice part of town (5 mins drive from property 1), can select everything as at start of build phase, 50ft south facing non-landscaped garden, nice plot on tree lined road, large en suite plus dressing area, 3additional bedrooms, plus study, plus playroom/spare room space, energy efficient, garage, 2 bathrooms in addition to En suite plus downstairs ’lootility’, 5 min drive to school, already had the kitchen diner we prefer

cons - lootility would need to be reconfigured to accommodate our 2 appliances, can’t realistically walk to school (would be 30mins walk), could have big fridge in house but wouldn’t ‘fit’ with the styling of the kitchen, would be restricted to the kitchens available with developer which are fine but not my 100% first choices, don’t know the neighbours as all new, developer advises ‘they’re like minded’

both houses are equidistant to amenities etc

have you been ina similar situation before choosing between a new build and a liveable but still a ‘project’ house

Moving will significant up our budget so we really want to be sure we can stay out for at least 7-10 years.

The kids are mid teen, tween and early years.

thanks in advance for you help!

Against the tide I would go for the bigger house - a 30 minute walk to school is fine and I personally value the extra space more than being closer to school - I think you will be glad of the extra space with 3 kids. Plus the garage for storage. I also prefer new builds because I like the idea of not having to do anything when you move in but that may not appeal to you so much! House 3 sounds like it might be a decent compromise especially if you’ve admired it from afar for years!

Option 3, you could make a kitchen diner easily by going into the current study. Then use current diner as a study or extra guest room etc.

House A because of the proximity to school, so you will always be able to get there.

@ChessieFL the ease does appeal to us, as we are also building a house overseas and I think 2 house projects might be too much energy and £ wise! We like the idea of a pretty much fixed cost with interest rates being the only surprise for a While.

we like the though of walking to school but honestly wouldn’t much of time Due to having to get to work etc.

@DrRuthGalloway we could but not sure it would give us much more space tbh..

if I could move past my desire for a kitchen diner then option 3 would win. Other point is that option 1&2 are chain free, option 3 is bound to be tricksy as this house been up for sale a few times in recent years and fallen through due to the sellers not finding something they like. I’m fearful that they will scupper our chain!

House three has a good layout. Would incorporating the study into the kitchen give enough room for a kitchen diner? Cheaper and less work to do than moving a lootility (never heard it called that before)

Given all that I would definitely go for House B. Another reason we prefer new builds is the reduced risk of chains failing! And if you’re likely to drive to school anyway then it doesn’t matter being a bit further away.

@ChessieFL i do value space and an easy life right now. 6 min drive following years of a 20-25 min drive will feel like a dream and DD could walk to tennis which she does 2/3 times a week..

hubby leaving towards having a. Dedicated snug/playroom and office from day one…

chain anxiety is real too!

The third option is really do able.

knock out the utility for a kitchen dinner -

keep the front room as an office/playroom/ overnight guest room

@Threetulips could work if we had the kitchen opening into the hallway.

@longtompot study wouldn’t quite do it because of the shape and we’ve been advised that knocking outwards would be a lot more costly than it looks because of a drain/positioning outside… 🙈

Just thought I’d pop back to say thanks for your thoughts! We put an offer in on house no 1 and it was accepted so fingers crossed for a smooth start to a new adventure !

Congrats OP. I hope it all goes well.