Buying house - garden size

[ParentingDiscussions]

Hi,

Looking for some suggestions on considerations related to the garden size of a property.

We are looking to buy a house and we have viewed two in the same location - similarly priced and similar area (sq ft).

One has smaller garden (c. 70ft) but well-maintained property and garden. We are worried that after extension of 20 ft or so, the garden size may not look proportional to the property size of 5/6 bedrooms and may affect the desirability of the property when we eventually sell it a few years later.

The other property has bigger garden (over 100 ft ) but it is in need of some maintenance (I expect c. £20k to £30k) to get to same standard as the first one. I am not sure if it is worth paying extra for additional length of the garden as the extension in both property is likely to be of similar size.

20 - 30k for ‘some maintenance’?
I reckon you need to shop around! Can you not do it yourself over time? If you’re going to be there for some time, does the garden have to be perfect right away?

Personally I'd go for the 2nd as you'll find things with the first that need work when you get there. 3 days lost move we noticed lots. I'd rather be in that position with a longer garden! This assumes you can afford to spend the extra doing the work, of course. Providing you plan to stay there a good few years and you don't hate gardening, go for the longer garden!

I was going to say the same as spotcheck
Plus, if you are extending out into the garden, then surely both / either garden will need some love and attention after being a building site for a few months ?

20-30k in maintenance for the house or the garden?

surely having an extension built is going to massively trash or at least damage the lovely garden anyway

Thank you all for your replies, very helpful perspectives.

£20-£30K for the house (a couple of things broken, flooring needs work and painting) and the garden (not maintained at all).

You’re going to do extensive building work to either house. So pick the one with the larger garden and budget accordingly as you extend and renovate.

I have a 100ft long garden, though no extension and in all honesty it’s too big. We don’t use two thirds of it. It’s just grass to mow. I hate gardening. I had visions of Dd running about in it when she was a kid and she turned out to be a computer geek, I genuinely doubt she went into the garden more than 5 times a year!

Our garden is over 100ft one of the selling points of this house for me, but it's so much work to keep it looking nice, when we moved in the house was awful and the garden was beautiful, we've done a lot of work to improve the house and now the garden is just ok. The previous owner was a retired widower, I didn't realise how much time he put into the garden! I kept it up pre DS but now it has a little tikes castle, a swing, a bald patch at the bottom of the slide, an undefeatable tide of weeds...
It's great for DS and the cat though

Some people prefer smaller gardens (less work) so a 50ft garden with a 5 bed house wouldn’t be an issue. Pick the house you prefer.
I wouldn’t put in 6 bedrooms though - that is making the house niche thus harder to sell than a 5 bed

For me 50ft is too small for a large family house