House Dilemma: Which One?

[whichhousetogofor]

We’re a family of 4. Husband drives. I can’t. We have 3 year old twins.

Which house would you go for?

House One:

+Stunning period property on a beautiful tree lined street
+Close to a train station (for my work/days out with the twins)
+Big park nearby
+I know the area well and it has a lovely friend feel to it
+Had recent renovation and is in turnkey condition
+Has a cute little garden at the back
+13 min drive to twins nursery
+outstanding primary and secondary schools locally
-Has had subsidence issues in the recent past (hence stunning condition within)
-Has small rooms and would need an extension at some point in the next couple of years
-Mid terrace with no allocated parking
-No gym nearby

Overall size: 1035sqft
Price: £670K

House Two

+Close to a train station and a local gym and swimming pool (I need the exercise)
+Mid-terrace with allocated parking for husbands car
+Townhouse
+Bigger than house one
+Better layout of rooms and more storage
+Two bathrooms
-Tiny paved yard at the back and similar to the front
-22 min drive to twins nursery
-Lower ceilings
-Tiny play area close by
-/+ no community feel to the area. Everyone always ferries their children around in cars to places outside the area for entertainment
-/+The ugliest house (mid terrace) on a beautiful street of multi-million pound houses
-/+ good schools locally

Overall size: 1085sqft
Price: £655K

I wouldn't buy either of them.

Why?

Nursery commute- irrelevant
Parking really important as well as community feel.

house 1 I think on balance but how difficult is it to get a parking space??

I don’t think either of them as they both have significant negatives.

I wouldn’t buy any house for less than £1 million..

🤣

No 1 has no parking and subsidence issues. No 2 has no garden and you have children.

B I think, allocated parking, better layout and storage.
Gym nearby is good too esp if you don't drive.

How hard is it to park with house 1?

Who drops the twins off at nursery?

How often would you realistically use the gym/pool?

How small are the ‘small’ rooms?

I'd go for House 1 out of the 2. Is the subsistence totally fixed on house 1? When you say "needs" an extension, how much of a need is it vs a "like to have", neither sound like big houses for a family of 4 TBH, how many bedrooms are there? Have you roughly priced up the cost of doing the extension on House 1 and will you be able to afford it in a few years and will it 'pay for itself' in terms of value on the house? Is there space for a sufficient extension or will it massively compromise the garden?

If its intended as a short-medium term solution rather than forever, I'd go for House 1, get the kids into the outstanding schools and then look to move slightly further out for cheaper prices, or just move slightly further out now, must be central London or somewhere equivalently expensive at those prices?

House 1 - but check out the subsidence has been completely sorted. The townhouse sounds awful with a tiny paved yard, no community feel which is so important when you have children I think, plus everyone drives everywhere!
Is this likely to be your forever home, OP?
Can you upload floor plans so we can give you more definitive advice?

Have you done insurance quotes for house 1?

If I had to choose between only those 2 then probably house 1 as long as the subsidence was completely fixed and insurance wasn’t astronomical.

I’m not keen on townhouses, they always seem out of balance and no garden with 2 small children would put me off.

From your descriptions, no 1 is your heart house, and no 2 is your head house. One your love, and one you feel is more suitable.

Option 3 - wait until another house comes on the market.

how well does the walk / bus trip to nursery work for either? or will you learn to drive? otherwise you are v dependent on DH for the nursery trips.

I think house 1 is probably the better option but only if you are 100% sure that the subsidence issues are 100% fixed and it will not cost $$$ to insure it.