Help me choose a house! Urgent!

[Chesthairlikekingkong]

We are downsizing for financial reasons, two young children, pets who need an outdoor space (so not most flats). We cannot borrow anymore due to financial commitments, and the bank won't let us.
We have to live in an expensive area for work and school.
A three bed semi with garden in a nice area is just not gunna pop up, even in a shit part of this area, they just don't come up.
I have to get a move on as we are at risk of losing our buyers. We have been waiting for something perfect but have come to the realisation that perfect doesn't exist on our budget.
Option 1:
Bungalow with two beds and a loft space. It's basically a half completed renovation. In our dream area. Very Small bedrooms and weird layout, which could be changed if we could bash down a room. Quiet road and nice residential street. Back garden is small but workable and pretty outlook. Unlikely to be able to extend.
We would be able to save a lot on mortgage payments but would have to spend on ongoing building work. I am not practical so this will have to be outsourced.

Option 2: sprawling three bed in crap area. Not rough but soulless. Not near anything except a run down corner shop. 20 minutes drive to school and work (we can walk from option 1 to both) crap buses for DP. HOWEVER! Huge rooms and garden. Nice decor. Good street, very quiet and pro social neighbours. Lovely outbuildings and annex thing which will be useful for guests.

Help, which one? Or neither?

I. M

Oh god that second one is just awful. I love the bungalow - there are things to be finished for sure and options to enhance eg the area under the stairs.

Having moved out of a lovely urban area into a more suburban place for the space, I'd go for option 1. Years later I still hate having to do so much driving (although the additional garden space has been great in lockdown times).

However... option 1 looks like a half finished renovation. Would be well worth getting the paperwork and legal side of it checked out- whether there are any outstanding building standards certificates, for example. Also worth watching the loft conversion as there are restrictions on ceiling heights and fire escapes if it's a bedroom. Worth getting it all checked out to make sure that mortgages are achievable.

1

Option 2.

Option 1 needs far too much work. Don’t buy something that needs so much work when you’re in financial difficulties when the price of materials is so high - you’re signing a blank cheque.

@Mirabai we would have 20k to do up option 1 if we went ahead

I wouldn’t personally go for either.

The phrases “unofficial partial loft conversion” and “sold as seen” sound like big red flags to me - and if they’re the kind of owners who do unofficial conversions, I’d expect that there are loads of other short cuts, eg dodgy plumbing, electrics, heating etc etc….

Did the loft need planning permission? I’d definitely want to either visit with a builder, to get an idea of costs of finishing the loft and correcting anything not compliant with building regs, and/or get a v good survey.

I’d also want to quiz the estate agent as to why they are selling part way through building work. That also seems pretty sus, unless there is a really good explanation. And if the agent is vague or says they don’t know, then I would guess it’s not a good reason, eg they ran out of money, or the council is on to them and they’ve realised they don’t have the ££ to rectify the loft conversion.

@Wigeon there is a good reason. The lady lived in a flat and bought the bungalow to do up to move into as she got older. She then got robbed by the builders half way through the building work. She now doesn't have the money to continue with it and pay for her flat. My query is why didn't she move into

So it’s been done by cowboy builders. You’ve no idea what you’re buying - things like dodgy electrics and plumbing won’t necessarily show up on a survey. Did they get building reg approval? (You don’t need pp for a loft)

@Mirabai it's a terrible decision isn't it?

Option 1 is hideous and quite run down. I would be terrified of what’s wrong with it besides the obvious. And even with money to attempt to fix it, it’s just tiny isn’t it? Barely enough room to turn around without hitting a wall for one person, let alone a family of four! With two kids plus pets it would feel terribly claustrophobic.

Option 2 is ugly as sin on the outside and looks like it was decorated by blind lemurs on the inside but it does look quite solid and well-kept compared to the other. It has the space your children and pets need and new paint and wallpaper are much cheaper and DIY-able than whatever trainwreck is hiding in option 1.

So ideally I’d keep looking but if it must be one of those then option 2 seems smarter and safer than the closet-sized can of worms.

Yes it’s a terrible decision. I’ve been where you are considered offering on a place that needed a shit ton of work out of desperation. Don’t take on something that will give you more difficulties than you already have.

Having looked again at the description and photos, I wouldn't be comfortable entering into 1 with as little as £20k for work- I'd want at least double that to hand as a minimum.

In the photo of the room with the stairs, if that's the bottom of the stairs (i.e if the come out in that room), I'd wonder whether there's enough space at the bottom of them, and if they might need to be redone it's not a good start....

This. It looks dodgy as hell. I wouldn’t touch it.

Buy the one you're viewing tomorrow OP. It's the best of a bad bunch

I think the problem is that I've been looking since October! I need to face reality which is that 300k won't get you something perfect in Bs16, BS5 or bs7 these days. It's what I'm willing to compromise in which is what I'm struggling to decide on.

@LordSugarTits I really don't like forest road though, no parking and it's busy/ noisy.

If that’s all there is on offer - could you bear to move to a village outside Bristol, change schools and commute in?

Option 1 every time. Proximity to school/work is top of my list. I did the driving to schoola for years, big mistake.

I'd choose option 2 in this situation
Option 1 is I suspect a can of worms. Sold as seen, suitable for DIY professionals, unofficial loft conversion, who I guess means it won't meet building regs so you won't get the added value of a legitimate bedroom. I reckon will turn out to be a very expensive mistake if you do buy it.
The council house would look so much better just by painting the outside, and people will always want to buy them, those old ones are usually solidly built with a decent size garden.

It's not just the commute, I love everything about where I live (fishponds). I love the community, the schools, the people.

Option 2. 1 is too small, and you could be there still in 10 yrs with teenagers sharing a tiny room.

Bristol had massive price inflation which is now going into reverse. Wait for 6 or 12 months in rental, and something better might come up, especially if you go on the books of all EAs and leaflet. Or look at alternatives, like a well maintained and more central lower groundfloor garden flat.

If 300k, houses like this should be in your budget
www.oceanhome.co.uk/properties/16346833/sales