Home purchase (England) - Advice

[PuniyaBastu]

Me and my husband are in the process of buying our next home. It would be an upsize as we have outgrown our current home. We have also managed to find a buyer for our current house through estate agents

Dilemma - We found a home we like. Its about 25 years old and would new floors, bathrooms, skimming and probably new boiler too. It needs work to be done to modernise it but is in excellent location that we absolutely love. Houses within our budget do not come on market often in this area and when they do, they get snapped real quick. There is a fair chance we can get this one. We love where it is and is best location of the suburb.

Just yesterday another house of a similar size but one less reception room came on market. Its 5% cheaper and only 6 years old. One can move in with their clothes and no need to spend even a penny as everything is brand new. It may not have the outlook or character of another house but is new. Its in a good location too but not as good as the other one. Garden is onlooking too.

Both houses are in the same catchment area of primary we were looking at but the new house is a bit further away and would require us to use car for both pick up and drop.

Sellers of newly built have found somewhere to purchase and can move out soon ( FWIW, they have tried selling this house before but didn't suceed. Once because of personal reasons they had to pull out and second time buyer pulled their offer).

Sellers of 25 year old house are looking for next home and haven't found anything yet

We are confused which one to go for. I know its a good problem to have but is killing us. Any suggestions or ideas that will help us to decide?

If you have kids, you will definitely appreciate the second reception room.

House prices in the UK are falling. How quickly do you need to secure a home? If you can afford to wait, you may find a house like the first one that needs no work in the future, for less money.

On the face of it I would prefer house 1 with the extra reception room, better location and ability not to use the car as much . It sounds like the garden may be better too, I personally hate being overlooked.

Do you feel sellers 1 are committed to moving ? Do you have the funds available to do the work needed and if not are you happy to wait ? (I would get boiler sorted). Which do you actually prefer?

Hi @PuniyaBastu
I would go for the 25 year old house, it has the extra reception room. Location sounds better than the other house. All the best in your decision x

I would think about appetite for all this work to make house 1 perfect and how long you will stay in this house. how urgently you need the work done on house 1 - it’s quite a long wait in my area for skilled tradesmen and prices are very high. 25 years isn’t that old, why does it need skimming (is it Artex?). New floors - laying carpet is one thing but are you pulling up old vinyl or tiles? Sometimes the subfloors are a problem.

If you think through in detail whether house 1 is worth the hassle then a decision to “settle” for house 2 should not end up in lingering regret. I feel you might always pine for house 2.

With kids I’d always look at how the space will work now and in 5 or 10 years, so I’d take the one with the best layout/ most flexible space / option to use the garden “as a room” . As kids get older they want more private space to escape to. We did a great garage conversion, well worth the money (although done pre-Covid so about half the price it would be now!).

Just fyi we found my almost-dream house in a perfect street in our perfect catchment but it had a couple of unforgivable flaws and in the end we settled for house #2 which had many undesirable qualities but a dream kitchen. I now love our house more than I could imagine; we have made it our own and one of its “flaws” (NE-facing) is now its biggest strength when it is naturally cool when I’m wfh and it's >30 degrees outside. Having kids puts a lot of wear and tear on a house I’d be less excited about making it beautiful and more about its practical, livable attributes over the medium term.

Thanks for the msgs. We have been saving for over a decade and have funds to do the repairs within 6 months of moving in.

Ceileings has arrex(no asbestos) which i am not a big fan of tbh amd carpets arebold. They would need to be stripped amd replaced in the entire house. Bathrooms would need to be done too but not immediately. Dated but functional in all aspects.

We have two kids 12 and 5 so any extra space would be good, I wholeheartedly agree. 25 year old house has its own driveway and garden isn't onlooking(this was a major criteria when we bought our current home).

Its going to be our last home before we retire. I might be looking more at the aesthetics of 25 year old house which are fabulous but also can't let go no hassle involved in 6 year old house everything is still new. 25 year old house would cost extra money for sure.

My husband is a competent DIYer and can arrange tradesman to do the work.

I would explore how cheap you could get house 2 for. If you can get it at a good price, that could be the decider.

You’re not desperate to buy it so you’re in an excellent position for hard bargaining.

House 1 sounds like a money pit. Gorgeous but will probably cost more than you imagine to put right. They always do.

House 1 sounds better in every way, house 2 may be decorated nicely but everything else about it is worse.

I'm a bit askance at the idea that a 25yo house needs "modernising" - makes me glad I prefer period property! But if you just mean that you'd want different colours/tiles etc, then I think that's an expense you'd incur sooner or later in either house if you're not planning to move again. Re the artex, there was a thread the other day about the cost of skimming artex ceilings and estimates varied wildly, but in an empty newly bought house, people seemed to think it wouldn't be prohibitive. So I think I'd stick with house 1 and get the extra space, better logistics and better garden tbh. If the whole point of the move is to move somewhere bigger, it makes no sense to pick the smaller house, to my mind. If you've got the money to do the work, then by definition the benefits of buying a house in turn-key condition are going to be shortlived.

House one on paper.
Can you arrange viewings on both this weekend?

Offer on your prefered, and try and delay an offer on second choice??