Location or size??

[Houseiknownot]

Please help me decide which house to go with.

House 1 is larger 4 decent size rooms. Large kitchen/diner and utility with small pantry. Good size garden. 3 bathrooms. Playroom. In a busy town.

House 2 is 10 minutes from busy town. Smaller house overall. Still 4 bed but rooms are smaller than house 1. Smaller kitchen. Beautiful garden with countryside views. No playroom.

We have primary age children if it makes a difference.

As I keep having to remind DH - location matters more than size.

Location wins.

House 2, if you prefer the location. You could extend the kitchen.

I infer that you like the location of number 2 more? Though, for me, number 1 actually wins on both counts - bigger house and near all your conveniences. But I am biased as I would never consider not living in a city.

We're looking too right now, and the question we ask ourselves is: will this house work for us when our primary aged children are in secondary school.

I think that you guys need to answer the same question, unless you intend to move again? So for example, will the smaller rooms be adequate when your children are adult-sized people. A playroom can become a teen hangout and will you wish you had that in the future. Will shuttling your kids around everywhere because they are a bit remote be the lifestyle you want - or will you wish they could get themselves about safely in the winter / dark.

Those answers could really help you make your decision.

Good luck - the housing market is tough right now!

I think buying a house is always about compromising somewhere, so if you decided the extra inside space was more important/desirable for your current circumstances than a pretty location then that's the best one for you. If your DC are quite young, when they're older you might find if you decided on the second place that you're constantly driving them into the town to meet their friends rather than them being able to make their own way. We found that quite a hassle sometimes as ours got older - we had moved out of the town to get a fairly big garden for them to play in with only neighbours each side and there's good gaps between the houses. It's on a road that gets quite busy in the morning and evening on weekdays and that was our compromise due to budget. We're still here 25 years on so I think we did the right thing for our family!

Do you think you are gardeners or otherwise outdoorsy people? If not, what would be the point of the bigger space for you?

And I love my pantry.

House 1

Personally I think house one sounds better for day to day living. But if you way prefer the location of house 2 then I do think that's a major factor. Depends if you dislike location one or just not quite as good!

Which one is closer to good schools? Is there parking? Does house 2 have any amenities in walking distance? Do you like gardening?

for me house 1, more space and closer to amenities.