Focus on location or property?

[natura]

I'm currently renting in a town I absolutely adore, and my tenancy runs out in 4 months so I'm actively looking for a place to buy.

Right now I'm riverside, right next to some incredible walks and nature, which is really important to me, and I love my neighbours.

There's a flat in this street that's potentially coming on the market soon. It's ex-council and not my preferred style, but it's in the location I love.

On the other hand, there are also places coming up that are much more 'me' in the next village, a 15 minute drive away. They're not right 'in the green' like I am here, so walking out of my house into an environment I Iove won't be possible, but they're much more my style and around the same price.

What's more important – a property that looks and feels right, or a location that brings you joy?

(I'm aware that a 15-minute drive is virtually nothing, but it feels a long way when I'm currently right in the thick of everything I love!)

Location every time for me. And for resale-ability.

You won’t get in the car everyday to go out to the places that you enjoy. You’ll realise after a few days that you haven’t been heading out as much.

Id go location.

What I’m noticing more and more is that whilst people are put off “ex-council”, when you compare them to new builds, on cramped estates- with no verge between the pavement and the road, very little parking the expensive new build estates are just a bit shit.

Location
Every
Single
Time

Oh wow! This is really interesting; I thought there would be much more of a mix of opinions...

@Sagegreenduck the other properties I've been looking at aren't new builds, they're more 'little village house' properties, which I really love. I probably should have laid that out more clearly in my initial post.

It's a 3-bed, fairly boxy flat vs a 3-bed village cottage with stairs, a skylit sunroom and a little garden – so very different in terms of vibe and feel inside, and probably I'd be limited in the flat in terms of what I could do to change things up.

But you're right, I wouldn't get in the car every day to go for my walks... and I'm out by the river four or five times a day at the moment.

Sounds like your choice should be location.

Location, location, location.

I think there’s more to consider. Is the flat leasehold? That can put people off for resale.

Whats the location of the houses like? Clearly not by the river, but is it pleasant?

I’d normally say location too, but this time, I’m not sure. What you can do with a flat is limited and most people looking at flats are looking at 1 or 2 beds. A house is better for resale and, instead of walking by the river often, you might be out in the garden, sitting or gardening.

Location. It was the location which sold our current house to us nearly 30 years ago. We have been able to afford to extend and our neighbours have largely been great so we have been lucky, but nothing can beat our lovely surroundings.

In your circs as long as the flat isnt in dire condition
I'd say location...

@Bluevelvetsofa it's freehold, as far as I know. Not on the market at the moment, but (for reasons I can't go into) it's been empty now for 2 years and the owners are likely to sell at some point in the future. I'm hoping a warm, friendly letter through the door might help them move that date forward.

The thing is, these aren't my only options – it's not one or the other. More places will come up in time... I'm just worried that my tenancy will end and I'll have to leave here completely if I don't find somewhere to buy (there are very, very few rental properties here).

So I'm beginning to get twitchy!

I would say location, however, the caveat is that architectural style is important to me so given a choice I would go for a smaller beautiful property vs. an ugly bigger property.

Location. Flat might not be your ideal style, but over years you can make it into a home with your choice of furnishings, decoration, things like kitchen/bathroom when required.

I would keep your options open and see if something that ticks more of your boxes comes up.

Would it be possible to rent the flat with a view to buy later?

However, if the flat isn't suitable in terms of size and layout or general feel, and you can't do much to change it, there will always be an air of disappointment living there, no matter how much you enjoy the location.

Do you go out walking 5 times a day in the winter when it is cold, icy, grey and damp? Anywhere outside is nice in warm spring weather!

Architectural style is important to a lot of people, but not all can afford to prioritise it alongside other things! I live in a 70’s terrace house in a really lovely village in a perfect location. The rooms are great sizes and because it’s not one of the prettier houses, we could afford a place with a decent sized garden, which was more important to us.

I am always envious of the houses that are more my style, locally, but I couldn’t bring myself (or at the time, afford) to pay an extra 150-200k to get one of those. And living here was more important than a nicer house in a worse area (schools, transport reasons mostly).

We’ve leant in to the style where we can and gone mid century modern, tried to make it work for us.

Q for you - are you currently in a flat or a house? Will you be happy in a flat if you’re used to a house at the moment? We moved from flat to house when we made this move and, beautiful and well located as the flat had been, it was so good to be able to just walk out to the garden and have an upstairs! But if that’s not on your priority list then no worries!

@MagpiePi yes, I think that's wise.

I'm just starting to feel the pinch of an approaching 'deadline' and it's kicked me into 'do something' mode!

I am out lots in all weathers – I'm a forest guide and a bit of a walking fiend 😂

If you like the property you’re currently in, could you approach your current landlord to see if they’d sell to you?

I understand location taking priority as changes can be made to a property but with a flat you’re quite limited in that respect. So for me it would depend on likelihood of having to sell on in the future, if this is likely to be a short term move I’d probably go for the house as easier to change and/or sell on. If staying put you could always style the flat as you wish if you love the area.

I’d go for the house. I hate flats with a passion. Remember Covid times!! A beautiful ‘you’ house will will always get my vote over a flat, I now live in a lovely detached house in a village, after years of being able to hear my neighbours cough, its bliss!!

Location!!!! We bought a bungalow because it was on a lovely street central to town. A bungalow wouldn’t be our first choice but it’s a lovely plot and less than 5 mins to the shops in town.

This is 100% a personal call but I would pick the house over the flat. Having your own front door and a little garden of your own, and a house that you love is so wonderful to come home to. Why not park on that street and see what the walks are like around that area?
I used to live in a very desirable suburb with an amazing public green space forest walk 5 mins away from me. But the house wasn’t working for our growing family. We personally prioritised the House over the Location and bought a house with a huge garden in further away town (20 mins away from where we lived). I miss the amazing walks where we were but our quality of life with the space inside our house and in the garden is unbeatable for us. If our new house was in our old area it would have been on the market for 4 x times the price.
You also have a lot more privacy in a house versus a flat.

I think you need to lay out your must-haves in a property and then find those. You can then prioritise the location. Its easy to say location, location location but for me a flat would be a hard no, so that would knock it off consideration.

Location. With enough time and money, you can change just about everything about a flat, but you can't pick it up and move it somewhere else.

I would go with the cottage tbh.
For me it's always flat vs house with house being an absolute winner. I am not ever planning on dealing with share of freehold, leasholds and communal repair arguments...

I would choose the cottage over the flat. You will have to live in close proximity to your neighbour in a flat. I think the cottage would be much more relaxed and you won’t have to worry about making noises or upsetting your neighbour. I also think a cottage would have a better resale value.

You may struggle to complete before the 4 months is up anyway and that could be very stressful.
I'm assuming you're currently on a fixed term tenancy. I would suggest you just go onto a rolling tenancy, so don't sign another fixed term. You should check your contract, but you should then be on a 2 month notice at anytime.
This will give you much more flexibility in the buying process, which can be very unpredictable.

We currently live in a city which at the time was perfect for us work wise as it was only 10 minutes walk, now we have relocated for work we are moving a 15 minutes drive to a gorgeous green village location with acres and acres of surrounding fields, valleys and sweet little village shops. The new house is lovely inside but doesn’t have that kerb appeal although it’s not “ugly”. You can make a house a home. I’d choose location everytime. 15 minutes drive makes a huge difference in my opinion. Every weekend we drive at least 15 minutes from our city home to go for long walks in the countryside.