What’s more important - outside space or a house ready to go

[chunkymunkyy]

Two houses. One we’re supposed to be buying but the delays have been ridiculous, also very real possibility we’ll only get a possessory title for…

I’ve seen another house. I like it, it has a smaller garden but it actually has a self contained annexe and a garage. It has two bedrooms on the first floor and a large attic room. It had a utility, which is a must for me. It’s also £385k compared to £430k we’re paying for the other one. It’s done up nicely, mix of old and new and wouldn’t require any extensive renovations

The house we’re buying while on the outside looks better, has more outside space and a huge garden, we will have to extend the kitchen and also probably (if we can) do a loft conversion due to one of the 4 bedrooms being much smaller than the others. It will need fully modernising. It has a garage too.

We have 4 kids. One is my dsd who doesn’t come over alot but will need a room when she does want too. Two toddlers and a ds starting secondary.

Both houses are detached but the second one is on a street on the outskirts of town rather than a busy road into town like the first. We don’t care about the main road as the drive is big and the house is quite set back.

What would you do?

It depends if a big garden is your thing. The garden here is too big for me really and whilst it gives me scope to extend with the cost of everything I can't see it ever happening.

A large garden would have been great when the DC were small but as they got older they had no interest in even the smaller gardens I had.

Are you really going to buy a house with an annexe, so that a step daughter can sleep there on occasion ?
how often does she come over now

would you buy it if there wasn't a step daughter

would you use the annexe if there wasn't a step daughter

Whereas the other property seems to have more space on the ground floor - with 2 dining rooms one of which you could have as a playroom or a family room

and it appears to actually have 4 bedrooms upstairs

are the toddlers the same sex

and have you ever slept in an attic bedroom - they can get very hot / stuffy in summer, I would seriously have a professional air conditioning unit put in.

We bought a house with a lot of outside space but needed quite a bit of work doing to it. We liked the idea of having the big garden but in hindsight, I wish we'd gone for a more 'done' property and smaller outside space.

Unless you have loads of free time and are particularly enthusiastic about gardening, having a big garden is actually a massive pain in the arse. We've got huge trees that I worry about blowing over and long flowerbeds that never look tidy because they've always got loads of weeds. We can't afford a gardener because we're spending all our spare cash on doing the sodding house up. Outdoor space is overrated IMO. I'd rather have a small garden and be near a big forest or overlook loads of fields. At least then I wouldn't have to weed and mow them!

It would be house 1 for me all the way.

The second one has a poor layout. The plan is labelled attic rather than bedroom so that usually means that it’s not habitable for building regs purposes.

I wouldn't trust EAs - they may have worded it carefully.

Well the annexe could also be used as dh office aswell so it wouldn’t be a wasted space. Air con wouldn’t be a problem with my dh!!

I am torn though because the first house has alot more potential to really make it our own and it has original windows and flooring etc, these are the things that made me fall in love with it in the first place !

I wouldn't touch house 1 because of the possessory title.

I don't like the floorplan of house 2 for a large family and attic may not have building regs.

I wouldn’t touch either of them. The legal issues with house 1 would be a no, although without them, that’s the house I’d go for. House 2 is not big enough for your family, I wouldn’t want to sleep on a different floor to my young children.

I think you need to keep looking.

Hi, what is it about possessory with indemnity insurance that puts you off? Bear in mind the elderly couple have been in this house since the 50’s and their solicitors lost their original deeds, they do have copies.

I’d go for the house with the bigger garden and potential. You can always renovate and change things over time but you can never build more space. Summers are getting warmer (apparently) so outside space will be a valuable asset.

House 2, it's a no brainer! House 1 has too many issues.

I think unless you are a keen gardener I’d go for house 2. Big gardens are only useful if you love gardening and spending time in them, otherwise they are a liability. I also hate busy roads and getting work done at the moment is prohibitively expensive. I’d enjoy the smaller more done house with my kids and save the project for later. Being closer to town will also be useful as the kids get older.

I agree with most posters and would go for house 2. There is a lot to be said for ready to go. Also a better price. The occasionally "visiting" D can safely go in the annexe. Outside space has to be looked after and unless you are keen gardeners that means paying someone. Also the minor problem with the deeds of house 1. This is a no brainer for me.

Check the annex doesn't have its own council tax as you might end up paying 2 lots, we looked at a house with an annex then discovered we'd have to pay extra for it, if it's self contained it's classed as another dwelling.

How old is DSD? She may like to have the annexe to herself when she stays especially if it’s attached to the house and shes old enough for her BF to come with her and stay over?

Then either toddlers sharing and other room turn the walk in wardrobe into an office/study space for ds or as you planned and have it as 2 a joined bedrooms. And yes to you and DH in the attic.

I would also avoid house 1 due to possession order.

Of annexe is attached you could always changer into a bedroom/study/ bathroom space and remove the kitchen. Older 2 might appreciate their own space away from toddlers!

It sounds like you definitely prefer the second house and I can understand why, with some of the snags on the first — long process, possessory title — but comparing the two floor plans, I don’t really see how the second house stacks up against the first. There is so much more space in the first one, even without extending; surely you can just take the kitchen into the small dining room? You could convert part of the garage into a bedroom for DSD, instead of hoping the ‘attic room’ passes regs as a bedroom (and the fact they’ve labelled it as an attic room, not a bedroom, seems suspect).

I’d say go have a look at both again in person and think about which one really ‘fits’ your family, and where you see yourselves in the next decade or so. If you didn’t take the children before, you might do to see which one they seem to ‘belong’ in.

I personally would go for house 1 because house 2 looks cramped to me, the road sounds wonderful and now you’ve explained the possessory issue it sounds fixable. But that would rely on you really having enough money. Our house was supposed to be in decent condition when we bought it and I do absolutely love it. But we have spent a fuckton of money on it already, and we haven’t done anything major like extend - it needed new windows, more insulation, roof leak to fix, the bathroom was on last legs, the heating barely functioned, two doors didn’t close and I insisted on getting bespoke doors made because the house is so beautiful etc etc. We also have gardeners because we work long hours and want to enjoy the garden rather than slog in it. If you’ve got six figures to spunk on the house, go for it. If not, maybe you are over facing yourself.

I'd choose house 2 personally. Getting work done is incredibly expensive & it doesn't sound like your DH is going to tackle the big garden, but likes the idea of it? The other house being more done, the annex being available for dsd and eventually your secondary school age child, would be a plus point for me. The toddlers sharing isn't an issue & would be fine for a number of years yet, lots of children do share with siblings. Our DDs are 16, 14 & 8. We had a much bigger garden in our previous house, but it was overwhelming to sort out all the time. We have a smaller garden here, but have utilised it well & the kids have used it much more!

If HM Land Registry is only prepared to grant a possessory title and not absolute title it’s because they think the copy documents don’t provide evidence of ownership beyond doubt. If they are not satisfied I’m not sure you should be either. You would also likely have difficulty selling on unless you stayed put long enough to apply for an upgrade to the title. I wouldn’t be concerned buying a property where the garage or a bit of garden is only possessory, but I would be very cautious where it’s the whole house. Hopefully it’s priced according to the risk.

Will your husband assist with maintaining a large garden?

It's a lot of work. I love my garden and I do most of it but husband cuts the grass and does the heavy pruning.

You have to keep on top of them and with toddlers, that's not always easy. Is your husband a practical person or does he just like the idea of a garden?

What are we talking terms of garden for house two? Does it have a patio and enough grass you can put a slide on or have a sandpit in the corner?

How does it flow from the house? Can you see it/access it from the kitchen or living space? Same applies to number one.

Ideally as they get bigger you want to be able to keep a good eye on them without having to be out there every second.

Is DSD an adult or still at school/teenager as that makes a difference as to how much you factor her in.

House 1 looks better to me on paper, it's larger and has a more traditional layout and sounds like the location is lovely so may hold it's value better especially if you plan to extend/renovate. House number 2 I can't visualise room sizes as it's done in square metres but seems like it's quite top heavy? But you sound enthusiastic about house 2, are you just fed up of waiting/uncertainty on house 1 or do you genuinely think it's better?

The big point for me is finances. House number 1 with the higher purchase value and all the renovations and extensions is likely to cost at least £200k more over time, have high maintenance costs like gardening and take bags of energy. It sounds like it will ultimately be worth more (depending on ceiling price for the road) but can you afford it comfortably Vs house 2 which seems a smaller and simpler move and would free up spending for other things.

My bigger question is how did they manage to squeeze in this many rooms into 1300 sq.feet in house one.

House 1

house 2 looks small and badly laid out. Attic is labelled as attic rather than bedroom 3 which probably means it doesn’t have the right building regs to be used as a bedroom. No downstairs toilet, only one reception room.

house 1 looks more spacious, better layout, downstairs toilet and room to extend later if you wish to. One of the reception rooms could also be a room for DSD if she comes round, nice sofa bed, etc.

Im not going to post links but will attach some pics - this is house 1

And this is house 2