Which house to buy?

[Whoevenknows79]

We’ve been house hunting for a while and have finally got to the stage where we’re trying to decide between two places — but my head is spinning a bit!

House 1:
We initially dismissed this one as overpriced, but after it didn’t sell for a few weeks we went to see it and managed to negotiate a lower offer, which has now been accepted. It’s still over budget, but technically doable. It’s not that we can’t afford it — more that we want to keep a good amount of disposable income for holidays, meals out, etc., and not feel stretched.
The house itself is lovely — done up in the last five years, so not much to do cosmetically. However, it will need new windows throughout and possibly new electrics, which is a bit annoying as it’ll add cost and probably mess up some of the decor. The survey also uncovered some issues with damp and the roof which will need to be sorted.

House 2:
This one has just come on the market and has made us question everything! It’s very similar in layout and size (same number of bedrooms, slightly better-shaped rooms, a small ensuite in the master and an extra toilet). The living room and dining room haven’t been knocked through, but both are a good size, and there’s an extra reception room too.
The downsides are that the garden is sloped (though could be reprofiled a bit), and it’s generally more dated. That said, it’s been really well looked after and is totally liveable as-is, so we could do work gradually. It’s also £105k cheaper than House 1 — and I know the sellers have found somewhere, so they might be open to an even lower offer.
It’s only a 5-minute walk from our son’s school, which is another big plus.
If House 1 didn’t exist, we’d definitely be offering on House 2. But now I’m torn — House 1 is gorgeous and ready to move into, but I worry about hidden issues and how tight the budget will feel. House 2 would leave us with a lot more breathing space financially, but it will be a lot of DIY and might never feel quite as “nice”.
We’ve got a 4-year-old, so we’re trying to think practically as well as long-term.
What would you do? Go for the done house that’s a bit of a stretch, or the cheaper one that needs work but gives more financial freedom?

What to do?

House 1 isn't ready to move into if it needs new windows, electrical work, has damp and roofing issues. Just because it looks pretty it doesn't mean there isn't work to do. I'd go for house 2 with that price difference you can do whatever you like to it

I would choose House 2 even if it was the same price as House 1!

Surely you don’t want to be taken in by the presentation of house one. It sounds like a bit of a nightmare to me.

DEFINITELY HOUSE TWO

Sorry to shout but I feel strongly!!

Sounds like house two might be the better option for you especially regarding the survey issues with house one.
If you choose house 2, I think you then need to fully commit, turn off the right move alerts etc

Also, can we have links please, it's more fun to be nosy we can give better advice when there are pictures.

House 2 sounds better from your description. However, you should work out how much it will cost to get each house up to scratch. Will house 2 cost more than £100k to get to the current state of house 1? How much will new windows, electrics, roof fixing and damp cost?

I think I've made house 1 sound worse than it is. Both houses need new windows, though house 1 needs them more urgently. The roof issues are not major. We've had the damp looked into and again it's not major and we will ask them to cover this if we go ahead. It has a lovely big and flat garden which is south facing and would be perfect for our son and entertaining. We love a BBQ.

I'd love to share them, but can't risk outing myself.

Why such a strong feeling?

But house 1 is top of budget and needs LOADS of work. Expensive work.

Team House 2

See my second post. Also....damp? Noooo! Don't buy!

How old are the windows in house one?

Red flags everywhere! House 1 could easily become a money pit, the cosmetic stuff done without dealing with structural problems. Pull out and grab house 2 is my advice.

That's what my gut say. As I don't get why they didn't start with the structural stuff. They have done a lot of work! But it looks amazing and even when done has things house 2 won't. Like the flat south facing garden. I always go safe and I guess on some ways my heart wants the first one. The second one is so well looked after. Fully boarded loft, clean gutters. I guess it feels safer. But this is a long term house. I want to love it.

House 2.

You may live house 1 now, bit you will love house 2 more when it has your stamp. It sounds as like.it has been way better maintained (fewer nasty surprises) too. We went for #2 in a similar situation and I havw zero regrets.

Then buy house 1 but do it with open eyes. The structural work will be messy and expensive and may damage some of the decor you love. But eventually you will have the house and garden you long for.

House 2.

The important things that you cannot change (other than the garden) sound right for you. Decor can be changed slowly over time and you can put your own mark on it.

House no 2.

I wouldn’t buy a house with a sloped garden with young DC. Been there, done that. Guess it depends how much, it any, flat part there is.

House 2

Depends how sloped - There are things you can do.

Great for a water slide

Depending on what kind of windows you choose, that could be expensive in itself. Something like heritage UPVC (Residential 9, eg) is approx £30k for 12 windows. Quality aluminium is similar. Wood is more. Then every room will need making good and decorating (as I look around the room here now…)

If your budget is stretched just to buy the place, how are you going to find the work that needs doing? Damp would worry me greatly.

House 2 for me.

The garden is about 120ft, it has flat decking, then a slightly sloped area which is probably 60ft which we would look to level further, then there is another flatish bit followed by a fairly steep slope, at the top of which they have a shed and greenhouse. There are definitely things we could do to improve it. We currently have a tiered garden which is much smaller so it would still be an improvement. I've budgeted about 15k for windows. When I say it's top of budget, it's not that we will be financially stretched in that we will struggle to pay our bills. We will still have savings, but if costs rocket we will have to tighten up on other things like holidays and eating out, which we enjoy.

Hmmm not sure I'm 100% with the consensus, I love a garden and a flat south facer with a 4 year old would be amazing. I bought our current house based on the garden and the house footprint. Mine was a fixer upper like house 2 though and my DC was 4 when we moved in. Fixing up with a 4 year old is no cake walk so be prepared for it to be more challenging than you bargained for (currently ripping out the kitchen 4 weeks into what is turning into a 6 week+ project that I initially believed would take half the time)

Also you haven't surveyed property 2 yet, that could kick up some issues and landscaping a sloped garden could cost 10s of thousands if you want to level it off.

Do a pros and cons list for both weighted by the most important at the top of the list.

For us location and street was top of the list, followed by square footage and garden. Decor didn't feature as we knew we could only get a fixer upper with the priority list we had on our budget. We didn't have loads of reno budget left so its going to be at least a 5 year project to get round the house. But I knew the bones of the house were good so I'm happy to be patient. Just a heads up reno work is VERY expensive compared to what I was spending on my first house pre pandemic.

Good luck OP xx

Property 2 is 5 minute walk to school - you will really appreciate that as time goes by.

Yep this take off the rose coloured glasses you have for house 1 as it certainly isn’t ready