Which house (Poll)

[MetroCentric]

Looking for thoughts and all opinions gladly received. We are downsizing, for context. All houses are terraces; all on-street parking.

House A (cheapest): Nearest to work, nice area. 3 bedrooms but one too small to be of use. Huge master bed with en-suite. Small lounge with no hallway or porch (front door opens into lounge). OK kitchen-diner. Utility cellar. Small patio garden. No view. Main downside for me is smallness of lounge and lack of any hallway; also very little kerb appeal. Main pluses location and extra ensuite bathroom. Vacant possession, been languishing on the market.

House B (more expensive): Further away from work but still walkable, in prestigious area. Amazing views and semi-rural 'feel'. Has cottage type vibe. 3 beds but only one is a double, third is tiny. Really nice lounge with small vestibule so not opening onto street. Kitchen small but liveable - breakfast kitchen not kitchen diner. Lovely low maintenance garden that would be perfect for us. Storage cellar. Main downside is overall lack of space and vehicular access a nightmare up twisty unadopted mud track that will probably be unusable in winter. Driving however not a must as I can walk to work. Sellers' position unknown. Been on the market a month.

House C: Similar price as B. Much bigger house, 4 bedrooms with one that could be used as a 2nd living room. Only one with bona fide hallway and landing. Amazing, huge kitchen. Storage cellars and lots of built in cupboards. Small conservatory but this takes up almost all the outside space, you might just squeeze a couple of chairs in. 3 bathrooms including one ensuite. Furthest from work and in a less nice but still OK location, not a great walk there and back in the dark. Seller is a lady who is moving, she seemed very pleasant but she hasn't yet found anywhere to move to and I (possibly totally wrongly) got a slight flakey vibe from her. Been on the market about 4 months.

As you can see they all have different merits and demerits and I am really torn. Grateful for any views or any decision-making strategies I could use. Thank you.

What is your reason for downsizing? Do you need much space.

Who will be living there?

How many people are going to be living in the house? Does anyone work from home?

Your heart clearly wants B

Sounds like none are perfect. It’s a big purchase. Hold out for something more suitable. I think especially the third bedroom being big enough and a good location. I think you would regret house C on location.

@Newsenmum It will be just me and my husband. We are downsizing because our present house is too large for us - expensive Council Tax & utilities. I want to live more cheaply, release some equity and be in somewhere I will be able to afford on my very small pension when I (hopefully) retire in the next 10 years.

We do need some storage place but I am trying to declutter and get rid of as much stuff as I can, again to make life simpler as we age.

@MorganaKate I currently work from home 2 or 3 days a week. It's possible my employer might in the future mandate we come in more often. All three houses have potential office space, i.e. the third bedroom in each. I don't need a big office, just enough room for a desk.

@AlastheDaffodils B is certainly my 'picture perfect' house, I just worry about the practicality of it.

@FunnyOrca I have thought that but it seems unlikely that anything perfect will come onto the market within our price range, as, looking at the houses available in my area, I don't think one exists - we would have to go properly rural which I would definitely regret owing to the difficulty of getting to work.

Thank you for responses and votes!

Presuming you have off-street parking at the moment, are you happy to loose that?
Likewise moving to a terraced, are you currently detached?
Both those would be non-negotiable to me.

It does seem like you have made your choice already.🤫

From your wording you've fallen in love with B. But your work could change/move/redundancy etc. And it depends how old you are because if that house is seeing you into older ages the mud track and location could become problems compared to house A. You need a combination of something you like in a good long term area.

Yes, we are in a detached with a driveway. But I lived in Victorian and 1930s terraces for 12 years, then a 1920s semi for 8 years and I don't mind going back to a terrace. I preferred both the terraces to the semi, hence my choice. Our single car is old and small and will be OK on the road. The insurance might rise a bit but it's not very expensive due to small size of the car.

A tiny, old detached two up/two down type house would be nice but they are few and far between. Present house is modern and I hate it - I love old houses and I really regretted this one.

Just get B. Walking distance to work is a real blessing, and it sounds like a beautiful old house that will make you smile every time you come home.

B sounds lovely but then I'm into rural and cottagey

Is this your forever house which you will be living in as an aging person or will you be looking to move after retirement?

Obviously it depends when I am able to retire but the plan would be to live there until I retire and then another 15-20 years before eventually moving to some form of sheltered accommodation to see out my extreme old age, should I reach it.

@magicalmadmadamim and @AlastheDaffodils that's what my heart says but I am worried about letting my heart rule my head on such a major decision.

To me you have the best of both here. A house you love which is also walking distance to work. Sounds pretty perfect to me :)

Location and feel are the most important things for me so B was the obvious choice.

We have a similar unmade track as a drive. Would you own it or is it a right of way? If the latter you need to get it really pinned down who is responsible for maintenance.

It's definitely something I'd be checking out on the deeds, having lived on unadopted roads previously - in both cases before it was a shared responsibility amongst the residents - when something needed doing we all chipped in - as this is a terrace hopefully it wouldn't come down to a single owner but of course with older houses there can be all kinds of quirks in the deeds.

What does your DH think? You clearly love B. If he loves it too, then buy that.

DH is much more ambivalent about the whole thing, he actually seems to like A the best, but he considers things only from the view of cost and practicality - he doesn't seem to have a vision of a 'dream house' in terms of character and aesthetics. He is already retired so distance to work isn't a factor for him. He's leaving it to me to have the final say - he will go with what I want - I think if it was left to him he would go for A because it's cheapest, vacant possession and meets our basic needs.

DH was very attracted to the conservatory in C - we have one in our present house and he spends a lot of time in there from spring through to autumn (I don't so much, always seems to be too hot or too cold for comfort). He was talking about whether a conservatory could be added to B but I very much doubt it as none of the other identical houses have one - I checked the planning portal and there had been no applications for any extensions in the row, so we have to take it that it is what it is at the moment.

So B. is actually last on DH's list of preferences because he couldn't care less about rural cottage vibes! If he loved it like I do it would be an easier decision.

Then start to think how close it is to public transport, activities, is it too rural for cleaners and carers.

That muddy track won’t be so good when you’re 82.

The good thing is that it isn't rural in the true sense, it just feels rural because it's on the edge of a green belt. It's OK-ish for public transport and activities but nowhere near as good as House C in that respect, which is absolutely brilliant for both bus and trains.