DH and I are stuck deciding between two properties and interested to hear what others think.
Our ideal would be a 4 bed house that is within walking distance from primary school. However, these seem to be outside our budget. So we are looking at houses slightly further away but still cycle-able (we have an electric cargo bike which works well for us and will do likely until end of primary), which is important as parking by school is a nightmare.
House 1 is in a really nice estate where we already know some people including one or two kids who go to the same primary school. There seem to be a lot of families with young kids there. Also walkable to the centre of town. There is a playground that's walkable and a nice green/nature area for walks and getting outside. Our friends who live there already report that there is a great community feel with people being very friendly and helpful. Something that's really important to me is for the kids to be able to easily see friends and for us to be able to easily host playdates. Obviously being walking distance to school would be better for this but the location of this one would still be workable I think, as I'd aim to make friends with people on the estate as well as school friends. And it's close to town so it'd be possible to meet up in town. The downside is that, while it is 4 bedrooms, the space feels like it might be a stretch ones the kids are teenagers. We've worked out how we could maximise the space and make it work but it feels like you'd always be aware of needing to be careful with space, keep on top of clutter, making good use of storage and getting rid of things.
House 2 is just enormous. It's 6 bedrooms! All a good size and a really nice sized kitchen/diner and separate living room. Insane. It's literally just across the road from where we rent currently so we know the area well and honestly I just don't really want to live here. It's about 30mins walk from the centre of town and the same to primary school (including big hills). There's not really anything going on. No shops, one ok cafe. And not much of a community feel. We've only met our next door neighbours in the 6 months we've been here and even that has just been for picking up parcels. But on the other hand it has all the space I can ever imagine us needing.
There are a few other smaller factors e.g. 1 has better parking (but 2 is workable), 1 is a new build so hopefully energy efficient whilst we know that 2 is probably draughty (if it's anything like our house on the same estate) and more expensive to heat as larger... 1 has potential to extend. Both are within budget with not a great difference in price.
We don't know which secondary school DSs would end up at so it's hard to factor that in but based on a range of different possibilities there's no clear winner on that basis.
I err towards location and DH errs towards house size but we both can see the other's point of view.
Help us!