Which house to go with? So confused!

[chelseaflowershow]

DH and I are downsizing from a fairly big house. We have two that we can offer on and I cannot choose between them, can you help me choose?

House P
3 bed detached with integral garage - 22 years old
Recent new kitchen, bathrooms, flooring (it’s really lovely and decorated to my taste already.
All open plan which I feel may be chilly in the winter. Lounge flows into dining area then into the kitchen. Could possibly hang a door to close the kitchen off. Separate utility.
Room sizes -
lounge 3.93 x 3.25m
Bedroom 1 - 3.63 x 2.73m
Bedroom 2 - 3.45 x 3.75m
Bedroom 3 - 2.98 x 1.89m
Kitchen is a galley kitchen and we can live with the size.
No internal door to integral garage
combi boiler which is I assume older.
Lovely garden but is facing NW
315k

House F
3 bed semi, preferred street as the houses are prettier. 12 years old.
Traditional layout with hall leading through to kitchen with lounge off the hall where you can close doors making it cosy
a small conservatory on the back with a solid roof. Okay garden but has steps down to detached garage.
not been modernised since built - would need a new kitchen, bathrooms, boiler etc. no utility room.
needs a good redecorate right through
again, kitchen and diner size is fine
room sizes
lounge - 4.90 x 3.37m
bedroom 1 - 3.68 x 2.48 as there is a fitted wardrobe in the room
bedroom 2 - 3.03 x 2.90m
bedroom 3 - 3.00 x 2.28m

this house has storage cupboards in the landing.

house p as the lounge is smaller we’ll need to reduce the size of our long 2.9m sofa by taking a section out. A chair will fit in the room too then
House f the sofa and chair fits the lounge
in both I have no idea where I’ll put a Christmas tree

I prefer the actual house P but the lounge is smaller but bedrooms bigger. I worry about having my adult kids around and not having enough room for everyone to sit.

Not keen on the layout of house p and I think having to access the garage by the up and over door (we’ll have to put the tumble dryer out there) will be a pain.

House F nicer layer layout and bigger lounge but we”ll need to spend a fortune on it to update the kitchen, bathrooms etc

ugh!! Any pointers please?

House P - 110 sqm but I suspect they’ve counted the integral garage in this
House F. - 103 sqm

Your ‘problems’ seem very minor eg Christmas tree! I don’t think either of these houses are giving you positive vibes so I’d look elsewhere. Me, house P, detached always over a semi. If there’s a utility room, why does the tumble dryer have to go in the garage? Lived in houses with integral garages but never had an interior door and for security, wouldn’t fancy one. The only thing I don’t like about house P is lugging shopping etc in through the lounge and dining room. I wouldn’t call this open plan either, just buy a couple of doors.

The utility room has space for a washing machine and dishwasher only.

Im leaning towards detached house P too!

My 1st gut reaction was to keep looking.

If I had to choose one of those, it would be F - purely because I wouldn't want to traipse through the living and dining rooms with my shopping to get to the kitchen. We bought a house like that (much older character property) and the first thing we did was relocate the kitchen to the first room you entered. Of course, that might not be an issue for you @chelseaflowershow!

Well the dishwasher is better in the kitchen even if it means losing a cupboard so the tumble dryer can go in the utility room (where it belongs). No one lugs wet washing from the utility to the garage. Hopefully I’ve convinced you about house P!

House F. And yes, not sure why it would need a new kitchen and bathroom after 12 years - sounds like a cosmetic change you can make down the line.

@chelseaflowershow Who wants a dishwasher in a utility room? Most of us have it near cooking and eating areas, for obvious reasons . Utility should be a laundry room. Washing and drying in the same area.

The utility area is at the end of the kitchen. The plan is very misleading, the kitchen is a narrow galley not remotely as wide as the drawing shows. There is no door to the utility, it essentially an extension of the kitchen through an archway

I would not want that layout and the drawings have no measurements. It’s still a faff taking plates and saucepans into another “room”away from the oven and hob. Neither house appeals to me as they both have challenges. Detached is probably better but they are small houses I think.

Neither one sounds ideal for your needs. But I like the sound of the second house better. Not keen on open plan. I prefer proper rooms.

P layout is horrible. Always traipsing through all the rooms to get to the kitchen and back, so can't really relax alone/undisturbed, and also need to keep a way through the rooms clear, which severly limits where to put furniture.

If you've not been around any of the properties then I'd do that first. You might get a different feel for each as you do.

Also, don't try fixing problems. 🙂

It needs to be right.

We were recently in the middle of buying a house. The layout and everything worked- we saw ourselves living there.

The seller pulled out at the last minute.

We went to see a house yesterday and it had no furniture- a small living room and my immediate reaction was 'it's too small' (for anything) but then I saw a photo of how it has looked and could see potential without trying too hard.

If you feel like you're making compromises - it's not right.

Best of luck!

I would look at the practicalities of adding a door from the hallway into the garage or the kitchen into the garage (or both).

Convert ¾ of the garage into an extra living space and then use the remaining ¼ as storage accessed by the front of the house (maybe a door from the conversion).

This would create an extra living space and provide more than one route to the kitchen.

Considering what I've said above, those changes to me wouldn't be a compromise- they would add value to way we lived in it. But it may be a complete no to you and not the right idea for you. I suppose it depends on how much you feel you'd want to do on the rest of the house.

It has to feel right. Go and see it. Best of luck!

.

F.
You love the street.
You can add value withnew kitchen and bathroom.
Take your time. Consider second hand units.
Think about living there.
Is the local area easy to walk in?
Are the most important things, to you, close by? Transport? Green space?

I would continue looking. House F has no utility room, all domestic noise through the ground floor.
i wouldn’t like to traipse through all the ground floor rooms to get to the ground floor WC. I think they should always be accessed from the hall. Also I would want a door from the hall to the garage.

I was thinking this, at 12 years old it cant need that much in a hurry.

Just noticed this is a ZOMBIE post!
Why did a previous poster revive it?? OP will have moved by now!

oh how silly!

ZOMBIE