Which house would you choose?

[Whichhousetochoose45]

Option A

Built late 1800s.
5 bedrooms, semi detached, 800k.
Top end of budget and need a 200k mortgage.
5 minute walk into town centre, lovely large garden. Needs new kitchen and main bathroom. Has 2 toilets. Has a train track at the end of the road that is fairly frequent and on a road with about 6 cars per minute, at a guess? Despite being so close to the town, feels like the countryside.
North west garden slopes down away from house and backs onto a nature reserve. Has front garden.
A few primaries within a 20 minute radius.
Train station in a 10 minute walk.
No garage.

Option B

Built 1600s. Has beams.
4 large bedrooms, detached, 500k.
Would be mortgage free.
40-50 minute walk into a town. Enormous long garden, nearly 3 acres. Needs new kitchen and main bathroom. Has 4 toilets. Has the motorway 0.25 miles away. No front garden and opens onto a road as busy as option a.
Garden is also north west facing and slopes up behind the house.
Local village primary school about 3 minutes walk away.
Train station in the town 50 minute walk away.
No front garden, but lots of space to put pretty pots and flowers as the house is slightly set back.
No garage but some outbuildings.

I dont have a car although partner does. I prefer to walk everywhere. I walk to the shops to do our shopping and carry it home.
We basically have about 600k in cash (inheritance) so would have lots left over to do up option b, but would have to wait and save to do up option a.
Both houses need doing up.

Which house would you choose and why?

A, unless you absolutely love gardening to the extent that that’s what you want to spend every weekend doing.

Thank you! If I had the 3 acre garden, I would leave most of it wild and chop up the trees for firewood. Both houses have a log burner!

That is another point. Option b has so much space for growing trees that i would never have to pay for firewood!

Practically speaking A. I wouldn't want to have to carry shopping back on a 50 minute walk. Or not be able to pop out to the local town on foot.
That said , no mortgage buys you a lot of taxis 😊

Not much help but A sounds better to me.

House C

A, or keep looking as there are a lot of differences between the two and a huge price range.

Not B, you probably like walking because of where you live now, which isnt as far from the town and as near a motorway.

That is really true. I love being able to pop to the shops in just a few minutes (I currently live near option A). And I do prefer to walk, for my exercise!

A because a 50 minute walk there and back with shopping would be an utter pain in the arse.

A if you don’t drive as the 50 min walk to town B would soon get tiresome. 2 toilets means 2 to clean instead of 4, unless you’re a huge family it’s enough. More manageable garden. The thing that might put me off apart from budget is how noisy the trainline is.

The price difference kills me!

Also what with mortgage rates doing what they're doing, the thought of not having a mortgage is amazing and so freeing. We would both be able to be part time.

I agree. But, fresh air and lots of exercise is good, right? I would only be carrying the shopping one way as well.

Neither , I’d keep looking .

I dont know how loud the train is from inside, one didnt go past while we were viewing unfortunately. I dont know whats worse, the constant drone of a motorway and the thought of all that pollution so nearby, or a loud train every 30 minutes that might rattle the windows...

But I absolutely love both! They could both be my dream house. I just don't know how to pick between them!

Can you tell us more about your life circumstances op?

You are referencing walks to the train station and the quality of local primary schools but haven’t indicated if these things are relevant to your personally or just attractive to other buyers when you sell on.

🤣🤣🤣🤣
'I'd only be carrying the shopping one way'🤣🤣🤣

Personally, I'd choose option A. A far more convenient location for someone who doesn't drive. Yes fresh air and exercise is good for you, but you don't need to be a 50 minute walk away from a supermarket to achieve that. Plus, in the depths of Winter that's going to be a very very long walk home with bags of shopping battling the elements!! it's not a 'popping' distance.

I like living near a railway and would choose every time over living near a motorway

I also would prefer a garden that rolls away from the house rather than one that runs to the house. Far less chance of getting flooded.

You can’t afford option B with 600k if you want to stay mortgage free.

you have stamp duty, moving costs plus your renovation, maintenance, upkeep and extra travel.

keep looking

House A. A friend bought a wood-framed house that is Grade II listed, and the wood frame needed replacing in places, which they only found out when they needed to take some plaster down. It turned into a mammoth job and cost a fortune - and yes, they had had a thorough survey. If you don’t have a car, five minutes into the town centre is an advantage. The biggest disadvantage if the first one is that it’s a semi, but I assume it’s a lovely house. If the kitchen and bathroom are merely tired and liveable with for now, I’d definitely go for that one.

Both of these houses sound like a lot of maintenance and hassle, tbh. For that much money I would want to be more secluded from traffic.

Neither, it’s a buyers market, keep looking.

Is either house listed? It can make a huge difference to renovation costs. What is the EPC of the houses? Insulation may be lacking, so what about heating costs.
My real answer is neither but if you must house A .
50 minutes each way to the supermarket or town will soon pale. Garden sloping to the house is a disadvantage when all the wet winters we seem to be getting are taken into account , and it sounds as if house B may have people peering in the windows.

Neither. I would wait until the new year, I think people are holding off selling now. Plus if A is still available then you can negotiate on price.

A for the 5 min walk into town. A 50 min walk for a non-driver is madness.