really want to buy new house, but starting to think it's a bit too small. Many coming tomorow..

[ErnestTheBavarian]

We are looking to move to next village. As I went around, there is a brand new cul de sac being built. Right in the centre, so 5 minutes from station, 2 minutes from shops, Kindergarten church and school. Location is basically great. I was really excited about it, and esp as new build get to choose exactly howw we want it etc.

But, I know I am spoilt here, don't have a go, please just hear me out. We are renting atm. Our house is really big. All the kids have their own room, plus we have a play room.
And I have a laundry room.

The new house is basically 1 to 2 rooms too small, either all the kids have their own room, then there's no play room, which given how much space we now have and how much stuff we have, it will be hard to move down.

I looked at another house which is only a bit more expensive, but miles bigger, but it was on the edge of the village, so 15/20 minute walk to the school and ds wouldn't be able to go by himself.

I've arranged to meet the vendor tomoorw with a view to handing a deposit to secure the new house, now I'm a bit nervous as it's so much smaller. No play room and no laundry room.

WHat do you lot reckon? Great loaction though, and other wise a nice house, and to be fair, it is a big house. I know I'm spoilt. Our current rented house is really big.

Where would you really like to be?

If you think you will always be wishing you had bought something a bit bigger then don't do it. You will regret it and not enjoy your new house. If however its a good excuse for a good clear out and you will mange without the two other rooms then go for it.

the location is perfect. I want to be in this village. I just keep thinking, if only it were 1 room bigger. Then I realised it didn't have the laundry room. Now I'm thinking, if only it were 2 rooms bigger.

The other house I saw today was MASSIVE, but I think at the same time, every time I was running late and having to drag ds & dd to the kindergarten/school, I'd (eventually) get to that house just round the corner from the KG/school and wish we'd have got that being so close. But it's 2 rooms too small. But I think being right in the centre, it's not going to be possible to find bigger. Bigger is further out.

personally if you could afford it, I'd buy the bigger one. You won't always be walking to the same school and nursery but you will always be 2 rooms less.

I'd go for the bigger house, your DS will be able to walk himself to school when he is a bit older. We lived in a modern box with poky rooms, no utility and I really don't want to live in it again when we move back to UK.

We compromised on the house we are in because of size but kind of the opposite way round to you. It is new build and the estate is not really my cup of tea, but the upside is the house is huge, massive garden and it was quite reasonably priced. I sometimes look at older properties in our village and think that one of them would be nice, but we wouldn't have the space we have now. I would choose size if I was you.

Well, the shops etc will always be there, so a 20 minute round trip rather than nipping across & back. The school would be used by us for the next 7 years, and the secondary school is 10 minutes from the new house but more like 30 from the big house.

Another thing is it's built extra energy efficient, whereas the ig house is 25 years old, with what looks like a 25 year old boiler. It would be big and expensive to heat. Most of the alternatives (and there aren't many, literally 3 or 4) are either too far away or old & makny

Still get the bigger house. You wont have to move when the children are teenagers. They can chill at home with their friends.

If you are unsure then please don't buy the smaller house. I did this and lived to regret it; was always looking to move and never felt settled. I would go for the bigger house as life moves on so quickly and you get used to that extra distance over time.

if it isn't actually built yet maybe you have the option of changing the layout? if the rooms are quite big you may well be able to re-jig it into a configuration that suits you.

i think i would go for the smaller, energy efficient, converniently located one - and would make the extra space somehow! you do have more options with a new build, you could even plan in a laundry 'cupboard' rather than room if the space is tight. does it have a conservatory? is the attic space useable? it may well be that the new house has enough space it just isn't arranged the way you need it to be.

I think you're just having last minute wobbles - when people tell you to buy the larger house, you're defending the smaller house quite enthusiastically.

You're sure to have qualms whichever you buy - after all, buying a house is a huge decision and one you make very rarely.

Buy the small house, put up a summerhouse in the garden and let the kids play in that. You'll manage perfectly well without the utility room.

could you not write a list of pro's and cons of both houses, and go with the one with most pro's??

or

do as I did. when we found this house, it hand everything against it. location (is on a council estate, and not one with a wonderful rep either), a neighbour I knew and disliked, a single man had lived here and the mess was amazing and disgusting, dreadful garden, decor horrible.

BUT

I walked in, and house had he most amazingly welcome feel to it, and I literally had to be hald back by DH from offering on the spot!!

We moved in, it is now huge thanks to us extending (and as DH is a bricklayer/builder, he did most of it himself which saved masses of money), it is within a 5min walk of a wonderful shopping precinct, walking distance of both schools (altho half-hour in different directions so I do still drive it), the neighbour moved and a lovely one moved in, and we have never been happier.

plus everyone who comes to visit says the same thing.....the house welcomes people

can you go and stand in the bigger house and see how it feels to you. I know it will be harder for the newbuild, if it is not ready enough to stand in, but maybe go as close as poss and see how the area feels??

I would always say go with the one that feels happy.......you have to live there for possibly a long time......you need happiness over location sometimes IMO.

good luck

Do you have space to expand? Build a conservatory at the back?
Can you have your tumble drier in a shed outside?

If your garden is big enough, you can work around it.

Is there space to expand at all?

I am in a kind of similar position. We have chosen a village we really like. We saw two properties, one in the heart of the village and one on the outskirts, so same issues re walking to school/shops etc. Our issue wasn't space as such, but the house in the centre has a smaller garden and restricted parking, the one on the outskirts has a lovely garden and is also more my style of house.

We are buying the one in the village. I really feel it is the right decision. It is important to me to be in the heart of the village, to be close to the school and I was also unhappy about DD walking to and from the other house when she gets a bit older.

I think you sound like you like the smaller house. You will make the size work. Re laundry room, could you do anything with the kitchen layout? In my current house, I don't have a utility room but I have a cupboard in the kitchen which has double doors and both the tumble dryer and washing machine inside it. I can but an airer above them inside the cupboard etc so its still out of the way even if its not a whole separate room. If you are buying off plan, you may be able to incorporate some changes which help you to get around your concerns. Remember, location location location!!

Am erring towards the smaller one (when I say small, it is still big, about 250sq m.) I am meeting the man today, so will get him to go over the plans with me. I will not do without the laundry room though! Not just cos I've had one for the last 10 years and would struggle to go back to not having one, but I also have to be practical and think of the future - it is absolutely standard here to have one and I don't think anyone would consider to buy a house without one, seriously. My last one was so huge it was bigger than your standard sitting room. I can rejig the layout a bit, but dunno if enough.

The thing with the other one is it was seriously huge and had some amazing features that I loved, but in a way, it was too big - upstais and the basement were each layed out like 2 little 1 bedroom flats, so each had a big sitting room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, so in the house in total there are % kitchens, 5 bathroom. Shit, I'd be cleaning morning noon and night. I know I could've rented 1 or 2 of them out, but then our home would be turning into a busoness, which I wouldn't feel comfortable about. It also has, wait for it a small swimming pool, which I thought would be amazing, but actually, it took up most of the garden, and I'd be terrified of my kids, esp youngest 2 drowning, so of course, we'd have to errect a fence all round, which would loose even more garden. And weirdly, fo such a huge house, the main kitchen was pretty small, too small for us I think, and I couldn't see any way to make it bigger (no obv. wall to knock through)

And finally, as well as the muge higher running costs, we would have to do eventually, work on it (ie all the bathrooms & toilets were vile avacado or burgundy or dusky pink) we could manage fine with, but would be nice to have a simple white loo.

So am erring towards the new one, the location is really perfect. Now I'm a 20 minute walk from the shops and it's a pain in the bum, so being so close, and so close to the school and Kindergarten too would be fantastic.

I just need to try and stretch it a bit. I'm going to ask if instead of a flat rood, we can amke the garage have a pitched roof, and put an extra room there for eg but dunno if the building plans would allow for it, and can't really affor dto spend much more.

Oh well,it's a tricky one, but thanks so much for your points. I think, esp as it's not a small house to start off with, just smaller than our current one, we'd have to get used to the size. I think.

Bit late but I would have said go for the new one with the good location because it will probably affect your day to day life more. We made a similar choice of a smaller house in the right place and every time I have to make extra trips to and from the school or shops I'm thankful that we did.