Ideal house without amenities or impractical house with amenities?

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Sorry, you must be getting fed up with my dithering about this wretched townhouse!

We are trying to move, and fast, as have just sold our house (STC) to buyers who are v eager to move in asap. Don't want to lose them, they are very keen and offered the asking price.

We really would prefer to stay in this village, which has loads of amenities such as GP surgery, library (to which DS is very attached), lots of small shops and a good Co-op, and more besides. (yes, it is still a village. A largeish one!) It has become very easy and convenient to nip out on foot at half seven for some milk, or pick up something for lunch on the way back from the library. I can't really imagine living somewhere with a lot less in terms of convenient amenities. And we have friends here, etc.

However. There are very few suitable properties available in our price range. The one we've been obsessing about for months is a townhouse down a nice, quiet cul-de-sac. It presents the problems you'd expect with a townhouse - lovely sunny living room on first floor, but would I ever actually enjoy it in day time? Study for DH downstairs, along with small 'family room' (coverted single garage) and decent-sized kitchen. Basically, I'm worried that I'd be downstairs all day long, with a toddler and small baby, because moving up and down is so impractical. But it's in the village we love, and has those shops and so on near by.

But. I have fallen for a house in a nearby village (20 mins drive away). It has a large study for DH in the converted garage. It has loads of storage (much more than townhouse does). It has a ravishing, sunny, downstairs living room (26' long) and a large kitchen/diner. It has another downstairs room suitable for my studies and crafts. Bedrooms are fine. bathrooms are fine. Kitchen and bathroom fittings are nice and don't need ripping out. All I can hold against it is the slightly smaller garden, the open-tread stairs (we'd replace) and the village itself. Village is v v pretty, but has one small community shop, open restricted hours, a pub and (ok this is a plus) a pre-school and first school. We'd be hopping into the car for everything.

So would you, wise property gurus, go for a lovely, near-ideal house in a less-than-ideal (but pretty) location, or an impractical house in the location we want? I am heartsore and depressed about this, and wonder if it's just worth renting until our ideal house comes up in this village. (But am due at Christmas and would really like to be settled in before the baby arrives!)

Argh!

go for the nicer house.

if you want this to be a long term move and provide stability etc for the tots during their primary school years it seems sensible to go for the much nicer house.

with a toddler and baby you will spend a lot of time in the house ( easy to forget this in a lovely august). as you say, it has got a pre school and first school. as toddler becomes school age it will be a blessing to be able to walk them to school and then come home to your lovely house.

as you say, all that you have now is only 20 mins away by car, if you have a car really how much is that out of your day? the library will still be there and you can easily accomodate a 20 min trip during the day.

you will probably end up with a new group of friends with the advantage of being able to keep old ones.

You could rent i suppose but in reality is the perfect house likely to come up? do you want all that upheaval?
life is what you make it- make a decision and go for it whole heartedly- never look back.

I would have thought that (a) convenient and attractive accommodation (b) close proximity to good schools were very high priorities at your stage in life, that would outweigh proximity to other amenities.

I am sure that you can learn to be more organised about your shopping (and this is in fact a good thing!).

presumably you can use the different rooms in the house in the ways that suit your family best at different times of day?

can the house be knocked about a bit to suit?

I'd go for (b), but then I live in a small village which doesn't even have a shop, just a preschool and village hall. I don't find that we're hopping in the car all the time, you just get quite organised wrt shopping/errands. I don't find it an issue any more, it's just the way things are!

Wow am in awe at your village amenities!!
We live in a largish village with a pub and Spar shop but reliant on small town a few miles away for everything else.

It's not a problem really - I don't mind driving at all and just have to be organised about shopping.

Go for the better house IMO...

B, because the house suits your needs, with the townhouse you would be up and down the stairs all the time.

Hmm, interesting.

I haven't got as far as looking up Ofsted reports for first schools in the villages where we've been viewing ( bad parent) and I suspect that this won't be our forever house - when jobs pick up again, DH is keen to move to another university as he's worried about getting into a rut at his current one. Of course, that could easily be five years + in the future.

Yes, mintyfresh, we've got amazing amenities for a village! It's a large village, to be sure, but still compact and with intact borders, which apparently means it's still a village and not a tiny town. I'm sure I'd get used to driving everywhere - I do a fair bit at the moment anyway. We could still use DS's beloved library (he has a deep and meaningful relationship with the librarian) since you can use any library in South Oxfordshire with the same card. I keep on saying I should do all my shopping in the village but mostly it's top-ups, and we do larger shops at the Waitrose or Tesco in nearby town. Which are both a 10/15 min drive away from the second house.

So. I dunno. And to add to our confusion, we viewed another 'ideal' (or close) house in another village (actually slightly closer to ours). Same sort of set-up - pub, pre-school, first school, nothing else. House on cul-de-sac, HUGE with 5 bedrooms! and (by my standards) large garden. It's right up against a field with someone's very pretty chickens in, and next to the playground (I checked for signs of teenagers hanging out - no fag ends, no broken glass, nothing). I am beginning to waver...

Thanks for the input. I know I'm boring to death on this, but it's really helpful to know what others would do.

The third house you've mentioned sounds lovely - and good to know there is another option. I would give yourself a bit more time to look at places and decide what you really want.

We are just about to move to a quieter location (about 20 mins drive away) with fewer amenities, but more of a family area and 5 minutes walk from good schools. This was the priority, as DS is due to start school next year. I think being able to walk to school will outweigh any lack of other amenities.

I am just going to have to be more organised with doing the weekly online shop, planning meals etc - sounds like a good thing!

Let us know what you decide to do. Good luck!