Big house with compromised location, or smaller house in great location?

skintchick

OH and I are house hunting as we have had a baby and need a family home. We are comparing two houses.

House 1 - three beds, massive living room, dining room, study, potential to extend kitchen into garage to be a big kitchen diner with utility, massive garden, BUT it's 40 mins' walk from the town centre, although on a bus route but the buses are once an hour and stop at 3.30pm.

House 2 - fab location, right in town but in a private mews, with parking, three bedrooms, main bedroom is massive, BUT living space isn;t as big, kitchen is small, garden is a courtyard and there's no extension potential.

I wondered. Is location always the most important thing? Which house would you go for? (Bear in mind I love being able to walk into town and to the river and I don;t consider 40mins to be walkable distance.)

tek-monkey

When I was 28 I rented a 3 bed place right in town. It was perfect, every pub easily reachable, very easy to meet my friends, people back to mine later. No garden as such, and perhaps too near one of the local clubs, but I loved it.

My current house I moved into last year at 32. It is further out of town, much quieter, big garden and great for BBQs etc. I love it, but its still a rental.

The house I'm buying is a bit smaller, but on a quieter road further out of town. Massive kitchen, good sized garden, bedrooms aren't massive but certainly acceptable. Its just what I want.

So in a very longwinded answer, I'd have gone for location 5 years ago but space now!

DVardysShadow

Unfocus from your baby. Fast forward 6 years, focus on your baby. Oh, what a surprise, no longer a baby, needing access to outside etc etc.

A lot depends on how long you intend to remain in your next house, but on the whole, I would look for a community where you could move about a bit, but still remain in the same community

Philippa36

We're currently selling our house and we have two 'must haves'. One is a good sized garden and one is off road parking.

We're willing to forego other 'ideals' so long as we have the above.

I'd prefer it to be in my desired location but I'd happily move further out of town for a house that feels right! I'd go for the larger house because I think you'll settle into it and enjoy the space, whereas the smaller house might be near to town but you can't push out the walls and the lack of a garden would be irritating with a child.

mrs_deadline

With a new baby - congrats, by the way - I'd want the convenience of being close to everything. Presumably there's a park of some sort nearby? Lots of outings definitely kept me sane when mine were little. I'd also rate a quiet neighbourhood as a big plus. Even less than palatial surroundings can be a good thing: less floor to vacuum, less surfaces to wipe down, no lawn to mow (oops, slovenly attitude to housework rearing its head there for a nanosecond). Anyway, I would decide based on priorities right now, with a view to reviewing things in a few years time.

skintchick

mrs_deadline wrote: »

With a new baby - congrats, by the way - I'd want the convenience of being close to everything. Presumably there's a park of some sort nearby? Lots of outings definitely kept me sane when mine were little. I'd also rate a quiet neighbourhood as a big plus. Even less than palatial surroundings can be a good thing: less floor to vacuum, less surfaces to wipe down, no lawn to mow (oops, slovenly attitude to housework rearing its head there for a nanosecond). Anyway, I would decide based on priorities right now, with a view to reviewing things in a few years time.

Yes there's a park. House 2 is less than five minutes from the park, play areas, river and the town.

I know what you're saying, but I wanted a decent living space and I'm not sure house 2 has it (need to view it Monday to know for sure but photos not looking good).

BUT I really didn;t want to be 1.5 miles uphill out of town as I won;t be able ot walk in every day like I do now.

We werent; planning on moving again as OH is 42 and we will struggle to get a mortgage as he gets older won;t we? I suppose we could add value to house 1 but house 2 can;t be improved, but I still didn;t plan on moving again.

Really don't know what to do.

Milliewilly

Location matters.

I have had small houses in very desirable postcodes that I could have sold 5 times over, I have had bigger nicer houses in not as good postcodes that I have had to wait for a sale.

If you buy in the best location now when you want to move it will be easier to sell on and you will get a better return proportionately.

If youre going to stay forever it doesn't matter!

skintchick

Milliewilly wrote: »

Location matters.

I have had small houses in very desirable postcodes that I could have sold 5 times over, I have had bigger nicer houses in not as good postcodes that I have had to wait for a sale.

If you buy in the best location now when you want to move it will be easier to sell on and you will get a better return proportionately.

If youre going to stay forever it doesn't matter!

I will add that both houses are in Henley-on-Thames - it's a desirable place to live regardless, and it's only me saying this road is less desirable, because i had wanted to be near the town.

Thing is, it ticks almost all our boxes: study, dining room, parking spaces. And the other one has parking but no dining room or study.

I had hoped the perfect house would appear but the only ones that are, are out of our price range.

Joyful

I'd go for the larger house but make sure I have a car so not to feel cut off. My Daughter has done this and is now learning to drive.

DVardysShadow

skintchick wrote: »

Yes there's a park. House 2 is less than five minutes from the park, play areas, river and the town.

I know what you're saying, but I wanted a decent living space and I'm not sure house 2 has it (need to view it Monday to know for sure but photos not looking good).

BUT I really didn;t want to be 1.5 miles uphill out of town as I won;t be able ot walk in every day like I do now.

Nothing to decide until you have viewed.

We werent; planning on moving again as OH is 42 and we will struggle to get a mortgage as he gets older won;t we? I suppose we could add value to house 1 but house 2 can;t be improved, but I still didn;t plan on moving again.

Really don't know what to do.

If you have a prospect of income coming in, you can have a mortgage into your 50's

Dare I say you are not ready to buy? What is to prevent you from having the baby where you are now? One thing is screaming out to me - you are not settled about what you want, or else you would not be looking at such different houses. I would suggest too that the imminent baby is not helping - your nesting instincts will be very strong and will induce you to accept anything - the baby is just an artificial deadline, I would suggest.

Norma_Desmond

It's a tricky one; when we were househunting here we looked at everything from a remote, tiny pre-fab bungalow up on the moors with fantastic views and a lot of land, to a massive old house with a small garden on the edge of a village but only 500 yards from the beach......we bought the house because we liked the feel of the community and a few minutes walk and you're out into the countryside or up on the cliffs.
We haven't got children to worry about, but if we had I think that 'space' would have top priority.