New Build or Old But Done Up - Which would You Choose...

never_enough

No contest as far as I'm concerned, the space & privacy of the older one would sell it to me straight away as I hate being overlooked at all.
No, 60's/70's architecture may not be the most attractive but space, privacy, parking (not to mention potential) are yours for the taking & are always attractive on resale. You can change things into exactly what you'd want, rather than pay the premium that the developer is charging for doing things that they wanted on the newbuild. Go for that house...you know you want to...

wymondham

old definately - new ones are very 'samey' - small rooms and small gardens - battery farming on a housing estate!

Catmeister

Before rushing out to up your offer on the 'old' one - get a builder in and some written quotes! Could be far above your 'guesstimate' in which case not such a bargain! It sounds like it's worth a lot more than the new build, but will you have the £ if the total spend comes to a lot more?

Otherwise for me it'd be the old one - as Doozergirl says, the massive advantage of doing a place up is that you get to choose everything, so you're really making it your own

adr0ck

simple choice really

do you mind living in a building site or not

if not i would probably go for the 60/70's

even though i'm in a 70's house now (and i hate it........materials used are pants) my missis defo bought this house as i can't stand the pants appearance on the outside either - all architects from the 60's and 70's should be shot

however in this case...size of garden etc as mentioned above would swing it for me (+ i don't mind living in a building site......)

good luck

monneyspinner

each to their own. I would choose the new build, a blank canvas to make your mark on. In my neck of the woods it's an offers over market, where as a new build you know yo'll get the one you want as its a fixed price:o

tryhard_2

as others say the scope to make the older one as you want it would be irresistible for me personally
good luck!

Mizz_Pink

Go for the older house. It all exciting to have a project and spending all that money getting our house how you want it.

I also like new houses but i would prefer an older house with more character.

uk_steve

duncans-mum wrote:

Without a shadow of a doubt my personal choice would be the older property. You cannot beat a house with a bit more character,that has been a bit more lived in.

:T :T :T :beer: :beer: :beer:

Willapp_2

Blimey, I'm surprised at how many people prefer the older house!

Its strange that for houses, having "character" is seen as a positive thing, whereas if you looked at a 2nd hand car and someone said it had "character", you'd assume it meant lots of problems to sort out! I tend to think the same thing with houses - why buy an old place with 'character' that means you'll be forever spending money doing it up??

I know it's personal opinion here, but I love new homes (ones that are made properly - which DO still exist!). You get the security of a 10 year NHBC certificate, plus the building regulations are much tighter now than years ago.

Yes the only problem tends to be that new homes are built on estates that *can* be overcrowded, but the one we're buying is really well designed and hardly any homes are really overlooked or lacking space, which is the common criticism of new builds.

Just my $.2 though

montypython_3

Have a look at my thread see which you think I prefer?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=376499