Big house or Small house

dominoman

We are house-hunting and have found two houses we like in SE London. I need some advice…

Option one is a 4 bedroom (130 m2) house, just 4 mins walk from the train station. Not small at all, but it also doesn't feel spacious. Option 2 is a huge 4 bed house (170 m2) but is in a less good areas and is 15 mins walk from the train station.

Which one should we go for, all else being equal? There’s just two of us and we don’t have kids (yet) so don’t need the extra space, but I've always lived in small houses so feel like the space would be a luxury. I imagine a snooker room, huge super-king size bed etc, but on the other hand is it worth it for a worse location?

I’d love your thoughts. Is bigger always better?

anokayperson

DEF location - think of the future when you will be selling on. good luck!!

Lionel_Thinkbag

I'd say bigger is better, just because I crave space, but are they on for the same price?

As for the area it depends on what you are used to. 'less good' is relative, are we talking the difference between Bow street and Pall mall, or Mayfair and Old Kent Road ?(using my Monopoly knowledge here!) Any enjoyment you get from having a nice big house might be mitigated if your besieged by ASBO's when you go out.

Also bigger houses generally have bigger running costs, so thats something else to consider. I think the walk to the station is negligible in terms of time, unless you're going to be dodging bullets or something

EDIT: Yeah thats a point, if you're a FTB and this isn't going to be a forever home then you might have to consider what happens when it comes to selling.

brizza

How interesting, this is exactly what I'm weighing up at the moment. We're looking at a 3 bed flat in zone 3 (Earlsfield) or a 4 bed house in zone 4/5 (Worcester Park).

My instinct is that with interest rates being low at the moment and the help to buy things starting to take effect next year, then this is a good time to skip a step on the property ladder and buy something which is future proof. But that's reliant on some guesswork as to where property prices and interest rates will go in the next 3-5 years.

Things we've weighed up, which will be relevant to your thought process -

Will you grow out of house A as soon as you have kids and end up buying a version of house B in 3-4 years? In which case, why not do it now and avoid the transaction costs of the move from house A to house B?

Will the area that house B is in remain "dodgy"? Or will it come up over the next 10 years in which case you'll have got a good deal by buying a big pile right now?

How isolated will your other half feel when she's at home looking after kids and she's 15 minutes from the station? (Or does she drive/have friends/family near by?).

Will the bigger house mean overstretching yourself financially in the short term? Could you afford to do that if houseprices didn't rise and you ended up on SVR in 2/3 years time?

Are they both near the same train line or does one offer slightly different/better routes into town if your job(s) changed?

These are all of the things we've had to think about with our house search. I'm slowly losing my battle for the big house with the huge garden and the pool table in exchange for being closer in and more comfort for my OH as and when we have kids, plus her new job is a pain to get to from Worcester Park, whereas Earlsfield looks much easier. Ho hum.

BitterAndTwisted

The better location. Always. That's why they named a TV series "Location Thrice"

mrsmchapman

I do think better locations sell better. Although I like space so it would all depend on which I had a feel for. You need to like one more than the other to make your decision, and sadly only you can do that. I'm sure people would give further opinions if links were posted as people may also know the areas better .

phoebe1989seb

I love space and always try to get as much as possible - although we downsized from our family home (3500 sq ft) when DS went to uni in 2007, we still wouldn't want a *small* house, LOL - but having chosen a seriously bad location for our last house I would err on the side of caution and pick the one better situated, even if that means sacrificing on square metrage/footage

As you are planning on selling in the future, the saleability must factor into your decision - we didn't consider this (despite being seasoned house buyers!) and instead chose somewhere purely based on its size (1600 sq ft) and style (very pretty heavily timbered period house) as we fully intended to stay there forever - otherwise you will *come a cropper* as we did when our future plans changed

Properties in good locations will always sell faster, and whilst the London market is a law unto itself, it cannot be assumed that every location will eventually improve - in our case because our house stood out from the crowd and had been restored to a high standard we did sell fast, but at a cost - so do think very carefully about your priorities and what compromises you are prepared to make.........

Even though our current (larger again, LOL,) house is in a far better location in an AONB, we still had to compromise on location to a certain extent with the proximity of a nearby busy road - only time will tell if we made the right decision!

I_have_spoken

is in a less good areas

Will the space seem so important when you've been mugged walking home from the station, the car stolen or jolted awake to find a masked intruder in the bedroom?

MarkBargain

I'd say location is most important, and you're saving yourself 22 minutes walking each day.

2 people in a 4 bedroom house doesn't sound too cramped!

Dimey

Location from a re-sell perspective.
Luxury from a personal perspective.

Is the less nice area safe or as safe as can be expected in London.

What's the difference in council tax and household amenity expenses?

Does either one need a lot of expensive work doing on it?

Re-visit, spend a day at nearby shops and cafe's, talk to neighbours and a gut feel will eventually come to you.

padington

There's an increasing trend towards the value of property right next to tube stations going up more than those some distance away. People want to be as close to the action as possible. If you are one minute from a good London tube station you're sitting pretty, investment wise right now.

However it's a home, not just an investment, only you can make that call really.