A boring house in a great area or a cool house in a not so good area?

Daveinlincoln

I know its not exactly a new question and the traditional answer has been Location,Location,Location but I'm curious to to see if you feel that still holds true?

So Ive seen a house that was built in the 70's on a small estate on the edge of the much sought after cultural/historic quarter of my town....but its an unbelievably boring looking house and I honestly believe that planning permission for an estate looking like that would not be granted today.

But its a functional house and is ok on the inside....it even has a serving hatch from the kitchen! and I can walk to the cultural part of the city in less than a minute which is what i want, but i also wanted a house with some character and this house has zero.

I have seen a house in a different part of the city that has bags of character inside and out but its close to nothing really and is in a slightly rough area.

I know buying houses always involves some compromise but is buying a drab house in a good area a step to far?

youth_leader

I think location is everything .... is it possible with the 'spring surge' of sellers that something else might come up in the location of the drab house? 

JJR45

Done both, best house is best.
(Done worse house in great area after best house not so great area).
As long as the area is not a complete dive.
Better to be lord of a poorer Manor rather the pleb in someone else's richer manor.

SpiderLegs

I wouldn’t buy either.
I’d wait until I found a house that I actually liked in an area that was more in keeping with my middle class social standing 😂

Kaysee24

I would go with location. When first house hunting someone said to me they would rather have the worst house on a nice road than the best house on the worst road. You can improve the house and make it more interesting, you can't improve the area.

mooncake89

I think I’d edge towards location. We’ve been faced with both scenarios and the thought of being stuck in an area I don’t really like makes me feel much more unhappy than the thought of being in a less desirable house but a better location. Like people say, you can’t change the location but to some extent you can improve the house.

Having said that, I think there’s a limit. We recently saw a house in our preferred location but no matter how much I tried to make myself accept it, the house was just too much of a compromise... no character, really small rooms and too expensive to begin with to be able to afford to change anything substantial for a long time. Similarly, we saw an absolutely beautiful house but in a comparatively terrible location. I deliberated for ages about what to do, but my gut just told me no. In either case, if you’re feeling yourself having major doubts about either the house or location I’d consider holding out for something less of a compromise.

niceguyed

Depends if you feel you could do something cosmetically to the drab house to make it more to your liking? If not, would you be happy in a drab looking house? Location is important but equally so is buying a house you actually like or can see the potential to be liked. If your budget or timeline means a compromise is essential I'd be thinking about resale if you're only likely to be there short to medium term. I'm always inclined to go with location and if that means taking on a project I'd always go for that rather than an already nice house in a worse area. 

Capri84

Buy the worst house in the best possible area. 

jimbog

Could you not get inspiration from the tv series to change 'Ugly house to Lovely House' ?

Capri84

Shithole to bolthole

Kaz1000

From experience after living in the most gorgeous bungalow in a village which is 20 mins by bus to the town. I can honestly say, having a tiny house in a town is way better than a mansion in the middle of no where. The village has really classy people but as a 40 year old couple with a kid, life does get boring with not much to do.
Hence we are moving to a Victorian mid terraced house in the heart of town. We sacrificed buying a house in the middle of a field which looks likes a Grand Designs property with a wow factor just to be in the town. We both knew exactly what we wanted for the next 20 years.