I have doubts on the house we're buying / love another house

Rachelredwood16

RAS said:

If you are thinking of children, then sleeping on the same floor as them can be really important. I'm saying this as we are all three storey and that is the most common reason for young families to leave the street.

Very true, but just because the en suite is upstairs, it doesn't mean that would have to be our bedroom, that could be our join office/guest room  

seven-day-weekend

TBH, both houses look pretty similar to me.  I would have the one with the extra room downstairs.

I love my downsize bungalow, but wish it had one more room.  I think you will regret not having the space.

oystercatcher

Three storey houses always seem to be a bit small and pokey as the 'footprint' is smaller. I would never buy one unless it was the only option at the price. There's always the option of going into the loft on a 2 storey , depending on the build .

I definitely prefer the house with the dining room. Much more flexibility. Easy to change kitchen and carpets as needed but you can't suddenly expand thr size of the plot!

UnderOffer

I really like house 1. That extra room as dining room is really valuable space, also the fact you have the front door in centre and rooms on left and right hand side of house will become valuable with noise from kids etc., as they can play in dining room/play room and you can sit other side in living room watching tv. 

I can’t tell if you’d get a small dining table in house 2 kitchen? But where will you eat or have guests? 

A question I (crazily) apply to prospective homes, is how will it function at Christmas time! House 1 I can imagine the Christmas tree in the dining room and just having that extra space for family and guests to be sat in living room then entering dining room to eat, table all decorated etc., house 2 I can’t see the same flow. 

I’d get fed up going up and down the stairs for house 2, particularly if I’d forgotten something on ground floor and was in master room in 2nd floor. 

Your current home is lovely too, must have been a great FTB purchase, good luck with your decision. 

Rachelredwood16

Thank you all for your comments and advice, I really appreciate it!

If there hadn't been various issues from day 1 of having our offer accepted with our buyer threatening to pull out as they didn't want to wait til November to complete, they've since cooled down and are happy to wait, but there's still the issue on if the new build doesn't complete in November. They may also pull out when they get the contract as it may well have to be on the house builders terms with no fixed completion date and the uncertainty on if the freehold will be registered within the next 4 weeks if we do infact all stick to the 6 week turnaround time which I think is unlikely given the vendors solicitor hasn't sent the contract pack yet. I wouldn't have the issue & wonder if it's worth it. Now I can't expect strangers on the Internet to tell me if it is as no one really can, however they can put things into perspective for you and think about it logically rather than emotionally which is why I'm glad I posted to begin with.

So thank you again!  

Rachelredwood16

UnderOffer said:

I really like house 1. That extra room as dining room is really valuable space, also the fact you have the front door in centre and rooms on left and right hand side of house will become valuable with noise from kids etc., as they can play in dining room/play room and you can sit other side in living room watching tv. 

I can’t tell if you’d get a small dining table in house 2 kitchen? But where will you eat or have guests? 

A question I (crazily) apply to prospective homes, is how will it function at Christmas time! House 1 I can imagine the Christmas tree in the dining room and just having that extra space for family and guests to be sat in living room then entering dining room to eat, table all decorated etc., house 2 I can’t see the same flow. 

I’d get fed up going up and down the stairs for house 2, particularly if I’d forgotten something on ground floor and was in master room in 2nd floor. 

Your current home is lovely too, must have been a great FTB purchase, good luck with your decision. 

That's a valid point ref the noise of kids playing! We wouldn't get a dining table in the kitchen. 

All very valid points & I understand the point about Christmas, we haven't really had the space for a Christmas tree in our current house. 

Aww thank you, we definitely love our house and if it was just going to be the 2 of us going forward we'd probably stay put for a while as its a good size for us and our kitty! 

Skiddaw1

OP, very little help to you, but I like them both. Based on the pics my preference would be for House Number Two but I honestly think you and your family will be happy in either of them.

Good luck with it- do let us know how it pans out.

Rachelredwood16

Skiddaw1 said:

OP, very little help to you, but I like them both. Based on the pics my preference would be for House Number Two but I honestly think you and your family will be happy in either of them.

Good luck with it- do let us know how it pans out.

Thank you! There's a lot more to consider than I first thought

deannagone

I tend to be a future planning person.  I'd be looking at both houses in terms of is more space needed, if yes, which house is the most trouble free to arrange more rooms/space/extension.  Neither plot seems really generous in terms of having enough 'garden' that will still allow play space for future children if you put an extension in  Or it will be a really small extension (which makes the cost of doing an extension questionable as it won't gain much in square feet).  I am putting an 8x6 shed in my small garden, much needed but I will miss the garden it is taking up lol.

Both houses are really attractive, but to throw a curve ball, I wonder if looking at older houses in the area that might be the same price but have more square footage for the same price might be worth considering.  It sounds like even the new houses will require some refurb/extension etc to make it fit your future needs.  So the advantage of a 'new' house needing less work to maintain seems less significant as an advantage over an older house.

Rachelredwood16

Bendy_House said:

You know the area well, then, RW. And now't to choose between them in that respect.

Does one give you more of a warm 'lift' as you approach them from the outside?!

What a nice position to be in - both are lovely.

Skiddaw1 said:

OP, very little help to you, but I like them both. Based on the pics my preference would be for House Number Two but I honestly think you and your family will be happy in either of them.

Good luck with it- do let us know how it pans out.

We've withdrawn from the 1st property as we put in an offer on the 2nd and it got accepted and both my husband and I were much happier and more excited about this being accepted than the last one which speaks volumes IMO.

Since posting my husband has really loved the 2nd house and took the extra room (dining room) out of the equation and said he much prefers house 2. 

We're very happy with our choice and the change in interest rate on the new application is a whopping £10 per month more (we offered slightly more on house 2 as well). 

Thank you all for your insights and advice, I will definitely be coming back here if I have more questions! Sorry about the formatting, I'm on mobile but I know you both said to post updates!