mid-terraced south-facing vs semi north-west facing

eternal31

Hi Guys, We've been looking for house for almost half year. Now we finally see two options we'd like to consider to purchase.

One house is mid-terraced 3-bed with south facing garden. The other one is semi-detached 4-bed with a north-west facing garden. These two properties are close. And 4-bed is 70k more expensive than the 3-bed one.

I know semi-detach with a south facing garden is ideal for a family. But we have to make compromise now.

Can anyone give us some advises? Is mid-terraced or north-west facing garden a deal-breaker?

PhoenixParker

Which way do the rooms in the house face?
How sunny are the respective houses?
That should be as much a consideration as the gardens aspect.

travist

In this country, I don't think orientation makes much difference at all. Prefer a semi than a terrace.

eternal31

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Which way do the rooms in the house face?
How sunny are the respective houses?
That should be as much a consideration as the gardens aspect.

Thanks for your reply. For 3-bed, two rooms face south, so these two will be very warm. The master room faces north. I guess this room will be gloomy. The garden gets a lot of sun in the sunny day.

For 4-bed, 3 rooms face south-east, there will be sun only in the morning. one room faces north-west, this room get sun-light in the afternoon.

seamus

travist wrote: »

In this country, I don't think orientation makes much difference at all.

That's Florida you're thinking of.

Ireland is at a very high latitude, so a south facing garden gets the bulk of the sun. Choose a north facing rear garden and you'll get a bit of sunshine at the end of the garden for four months of the year.

OP, it's really about what's important to you.

I would personally choose a larger property over a sunny back garden. But I know some people who mentally cannot deal with the darkness. And would happily have a smaller house if it meant it was bright.

A Northwest facing garden is not bad. A lot depends on what's around you. If the house is fairly standalone with a large garden, then the aspect is irrelevant, there'll be a section of the garden which can always get the sun. If you've neighbours to all sides, then during the winter you'll find that you may not get any sun on the ground, regardless of aspect.

The Western aspect means that the garden will be sunny during Spring/Summer/Autumn when it matters - afternoon/evening rather than in the morning. But it also means that you'll have a nice sunny front garden in the mornings.

http://suncalc.net is a really handy site for seeing just where the sun comes from and lands and what to expect. Standing in the garden with a compass really doesn't tell you enough. I found the above site invaluable when house hunting.

travist

You can choose sun in the morning for your weekend breakfasts, or sun in the midday (but not the morning or summer evenings) or you can choose the NW for the evening summer sun.
I think the semi over the terrace trumps the orientation worry.

eternal31

travist wrote: »

You can choose sun in the morning for your weekend breakfasts, or sun in the midday (but not the morning or summer evenings) or you can choose the NW for the evening summer sun.
I think the semi over the terrace trumps the orientation worry.

Is mid-terraced that bad?

travist

eternal31 wrote: »

Is mid-terraced that bad?

Just personal preference.
Sounds you have a preference for the terraced. Trust your decision.

Grawns

travist wrote: »

Just personal preference.
Sounds you have a preference for the terraced. Trust your decision.

One of the advantages of terraced is that they are more physically secure than a semi detached house. In a new build house built to modern standards I would choose a good orientation over semi detached any day.

LirW

If your concern is the master being gloomy, always think about how much you'll really use the room during the day. I have a north facing master and I can tell you, during the day I'm not longer up there than 10 minutes really. Children for example will spend more time in their rooms when they grow bigger.

I'd also go for the nicer house, in the end when you have kids, they will use the garden for a very little time during their life in the house - once they hit a certain age they'll only be playing with the neighbors kids really. Are you interested in gardening? Be honest with yourself, lots of people say so but end up paving the garden because it's less work.
You'll end up spending more time in the house than in the garden, I'd decide on how the light in the house is. If you spend loads of time downstairs and the house cave-like the best aspect means very little.

eternal31

LirW wrote: »

If your concern is the master being gloomy, always think about how much you'll really use the room during the day. I have a north facing master and I can tell you, during the day I'm not longer up there than 10 minutes really. Children for example will spend more time in their rooms when they grow bigger.

I'd also go for the nicer house, in the end when you have kids, they will use the garden for a very little time during their life in the house - once they hit a certain age they'll only be playing with the neighbors kids really. Are you interested in gardening? Be honest with yourself, lots of people say so but end up paving the garden because it's less work.
You'll end up spending more time in the house than in the garden, I'd decide on how the light in the house is. If you spend loads of time downstairs and the house cave-like the best aspect means very little.

Our plan is to live in a 3-bed for beginning. In future, we'll upgrade to a 4-bed. But I'm afraid that terraced house doesn't keep its value, although it has a south-facing garden. It maybe not easy to be sold in future, as people like semi-detached house all the way.

eternal31

travist wrote: »

Just personal preference.
Sounds you have a preference for the terraced. Trust your decision.

We like larger house. but we're afraid 4-bed with north-west facing garden is gloomy and cold in kitchen.

travist

Maybe don't bid on / buy either of these two.. find something else that suits you better.. - in the end, most need to compromise on something anyway.