What to go for.....

Marty101

Stuck to choose which house to go for at the moment. I am looking at the following types of houses.

House 1 - 3 bed 1 bathroom.
Positives:
Detached, large front and rear garden, potential to convert attic and has a detached garage. Country side setting that is less then 5mins drive from town centre
Neighbours are supposed to be alright ( only have 4 houses on same road)

Negatives:
Smaller than house 2.
Older house but structurally fine.
Needs some modernisation (nothing major, timber floors and paint)
3 bed instead of house 2 is 4 bed (not critical at moment)

House 2 - 4 bed 3 bathroom.
Semi detached house.
Positives:
Much newer built and bigger footprint. Turn key solution.

Negatives:
In a housing estate
Smaller front and rear garden
People driving into estate its the first house you see. Neighbours are unknown, looks like both homeowners and rented in the estate.

House 1 for me.

jomalone14

Will this be your forever/longterm home?

House 2 will always be in a housing estate...., semi-d, less privacy, no changing that.

House 1 sounds like it has the potential to extend outwards if and when you need to. Private, own site. You can modernise in stages.

House 1 wins for me.

riclad

I would go for house 1 , you have more privacy, you can always add on an extra room if you need an extension .
when you say bigger footprint for house 2 you should give more info,
is it 10-20 per cent bigger.
1000sq ft vs 800sq ft.
is the kitchen or the front room bigger.?
Detached is good ,eg means you wont hear any noise from neighbours
or you can turn up the tv load at night without annoying anyone.

annoyedgal

Would come down to location for me as personally like to be able to walk to local amenities and access public transport.
Is house 2 in a more central location?
If location not an issue the house 1 sounds like a better bet long term.

the_syco

Marty101 wrote: »

House 1:
Positives:
Detached, large front and rear garden, potential to convert attic and has a detached garage. Country side setting that is less then 5mins drive from town centre
Neighbours are supposed to be alright ( only have 4 houses on same road)

Have any of the other neighbours enlarged their house? Meaning you could do so at a later stage.

A small group of housing often means that if you get on with them all, you'll have a nice life. It being detached, if you don't get on with them you don't have to care.

Marty101

riclad wrote: »

I would go for house 1 , you have more privacy, you can always add on an extra room if you need an extension .
when you say bigger footprint for house 2 you should give more info,
is it 10-20 per cent bigger.
1000sq ft vs 800sq ft.
is the kitchen or the front room bigger.?
Detached is good ,eg means you wont hear any noise from neighbours
or you can turn up the tv load at night without annoying anyone.

House 2 is 4 bed 3 bathroom Vs house 1 is 3 bed 1 bathroom. Footprint 1400 Vs 1100.

razzler

House 1, country setting would win it by a mile for me.

Ronaldinho

What are the prices?

Marty101

Ronaldinho wrote: »

What are the prices?

Both are going for same price

Ronaldinho

House 1 for me as it's detached.

But I'd be getting a good idea of the spend involved in bringing it up to spec before committing.
Another consideration would be whether the more urban location might mean you only need 1 car (proximity to schools & shops) vs. being a little bit further out.

Pkiernan

Always detached.

Marty101

I'm going to take a look at both again this week. Both have their pros and cons, but I think there is potential with the detached house to build on or convert attic space. Semi d will always be in an estate and much lower privacy.

Edgware

House 1. Good potential for expansion/conversion of garage.