Location v Size

TRS30

House A is circa 1,500 sq ft, four bed semi in a good estate, just needs some cosmetic work and average size west facing rear garden. However not in walking distance of schools, parks, restaurants, pubs, family etc, about 5 mins drive.

House B is circa 1,000 sq ft, 3 bed terrace with attic conversion on a quiet road, good condition however no downstairs WC and small kitchen which would need extending but bigger rear garden. However close to all the above.

2 adults, 16 month old and hopefully 1 more.

Both roughly the same price. Which would you choose?

Bigger house for sure, 5 mins drive is nothing. I don't buy into all this walking distance form everything people go on about, even when stuff is walking distance you usually drive anyway because its wet, you need to carry stuff etc etc.

I spent the first 23 years of my life living very rural, 10 mins drive to a the nearest shop and 20 mins drive to the city if you wanted to do anything. School 5 mins drive away. Having lived in the city a few years close to everything I will have no problem moving back to a rural area again and having to drive everywhere (I drive most places that are walking distance anyway as I said above).

Moonbeam

I would find a house C.

With kids I like to be within walking distance of everything but with kids you also need space.
I like the balance of living out of the city but having amenities!

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

seamus

A 5 minute drive could be 10km on a country road or 1.5km in suburban Dublin.

Realistically are these amenities in walking distance? It's actually less important than you think, but having to always get in the car to go anywhere becomes grating.

Can you stick the child in a buggy and you all go for a walk without having to dodge traffic? In 2 years time will you be able to stick a coat on your child and run out the door to kick a football around?

Woodville56

You might also want to consider your longer term accommodation plans - is this a " starter" house or do you see yourself putting down roots in whichever house you eventually choose? If the plan is to stay put, which house has the most development potential in terms of increasing floor area if needed? If only an interim / first house, you might need to consider which might have a better resale value in a few years if you're moving up the property ladder. My own feeling is that space would be the determining factor, together with consideration of refurb costs required to make the house your "home", as you would like it .
Then again as another poster says - you could always hold out for House C ?, but if choosing this option do plenty of research on house price trends in the area and whether House C in a suitable location would be within your budget if and when such a property becomes available . Good luck with the decision making either way !

dori_dormer

I'd go for either A or C. A terrace house would drive me batty. You get noise from neighbours on both sides. Plus you will have to drag all kids bikes and things through the house from the back garden as well as bins etc.

Generally if there are footpaths outside house A, that you can go for a walk and get some fresh air etc that would be all you'd need. You can always pop to the shop on way back from school etc. so it's not like you get in the car, come home, 20 min later get back in the car etc.

Clearlier

TRS30 wrote: »

House A is circa 1,500 sq ft, four bed semi in a good estate, just needs some cosmetic work and average size west facing rear garden. However not in walking distance of schools, parks, restaurants, pubs, family etc, about 5 mins drive.

House B is circa 1,000 sq ft, 3 bed terrace with attic conversion on a quiet road, good condition however no downstairs WC and small kitchen which would need extending but bigger rear garden. However close to all the above.

2 adults, 16 month old and hopefully 1 more.

Both roughly the same price. Which would you choose?

Just to be different to everyone else I'd be edging towards House B but my circumstances are peculiar in that my wife is blind so walking distance to amenities is something that we place a premium on. You say that the garden is bigger - is it also west facing because if it's sheltered on any sunny day a west facing garden can become like an extra room of the house. The potential to extend could provide you with the downstairs WC as well as the opportunity to make the garden a part of the house. It comes with a significant extra cost though which might be better put towards option C.

It's not clear to me from your post whether the attic conversion contains the 3rd bedroom or is in addition to the 3rd bedroom. If it is the 3rd bedroom then I'd be looking for option C. When they're young I think that you really want to be sleeping on the same level as your children.

Good luck with your decision.

John_Rambo

Bigger back garden? Room to extend? Walkable to everywhere? Your 16 month old is going to be a 13 year old at some stage. Last thing you want is to be driving her everywhere. It's a no brainer, house B.

Best of luck. Location over size every time, just stalk the area day and night for a while, make sure it's all ok.

April 73

When you say 5 minutes by car what distance is that?

meeeeh

Am I wrong in thinking that extending terrace houses is a bit of a nightmare?

I live rural and work in town so few minutes drive to work and shops really doesn't bother me. Even when lived close to amenities and shops I drove. And then even drove out of town to go for a walk around where we live now. I hate most of the public transport so city living probably wouldn't be best for me anyway. But that is me, I think you have to think carefully how you like to live, do you both like driving, have you both driving licences, how often do you actually walk anywhere, do you have hobbies that take a lot of space, are you hoarders, do you like building projects. I think very often people like the idea of something but then realize that actually it doesn't suit them at all. There is no point even considering house A if one of you doesn't have drivers licence and B should be out if you find building projects daunting or like a lot of space.

You can do a pool and people will pick a or b or none but they are not you.

TRS30

Thanks for all the replies. Will try to answer all questions.

Both houses are in suburbia and within 2.5/3km of each other.

We have 1 car and we both drive however we would be taking public transport to work from both houses.

My wife loves to walk and while she can walk around house A once out of the estate it will be all beside roads. With house B she can have a very large park, beach and much quieter areas to walk around.

The garden in house B is north facing however as it quite long it gets the sun pretty much all day, there are mature trees near the end so it quite private. It is also in a row of only 4 houses. It has three bedrooms and then the attic conversion as well.

Looking on google maps some of the houses on the same road as house B have done two story extensions.

This would be a long term house for 10+ years minimium and maybe life.

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

Your 16 month old is going to be a 13 year old at some stage. Last thing you want is to be driving her everywhere. It's a no brainer, house B.
.

I'd say the opposite much better that a 13 year old had to be dropped and collected and is not hanging around parks or street corners etc in groups as they are within easy walking distance. Much easier keep tabs on a teen who can't get places easily under their own steam.

House A all the way.

Atlantic Dawn

How does house A's prospects look in say 5 years time? It could have all the amenities missing there now in that time. Does house A have connection to broadband, gas etc?

syklops

I was expecting House A be to much further from House B for this question to even come up. Considering the OP has a car already, its a no-brainer in my opinion.

Put it like this, if the OP didnt have a car then walking distance to at least a shop and reliable public transport would be a "must have". With a car, shops in walking distance transitions into a mild extra convenience.

50% more space for the same price? House A, easily.

dori_dormer

Just with regards extending house b. It would be a nightmare! Every piece of concrete, block, tile will be comign through your front door. As well as many dusty dirty boots on teh workmen. Your entire house will be filthy and taken over for many weeks, just fyi. My sister lives in a terrace and simply getting some patio put down in the back garden was a nightmare. Can't imagine how bad a two story extension would be!

Personally I'd be going for space in house a, if those are literally your only options.

seamus

dori_dormer wrote: »

Just with regards extending house b. It would be a nightmare! Every piece of concrete, block, tile will be comign through your front door. As well as many dusty dirty boots on teh workmen. Your entire house will be filthy and taken over for many weeks, just fyi. My sister lives in a terrace and simply getting some patio put down in the back garden was a nightmare. Can't imagine how bad a two story extension would be!

Personally I'd be going for space in house a, if those are literally your only options.

I have a terraced house and it's not even nearly as bad as people make out tbh. I've managed to get a barna shed through the front door and out the back with no fuss.

Wood or tile floors are a must - quick wipe, all sorted.

It does help though if you're prepared to do a lot of the work yourself, so you don't have builders marching through the house for every minor piece of work.

At the end of the day though if you're doing a huge extension you're going to move out, whether you're in a terrace or a semi-D, so that's not a massive issue.