House buying: Heart Vs. Head?

[lewis s]

Ok i have been to see a few more houses today looking as a first time buyer. The problem i have though is that i have foun 2 houses that are great, but totally different. What would you go for?

House number 1: (Asking price £126,500)

-3 Bed terrace
-Front and rear garden
-Garage
-Driveway
-Ex council
-Good condition inside and just needs decorating

House number 2: (Sealed bids guide price £100,000)

-2 bed cottage
-Rear Garden
-Cellar
-Small rooms
-Nicer area than house number 1
-Quirky
-New everest double glazing
-New combi boiler
-Full structural survey and all ok
-SEALED BIDS ONLY!


I will be moving out on my own, and my head says go for house number 1 for the garage and drive to keep the motorbike, but my heart says the tiny cottage because i love its querkyness, cellar and the area.

What would you do?

[Spudler]

Put a cheeky offer on No1 and put your bid on No2 and see what happens.

[condor]

Go for the cottage - what do you think it's worth? Is there a clsoing date for sealed bids? Is it a reposession? guide price of £100K seems cheap.
Put in a realistic offer for it.

Put an offer of interest in for house no 1 just in case cottage bid doesn't work out. Carry on looking around for other suitable houses.

[anonymous-user]

Which one will you be happy in and able to call home?

[flyingjase]

I'd go for option 2 based on what you describe. A big dirver for me would be the area that the house is in.

I hate to sound like a snob, but having been brought up on a council estate, I wouldn't want to live there again, even if I did own the house.

[bogie]

nice area and quirky sells it to me rather than an extra bedroom...go for the cottage

[Gaspode]

Yup, go for the cottage. You can change the house, you can't change the location.

[QuackHandle]

Cottage sounds nice, where abouts are they if you don't mind me asking?

[Zippee]

As per everyone else, the cottage would be my choice based on the basic info you've described - are you able to provide links to the properties?
Area is very important to me, I love my peace and quiet and privacy. The lack of garage would only be a concern if it were a dodgy area to leave the bike.
Think of future resale, a well cared for character cottage will likely sell pretty quickly.
Whichever way you go best of luck, it's always a daunting experience buying your first home but once you're in you won't regret it!

[lewis s]

I am looking in Bedfordshire, the house is in Sandy and the cottage is in Shefford. What offer would be reasonable for the cottage do you think, it must be worth more than the guide price looking at other houses in the area.

I would be happy to call either of them home though to be honest.

Here are some links:

House - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

Cottage - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

[lewis s]

condor said:

Go for the cottage - what do you think it's worth? Is there a clsoing date for sealed bids? Is it a reposession? guide price of £100K seems cheap.
Put in a realistic offer for it.

Put an offer of interest in for house no 1 just in case cottage bid doesn't work out. Carry on looking around for other suitable houses.

The cottage is still lived in. Very cluttered up at the moment and when i was at the open house today seemed to be turning people off as they could'nt see past it so to speak. The closing date for the sealed bids is 7th February so i can have one more look before putting the offer in.

[Deva Link]

lewis s said:

Cottage - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

That wasn't the image I had in my mind when you said "cottage", to be honest.

Door straight into living room is a nightmare in practice, and the bathroom in the attic is quite unusual. It's one thing buying a slighty whacky house, quite another when you have to sell it.

[grumbledoak]

At the end of the day, you've got to want to live in it to put up with the hassle.

I'd say the cottage, on the basis of location and cellar. The other house's 'front garden' isn't exactly up to much, and the rears about the same.

[VeeFour]

'Cottage' - that's a bit pretentious.

Looks like an older semi on a main road - almost looks like they've knocked away houses from the middle of a terrace to make it into a semi 'block'.

[eltawater]

I'm up the road from Shefford

Sandy has a reputation as a bit of a sthole, and a council estate on Sandy is going to be worse

Only problem you've got with the 2 bed semi "cottage" in Shefford is it is on the main road out to the A507 - you will get a fair amount of traffic up and down that road and your parking might be a bit of a nightmare!

[condor]

I'd suggest going to both places in the evening to check if there might be problems with groups of youngsters hanging round in the area or unsocial neighbours playing loud music. Have you had a good walk around the areas to get a feel for the neighbourhood?

Lack of private parking with house 2 I'd see as a major problem and access via the neighbours garden is a slight concern. I'd continue to look for suitable properties in surrounding areas. Do you have a 'must be within xx miles radius of ... location'? Perhaps we can help with your search


eg. this would be a great project to tackle in Gamlingay for £50,000

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

Edited by condor on Sunday 30th January 09:58

[annodomini2]

VeeFour said:

'Cottage' - that's a bit pretentious.

Looks like an older semi on a main road - almost looks like they've knocked away houses from the middle of a terrace to make it into a semi 'block'.

It's not a Cottage, its a 2up-2down semi that's been extended.

[lewis s]

I thought a cottage was classed as front door opening onto lounge?

Condor - I'm not sure if i could tackle a project quite as large as that as a first house though, looks a bit daunting!

My criteria is within 30 miles of Ware (45 minute drive) and i have a maximum budget of £120,000

Thanks for the help everyone

Edited by lewis s on Sunday 30th January 12:12

[missdiane]

Sandy is not that bad is it?

Looking at interior pics and spec over the front of house pics, I'd go for the Sandy one, keep looking though.

Cottage...you will get very frustrated with that tiny kitchen after a few weeks. I think a kingsize bed is larger, I just checked

[lewis s]

The areas around Sandy i looked at really were not that bad, and i did spend quite a bit of time there. It was mainly old people i saw and i was there on a weekday evening and a saturday.

The kitchen in Shefford was tiny, but well laid out and had a larder area off to the side of the dining room. I enjoy cooking but i will be living on my own so the size wasn't really a big turn off.

I think i am just going to view them both again on Saturday and try to make a decision. Its annoying that after looking at so many houses that i don't like 2 end up coming up at once

Edited to spell 'larder' correctly

Edited by lewis s on Sunday 30th January 13:03