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Real estate decisions


NannyPlum

<t>What's the better house option to make Nanny plum poor</t>  

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So everyone knows DP and I are really eager to buy..however we have come up against the old:

better house/location/small block (4x2) vs bigger block/okay house/okay suburb (4x1).


So I'm putting it to EB. Better house on smaller block or okay house on big block?


(We are viewing both tomorrow)

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Fruitmincepies

Yeah, there is price, location, and house niceness - choose 2. The compromise is hard!


But do you like doing small reno jobs yourselves? Do you have the skills and the time/motivation? Or the money to pay someone to do it? Because if you do, and the less nice house just needs a refresh, then it’s a good option (if in a good location). If those sort of things are likely to not get done within a reasonable timeframe, go for the house that needs less done!

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The 2ns house doesn't need any work either. It's recently renovated it seems but it's just a smaller different design (built in the 80s).


I think I need to walk in and feel the vibe!


DP is going to have to go away for a few months soon so the idea of having a locked gate between us and the street is pretty appealing!

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It really depends on your lifestyle and what you need out of the house. At this stage of our life we went for a bigger block as DD is 5 so I wanted a big backyard for her to play. If she was older ie teen then I would have prob opted for a smaller block.


The whole concept of buy the crappiest house in the best street comes to mind as you can always fix the house but you can't fix the location.

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What are the block sizes? Flat or sloping blocks.


Eta if both blocks are decent sizes eg 600 - 1000m2 then I would go for the bigger house in the better location.


My decision may be different if the small block is tiny eg 300m2 or the large block was very large eg 1500m2.


I would also prefer a flat block over a steep slope.

Edited by Feebi
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Often depends a bit on how the house sits on the land, more than the actual size. All awkward narrow bits of garden, or a chunky bit of space for a swingset/bbq area/veggie patch (whatever suits you)?

I’d lean towards the 4x2 because putting in bathrooms later is a complete pain.

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Think about your daily use of the house.


Will it be an irritating kitchen/bathroom/laundry. My kitchen has insufficient storage and it is a daily annoyance. As a mum using these rooms daily they need to be functional.


Will it be a good location for school, shops, etc. we moved to a better location and I still appreciate it every day despite the annoying kitchen.


Will the yard be useable. Bigger isn’t better if you can’t stick the trampoline, swings, climbing frames out there.


Is the yard close to the main areas of the house where you can keep a line of sight to the kids? Ours is not and the kids hate being out there alone.


Can you compensate for the yard by being walking distance to playgrounds or are you on a bike track/footpath that you can use to get out and about?


How important is the second bathroom. For us it’s a must have. You may differ.


Overall for our family we would do the first option as that better matches our priorities.

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I will add the consideration of whether maintaining a larger garden is going to be a PITA or not. Our not huge lawn seems to need mowing every few days (especially this summer with heat and rain) and it’s quite a time consumer on the weekends.

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no to small blocks! especially the ones small enough to hear your neighbour poo and have private conversations. noise minimization costs way more than gradually improving a ok house.

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Thanks everyone! You have given me lots to consider.


House 1.

The block is only 380sqm. The house is two story so there is a lot of yard. It's fully enclosed. Will see if it's actually large enough.

It's positioned really well so you aren't near any neighbours (just their yards). No hearing anyone poo 🤣

Unfortunately because it's two story you can't see the yard yet from the kitchen as it's upstairs. You can see it from the massive wrap around balcony though.

It's does have huge rooms and a whole downstairs living area for the kiddos


House 2.

There's mostly photos of the yard. It's 700sqm. With a shed and patio. Established gardens...yes, it would be a lot of work!

The rooms look smaller

The kitchen has a lot of storage, is renovated and is in the centre of the home.

Its further from schools and shops (the local IGA is pretty crappy)

I also reckon there will be about 100 people looking through and it will be sold straight away.


At this stage, I'm actually leaning towards the smaller house. I feel like even though the yards smaller, the actual house might be better suited for kids-teens with their seperate area. The boys are here one week at a time and the other week DD is mostly stuck to me like glue anyway 😂🤷‍♀️


It's not a "forever" house. It's a 5-10year house. Our kids are starting to head into pre-teen/teen (other than DD).

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Spidey_Senses

I think it depends on your lifestyle.


We have 3 kids who play outside a lot and we love to garden so we went for the big block / not so nice house. There have been challenges we didnt think of with an older yuckier house like for example its harder to clean and it gets really cold in winter and hot in summer and theres only one heater / air con tucked in the corner of of the house which doesnt reach all the rooms.


But when we all stayed home for 10 weeks during covid last year the garden probably saved our sanity. Its important to DH as well that he has a large shed for his woodwork, which I am more than happy to support him in.


I think you have to consider the condition of the house closely.


I would also note that in our area its very hard to get a big block now. They are pretty much all being subdivided into 3/4/5 townhouses. If we stay here long term (dependent on high schools) we will look to do a KDR.

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I found it to be a bit of a red flag if there’s mostly pictures of the garden, tbh.


I’d go for the smaller one - it sounds as though the house would be more functional and the yard is still okay.

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I would definitely go for the smaller one. Location is much more important than garden. And anyway if there's nothing in between two houses then sound travels about the same as if the houses are close together.

Is it worth it to buy a house for only 5 years? I reckon I'd just rent. But I'll freely admit I'm no property mogul.

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I would definitely go for the smaller one. Location is much more important than garden. And anyway if there's nothing in between two houses then sound travels about the same as if the houses are close together.

Is it worth it to buy a house for only 5 years? I reckon I'd just rent. But I'll freely admit I'm no property mogul.

 

Renting in Perth is a complete nightmare atm. Buying is also tough, but at least then you don't have to deal with inspections and rent increases.

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The first house / smaller block sounds much for liveable. I know I need to force my DS (nearly 12) outside unless it's for sport, which isn't at home anyway, so a big yard would mean nothing except more work.


DD would love a bigger yard, but a separate living area we could dedicate to kids would also be high on her wishlist, and you can't have everything!


ETA just saw that the first house has bigger rooms - that would be the winner for me. And both my kids would choose bigger bedrooms over anything else. They really like having their own spaces.

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magic_marker

I would go with Option 1.

Your rates most likely won't be as high due to the size of the block.

Small consideration l know, but with the downstairs play area and a decent size yard for kids to play would be a sweetener for me.

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Thanks again everyone :)


I'm not going to lie, the first house does just draw DP and I in. I spent all night thinking about it tbh... I have emailed the agent this morning as I don't even know if our offer amount would even be considered, there's no guide as it's a set date sale.


The other house, just doesn't elicit the same response even though it ticks the boxes (apart from the one toilet!)


[mention]Lurker[/mention] Our plan is to pay as much of this house off as we can and then use it as a stepping stone. In 10years we will have older teens/early 20s kids (DD will be 13), so can get a different type of house. However, if we love it then we will keep it for sure, until retirement when we are getting an apartment by the ocean ;)


And yes, we are 30 and discussing our retirement plan/home :joy: :joy:

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Guest BusbyWilkes

Also agree with PP that having limited photos of the inside of the house is a red flag IME. Which is ok if you want to do a big reno, but not so good if DH is away for months and you’re stuck in a barely liveable house. When are the home opens?

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[mention]BusbyWilkes[/mention] tonight! Both at 5.30-6.30 of course but we will hopefully be able to go from one to the other.

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