Old Bungalow Or New House?

I would go with the new house. All houses come with its on liabilities. But, if you were to renovate the old bungalow, you might run into things that you haven't anticipated before because of the age of the bungalow. If you were to update plumbing and electric and you found things that are not with in the current code, the expense of renovation could run high. That being said, there are people who do that and love it. Depends on what you want. Think about the house you like keeping aside the expense, and go from there. Or write a pro con list. that helps too.

 

I think, it is better to buy the new house. Commute, groceries all may look difficult for first few months, but after some time those will become habituated. If you still feel the pros of living in current house is more, you can buy and use for next 6 years and move to better house. In that case you can wait for the renovations.

 

If you are getting a mortgage in the US the bank will insist on an appraisal to determine the price of the house. They will give you the loan based on that amount. So you should find out that number before you make an offer to the landlord. If the price is higher than the appraisal then you may have to make up the difference on your own.
You also want to make sure that after renovation you will not end up with the costliest house on the block as that may affect resale price.

 

The beauty of a new home gives immense joy *initially* but it becomes one's normal very soon. (actually a popular theory I read about when making a very similar choice to you)

The inconvenience of a ten minute drive (which may be longer door-to-door, including prep) as compared to a few minutes walk won't normalize very soon. The same amount of commute only feels the same amount of "annoying" or worse over time.

My personal choice would be to reduce commute time. Being able to walk to your office, kid and H to train station and to the grocery store is a huge plus I feel.

Add up the extra time spent on commute for the 4 of you times number of working days in the year - I feel likes that's a big loss in other opportunities for family time or personal time. 10 mins for H + 10 mins of son + 10 mins of DS pickup: that's min 30 mins of family time lost every working day for the next 6 years. But if you include new routine to take the car out, park, some potential delays, etc it could be close to 45 mins - an hour every day.

I also prefer the larger plot size since it can encourage kids and parents to spend time under the sky. (even if its "boring" yard work, it gets the family out in the sun and moving)

So my recommendation would be to go for the current home provided you can negotiate a good price on it.

 

Naturally, 100 people survey will say various points since house is a very personal feel and choice and tradeoffs. Best for you and hubby to decide without our outsiders bias on who is more clear in their writings, IMO. You will find it great either way, make this you and DH personal choice,you have correctly listed pros and cons. Which choice I make will be based on my bias(I like the bungalow and customized extension)

 

In uk only 3 or 4 months u can sit outdoors. Plus renovations are head ache and expensive. Don’t be attached to any house. Think practically about your resale value, appreciation, convenience etc. it become dark after 3 pm many places in uk. So safety and commute is important. Draw on paper all these factors and decide. You should keep searching more houses and wait. With recession coming things may change drastically.

 

Instead of you quoting a price, ask the landlord to quote his proposal. That way, you know how much he is expecting and you can negotiate for a better rate.

If both costs the same, i'd go with the old house as it's very convenient. New house would add extra work and time commitment and it wouldn't work for me.