How to Choose Between Two Houses (When You Like Both)

You’ve toured a lot of homes, and now it’s down to two. You like both. One has the better kitchen, the other has the better street, and every time you think you’ve decided, you change your mind.

That’s a good problem to have, but it’s still stressful. The way out is to stop comparing the two houses on gut feeling alone and look at them on the same handful of things, in the same order.

You may also have a little more time to think than buyers did a few years ago. In September, Redfin estimated there were about 63% more sellers than buyers nationwide, the biggest gap in its records going back to 2013. A home you love still won’t wait forever, though, so use the extra time to make a careful choice without letting it drag on.

Start with what you can’t change

Some things about a house are easy to change later. Paint, light fixtures, flooring, and even countertops can all be swapped out. Other things come with the house for good:

• The location and the neighborhood
• The street, including traffic and noise
• The size and shape of the lot
• How much natural light it gets
• The basic layout, at least without a big remodel

If one house has a better location and the other has a nicer kitchen, the kitchen is usually the easier thing to fix down the road. So compare the things you can’t change first. If one house clearly wins there, that may settle it.

Compare the real monthly cost

Two houses with similar prices can cost very different amounts each month. For each one, add up:

• Your estimated mortgage payment
• Property taxes, which are usually on the listing
• Home insurance (see our post on getting a quote before you make an offer)
• Any homeowners association (HOA) fee
• A rough idea of utilities. Ask the seller’s agent what the average monthly bills have been.

Our guide to what to track in a house hunting spreadsheet walks through this in more detail. Sometimes the house that looked cheaper ends up costing more every month.

Look at what each house will need soon

A lower price can disappear fast if the house needs big repairs. Ask how old the roof, the heating and cooling system, and the water heater are in each home. A new asphalt shingle roof alone costs about $12,000 on average, and an older roof can also make your home insurance more expensive.

If one house is $15,000 cheaper but needs a new roof next year, it may not be the better deal after all. Write down the ages for both homes so you can compare them side by side. Our house hunting checklist lists what to ask.

Score them on the same list

After you see each house again, give it a score from 1 to 5 on the same things. For example:

• Kitchen
• Layout
• Condition
• Neighborhood
• Commute
• Value for the price

The second page of our free checklist is a scorecard made for this. If some things matter more to you than others, count them more. A short commute might matter more to you than a big kitchen.

If you’re buying with a partner, score separately first, then compare. Talking it over first tends to pull your opinions together before you’ve each made up your mind.

See both houses again, at a different time

A second visit can show you things you missed the first time:

• Go in the evening or on a weekend to see what the street is like when people are home.
• Drive your real commute from each house at rush hour.
• Sit in each house for 10 minutes and picture a normal weekday morning there.
• Bring a tape measure if you’re not sure where your furniture will go.

If something bothers you on the second visit, it will probably bother you more once you live there.

Think about selling someday

Even if you plan to stay a long time, life changes. A house that’s easier to sell later protects your money. Ask your agent:

“Can you pull recent sales of similar homes near each of these, and tell me which one you’d expect to sell faster, and why?”

Things like the school district, a busy road, or an unusual layout can make a real difference when it’s time to sell.

When it’s still a tie

If the scores are close, a few things can help:

• Trust your gut a little. If you keep picturing yourself in one of them, that feeling is probably picking up on something your list missed.
• Think about regret. Picture yourself a year from now. Which compromise would bother you more, the smaller kitchen or the longer commute?
• Set a deadline. Give yourself a day or two, then decide.

Can you make offers on both?

It’s usually allowed, but it’s risky. If both sellers accept, you could be on the hook for two houses unless your contracts give you a way to back out. You could also lose the deposit you put down on one of them, which is called earnest money. Most buyers are better off picking one house and making their best offer there. Talk to your agent before you try it.

Keep everything in one place

Comparing two homes is much easier when your photos and notes for each one are side by side instead of scattered across your camera roll. CazaHQ lets you save photos and notes for every home you tour and compare them side by side, and it’s free to download. You can also use the method in our guide to keeping track of the houses you tour.