Which would you pick? New, expensive house or small, old house?

You didn't say if you're buying or renting, that makes a difference, but if you're talking about needing a septic tank for the newer house, I'll ume you're buying. I'd take the older house, which doesn't look that old to me since I'm older than that house, because of the land with it. However, what you gave wouldn't be enough information for me to make an intelligent decision if it was my choice.