House move dilema
Discussion
Hi all,
The wife and I have been considering our next house move for some time now, but can't work out the best long term option. We both work in London, early 30s, have a 16mth old and hopefully another at some point. My job is is pretty portable, her's is in the NHS but as she's quite specialist there aren't that many jobs adverstised elsewhere in the country so she would need to commute back to London. She does not want to give up her career. We currently live in a nice enough house just outside zone 6 but it was a renovation project and never a forever home.
We are indifferent to our current area but it is pretty convinenet with the commute. Anyway we have a decent chunk of equity in our house thanks to the London house price boom and thanks to buying 2010. We have no family ties so our options could be:
1. Stay locally but borrow up to our maximum (4.5times joint earnings) and get a house we like that we would be happy with for the next 20 years.
2. Move away from London, but still within an hours commute and buy a house we like with a tiny mortgage.
Option 1 is convinent for work and perhaps the stronger capital growth option. However we saddle ourselves with the stress of a large mortgage payment every month.
Option 2 is a nice thought as we could get rid of our mortgage in less than 10 years. However capital growth is likely to be poor and the extra cost of the London commute could have been put towards mortgage payments on a house we like as in option 1!
I find it a pain in the ar$e having zero draw to any area. My move is almost motivated solely on financial grounds, however schools, feel of area etc do come into play (hence indifferent to current area).
What would those wiser than I do?
The wife and I have been considering our next house move for some time now, but can't work out the best long term option. We both work in London, early 30s, have a 16mth old and hopefully another at some point. My job is is pretty portable, her's is in the NHS but as she's quite specialist there aren't that many jobs adverstised elsewhere in the country so she would need to commute back to London. She does not want to give up her career. We currently live in a nice enough house just outside zone 6 but it was a renovation project and never a forever home.
We are indifferent to our current area but it is pretty convinenet with the commute. Anyway we have a decent chunk of equity in our house thanks to the London house price boom and thanks to buying 2010. We have no family ties so our options could be:
1. Stay locally but borrow up to our maximum (4.5times joint earnings) and get a house we like that we would be happy with for the next 20 years.
2. Move away from London, but still within an hours commute and buy a house we like with a tiny mortgage.
Option 1 is convinent for work and perhaps the stronger capital growth option. However we saddle ourselves with the stress of a large mortgage payment every month.
Option 2 is a nice thought as we could get rid of our mortgage in less than 10 years. However capital growth is likely to be poor and the extra cost of the London commute could have been put towards mortgage payments on a house we like as in option 1!
I find it a pain in the ar$e having zero draw to any area. My move is almost motivated solely on financial grounds, however schools, feel of area etc do come into play (hence indifferent to current area).
What would those wiser than I do?
Sorry to sound obvious, but you need to decide where you and your family would be happiest, and what sort of life you want.
Personally, with young children, I'd get out of London. I lived there in my early 20s and it was great, but i'm now I'm in my 30s and with two kids, I think our life in the country is fantastic.
Personally, with young children, I'd get out of London. I lived there in my early 20s and it was great, but i'm now I'm in my 30s and with two kids, I think our life in the country is fantastic.
Inkyfingers said:
Sorry to sound obvious, but you need to decide where you and your family would be happiest, and what sort of life you want.
Personally, with young children, I'd get out of London. I lived there in my early 20s and it was great, but i'm now I'm in my 30s and with two kids, I think our life in the country is fantastic.
I completely agree with Inkyfingers, it's all about the environment you want your kids to grow up in. I get the whole 'London 20's living' but unless you earn mega bucks the country offers a greater standard of living.Personally, with young children, I'd get out of London. I lived there in my early 20s and it was great, but i'm now I'm in my 30s and with two kids, I think our life in the country is fantastic.
But I am bias.
I found myself in a slightly similar position.
My partner and I aren't particularly drawn to any location through friends/family etc. but having a 1 year old wanted to get back on the housing ladder and have some stability. Having won a stack load of work in the Birmingham area we were drawn to the Midlands, but 15% of my work is still in London and I envisage the next bulk of work in a year or two's time will also be in London.
Having lived in London several years ago, I have no desire to live there with a growing family.
We looked at transport links and areas we could get a lot of house for the money whilst still in a very good part of town so to speak. We settled on Rugby. It has a frequent non-stop train into central London in 54 minutes along with a good supply of housing stock at realistic prices. Having now met with the neighbours it turns out the majority of them ended up here via almost identical decision making processes.
Whilst I'm not suggesting Rugby will suit yourselves, try looking at locations that will have a good train service to your partners work, then looking at available housing and facilities such as schools etc. in each of those areas.
My partner and I aren't particularly drawn to any location through friends/family etc. but having a 1 year old wanted to get back on the housing ladder and have some stability. Having won a stack load of work in the Birmingham area we were drawn to the Midlands, but 15% of my work is still in London and I envisage the next bulk of work in a year or two's time will also be in London.
Having lived in London several years ago, I have no desire to live there with a growing family.
We looked at transport links and areas we could get a lot of house for the money whilst still in a very good part of town so to speak. We settled on Rugby. It has a frequent non-stop train into central London in 54 minutes along with a good supply of housing stock at realistic prices. Having now met with the neighbours it turns out the majority of them ended up here via almost identical decision making processes.
Whilst I'm not suggesting Rugby will suit yourselves, try looking at locations that will have a good train service to your partners work, then looking at available housing and facilities such as schools etc. in each of those areas.
Cheers guys. Incidentally I have looked at Rugby before.
We've spent so much time going over various options that now it's difficult to see the wood for the trees, especially now we've got a little one in the mix too. Approx 2 years ago when this kicked off I was adamant I wanted to get away from London. However now I know it would be easier to keep my/our jobs in London (hence 1hr commute) and relocate that way. Much easier than finding a job elsewhere and relocating. I would hope to get a job locally in the medium term and the wife would eventually get something in driving distance in time too.
Interesting some have found others/neighbours in similar positions. We're professionals but even then the level of income we're likely to earn, especially with the wife being part time isn't really going to buy the house and lifestyle in a surburb of London. Feels like too many compromises but I've nothing to compare to.
We've spent so much time going over various options that now it's difficult to see the wood for the trees, especially now we've got a little one in the mix too. Approx 2 years ago when this kicked off I was adamant I wanted to get away from London. However now I know it would be easier to keep my/our jobs in London (hence 1hr commute) and relocate that way. Much easier than finding a job elsewhere and relocating. I would hope to get a job locally in the medium term and the wife would eventually get something in driving distance in time too.
Interesting some have found others/neighbours in similar positions. We're professionals but even then the level of income we're likely to earn, especially with the wife being part time isn't really going to buy the house and lifestyle in a surburb of London. Feels like too many compromises but I've nothing to compare to.
We moved to the countryside for schools for our two, I still commute but on shift work hours to London which is an hour by car. My wife transferred locally
We had no particular ties to any area,
Except parents near here. Found a nice school in a little village and have some good friends through the kids.
It's not for everyone, my commuting is tiring, but for me it's about having a good time with the kids, rather than earning lots to pay a lifestyle and mortgage. Once you're out of London you lose the keeping up with the jones feeling. I love it here
Perhaps it's just me
We had no particular ties to any area,
Except parents near here. Found a nice school in a little village and have some good friends through the kids.
It's not for everyone, my commuting is tiring, but for me it's about having a good time with the kids, rather than earning lots to pay a lifestyle and mortgage. Once you're out of London you lose the keeping up with the jones feeling. I love it here
Perhaps it's just me
KFC said:
I can only see london property prices continuing to rise, so for me it'd be number 1 for as long as you can cope with it, then number 2 with the further increased equity.
Really? It's a bubble, if anything it's going to burst.........OP, persoanlly i'd be thinking somewhere like Solihull/Birmginham.....that way it's a main city, and there's a chance of your missus getting a job there later, plus it's not far to LDN on train.
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff