How much would you pay for location?

Gambler

2 years ago we (myself, partner and daughter) were living in a 2 bed semi in a semi rural village.

Due to a need for increased space we then moved about 3 miles away to a 3 bed detached on a fairly new estate (5 years old).

We did want to stay in the same village as before but it is a very expensive location and houses rarely come up on the market and for our budget we weren't able to get what we wanted.

Our daughter continues to attend the same school and although we have spent a lot of time and money on our house, decorating every room, new carpets throughout, wardrobes etc to our taste we have never really taken to living on an estate.

The number of cars going back and to, the number of kids hanging around to all hours etc.

I have been browsing for houses for some while now and 2 weeks ago we became a family of four with the birth of our son.

This has put everything into focus for us and we would really like to move.

We bought our current house for £170K 2 years ago but I don't think we would get much more than this for it now. There are a lot of houses for sale on our estate and some have been on the market for many months. There are lots of new developments being built nearby too.

A house is on the market in our favourite village for £240K. I have been playing with some numbers and I think our price bracket is realistically £250K.

I have been trying to work out what we would get for the additional £70K:

Cons
Loss of Ensuite
Loss of Utility Room
Smaller garden

Pros
Exra bedroom (although 2 of the bedrooms are quite small)
UPVC Windows
Private garden
Location!

The house is probably late seventies and has been refurbished throughout. Unfortunately this is not to our taste and we would have to redecorate and probably have to rip up the wooden floors as we prefer carpets.

Question is, is it worth paying all that extra for the location?

Norma_Desmond

To us, location is everything! When we moved here just over 2 years ago we were pretty open-minded as to what type of property we wanted and looked at everything from a pre-fab bungalow to a 4 bed stone built Georgian village house.....luckily we bought the latter but frankly would have been happy with anything in this beautiful place. Mind you, there's only me and Hubby to worry about; I imagine if you've got children there's an awful lot more to think about! If you can afford it, go for it! There's a lot to be said for choosing your ideal 'spot' and the peace of mind you get from wonderful surroundings, great neighbours, a real sense of community and low crime rates is worth, IMHO, whatever you can afford.

Gambler

Thanks Norma, we didn't really want to leave the location in the first place. Our first house was overlooking fields to the front.

My parents still live in the the house where I grew up and although it is on an estate it is a very small estate with no house to the front or back and magnificent views to the front of the cheshire plains.

You don't appreciate views until you no longer have them !

For the same £250k Budget we could buy a large 4 bed detached but would need £375K to buy the same property in our preferred location.

Just need to decide whether to sacrifice space for location. (And we could always extend at a later date)

ftbworried

Me and my partner have just bought our first house in a cheshire village. We paid about a 50k premium for the location. Both of my partners siblings have just bought houses less desirable areas (wigan and derby) and one has paid 50k less than us for a similar house- that grates on me sometimes.

BUT when it comes to it, we could afford the extra 50k and coming home to GREENERY and TREES and OPEN SPACE and not a concrete jungle filled with run down houses and factories, is PRICELESS. If you can afford it- then I'd say follow your heart. This location really does make all the difference in quality of life to me, it would make me unhappy to live in a big town/city (I lived in city centre Manchester for 2 years).

I say, if you can realistically afford it, go for it. After all, life is about being happy and if where you live has a big affect on that then isn't it worth it? It depends what would make you more miserable- living where you are or losing some space. You seem to have looked at it very clinicaly (pros and cons- which is what i usually do) but some decisions sometimes rely on your gut feeling.

Good Luck

gallygirl

Gambler, you,'ve answered your own question.... you've lived there 2 years, done it up the way you want it but you're not happy - location is obv more important to you. And as you've said, most of the problems could be overcome. Sounds to me like you'll regret it if you don't - so go for it!

aurora_borealis_2

We live in one of the most expensive locations in Wales :rolleyes:

For the price of our house I could buy something amazing elsewhere. I was brought up here and all our friends and family are here. It's a pretty seaside town and I can't imagine living anywhere else.

It's a tempting thought to sell up, cash in and be mortgage free somewhere else but it will never happen. Frustrating though, when I see relocation programmes and see what we could easily afford elsewhere

lilyann1

We have just sold our 3 bed detached house for £280k and are buying a 4 bed det house for £400k!!!
For this extra £120k we are gaining a much bigger kitchen and garden and 4th bedroom. We are however losing our conservatory and new UPVc windows,but we have to weigh up the pros and cons and consider the potential of this house over the coming years.
It is in a nice private road, but our current property is also in a nice private road.
We looked at houses on main roads or supposedly quiet roads,which were all alot cheaper, but in the end we chose to pay the extra for the quiet location.To us having a family of 3 children, we had to choose a house that was close to our schools and ina "nice/safe" road.

alanobrien

I guess my answer is that i would pay until the pips squeek to live in a better area.

In fact we did exactly that 18 months ago.
We moved from an estate that was rapidly becoming a nightmare to a small quiet cul de sac with only 30 detached houses.

We went from a 25k to 126k mortgage which is painful but we would do it again in a heartbeat for the sake of our kids and our own sanity.

lynzpower

Ive been considering moving to a less desirable area for financial reasons, and we "can get more than here" for a variety of reasons. thing is this location is perfect for us, lovely roads, lively market, very safe, perfect transport links, and a fantastic park. PLus we have freinds here too, know the shopkeepers etc, I really like it round here. So we will move, but as a compromise not the area, but a further 10 mins to the tube station is the furthest im gonna compromise, and we're moving "down" Wish me luck!!

Spendless

Location was everything to me. I wished my son to be in this area because of the schools. I also wanted to be nearer to friends and family who already lived here. I was lucky we bought the year before the boom.

In your case I would say, what happens when your youngest gets to school-age. could you get him in your daughters school based on having a sibling there or does that not come into the criteria your daughters school uses? If it doesn't are you happy with the school in your area and would it mean you have 2 children at different schools and could you manage with that? What happens when your eldest goes to secondary school? Are you in catchment where you are now for your preferred school or would moving to where you want make you more likely to get a place.

robwend

myself was location also. upped the mortgage for a better area in the countryside, its costs yes, it it worth it??? ..........oooooooooh yes