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Mazzawa

Hey everyone, hope you've all had a lovely festive season so far!

We are planning on making 2011 a big year, with buying our first family house at the top of the list! We both work in the city but are sick of living here (noise, traffic etc etc) and would love to join the commuter clan. We would love to hear people's views on this - live in the city with a half hour commute or move away and face a longer commute but have a bigger house, nicer lifestyle outside work?

In the city we would get to work by bus, live in a house just big enough and have everything on our doorstep - nice and easy. If we lived outwith, in particular to the area we are thinking about, it would require a 50 min car journey followed by a 20 min park and ride train to the centre, allowing for delays would total a commute of 1 hour 30 mins each way (we would obviously share the car).

What are your views on this, how do some of you commute, what would bethe most sensible option?

I guess we want everything but we know we'll have to give up something!!!

Any help would be great (before I fall in love with houses I can never have! :rotfl: )

PasturesNew

I'd always prefer to be closest to work. Being closer to work means you can have a longer lie-in, you're home earlier each evening, you've the potential to pop home if you're really lucky. Also, you're not so reliant on transport systems working to get to work if you're within walking distance (3-4 miles max).

70 minutes travelling on paper soon becomes 90 minutes in reality. That's 3 hours/day, 15 hours/week of your life you'll never get back.

Yorkie1

90 mins each way sounds an awful lot, particularly as a lot of it is driving - which can be subject to lots of delays. I commuted by train for 6 years and it was about 1h 20mins each way, but at least I could snooze and relax for most of it. I drove for 1 week when the train was suspended and it nearly finished me off by the end of the week. If you're used to lots of driving then that's a consideration, but don't forget it will be in dark and winter conditions for much of the year.

aqueoushumour01

my commute is about 1hr 20 mins using a mixture of car and train. I drive as close to london as possible and then get the train for the last bit. it works out a bit cheaper, gives me greater flexibility, and means I am squished in the train for less time. I have done this for 3 years and it does get tiring, especially when trains are delayed (which they always seem to be in the south east mentioning no train operator names).

I will be moving a bit closer which should knock around 20 mins off each way. A long commute can get tiring but then housing is less expensive the further out you go.

Accountant_Kerry

I would only communte for 1 hr each way absolute maximum personally

Hailstorm

In the past I have commuted 1 hour and 45 minutes each way and that is too much. I ended up with practically no life outside of work. I was too tired to do anything evenings and I needed one day of the weekend doing nothing just to recover.

I quit that job and got another that was only a 30 minute journey from home. I was shocked by just how much extra energy I had.

misskool

I commuted 1h30 minutes for 3 years. Not a problem as most of it was on the train but it is tiring. it is painful when the trains go wrong and it isn't nice when you can't socialise with others from work needing to catch the train back or forking out for a room.

I would do it again if on trains but driving is much more tiring.

Also, please try to factor in commuting costs as this year southeastern trains have had a 7.6% hike for their season tickets. It may not be that much cheaper than you think.

Running_Horse

For longer journeys avoid different modes of transport and interchanges.

Find something with a direct coach/tube/train, and an emergency alternative.

Expect to pay a lot of money to commute from the home counties.

happy35

I don't know if you have or are planning to have children but the downside of commuting is that you will have to pay childcare for the commuting plus time at work

I would agree that about an hours travel each way is ok but anything more than that does become a bind especially in bad weather

Mazzawa

Thanks for all your replies!! Very helpful!!

One thing I should mention, and perhaps may raise some other opinions, is that where we are looking to move to is in the process of having a railway direct to the city centre reinstated (completing in about 2014...lets see about that!). A 10 min drive to the station followed by a 50 min train journey it would change to.

So the next question is: would you commute for 90 mins every day for 3 years or more to get the house you want, changing to the more direct train as soon as possible? Would you put up with such a horrid commute to get the house and location/lifestyle you want or would it just ruin everything for you?

And to whoever is asked before (sorry on my phone) yes we are planning to have kids but would be moving near family who have already said they want to babysit!!! Fine by me!

Thanks for all your help so far!

lanclass_2

When we bought our first house as a couple, we had to move far out of the centre before we could afford to buy a house - and then we had to spend a lot of money each week on the train ticket - which could have gone towards a mortgage! It took about 1 - 1.5 hours each way and I would never do that again - I agree with the other poster about it taking 1 day of the weekend just to recover. While you don't have children why don't you enjoy the city lifestyle - you'll always sell your house to another couple in the future. When you have children, move out to the suburbs - you'll be too shattered to go out then anyway!