Worth having longer commute for more bang for your buck?

divadee

We have looked locally and the market is dire. All pokey 2 bed flats with extortionate service charges (all £1200+ And not much to show for it) and very few 2 bed houses.

If we move 40-60 mins drive away from work places (Dorset) we can get 3/4 bedroom houses in lovely locations.

Would you do that commute to get a nicer quality of living?

csgohan4

you will be spending more on fuel and car maintenance. Not to mention your own time which if you have a family is not measurable by cost itself.


I commuted to London from Kent, 2 hours door to door, didn't enjoy it, came back late and waking up early. Moved to London in the end as the rent rise was just as expensive as the train fare itself.

jackieblack

divadee wrote: »

We have looked locally and the market is dire. All pokey 2 bed flats with extortionate service charges (all £1200+ And not much to show for it) and very few 2 bed houses.

If we move 40-60 mins drive away from work places (rural Dorset) we can get 3/4 bedroom houses in lovely locations.

Would you do that commute to get a nicer quality of living?

Yes, absolutely!
40 minutes journey to work is easily do-able (very different to csgohan4's 2 hours! :eek:) a lot of children around here have a longer journey to school/college every day (although they're not driving, obviously)
I've always found the journey gives me time to shake off the work day and get into 'home mode'

HappyMJ

divadee wrote: »

We have looked locally and the market is dire. All pokey 2 bed flats with extortionate service charges (all £1200+ And not much to show for it) and very few 2 bed houses.

If we move 40-60 mins drive away from work places (rural Dorset) we can get 3/4 bedroom houses in lovely locations.

Would you do that commute to get a nicer quality of living?

No. I've commuted long distances before and I really don't like the commuting. 15 minutes commuting time is my target 30 minutes would be acceptable and 45 minutes would be the maximum....for me.

comeandgo

Yes, I would certainly do that but I don't think an hour journey to work is a lot where as some people would prefer to limit travel, especially if they have young children to ferry around. To me a nice house in a nice area would be top priority.

Davesnave

divadee wrote: »

Would you do that commute to get a nicer quality of living?

I think it would depend on what my work was, the hours I had to keep, and my age.

When I retired, I was averaging around 9 hours in the workplace and maybe 2 hours at home, so adding another 2 hours driving to that would have = a relatively poor quality of life over my working week IMO.

As a younger person, I might have done it, but there again, as a younger person I set up my property buying so that I didn't have to.

fairy_lights

A 40 minute commute is nothing really. I live in rural Devon and bought my first house this year. In the town where I work its mainly either flats or huge 5 bedroom houses on the market, so to get a nice affordable 2 bed house I've had to move to a town a 40 minute bus ride away. It hasn't been an issue and losing part of my day to the commute is more than made up for by having a nice house to come home to.

Davesnave

fairy_lights wrote: »

A 40 minute commute is nothing really. I live in rural Devon and bought my first house this year. In the town where I work its mainly either flats or huge 5 bedroom houses on the market, so to get a nice affordable 2 bed house I've had to move to a town a 40 minute bus ride away. It hasn't been an issue and losing part of my day to the commute is more than made up for by having a nice house to come home to.

But there is a substantial difference between acommute on a bus or train and driving yourself. On public transport there is an opportunity to relax, listen to the ipod, or whatever

I believe it's that difference which means a few people never arrive home.

Kynthia

I have a long commute but I think people find a long drive harder than trains and tube. You need to find a distance that won't get you down everyday but gets you an acceptable size property in a decent area. Things to factor include the costs of the commute, traffic, distance to family support and schools if you have children, amenities nearby, etc.

moneyistooshorttomention

A lot of factors to weigh up though and its not just down to time and money.

What sort of lifestyle do you expect/intend/want to have?

Do you want a very active social life with lots going on? Are you quite a quiet homebody? Somewhere in between? I think your first priority should be to pick somewhere that will suit the type of life you have decided to have imo.

kleapatra

divadee wrote: »

If we move 40-60 mins drive away from work places (Dorset) we can get 3/4 bedroom houses in lovely locations

Hi Divadee, can I ask where you were roughly thinking of moving to and from where? Only because I have recently done exactly what you are thinking of in Dorset and I might be able to help with actual commute times :T

Oh- and I'm yet to regret it!!