Sell up and move or stay?

tmli

My boyfriend and I have been living in the same house for almost 13 years. We have been toying with the idea of selling the house and moving to a different area for a couple of different reasons, but we both always hit a brick wall when we talk about it, as in we go from saying yes lets do it, to we will miss this place if we do.

We have pros and cons for staying here, and pros and cons for moving so that is not helping at the moment.

We both love the house, we also love the area, the neighbours are fine, but the house is starting to feel like it is too big for us, we decided a long time ago that we didn't want children so we have two spare rooms that we barely go in, our house is also 15 miles away from both our places of work.

The place we have been talking of moving to if we did move is where we both work, so we would save on petrol/travel time, we could even walk to work/have lunch there as well, and we would be going for a smaller house, going from three beds to two.

Also we are currently in a detached house and would be going for either a semi or terraced, are we likely to regret that after being used to a detached for so long?

I know only we can really say for sure either way, but if it was you would you stay or go?

jayII

See if you can book a semi/terraced holiday let for a couple of weeks in the area you'd move to, or stay in a work colleague's house whilst they are away on holiday? It would be worth the investment in money and time.

I suspect you'd find the neighbour noise of a semi/terraced very irritating initially, but only you can decide if it is worth the convenience of living near your workplaces. I wouldn't do it, but my work isn't the kind that you want to live near to.

Money_saving_maniac

How would the reduced mortgage/car/petrol payments change your life, how much extra money would you have each month and what would you do with it?

getmore4less

Depending on jobs being very close can have disadvantages.

Do you have 2 cars that could reduce to 1/0

Space would that reducing be an issue.

As above life goals what will you do with the time and money.

Job security would new jobs also be close.

Moving is expensive will you need to do it again as you approach retirement.

Davesnave

Would you be moving to a semi or terrace because property is more expensive where you work, so even with reduced travel costs, a detached would take you out of budget?

We lived in semis for over 30 years and had no problems at all, but having had the luxury of being detached for around 8 years, I doubt if we'd go back to having an attached property, unless it was an old cottage, or similar, with thick dividing walls.

While having too much space doesn't compute for me, I can understand the tiresomeness of a 15 mile commute well enough.

Locations are very individual, so there are many scenarios where, say, a 4 mile commute might fit best for cost or environmental reasons, rather than being on work's doorstep. It's not a simple either/or for many.

Being very convenient for work is not always a good thing either!

Debtslayer

If it were me and I still loved the house then I'd stay.
As long as your commute to and from work doesn't drive you mad.
People change jobs, so what's the chances that you won't be working where you currently do in the next 5 years? Also if you're closer to work it could have the negative effect of you work longer hours because your closer to work

AnotherJoe

The lack of noise from a detached compared to a semi or terrace would make the move you describe a complete no-no to me. Just takes one adjacent neighbour who plays loud music to make life hell.

Add to that, you like it where you are and have good neighbours, those are worth a lot.

Final consideration, odds are that the price of a 3 bed detached will appreciate faster than 2 bed terraces where you are considering moving to. So, if you are planning to downsize and move elsewhere later on thats potentially a big chunk of change that could be used in that move that you will be forgoing.

PasturesNew

Moving closer to work is often a really great experience. The idea that you've got transport choices and "more time to yourself" if you're home within 15-20 minutes is exciting. The concept that you COULD walk "if you had to", or similar, means you're not reliant on a more expensive car, with more regular servicing - and the 'stress' of the commute when you get held up.

The 'trouble' with downsizing is that houses aren't built right

As houses have the same space upstairs as downstairs, what you get is a great downstairs as it's got everything you need - and an upstairs that's rarely used and has rooms you never use, which seems a waste.

When downsizing, you realise that the first things to "go" is that useful space downstairs.... e.g. the utility room, gone; the slightly larger living room, gone; the workable kitchen, gone. What you get is significantly less usable space per £ than the bigger house.

So, in order to move you need to be happy that you've not "lost something important" just for the sake of moving.

Work out what you use/need in your current house ... and what's surplus to requirements.

It can be hard to leave a 3/4 bed house simply because 2-beds don't have the downstairs functionality/space.

Keep_pedalling

15 miles is not very far, but if you want to save petrol (and any gym membership you might have) get a bike and unless the weather is foul commute on that.

Having good neighbours and liking the area you live in is not something you should throw away lightly. Think of something else to do with your 3rd bedroom, ours has become a study since the kids moved out.

chelseablue

This is just me, but if I liked the area I lived in and liked my house and neighbours I wouldn't move just to live a bit closer to work.


Plus if something happened with your job and you had to get a new one you may find yourself commuting the same distance you do now

AnotherJoe

PasturesNew wrote: »

.......

The 'trouble' with downsizing is that houses aren't built right

As houses have the same space upstairs as downstairs, what you get is a great downstairs as it's got everything you need - and an upstairs that's rarely used and has rooms you never use, which seems a waste.

When downsizing, you realise that the first things to "go" is that useful space downstairs.... e.g. the utility room, gone; the slightly larger living room, gone; the workable kitchen, gone. What you get is significantly less usable space per £ than the bigger house.

So, in order to move you need to be happy that you've not "lost something important" just for the sake of moving.

Work out what you use/need in your current house ... and what's surplus to requirements.

It can be hard to leave a 3/4 bed house simply because 2-beds don't have the downstairs functionality/space.

Great points by PasturesNew, you trade an unused bedroom or two (surely one could be used as a study or a dressing room?) for much less space downstairs (plus more noise from neighbours).

And FWIW as I once lived inner city, whats parking like for these type of houses you are looking at? Is it it whatever you can get in the vicinity compared to just parking on your drive right outside your house at present ? Having just spent 20+ minutes driving around the backstreets of Reading looking for a parking place (and not finding one) in a terraced house "area" I certainly wouldn't want to revisit those days again.