Buying house further away from London- feeling confused- gut feeling or just scared of change?!

Doozergirl

Looking at it from the point of view of a Londoner who moved to the Midlands (where my H is from), is your chosen location the best point or a genuine compromise?   

Do you still have this demanding, inflexible job?   Are you commuting every day? 

London is a fairly easy commute from Birmingham once a week for your H and maybe a change of job might make life a bit more simple for you?  

You seem a bit solemn about picking somewhere that doesn't really have any ties for you.  Of course you can create them, but it seems like you've not broken the ones in the Mildands and could step back in quite easily.   You'll get good house for your money and, if you're like I was, a sense of financial relief and a general decompression.   A lot of people seem to move further out but just add more financial stresses and time constraints to their lives.   A longer, more expensive regular commute to the same job and a massive mortgage.  

I live on the outskirts of Birmingham, on the right side for London, very close to the motorway and not very far from International and smaller stations that would get me to London.  I love London and (before lockdown) visited and worked there very regularly.

If you are moving out of London, the pay off should be positive and tangible.  

TallGirl

I agree with Doozergirl do you need to commute to London every day? If so is it for that stressful job and is that really worth it. We've just left London for good to go back home down South. My job is now able to be home based but other half's might not be. If it isn't you know what happy to change jobs. You'd need a much smaller mortgage in the Midlands so your wages would not have to be so high you might even be able to work part time while having kids or give up work completely. Living in a house with a garden is so much better than a flat in a city but then again I never loved London just accidentally ended up working there. Good luck whatever you decide but do go ahead with the flat sale even if you rent in Midlands for a while. 

SandyN21

Catgirl86 said:

princeofpounds said:

I think you need to have a healthy attitude to risk. Every decision we make carries some, with the potential for both positive and negative surprises. If you don't embrace risk to some degree, you will be paralysed from making decisions, and you will not be able to grow or experience any positive surprises, even if you avoid a few negative surprises. You'll end up in a grey state of limbo... a bit like Watford really haha.

Princeofpounds this really resonated with me- have had it at the forefront of my head since your comment- so true.

Same with me