To move or not to move

bobbofet

Hi all,

Looking for different perspectives on whether to move or not, so first here's where I'm at:

I'm 35, married with a child (another on the way), live in a quiet road, recently extended and had the garden done, lovely house, although not the nicest of towns. I've always had a niggling thought of wanting to move to a little village (I have one in mind).

I have 10 years left on the mortgage, and to move to the area we want for a house that we would want, we'd need to have a 25/30 year mortgage.

We're currently paying the max we think we can /month on the mortgage to paying more isn't really out of the question. We're also lucky where we are that we have a really nice plot and we love our house, it's just the area and wanting our children to grow up in a nicer place.

I can't decide whether we should move or not - the thought of only having 10 years left on the mortgage is nice, 30 years takes me into my 60s - granted as wages increase, this could be reduced but it's weighing up the financial burden over living in an area a really nice village.

Anyone been through similar experiences with advice would be grateful

FlorayG

What really matters is - will you be happy if you stay? think of the area in ten years time what will it be like? What will the village be like? Sometimes you have to consider more than just the financial cost

bobbofet

FlorayG said:

What really matters is - will you be happy if you stay? think of the area in ten years time what will it be like? What will the village be like? Sometimes you have to consider more than just the financial cost

Thanks for the reply, I don't think I'd be unhappy, I do love our house, I don't think the area around us would change much. The village has always been nice. I like the idea of having a safer place for my kids to grow up, and a nice place in general for me and my wife to go out in.

FlorayG

"I like the idea" isn't really enough incentive to move. Things don't always work out how you imagine. I don't think any place is 'safer' for kids than any other and if you have a car your and your wife can access nice places from where you are. Just playing devil's advocate here - you did ask - if you are happy where you are then moving 'somewhere nicer' may be a pipedream as a result of watching too many house makeovers on TV. Maybe go and look at some houses for sale in the village, research schools and what goes on in the village, make a list of what you will MISS if you move there ( for instance - I moved from Birmingham to a rural Somerset village - I do love it here, but the lack of diversity in food and culture is annoying)

RHemmings

Can you be more precise about the safety concerns you have for your kids in the current location. 

bobbofet

FlorayG said:

"I like the idea" isn't really enough incentive to move. Things don't always work out how you imagine. I don't think any place is 'safer' for kids than any other and if you have a car your and your wife can access nice places from where you are. Just playing devil's advocate here - you did ask - if you are happy where you are then moving 'somewhere nicer' may be a pipedream as a result of watching too many house makeovers on TV. Maybe go and look at some houses for sale in the village, research schools and what goes on in the village, make a list of what you will MISS if you move there ( for instance - I moved from Birmingham to a rural Somerset village - I do love it here, but the lack of diversity in food and culture is annoying)

That's some really good points, thank you.. yes I can imagine that being a shock. Yeah I've visited quite a lot to get a feel for the place, lots of stuff going on for the kids, and there's a train station which is a big pull, my wife has an eye condition which may affect her ability to drive when we're older. Good idea about what we would miss, I think this will help.

FreeBear

Village life can be quiet, but with children, often not enough to keep them entertained. You also need to travel to get to supermarkets, and getting stuff delivered can cost extra.
Villages also have a nasty habit of expanding and/or consumed by the local town. Where I live, it used to be a very small village back in <mumble><mumble>. When we moved in, it was open fields behind, and now housing estates. Still a relatively quiet crime free area though.

flossymcfly

I have rented in various places over the years - city centre, town, village etc - and when we went to buy we loved a house but the area was quite run down. It was within our budget so we went for it and it has been the best decision ever. Although the area isn't the nicest, the sense of community is something I never experienced in the city centre or small village. One other thing to consider is the winters...sometimes the smaller villages can be cut off in bad weather. Not sure if that's likely to be the case where you are looking, but definitely something to consider.

catclaires

My partner and I moved from a quiet road in a not particularly great town to a small village in a lovely area - like you, I've always had a bit of a village/rural dream - and I can state with certainty that it was absolutely the right decision for us. We moved just over 3 years ago - and I literally feel grateful that I live here every single day.

Although we increased our mortgage a lot and therefore don't have the amount of spare money each month that we used to, I don't regret it at all - the quality of life to me would be worth many times what we paid! I also don't have the feeling any more of wanting to 'escape' to somewhere nicer, which saves money in itself because I'm not always wanting to travel somewhere else - I've become a lot happier with a simpler life. You mention safety - this was also something that got to me where we lived previously (constant low-level crime and often worse) - of course nowhere is perfect, but the difference here is huge and gives me a lot of peace of mind.

Our mortgage is also currently stretching into our 60s - however, I'm really hoping to overpay sufficiently so that it is finished earlier (there's not been much scope for that so far as we've done a bit of work on the house, but I do have a plan for it!).

Everyone's situation is different, obviously, but I hope this is a useful perspective for you!

bobbofet

RHemmings said:

Can you be more precise about the safety concerns you have for your kids in the current location. 

It's just a bit rough more than anything, I wouldn't feel comfortable when they're older if they wanted to go to the park with their friends. 

bobbofet

catclaires said:

My partner and I moved from a quiet road in a not particularly great town to a small village in a lovely area - like you, I've always had a bit of a village/rural dream - and I can state with certainty that it was absolutely the right decision for us. We moved just over 3 years ago - and I literally feel grateful that I live here every single day.

Although we increased our mortgage a lot and therefore don't have the amount of spare money each month that we used to, I don't regret it at all - the quality of life to me would be worth many times what we paid! I also don't have the feeling any more of wanting to 'escape' to somewhere nicer, which saves money in itself because I'm not always wanting to travel somewhere else - I've become a lot happier with a simpler life. You mention safety - this was also something that got to me where we lived previously (constant low-level crime and often worse) - of course nowhere is perfect, but the difference here is huge and gives me a lot of peace of mind.

Our mortgage is also currently stretching into our 60s - however, I'm really hoping to overpay sufficiently so that it is finished earlier (there's not been much scope for that so far as we've done a bit of work on the house, but I do have a plan for it!).

Everyone's situation is different, obviously, but I hope this is a useful perspective for you!

Thanks, that's a lot of help, seem's like similar circumstances - I'm leaning more towards taking the plunge otherwise I will always of wondered 'what if'