So many decisions to make. No idea where to start.

[mummyinaquandry]

So 2 weeks ago my fil casually slipped into conversation (whilst walking the dog in the rain, in the dark) that he has inherited a chunk of money when his aunt died 3.5yrs ago. He went on to say that it was a good chunk. He then went on to say he wanted to give it to us (DH and I). He then went on to say it was in fact £220k!!!!!!!!!

This money is a gift for us to buy a house.

Now this obviously took a while to sink in. Our current situation is that we love in Nottingham (moved up here about 8yrs ago as my husband ex wife came here with their daughter). We are from London. My parents have since moved to Hastings andmy husband's parents still love in London.

Now, turns out although not enough to retire £220k is a sizeable sum. My husband does not want a mortgage and we are currently renting so have no equity nor house to sell.

We just can't think what to do. Do we stay I'm Nottingham? Do we move to Hastings or nearby to be near my family? London is not an option as dh doesn't want to go back. We want to consider our children's future and the peers they will have, work opportunities, standard of living, schooling etc. But we just don't know where to start. Our children are 5 (in 3wks) and 6. And advice much appreciated. Thanks.

[Tarrarra]

All very different places. Where do you want to be? Hastings is close to London so you would be close to both sets of parents but does your dh not want to Stay close to his dd? What would you get for your money in each area. Do a rightmove search and have a look. Start a list of pros and cons.

[mummyinaquandry]

We could buy without a mortgage in Hastings or Nottingham. My step daughter is 16 now, very much has her own life and we don't see her much at all sadly. Of course we would make lots of trips to see her.

We just seem to keep going around in circles. We would get more for our money in Nottingham, but seeing my parents every 8 weeks and my husband's every 3 months is tough and I hate that our children miss that normal relationship with grandparents. We also struggle having no family when something goes wrong...Illness etc as there's no family to rely on. All of our family are down south, from bracknell to Bournemouth so we are quite a way away!

Conversely we have built a life here, the children are at school, we have friends, work and like the area. We have upheaved everything and moved across country once and it was hard enough synchronizing 2 jobs and a house let along children too!

I just feel like I've spent the last 2 weeks going round and round and not getting anywhere!!!