Move to a cheap area... Is this life's secret?

[Pestopastamad]

I currently live in a 'nice' area in the north, which by northern standards is relatively expensive (most expensive postcode in our city).
My partner and I earn an okay combined salary, but a huge proportion of this goes on the house, it's still 'within our means' on paper, though. We both work full-time and haven't got a mortgage yet, we rent, but are looking to buy around where we live now in the next 12 months.

Lately, I've been feeling a bit fed up with our work-life balance, and weirdly I've noticed I feel very envious of the people I see at work who don't work/work part-time/ earn less than us but seem to still manage to own a house, buy what they like, drive nice cars and go on holidays.
It's made me wonder if I'm doing it all wrong and I'm questioning my decision to buy in an expensive area, when I could buy in a less desirable area for a fraction of the price and have a lot of money left at the end of the month.
I can't stop fantasising about a life of working part time , eating out constantly and travelling where I want when I want, because the mortgage would be so cheap.

Is there such a thing is a balance, finding a decent house in a 'middle ground' area, and having lots of disposable income left? Or is it a fantasy and would I just hate not living where I do now? All of my family (and most friends) live in the same postcode as we do now, and I am questioning my motives for wanting to stay around here - keeping up appearances/ what will the family think!! I wonder if this is common for those my my age group (mid to late 20's) because of the ridiculous cost of housing!

Please share your opinions and experiences...

To those who keep mentioning schools, we don't have to worry about that. My partner and I have the pleasure of working in an outstanding school, which any future children will attend regardless of where we live.

The issue with new builds is people either want new or feature properties

When you come to sell there is a big estate of identical properties, you won’t get the ‘new’ buyer audience.

They can look tatty after a few years and difficult to sell on.

Do some research. The incentives have lots of conditions attached.

IF you’re planning a family soon - Buy near, very near, a good catchment area for schools, both primary and senior if you plan to have a family and aren’t going private. Or look in cheaper areas with good faith
schools - if that’s your bag.
No Kids planned? Defo nice house in less prestigious area.

Do whatever makes you happy. Although I will say don’t compare your life to others, you don’t know how much of this desirable lifestyle is funded by credit, handouts, family assistance etc.

Commute from cheaper area? Sure. DH does 90-120mins each direction. If you're looking at having children at some point, check the schools in the affordable area. And I mean more than OFSTED, league tables and reviews. Go check out the parents at the school gates at letting out time. Can reveal an awful lot about the families in an area and whether you'd be a reasonable fit.

I'd advise anyone young enough to have missed out on being able to buy before the 00s madness began to at least consider taking steps to minimise their housing costs. Makes such a difference to quality of life. It's not for everyone, of course, but definitely worth critical examination. As in, have a good reason not to do it if you're not going to, rather than sleepwalking into higher costs.

To those who keep mentioning schools, we don't have to worry about that. My partner and I have the pleasure of working in an outstanding school, which any future children will attend regardless of where we live. wink

Is it aged 5-18, then? Because otherwise aren't you going to want to think about schools at some point?

A work friend bought a large end terraced house in quite rough area just before she got married. She has good taste and has gradually done a lot of work to the house over the years including doing out the loft space and putting a massive extension on the kitchen. However, she is snob at heart and when she had children no way did she want them going to primary or secondary catchment schools so she has had a lot of stress and anguish fighting to get both her children (quite large gaps between them) into better rural schools out of and a long way from her catchment area. The upshot was this was she was still trying to organise her son play dates mid way through secondary school (he wasn’t allowed to go out in the area they lived and he had no school friends living nearby). He still struggles socially and rarely goes out.
I think don’t over commit yourself on the house front especially if you want DC think about schools and areas too.

Daddylonglegs1965

Schools aren’t the issue

Unless you are moving to a very dangerous area I would go somewhere cheaper. Working just to pay for bricks must be soul destroying but that just my opinion.

@LisaSimpsonsbff Yes, prep to 18, so it's really not a worry for us. Having children isn't necessarily on our plan anyway, for personal reasons, so it is the lowest consideration on our list of priorities when it comes to buying a house.

We found this useful when deciding where to live: www.findahood.com/locations

I suggest your choose your cheap area, check schools and crime rates. Calculate the costs of stamp duty too. Don't fret, just act on it. I would never rent in an expensive area, it's throwing money down the drain.

We live in an area that is not our first choice. It is clean and safe but not wow. It is a move up from our first home. We are looking at buying our next home in the area we wanted. It is a stepping stone. There are choices to make and I would start with looking at your out goings and seeing if you can cut back. Also, many people are in debt. Many of my friends drive Range Rover - all on borrowed cash and their trips are on a credit card. They are living the high life. To me that is too stressful. We have a car, home and manage to pay for our holidays when we have the cash. I am just saying it is possible and life is a give and take. To expect it all at the beginning of the journey is , in my opinion, not wise. good luck

I personally wouldn’t. I moved from my nice area to a nice-ish area to a much larger but cheaper house......and then moved back again! I just didn’t feel at home. I love everything that my nice area brings, great schools, tennis club, gala days, woods groups, floral street planters, friendly smiles, train station, feeling safe on long walks with the dog. Priceless IMO.

we did

we do have four-or had, because three already left, we are nearly empty nesters- and I did insist on a separate room for each child, dh is a teacher and needs a study, we lived in Canada and learned to love familiy rooms and I wanted to have a room for guests

so, unbelievable expensive in some areas

we bought at the end of our town-but with good public transport

around us- mainly people like us

so, it was not posh- but good for us. Shops, doctors, infrastructure

and the good thing- almost 20 years later now value has doubled, today it is considered very middle class