Which would you prioritise: Moving to a good area, or being mortgage free by 50

[CornerOfTheSky]

We currently live in a run down area. Lots of crime, the general area is pretty unloved, and the secondary schools are rough. That's on paper anyway, in actuality, we've found it an OK place to live so far, but we don't have teens yet.

For the longest time, our plan has been to move when the kids reach secondary school age, as we'd rather raise teens in a place where they can have more freedom and less worries about crime, etc. It would be better education-wise, too.

House-wise, we'd gain a little more space by moving. But to move to a 'naice' area (as mumsnet likes to say), we are looking at at the next price bracket up from where we are - it's a difference of around £100k for the same type of house we are in now. There are no cheaper options in between without moving very far away, which we are not prepared to do.

Staying put, we'd be mortgage free by 50. Moving would mean we'd likely be paying off a mortgage until closer to 70. The better financial decision is to stay put, but our hearts tell us moving is the right thing. What would you prioritise in this situation?

I would move, but I'm hopeless with money.

I would move x

Move

Lived in both types of area, we chose to move.
Mortgage-free by 60, the children have had a much better life and I don’t regret the scrimping.

If you have kids and the schools are no good I’d move. Otherwise, if I liked the area I’d prioritise mortgage free by 50. So much freedom.

I would move.
Your children's education will set them up for life.

How many years till your kids start secondary?

Any sign of the current area becoming up and coming?

Any planned regeneration projects/transport improvements that would attract more poeple to the current area?

Move. No brainer. On your 50th birthday will you be jumping up and down for joy at being mortgage free, or regretting that your teens had poor educational outcomes, mixed with a bad crowd, and got mugged regularly.

We moved. We had lived there all our life and it was always run down but the LA started moving in people that had been kicked out of other areas.

Teenagers were hanging about near our house at night and in the morning the road would be littered with those little silver gas pods. Fences were being kicked in, crime went up and tbh it was the first time I started to feel worried about moving them on from the house.

We moved. And I don’t regret it one bit. I have peace of mind but more so for our daughters.

I would move. You can move again after they’ve left school. (I appreciate there are costs acclaim yes with moving, but more like £15k.)

Adding 20 years to your mortgage for £100k more expensive house is quite a commitment

It’s hard to comment without knowing more about the actual numbers, ie, are you in a £100k house now moving to a £200k one and how much of a stretch is the additional £100k based on your salaries

Move and look at finding ways to increase your income. Promotion or pay rise at your current job? New job? Additional part time job? Rent out a spare room for a while? I'm sure you can find something that works for you

Move. There is a book called 'The Nurture Assumption' by Judith Rich Harris, a Harvard psychology graduate, which has researched the external environment, ie: outside the home. She said the neighbourhood and school were the most influential factors in how a child turns out. Once they want to be out with their friends they absorb their peer group. The peer group is king.

Ooh, that's a hard one!
It depends how "bad" your current area is. I could move now but 10 years ago I was forced to stay in my "bad" area due to finances, but it's worked out well. I was able to send my children to the secondary school in a better area nearby. I don't really fit in with my neighbours (I suspect they think I'm a bit posh) but while I would like a nicer house I do actually live on an OK street, there is rarely any crime in our little pocket of the "bad" area and I'm glad I will have no mortgage by the time I'm in my mid fifties. In the end the huge expense of moving couldn't be justified in my head because it was a nice-to-have. If I'd been living half a mile over, where the estate is a rat run, gangs of teens roam at night, burglaries and van theft are common, vandalism is the norm etc, I might have thought differently.

@TryTry123

Move. There is a book called 'The Nurture Assumption' by Judith Rich Harris, a Harvard psychology graduate, which has researched the external environment, ie: outside the home. She said the neighbourhood and school were the most influential factors in how a child turns out. Once they want to be out with their friends they absorb their peer group. The peer group is king.

Totally!

We have a similar dilema coming up and we're moving.

Get a smaller house in the nicer area and you can have the best of both worlds. We never moved to a larger house and were mortgage free by 40.

Good God, move if you can. I would do anything to get my kids out of a bad environment, your wish to be mortgage free by 50 is selfish by comparison.

You don't need to be mortgage free by 50,we need to all get used to the idea of working in some capacity until late 60s and shed this relic of the past of 50 being old enough to retire or semi retire. 50 just isn't old anymore.

But it's not either or depending on your age.
Pay down the mortgage as much as you can.
Move for secondary school. But don't view it as though you have to pay that off til the end.
7 years of higher mortgage payments whilst they get through secondary school. Then you reassess. House will prob have gone up. Mortgage will be less. You could then sell and be mortgage free.

Really difficult without knowing how poor an area it is vs how 'naice' an area it is, and also what the situation is regarding your dc and schools. However, I am inclined to agree with everyone else - I think I'd move.
Will also depend on how secure your jobs are and what salary increases are likely to happen and if there is scope to increase your earnings / decrease expenditure elsewhere. I wouldn't want to be mortgaged until I am 70, so I'd want to know there are possibilities of paying that down. Maybe when you stop paying childcare ?

Depends on teens
Are they at risk from gangs peer pressure ? Knife crime
As in being stabbed is generally only those who are involved in shady business ( mostly)
I went to rough secondary but mixed with nice kids and worked hard
If your tough area is up and coming maybe worth staying or remortgaging renting out and moving to flat in nice area

Move, then sell and buy somewhere Else or somewhere smaller when the children leave home.

There's no law that says you have to continue busting a gut to pay for the pleasure of rattling around the house that suited you when your children were at secondary school once they've all moved out!

Move! Have a smaller house! I lived in a nice area with a small 3 bed house, best schools in the area, they had the best education, they never commented on our tiny house.

I would move.

We live in a run down area in a tiny house, but luckily the schools are good. To move to a bigger house would mean an extra £100k, easily.

But that’s our next step, although eldest kids are already at secondary.

How long would you be paying off the extra 100k over? If you are talking about it taking an additional 20 years to pay off, and you are not yet the mortgage free at 50 dream are you looking at taking it out over 25?30? years. If that's the case, I'd looking long and hard about actually being able to afford the move.