How do you decide to move far away?

[yesiamyesiamokaycallmeback]

We live in a city and can afford a tiny little house in a built up area near our families.
or...
we could move further afield and have a nice big house that would be an impossibility in our hometown.

how do people decide whether the move is worth it? how do you view houses 50 miles away?
how do you find out about neighbourhoods?
argh!!

We rented in the area we wanted to relocate to first just to make sure it was right for us - so viewing a flat far from us was easy, we just jumped on the train one day picked somewhere and got it done / filled in the paperwork the same day then went back home again! The way we saw it we were only planning on staying in the flat for a year so what it was like didn't really matter! It was just us 2 back then though so I guess it would be trickier to be as bold as us if u had children. After a year in our rental flat we decided to buy and start a family and everything came together

After I met my now DH we both moved to a new area together. We needed to be near a train station and I wanted to be on the west side of London. I needed a new job, so we factored that in too. Then we narrowed down to 4 towns along the train line. Visited them all, looked in the estate agents windows and spoke to the EA to find out about areas and schools. Decided we didn’t like 2 of the towns and the 4th was too far out and on a much less reliable train line that the other 3. We rented first and lined up 5 houses to look at on one day. Once we were there we continuously looked at houses and ended up buying in none of the towns, but a little village about 2 miles from the train station. I think buying in an area you don’t know at all is a bit risky.

If you have kids I’d start by looking at the schools, finding out which ones that you like have places and rent in the catchment area.

Start by realizing that 50 miles is not really moving far away from extended family. It is different than being 2 minutes away, but its still a distance you can meet up for lunch easily.

With big moves it does help to rent for a year while you learn your new area.

There are websites that tell you about the area and we heavily factored schools into the equation. It’s not that far and easily done to spend the day with family.

We almost moved 20 mins away from the family home by car, same city just a different area and its the furthest any of our family members have ever moved.
my dad said it was too far and it was like 6 miles. just for perspective.

We've never lived near our families, but have moved twice, 150 miles each time to areas we knew nothing about. We booked weekends to go and view houses, and just drove round and saw loads each time, plus went and sat in cafes etc to get a feel. Reading the local news website is a good way to see what is going on

What kind of lifestyle are you after? Are you both trying to work and do the gp do emergency childcare for you?

Go on mumsnet local or education and ask about schools in that area. Will it bother you if you are always taking the kids to see the gp and they don't come to you?

We rented at first which made it a bit easier to pick somewhere after a single day of looking around. If we'd asked around or gone by what people on the internet say we would have run a mile, but it was convenient for the motorway which I needed for the job we were moving there for, we liked the house, and as it turned out the druggies all lived at the far end of the estate so it was fine . We stayed there a couple of years before we were ready to buy by which point we had a much better idea of where we wanted to be long term. I appreciate this laissez faire attitude to less desirable areas probably won't fly if you have kids, but the advantage of renting first is that you don't have to put up with it for long!

Firstly I would be looking at the job situation in any place- cheaper housing may be reflective of the area and related to salaries or job opportunities, so I would choose wisely and think about how you are going to support yourself/ves now and in the future. Although it is really disposable income that matters in the current climate job opportunities will be key.
Secondly (or joint first !) look at schools and maybe rent to get in to catchment area first. It may be better to rent to get a feel for the area otherwise you can make an expensive and difficult to reverse decision.
Thirdly- look at how easy it is to travel by road /rail and possibly air - how well is the area connected is more important than distance often. 50 miles is very different in a well connected road /rail system to say cross country that is poorly served by road or rail!
Fourthly- think about how much family support means to you and if you can go it alone , if you are OK with making friends, how much general support you need and what you will do to manage that issue is key. Also do you provide any support in caring or are likely to in the future - such as elderly parents- and how do you feel about that possible impact if it is likely in say the next 5 or so years and may make life more challenging to manage.

I speak as someone who has moved country and within the UK have had many moves. Realistically you need to plan 2-3 day jaunt of several houses to rent/get picture of the area before you decide on an area once you have pinned down the rough location.