Which house to choose?

[Fiddledee]

We are looking seriously at two houses

House 1 - commuter village with train station, on a cul de sac with access to a common, layout not right in the house not sure we have the money to fix it, close to both DC schools, only 30/35 minute commute for DH, a suburban feel, job opportunites in the future nearby

House 2 - rural village, huge house with a perfect layout, garden okayish not that big a slopes down, not that close to DC schools so much longer school run, 50minute commute for DH, fewer job opportunites for me

DH reluctant to do 50 minute commute and I don't blame him. However we would have to give up the idea of living in a "real" village and House 2 is lovely

We have a good buyer for our house so need to move asap or else go into rental which I really don't want to do with small children

House 1; I am always practical-minded, though. I'm not sure why you perceive that there is more community feel at the more rural house, this is unlikely to be true, ime.
I went into rented accomod. with small children, btw, most our stuff in storage. It worked fine for us, was wonderful to have no chain behind us when we next bought.

House 1. There have been a couple of studies that have found that longer commute negates the benefits of 'rural life'.

I agree with ragged about the community feel thing.

I would definitely go for House 1.

house 1

house 2 sounds more expensive in terms of fuel for school run and commuting, not to mention your time

house one, time with your fmily is more important than anything.

House 1. How many people complain about not having enough time to spend with their family? Commuting is no fun and it gives DH an extra 40 minutes a day at home (over a year that's about 140 hours extra).

House 1

Commuting is a waste of time and money. moreover, your children are small now but if you go for House 2 you will spend most of your spare time ferrying them around to their friends in similar rural locations.

House 1

For all the reasons everyone has already mentioned. Much better for you and DCs on school run and for your DH. Rural will feel less inviting when the bad weather comes too!

Oh thanks that what my head is saying. Its basically the same commuting time as now and he gets a chance to see the kids before they go to bed give them a bath etc.. many fathers don't get this chance and I don't want to give that up really.

House 1 too. Better quality of life.

House 1. A long commute is gruelling. I would never do it again - I live in an inner-city flat rather than a giant suburban house precisely because it takes me 15 minutes door to door.

Showed DH the thread and said I have biased it! House 2 is really really lovely. Amazing views and very very big. School run may not be so bad it depends which school DD gets in to there is one less than 10 mins drive but DS's school 15 mins further on, so 25 minutes from House 1 DS school is a 5 minute drive or a fairly long walk half of which on a very busy road.

You did bias it, but that's because you were giving a subjective account of what, in the end, is a subjective personal decision . So that doesn't mean it wasn't useful! I see the attraction of House 2, but for me the things in favour of House 1 still stand. Though like you I would probably find it very hard to actually say no to House 2. Does your DH want House 2?

Still House 1.

Still house 1 for me too.

House 2. An extra 15 mins each way is nothing at the end of the day, and I'd go for the "real" village with the perfect house.

Why not wait until something better comes up? Does it have to be either or?

I grew up in a 'real' village and I won't be subjecting my children to that... honestly as a teenager it's miserable! House 1.

Have such a good offer on our house that we don't want to lose our buyer so can't wait unless we go into rental.

house 2. only on the basis that i cant really make judgements on houses without seeing pictures but i always go for house over head...

I loved growing up in a 'real' village - no street lights, safe to walk the dog at night on your own, horse riding every weekend.... But miles from any 'social life' which really was put on hold until I was at Uni

However, that village has changed - there are now many more commuters, people that have weekend houses and flats in London during the week, people that want to 'get away from it all' so don't particularly want to know their neighbours or take part in village events.

So my choice would depend upon what sort of village the village was!

what's the garden like in House 1? I see the difference in commutes as negligible, so that wouldn't be a factor for me (if it was me having to decide)

School run would influence me though. How long is the school run from House 2, I couldn't really understand your post? Is there a school bus they could catch?

Yes, you need to do links.

I grew up in a rural village and hated it. I live in a commuter type village now and love it, there is more of a sense of community here than in the smaller, rural village.

An extra 20 min commute is 40mins a day, an extra 3 hrs, 20 mins a week. Thats like a full day of work extra every fortnight. Plus extra petrol costs.

The longer school run will be a pain in the arse as will the fewer job opportunities for you.

Living on a close would be a plus for me as its great for kids playing out. When they're older living in a bigger village means more friends, opportunity to get a bus/train into town.

Thanks ever so much resolved on the commuter village I really think the commute is too much at the rural village and I do think the kids would prefer the bigger village as they could walk to the shops and school friends when older. Would to links but am rather embarrassed about how much these houses cost!