Stay in area and live in small house in not so nice neighbourhood or move away?

[Justonecheese]

wwyd?

We have lived in area for 3 years. DD born here, I've made friends here, love the town etc. Is the first place I've lived where I've felt that it's home (not the house as we rent, but the area). DH self employed so not tied to location of job.

Thing is, we hope to be able to buy at some point-it could be quite a way off but still I am thinking ahead-DD is 2 and friends are discussing schools etc.

I just feel in limbo and very unsure-would it be best to stay in an area we have started to settle in but not be able to afford a nice, large enough house or to just totally start again somewhere much cheaper?

Has anyone decided to make a big move for these reasons and it worked out well/badly?

how far would you have to move to be able to afford to buy? We moved out of our town to a big village - so maybe 8 miles - and it worked very well - but knew a couple of people in the village and the schools were excellent
and could see our old friends as well.

If DH is self-employed and can really work anywhere and dd has not yet started school then the world really is your oyster. We move all the time with dh's job so moving really doesn't phase me - in your situation I'd move somewhere where you can get a nice house. With small children it is always really easy to make new friends. Where do you live at the mo?

An0ther name - probably no more than 10/15 miles so yes in theory could still see friends I've made. I think I need to get my head around the fact that life never stays the same with kids and the life I live now ( work pt, see mum friends in daytime rest of week) is only temporary ie when DD starts school I won't be going on playdates etc and may be working ft again anyway, so I can't really base any future decisions on what my life is like right now.

LillianGish - we are in Sussex. I really love it here but we made a mistake in renting where we would never be able to buy!

In that case I'd definitely move somewhere you can afford a nice house. As you are moving such a short distance you can take your time scouting out different areas at the weekend then just wait for something to come up. Sounds like fun. As you say life never stays the same with kids - mine were born in Paris, started school in Berlin and now we live in London. I love Sussex - pre-dh and kids and lived in Hastings (on the seafront!) for a couple of years. Property is very reasonable around there and the coast is lovely.

Location over house is the key really, but the most important thing is to be happy...if you can reconcile this, stay in rented until you maybe can afford to buy in the area you really like?

We are in the middle of doing this so cant say how it worked out yet - we are moving 8 miles away for size of house/space to a quite nice area from a really, really nice area where we have been renting for 3 years and I really didnt want to leave. When it came down to it, we saw a spacious, roomy house with more room than we could ever need and just cosmetic work needing doing in the less popular area for the same price as a poky 3 bed one where we would have had to pay more to extend, needed a lot of work etc where we are now (and this was the pattern after over a year of looking). I went for space over location (though location is by know means bad, just not as great as where we are) and am hoping we are close enough to stay in touch with friends.

It really came to a crunch point with regards personal happiness and, in actual fact, renting in great area wasnt making us happy anymore. I am quite claustophobic so space became a big issue. I am hoping I won't live to regret it!

You need to decide on your priorities - school catchment may well limit your location search. If you're intending to stay put for the long term, personally - I would go for location over size but only you can decide what's more important to you. We've lived all over the UK and what we've learnt with each move is that location is our overriding priority. House prices are only going one way so the fact that you can wait may well be in your favour. You never know, buying in your favoured area may well be within reach in the next 12 mths - you just need to keep a beady eye on your favourite roads. HTH

Thanks everyone - lots to mull over. Not an easy decision.