A tempting option to move to a cheaper place outside London and be mortgage free much sooner… wwyd?

[confusedperson]

I currently live in London, enjoying the convenience of relatively short commuting time to work and everything being close. On the negative side, my mortgage repayments will be for the next 28 years (I will be 61 when I finish repaying!).

I am contemplating an idea of moving a bit further out, where I could get a much cheaper house, good schools, and could be mortgage free in the next 12-14 years instead of 28. On the negative side, commuting time would increase to over 1 hour to one side, my children will see me less, and the cost of commuting would be around £300/month. But I could be mortgage free in 12-14 years!

This is very tempting and I am really keen on taking the challenge of commute. We are not very outgoing people anyway (cannot afford), so I cannot see the difference whether the house is in London or in a small town? What would you do?

If you cost in the price of commuting each month, would you be much better off moving, financially?
Could you afford to stay where you are and pay more off your mortgage each month I.e overpay.
It may be worth going to speak to an independent financial advisor.

Moomoomie even I reduce my mortgage payments in order to accomodate the increase of commuting cost, my mortgage could be repayed in 14 years max instead of 28 years.
Overpayment is not an option for at least next 7 years.. (preschool and primary age DC with ridiculous childcare cost).

If you have a longer commute, won't you need longer hours of childcare? Have you factored that cost in?

minipie - If I choose the right location (next to train station etc), then I could do 7:45-6pm out of house time (currently 8:10-5:40pm), plus nurseries and nannies cost 1/3 off what you get in London.

The other factor to consider, it is nigh on impossible to afford to move back into London, once you have moved away.
I have only ever lived in a sleepy county, which I love. I have friends who have moved to where we live from London and have said how difficult it is to settle in a new place, and to make friends (although you did say the friends issue does not bother you) in your situation I would be sitting with a piece of paper and pen, and making a pros and cons list. Sorry not to be of any more help!

Ah ok.

What about all the other factors apart from money? Where are your friends and family based? Are the DCs happy and settled at their current schools/nursery? Would you have as good a choice of nursery/nannies? Do you like the "buzz" of being London (lots of people around, things to do, varied community) or doesn't that bother you?

Some of these are the things that keep me in London despite it being financially more sensible to move out...

I like the town which we are considering, it is a small town with activities for children, not a remote village. If it wasn't for commuting to work, I would move there in a second. Our family lives abroad and friends live in London, but we don't see them very often (busy work/family life). The buzz of London does not bother me. DC still both pre-school. The main thing bothering me is commuting cost and time. But it is possible that I could find another job closer to that town.
That?s right, once we move, we probably could not afford moving back to London. In ideal world, if I could, I would live in a posh suburb of London, but I cannot afford that as well. Now living where I live, and still repaying my mortgage in my 50ties is not a very attractive thought.

Well if the commute is the only down side and everything else is up side then I would definitely move. If it's only just over an hour that isn't a massive commute - mine is 50 minutes and I live in London! (just the wrong bit for work sadly!)

We have just done a similar thing. Have left the south east and moved further out. House prices are so much cheaper and our quality of life is better.

I know have a longer commute but only by about 30 mins. The cost is a lot more but it is still cheaper to pay the extra commute cost and the rent/mortgage where we have moved to than our previous mortgage.

I do have a slightly longer day. I leave the house in the mornings later than I used to but I also get home later. I have managed to get work to agree that I can work 1/2 days a week from home which offsets that. So I get to take dd to school those days. Would that be an option for you in the short term?

We all think the move has been worthwhile even dd who had to change primary schools.

I would move in an instant. The hours are not that different to what you are doing now with the extra commute.

I have a disclaimer though, I hate working in London!

Thank you guys for responses and encouragement. So on the negative side: commuting time and costs, no chance to go back to London, and one more thing which I have not mentioned before: the town is a grammar school area and I have no idea about the academic ability of my DC yet. If we move and they don?t get in, their education could be screwed.
Other than that, I get very excited every time I think about relocating there.

What if you were looking for new job (or had to), would moving out made it harder?

I would not do it and here are a few reasons why:

• I also have a huge mortgage on a small house in London but I can always downsize or move out of London in the future.
• I work in London and have a 5 year old child. At the moment I can take her to school and still make in to work on time. If there is an emergency at home, I can hop into a cab and be there in 15 minutes. I am also able to attend school meetings etc without having to take a whole day off work. I can't imagine having to commute for an hour or longer.
• if I worked outside of London I would earn a lot less and so having a smaller mortgage would make no financial difference.

long commutes are horrible

Don't you want to see your family while they are awake, and your own home in daylight?