What are your reasons of selling your house? Are you 100% that you want to sell? I am panicking that my reasons are too trivial...

[littlecrystal]

Apologies for this late wobble, but MN is always the best adviser for it!
I have decided to sell my house in South London and move into better London suburb - agent visit is 3 weeks ahead, lots of work needs doing at home for the preparation, and all of a sudden I am getting a cold feet.

My reasons for moving - better area, top secondary school within safe distance (does not mean it would be right for our both DC and we are still 6 years ahead of secondary) and a newer house (less expensive maintenance). But it is a suburb - nothing is on a door step. Currently we live in a shabby area, lovely quiet road, all amenities are a stone's throw away, very convenient. But all good secondaries are far and with mostly religious criteria and getting in is very uncertain.

We have decided to move now when DC are still small so they get used to their new home and (hopefully) don't get to move again. We have the means to move now - we are not sure how we will be in few years time.

I am paranoid that life in suburb is very inconvenient, two cars will be required, the nearest food shop is around 0.5m away (train station around 1m away). I am afraid to lose that convenience. My house is old period beautiful house, it made me want to move many times because of high maintenance, slugs etc, but now when it is all nearly set up for selling, it looks much better and so lovely.

I am not sure whether my doubts are serious, or it is just a cold feet!

I wonder if anyone was/is feeling the same? What reasons for selling are good enough, and what reasons are trivial. How sure one have to be wanting to sell?

Maybe you are having cold feet about this particular suburb? Is it the only place you can feasibly move to? I think moving for good schools is a very good reason but you are six years away from needing them so (a) you have time on your side to look around and make a very informed decision (b) the school/s you are moving for may not be so great in 2019...

Based on your post, I would move, but I am very biased as we have just moved to a better area in the same town for the sake of a school application. I miss my old neighbours, but that's all, tbh.

10 minutes walk to the food shop, 20 to the station at a relaxed pace? Doesn't sound the height of inconvenience to me.

We moved for better school catchment too and I have never regretted it. Our 'local' shop is a 20 min walk away and leisure centre etc has to be driven to, likewise cinema etc. It is a balance to be struck. All I know is that my son being at a decent schhol with a reasonable bunch of kids outweighs all, for me. Tbh it sounds to me that so long as you get the right house, the suburb could suit fine!

You sound like you have excellent reasons to move. We are in a similar boat and I'm convinced that the short term inconvenience of moving makes sense for the family benefits in the longer term. Make sure you are Reasonably keen on the particular house and its location, and the rest will (hopefuly) fall into place....

I have estate agents coming this week.
Our reasons are based on a scrappy 'spidergram' we scribbled one night in 2009. I cannot remember if wine was involved, but the reasons have stayed constant. We have a very involved life here (in our south London suburb!), with 2 houses to sell, a business to move, one DC with a disability and one DC who was fast approaching secondary application stage so the move has had to be done in several stages. Here are some of the 'bubbles' on our spidergram:

• not city-living but able to access good shops, cinema, theatre and get to London for west end on the odd occasion;
• better secondary schools;
• ability to be mortgage-free;
• social opportunities for X;
• nice lifestyle, large garden, walking, fishing.

We are in the final stretch now, all the reasons are still valid, we are still both fully committed. Secondary schools 60 miles have been applied for!