When is a move worth it?

[Plentyoffishnets]

Hi all,
Just wondering what your opinions are on this? I have just received some great news that I have got a promotion at work. It should mean I could take on a mortgage for about £15k more than where we are at the moment. We live in a nice area but the school catchment when my daughter goes up is not great, though there is a strong chance we may get into the preferred school on distance and up to now every year she would have got in ~(but she is in a bulge year)
With the extra £15k we could move into catchment and probably go from mid terrace to end terrace or semi and gain bigger bedrooms, possibly a garage or en suite (small 2/3 bed mid terrace at the moment). My savings should cover moving costs, but just wondering if this is a usual move up the ladder or whether people try to wait for a bigger step? Trouble is, if waited may miss out on the school and the reason for moving rapidly reduces as could do a few alterations at home to make it nicer to live in. I also don't think that I would be likely to get any higher up the ladder so feel inclined to go for it as much as possible at this stage. What do you lovely lot reckon?

We looked at moving but the fees and taxes worked out about 12k. We enxtended instead.

We moved for a primary school and we then moved again for a secondary school.

We wanted to make sure that the secondary would be our closest school so basically marked on the map the school catchment boundary and bought within that.

Luckily for us that meant getting a bigger house for less money than we would have paid if we had stayed close to the primary school. All because we moved close to a primary that wasn't so great. But we kept the children in the outstanding primary and I just drove them there every day.

We move across the county for a secondary school. But our local ones were all dire and there was no possibility of our DC attending a good one. My friend where she lives was in a similar position as you and stayed put and her DD got into their desired school. I guess it depends on your attitude to education and risk. For us, we felt the £££ moving costs were worth it but it has cost us a fortune and this house is bigger but not in such good condition as our last one. Good luck deciding!

Firstly congratulations on your promotion!

It sounds to me like there would be lots of positives for you in moving, being closer to the school your children go to at a senior level is really helpful (over and above certainty on catchment) especially if they can get there under their own steam.

Our recent move was for location and being closer to kids schools/school bus and it has totally been worth it even though overall we don't have any more space than we had previously which you would.

I know it costs money to move, but the sooner you do it, the more time you will have to pay off the mortgage or the sooner you will have paid off the mortgage.

Getting a good school for DC sounds a good incentive.

If you get bigger bedrooms, end of terrace or semi and a garage or ensuite you will be getting quite a lot extra for your money. Those things would improve your daily living and comfort. So you would be getting more than the school catchment and a better investment. It sounds worth it to me.