Looking at a house far from station

[sarahb083]

Hello, I'm looking for some guidance please. We're looking at buying our first house and have found one we like, but it's quite far from a train station. I've always been able to walk to a train, but this house would be a 10 minute drive or 15 minute cycle, though the train itself quite quick.

Am I kidding myself thinking this isn't a big deal? Does anyone drive to a station? Is it a pain? Any help very welcome :)

I drive to the station every work day... but check the parking fees and factor that into the cost. It's £8.60 a day so that adds up over a month!

It depends on how you live your life. If you're going to use the train once or twice a week and already have a car, and it's no problem/not too pricey to park at the station, then it's not a problem.

If you're going to be using the train every day and will have to get a car for the purpose, or mind cycling when it's dark and wet (or if one of you gets the car, what does the other do, cycle? Or does the driver go back and pick them up of returning at a different time?) - then no. It will be a ginormous pain in the arse.

We were in a similar position. We went for a house ten minutes walk from the station. It required making other compromises but was definitely the right decision for us.

Check cost of parking, traffic to station at the times you'd be travelling and availability of parking spaces. Driving in rush hour to the next station because you can't park at your usual one is not fun...

I used to cycle 10-15 minutes each way every day, rain or shine, summer and winter. Now that I no longer do it I really miss it (and gained a bit of weight now they I’m getting less exercise until I worked out why).

I cycle to drop DS at school (he's still on the back of the bike - just). So I cycle for 25 mins each morning as school is in the wrong direction and then the same on the way home. Is fine. Rain, shine, hail (I draw the line at snow but then the trains are shot anyway). Perfectly achievable. I love it.

Thank you! I'm going to try the commute one morning this week and have a look at parking price, driving time, and whether there are any spots left at a reasonable hour :)