WWYD - prioritise office space or location?

[MedusasBadHairDay]

We're looking at moving later in the year, probably after April, and so are looking at our options.

Currently we're in a 2 bed, so we need to move to at least a 3 bed so the kids don't have to share a room anymore. That's fine, there are a few decent 3 beds in our price range in our preferred area (the town we currently live in).

The problem is that, like a lot of people I now wfh full time and it's been confirmed that this can be a permanent change - which I'm thrilled about. But it does mean that my current solution of working in the living room isn't really my ideal long term solution- I'd prefer a home office. While some 4 bed homes are coming up in our price range, most are 20-40k above our top limit.

However in a town 30-40 minutes drive away there are a lot more 4 beds in our price range and they are usually bigger and nicer too. The town seems comparable to where we currently live, in that it's ok but not remarkable. But does mean moving further from most of DH's clients and from both our parents (both already 45 minutes away)

DH is reluctant to move, tbh so am I. It's not far, but will make his daily commute longer. But are we being silly not to go for it to get a better house?

There's so many things to balance and find out, I'm fairly terrified of the whole process 😂

I totally get why they say moving house is stressful, I've barely even started the process!

Well, I've just researched and applied for a primary school place, and there is more choice for primary as opposed to secondary, and I don't think primary is as important as secondary either. So if I was moving house I wouldn't be too worried about primary schools but I would look closely at secondaries (even though it's years away for us!). Not just Ofsted reports but how recent the reports are, whether the head has changed since then, what results have been like over the years, whether it's over or under subscribed, etc.

I would find it hard to believe that there are equally good secondary schools in both towns?

Yes schools has been a similar issue for us. Thankfully plenty of good schools, but we couldn't get into our local ones so now drive 3 miles across town to get them to primary school which is one of the new inconveniences, but as others have said, I was more worried about secondary schools and there are 2 outstanding within a 2 mile radius and the rest are Good. So although short term pain primary wise hopefully better long term for secondary! I've put my youngest on the waiting list for one of the close excellent primaries as he's only KS1 so hopefully we'll get him moved eventually but eldest only has a year left of primary so not moving him again.

We have a 3 bed house and a garden office. It's an older house and has a garage and decent size garden. The house is in an excellent quiet convenient location.

The garden office was about £5-6k but of course it could always be upgraded on the same base slab in future. Needed 2 heaters earlier this week but otherwise it's perfect. Also we can lock up and walk away at the end of the working day.

I agree with PP - focus on what makes your everyday life work rather than weekend/occasional journeys.

We are in a similar situation currently. I work in the living room while the kids home ed around me, husband is in our bedroom (it's the only one we've now added an ethernet connection to - I can't go in the kids rooms). In the summer he worked in the garage with the door open - bought a long ethernet cable to go outside.

It's not workable in the long run.

We are buying a poky 4-bed newish build. We could get a 3-bed semi with much more land and extension potential, but we wanted to have some rooms we could close the door on straight away. Tiny fourth bedroom will be husband's office. Dining table will go in the kitchen and not in the tiny downstairs dining room, and that will be my office (or a den for the kids and I'll stay in the living room). In the long run we might convert the garage or add in a garden office so I can have the 4th bedroom upstairs.

Are there any properties like that locally? It does sound like it would be better if you can stay where you are - but you also need the space and I get that!

Would moving closer to parents be an option?
I wouldn't want to be over an hour away from support. You never know the moment when something happens and you need someone to give you a hand out. Its usually the perfect storm of events too.

@InescapableDeath it's interesting isnt it, after years of open plan being king I think separate rooms are going to have a resurgence!

@Lockdownbear

Would moving closer to parents be an option? I wouldn't want to be over an hour away from support. You never know the moment when something happens and you need someone to give you a hand out. Its usually the perfect storm of events too.

Probably not, house prices have shot up over that way. I've got an alert set up for all areas between where we currently live and where our parents live, and so far I've only seen one property in our budget that would move us closer, and let's just say it wouldn't be at the top of anyone's list 😂 so not expecting to get too much choice there unless house prices drop a lot.

[quote user86386427]@InescapableDeath it's interesting isnt it, after years of open plan being king I think separate rooms are going to have a resurgence![/quote]
Yeah, house design over the next few years is surely going to undergo some changes.

I would find it hard to believe that there are equally good secondary schools in both towns?

Tbf I've only had a cursory look, so you may be right. But so far there doesn't seem to be much in it.

You could look at this from a different perspective. Think of the house you buy as a stepping stone to forever home. Ideally choose an interim house that has potential to add value.

[quote user86386427]@InescapableDeath it's interesting isnt it, after years of open plan being king I think separate rooms are going to have a resurgence![/quote]
I hate our downstairs being open plan now! We have a hallway (too small for desk and it's now where all my washing hides as it used to go in the bedroom where husband's desk is), then a living/dining room which opens onto a kitchen which is technically a separate room only there is no door.

Hate hate hate it. I'd get the kids to work in their bedrooms only they need supervision and they just do nothing without it.

I would try to stay where you currently are. I really wouldn't fancy being over an hour from family.

Houses will change, but we have the existing housing stock to deal with. I'd stick with 3 bed, and potentially look for a big master bedroom.

You could see if you could get some sort of fold away, close the doors over type cupboard. I looked at old fashioned writing bureaus in the past but concluded they don't suit laptops / modern home office setups. But it would be worth getting something bespoke made that hides the whole lot away.

@Lockdownbear it depends how much you rely on family I suppose, we lived 150 miles from family for the first 6 years of our parenting and it was fine, thankfully had an involved mum who still helped out (obviously not day to day care but some weekends) and the rest of our family still live that far away and help in school holidays. I wouldn't put my life on hold in inappropriate housing just to have family close by, 1 hour isnt that far anyway, close enough to help out on a weekly if not daily basis. For lots of people staying close just isn't feasible with house prices changing.

This is it for me, I want a work/home divide, partly for my own mental health, but also to make it easier for my family to recognise when I am working vs when I can engage with them.

Plus right now I monopolise the living room between 9am and 5.30pm. My kids can't play in here or watch TV during the day, and if I'm in a meeting (which is a lot of the time) DH ends up going to the bedroom to make his work calls. Not having a separate work space impacts on the whole family.

I sympathise with all of this and feel much the same but tbh if you can't afford a house which provides a totally separate working area (and very few people can) it sounds like WFH isn't actually the right solution for you in the long term once it is possible to return to workplaces.

I sympathise with all of this and feel much the same but tbh if you can't afford a house which provides a totally separate working area (and very few people can) it sounds like WFH isn't actually the right solution for you in the long term once it is possible to return to workplaces.

You've missed the point of the thread. That's why she's asking for opinions on moving, it's not out of the realms of possibility for her, she just needs to move to a more appropriate house and therein lies the question, do you change location in order to afford the property that enables home working?

My feelings are very much based on the times when stuff has happened when DH has been at work or even worse away with work. Things have a nasty habit of happening when he's away.
LOs being ill needing hospital care, me being ill kids bouncing around, even an injury at 8.30 in the morning, sent one child in the direction of the school bus and focused on the injured one. Just glad family were able to get the oldest from school. While I was still at hospital with LO.
I don't rely on family for regular childcare it the irregular stuff that I need them for.

@user86386427

I sympathise with all of this and feel much the same but tbh if you can't afford a house which provides a totally separate working area (and very few people can) it sounds like WFH isn't actually the right solution for you in the long term once it is possible to return to workplaces.

You've missed the point of the thread. That's why she's asking for opinions on moving, it's not out of the realms of possibility for her, she just needs to move to a more appropriate house and therein lies the question, do you change location in order to afford the property that enables home working?

I haven't missed anything. I am asking if there is a reason why OP isn't considering a third option - to remain in their current, preferred location in a smaller house but to re-think the decision to WFH permanently.

@Lockdownbear my DH is in the military and currently deployed for 4 months, have also dealt with all those issues including child in hospital, managed it with a distance of 3.5 hours so 1 hour would be a doddle! The fact of the matter is you deal with it, you find ways around it, I wouldnt base my entire lifestyle and house size on those few occasions when life gets tricky, the daily benefit of an appropriate home outweighs the sporadic difficult days.

@ThanksItHasPockets because she said in her opening post that she was "thrilled" home working is now a permanent option to her? So she wants to utilise it, as I did.

I sympathise with all of this and feel much the same but tbh if you can't afford a house which provides a totally separate working area (and very few people can) it sounds like WFH isn't actually the right solution for you in the long term once it is possible to return to workplaces.

It's pretty much decided that I'm staying wfh no matter what, even if the house isn't ideal. There are too many other benefits to it for me not to.

But what I need to decide is does staying in the same town give enough advantages that I could sacrifice the ability to wfh most comfortably.

[quote user86386427]@Lockdownbear my DH is in the military and currently deployed for 4 months, have also dealt with all those issues including child in hospital, managed it with a distance of 3.5 hours so 1 hour would be a doddle! The fact of the matter is you deal with it, you find ways around it, I wouldnt base my entire lifestyle and house size on those few occasions when life gets tricky, the daily benefit of an appropriate home outweighs the sporadic difficult days.[/quote]
I used to live 2 hrs from family, and we had to deal with some emergencies then. It was manageable though not ideal obviously. So the additional distance is an inconvenience not a deal breaker.

This is my problem, it really does feel 50/50 between my two options. Neither stands out as worse or better than the other.

@MedusasBadHairDay

I sympathise with all of this and feel much the same but tbh if you can't afford a house which provides a totally separate working area (and very few people can) it sounds like WFH isn't actually the right solution for you in the long term once it is possible to return to workplaces.

It's pretty much decided that I'm staying wfh no matter what, even if the house isn't ideal. There are too many other benefits to it for me not to.

But what I need to decide is does staying in the same town give enough advantages that I could sacrifice the ability to wfh most comfortably.

Thanks for clarifying that, OP.

I would personally remain in the same area, and look for a property with scope for improvement. There are various workspaces which you might want to consider but I would rather put that money towards an improvement to the house than spend it on rent.

@MedusasBadHairDay it's a tough decision, I think it was easier for us due to our lifestyle we aren't loyal to an area and can look at it very practically, if living in our home town was a viable option it would definitely have been a harder decision. Have you done a good old fashioned pros and cons list?

I would personally remain in the same area, and look for a property with scope for improvement. There are various workspaces which you might want to consider but I would rather put that money towards an improvement to the house than spend it on rent.

That's a fair point. I will admit that there is a bit of me that's just impatient, so want to be able to move in and instantly have my own office space and not have to spend more to get it. But you are right that, even if its not there straight away, that money is an investment.