Which house? | Mumsnet

Dizzycow79 · 2021-03-20T12:15:35+00:00

Deciding between two houses - One is close to town, close to where we live now, might have an issue with good state school for ds but could do private if needed, close to family. House needs a lot of work to make into a dream house including building work. (Part of the property comes with a bit of woodland that needs maintaining I guess) Two is a nice village 25/30 mins away from where we are now. Beautiful period property, more expensive but not much work to do. Good school system, but 30 mins away from main city/friends/ageing parents. Plus points/negative points? Which would you go for?

Pinkdelight3 · 20/03/2021 12:20

30 mins away is no distance really. I wouldn't personally want to live in a village, but that option certainly sounds better from what you've written. Why bother moving to the first one if it's close to where you already are, doesn't have good schools and is a load of work? What's the benefit?

Purplewithred · 20/03/2021 12:23

First one for me, but I love a house project.

Waspie · 20/03/2021 12:29

I think I'd go for house 1 because of the plus points although the potential lack of good school option would give me pause.

When we moved a few years ago we had a similar choice. I voted for house 1 but DP and DS voted for house 2; so here we are in house 2 and I love it here

Original poster

Dizzycow79 · 20/03/2021 12:29

@Pinkdelight3

30 mins away is no distance really. I wouldn't personally want to live in a village, but that option certainly sounds better from what you've written. Why bother moving to the first one if it's close to where you already are, doesn't have good schools and is a load of work? What's the benefit?

More space than we have now x

OP posts:

TabbyStar · 20/03/2021 12:31

We moved 30 minutes down the road but closer to parents. I used to live 30 mins away from ageing parents, which was fine at the time but when they started to really need me (including in medical emergencies waiting for paramedics) I was really glad I was only 5 minutes away (though on the other hand this does set you up as the go to person, which can become overwhelming).

Really important for the kids to have friends, I'd say 30 mins is fine to keep up stronger / family friendships, so the key thing here would be opportunity to make new friends.

Pinkdelight3 · 20/03/2021 12:32

Okay, but still if it'll mean paying for private schools and for all the work on the house, it feels like there must be other options that give you more space and more benefits, instead of more space and way more outlays. Essentially though, I'm saying I wouldn't count the 30min distance as a big factor. It still counts as close by in my book.

Original poster

Dizzycow79 · 20/03/2021 12:46

@Pinkdelight3

Okay, but still if it'll mean paying for private schools and for all the work on the house, it feels like there must be other options that give you more space and more benefits, instead of more space and way more outlays. Essentially though, I'm saying I wouldn't count the 30min distance as a big factor. It still counts as close by in my book.

I guess the draw of number one is that it's close to family x

OP posts:

Original poster

Dizzycow79 · 20/03/2021 12:53

@Pinkdelight3

30 mins away is no distance really. I wouldn't personally want to live in a village, but that option certainly sounds better from what you've written. Why bother moving to the first one if it's close to where you already are, doesn't have good schools and is a load of work? What's the benefit?

Also - what puts you off living in a village? X

OP posts:

Watchingthetelly · 20/03/2021 13:00

30 mins drive would be a big distance to me, it was very important to me to be close to my family and friends. It might be that neither of these houses is the right option. Could you keep looking to find something that would better meet your needs?

Didicat · 20/03/2021 13:03

Do you need to take into account commuting?

Original poster

Dizzycow79 · 20/03/2021 13:04

@Didicat

Do you need to take into account commuting?

Commute for hubs would be about 10 mins more ... but he'll be wfh more now anyway. I'm a sahm/carer for my dd.

OP posts:

Redskyyy · 20/03/2021 13:05

House one for sure. I love a project and think you will spend years as a taxi when your kids are older and want to meet friends in town.

Midlifephoenix · 20/03/2021 14:06

Will it be forever home or next five years? As someone who lived 3500 miles away from family that would not cross my mind, but being near a good school probably would. But agree when kids hit secondary he will need ferrying to mates, sport etc and how are the schools in the village at that age?
I love a project myself and not keen on villages, but £15-20/year for private school adds up fast.

Candleabra · 20/03/2021 14:10

Depends on your finances. House 1 on paper sounds a better bet (based on location), but a property requiring building work could be a complete money pit.
Are there no other options?

Saltyslug · 20/03/2021 17:10

House number 1. Best of both worlds, woodland and town with amenities.

Saltyslug · 20/03/2021 17:12

What amenities are in the village?

Didicat · 20/03/2021 17:26

Working from home and building works might not be conducive.

I think I would go for number 2, who knows what the future holds you might not be able to afford private school when you get to that point and then would need to move again?

Grimbelina · 20/03/2021 18:59

House 1 - better when you DC get older as they can presumably walk to things so you would reduce driving all around.

Zenithbear · 20/03/2021 19:11

House 1 for the woodland and location.
But honestly I'm not a fan of buying houses lots of building work.
Been there and am so over full major renovations because you're always waiting for the next thing to be done and imo they never seem quite finished. It's enough to put your stamp on it and do normal maintenance.

NotABeliever · 20/03/2021 19:25

House number 1 because I love a project, I don't like living in a village of I can avoid it and 30 minutes drive is not negligible.

notangelinajolie · 20/03/2021 19:25

House 2. You had me at period property in a nice village. And then there is the number one thing (apart from location) that makes a house a great house and that is good schools. No one wants to live near a bad school.

changingnames786 · 20/03/2021 19:29

House 2 for me. We moved 30 mins away from our family and it's no distance at all.

changingnames786 · 20/03/2021 19:29

(But depends what's going on the village and what transport links there are- we actually moved to a town but school and building work would put me off 1)

Pinkdelight3 · 21/03/2021 08:03

Also - what puts you off living in a village? X

Everything, but I grew up in a big town and live in a city now so it's unsurprising. I like options (friends, amenities etc), a level of anonymity, a certain pace of life, a sense of being where things are happening (however illusory), and a diverse community with more flux than most villages would have. Plus there's forever posts on here with people complaining about living 'rurally', miles from schools/work/hospitals, with crap transport and unlit country lanes etc as if that wasn't obvious from the off, which put me off both villages and some of the people who they seem to attract.

But it's lots of people's dream to live in a small community where everyone knows each other's business so don't let me put you off :)

TabbyStar · 21/03/2021 09:16

I grew up in a very small village and was quite isolated as a child, which has had long lasting impacts on my mental health and social ability, but some of the larger villages aren't much different from small towns. Being separated from your school friends though isn't great unless there's a good network of parents willing to facilitate stuff.