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Original poster

Dream House - Wrong Location

23 replies

TTCm · 30/06/2023 13:17

Hi

We've been searching for a property for 6+ months and haven't found any that we like within budget. We live in a lovely little village on the South Coast and our eldest Son is due to start School in September.

A house came on the market last week that is around 25 minutes (17 motorway miles) away from where we live now. It is amazing, ticks every box to what we are looking for and really would be our forever family home until our sons are grown up. BUT, I just don't know if I can move away from where we live now. I know it's not hours away, but this area is all I've known and I don't know the Schools around the area.

They had a viewing directly after us so I know it has a lot of interest and if the house was in our area, I think it would be around £200k more.

Do we just forget about it and keep looking, or would you consider moving to a new area? This is the best time to move as our son isn't settled in a school yet.

Any advice much appreciated! thank you

OP posts:
Lastqueenofscotland2 · 30/06/2023 13:19

Location, location, location! I could get a much nicer house even 3/4 miles away but I love where I live and wouldn’t swap that.

Peony654 · 30/06/2023 13:19

I wouldn’t go for it. It’s not a dream house if the location isn’t what you want. And location is the main thing you can never change

MargotDeWitt · 30/06/2023 13:21

It's impossible to say without knowing how the locations compare.

I suggest you visit the new place, and do lots of online research on the schools and other amenities in the area. It's bound to have good and bad points, but until you research, you won't know if they are deal breakers.

Jazzyjezzabelle · 30/06/2023 13:29

I’m perfectly happy to move, as long as the location was not some ghetto. I love living in new places, I can’t really understand folks who always live in the same place, and for me this is a minor move, I’ve moved country three times, so I’d jump at it. However I get some folks do live in the same location forever and if you are that person then it’s not your dream home.

BarrelOfOtters · 30/06/2023 13:32

We could get a lot more for our money a 30 minute drive away (A Roads) but I don't like the area, that 30 minutes to come back and forth is an hour to visit friends and another hour to visit the friends 30 minutes the other way...

Original poster
TTCm · 30/06/2023 15:22

Thank you for all of your advice. @Lastqueenofscotland2 and @Peony654 I know that the location is so important. It is also a lovely area, but we are about 1.5 miles from the beach which is lovely for beach walks.

@MargotDeWitt I am currently researching schools as this is my main priority, to see if there are any good schools.

@BarrelOfOtters most of our friends are in the middle, so not the end of the world. Parents are a bit more local to where we are now.

@Jazzyjezzabelle haha, it's definitely not ghetto 😂that did make me laugh!

OP posts:
mast0650 · 30/06/2023 15:25

Depends. Is the only problem with the location that it is not where you live now? Or is that is not as good a location in terms of schools, facilities, travel to work and just general niceness.
If it is just the former, then I would try to think about moving. Before your child starts school is a really good time to move and make new local friends and you are not far away from existing friends and family at all. Have you not had other friends and family move away? They won't necessarily stay in the same place! If it is not as good a location for other reasons, then I would be very cautious. Location is really incredibly important.

Flockameanie · 30/06/2023 15:30

DON’T DO IT!!

sorry to shout, but we did this and it was a disaster (also village in south east near coast!). Loved the house, very quickly realised we hated the area and didn’t fit in. The house didn’t make up for not being able to find a local ‘community’ and I became increasingly miserable.

We sold up after about 3 yrs and bought where we actually wanted to live. New house was smaller and needed masses of work for the same price, but we have never once regretted it.

keel34 · 30/06/2023 15:32

We did this move, from a village we loved to the edge of a town 20 miles, not far but obviously completely different lifestyle, schools etc. We did it for the house, much cheaper area. It was really scary, I regretted it for about 3 months, but it's the best thing we have ever done, I LOVE our house, and thankfully everything else outside it has fallen into place in terms of schools, friends etc. The house was the driver but in the end we realised a village was going to be very limiting for our kids (our village didn't have much going for it apart from the primary school) now our eldest is in high school (a much better one than he'd have got before actually) he's got so much freedom; he can take himself to the cinema, leisure centre, shops, there are so many clubs here.

Our village was great when they were little, but long term this town is so much better for us all. So I suppose I'm saying it depends on what the 2 locations offer exactly, and I would think into the future beyond primary school and the kind of life you want them to have as teens (it'll be here before you know it!)

Roselilly36 · 01/07/2023 03:59

You can change a house, but not the location OP.

Creditcrunch2243 · 01/07/2023 04:03

Reminds me of my friend who nearly bough in Wisbech (have a look at what you can get for your money there) but luckily did some more research and didn’t go for it. (No offence to anyone from Wisbech)

PickledPurplePickle · 01/07/2023 04:10

Forget it

been there, done that, regret it

keel34 · 01/07/2023 08:30

@PickledPurplePickle and what about for those of us where it was the best decision we made? I never understand posts on threads like this where posters are arrogant enough to assume what is best for the OP, sure give your experience but to assume OP will be the same as you is just odd.

keel34 · 01/07/2023 08:31

@Creditcrunch2243 what the OP describes really doesn't sound comparable to Wisbech....

Snorkers · 01/07/2023 19:57

Did it, regeretted it, ended up moving back to the same street and £100k lighter in moving and mortgage costs.
Hated hated hated the new location, missed our old lovely neighbours and beautiful village, to the point I almost had a breakdown. The only good thing was being mortgage free but money can't buy happiness.

My advice is do your research!

Chocolatelabradorsarethebest · 01/07/2023 20:35

If the location isn’t right then it’s not your dream house. I know that sounds simple but it is true.

Original poster
TTCm · 01/07/2023 20:42

Thank you everyone for the advice, just catching up.

@mast0650 it is the former, it's just a new area we are not familiar with. It has a lovely country park nearby and appears a nice area, but I love our little village green with the shops, library and park. I can't seem to find that nearby.

@Flockameanie I am sorry to hear that you regretted your decision. I am very conscious of our sons and the activities/clubs etc that they could access so we definitely need to do research.

@keel34 your posts are very interesting and gives me food for thought. I know the best time to 'relocate' is now so my son can form friendships from the first year. Thank you for sharing your experience.

OP posts:
somewhereovertherain · 02/07/2023 06:45

We spent a year renting to decide on an area and in the end we comprised on location for the house and views.

best thing we did, we got what we wanted house wise and the new location fits well between our jobs. So glad we did what we did

Grimbelina · 02/07/2023 06:54

I am slightly perplexed that you haven't really researched the area, at least online, before viewing. I would have driven around, looked up schools etc. It sounds like you really don't want to/aren't ready to move.

Original poster
TTCm · 02/07/2023 07:53

@somewhereovertherain glad it worked out for you.

@Grimbelina of course we have. We’ve driven around several times and I’ve researched the schools but as waiting for the LA to get back to me about which (if any) schools have space if we were to move. It’s more how to make the decision.

OP posts:
SherbertLem · 02/07/2023 08:24

If you know you love where you live now and want to stay there, my advice would be to wait until you find a house you love in the area you know you love. IMO the location is almost more important than a lot of factors about a house - you can usually change a house to be how you want over the years, just need to make sure the house you buy has the right factors that you can’t change, e.g. size of garden, etc.

GreenMini · 02/07/2023 10:45

Jazzyjezzabelle · 30/06/2023 13:29

I’m perfectly happy to move, as long as the location was not some ghetto. I love living in new places, I can’t really understand folks who always live in the same place, and for me this is a minor move, I’ve moved country three times, so I’d jump at it. However I get some folks do live in the same location forever and if you are that person then it’s not your dream home.

It's to do with community. My location has its advantages and it's perfectly pleasant but it's not really a long held dream - and neither is my actual house. However, having lived here for 20+ years I can't leave the house without bumping into someone I know to shop at have a quick chat with, and I love that.

Lacoeur · 02/07/2023 10:47

ive heard advice along the lines of better to buy the worst house on the best street and not best house on the worst street! Something like that…

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