Better house but bigger commute or vice versa?

[spengos]

Currently looking to buy a new house to move closer to my new job but can't decide where. It seems the further away from work I go the better the house I can get but I obviously increase the daily commute.

- What is the max time you would commute to work(by car)?
- Would you rather have a small 4 bed house with small garden but drive to work in 10 mins. Or have a large 4 or 5 bed house with generous garden and commute in 30-35 mins?

For context both commutes would be light on traffic as it's mostly country roads.

 

[meandu229]

Better house.
I just moved from a 10min walk to a 30min+(with traffic) drive. But when I get home I love it.

 

[tom_e]

30 minutes through next to no traffic is a no brainer commute if it gets you a much bigger nicer house.

 

[Woogie]

I used to live 8 mile from work and it took me an hour

I now live 36 mileish and it takes me about an hour as well.

30 minutes is nothing and you should jump at the chance.

 

[Quartz]

I now live 36 mileish and it takes me about an hour as well.

Luton's only good point is the ease with which you can get out of it.

 

[Ragnahex]

go for the bigger house! 30 min isn't that bad and you will enjoy getting in from work a lot more

 

[TripleT]

Yep 30mins is nothing.

I do a 50min commute I don't find that excessive either.

 

[MehulLakhani]

Playing devil's advocate . . .

My commute went from 7misn to 30mins.

My job role has changed, and with longer hours, I am losing 1 hour a day in travelling. In addition, when I need to pop home to drop off my little one etc, it is a 1 hour round trip, the builders have a problem, and they need me to see, 1 hour round trip etc etc. Meeting in the evening, no point in me going home, so have to stay at work

Think carefully !

 

[ci_newman]

A 30min commute is nothing, go for the bigger house

 

[weescott]

I have a 3 minute commute by bike. The wife a 25 to 50min commute by car. We looked at buying a 6 bed dream house which would mean a 50 min commute by car for me and about an hour for the wife. We decided against it because of the extra cost of fuel, less hours at home, and bad roads in winter.

 

[Participant]

Buy a motorbike and your 30 minute commute will become 20 minutes, then it's even more of a no brainer.

 

[Bickaxe]

30 mins is less than average it would seem. I live 5 miles from work and it takes me 20 mins by car across the glorious republic of Newport (help, I'm being held against my will).

Try driving the route at the times you expect to going to work and see what its like.

 

[The_Abyss]

A 10 minute commute can give you the chance to get home for a lunch break every now and then. Especially if the other half works close by

 

[DiG]

30 mins is less than average it would seem. I live 5 miles from work and it takes me 20 mins by car across the glorious republic of Newport (help, I'm being held against my will).

Try driving the route at the times you expect to going to work and see what its like.

I think this is really good advice, in the past I moved from a 15 min to a 30 min commute but once I'd driven the new route it turned out to be a much more pleasant drive.

I miss being able to drive to work in a reasonable time, I'm doing 1:30-1:50 on trains at the moment and its a killer

 

[pitchfork]

The 10 minutes one.

I used to commute and I would never do it again. I currently walk to work in 10 minutes and it is so much nicer than wasting hours a day, lots of money and ending up tired and useless.

Big house isn't anything, quality of life before fancy house.

 

[boxman2000]

40 minutes of my life each day sat in the car and have a larger house? No brainer as far as I'm concerned.

I'd just get myself a good audio book and enjoy the peace and quiet!

Good advice above in trying the route at the times you would need to commute, definitely give you a flavour of what you'd be expecting.

 

[pitchfork]

40 minutes of my life each day sat in the car and have a larger house? No brainer as far as I'm concerned.

Assuming you worked 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year thats 266 x 24 hour days you've wasted...

Is 2/3rds of a year of your life worth wasting for a bigger house?

 

[Haggisman]

Would depend on numerous other factors - how big is my family, how much time do I spend at home, do I enjoy gardening, how much "bigger" are we talking, what are the areas like, etc.?

Most of the time I'd go for the shorter commute however.

 

[trentlad]

Shorter commute. Every. Single. Time.

Traffic progressively gets worse every year and what could be a traffic free route now could turn into a nightmare commute in 5 years. I also like biking to work and forcing exercise into my daily routine.

Getting home fast never gets old, pop back for lunch, get out of bed later, never late because you can drive to work fast in emergencies, let the dog out and most importantly add an extra personal hour to your day.

Quality over quantity my friend.

 

[boxman2000]

Assuming you worked 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year thats 266 x 24 hour days you've wasted...

Is 2/3rds of a year of your life worth wasting for a bigger house?

Eh? An additional 40 minutes travel time per day at 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year (240 working days) is 160 hours per year or 6 days and 40 minutes travel. Or 40 minutes is 2/3 of an hour so 240 days divided by 2/3 = 160 hours. I don't understand how he would be wasting 2/3rds of a year travelling?

Depends how you use the time isn't it? If I had to commute that far then I would be putting the time to learning a language (particularly if you're in the comfort of your own car) or at the least listening to audio books.

I have friends that work in the City that have to commute 2 hours each way which is 960 hours (40 days) travel per year. In the grand scheme of things I personally don't see a 1/2 hour commute each way as being a big deal. Down to the OP if he wants to do that though of course!