Should we move from our current near perfect town for a nicer house?

[Anonymous]

We currently live in a wealthy NYC suburb beach town and is considering moving options. We need to upgrade to a larger house (due to increase in family size) that costs around 2.5 to 3 million in the town we live. While such price is within our means, we can get a much nicer house for 1.5 to 2 million in an inland town near where I currently work (about 1 hour additional drive). The school district in the inland town is excellent though slightly worse than the current beach town. We have listed the current pros and cons

Pros:

1. Nicer/larger house at a cheaper cost and lower overall living costs. We have a very large family that needs a lot of space.
2. Easier for us to afford a public middle school+ private high school education plan for our kids, hopefully a better education than going full public at our current town.
3. Significantly shorter commute for me (need to commute twice a week) but longer commute for my spouse to NYC (once a month).

Cons:

1. Lose easy access to NYC (2 hours instead of currently roughly 1 hour), the inland town still has easy access to great healthcare and airport and some city culture amenities (relatively minor).
2. No more beach, though the inland town is considered beautiful with lots of hiking/lakes/hills around. We don't like boating if that matters.
3. The inland town, though affluent and beautiful, is not as nice and vibrant as current town.

Our kids are young and we have friends in both towns while our family is far away, so we don't worry about the social aspect of the moving. It's hard to give up our current town and we are struggling with our decisions, do you think moving to the less expensive town is a good idea in this case? What other factors we missed in our consideration?

[Anonymous]

the inland town is near/where you work? and less pr more a drive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the inland town is near/where you work? and less pr more a drive?

Yes, only about 15 minutes from my work.

[Anonymous]

Can you renovate your home and add rooms

[Anonymous]

I’d move. Easier commute for you - which is way more frequent than your husbands and more breathing room financially

[Anonymous]

I would not move unless you are really looking to get away from your current location. It will be a big adjustment for everyone, and if you're not all in on the idea the family will miss what they gave up.

[Anonymous]

Oh no, I wouldn’t move. It doesn’t sound like you want to.

[Anonymous]

A very large family? Please, move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you renovate your home and add rooms

We are considering that option too. It’s just a lot of hassle given the number of young kids we have. Also we are ready for an improvement (we bought the current house when our hhi was much lower) and worry we won’t like the expanded house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not move unless you are really looking to get away from your current location. It will be a big adjustment for everyone, and if you're not all in on the idea the family will miss what they gave up.

My DH is fine with moving. I am constantly having back and forth hesitation (the move will benefit me a lot but I will miss the nyc access and a little for the beach). The kids are very young so they should adjust quickly.

[Anonymous]

Each time I moved it was giving up the town in favor of a nicer home or more space (and I started in a 5th floor walk up in Morningside Heights - then Queens, Jersey, and the DC burbs). I have a 4 bedroom home now with a huge yard for a price that would maayyyybe get me a decent 1br in Manhattan. I have to drive everywhere and the food is not exciting. But we have space and more updates and lower taxes. I have a short commute and DH works from home. I miss a more interesting town but love our home.

Everything IS a tradeoff but in the burbs we have found a more relaxed way of life, and enjoy the extra space.

[Anonymous]

Beach towns do not usually produce the best young adults

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh no, I wouldn’t move. It doesn’t sound like you want to.

Interesting take on OP's post as I got the opposite impression.

OP: Since you have a large family--assuming that this means at least 4 kids--then a primary consideration should be the local schools.

[Anonymous]

Don't move. You'll regret it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh no, I wouldn’t move. It doesn’t sound like you want to.

Interesting take on OP's post as I got the opposite impression.

OP: Since you have a large family--assuming that this means at least 4 kids--then a primary consideration should be the local schools.

OP here. The inland town's schools are excellent but slightly worse than the current beach town. If we move to the inland town, we do plan to do the public elementary/middle school+ private high school route for most of our kids since it will be easier to afford, so the education hopefully will end up better than staying in current town (which we will go full public).