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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

DP, but this is what I would do -- renovate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think you are looking at it from the perspective of your current activities, which are parent driven right now. As your kids get older, they become more involved in different things, and your evenings and weekends become more wrapped around shuttling kids around to sports, clubs, school events, etc. our busiest time with 3 kids was from late elementary to mid high school (when kids got driver’s licenses).

Look at the more suburban town and consider all available activities. Is swimming big? Is there a youth sports organization (soccer, basketball, baseball)? Is scouting big? Are there art & music programs? What summer camps are there? This is all separate from whatever is available in middle and high school.

I think you should move. The shorter commute alone will be more important than you think. The extra financial cushion will give you more flexibility for kids enrichment, besides the possibility of private school.

[Anonymous]

and then the kids become teens and want to go to NYC but it's too far. life doesn't end with club soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Yes, only about 15 minutes from my work.

How far are you from work now? If I was the parent of many young kids, a short commute that gave me more time with them would be a priority. On the other hand, it sounds like you would do private school if you moved. I'd rather commute alone, while my kids were getting to run around and play, than have a commute to my kids' school, especially since the latter is 5 days a week instead of 2.

[Anonymous]

I assume we are talking about Long Island and, like, Port Washington versus, say, Syosset.

I would stay in hypothetical Port Washington. Your growth potential on a beautiful home in Port Washington is tremendous, and the flood risk is low.

[Anonymous]

can you name the towns? is it in CT? Long Island?

I would consider all the sports programs and activities. Towns with better schools usually have better programs and activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think you are looking at it from the perspective of your current activities, which are parent driven right now. As your kids get older, they become more involved in different things, and your evenings and weekends become more wrapped around shuttling kids around to sports, clubs, school events, etc. our busiest time with 3 kids was from late elementary to mid high school (when kids got driver’s licenses).

Look at the more suburban town and consider all available activities. Is swimming big? Is there a youth sports organization (soccer, basketball, baseball)? Is scouting big? Are there art & music programs? What summer camps are there? This is all separate from whatever is available in middle and high school.

I think you should move. The shorter commute alone will be more important than you think. The extra financial cushion will give you more flexibility for kids enrichment, besides the possibility of private school.

Thank you for the the advices. The inland town also has a lot of youth sports and art & music programs and summer camps. The only major difference I think of is that if we need private tutors for music instruments or sports, we are more likely to find better quality instructors in the current beach town due to it being a very wealthy suburb in the NYC metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:can you name the towns? is it in CT? Long Island?

I would consider all the sports programs and activities. Towns with better schools usually have better programs and activities.

We are in CT. The inland town also supposedly has a lot of good kids programs and activities. Though I imagine the quality in the beach town would be higher (especially for private instructors) since it's in a wealthy part of the NYC metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Yes, only about 15 minutes from my work.

How far are you from work now? If I was the parent of many young kids, a short commute that gave me more time with them would be a priority. On the other hand, it sounds like you would do private school if you moved. I'd rather commute alone, while my kids were getting to run around and play, than have a commute to my kids' school, especially since the latter is 5 days a week instead of 2.

I am currently about an hour from work. There are several outstanding private high schools near the inland town (I heard there are even school buses from some really good schools to the town), so hopefully dropping kids to school won't take too much time if we do decide to move.

[Anonymous]

Don’t move. You will regret it.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think you can go wrong, although your experience will depend on the destination town. For example, if current town is Westport and destination is Ridgefield, you might lose some of the vibrancy in the move, but be pleasantly surprised by the arts scene and extracurriculars. If destination town is closer to New Haven, you will benefit from Yale’s influence on the local communities.

[Anonymous]

Could you move to the suburban town but keep your current house as a beach house?
Or buy a beach house in the current town and a family house in the suburban town (you mentioned a very big budget).
So you can still spend vacations there and maintain a connection. Great investment too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t move. You will regret it.

Another consideration: Do you have good neighbors ?

Never underestimate the value of good, sane neighbors on adjoining and nearby properties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t move. You will regret it.

Another consideration: Do you have good neighbors ?

Never underestimate the value of good, sane neighbors on adjoining and nearby properties.

We don't really have a relationship with our neighbors, that's another reason moving isn't so hard for us to choose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could you move to the suburban town but keep your current house as a beach house?
Or buy a beach house in the current town and a family house in the suburban town (you mentioned a very big budget).
So you can still spend vacations there and maintain a connection. Great investment too.

We are still deciding whether to sell or just rent out our current house once we buy a new one. Not sure how feasible to keep the house as a beach house in summer though since we would have rented it out if we do decide to keep it.