Neighbors vs. Amenities

[Anonymous]

We have an opportunity to buy our dream house. Here is the catch: it is further out than we are now. We could never afford it where we live currently. However, we really love our current location. I know we should just flip a coin at this point, but I would love to hear from those torn and why you made your choice. This should be a no brainer, especially because we know how the commute can be, but it is just so tempting. Kids are in elementary, if that matters. Thanks for any stories and support.

[Anonymous]

Get a hotel room there tomorrow night. Do the commute one day or all week. How much stress does it add, how much time does it take away? Then ask yourself again if its really worth it.

How long ago did you buy your current home? Will you be selling for a profit or loss? How much more will the mortgage payments cost? Will that also negatively impact your life?

[Anonymous]

For me, even if I love the house, within a short period of time,I get used to it and it doesnt seem like anything special. So, for me, the. Neighborhood and the type of lifestyle I will get by where I live matters at least as much as the house. For me, I like having a reasonable commute, Childcare close to home, lots of playground options, a community pool in walking distance and close by neighbors that I can hang out with and to whose houses my kids can walk or ride their bikes to play with their kids. Worth way more than the particular house I live in. But, that's my personality.

[Anonymous]

Give us some details. Are you talking about moving from somewhere in DC to, say, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac, Arlington, etc? Or are you talking about moving from Bethesda, Potomac, Arlington, etc. to somewhere like Sterling or Centerville?
Moving a bit to get what you want makes sense (if, indeed you are getting what you want). We don't know what magnitude of "move" you are contemplating.

[Anonymous]

Not OP but we're in the same situation. We're walking distance to Bethesda Row now but are considering a larger, newer house just two miles away but we'll no longer be able to walk in. I think once you're used to being close-in it's hard to give it up.

[Anonymous]

I would choose location in a heartbeat, unless we really hated the house we were in and had no other viable option for changing houses in our current location. I think people in this area spend crazy amounts of time commuting and, for me at least, the longer commute would just suck away valuable time and make me feel even more stressed than I do now about having time to do all the things we want to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but we're in the same situation. We're walking distance to Bethesda Row now but are considering a larger, newer house just two miles away but we'll no longer be able to walk in. I think once you're used to being close-in it's hard to give it up.

We lived close in for about 5 years and recently moved farther out and love it. It wasn't hard to give up. We now have a toddler and what we got (open spaces, beautiful house, community we love) is exactly what we want. We also discovered that the extra commute was basically a non-issue. About 8-10 minutes more driving on a busy day. Started to realize that, although we had lived in the city, we drove everywhere anyway (to whole foods, shopping, activities). At the end of the day, the city traffic, parking issues, etc. were more of a hassle than the new commute. Different strokes.

Sometimes being farther out is actually the goal and it is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Started to realize that, although we had lived in the city, we drove everywhere anyway (to whole foods, shopping, activities). At the end of the day, the city traffic, parking issues, etc. were more of a hassle than the new commute. Different strokes.

Sometimes being farther out is actually the goal and it is great.

OP, do you actually avail yourself of the benefits of your location, or do you just like that they're there? We walk to the stuff in our walkable neighborhood all the time. We have neighbors who drive everywhere.

[Anonymous]

How much of a move are we talking about here? How much would the commute actually increase? Is there a compromise between your dream house and your current house that would allow you to stay in the neighborhood you love? My commute is about 1.5 hours total (round trip) a day including school dropoff-pickup, which is not bad, especially since a lot of that is walking. But until August, I was doing a 3-hour round-trip commute that had steadily gotten longer and longer over the years. I was miserable.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for the educated input! We actually do love our current house, its just not our "dream" house. I am thinking if we do love our current house and it could be close to our dream house now (with bonus minimum commute) then maybe we share spare ourselves the labor and stay here? Our neighbors are too close here, but that can be tweaked. I feel so indecisive and realize that this is a good problem to have. It is from one area to the abutting area, if that matters.