Another first-time home buyers question regarding commute to work

[Ronstang]

I have a 4.5 mile commute to work. I spend about 20 minutes commuting each day. Your 60 miles will likely be more than an hour once you figure in traffic. Even if it is only one hour that is an hour and forty minutes longer than mine every day which is 7 hours and 20 minutes more than mine....almost a whole work day more per week of WASTED time and extra money for gas and wear on the car. Add in the fact you now have to travel to see family and possibly better shopping etc. and your cheaper house in not so cheap any more.

 

[dabuddha]

It is a damned long commute that will sucks 2 hours/day out of your life and cost about $20/day in gas. (assuming $4/gal gas and 24MPG) So take that into consideration.

This. I was in a similar situation 4 years back when I was looking for a house. Live close to DC, barely afford a condo/townhome. Move about 30 miles further south, afford a single family home. Ended up moving further south. As of now, my commute is about 2 hours each way (driving/train/metro) and it does wear on me after awhile but with every other Friday off plus being able to telework as needed, I don't regret my decision at all.

 

[Murloc]

I read only the first page and everything points to listening to your fiancee.
Seriously.
The lenght and expense of the commute alone is too much already but that's me.
In the end, you don't spend time at your bigger home. Also what do you need the size for?

Factor in the kids and the grandparents and there's no discussion anymore. It's best for everyone if you stay in the area.
It's also the safest choice because you won't regret that, while you might greatly regret moving 1 hour away.
You could also continue living in a rented apartment or wherever you're living now until you have kids, to spare money and afford a bigger house.

 

[Exterous]

I really wouldn't want to do more than 30 minutes each way. I'd do it if I lost my job and that's where the new one was but that's about it. I do 30-40 min each way in stop and go traffic and I really don't like it (Esp when it's 12 minutes with non-rush hour traffic). For a couple of years I had a 5 minute commute by car. It was awesome

 

[PingSpike]

Since this is a necro thread it would be cool if the OP posted about what happened in the end. Hopefully he listened to his fiance.

I have about a 40 minute commute and it is to god damn much. If I could do it all over again, I think I'd pay $50K more for a house that was about 20 minutes from my work instead and drive crappier cars. The thing is I wouldn't need better cars or maybe even two cars at all if I lived closer to work so I don't even think I would end up paying more money in the end and that's before you account for the wasted time. I didn't take that well enough into account when we purchased and we probably rushed things a bit since we had annoying apartment neighbors we wanted to get away from. The main problem is my wife is more like the OP. She's from a tiny town and grew up on farm with a 100 acres and hates dealing with neighbors. The trouble is we're not farmers, we're college educated professionals and neither of wants to do anything with the extra land besides complain about it when it comes right down to it.

What I have isn't awful, I'm not complaining really but I would have done differently if I could do it again. I'd have not moved for awhile longer or flat out eaten a higher mortgage. I've adapted but the fact is I'm not really saving any money with this choice. All I get is a little more useless land with neighbors that mostly leave me alone in exchange for an extra 40 minutes of blood boiling driving.

 

[PricklyPete]

Update from OP maybe??

Everyone has there preferences, but mine is certainly to pay more for less space in an area close to work and activities. My last two house purchases have been in older, well established neighborhoods downtown with decent primary schools. The costs have been relatively high, but I have never regretted the price and never lacked for space.

My current home allows we to walk to the light-rail for a 13 minute ride to work. We have restaurants, bars, coffee shops, cleaners, and a grocery store all within a short walk. Even the elementary school is just a few blocks away that my wife could (and likely will) walk the children to.

The reason this housing choice is preferable to me is because of the huge amount of time I gain outside of work. I have coworkers that regularly drive an 1+ hours to live out in the suburbs or mountains...and they complain regularly. If there is even a hint of snow in the air, this seems to consume half there day discussing when they are going to leave to avoid a 2+ hour commute or how treacherous there ride in was. This does not appeal to me at all. I'd much rather be home with my wife or out exercising than getting stressed in a car.

Again, to each their own. I certainly understand the draw of cheaper prices, more land, possibly better schools, etc of being out in suburbia...but in my opinion the drawbacks out-way the benefits. In a perfect world I could live up in Summit county on 30 acres with streams and my own personal mtn biking trails with a teleportation device to get me to work and all the great spots/conveniences of downtown. Until that teleportation device is created, I'm more than happy with vibrance and ease of city living. It is much easier to commute to the mountains on the weekends from my perspective.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

This. I was in a similar situation 4 years back when I was looking for a house. Live close to DC, barely afford a condo/townhome. Move about 30 miles further south, afford a single family home. Ended up moving further south. As of now, my commute is about 2 hours each way (driving/train/metro) and it does wear on me after awhile but with every other Friday off plus being able to telework as needed, I don't regret my decision at all.

I'm in a similar situation. I commute 50 miles each way (easy and common in New Hampshire), but I get to work from home twice a week. If I could not do that, I would probably look for a new job or move.

 

[Aharami]

having just sat thru a 2.5 hr commute to work (usually takes 25-35 mins), I seriously hope the OP chose the house closer to work. I cant imagine sitting in a car for this long everyday!

 

[silverpig]

I have a 20-25 minute walking commute to work. We got rid of our car. I can walk and subway in about 15 minutes. It is so awesome.

 

[KeithTalent]

sounds like a solid decision on your part. We live where we do because I work all over. If I had a solid job near my wife's work, we would make the effort to move closer in.

It's tough to balance sometimes; fortunately for us my work is right on the way to her work and she only has to walk about 10 minutes longer to get there, so it's all good. It's not like we need a crap-tonne of extra space in the house anyway, all of the other stuff we get offsets the lack of square footage.

KT

 

[RagingBITCH]

Fuck the commute. You'll hate yourself for it. That 60 minutes turns into 2 hours if a traffic jam hits. It's not worth it.

 

[krunchykrome]

Wow, how did this thread get resurrected? I mostly lurk these days

 

[Red Storm]

What a lot of people don't understand is that "an hour or two per day" is a LOT of time over the course of your life. You're basically throwing away years and years of your life commuting to and from work. That makes zero sense especially considering time is the most valuable thing we possess.

 

[Exterous]

Wow, how did this thread get resurrected? I mostly lurk these days

Well...what happened?

 

[krunchykrome]

Well...what happened?

Just updated- see first post

 

[Exterous]

Conclusion- I made a big stink about this 7 years ago. 7 years later, life is good, there was really nothing to get bent out of shape about, life works itself out....we're all going to be ok. =)

Ok - so thats how its going to turn out 2 years into the future. What about today?!

PS - Uh...PM me winning late 2013 or 2014 lottery ticket numbers please - and any good stock picks