Are we crazy to consider moving at this time?

[NewJeffCT]

Are we crazy to move at this time?

My wife just started a new job today that is fairly close to where I started a new job this past summer.

The problem is that it will take her almost an hour to drive from our east of Hartford home to her west of Hartford work location, while it takes me a bit over an hour to drive to my northwest of Hartford location because I’m usually the one that drops off & picks up our daughter from daycare/preschool.

Mileage wise, we would not qualify for a tax deduction for work relocation being over 50 miles further than a previous commute.

We could commute together, but both of us have unpredictable hours – about a month ago, I was asked if I could stay late that day in the middle of the afternoon, and ended up being here at work until 11:30 at night (I normally leave around 5pm) My wife’s new company is known for fairly long hours as well, but it was too good an opportunity for her to pass up.

Since our daughter is going to be 4 in February, we are looking into moving so both of us have a much shorter commute to work. We can move to a town in between our two jobs and our commutes would be 10-20 minutes each, depending on the part of town. We would also be in a town with better schools, and we would be closer to my parents and to my wife’s best friend. (Closer to parents is a plus for both of us & my wife's family is in China, so we'd be a bit closer to the airport)

And, we would save a lot in gas money, as I’m pretty sure gas prices will start heading back up after the polls close on November 7.

We have lived in our current home for over 2 years, and they started building it just about 3 years ago, so we will not lose money if we sell our current home – even if we are (gasp) conservative in estimating the price.

[Bunny]

1. I don't see a down-side to moving, provided of course that you can

sell your current home. Sounds like a sensible decision.

[NewJeffCT]

4. That's the problem

Selling our current home, and then buying a new home at a time when the market may be going down... if the market continues going down & we buy fairly soon, we may lose equity in our new home.

[Bunny]

5. Well, I guess you could weigh the estimated value of your equity

against what this is costing you in gasoline, depreciation of your vehicles, and most importantly, time - then decide if it's worth it or not. Are you and your wife hoping to remain in your current jobs for the foreseeable future, or are you viewing them as stepping stones to better career moves in the next year or two? If it's the former, then moving would make sense. If it's the latter, maybe you should stay put.

FYI - I am the last person you should take financial advice from, for whatever that's worth!

[Divameow77]

2. I don't think your crazy at all

just look at all the positives you listed in your post, sounds like a great idea to me :-)

[Gormy Cuss]

3. If you find a house you like, in a town that you like, do it.

One of my sibs just swapped a low mortgage in a rural area for a higher mortgage and slightly lower paying job in more urban area for similar reasons. When they factored in gas savings they were about even on costs, but they gained 1.5 hours each work day because they had short commutes. That difference also translated into having time to cook dinner, or attending to household chores like laundry during the week rather than trying to catch up on the weekend.