Big house longer commute or smaller house shorter commute

Andrew365 said:

What was rational for moving from Dalkey (side track)? I am currently in Ballsbridge and considering a move down to Dalkey / Killiney / Bray area.

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Loved the house and area, to be honest I probably would have stayed, my wife hated the commute into town having lived closer to town previously, plus a lot more friends in the Terenure/Rathmines/Ranelagh area. Now that we've moved I'm delighted with Ranelagh.
We were lucky in selling in that 2 down-sizers bid against each other to raise the price, obviously not as good news for you in moving to the area but something to keep in mind.

Phoned the auctioneers today on the Terenure house after getting no replies to my mails. Bidding currently 86k over the asking price! So that's solved that conundrum for the moment, as too rich for my blood!!

This is an easy one. Easier commute. I downsized and moved because I couldn't take the commute once I had to have the kids to school on time. We nearly came to blows over it as my husband loved our previous home. But he wasn't the one doing being the chauffeur. It was by far one of the best decision we ever made. Now I'm looking at empty rooms and wondering why I'm hanging onto a house for kids that are only there for the major holidays but who want us to keep the house. I'm wish my living room was half the size as this cold weather means I use a blanket to keep me warm instead of wasting money on the heating by keeping it on non stop - my OH is in shorts !

You will hate it if you have to spend two hours in traffic every day from October to March. While you look out at a lovely big garden that nobody is using.

Annie71 said:

We work in Clonskeagh and our kids go to school in Ballsbridge, so Milltown is super in terms of location for us.

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It may be cliched, but the three most important things when buying property are:
location, location, location.

Reread your sentence above.

Milltown all the way!

I used to work in Clonakeagh. For a few years I’d walk from Rathmines, through Milltown, to Clonskeagh. Even when it was lashing rain, it was pleasant walk. You’ve got half that walk.

Terenure. A much longer walk and definitely not as pleasant.

Plus Milltown has a Luas. Case closed.

Thanks guys - though I did think it looked to be a beautiful house. As did a lot of others obviously. I probably would have struggled to get my hubby on board, so decision made for us in any event.

Annie71 said:

though I did think it looked to be a beautiful house.

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If it makes you feel better, take a look at the satellite image on google maps, the side wall is at quite an angle from the typical 90 degrees to the front wall. It gets narrower as it goes back for no apparent reason, and that makes for some awkward and wasteful layout internally. The sun room would need to be knocked and re-built

All other things being equal, I would go with a shorter commute.
However, I can never understand people bidding on houses without calling in to both neighbours first. Having good or bad neighbours are one of the main elements of how you will enjoy living in the house.

Thanks folks.

Having looked at the Milltown house on Saturday and a different one in Stillorgan ( a four bed but in need of a fair bit of work), I think that the compromise is the way. Milltown house is really nice, but just too small for us.

its a hard one, we moved from blackrock to dalkey, and its added maybe 15 min to my commute but we love the area and its surroundings so much to me its worth it.