Driving

alindseyag

Hello,

 My husband and I are looking to buy/build a home in the near future. How many miles do you or your s.o. drive to work everyday?

 I found a neighborhood that I love but it is 30 miles away from H's job.

 Thank you!

annieu613

me: 2 miles, H: 6 miles.

But it really depends on how comfortable your H is traveling that far.  Does he mind spending 1-2 hours a day commuting (I'm assuming that's what it would be with traffic)?  Would he have to drive or is there public transportation available.  Do you work outside the home?

There are a lot of people who commute that far to work, but you really have to think about what works best for your situation. 

dramaz

It depends on the norm for your area. Where I live, people who live close to work are the exception. For me, our new home is 27 miles from work and for DH it is 50 miles from his work, but to us it is worth it because the house has everything we could want and is in an area we love. And let's face it, we are going to be in that house many more years than we will be at our jobs.

car_ramrod

I think it depends a lot on what your husband wants and what traffic is like.  30 miles isn't a big deal if it is mainly highway and not much traffic.  30 miles is a nightmare if it is mainly city streets and traffic is bad.  It could take anywhere from 40 minutes to 2+ hours depending on this.  My DH and I live about 20 miles away from our workplaces and it takes us about 35-45 minutes depending on traffic.  I was lucky because I can set my work schedule in order to avoid major traffic time so I get to work at 6:40 and leave at 3:30.

If he is open to living that far I would encourage him to try the commute for a couple of evenings and mornings to see what it is actually like before buying a house and ending up miserable.

kristinanddan

We drive a little under 40 miles one way. Takes anywhere from 45 minutes on a light summer day to an hour or so. 

alindseyag

Thank you for the replies so far. I absolutely love the area that we would be living in & the home prices are so much lower since they are farther out!

 My current commute is about 18 miles, 25 minutes or so. His current commute is about 25 minutes also. I wish the roles were reversed because I would not mind a long commute at all. My drive is "my time"!

 

srgw

Right now H and I live 16 miles away from his work so a 25-30 minute drive. He doesn't mind commuting so when we house hunt we'll look closer to where I work because I hate commuting.

stephm0188

I work from home.

My husband's commute is 17 minutes door to door. 

He had a commute once that was a hour, and mine was 35 minutes. We both spent a ton on gas.

nsfw

I drive about 20 miles to/from work each day, H drives about 10.

We don't mind it. We would find jobs closer to home rather than a house closer to our jobs, though.

ExpatPumpkin

alindseyag:

Thank you for the replies so far. I absolutely love the area that we would be living in & the home prices are so much lower since they are farther out!

 My current commute is about 18 miles, 25 minutes or so. His current commute is about 25 minutes also. I wish the roles were reversed because I would not mind a long commute at all. My drive is "my time"!

 

Be sure to compare the housing cost savings with increased fuel costs and wear and tear on your cars.  You may not come out as far ahead as you think. 

Sisugal

We can both walk to work.

30 miles means different travel time and conditions depending on where you are.  Long commutes are not what we are willing to deal with. If your Dh is the only one working - this should be his call.

demofea01

SO and I are both about 15 miles from work, and the commute is almost entirely freeway so it's about 20 mins since we are lucky and our job doesn't require commuting during rush hour either way.  I think a lot of it depends on how much you love the area and if the increase in gas expenses will become a burden or not.  Whether or not the drive is mostly freeway or not makes a difference as well.  I'd slit my wrists if I had to commute 15 miles on city streets.  It would take twice the time. 

KeweenawLove

It really depends on what kind of driving the 30 miles is. Highway I could handle, city streets, probably not. DH drives 40 miles to work every day. He was only willing to take this long of a commute because it takes 40-45 minutes.

chicsub

We love our area too, but plan to move closer to DH's job since his commute is about 90 min. each way.  It wasn't a big deal before kids, but now we want to move closer even if it means a smaller home b/c our family time is more important. 

I can't find the article I would really like to link to, but this gives you an idea of extra costs:  http://www.mymoneyblog.com/housing-search-trade-off-price-vs-commute-time.html

bearkatjen

I talk in minutes instead of miles, but currently we live less than 10 minutes from DH's work. It's so dang convenient! That said, when we buy a house, I will probably be looking at a 45 minute commute to work, and DH will be looking at a 30 minute commute. The neighborhood that we want to live in is worth the commute. Solid schools, bike paths galore (so at least we don't have to drive anywhere beside work), and great amenities. Plus, DH and I don't work anywhere near each other, and the neighborhood we want to buy in is a good "meet in the middle" spot.

Desmond&MollyJones

We live 20-60 minutes from H's stores.  Since he has multiple stores over the span of a few counties, it didn't matter where we bought.  He would be far away from most of them.

So we found a house we loved in an area that we loved.  It takes me 30 minutes to get to work and that includes a stop at daycare.