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Depends on your on situation.
If I had a family, I’d rather have a nice house and deal with the occasional commute. I know my wife and kids would enjoy a larger house.
If I was single, a smaller place would be ideal since there’s less upkeep and I can be “in” a more happening location.
Enthusiast
You're married with kids and considering a studio? What in the world are you people doing to your children in these massive cities?
Haha. That was an example. I imagine a studio in the nicer parts of Manhattan would cost the same as a nice house in NJ / BX.
The real scenario is I am comparing between different places in southern California. Looked at a place today in Long Beach — the house was wonderful the area not so much. The same house would cost the same as a 1000 sf condo in Irvine.
Work is in LA, so Long Beach would be a better commute for us.
Chief
I would find an experienced realtor in the area and ask about other cities. As your kids grow up, 1,000 sq ft will get tighter and tighter. And there are definitely nicer parts of greater LA for a family than Long Beach for similar price range, they just won’t be as close to the ocean
Talk to a realtor. These are questions for them. You can interview several and get their thoughts. I will leave this final thought. Not so nice area likely means not so nice school. I wouldn’t want my kids attending poor performing school.
Thanks. To clarify (autocorrect) — a nice house in a not so great city vs a small place in a nice city.
Say— a nice place in bronx or some place in the dirtier parts of Jersey vs a small studio by Bryant park or the upper west side.
Currently in the market and weighing this. I am married with kids.
Have 2 kids (2.5y and ~2 mo but still in the NICU, long story). We live in a 850-900 sqft 2-bed on the UWS near Columbia. The lack of private outdoor space is a bit of a bummer, but we’re steps from riverside park which has TONS of playgrounds and that makes up for it. Only time (so far) it’s felt too small was when my wife and son had COVID in January and couldn’t leave the place or go to to daycare. Never would consider suburbs unless we have a 3rd but that will depend on our future income. Feel free to DM
It depends on your overall life plan. How long do you plan to stay there is important. Which option has the ability to appreciate more in value? What is the school situation? List all of the house and house location attributes that are most important to you and assign points to them by priority (total points can = 100). Then make a list of the pros and cons for each location and if they have the desired attributes. Total the columns and your answer is there.
Chief
Whichever one has the better school ratings. School ratings correlate with every other aspect about your quality of life