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I guess it depends on what is the biggest difference between dream town and your current town?

There were certain neighborhoods that we were looking at. We found our dream home but it was literally 5 blocks over from #1 school district. But the school district in our neighborhood is really good as well, just not #1.
To me the house is more important in my case since it was such a minimal difference.

Ugh, you're probably talking about the same town we'd love to live in

We would sacrifice sq ft, but probably not give up a single family home (vs a condo) if it's our forever home. I suppose I could live without a garage but that is so many years of shoveling.

But for us, really? Schools are the #1 priority, and as you know, up here the difference from town to town is ENORMOUS. So we're going to end up in one of them somehow, even if it means downsizing.

@mrs. wagon: hm, yeah school district was big with us as well. I looked feverishly for homes in the #1 elementary school district. But nothing came up and the houses were small! Our zoned elementary school is still top 10 and the middle/HS are within top 50.
I figure it'll be 5 years before she starts elementary and much longer before middle and HS. Who knows how the school will change in that time frame, KWIM?

Being another MA bee I totally get it! The good towns are all so expensive! I currently live in a crappy town - the schools are not very good, but the taxes are nice and low!

We talk about moving in the next 5 years or so. To be honest, we'd need to spend $750k+ to be in our DREAM town, so I'd settle for a close 2nd (or 3rd). I do think we're going to have to sacrifice land and square footage, although I'd rather sacrifice updates and just buy a fixer-upper, since we're pretty handy.

We had this same discussion!

I was set on moving to a town that borders the one I grew up in, but the taxes were just too high, plus we'd have to organize our own garbage pick up. For the amount of taxes we were talking about, it was just too ridiculous.

We're in a town we absolutely love, but the price/quality/size of the homes can range vastly from like $50k to name your number then add 6+ zeroes! We'd love to upgrade to a bigger home, but the one thing I love about our current home is no HOA's!!!! and our neighborhood is nice and quiet. The size is great, but storage capacity sucks.

I think we would just have to suck it up and pay more! I wish it was as easy as saying I'm okay with less square footage (which I am, there's so much wasted living space in our home) or something slightly older, but honestly in the nicer town there just aren't any small homes. What I like about it though is the schools are so much better and people seem to be more stable with values that we share. I get so tired of our neighbors with flashy cars but trashy values.

LOL. I grew up in "ton", if I'm guessing right
Our dream town here in Iowa is unachievable, not because of money, but because of location. It's an hour away from where I work, in the opposite direction of where DH works, which would make it a 2 hour commute for him. I guess in our case it would mean that DH would need to settle for a not-as-good job in or near the town that we really want to live in... which just isn't going to happen right now.

@mediagirl: Where did you live in MD? Our neighborhood isn't the best, but there are some really nice areas.

We sacrificed some to get into our dream town but in different ways... We wanted to move/buy in Manhattan so we have a little more space where we are now, awesome school, etc. So I guess our sacrifice is that it's just outside Manhattan?

you MA ladies all dream big! =D i dream small.... my dream town starts with shrew. great schools, pretty easy access to highway, lots of great community programs, parks, etc. granted it's 45mins from boston (more in heavy traffic), but DH works in the opposite direction (in a town we'd never live in! starts with L ends with minster). average single family in my dream town is only $457,035, which is still more than we can afford! there we barely afford a 900sq ranch with 2brs, 1 bath on .18 acres =/ so i'm hoping to find a super dated house near a park so we can buy something with no yard, maybe a 1 car garage and i might even ok 1 bathroom, 3brs is a must though.

@mrs. bird: "starts with L ends with minster" - haha, love it!

@mrs. wagon: Yes ma'am, that's the town! My BFF just bought a house there and I'm so jealous! She's nine years older than me so I'm hoping some day I'll grow up and be just like her ; )

I wanna stay in my "-town" but we would definitely have to sacrifice space to own here. I get I tempted to move to "-ick" (lol, that's funny) or neighboring "-land" because we'd get sooo much more space for the $$ but we're still unsure if J will be raised a city boy or in a suburb a bit farther out. We will have to make a decision as he gets ready for school. :::sigh:::

These MA bees threadjacks always crack me up! If I was a billionaire i'd totally want a single family home in "-line", but it's so small there and so insanely expensive it's just not gonna happen. Sigh, a girl can dream.

@JoJoGirl: dream! I bought baby furniture off Craigslist from the most beautiful street. I decided if I trip over a few million with my name on it that's where I'm living!