My husband and I are mid 20s, married for almost 4 years and we have a 1 year old. I am originally from a major city in Australia and my husband is from souther rural US. We live together in the US now in my husband's home state.
We are currently navigating what we want for the future/what kind of life we want to build for ourselves.
We currently live in a new build manufactured home on 3 acres in a rural area. The house itself is somewhat small, about 1200 sqft. But the land is beautiful. My issue is that I am not really a fan of manufactured homes and could never see myself in one long term (although i do agree there are some great ones out there!). I also am starting to dislike being so far away from everything. Our town has a small dollar general and a few restaurants, but thats all. We are 30 minutes from the nearest Walmart, target, ect, literally anything else. Also, I like the town and there are some lovely friendly people here that I have come to know. I like the community here, but it is, overall, a poor town, and the schools here are ranked very low across the board. I worry about this for my child, and his future siblings.
I guess here is where the issue is. I personally would love to move a little closer to everything, into a better school district. Buy a more traditional stick built home with less land, maybe in a neighbourhood. My husband on the other hand would love to mainly buy land and focus less on the house. He would like lots of animals, which im not that keen on. He is very much a country boy through and through.
To make it clear, we have not argued about this. Both of us are willing to compromise. He agrees a better school district/schooling options for our kids is a good idea. He also agrees that although he doesnt find our house too small, he understands why I would like more inside space (and he wouldn't mind more space either!). He just isnt a "people person" and enjoys his outdoor hobbies such as yard work, and wants the space to be able to do so. He also doesnt want to live in one of the typical neighborhoods where the houses all come on 7000sqft lots, and there is about 300 homes packed in like sardines lol.
The answer would most easily be to move to a better area and buy a place with enough land for my husband to be happy, but these kinds of places are so crazy expensive.
Has anyone worked through something like this before? What did you end up doing?