dilemma re sacrifice!

there are some great schools out in Puke, Buckland, Valley, Hill, St Josephs...

Could you go down this week or next week and visit the schools and meet the Principle and have a look at the classes and even meet the teachers? That's what we did when we moved up here. Luckily for us we don't have zones up here, so we chose the school with the lower decile rating, but it had a better feel to it than the newer school with the higher rating.

My understanding is the lower the decile the more resources and funding the school gets, so that could be an advantage. You may find that the decile 2 school is the better school in some ways. I fully recommend you do a visit to the schools.

Also with the houses, my feeling is you don't want to go backwards, you want to invest in your families future so I really think you need to go bigger. Having growing children too, they will need more space eventually and so will you and DH. I think a bigger living space is more important. At the end of the day, bedroom size isn't a biggie because really all you do is sleep in there, but you spend the majority of your time in the living spaces (kitchen/dining room/lounge). If you can find something that is slightly below your budget but has scope for a good redec then I would go for something like that.

Good luck

Keep looking - you might find something that suits you and ticks all the boxes. We are in Papatoetoe at the moment, and will be moving once Hunter is school age. We have already had a look at the schools in the area, and they are OK but I know what you mean. I have been told not to get too caught up with the decile, as thats the income of the surrounding areas and nothing to do with the calibre of the school.

Puke has gone up heaps in the last few years, we looked there about 3 years ago when we got our place and I cant belive how much houses are there now.

Good luck! Im sure youll find the perfect place

well the old lady house is out! i spoke to a principal at one of the other schools. the catholic school is in zone but you need to be a practising one...( thats us out!) and the other school is "specialised" also.

i have one more house to view down in puke that may be a possibility then i will make an offer for the one with the views and if they dont accept that we will be renting for a while and looking casually.

It was really nice to come up with a plan and stop feeling so stressed!

LOL Linzy - i know of people who have done that but i dont think i could be that hypocritical...