Ideal Home and Ideal House

There is always a dream house in everyone mind. However, a home is where we truly belong. The difference between house and home, in my interpretation, is that house is a property and home is a place where our heart, soul and body feel attached to. A home can be more meaningful if it is filled with members close to your heart. To some, a home is a place where they seek their personal privacy.



It doesn't matter whether your house is a HDB studio apartment or a $10m penthouse condominium. What matters is the overall liveability and you are happy staying in it. There are many factors that dictate the liveability of the house and it varies from people to people.

Definitely, I have an ideal home. The question here is whether to move beside my wife's workplace or stay at my current flat. Here are my considerations:

Option 1 - Continue to stay in my 1st house

Benefits
1) Beside MRT station and bus interchange
2) Unblock view with full height windows
3) Highest corner unit with privacy and quietness
4) 1st owner of the flat with everything new
5) Shopping centre within 2 minutes walk
6) Good friends staying nearby
7) Good neighbours with children similar age as my child
8) Public sport facilities within 15 minutes walk

Option 2 - Stay beside my wife workplace (She loves her job but may stop working after we achieve financial independence) 

Benefits
1) Free sport facilities such as swimming pools and it is almost crowd-less
2) Cheaper, tastier and more varieties of hawker food
3) Save my wife travel time of 2 to 2.5 hours per day
4) Child(ren) after day-care will not need to travel
5) Cheaper and better access to daily necessities
6) Could have $100k to $200k profit from selling previous flat
7) Better school options for child(ren)
8) Able to cook most of the days due to time saved on travelling
9) Cycle-friendly, which is my preferred mode of travel
10) Could potentially save $50,000 on transports over lifetime

My inclination is to move but to look for a suitable unit at the targeted areas. Another consideration to move is when. I can't move yet since I am still in the midst of my 5 years MOP. However, it doesn't make sense to wait for a new BTO flat for years and I can't dictate the location much.

Do you have similar considerations and what are your views? I would love to hear from you.