The Land in the Hills Is Cheap, but the Children’s Schools Are in Town

A reader writes:

My husband and I have been renting in Spanish Town for eleven years. The rent goes up almost every year and the landlord does nothing for it. Last rainy season the back room flooded twice. We are tired of paying for somebody else’s house.

Andre has found a piece of land up in the hills of upper Clarendon, about ten minutes from where his grandmother used to live. It is a fraction of what land costs anywhere near town, it has a view that made me cry the first time I saw it, and the man selling it goes to his cousin’s church. Andre has already drawn a two-bedroom house on the back of the plan the man gave us. He says with what we would save on the land we could build without a big loan, add on later, and finally own something.

My problem is the children. Our daughter is twelve and she passed for a good high school in town. She worked so hard for it. Our son is eight and at a primary school he loves, with a teacher who finally got him reading. From the land it would be more than an hour each way in the morning, maybe more when the road is bad, and there is no school bus. I would have to leave the house before six with both of them, drop them, then go to work, and I don’t know who would collect them in the afternoon.

Andre says plenty of children travel far for school and they turn out fine, and he did it himself. That is true. He also says we could move the boy to the district school up there, which he says is “not bad”. But I don’t want to throw away what my daughter earned, and I am frightened of her travelling alone on route taxis at that age. Andre’s mother says we are ungrateful for a blessing God put in front of us. My sister says we are mad.

I don’t want to be the reason we stay renting forever. But I don’t want to be the reason my children are tired and behind either. How do we decide this without one of us feeling beaten?

— Sharon, St Catherine

Our response

Sharon, you and Andre want the same things: security, a home of your own, and children who do well. You are disagreeing about order and cost, not about values. It may help to say that to each other out loud before the next conversation.

A few thoughts that might move you forward.

Count the whole cost, not just the land

Cheap land is only cheap if everything else adds up. Before comparing it with renting, try to price what living there would really involve: getting materials up the hill, water supply and storage, the state of the road in rainy season, light and phone signal, and above all transport. Two daily school runs, a work commute and possibly a second vehicle can swallow a surprising share of what the land saved. Write it all down together over a month or two of real figures.

Do a trial week

Before you buy, try the journey. Leave from somewhere near the land at the time you would have to, on school days, in both good weather and rain. Time it. Notice how the children are by Thursday. That will tell you more than any argument.

Consider separating the decisions

Buying the land and moving onto it do not have to happen in the same year. Some families buy, secure the boundaries, and build slowly while still renting near the schools, aiming to move when the youngest reaches a natural change point or the older one finishes. Others look for a middle option: land or an older house nearer town that costs more than the hills but less than where you rent now. Neither is a failure of faith. They are different ways of timing the same goal.

Protect yourselves on the purchase

A friendly seller from a relative’s church is a good start, not a substitute for checks. Have an attorney-at-law confirm the title and that the seller has the right to sell, and consider having a commissioned land surveyor confirm the boundaries on the ground. Ask the local authority what is required before building, and about water and road access.

Listen to the children

At twelve and eight, they cannot make the decision, but their views count. Your daughter may surprise you in either direction.

On the question of blessing: Scripture honours both land and learning. Proverbs 22:6 speaks of training up a child in the way they should go, and wise stewardship includes the children’s formation as well as the family’s property. A good opportunity is not always a good opportunity this year. Pray together, specifically, and agree beforehand what “yes” and “not yet” would each look like. Then whichever way you go, it will be a decision you made together rather than one of you winning.

This article is general information only and is not financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Please speak to a qualified professional about your own circumstances.

Reader letters may be edited for length and clarity, and names and identifying details are changed.

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