Hi all!
Thanks for the responses! Yes, I'm thinking it could be great and obviously wise financially. Hell, we could probably Fire in 5 years due to the housing alone (NYC you kill me). It's in a good area (not rough) in North London. The MIL I'm not so sure about, but I think that has more to do with setting my boundaries if there is an issue. I haven't lived near her so I'm just not totally sure about that one! On the other hand it's extremely generous and I'll feel indebted too! Not used to things being handed to me (neither is my husband)!
The kids in NY make our cost of living quite high (classes, food, etc, not to mention the bigger place) so I see that as being another huge accidental benefit (everything I've done there with kids on visits has been quite cheap, $5 drop in play for 2 hours? Sign us up!, 3$ music class drop in? Yes please! Compared to my city stuff now) so as a stay at home mom, I can see it being cheaper to raise the kids with a decent lifestyle in a huge city (which are becoming so unbelievably expensive :( )
We have a side gig that we run that brings in extra income, that will probably cancel out the extra tax to the US (if we have to pay more). I know it would make investing etc tricky, but from what I've read the UK version of a 401k is quite nifty.
I guess there is no harm in going!! I've really been trying to see a downside and be realistic but it doesn't seem there is too too much that would be an issue, especially mirrored with our current situation.
Thanks for your input!
And I hope no one stalks me! :D