Moving to Scotland
Discussion
Gin and Ultrasonic said:
Scotland is mostly pretty empty, so it's easy to find rural peace, but a bit harder to find something perfect for you. Do you want to be on your own or in a hamlet / village? Do you want coast or countryside (or both)? Do you want to walk / cycle / run / go to parks / beaches etc.? Do you want to be near a town/city or doctors / hospitals? How bad are the midges in that area?!!
At the moment there does seem to be few and far between when it comes to our price range.The main issue is the stuff thats been fully renovated is 25-30% more. Anything on a nice plot is more.
Its just the way of the world I appreciate that, but I have emailed quite a few agents now to get put on lists... not that many have replied tbh...
If I boosted the budget by £150k a good few options would open up - but at our current budget there isnt a massive amount around.
Basically the more English the area, the more likely it is that Rightmove has more properties than the solicitors.
Edinburgh RM is well ahead. It has Savils and Retties etc which are exclusive to rightmove,
East Lothian and Borders RM has slight edge. Aberdeen apparently is proper scottish!
Edinburgh RM is well ahead. It has Savils and Retties etc which are exclusive to rightmove,
East Lothian and Borders RM has slight edge. Aberdeen apparently is proper scottish!
if you find an area you want to be in engage with estate agents face to face and you will find they could contact you first with new houses not yet on market-worked for me, spent half day each week in my local town sampling chippies wandering around estate agents after 4 weeks got heads up on house
I moved up about four years ago from Dorset. West coast Argyll. Bought a Victorian restoration project with epic views, now mostly complete. Sailing off to the islands from the village pontoon whenever the weather plays ball. SS Waverly visits most weeks in the summer, decent pubs, friends with all the neighbours. Big supermarket trip is like doing two laps of the ring to get there & the nearest traffic lights are 40 mins away. Love the place & the people, a proper community vibe.
We've noticed a lot of properties on the market this year, many more than usual, some really fabulous places too.
We've noticed a lot of properties on the market this year, many more than usual, some really fabulous places too.
Gin and Ultrasonic said:
I disagree that ESPC is 'better' for Scotland. When we bought a house last September (Perth/Fife border), the vast majority of rural properties in Fife, Perthshire and Angus were on both Rightmove and Zoopla. There were very few on ESPC. Zoopla seemed to generally appear slightly before Rightmove for new list!
ESPC covers up to Perth.For your search you should have used ASPC.
https://www.aspc.co.uk/about-us/
loskie said:
Argyll is one of the nicest parts of Scotland
Anywhere outwith the big cities is arguably the the 'nicest' part. Argyll, Perthshire, Cairngorms, Orkney, Hebrides, Skye, Fife etc etc - all have stunning parts in their own right.Thankfully the midges and wet windy weather stop the place from becoming too over-populated.
You also have the self-destructing hillside road over the Rest & Be Thankful to stop Argyll from becoming too busy
sherman said:
Gin and Ultrasonic said:
I disagree that ESPC is 'better' for Scotland. When we bought a house last September (Perth/Fife border), the vast majority of rural properties in Fife, Perthshire and Angus were on both Rightmove and Zoopla. There were very few on ESPC. Zoopla seemed to generally appear slightly before Rightmove for new list!
ESPC covers up to Perth.For your search you should have used ASPC.
https://www.aspc.co.uk/about-us/
You need to cast as wide a net as possible and look at as many portals as possible.
yellowbentines said:
loskie said:
Argyll is one of the nicest parts of Scotland
Anywhere outwith the big cities is arguably the the 'nicest' part. Argyll, Perthshire, Cairngorms, Orkney, Hebrides, Skye, Fife etc etc - all have stunning parts in their own right.Thankfully the midges and wet windy weather stop the place from becoming too over-populated.
You also have the self-destructing hillside road over the Rest & Be Thankful to stop Argyll from becoming too busy
hidetheelephants said:
Infrastructure in Scotland is a joke, outside the internet it's no better than it was 30 years ago. Norwegians would scoff at what we put up with.
Re internet I have no doubt we might end up on Starlink.We are looking for somewhere on mains water, elec, gas, sewage in an ideal world.
Anything out of the main street in most towns in your search area you will be lucky to get all of those.
Oil or calor gas heating is most likely.
Some places are probably still setup for coal with a back boiler.
Sewage will be a bit further out but not far out of the villages.
Rural D&G hasnt had much in the way of infastructure upgrades/expansion since the railways got pulled out in the late 1960s.
Oil or calor gas heating is most likely.
Some places are probably still setup for coal with a back boiler.
Sewage will be a bit further out but not far out of the villages.
Rural D&G hasnt had much in the way of infastructure upgrades/expansion since the railways got pulled out in the late 1960s.
loskie said:
TBH and I know I'll get flamed for this but I do wonder if the OP has thought this out. I know this area pretty well having lived most of my life in SW Scotland.
In fairness, it may simply be natural expectation. Moving to the countryside sometimes brings changes to the norm that simply hadn't been anticipated. We moved from Shropshire to the Borders in early 2021. We had made an offer on a place in Gairloch, about 4 hours north of Glasgow on the coast. Dodged a bullet and luckily we were outbid. We should've taken note of the signs from the vendor as they went to Spain every year from November to March.
One of our daughters suggested the North East coast, Coldingham area. Saw a couple of places there but nothing really fitted the bill so decided to look to the Borders.
We've settled in a small village called Yetholm. About 35 mins from the coast and 75 mins to Edinburgh. Its a stunning spot right at the end of the Pennine Way so welcome quite a few tourists throughout the year. Only about 1 mile in to Scotland so a real mix of Scots and English. The locals are a great bunch and we've been welcomed way beyond our dreams
The place we bought has an attached hayloft that we've converted to holiday accommodation and at the moment it runs at about 50% occupancy so brings in a few bob [ Weve both retired by the way ]
The village has a couple of pubs, butchers, village shop and garage. Kelso is the nearest town about 8 miles away.
No negatives and only wish we had moved years ago.
Off to do the NC500 tomorrow!
One of our daughters suggested the North East coast, Coldingham area. Saw a couple of places there but nothing really fitted the bill so decided to look to the Borders.
We've settled in a small village called Yetholm. About 35 mins from the coast and 75 mins to Edinburgh. Its a stunning spot right at the end of the Pennine Way so welcome quite a few tourists throughout the year. Only about 1 mile in to Scotland so a real mix of Scots and English. The locals are a great bunch and we've been welcomed way beyond our dreams
The place we bought has an attached hayloft that we've converted to holiday accommodation and at the moment it runs at about 50% occupancy so brings in a few bob [ Weve both retired by the way ]
The village has a couple of pubs, butchers, village shop and garage. Kelso is the nearest town about 8 miles away.
No negatives and only wish we had moved years ago.
Off to do the NC500 tomorrow!
I visited Dumfries about a week ago, seemed a very good example of a dilapidated and deprived town centre. Also worth noting that if you're west of Dumfries then you're a pretty long way from anywhere.
Yes property might be cheaper, but unless you have specific reasons to choose D&G then I'd much rather live elsewhere, such as the Borders, Fife or Perthshire.
Yes property might be cheaper, but unless you have specific reasons to choose D&G then I'd much rather live elsewhere, such as the Borders, Fife or Perthshire.
gotoPzero said:
Gin and Ultrasonic said:
Scotland is mostly pretty empty, so it's easy to find rural peace, but a bit harder to find something perfect for you. Do you want to be on your own or in a hamlet / village? Do you want coast or countryside (or both)? Do you want to walk / cycle / run / go to parks / beaches etc.? Do you want to be near a town/city or doctors / hospitals? How bad are the midges in that area?!!
At the moment there does seem to be few and far between when it comes to our price range.The main issue is the stuff thats been fully renovated is 25-30% more. Anything on a nice plot is more.
Its just the way of the world I appreciate that, but I have emailed quite a few agents now to get put on lists... not that many have replied tbh...
If I boosted the budget by £150k a good few options would open up - but at our current budget there isnt a massive amount around.
The most hopeless agent is Robb by a long way, only interested in strong offers to initiate a first offer and take off the market for a quick sale.
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