Advice on moving to Edinburgh

[AH33]

Prof, I would usually go up through wallyford and on to north berwick for my run out - I havent had a chance to do it in a couple of months now but summer is usually the worst time for the pelotons that appear on single carriageways with a 60 limit, for some reason.

Im definitely going to take the new car on the N500 before I return to Enger Land.

[Prof Prolapse]

Towards the seabird centre is that? Yeah it's not bad, some sections are bit greasy or have hidden junctions which slow me down a bit on the bike. The borders is where it's at without going North I think though.

NC500 is the popular term for the highlands isn't it? It's great but a bit of a run.

Sorry if I'm going on, but just trying to help with your road situation, after all this is pistonheads.

[Tophatron]

I've recently moved to just outside of Penicuik (from Musselburgh) and the commute back into town isn't too bad, even in the morning (as long as you avoid the A702). It's certainly a lot quieter than town and some of the roads around here are great.

My record to Morningside is around 20 minutes in the evening, which is pretty good!

As people have mentioned, there's lots of new houses being built.

[ruggedscotty]

Moved to Edinburgh back in 2001. Bought a flat in Gilmerton and stayed there for a few years, met the missus sold the flat and bought a house out in Broxburn.

You dont need to live in Edinburgh - surrounding areas are being developed and there are lots of new estates. Unlike the south east where the house prices are high and dont really drop much around London Edinburgh is different and the prices drop pretty quickly.

Kirkliston Broxburn Bathgate all within reasonable commute park and ride near the airport tram into the city etc...

[AH33]

Prof Prolapse said:

Towards the seabird centre is that? Yeah it's not bad, some sections are bit greasy or have hidden junctions which slow me down a bit on the bike. The borders is where it's at without going North I think though.

NC500 is the popular term for the highlands isn't it? It's great but a bit of a run.

Sorry if I'm going on, but just trying to help with your road situation, after all this is pistonheads.

Yeah the seabird centre route, there are a lot of B roads around there as well. Athelstanford and the like.

NC500 is that new road taking in all of the highlands. Daily Fail link Some nice pictures there. A few colleagues have done it and recommend it, but as you say - its a fair distance from me.

Moving out of the city centre was an option, but my partner doesnt drive and isnt a big fan of public transport. We live 5 mins from Princes St, she can walk to work/uni. May as well suck it up for another 18 months, accept the 6-9 points that are coming when the 20 zones go live, and find some better hoon routes.

[Prof Prolapse]

Did that NC500 route with another 300-500 miles on it in June last year. I try and get 2/3 big jaunts up the highlands a year. In fact you can see where I stopped for a piss in two of those photographs.

I lived in town for 6/7 years. Best thing I did was moving outside the bypass.

[carparkno1]

Just checking back in, plenty of good advice on houses and roads lol

We're going up next month for our first scan of the area... pentland hills way so nilston, loandhead, lasswade out to eskbank. See what that area is like, cheers all!

[Edinburger]

carparkno1 said:

Just checking back in, plenty of good advice on houses and roads lol

We're going up next month for our first scan of the area... pentland hills way so nilston, loandhead, lasswade out to eskbank. See what that area is like, cheers all!

Hi there

I've only just noticed your thread so apologies for not chipping in before!

You've had a lot of good advice. I grew up in Midlothian and now live in central Edinburgh (Bruntsfield) but here's a few pointers from me:

1. Of the places you've mentioned, I'd suggest Eskbank is the more desirable place for lots of reasons such as location, facilities, etc.. Lasswade is nice too and Loanhead and Bilston are okay as well.

2. What about Musselburgh? Fantastic little town on the coast and just five or so miles from the city centre? Train and bus services are excellent. Lots of nice parts of Musselburgh too, such as Inveresk.

3. Have you considered Fife? I have a friend in Dalgety Bay who works at South Gyle at RBS and I believe the train is just 15 mins. Lots of other lovely places over there such as Aberdour and even Dunfermline. Elie is really nice too but that's around an hour on the train.

4. Considered West Lothian, such as Balerno?

Good luck with the move - it's a great part of the world.

[Prof Prolapse]

Whilst it's certainly not the worst place on your short list, I've never heard Musselburgh referred to as a "nice little coastal town" before.

I would suggest the OP makes his own mind up about that one.

[Edinburger]

Prof Prolapse said:

Whilst it's certainly not the worst place on your short list, I've never heard Musselburgh referred to as a "nice little coastal town" before.

I would suggest the OP makes his own mind up about that one.

Ha ha fair enough!

Personally, I think I'd rather live in Musselburgh (especially Inveresk) than any of the other places mentioned. We'll all have our preferred areas.

[Edinburger]

OP - just another place I'd recommend you look at is Roslin. Lovely wee place and close to Penicuik.

Also, depending on your timescales, you might want to be aware that a 'new town' is being built on the south-east of Edinburgh in the Newcraighall / Musselburgh / Danderhall area.

It's called Shawfair and is right on the border of Edinburgh and East / Mid -lothian. I hear there's quite a lot of innovative developments there, such as heating the homes with geo-thermal energy from old coal mines.

There's a train station there already (part of the Borders railway) and I'd guess you'd be in Waverley station in 5-10 mins. See www.shawfair.co.uk

[tr7ster]

Edinburger said:

OP - just another place I'd recommend you look at is Roslin. Lovely wee place and close to Penicuik.

I'd definitely second that

[ruggedscotty]

yep Edinburgh has it all going... great city.

[carparkno1]

Major thread resurrection time! So I am the OP, and thought I would update/ask q’s.

We’ve set a date of end of march to offer and secure a house, ideally to complete by June – we’ve gone round all the areas, seen a lot of houses etc and know what we like. We’ve settled on Lasswade, Bonnyrigg or Eskbank in Midlothian, but if the right house popped up in South Queensferry or Musselburgh we wouldn’t rule it out.

Now onto business… offers over?!?! Having watched a few older “Location Location” shows etc I started having fits about offering 25% over or something ridiculous. It seems now that if you are after a new build-type house then the home report valuation is more appropriate?

By example – 6 year old house, valued at £272k, home report says £279. Does that mean probably best to offer more like £285 to secure it or would you go in lower? This is totally new to me so all help/experience is great!

[Prof Prolapse]

carparkno1 said:

Major thread resurrection time! So I am the OP, and thought I would update/ask q’s.

We’ve set a date of end of march to offer and secure a house, ideally to complete by June – we’ve gone round all the areas, seen a lot of houses etc and know what we like. We’ve settled on Lasswade, Bonnyrigg or Eskbank in Midlothian, but if the right house popped up in South Queensferry or Musselburgh we wouldn’t rule it out.

Now onto business… offers over?!?! Having watched a few older “Location Location” shows etc I started having fits about offering 25% over or something ridiculous. It seems now that if you are after a new build-type house then the home report valuation is more appropriate?

By example – 6 year old house, valued at £272k, home report says £279. Does that mean probably best to offer more like £285 to secure it or would you go in lower? This is totally new to me so all help/experience is great!

Sounds like we're going to be neighbours... I live next to Bonnyrigg/Eskbank.

Can't answer you specific question, but I think market forces and your own preference and financial situation will dictate that. But I've seen them build what must be nearly 100,000 houses here in the last 3 years, personally I wouldn't be looking to pay over the odds for anything when they've estates with so many houses yet to be sold.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are mortgaging this property, can you get a mortgage for the amount you spend over the value of the home report? At the very least the LTV ratio could mean a less favourable deal.

All my opinion of course. I found the whole "offers over" very off putting when we bought our house. We actively avoided it.

[carparkno1]

Prof Prolapse said:

carparkno1 said:

Major thread resurrection time! So I am the OP, and thought I would update/ask q’s.

We’ve set a date of end of march to offer and secure a house, ideally to complete by June – we’ve gone round all the areas, seen a lot of houses etc and know what we like. We’ve settled on Lasswade, Bonnyrigg or Eskbank in Midlothian, but if the right house popped up in South Queensferry or Musselburgh we wouldn’t rule it out.

Now onto business… offers over?!?! Having watched a few older “Location Location” shows etc I started having fits about offering 25% over or something ridiculous. It seems now that if you are after a new build-type house then the home report valuation is more appropriate?

By example – 6 year old house, valued at £272k, home report says £279. Does that mean probably best to offer more like £285 to secure it or would you go in lower? This is totally new to me so all help/experience is great!

Sounds like we're going to be neighbours... I live next to Bonnyrigg/Eskbank.

Can't answer you specific question, but I think market forces and your own preference and financial situation will dictate that. But I've seen them build what must be nearly 100,000 houses here in the last 3 years, personally I wouldn't be looking to pay over the odds for anything when they've estates with so many houses yet to be sold.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are mortgaging this property, can you get a mortgage for the amount you spend over the value of the home report? At the very least the LTV ratio could mean a less favourable deal.

All my opinion of course. I found the whole "offers over" very off putting when we bought our house. We actively avoided it.

Appreciate the information. We're looking to buy a house that was a new build that has been inhabited for a bit rather than one off plan brand new. Seeks to be a hell of a lot of them all of a sudden! As much as I would love a period property in eskbank its more likely to be a legoland job which is fine for the next few years.

Offers over is an odd system eh. At least the home report and lots of housing stock means people won't pay silly money through being uninformed.

[Croutons]

Have a look at my thread half way down the page on Glasgow, there is some info about the system & what it means here & there. Mainly in respect of things which have been on for ages, so possibly less relevant if you're committed buying solely in a fast-moving area with high demand, but hey, I read this thread before starting that one.

[s2kjock]

carparkno1 said:

Now onto business… offers over?!?! Having watched a few older “Location Location” shows etc I started having fits about offering 25% over or something ridiculous. It seems now that if you are after a new build-type house then the home report valuation is more appropriate?

By example – 6 year old house, valued at £272k, home report says £279. Does that mean probably best to offer more like £285 to secure it or would you go in lower? This is totally new to me so all help/experience is great!

It's been a while since I bought in the city (at the top of the market ) but from recollection the solicitor was quite helpful in assessing how much to offer over. In that respect a local solicitor with a reasonable turnover of sales might be best placed to ask. The system is a bit of a nightmare though.

Although offers over is traditional, fixed prices and other variants of pricing still happen and other similar properties for sale nearby might give you a steer.

[brrapp]

There are a lot of brand new newbuilds in some of the areas you're looking at , to the extent that they're giving some excellent incentives to buy. Not sure if it's still going on , but last year one of the builders was offering 105% of valuation on your old house as a trade in. Fantastic deal if you're coming from something more expensive down south.

[Dr_Rick]

Unless you've already got one, I can recommend a solicitor in Stirling who's done house purchases / sales for us over the last 16yrs since we moved up here as students. He's covered east coast, west coast and in between for us, so he's not tied to Stirling just because his office is there.

Give me a shout if you want the details.