Moving to a cheap area to save cash

Iwanttobeatree

ceegee wrote: »

DO NOT MOVE. You will regret it. I cannot stress it enough. I have been there and done that (Devon born and bred).

I would rather live an impoverished life in a pigsty in my beloved Devon, than live in a palace anywhere else.

Just my opinion, of course. Just the voice of experience.:(
I am sure other people feel the same way about their own beloved places of birth!

(I can't turn the bold thing off!:eek::o)

lol @ bold

but thanks i do appreciate your opinion, i do like the peace of devon and crime rate is low, people are soft really. i did grow up here also.

i do like the idea of a property project and no mortgage OMG!!! hmmmm but yeah ty i do get your message

Pee

I think it's important for you to consider what you want. I used to live in the South West and have moved away, but not to a particularly cheap area of the the country and it wasn't for cheaper housing, although that has happened. It was partly because work is hard to find in the South West and partly that living in a tourist hot spot makes me feel grumpy, which of course isn't reasonable and that just makes me more grumpy!!

What is important to me is access to the countryside and to shops selling milk and local meat and not having to travel too far to a good range of supermarkets. I want to be able to get to music concerts and other cultural events, although this will almost always involve staying over. I don't mind travelling to do things like that, but it has to be possible, which for instance I think it wouldn't be if I lived on Orkney or Jersey.

I actually don't mind whether I have lots of neighbours or not, although a high crime rate or high poverty would be distressing to me - another issue with living in the South West where opportunities for young people were sadly very limited.

I liked living near the coast and miss that, but for me it is bearable based on the fact my employment opportunities are a lot better and I get a lot less work related stress. (I was in the wrong job and certainly working for the wrong people, which is personal, but the lack of other opportunities was an issue.)

I've been to a couple of places on the Welsh coast that I can't imagine living. It's like a suburb of Liverpool and I find it intimidating. The people living there may or may not be happy, I didn't get to know them so can't comment on that, but it would be hard for me to settle there. On the other hand, friends or family don't seem to factor in your decision, so maybe you don't need interaction with other people?

Less worry about finances makes life a lot easier, but there is more to life than living somewhere cheap, IMO.

Iwanttobeatree

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Out of interest, that's what I did... I originally got a mortgage on a poky one-bed flat in Wiltshire, stressed myself out working all hours for it, then uprooted back to South Wales where I could comfortably afford a nice big house and get lodgers to pay my mortgage off for me Best move I ever made!

cool, thats a result

SailorSam

What are you saying all of the south west is a nice area and God help the rest of us.
I live in a nice area, my house is worth about £200k and i cringe when i read on here that i'd only get a small flat in London if i swopped. Especially when i read about the number of murders that seem to be common in parts of this nice area.
Thanks but i'll stay in this safe crappy area where we have nice big gardens and less traffic.

LandyAndy

Iwanttobeatree wrote: »

lol @ bold

but thanks i do appreciate your opinion, i do like the peace of devon and crime rate is low, people are soft really. i did grow up here also.

i do like the idea of a property project and no mortgage OMG!!! hmmmm but yeah ty i do get your message

Very cheap housing almost always means the places are sh1tholes.

What are you going to do with the money you don't spend on a mortgage? You won't be spending it on anything material because you'll be too afraid it will be robbed.:(

I wouldn't live in those places for anything.

tyllwyd

My friends bought a place in west wales, in a tiny village in the mountains but it didn't work for them - the weather is challenging (to put it nicely) and they found it difficult to be accepted by the local residents. The reason why property there is so cheap is that it's really not for everyone. I grew up not far from there, so I can imagine living in west wales, but I can also see the downsides. And there must be lots of other rural places where the same would apply. So I'd say it is a very attractive idea, but don't rush in to buy without finding out what the area is like through the full 12 months of the year

And if you buy in a cheap or remote area, remember that there might be very few potential buyers if you try to resell. So your property project might end up with a beautiful house, but spending, say, £100K doing up a property in a little village where the other properties are only worth £50K at the most might turn out to be an expensive mistake.

Iwanttobeatree

Pee wrote: »

On the other hand, friends or family don't seem to factor in your decision, so maybe you don't need interaction with other people?

well maybe only 1 family member is a factor for me personally, but i would move away from them if i had to.

for my mrs she hates the idea of leaving the south west, she likes friends, work, and everything appart from the property situation.

hmmm sucks i already wasted like 35k maybe 40k on renting in my life and probably going to be wasting more

Iwanttobeatree

SailorSam wrote: »

What are you saying all of the south west is a nice area and God help the rest of us.
I live in a nice area, my house is worth about £200k and i cringe when i read on here that i'd only get a small flat in London if i swopped. Especially when i read about the number of murders that seem to be common in parts of this nice area.
Thanks but i'll stay in this safe crappy area where we have nice big gardens and less traffic.

nope didn't mean it like that, all areas have nice places to live, my idea was to aviod mortgage, and i couldn't believe it when i saw recently you could buy places out right for like 20k up north.

the cheap places in the south west are crappy areas also but theres nothing at 20k, not even 40k for what i see, im in north devon, cheapest tiny flat is maybe like 55k i think.

LandyAndy wrote: »

Very cheap housing almost always means the places are sh1tholes.

What are you going to do with the money you don't spend on a mortgage? You won't be spending it on anything material because you'll be too afraid it will be robbed.:(

I wouldn't live in those places for anything.

me and mrs will pretty much save everything appart from renovation costs and do up the property over 1 or 2 years, then sell and buy a slightly better place i guess. keep going till we have more money, then maybe even come back to the south west.

Iwanttobeatree

tyllwyd wrote: »

My friends bought a place in west wales, in a tiny village in the mountains but it didn't work for them - the weather is challenging (to put it nicely) and they found it difficult to be accepted by the local residents. The reason why property there is so cheap is that it's really not for everyone. I grew up not far from there, so I can imagine living in west wales, but I can also see the downsides. And there must be lots of other rural places where the same would apply. So I'd say it is a very attractive idea, but don't rush in to buy without finding out what the area is like through the full 12 months of the year

weather is not a problem right now i dont think, not at all for me anyway.

the part about not fitting in, i dont care what people think of me or even if they dont speak to me, i do care about crime against me cause im an outsider though.

tiny welsh village deep in wales is off my list i think.

Pursey

From my experience in the nw you would be very hard pushed to find something for £20000. The cheapest roughest areas near me are at least £40000- £50000 for a back-to-back house.

I have lived in the North and South and have to say that what you can get for £100000 down there, would be very limited in comparison to what you get up here, so I wouldn't agree that you are necessarily as well to stay there, but like you say, being familiar and comfortable with an area is worth a lot.