Tips for moving long distance

Principia_2

Thanks for the tips Better Days.

What about using conveyancers/solicitors/moving firms etc - better to use ones based near the house I'm selling or the house I'm buying?

Davesnave

Principia wrote: »

What made you decide on the house 150 miles away Dave.

We were intending to move from your area (Bristol/Bath) to West Wales, but this one-off place came up in Devon, which we already knew well, so we took the less risky option.

I think Pembrokeshire is actually a bit further than 150 miles by road from the place where we ended up. Scenically, they are not that far apart.

Better_Days

Principia wrote: »

Thanks for the tips Better Days.

What about using conveyancers/solicitors/moving firms etc - better to use ones based near the house I'm selling or the house I'm buying?

Happy to help

With regards to solicitors etc - I would use local to where you currently live. You willl have a pool of people you can ask for recommendations, much more useful than any sales speil from someone trying to sell you a service. Plus if you need to get documents to solicitors quickly, and for the identity checks, it is a lot easier if you can just pop in.

Local surveyor to where you are buying is better I think. Not one from a chain of EA's but somewhere who knows the area inside out, very useful for valuations and any issues particular to the area.

GL with your move.

motherbored21

Good luck! Pm'd you, as in same boat.

bylromarha

We moved 170 miles this summer.

We couldn't sell our house, so ended up renting. Though it wasn't our choice, I'm glad we did rent and not go straight into buying. We've got a much better feel for the area now and are more confident in where we are buying - which we wouldn't have done had we not been reading the local rag for the past few months.

We used a removal firm in the area we lived - none of the movers in the area we were moving to wanted to quote us.

kazwookie

With all the recent flooding, live at the top of a hill if you can!

phoebe1989seb

We've done long distance moves twice now - the first was approx 150 miles, the second around 200. Both times we had carte blanche location-wise as we have our in business based in the home, although the second move was driven by the need to relocate nearer to ageing parents so we were tied to one of several Southern counties within around 1.5 hours drive of family.

Both of the places we moved to were unknown to us beforehand and (particularly in the first instance which was an unmitigated disaster) we really should have carried out far greater research.

I would definitely echo those posters that have advised to rent in a new area first - if at all possible. It wasn't logistically viable for us unfortunately - despite appearing relatively *well-off*, insofar as not having a mortgage, this in itself meant that we didn't have monthly mortgage payments to utilise for rent - any money spent on rentals would have eaten into our capital for buying/renovating our next home, so whilst it may gave been *money well spent* it would have left our cash reserves sorely depleted.

Add into this the cost of putting our stuff (including a hot tub, lol) into storage and the fact that we have several pets and it just wasn't an option for us........but if you are able to rent, go for it as there's certainly no better way to discover if a new area is right or not

The first place we chose had charm - we thought - well, the house did.....but if we'd *tried before we bought* we'd have realised that charm hid an area that was run down and riddled with crime. Three years later we sold up and *lost* a small fortune

We saw our current house on an awful wet day in April 2011 - it was bad enough that the house was literally like a badly presented cave inside (having been totally gutted and partially restored by the vendor, it was in an unmortgageable state and a real project that a lick of paint wouldn't improve), but on top of that there was a power cut in the village the afternoon we viewed so it couldn't really have looked any worse

It had bags of potential plus a super garden sweeping down to a stream. Luckily the house is on the side of a hill high above the stream, so no flooding issues! We wanted another project so jumped straight in and about five weeks later it was ours - what we didn't realise is just how lonely I would find it here......

missmilly

Principia wrote: »

It's moving from Bristol to the Lincolnshire area. I don't have any friends or family in that area so am relying on internet information about the areas.

We moved from Wiltshire to Lincolnshire 14 years ago, so I understand how you must be feeling. We have our house on the market too as we are now hoping to move back to be closer to our family as retirement is now on the horizon for my husband, and we're not getting any younger .

I am only too happy to help, although Lincolnshire is a very big county and I may not know anything about your chosen area, but happy to help if I can, just let me know on here or by PM if your prefer

Sparx

Where's abouts in Lincolnshire? Might be able to help.

Big region, scale it down for me!

DigForVictory

Do have a current streetmap for the target area. With pubs & public loos clearly marked.
You'll learn about supermarkets & schools, but check where the A&E is & what the locals think of the medics, dentists & nearest hospitals.
Freehold & leasehold are two different ideas, but so long as there's a centruy to run on leasehold, it isn't really that big a problem. Restrictive covenants may well be.
Find out if there's a local Scout pack - even if you don't have children. An Akela knows a wide range of people & skills which can save you *hours* on the internet.
Live near a school, be flattened by school traffic - car, bike & pedestrian, & a good 30% will smoke...
Live on a hill, learn to drive on snow & ice safely & how to keep a storecupboard.
Live on a non-adopted road, learn how to replace your suspension every two years.
Live in line of sight of a bus stop where possible. (Do check the buses run daily, not alternate Thursdays.)
Check the number & nature of local supermarkets, pound stores & charity shops. (We had the devils own job weaning toddlers onto a 'strange' brand of spaghetti hoops.)
Best of luck!