Planning and Direction tips please

justflutteringby

Hi, all help and tips gratefully recieved:)

I am currently out of work and the wrong side of 50. I have a house with small (20% mortgage) luckily it is an interest only mortgage so not up a creek without a paddle as yet.

Just found out that by moving to another area I/we could be living mortgage free. This is great and I know a dream for many. Snag is I really don't like the idea of leaving everything I know behind and entering the unknown with the knowledge that unless we have a windfall by way of inheritance later the path back will be unaffordable. However to secure home and future a move must be made.

So I guess what I would like help with is have you moved between different parts of the country and how did you cope. What was important when searching in unfamiliar areas ? We hope to find part time work when we move but would like to live in a village and avoid city living. Having a real fire, a garden with space for chickens and veggies is important. I have fixed ideas about the house or bungalow I'd like and think OH agrees, but I'm sure he thinks I'm being to fussy.

Want to move this year if possible. Going to sell and buy immediately rather than sell rent and then buy. Will I be able to pay costs to EA and solicitor from the house sale though ?

Sorry If it sounds confusing, but I'm both excited and anxious about it all and its not if but when. OH wants it to happen sooner, but I'm keen to wait for the right property.

So early days, we've started looking on rightmove and EA sites, had a valuation and expect a bidding war when we are ready to sell.

What planning and research would you do to narrow things down or prepare for a move at this stage ?

Thanks:)

Davesnave

We were going to move to West Wales, because the gap between prices where we lived and that area was large, enabling a different type of purchase altogether.

After 3 years of specialised research, we knew roughly where we wanted to go, avoiding areas where Welsh was the primary language. We made many visits and holidayed there in winter to get a feel for the region 'out of season,' and we viewed many properties.

Like you, we aspired to village living, and we wanted a smallholding too. I was the wrong side of 60. Still am!

As it turned out, we ended up in Devon, only about 90 miles from our original home, but the smallholding and village living aims were realised. We too had fixed criteria as regards the land, property and local area, which we couldn't meet at a sensible price in Wales when we actually sold. The Welsh owners, (who were mainly English!) didn't adapt to changed market conditions in 2008 as quickly as those in England.

We knew it would be a learning curve, and it certainly was, but my wife joined a few local interest groups and we both made friends and useful contacts though these and the pub. This was important, because our nearer neighbours were stand-offish as regards the local community, so we'd have had little support from them.

Participation's the key to village living. Of course, you don't have to, but if you really want to know what's going on or which tradesperson to use, it's important. Most villages are very used to incomers now, but the most friendly & close-knit are probably those with fewer second homes or holiday cottages/complexes.

As to the life, it's Marmite. Being 12 miles from the nearest proper supermarket means organisation, and the appeal of chickens can wane when you have to let them out at 6am in a torrential downpour. When the garden turns into a swamp, the septic tank overflows or the water freezes-up you might just think "This is bonkers!" but on balance, I wouldn't change it. I look at town property on Rightmove now and think " Gosh, it's all so squashed-together!"

Edited to add: If you have very fixed ideas, you may never find the perfect country property. We didn't. The best we could do was buy a property we could improve and adapt. That's another hard road, and one we didn't embark on for some years, till we were sure and confident of finding the find the right tradespeople. That alone makes many £k difference to the overall cost and outcome.

princeofpounds

I think it's great you are thinking flexibly about these things.

I don't know the details of your current situation, but I would have thought that a 'mere' 20% mortgage outstanding would have been quite fundable even on a lower wage job.

It seems like moving might be an unnecessarily high price to pay.

You might be the wrong side over 50 but that doesn't stop you getting a new job does it?

justflutteringby

princeofpounds wrote: »

I think it's great you are thinking flexibly about these things.

I don't know the details of your current situation, but I would have thought that a 'mere' 20% mortgage outstanding would have been quite fundable even on a lower wage job.

It seems like moving might be an unnecessarily high price to pay.

You might be the wrong side over 50 but that doesn't stop you getting a new job does it?

I agree my our age doesn't make it impossible to get a job, however our health and my OH's disabilities make it more difficult to get and hold down a job. We would like to be in a position where we can live simply and have less pressure to deal with. We have a few ideas to make and sell to help us. Our ideas mean that we need space and peace so that makes where we end up as important and what we live in.

This year looks to be a busy one, thanks for sharing your adventure Davesnave.