Moving to Edinburgh-ish.

Grouchy

Have booked a couple of weeks to go and see some properties and explore various areas and just looking for some ideas and feedback from people who know the area. Is either doable? Upsides/downsides?

Basically want to move to Edinburgh or immediate area, but am in a bit of a quandry about what exactly to look for so have two sorts of property in mind and will investigate both to get a feel. Things to rule out - estates, rough areas, 'to refurbish' properties (not afraid of a bit of DIY though). £250k budget.

1. Central Edinburgh - 2+ beds, traditional tenement or similar older style building. Assume that a flat would be all I could afford with a budget of £250k. Parking. Never lived in a flat before so this is a new venture altogether so this would be a big change, ground floor/1st as dodgy knee. Period features a bonus. Would love a little garden if possible, but think that is doubtful. Location 30 mins by bus max from Waverley. Closer in is better as involved a lot in cultural activities etc. Reasonably quiet and civilized area.

2. Detached house 2+ (pref 3) beds with garden and semi rural setting.. 40 minutes max by train from station to Waverley. A friend has suggested looking around the train line down to Stow area.

Hope there are some locals here. Thanks for any help.

G

Chimpofdoom

Edinburgh's a bit of a weird city... one side of the street can be excellent, lovely buildings and such. otherside can be a nightmare..

But 30mins by bus from Waverly covers quite a large area.

Areas to rule out.. Sighthill, Muirhouse, some parts of Granton, Westerhailes.

In regards to location, it depends on amenities you like near you.

As for Option 2 - 40mins max by train to Waverly.. covers a large area.. Dunfermline in fife is about 40mins, I think you can also get to Dunbar in that time?

Grouchy

Thanks for the reply.

What I want to be nearest to are cultural options which are generally very central, also there will be two things at least that I will be doing regularly that are within 5 minutes walk of Waverley. So the closer in the better. I've done the rightmove thing but it is hard to get a good impression - is Morningside possible? is Portobello a good option?

Option 2 - I think Dunar is very expensive and Dunfirmaline is I think a largeish town and option 2 is for a semi rural living option with easy access by train to Waverley.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Chimpofdoom

Morningside.. might be do able - the flats there do ask for a premium as it's Morningside, anywhere near the Uni is going to cost...

Portobello, should defo be do able, although prices have seen a 20% increase. Joppa is a nice part of "Porty" but again charges a premium for it..

Dunbar is actually very good value for money. You get a lot more for your money out there, than you do in Edinburgh. North Berwick is expensive.. but then it's a lovely town (although saying that, i'm pretty sure there's a 2 bed terraced house (new build) fixed price at 250k - i'd buy it, if I wasn't renovating my current place)

elly68

Have a look at Linlithgow area 20 mins on train from waverley lots to do . plenty of food places pubs and a lot of rural properties but still 10 min drive to station ?where are you moving from ?

slbhill

I don't live in Edinburgh any more but I do work there.


Both are do-able but it depends very much what you're looking for. If you're looking for cultural activities like music and theatre nearby then option 1 makes more sense, but you will certainly get less for your money in the city itself. £250k is still enough to get something nice though.


You mention tenement and parking in the same sentence... that could be your downfall in the city. Very few tenements come with parking. You can get a permit from the council for a few hundred pounds per year but it doesn't guarantee you a space and you may have to walk a fair distance especially at busy times of day (evening mostly!)


You might get somewhere with parking within your budget on edge-of-city areas (Trinity, Morningside) but there won't be many.


Newer flats are much more likely to have an assigned parking space but it sounds like you want somewhere older. There are areas with houses with drives but they tend to be further out and may stretch your budget - Colinton, Juniper Green / Currie / Balerno, Corstorphine, Barnton come to mind (I know the west better than the east, there will be similar areas on the south and east of the city).


One thing to be aware of if you're moving from outside Scotland is that "offers over" can really mean that. "offers over £100k" may equate to 10% more or even 50% more and a lot go to secret auction so you can end up bidding on several (with all the contingent costs - you can't usually bid subject to survey, for instance) and not win any. I don't know how buoyant the market is, it used to be absolutely crazy - I suspect it's more down the 10% end now but I would find a good solicitor (not just an estate agent) and take advice from them on current prices.


If you do decide to go further out - again it is very dependent on your priorities. Prices are still competitive around the Borders rail link (Stow etc.) compared to other railway lines, there are some very nice rural towns down there but it is very countryside-y, may or may not be your thing. Fife has some lovely places within that distance but you are very dependent on the bridges (I used to live in Dunfermline - it's not often a problem but when it is it's a nightmare). Linlithgow, as someone else said, or Polmont or Falkirk.

slbhill

Grouchy wrote: »

I've done the rightmove thing but it is hard to get a good impression

Edinburgh is one of few places where rightmove isn't the main source, although it's still got quite a large proportion. Checkout https://espc.com/ for a close-to-complete listing. I think they have an office somewhere (used to be George Street, not sure now) which should be your first call when you're in the city.

Chimpofdoom

slbhill wrote: »

You mention tenement and parking in the same sentence... that could be your downfall in the city. Very few tenements come with parking. You can get a permit from the council for a few hundred pounds per year but it doesn't guarantee you a space and you may have to walk a fair distance especially at busy times of day (evening mostly!)

Indeed, totally forgot about the parking aspect!

I live in a tenement flat (in leith), with on street parking, no permits required on any of the streets around me. I just need to accept the fact the marathon happens once a year and my road gets blocked off..

Another factor is the garden aspect - most tenements will generally have gardens, but it depends if you're looking for a private garden, which if this is the case, will be few and far between!

You can get colonie flats which if on the ground floor usually have a private garden like this http://!!!!!!!.com/h2sux6x (<--that actually popped up when I was browsing twitter this morning)

Touching on the the offers over bit that slbhill mentioned.. the market was/is incredibly buoyant (I don't know how if the brexit effect has taken hold or not), but a friend of ours has spent the better part of a year trying to buy somewhere and finally has... So it has returned somewhat to pre recession levels. My neighbours flat was on the market for 4 days, had 1 viewing and was sold.

Grouchy

Thanks for all the useful replies, much appreciated.

Moving from SE.

Option 1 - Yes the parking will be an issue as you point out. I expect the best to hope for is permit parking and the possibility of a walk. The car will not be used daily.

Offers Over - thanks for that info very helpful and what I kind of expected. The idea of bidding, be refused, bidding elsewhere etc does fill me with dread somewhat. But I guess that is the state of the urban housing markets.

Garden - this may be a compromise also, for central living. One we will have to factor in.

As to Area - we are thinking if the city life is the next step then as central as possible is best to get the best out of it. I guess these will be the places with the most competition to buy. I too am wondering if the Leave vote will make people more cautious for a while and may work in our favour. I shall check out the espc website.

Option 2 - countryside-y is good! Preferable would be a semi rural detached placed with no immediate neighbours (or not on top anyway) and with fairly easy drive to a suitable station for Waverley. Again we'd like a more character property so not interested in newbuilds. I've been checking along the line to Stow (a few possibilities) as well as Falkirk/Linlithgow way as well. I looked around a bit online towards Dunbar but saw little of interest with our budget. The idea with this option is to have the countryside benefits and do cultural/other stuff in Edinburgh. So ease to get to essential.

I'm thinking that with going for Option 1 living in Edinburgh while looking to buy would be almost essential especially if viewings and sales are rapid. Not sure how that could be accomplished without renting. Will look at rental options but understand I think 1 year is usual, where I'd prefer 6 months. Any ideas on that?

Thanks for the help. It is helping with organsing how we'll spend the time we will be in the area looking at properties.

Chimpofdoom

6 months minimum terms are there (and generally the norm from my experience), so just comes down to area. Near the Uni's demand for rental properties is higher.

Other thing to read up on about tenement flats in Edinburgh is the old statutory notices - this policy is no longer enforced by the council, but some buildings may have outstanding repair work needed, which is shared between flat owners in the building.

As for "living central" Edinburgh's not a big city, you can get from one end of Edinburgh to the other in 45mins to an hour (maybe longer if traffic is busy). Festival time is pretty manic (August)

Grouchy

Thanks for that info. Sorry for late reply have been doing some digging.

A few more questions:

Option 1 - have been doing some research on areas which has been helpful. Now one query is, which floor is most desirable if one lives in a tenament or converted townhouse. I'm thinking ground floor has lots of plusses, no stairs (may be an issue with knee/getting older) and possibility of own bit of small garden. Downside neighbours directly above and also worst place for hearing other residents go in/out. Then I'm thinking first floor is the only other option, due to not wanting too many stairs. I'm assuming these two options are the most expensive? And top/upper floors are cheaper. Any up/downsides I haven't thought of.

Are there estate agents who would be a better bet to call in advance who would have more on their books of what we are looking for in option 1?

Option 2 - Been doing some reading and research also. The big question is which village? I've read that some of the ones along the Waverley/Galashields train line have been or are not the nicest. Difficult to get an impression of places like Stow, Bonnyrigg, Roislin, Gorebridge etc. Would like to narrow it down a little bit to not waste time when we are up there. Any ideas of at least where to avoid along that southerly corridor?

Thanks