How do I find a 'nice' area?

Titania777

Thanks for all your help. I think sensibly I need to find the properties in the price range in various areas, then check on upmystreet, then double check with posters on here. I was going off at a tangent and not really having a plan! I'll speak to my sister and tell her we need to look further away as well (and remind her there are such things as trains, planes and automobile - he he).

Once again thank you all, I really appreciate it. x

foreign_correspondent

again, I wuld second north nottinghamshire, or sheffield. I live in notts but prefer sheffield! 2 hour thirty minutes to london down the m1 on a good day!
Both are near to the motorway and have good rail links. If you want more info on any specific areas let me know, and I will help if I can!

fimonkey

Ditto, I know Leeds and Dorset v well, (and you'll get a shed for that amount in Dorset).

Have you considered over the water a la Francais? HEAPS of land there for great prices.

Post the area's your interested in and let the comments begin!

vivatifosi

I'm with foreign correspondent on that one. If I didn't have to be in the South East for work - and I come from here too - I'd be in the Notts/Sheffield area in a shot. Lovely scenery, nice selection of houses, good shopping, good road networks, reasonable choice of jobs, good people.

Titania777

I orginally wanted to relocate to France (have been looking for a little while) but my sister doesn't want to go.

I don't want to put too much pressure on her at the moment as I think she's liable to become more unstable than she is at the moment (she really isn't too good mentally at the moment).

I will spend some more time today having a look on the internet around the UK. It's quite strange as people normally have the location in mind before looking but we are really limited by the price.

I could spend a bit more but am worried what with the costs involved in buying, selling, moving and my sister not working at present that we could end up nothing again!

Will start having a look and come back later with some areas (hopefully).

Ellie007

Have you considered the West Country? Around Yeovil area and surrounding villages you would be able to get a decent three bed, and although you may struggle for a detached below £150k, a semi-detached would certainly be achievable. Train into London from Yeovil is approx 2 1/2 hours. Just a thought! Having moved from there to London several years ago, it amazes me how cheap everything is back there!

Generali

If you're happy to move to France, £150k should buy €200k worth of house and leave about enough for notaire and estate agent (immoblier) fees. Eg:

3 bed place in Limousin with 1.5 acres of land

3 bed C13th restored place in Gascony

pinkshoes

Titania777 wrote: »

They are in Cambridgeshire, a couple in the Wisbech area (but they are under offer so we've missed those) but just looked at Wisbech on upmystreet and you are right, it doesn't seem such a great area. I really think we will have to go further afield within the UK

Wisbech????? Arrghhhhhhhhhhhhh run a million miles!! Ok, it's not THAT bad, but is a well known dump!! (I know people who have lived there almost 30 years who will verify that!)

If you only have £40k left on your mortgage, your monthly repayments must only be about £250/month, so could you not post on the DebtFree Wannabe board and get some help?!

I've lived all over the UK, and would recommend renting for 6 months before buying, because it's the best way to get to know any town/village/city. Some reasonable priced properties and nice towns in Lincolnshire, and Peterborough is apparently very up and coming... but you would be much better off renting for 6 months if you don't know the area before buying something.

Burlesque_Babe

I live in Poole in Dorset, nothing here unfortunately, but you could try Weymouth (2.5 hours straight into Waterloo) or Swanage or go up into Wiltshire -I second Ellie and suggest around Yeovil, although I think you might still struggle with the detached bit.

I grew up in Grimsby (avoid!) but there are some parts of Lincolnshire which are really beautiful.

morg_monster

Remember most of the UK is within 4 hours of London by train. Especially if your niece is at a uni near central or north london, you could live in the midlands or even further north and come in to Euston, Kings Cross, or St Pancras and your sister will be with her daughter very quickly.