Making the move.

tadpoleuk

I have decided after living in my current housing assc house for 35 years that I have to move.  The usual neighbour issues have pushed me to breaking point and I no longer want to be here.  I am now to old for all the drama. 

I can afford about £250k with savings and calculating my income. I am 45 so don't have years of mortgage left in me. 

Am I realistically able to buy a detached house or bungalow with my budget? I would move way out rather than deal with sharing my walls. I will have to move out of Kent but would like to be able to drive back to visit family.  

I cannot seem to find a site that lets me search massive areas for houses. Rightmove etc will search a 40 mile radius. Most are over 60 or Park homes. 

I need a decent website if anyone knows of one? I want to see the whole of the South, all houses available in one place. Is there such a thing?

I am very worried about the cost. What If I move and can't pay for it? Millions of people buy and can do it, but I have no family help and am already getting a knot in my stomach about it.  What if job changes mean I have to start commuting into London again?  Will travel expenses wipe me out totally. What if I lose my job? Get sick?

I am starting to read and absorb as much info on the process as possible. How long is it likely to take from beginning to end to get out of here?

Is moving to a poor area a false economy? No work? 

The only cheapish areas I can see are the Medway Towns.  Any other advice from people who have done this?

Thank you. This forum is great reading. 

newsgroupmonkey_

Plenty of filters you can do on Right Move.

£250k isn't a lot in the south, however. You're likely to fall into "non-standard build" or odd places which will no doubt have a higher %age cost.

Perhaps things to look for are coach houses (of course, no garden).

Quite honestly, if it's not on RightMove, it almost certainly doesn't exist - any EA worth their salt is on there.

You haven't told us much about your wants or needs. How many bedrooms, for instance? Is there a particular area you'd like to be? Are you flexible about where you work?

Why not consider a semi-detached or End of Terrace bungalow in an old persons area - we've done that before and it was great. We're not loud, noisy people. The only downside we found was that most of them had handrails (in some cases that blocked the drive) and we had a lot of ambulances visiting.

I've also lived in areas where I've had problems with neighbours. Problems with older neighbours are completely different to living next door to screaming kids (and adults) with asbo dogs.

hazyjo

You can draw maps on rightmove, plus search for counties.

You can also filter out buying schemes and retirement homes.

I would include semi-detached but only if they're halls adjoining with actual hallways and doors to rooms. Mine's like that and the only rooms joining next door are the bathroom, kitchen, and small third bedroom. Even if they were noisy, I doubt I'd get lots of noise.

Good luck 👍🏼 

hazyjo

PS avoid Modern Method Of Auction. There are a few using that.

GixerKate

When I was searching for my now current home my area was 'South'.  The way I searched was drawing the map so that it included pretty much all of east sussex, kent and a bit of west sussex, it then has dropped pins for properties for sale and you then then apply filters.

I've just had a look and on the surface I've found approx 25 1-2 bed detached houses though one is a plot and another looks like its not detached in the pictures.

If I may ask, how have you got to your figure?  Have you seen a financial adviser who has looked at all your paperwork and given you an estimate of what you can look at along with what your monthly outgoings would be?

Before we were looking I had a quick look online, did a few figures and assumed that I couldn't afford to move.  Once I had seen a FA and she had done her thing I found I could increase my expectations and also understand what my monthly outgoings would be.

gwynlas

Whilst your search area is large you could easily obtain a mortgage upto your retirement age and possibly a few years further if you have a private pension in place. You do not say what your current employment is and where you will work going forward. Rather than move to an area that you do not know you could concentrate on areas that you would consider and broaden your radius  until you find something that you can afford. Cheaper areas in the south are generally cheaper for a reason.