Wanting to relocate but stuck on how best to do it

TrueGreen

I'm looking to relocate from the Southeast to the North of England, having had enough of paying rent on a shared ownership house that I have no chance of ever owning outright and aged on the wrong side of 50 so feel time is running out to do this.  Besides that, I don't like the place where I live (and I have lived here long enough to know for sure!)  and the lifestyle where I wish to move to, having visited a number of times, just feels much more 'me'.

I will be moving alone, will need a small mortgage which I have got a decision in principle in place on. I will have to find another job in the new place or a remote job and am currently looking at  vacancies.

Ideally, I would like to buy from where I am now, cutting out the need to rent, I have a pet which a lot of rentals don't accept and rental properties are hard to come by and are expensive which will eat into the modest equity from selling my share of the house, but I'm aware that most advise to rent first in the new place and I do take that on board. Is it doable though, providing I have a new job to go to? 

Any thoughts appreciated, thanks.


 

MikeJXE

I sold my house 4 years ago as I wanted to move from the village I was at.

I have moved many times before and the only problem is you're not sure of the neighbours or the area. 

I did the maths on whether I could rent for the rest of my life, I was the wrong side of 70

I moved 30 miles to Nottingham 2nd floor 2 bed flat £600 monthly it was ok but not everything I wanted 

So I moved nearer to the place I had left but better, a small town, 2 bed 1st floor £600 monthly  but not in walking distance 

I have just moved again, same town but nearer so I can walk in,. Ground floor 1bed, low council tax and energy costs £625 monthly 

 Perfect for me

The problem with buying is if you make a wrong move you're stuck with it till you make the next wrong move. 

For me renting was the best choice 

geordiejon

to get a better idea on where you want to move maybe ask here if anyone lives there to give their thoughts on the area.
then you can work out if renting for a while would be a good idea.

Martico

If you have a good idea of the area or town you'd like to move to - do you have a network there already? can you get work there? - then I'd advise renting first for six months or more while you househunt. I knew the city I wanted to come to and initially rented in an area where I thought I'd buy. But after a few months I came to realise that I socialised on the other side of town, all my friends were on the other side of town, and that area was both cheaper and somewhere I felt more at home. So I changed my search area and bought in the cheaper, better, more sociable area.
You may be different, but I needed several months to get a feel of where I really wanted to stay long-term.

TrueGreen

Thank you both. 

MikeJXE, that's good that you've found what suits you, that peace of mind feeling is worth a lot.

I begrudge though, in my situation, paying rent on my present house, a house that I don't even want to be in! Hence, my desire to move and seeing as I would be paying less in a mortgage up North, buying seems the right thing for me to do. 

lookstraightahead

I've moved 200 miles recently,  I've always rented first when I move and I have always, always made the money back as I had no chain when I came to buying.

Renting enabled me to get to know my new place here, and new people who could point me in the right direction. 

It's a no brainer for me.

youth_leader

Have a look at Alnwick in Northumberland.  It has a bus station, lots of shops/dentists/doctors and a small infirmary. There is a train station a few miles away at Alnmouth which also has a fantastic beach.  

ArbitraryRandom

The main issue is going to be the timing.

You can remotely view many properties nowadays, then make a list and do 3/4 viewings in a day/weekend, so buying remotely isn't a huge issue (spending a week there would give you a better idea of the area as you could then visit the properties you liked at different times of day/on different days and hang out in the local pub/cafe to get a feel for the area/people). 

And the same with job hunting, you can apply online then travel up for interviews... but trying to complete a house purchase as part of a chain AND coincide that with a new job start date. That's a scenario ripe for problems and stress. 

I would also recommend selling up and renting for 6 months (remembering that rental prices would also be cheaper 'up North' so might even be less than you're currently paying on your shared equity property), but if that's not an option then could you put aside enough cash to manage without a job for 3/6 months? Or maybe save enough that an entry level/min-wage job would tide you over until you found something permanent?  

theoretica

Which is more important to you - the job you go to, or the place you live? If you don't buy until after you have found a job it gives you the freedom to job hunt over a wide area - but you may then need to move in a month or so, depending on the seniority of the job you are going to and expected notice periods.  If you arrange your purchase first you may find yourself jobless or needing to take whatever you can get in the area.

I suspect you will need to include some rental costs in your moving expenses, or some time jobless...  At a pinch would you consider finding somewhere else for your pet to stay for a little while?

TrueGreen

Thank you all for those very useful comments. On balance, I do now feel it would be best to rent first. The lesser of two evils maybe, but as rightly pointed out, the timing issue if trying to sell and buy and find a new job simultaneously would be fraught with stress.
Being chain free, again, that would be a very big plus, thanks for the wise words on that.

Another thing that has had me worried if trying to sell and buy at the same time from a distance, has been seeing houses I liked the look of on Rightmove and then within a week or even a few days, the same houses having an "offer accepted" or "STC" written on the ad....

theoretica, re my pet, I think he would be v v stressed if he was parted from me, that would be besides the stress of being taken out of his normal home territory, so no, if they don't take cats, then it's a matter of holding out for somewhere that does for me I would say.

MikeJXE

IMO you have made the right choice, 

if you drive and have a car you might be more likely to get a rental with your cat out in villages rather than towns, better for the cat too, 

Rightmove will have lots of choices.

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