Decided to move house

[blossom]

Looks like we are going to sell our house and try to find another one. Is it a little strange to ignor all the pictures of the houses on estate agents web sites and only be interested in the gardens?

When we find somewhere i'm sure I will be ob here asking for help with plotting it all.

[smallblueplanet]

No we did similar - oh and I also made sure of their being broadband available as we were looking in rural areas!

Good luck.

Have you seen this website that allows you to see what people paid for their houses?

Property prices

Its based on the land registry details, but is always about 3 months behind.

[Shortie]

Hi Bramble, if that's odd then I'm odd too. [Okay, maybe we shouldn't compare to me as I know I can be odd!]

But no, I really don't think it is odd, especially if your garden space is so important to you (which I figure it is as you're part of happy family)

Good luck with your move, but try not to let the garden make you miss out on a fantastic house, you can always find ways to make do or try for an allotment

[sewer rat]

Blossom
You can add me to your "odd" list too. OH specified house type, size, location, value, proximity to services etc - I only specified a garden

[blossom]

Hi Bramble, if that's odd then I'm odd too.

Bramble?

Well hopefully we will be going to look at a couple today One at least is south facing.

[poultrychat]

Can I join the list of being 'odd' to please? We have been here for 2 1/2 years and I bought for the garden and having had the house rewired I have been concentrating on the garden and still have wires hanging out of the walls because I haven't had them chased in because I'm too busy outside, my daughter is not amused

[Shortie]

Oops, sorry Blossom

When we first looked to move this time 2 years ago, the houses in my area (at the time Cheshunt) were fairly 'new build' i.e. since the 80's and as such had tiny back gardens (not to mention super thin walls). I was often put off by having a garden that was really sloped or solid concrete or just too small.

As it happened, our current house came up at the right time with many good qualities, such as being next door to my parents and near the station etc. The fact the garden is quite large (by my old house's standards) was a bonus

Did you see anything that caught your fancy yesterday?

[blossom]

There are a few about, but we won't really know how much we have to spend until they come to value our house (next Tuesday).
Also, I'm not origionaly from the Manchester area, so we are having to do a lot of work finding out if the areas which look nice are actually nice.

I have seen an ok 'fixer-upper' with a large garden, but not sure about the area yet.

[Jaxom]

Blossom, drop into your local police station and ask for advice, which is what I did last time we moved. Previously we had been living is a lovely looking place that turned out to be like Beirut in Palestine.
Where we live now I am so happy I refuse to do the lottery just in case I should win and have the money to move.
Jax

[blossom]

That is a brilliant idea jaxom. It may be flaughed (sp) though as when I first moved to Manchester I had my licence plates stollen from my car. I went to 3 police stations to report it that SHOULD have been open. One there was no sign of anyone, another they would answer the phone but didn't have enough staff in to open the door, and the 3rd, way out was the main one for Manchester so I was ok there. Doh. I will give it a try though.

I have been looking at upyourstreet.co.uk for each house I like as that says the crime rates etc, but all around here is always higher than national average.

I meant to say thanks to small blue planet for that web site too, it is brilliant. Certainly gives you an idea of what is normal in those areas.

[eskymo]

I did the same when looking for a house - we wanted to move out of Edinburgh and my main priorities were that the new place had to have a garden and broadband - the two main things that keep me sane. When we found this place - I spent more time examining the garden than the house and pictured how I would change it to be 'my' garden before we even put an offer in on the house. I couldn't live without the garden, so I don't think it's mad to give it less importance...I spend more time in the garden that I do in some of the rooms in the house!

[smallblueplanet]

Blossom - I/we bought our last two houses via the internet, when moving longer distances its the only way to do it.

Thinking about what i found useful - (the price guide wasn't available then) - multimap.com for aerial photos of the area (and now google earth?), you can see how green places are!

Homecheck link check your area for 'environmental' issues. Don't panic about what may appear to be 'red flags' but it will be something to discuss with solicitor/estate agent if you're keen on somewhere.

(eg I'm a veggie, and we were wondering whether to view a place in Hampshire, but when we checked the postcode apparently it was just down the road from a petfood factory )

Not sure if there's a link from that site but don't forget to check the Environmental Agency for flooding liability EA link

The hardest thing if you're looking in an area thats difficult to visit lots is finding all the estate agents, although most are now on the Net I still think that some 'nicer' properties don't make the website until they're sold. If you're looking in a very specific area (we were) get to know your estate agents.

Homesales link

Estate Agents

Also be 'broadminded' about what you go and see, sometimes you never can tell (from descriptions) what you might be prepared to compromise on for a pay-off elsewhere. We live in a pretty Vale in a very small village, but the house is ex-council and there's a pylon at the end of the garden. Our first 'out of city' purchase was only affordable as it was ex-council, but it had a downstairs bathroom and on that basis I'd already thrown the details away once - but we went to see it and loved where it was.....

Good luck and remember there's always another one out there - don't get too hung up if you miss out on what you think is the perfect place.

Manda

ps sorry if you know all this.

[Lesley Jay]

Blossom what areas are you looking at? Someone on here is bound to know what a particular area is like. Try www.rightmove.co.uk

[nick the grief]

Tut Tut SBP, they aren't Pylons they are called Transmission Towers

I know this because I call them pylons just to wind up all the folks I work with on the Electricity side of our business (I deal with Gas)

[Alice]

Good luck with your search Blossom. When looking at the gardens don't forget to check the aspect. A North facing garden will never get any sun where as South facing will get the sun all day. South and west is perfect as gets sun all day and evening. Makes all the difference.