Moving back home to Sweden - planning stage

[SarrissUK]

Hi all, I'm quaking in my boots, and my head is buzzing with thoughts that I can't seem to straighten out so I've come here for some advice and reassurance.

My daughter asked me a few weeks ago about property prices in Sweden, where I was born and brought up. I couldn't answer her question, as I only ever bought a flat there, and it's 18 years ago since I came here to the UK. I had a search online and found hemnet.se - a site similar to our rightmove.

I grew up in the southern parts of Sweden, in the sticks and house prices are amazing! I found one house, now under offer, but hey... it's five minutes away from the first IKEA shop, IKEA Sweden head quarters, and IKEA international HQ:
Brokhult Ekehill 1 - Friliggande villa till salu - Brokhult, Älmhult. Hemnet - Sveriges största bostadssajt.
It's up for 395,000 Swedish krona, which, in British pounds is £34,760. Most properties are like this, and very often you can find them at that price too. They often have between 3k and 5k square meter land, which is amazing compared to here in the UK!

So, me and my daughter made a pro and con list of moving there, and then weighted each pro and con between 1 and 10 depending on how positive/negative it is to each of us. Turns out we're both 80/20 towards going!

Now I'm cacking myself, cause it means selling my house and my business, timing it right in order to move, things to improve in the house before putting it up for sale, eeeeshhh.... all to move to a country that I haven't lived in since I was 24. 18 years ago. So, now that we've made the decision, I am wobbling! My daughter is more sure that she wants to move than I am!

All I am convinced about is that my dream to have a smallholding can finally happen, and I'm also convinced I could never afford to have that here in the UK.

Help??

[Bigmallly]

A brave decision but if you don't do it you will only regret it. Do you have any family in Sweden? I wish you both all the luck in the world & it'll be nice to have a Swedish member on the Vine. Keep us updated as I'm sure everyone will be interested how it goes.

[Guest]

Reassurance - you can plan all you like, it won't work like that! Once one thing goes wrong others will follow! There is a high probability you will shout, swear and feel stressed!

The thing to ask yourself is - will you regret it if you don't even try?

Things usually come right in the end

[veggiechicken]

How exciting! Do it - don't overthink it. Just do it. It'll work out fine - it always does.
Send us a postcard

[SusieG]

Oh how wonderful for you and your daughter...!!!!
It sounds perfect ..... I assume you'd be able to continue with your business 'back home'..? Have you still got family there..?
And you know that you can always come back to England if your dream isn't what you expected (yes, I know it would be a huuuge expense to up sticks again).

What's not to like about it..? Friends and family can visit from England, it's not a million miles away...

Whatever you decide Sarriss, good luck, and as BM says, let us know .........

[Potstubsdustbins]

Why is it that every time I see the word Sweden I go straight back to 1974, Eurovision, ABBA and Waterloo.

I am a great lover of 60s music but these four people really did brighten up the 70s like no other musicians and Frida don't tell SWMBO but I still have a crush on you.

Not much advice but as others have said will you regret not giving it a go. It would be awful to be thinking 'what if' in 20 years time.

[SarrissUK]

Family - yes, all my family are still there and my parents are getting on a bit. I want to be there for them. My daughter has never met them.

My business - I am a fishmonger and I wouldn't carry that on. I'd go back to my "real" profession of IT, project management and Web management. And my dream job with IKEA would of course be that much more likely lol

I'd be mortgage free at the age of 44, rather than another 15 years here. If I got a job of average pay, I'd have just over £2,000 a month spare after bills are paid, but likely to have to spend most of that on the house renovations for a while.

And I like ABBA too lol

[Bigmallly]

Sounds like you are already half way there.

[Potstubsdustbins]

From your last post I would say its a 'no brainer'. You obviously want to go and you have your daughters backing.

Will have to brush up on veggie growing in Sweden.

[happyhumph]

If you can get work there & you're not leaving family behind but will actually be moving closer it seems a great idea! I went to Sweden before we had the children & loved it, but language barrier & family (both fathers in slightly dodgy health & v elderly grandmother, plus children seeing extended family ) unfortunately make it a no-no for us

[Snoop Puss]

Wow, Sarriss. Just to be debt free would be an amazing step, plus you'd be fulfilling a life's dream and supporting family. Plus your daughter is enthusiastic too. And have plenty of cash to live on. It all sounds fantastic.

What were the cons that you listed? Is the climate veg-growing friendly?

[gardening_gal]

No brainer. Go.

It sounds as if there are more pros than cons and the biggest con is simply the worry about change. I absolutely hate change, I'm a boring creature of habit who is happiest within her boring comfort zones.....but even I would go in your shoes.

I wish you well whatever you decide. (But go, lol.)

[SarrissUK]

The growing climate is about the same as here, just maybe a slightly shorter hot season, but it gets up to the same temps as here, easily in the summer. I'd just have to be more organised LOL

The cons we listed were:
- Leaving friends
- Moving out of our house (we do love this house)
- Leaving family behind - affects my daughter only, as her dad and his family lives around here.
- Learn Swedish - my daughter doesn't know any Swedish but she'd have to study at college, which is delivered in Swedish of course.
- Cost to come back and visit - not a massive negative, as it's relatively cheap
- No mates to start with - this doesn't bother me at all... but of course, my daughter who is 15 is a bit sad about leaving her mates behind and worrying about not finding new friends
- Weird food - but I don't think we have weird food in Sweden at all! LOL
- Food we can't get hold of - things like Bisto gravy, custard powder, Branstons isn't available in Sweden, but we are mitigating that by taking lots with us
- Some companies don't operate in Sweden ebay, amazon, primark - other auction sites do exist, and she'll just have to binge on Primark when she comes back to see her dad

Yes, we have decided - we are going, but my head is still spinning LOL It's weird to go back to a country, plan to buy a house there but not have a clue about the laws around things like drains, water supply etc.... I'm spending a lot of time reading up on it.

Thank you all, you've all helped calm my nerves a bit. You can of course all come visit if you come over to Sweden and experience all the lakes and swimming in them, picking wild lingon and blueberries (bilberries) etc

[veggiechicken]

Yay!! A free holiday in Sweden with Ikea on the doorstep
Don't worry, Sarriss, I won't really turn up on your doorstep
That house you showed us looked ideal and so reasonable. You couldn't buy a caravan for that here.
Glad you're going to do it

[SarrissUK]

Yay!! A free holiday in Sweden with Ikea on the doorstep
Don't worry, Sarriss, I won't really turn up on your doorstep
That house you showed us looked ideal and so reasonable. You couldn't buy a caravan for that here.
Glad you're going to do it

haha you'd be more than welcome VC! By the time we get a house and get it ready for visitors, we'll be gagging to speak English again haha And I know - it's so cheap, it's scary. The house I linked to needs at least 10k spent on it just on the drains, but that'd increase the house value by much more than that. I can't justify not to go, can I?