Thanks to everyone who replied to my previous post about putting my house on the market.  Having thought about it a bit more I'm kind of in a dilemma of should I move or shouldn't I move. 

The plan was to sell my house in Edinburgh and move more out into the countryside, maybe the Borders or Dumfries.  The upside of this is houses are a little cheaper in some areas, towns are less crowded, could probably get a bigger garden, quieter pace of life, reduce the mortgage.  The downside of this is if I move out of Edinburgh I will never be able to afford to move back if it didn't work out.  Also OH has a good job here with good promotion prospects and depending on exactly where we move he would have to commute or get another job - which might not be easy as he's now 50.  Another thing is everyone is moving out of Edinburgh to the surrounding towns which of course has pushed up all the house prices so I might not be able to afford anything better than I've got.

The main reason I wanted to move was that the area I live in is really going downhill with lots of "passing through" tenants living in properties and not really caring about the environment or those who live there long term.  I used to know all my neighbours and now I hardly know anyone as people have moved away.  The place is becoming a rubbish dump and a haven for crime and vandalism.  But would I be better off elsewhere?  What should I do?  Am I just having a case of the grass is greener?  Moving elsewhere within Edinburgh is out of the question as the property prices are way out of my reach now. Has anyone moved and wished they hadn't??

CG

I moved from a town in Berkshire to the countryside of Warwickshire 2 years ago this Feb gone, I too was unsure about buying and although generally speaking house prices here are not a lot cheaper than down south we did get a very good deal and actually downsized in terms of the house but have a bigger garden and garage (OH main feature LOL).  We were also worried as we would not be able to afford to move back if things did not work out (we moved with work) but I can say that it is the best thing I ever did!  I am so glad I am rid of the kids hanging round the shops, the violence up the local park, the mad rush of town life etc and now I live in a rural area, walk my dogs in surrounding farmers fields and bridal paths daily rather than round the streets, have not been ill since moving out of town, love the peace and how dark it gets due to no street lights, the security and also the few neighbours we do have look out for each other - we worry if we don't see the elderly man a few doors away where as you probably would not notice if you lived in a town.

We took the leap and don't regret it one bit, in fact we would not even want to move at the moment to a bigger house even tho we are expecting as we just love it - not saying you will but sometimes you have to take risks.  I have had a few problems but they are minor and they certainly are not worth moving back for ;)

Good luck!

Yes:rolleyes: I left somewhere I was happy to move to a bigger house and much bigger garden and I wish I had stayed where I was:rolleyes: We can barely use the garden due to problems between our dog and next doors and noisy kids on trampolines. We live in a private  dead end road that has no pavement and hundreds of kids use it as a playground, the area outside my house being the most popular place to hang about at. Think very carefully before you take the plunge, the saying 'be careful what you wish for ' is very apt in my case!

LOL thanks for the replies!  Two different sides of the coin.  I need to think very carefully as my immediate neighbours are fine and I have no problems with them, my house is OK and I do have a garden and a job round the corner - maybe better with the devil you know.  On the other hand I feel if I don't move soon I'll miss the boat and not be able to afford anything else.

CG

MY OH's Mum has decided she wants to move from a house that she has pretty much got how she ants it now and lives in a good area, although she does not really get on with the neighbours she doesn't have any trouble either and I have told her that whilst she thinks moving is a good idea, you never actually know what your new neighbours will be like - on the other hand they could be great people that become treasured friends.

When I say things have not always been smooth, the neighbours wind me up as most of them are clueless when it comes to dogs and we have fallen out with a neighbour that lives 5 or so doors down badly but this has not put us of, he in fact is now moving LOL so that's that problem solved - just need to work on the others with their dogs :rolleyes:

I think it could go either way and the fact is you never really know until you do it!  Also I moved for me and the OH and dogs, not to make friends which is why fall out's don't bother me, I guess if I have learnt 2 things in the past 2 years it is to never trust anyone 100% and don't get too close to neighbours, be polite, look out for each other but the min you become 'friend' not neighbours you IMO are asking for trouble :(

Go for it Copper girl, life isn't a rehearsal!  :)  :)

You're right!  I think I'll keep my eyes out in the new year for suitable properties and if we see one then off we go :)  I'm assuming of course that my house will be snapped up for a fantastic price

CG

You could move just slightly outside of town? I live in East Calder, it only takes me 25 mins to drive into Edinburgh city centre for work (although I start at 2130 so no traffic to speak of). I've got a 3 bedroom, semi detached with a huge garden - if I lived in town I'd be lucky to afford a one room flat :rolleyes: We have great walks on our doorstep, almondell country park, calderwood, linhouse wood etc etc and many empty farmers fields for exercising not so friendly dogs. West Lothian council has again won council of the year and are very proactive and environmentally friendly. We have 3 wheelie bins for recycling and rarely see litter lying around. There is even a wee chap that goes out whenever it's icy and grits all the pavements - when the ones in town are an icerink. Have I sold it to you yet?? :D

You know Chaumsong I'd never thought of West Lothian but I think the reason is that I really detest Livingston - or parts of it.  There doesn't seem to be any pavements   But I'm sure I should have a look round there.  As for the farmers fields for not so friendly dogs!  I suspect you've read my posts about Copper   He has improved.  My mum is in East Lothian but as half of Edinburgh has moved there I can't afford anything better than I have already.  I definitely don't want to go back to a flat after having had a house with a back door and garden. 

It's not as if I haven't moved before, I've been in Lancashire, London and the Midlands and walked away from all of them without a backwards glance as well as another place I had in Edinburgh that I had to leave.  But I'm worried about burning my boats this time I suppose.  I shall make a good and bad list and if a decent property comes up I'll start making proper decisions.  Well that's the plan anyway :)

CG

lol Coppergirl, the comments on fields for not so friendly dogs were really based on my own Tchi - honest :D

I don't like Livingston either - I still think of it as a concrete jungle but there are some nice villages East Calder of course (there is an end terreced 4 bedroom house with garage for offers over 110K on espc at mo.) also Kirknewton - although it is getting more expensive.

Hi

I moved nearly five years ago from north west london, I had been born and brought up in that area and my whole life had been there.  Just like your town it had become run down and many people had moved away as  crime was rising.  We came over to the isle of wight and what a drastic change, neighbours know and help each other out, the crime rate is low and it's certainly a beautiful place to live.  We are considering moving again back to the mainland, probably bournemouth, but for practical reasons more than anything else.  Before I moved I made a list of all the things that I hated about where I lived, and all the good things about where I lived, the bad far out weighed the good.  I think you have to decide where would give you peace of mind, there's no point living in a beautiful big house if you cant walk outside for fear of being mugged or that your house may be broken into.
If you think you would be happier in a nicer area, then it's worth making a few sacrifices.  After living 42 years in one place I'm so glad I made the break away, and of course I feel now that I can move again and not be scared to do so, it's just going to be another new adventure and an opportunity to meet new people just as I did on the island a couple of which I know will be friends for life.  So I'd say go for it and wish you all the best whatever you decide.

we moved 2years ago from warwickshire to derbyshire( job move) not knowing anyone,the area, nothing.
we dont miss anything about our old town, noise,fast life, ignorant people,crime, drunks, phew! we moved to a small ex mining village, with a pub over the road, yeh! friendly people, not much crime, great neighbours and wonderful dog walks.

we are blessed and in heaven.

we'd never move back to a town, village life is ace!

moving away does seem scary but you soon settle and realise you should have done it sooner.

My advice would be don't hesitate any longer, go for it now, whilst you still can, you won't regret moving further out to the country. Prices are rising everywhere.  I would advise you to be thinking long term now, as you have said you won't be ble to afford to move back once you have left, (I doubt you would want to though ;-) ) so make sure you choose a place that you would be happy to live in now until past your retirements.  Towns in all areas throughout the country are not what they used to be, our country is becoming over populated for many reasons :rolleyes: (won't get into that one ) and crime is getting closer to everyones doorsteps, if you have the chance to move away to a quieter more rural location jump at it.

Smaller villages are so much more friendly, your husband can commute, he will proberbly have to as obviously the money is much better in Cities and larger towns, but it will be worth the extra effort to live in a place where you will feel safer and gives you a happy, calm feeling everytime you open the door. A car will be essential.  I loved city life as a youngster, the thought of living in the country was not appealing to me at all, in fact once upon a time I found it a horredous thought, but once we had our children and moved slightly more suburban and then even more further out later on, you find you can never go back :-D  funny how we change as we get older.

Go for it!

Thank you for that :)  We are going to go and visit the various places we have thought we'd like and can afford, check out the facilities, go in the pubs (:)) talk to the people etc and then see if we can find anything we like in a place we like.  It's got to have a bigger garden than what we have as we'd like a shed/workshop/garage and I'd like to grow more of my own veg etc.  It's just soooo scary and I don't know why I'm dithering as I never go into town and I hate crowds.  I'm turning into my mum I think

CG

I'm the same new is always scary for me too, I always buy a map of an area I am interested in to try to get to know my whereabouts much quicker and once I know where the shops, nearest towns, eating and drinking places are I feel much more at ease. The good thing about a more rural, village type area, new soon becomes normal very quickly as there isn't much to learn. :-)