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Ooh, 3 bed in Portobello sounds perfect for us! (Mwahaha)

Joining this thread a wee bit late...

@ditziness - is that yours? ;-)

I second the Porty flat - I live in Porty and LOVE it. We've just sold and I've thought about that one too, but I think the way in is up a steep flight of external steps - bit awkward with a buggy, I imagine. Nice quiet street though.

We've got our fingers crossed that a (rare) 3 bed ex council in the area comes up soon (and don't any of you jump in there first!)

I don't think I'd buy a new build in Leith there are hundreds of them and difficult to sell on. If that's what would suit you I'd rent one in the area you want and see if you like it there before you decide.
There's a whole section of Edinburgh folk who have never been East of John Lewis and still spew out the whole Leith is manky line. It's ridiculous.
We sold our house in Portobello to a retired couple from Corstorphine who were literally gobsmacked that Portobello was so nice. In 50 years they or their friends had never been there although they bypassed it when they went out golfing to East Lothian.

Oh and the other thing I would add- definitely check the previous sale value record, if the property has one. Zoopla is my go-to site for that. I also think an asking price really depends on how long the property has been on the market, is it likely to go quickly, etc. The forums on the site Housepricecrash.co.uk also make for interesting reading. I'd say the days of expecting a good increase on an offer over price are OVER- other than for really desirable properties. For anything that has been sitting any length of time I would definitely go in with a very low initial offer. The worst they can do is say no.

I have some experience with new builds, both in Leith and in Granton- with the first I feel I was VERY lucky to have sold it before the big crash. I didn't have to unload the Granton one myself as that was part of a split with my ex but he really struggled to sell it and lost some money on it in the end. My parents are trying to sell a newer build in a good area and finding it very hard to get a buyer. Personally I will never buy new again but I do understand why you would and that sometimes a place does tick the boxes.

As far as Leith goes, I do think the area tends to be a mixed bag- in many ways it's been regenerated (the Shore amenities are very nice) but I don't think it's quite there yet. Even in a "nice" part of the Shore area there was some...interesting night activity, shall we say. There are some places I wouldn't be at all keen on but others may be OK, depending on your criteria.

PM me if you want to discuss gory details in private!

Well... Sort of. Mainly he told us he didn't like the street! More usefully he said the resale record for newer builds in Leith is poor. This particular flat is being sold by a developer who bought it from the bank - the building was built just before the crash and the original developer couldn't shift them. They were all tenanted for a while but now they've mostly been refitted and sold on so the building is filled with owner occupiers. I think it would suit us very well, and we wouldn't be looking to move for a good while (it is a good size). My main fear is that it was lose a lot of value and we'll have problems remortgaging. This is a general worry I have about everything we've seen, but is a bigger concern for a newer building.

Frozen did you get some good advice from your solicitor the other day?
Piffpaffpop - I'd be really interested in knowing which are the good/bad areas if you have time for a PM

Davidson's Mains is lovely. Polwarth can be very nice too - worth checking out school catchment areas as chunks (or possibly all I can't remember) fall in to V good school (Boroughmuir high)

portobello! seriously!

Don't know those areas really but have spotted a couple of things in Slateford that might be worth a look.

Duloch's not that bad!!! It's certainly totally different from Edinburgh life but seeing as nearly everyone here has moved from Edinburgh you're at least all in the same boat. If you've got kids and you need more space for not too much money then it's ideal but you do need to pick your spot carefully, there are some really nice bits and some really icky bits. And school catchment is a huge ongoing problem depending on where you live.

Anyway, now that I've got that my chest - OP, what about Slateford or Polwarth?

We looked at a place on Coburg Street in Leith yesterday, but today our solicitor said he doesn't think much of that street because "until a couple of years ago that's where the hookers hung around". A bit of research suggests that it was the site of the prostitution tolerance zone, but that was over a decade ago, and it was then moved over to Salamander Street. So I'm not sure whether to set much store by that opinion. Lots of people I speak to seem to absolutely hate Leith (although interestingly none of them live there) - I've always thought it seemed fine, but I'm starting to lose all confidence in my own judgement.

We looked at a nice place on Parsons Green Terrace near Meadowbank but someone else bought it the day after! Shame, as it has been on the market ages.

We've also seen a couple of flats on The Green in Davidsons Mains. It seems nice round there, so maybe that's a goer?

This is nice too, maybe too pricey though.

Good thinking 13Iggis!

I would love the view from this one but I think having a lift might bump the factoring fee up quite a bit.

Definitely the one in Porty, Regent street, tis lovely in Porty. Also the Cornhill Terrace one would be worth investigating, there is one on Ryehill Terrace for offers around 175 as well. Good time of year to be looking.

How strange! Though I think I would write it off because of no window, ds's room is in almost constant darkness due to his blackout curtains - maybe would be fine!
For a couple, it could be a cool tv room/junk room/sex dungeon.

What a weird layout!

This one has a fantastic kitchen-www.espc.com/properties/details.aspx?pid=316720&sid=3735020375 (although second double bedroom is windowless and I don't know what the road is like to live on).

We bought a flat in December and were advised that we should look upto ten grand more than we could offer. But also if we really loved somewhere to mak cheeky offers. We bought our flag for bang on what they were asking.

Would reccomend the centre for independent mortgage advise on leith walk. Greg'll walk you thru the whole thing , as cool as a cucumber! X

Portobello !

http://m.espc.com/?saleType=Sale&beds=0&locType=text&area=Portobello&radius=0.5&longitude=0&latitude=0&house_type=&min_price=&max_price=&search=Search&sort=price-ASC&p=3&propref=315332&cs=1

We couldn't afford a property in Currie, though we did view a few semi-detached ones a few years back in that area. Bedrooms were very pokey.

Oh but the joy of a family room/en suite/spare bedroom - all unobtainable to most in the city!
I was driving through Colinton, Currie and Balerno, all looked lovely (the snow helps!) but very expensive I imagine. May have a rummage on the espc tonight

Yes, Duloch is basically the Eastern Expansion. We were warned to stay well clear of it (but never had any intention of buying a property there anyway!).

Ah, I wonder is that the same bit they call 'the eastern expansion' on the espc website?
Thanks for that info. don't want to move to Fife anyway

Dunfermline used to be nice until the area has been tarnished by the huge development known as Duloch. There's no community spirit now, just lots of new builds that all look the same. A friend of mine's was told by her father that they are not good quality houses, in that they're knocked up a super fast speeds. Lots of snags come with these houses. You also don't get much house for your money now...