Going in circles: any thoughts on how to break it?

[Angstymummy]

Hi all
This is v quick (DD in front of octonauts, awfulmummy).

We're currently in Leith, first floor flat & actually not bad - but we'd set our hearts on DD going to the montessori nursery in Morningside... which has just moved to Liberton and she's got a 5 morning a week place. (just the other side of Kings Buildings). It looks /brilliant/ and they're now covering kids up to 12, so if it suits her (and we can afford it) she'll continue there til High School. two big 'if's.

Thing is: nursery starts in about six weeks, our flat is unsold (only on market for five weeks) and we can't see anything we like in the catchment areas we've been aiming at (Sciennes - yawn - JGPS, St Peter's etc.) I'd rather NOT have to drive or take the bus to nursery/school for the next humpty-numpty years as I've got mental health problems that can make anything othe than walking a bit of a challenge. If i get better, great, if I don't, I want to make sure her routine is solid & we're not reliant on other people.

So that's deadline one - her starting nursery.

The second deadline is the sale of our other house (long story: we're /not/ property tycoons, just got in a bit of a mess, again because of my mental health issues). It's concluding on 2 September (money changing, keys changing, etc etc) so after that, we either put the mortgage into another property or lose our amazing, never to be repeated deal (honest, they'll never give us that much at such a low rate again. I wouldn't!).

We had thought of renting but that means we can't afford to pay the great mortgage too and if the right house comes up, I don't want to be tied into a six month let...

We saw one in Blackford (where have they all gone BTW?! there used to be tons on the market!) but it needs heaps of work and although I LOVE the greenbank/morningside side of town, that involves a bus/car trip for DD... I suppose if I could manage it in the short term, that would give us a bit of breathing space but I just can't :-( (plus we sold our car earlier this year - it's saved us a lot of money but of course now we can't afford to buy another, having used almost ALL our savings to sell these effing houses).

I know ther eare a few mums from Newington on the boards - would you say it's a good place? I'm so isolated round here, I get the feeling Newington's a bit more mixed & open to different types of folks/parenting.

SOrry it is a huge ramble but we just keep going round and round in circles and I don't think a financial advisor is the right sort of person to give us a way out of it!

p.s. if anyone DOES want to sell a 3 bed house in BLackford/Newington or buy a stunning Georgian 2 bed flat in a lovely part of Leith, give me a shout!

I might not be much help, sorry, but you do sound mixed up. For what it's worth I know Newington really well, I grew up there, parents still live there and I have a lot of friends in the area. It would be my preferred area of town, lots of shops, good transport links, mixture of people and housing stock. We are about to move to Craigleith, again because of schools, but if schools weren't relevant then I would have definitely gone for the south side.

Would you need to be more Liberton based though, to be able to walk to school? Blackford also seems good but I would have thought it quite a stretch from the Sciennes type area. My parents live in the Waverly Park area of Newington (adjacent to the Blackets) and this would be a serious trek from there.

On another point, have you considered the city car club if you do find you need access to a car? My sister and her husband are in Leith and rarely need a car, but use the ccc when they need it.

Looking back at this I realise I may not have added anything useful at all! If you could condense down what what the issues are into bullet points, it might make you see things more clearly and make it easier to address your questions.

Thanks! I've not really had a chance to meet anyone /from/ Newington to find out what it's like to live there - although I've always wanted to. Our church is on the meadows and lots of friends live there. We were aiming for somewhere halfway between the meadows and Liberton Brae (it's at KB basically). and yes, I am /very/ mixed up . I think Blackford is either in catchment for sciennes or somewhre like JGPS - or maybe St Peter's?
I'll look into the car club, hadn't thought of that and it might just get us through the first few weeks (gulp). If we have to. Blackford is quite a stretch in terms of distance but the 38 runs past the bottom of the road so you can pop down to Cameron Toll or Morningside if you can handle the bus (which I can't always manage).
But you have been helpful, honest, and I'll try the bullet points after I get back from the post office run. Toddler free few hours, thanks to my parents, so better get cracking. :-)

Sorry, you're right - Blackford is JGPS.

Also worth considering, although you said house, there are some lovely purpose built Edwardian Upper and Lower villas in your search area, places like St Albans Road, relugas Road etc.

A friend of mine had a 4 bed upper on St Albans (own garden, loads of original features) and it was nicer than a lot of houses I've seen.

oooooooo sounds lovely (and expensive). I've seen one or two of those to rent about £1200-1500 a month. We might have to, if we can't find something nice to buy. Saw one on Blackford Hill Rise which needs SO much work done - can only afford that if they knock tons off fp, so fingers crossed. Even then, the gardens on a bit of a slope. The view from front was amazing mind, right over to Arthurs Seat... sigh
Thanks again - who knows, might win lottery tonight ;-)

Not sure if it's your thing, I think it's lovely! www.espc.com/EspcPublicMedia/RegistrationMedia/303000/303300/303383/Particulars/303383.pdfRelugas

Ouch, try again Relugas