Has anyone ever moved from down South to up North or the other way around?

[LukeCage]

We are hoping to move 520 miles North from where we currently live in the UK and we aren’t sure where to start.

DH would need to find a new role - there are quite a few roles suitable for him in the new location and they match the salary of where are currently are. House prices are much cheaper up there than here which is exciting. He can get a mortgage alone (do they base it on his new role up North or his current role down South? – another thing I can’t work out).

We have a 5 year old DC and we also own a home. No pets.

I am really excited at the thought of moving up and starting fresh. We have family there so we won’t be totally alone.

Has anyone ever done this kind of move with a house to sell & buy and a new job to start? How does it work?
The process of selling and buying a house could take months (next door took 9 months) and I'm a bit wary of renting in between – what if it all falls through?

Unfortunately our families homes are too small accommodate 3 of us in 1 room for long but we could manage for a month, maybe! I really want to make the move but I’m very anxious about it all going tits up.

Where we currently live is really taking its toll on us. House prices are going up and job opportunities for me are non existent. There is plenty of work in the new location for me and house prices are very reasonable for what we’d want.

Any advice would be great. My mind is one big mess regarding the whole idea!

At the end of the day - Brexit could scupper all our plans I suppose

We moved jobs & houses from oop North to Essex and it was costly. Would be better the way you're doing it.

I did lots of internet house searching and of course now most conveyancing can be done online. So if you found somewhere you liked there needn't be lots of travelling.

Why be concerned about the distance, it's just a move for a better job and house. But it sounds like your whole life would be changed, what's not to be positive about? Of course it will have difficulties but there will always be ways to deal with them, just keep the end result in mind.

Only reason we're not up North is it's too cold! :)

Thanks sbplanet. I am beyond excited it would be amazing if it works out.

I just had a look at renting and it is so cheap - it would actually be affordable to rent up there whilst still selling down South. Never ever thought that would be the case.

I think that if it's going to make your life so much better then it will be worth a little 'hardship'. :) We love it dahn sarf now, but it's certainly dearer.

If renting is relatively cheap for you then it gives you the opportunity to get to know an area you might want to live in before you move - we just went in blind! But that's where the job was and so we had to go.

Why shouldn't it work out if your partner can get a job? Have you considered the things that will be different, will these things matter - sometimes it's difficult to know what you will miss.

It does sound very exciting to be able to move somewhere with good job opportunities and housing. You'll be able to dream big! :)

Moved from Islington to NW to be with H, did involve new job but didn't involve sale of house.

I really think you need to rent short term, it will be so much easier to house hunt when you're in the be a location. I think if you have a 5yr old you need to sort it around school dates and where she may get a place- difficulty is that you need an address before you get too far along that process.

Moved from South Manchester/Cheshire to London for work a few years back but I didn't like it. Yes, property was cheaper but we didnt like living there. We found living in the capital noisy and manic. Neighbours were all strangers and there was no community feel whatsoever. We moved back up north 2 years later, we took a hit financially but it was worth it. Give me the simple/quiet life anyday.

But OP my advice despite this would be do it ... you need to give it a try. If you don't you will never know and will forever be saying 'what if'.

Don't sell your house in the South before you buy up North.

Even if you like it you might think you would prefer a different town

Rent your house out in the south. Buy or rent in the North

notangelinajolie are you saying property in London was cheaper than where you came from

I came from up north and at the time I moved prices in the area I lived was dearer or very similar price to London.

I.E end of terrace in the north £42000
End of Terrace Barnet £30000

Other areas were cheaper still

Similar area to notangelinajolie. But we much preferred it. Came from an area where everyone knew everything about you. Much prefer the anonymity London gives you.

Stop press!! Someone has said on MN that property up north can be in line with similar properties in London at last

Makes a change from the usual "my friend lives in a 5 bed house that cost 20p"

We've just moved from South to North in the last couple of months and it's been quite an adventure so far and very exhausting. Ideally I would have wanted to rent somewhere here so that we could get to know it and see where is best to buy, but we've done that twice before and it's a pain to be honest and costs a lot. But anyway, we are here now and it's pretty good so far. We stand out a mile as soon as we open our mouths and although people are friendly it's difficult to make friends as that takes time. We both work from home basically, so it's not been a problem with a work move, but I'd have found that very stressful in addition to a house move, I know that. It's a big decision! Best of luck to you.

Moved from Essex to Derbyshire many years ago. It was a job move so we rented until we sold our property then purchased a property. It worked very well for us and we had many happy years there before we moved abroad. The rent was quite expensive as we chose to live in the Peak District and had to move from our first rental as they decided they wanted the more lucrative holiday rent in the summer period. It didn't put us off and we found a second rental until our purchase was complete. We decided not to buy a significantly larger property as we could get what we wanted and have cash to spare.
I never for one moment regretted our move North - well ok I did miss the soft southern weather. Good luck with your move.

Thank you for all your replies.

Renting between selling and buying seems to be the way to go. We once knew of a couple who moved South from North who had to move back because their house sale fell through and they couldn't afford to rent in between. I guess that's why I was reluctant to do the same!

Tripped My accent is proper South West

Thanks again so excited!

Ah yes accents. Every time we spoke someone would say" you're not from round here". That went on until we left nearly 20 years later. Now live in Wiltshire, strangely there no one has ever mentioned my accent.

If you live in (or close to) a big city, there is always a variety of accents. I think the demographics are much more fluid these days, may have been the case 20 years ago where a different accent may have been noticed but regional accents are quite diluted now.

We used to holiday in the area we have now lived in ( over 5 years now ) for a good few years before we moved here.
We were lucky that we had already paid for our house and were able to close it up for a year without putting it out for rental or up for selling.
My husband got a job that paid for us to rent a property so we decided we had nothing to lose to give it ago. Yes we found the first winter hard ( it was very cold,snowy, and got dark much earlier ) we moved from the south east to near the border of Scotland.
Fast forward to now, house down South sold, purchased up here mortgage free to a much better property with a bigger garden, I no longer work full time with much reduced hours, pace of life slower, live a healthier lifestyle. Happier.