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Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

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Original poster

anybody trying to sell / sold a house in Edinburgh recently?

49 replies

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 10:59

What's the market looking like? Is it really dire?

DH and I are thinking of putting house on the market (we'd like to move to a different area) but I don't know if we are just wasting our time.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:

Pruners · 02/12/2008 13:22

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Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 13:28

pruners we probably know each other in real life, Leith is such a village!

Have you thought about St Marys / would you consider a Catholic primary school? I've also got a couple of friends who send their children there and they are very happy with it.

Have you been told that you are unlikely to get a place in Hermitage Park? I think quite a lot of the children there are out of catchment.

I know it must seem nuts that I've started a thread about moving house when we are in the catchment for Hermitage Park which is a good primary.

It's the secondary I'm not too thrilled about.

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Pruners · 02/12/2008 13:41

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Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 13:52

Poor you - well if you want a friend in Leith you can always call on me! think we must live very close as you say.

Funnily enough I know quite a few people here who plan to move before their kids get to secondary age because they're not keen on Leith Academy. On the other hand many of my neighbours have teenage children who go there and they all seem to be doing fine, nice kids - several about to go off to uni. I don't think its an appalling school by any stretch of the imagination, I just don't personally feel it would be my idea choice of secondary education for my children.

Although given the state of the housing market maybe none of us will be able to move anwhere....

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iloverosycheeks · 02/12/2008 13:53

Another ESPC addict here! I am assuming you are in the Leith links area and it seems to me that round there if property is originally offered at realistic price then it seems to shift, but if starts off high then reduced and reduced it sits for ages. and after all if no-one puts their house up for sale then market will never recover. If you are selling and buying then you don't lose out really
ESPC is very boring atm - no new houses to look at!! (rosy needs to seek help for her addiction )

aberdeenhiker · 02/12/2008 14:00

Hi, I'm in Aberdeen but we've just sold to get into a better school district (needed a better primary and secondary!) and I imagine things aren't that different. It took us three months to sell but we had lots of interest as we put the house up at a realistic price and sold for 12% lower than what the house would have gone for last year. We got the same discount off the new house so ended up ahead. As long as you're realistic about price, it should sell eventually.

Pruners · 02/12/2008 14:00

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Pruners · 02/12/2008 14:01

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Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 14:11

cold turkey rosy - that's the only way to beat the addiction.

We're still just thinking of selling tbh - as you can tell by this whole thread, whilst we have reasons to want to move we also have many many reasons to want to stay (not least that we love our house) so it far from a done deal.

I agree that reasonable pricing seems to be the key. We did look at a house some time ago in Trinity which I felt was massively overpriced and, surprise surprise, it is still for sale.

Pruners I'm not sure what CAT means (clueless - sorry!) Reading your own experience it sounds alot like mine, actually. I went to an okish comprehensive and did ok (went to uni) but could have done better if pushed. DH went to okish comp in England and did not very well, despite being very bright (certianly bright enough to marry me!) - and he strongly feels that he was allowed to get away with doing no work for years so he's really concerned about which school our DDs go to.

who knows? our DDs are still only tiny so I'm probably worrying way ahead of time, which would be typical of me.

hope you feel better soon, BTW!

OP posts:

Pruners · 02/12/2008 14:15

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Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 14:21

ah I see. Do I have to be signed up to that?

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nailpolish · 02/12/2008 14:28

i moved to this part of edinburgh last year for the sole reason of school catchment. primary and secondary schools here are great. one of our neighbours (obv same catchment to good schools) has had house on the market 5 months, despite being fixed price, big garden etc
i think its 50% luck tbh
also, dec/jan is a slow time for moving (ive moved loads of times!) - after xmas it picks up

good luck

Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 14:32

thanks nailpolish - can I ask where you are?

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nailpolish · 02/12/2008 14:33

clermiston road area
id recommend it!

Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 14:37

near the zoo? Corstorphine area?

very nice. Don't really know that part of town very well, but it always looks pretty.

We're thinking of staying more towards the north of the city for friends and work reasons, but we might consider where you are as well.

don't know if we could afford it though!

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nailpolish · 02/12/2008 14:40

edinburgh is so small IMO, all parts of edinburgh are within easy reach of each other.

the education section of the ediburgh council website has good info about school catchments if you need to find out a bit more

also, they have started closing primaries inc bonnington, lismore etc. im not sure which ones are next. someone told me RC schools are the safest. you dont know what to believe any more though do you? i never thought id be so wrorried about school catchemtns but it really takes over your life!!! (or is that just me?)

Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 14:44

it's not just you - I know many many people who obsess about school catchments. (embarassing admission here, but we have actually downloaded the council's catchment map so we can know on a street by street basis where each catchment is. I figured if we were going to move we needed to be properly informed!)

I think it's all part of a natural desire to do the best for your children. I think it is also a particular issue in Edinburgh as statistically speaking the city's state schools are not as good as they should be due to the prevalence of private education here.

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nailpolish · 02/12/2008 14:48

are you looking for a 2 or 3 bedroom? are you bothered about a garden etc? i think there are lots of 2 bedroom places on the market at good prices - 3 bed more scarce

nailpolish · 02/12/2008 14:51

i rmember dh and i's dilemma - good catchment area but rubbish house or good nice and rubbish catchment area

i love this area but the house could be better - had woodworm in the garage, roof leaks, entire place needs some tlc - but its all about compromise

nailpolish · 02/12/2008 14:52

good nice???? that should be good house

Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 14:55

we're after a three bed house.

Don't mind if the condition is not perfect, but would need a garden. I must have outside space!

OP posts:

nailpolish · 02/12/2008 14:56

yes i wanted a garden too. would you consider a 2 bed?

Original poster

knickerelasticjones · 02/12/2008 15:01

don't know if we would consider a 2 bed. If there was plenty of space in reception rooms and the possibility of extending then we might

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iloverosycheeks · 02/12/2008 16:33

We sold and bought this year - we just sold in time I think at start of year - then bought in the summer. TBH I would wait and see what situation is next Spring, as things might have picked up a bit by then. We looked at houses in Leith links but DP not keen, so we moved to Trinity and love it here - gt house a bit cheaper but lets face it still blardy expensive!

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