Where to live in Stirling

[Balloondog]

Any help and opinions welcomed.

DH and I are relocating to Stirling mid January and need to find a house ASAP.

Ideally we'd buy before we move as there doesn't seem to be a lot available to rent and we have cats and find most rental places aren't pet friendly. I will be commuting to Perth but on previous visits we didn't take to Perth and loved Stirling. DH will also be looking for work so Stirling seems to offer good connections to a number of places by road and rail. No children so schools aren't an issue.

We have a limited budget of £150K but would ideally like 2/3 beds and an outdoor space (for the cats!). We're quite happy to do up somewhere outdated especially if it means a nicer area (low crime, amenities within walking distance, parking) nor is this a forever home so we can compromise a fair bit. I've seen a number of 3 bed terrace type houses and some nice 2 bed flats on rightmove/Zoopla but I'm not sure of the areas. Obviously places like Bridge of Allan are out of our budget but what are the more affordable but nice areas?

TIA

The Riverhouse restaurant over there has been taken over and refurbished and is very nice. There is also a wee cross country route that you can walk up to BofA. Give us a shout on here when you move up and I'll give you directions. If your DH wants to work in financial services, he could walk to work...

Riverhouse lay empty for ages didn't it ?

I walked past that Upper Bridge Street one a few times recently and agree it looks lovely - but that area around top of town is v mixed and I think you should be sure you would be happy with the setting before buying. Other properties like that will come up in those streets. It's quite different vibe from Highland Gate I think.

I agree with the folk above that Riverside a good option, and v handy for station.

If you are looking for an unusual do upper with green space and very (very) central, I noticed this one the other day (!) www.cathedralcityestates.co.uk/property/?id=14812747

Riverside has had a pretty complicated history of recent years. it was owned by Carol Smillie's husband when I first moved here and was really good. I can't remember if it had been taken over or not or just under new management when we noticed the portions reducing and the quality deteriorating so had more or less stopped going. It changed hands a couple of times and was latterly owned by a woman who wasn't paying the staff and had stiffed loads of other businesses and had a long history of doing so, I had a meal there during that point and it was actually rather good but the fabric of the building was getting quite rough and the car park was full of potholes. I tried to book again but staff weren't opening as they hadn't been paid.

Closed for ages but now been completely gutted and it's lovely inside (and no potholes!) and food is great. Very popular again and rightly so. I have no connection so not trying to drum up business :)

Wow @LtGreggs, that's fabulous - i'd leave it as is

Thanks all, you've all been so lovely and we're really looking forward to moving up now.

Riverhouse looks lovely from the outside, especially with all the Christmas lights. Looking forward to visiting once we're settled.

@WaxOnFeckOff Unfortunately DH is in HR/Training &Development rather than financial services as I suspect financial services would be significantly better paid! But on the off chance anyone knows of any vacancies in HR/L&D do let me know!

Robertson Homes based on Castle business park near the river house seem to always be advertising jobs in L&D and HR (so might not be a great place to work if high turnover of staff but as they say it's easier to find a job when you are in a job)

Or this is lovely in Riverside in between your two budgets:

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/52215328?search_identifier=abaf9681b6bd3aecd0f78333158a6f4d

That is the janitor’s house in my primary school- Mr Mathieson in the 1980s. He was a nice friendly man. How funny to see it there!

OP, surely if your husband works in HR/L&D then he could do that job in any industry including financial services?

I've just stumbled on this thread as we're relocating back to Scotland in June (3 kids, dog, husband who needs access to airports) and I love all the positive comments. We loved Dunblane too, but Stirling would also work. but will take on all the above comments. Good luck with the move Balloondog! I'll happily take the dog walking reviews Waxonfeckoff!