Help! Thinking of moving to Scotland - but where?

[Dasher789]

Considering a move to Scotland. Both DM+MIL live in Scotland and DH and I are TTC so it would be beneficial to us to be closer for help with childcare and also nice for DM+MIL to be involved in DGC life. DM+MIL don't live in same place. One east of Edinburgh and other, west of Glasgow - both in villages so we don't want to move specifically to either. Depending if we choose east/west/a middle area even being 1.5hrs ish from one DM is a lot better than 4hrs ish as it stands now. Have been looking at rightmove but not entirely sure where to look as we are so open and limited knowledge of places. We both WFH although DH work have an office in Edinburgh so it would be good for him to have the option to go in every now and then to help make some friends. We have been looking at school league tables as an indication of nice areas - is this premature given we don't even have a DC yet? Other reason for looking at this though is thinking a good school might help the house hold value if we decided the area wasn't for us and wanted to resell. Is it generally nicer in the east or the west? We would like easy access to the closest city by train/car and to live in a town with a community feel. Ideally bigger than a village with some shops and restaurants. We have looked at linlithgow and North Berwick on the East and on the West, clarkston and Newton Mearns. Also looked at portobello and falkirk - the schools in these two places don't seem as good but they look good from a location point of view. There is not a lot for sale in any of these places - is this down to covid? Are these areas nice, would you recommend any over others or suggest some new places? Budget of up to £450k for min 3 bedroom but ideally 4 so we can have an 'office' each + spare room.

"Falkirk doesn't have to mean the town centre either, it's surrounded by lots of villages that are rural"

Yes, that's what I was trying to point out to OP as others who aren't familiar with Falkirk are writing it off when there's actually semi rural areas that are worth looking into...

Lionthorn is lovely, rural setting near Falkirk town centre but you have said you don't want new builds so that might not work. Schools are as good or bad as anywhere else tbh. It's what you make of it.

"If somewhere that's easily accessible to Edinburgh or Glasgow has low house prices, there's a reason for that."

It has a lot of advantages, on the flip side. Low house prices is a bonus. Not everyone wants a massive mortgage

Every area has advantages and disadvantages. No one on here will have lived in them all. I think you need to narrow down what us most important to you in terms of lifestyle and finances and then narrow places down by that. So things like train station, good public transport, views, access to cafes and shops, walks from your doorstep, schools etc.

If you have a good think about those types of things and then maybe let us know and that might help to narrow things down.

I always come on these threads to recommend Dunblane, Stirling, Bridge of Allan, Linlithgow, have experience of all of them between various family members homes. All popular for a reason, choice of properties can be a problem though, lots of people don't move once established (my parents 40 years in their house now and their neighbours similar!) lets hope all the shops and restaurants recover from lockdown as they are a plus point for all the towns mentioned. I actually live in Clackmannanshire as I couldn't find a property in Dunblane 20 years ago and again when i looked about 12 years ago when DS1 was getting to high school age.

@waxonfeckoff

Thank you. I would like to be walking distance from local shops such as a butcher, a gift shop type thing for nosing away in, a pharmacy, cafe etc. Ideally a restaurant or two within walking distance and a pub??

I'd love to live by the sea so north berwick and portobello are very appealing to me but I have looked on the espc property site PP have recommended but nothing is available - I need at least 3 bedrooms and not a new build. A victorian build would be ideal - I see portobello has some terraces that have sold recently that would have fitted the bill - do these come up often? I don't think my budget would stretch to this in North Berwick.

I have seen a nice house that I might like but is not at all near the beach. I am thinking of making an offer - it is saying its offers over 385k and the home report says value is 420k taking account a damp problem costing 3.5k to fix. It looks like its only been on for a few days. Would an offer of 400k be rebuked do you think? Why are they not asking for 420 if thats the value?

I've not been involved in the housing market for a while so I'm not really sure. It did occur to me that being between both sets of parents might split the journey for visiting either one but doesn't really have you near enough either for it to be particularly useful for future childcare etc. so it might be easier to pick a side as it were.

I'd also like to be near the sea so if that is really the driver then East Lothian is likely to suit. I'm an east coaster so that would always be my preference and to be honest i don't have much info about the west.

What about Dunbar?

Or, the other side of Edinburgh, South Queensferry? I think that gets you past the flight path along the coast that say cramond or barnton might suffer from, but i think it's something that you probably get used to pretty quick, I used to live right next to the Edinburgh/Glasgow train line and I didn't even register it after a couple of days.

In Scotland houses are often priced much lower than the amount sellers expect to get. This is to drum up interest in the hope that a bidding war then ensues and it goes to a closing date. A closing date means that everyone makes an offer on the same day - and the house usually sells to the highest bidder. You don’t know what someone else is going to bid- so if you really want the house you have to bid high.
I’m in the West where offers are usually 10-20% above asking price. I know nothing about North Berwick ( other than it’s a lovely place) .I would check sold prices or ask a local estate agent

Often, if you google the address of recent sales, you can see the advert with the asking price on - this can be very useful and more so than just the selling price alone. Always worth a look, Google maps is great for taking a virtual walk up the street to identify similar properties as well.

What about Aberdour, its in Fife but near the bridge, period properties, two beaches, nice shops, station, think it's a bit cheaper as in Fife (haven't looked recently)

I can answer some of your questions about Clarkston. There's not a huge amount to do in it (one main street of shops with Costa, lots of charity shops, couple of bars/restaurants, a few independent delis and gift shops). However there's a train station which takes you directly into Glasgow City centre if your husband will be commuting to work in Edinburgh by train (it would be a bit of a journey though). Schools in the area perform well (catchment primaries are Carolside or St Joseph's and secondaries are Williamwood and St Ninians if you want to look them up). Houses on the market in the area generally get snapped up pretty quickly (because of people moving to the area for the schools) and can sell for significantly more than the offers over price.

Sounds like you need to learn about the buying process in Scotland. Most property goes to a closing date with bids made via the solicitor.

You need a good solicitor.

Linlithgow is lovely. However it does have the tip & Grangemouth, both of which smell. I don't know what the poster saying it's not nice countryside meant, Beecraigs is lovely, Dechmont, Kinneil... There's loads of places to walk, which I miss. I like Blackness for walks along the Forth, tho the beach is minging with waste sewage detritus. The park in Falkirk is great.

Dunfermline?

I'd move up, as you have to break a chain anyway & get a feel for places. There are some very rough places indeed, I'd not go anywhere that looks cheap, there's always a reason. My business is property, so I've done a lot of looking!

It wasn't me that said about the countryside issue in West Lothian/Falkirk, but it depends what type of countryside. I like to see hills or sea so that flatter type doesn't appeal personally but that doesn't mean that folk that like canal walks and open parks and trees won't be perfectly happy with the more gentle features.

As I say, something for everyone, you just have to work out what you like.

What about Biggar? Small market town, relatively good road links to the east and west, surrounded by countryside.....I'm not sure what the schools are like though and you'd need to drive into Edinburgh as there's no train link and only a very sporadic bus service.

You can try making an offer via a solicitor before the property goes to closing, but I think you'll most likely get a no, unless your offer is very high or they have no demand. 400k for a property valued at 420k is probably not going to be enough, but there is no harm in trying. The bidding system here means that a seller has no great interest to settle before the closing date if there is any interest. It can be annoying if you're buying because you often miss out by a few thousand and then have to repeat the process!

Currently I see very little on the market around us in Edinburgh and it's been very quiet since November. But areas vary so hard to say if it's the same everywhere.

For places on the west/Glasgow area I would recommend Milngavie or Bearsden over Ckarkston etc. They are fantastic communities with lots of independent coffee shops etc. The schools are very highly rated and train stations with direct links to Edinburgh.

I have seen a nice house that I might like but is not at all near the beach. I am thinking of making an offer - it is saying its offers over 385k and the home report says value is 420k taking account a damp problem costing 3.5k to fix. It looks like its only been on for a few days. Would an offer of 400k be rebuked do you think? Why are they not asking for 420 if thats the value?
They aren't asking £385, they're asking for offers over £385. If the valuation report is £420k then you can expect it to sell for at least that amount, probably more depending on the area and the market. Unless the seller is desperate to move and you're in a very good position to buy then an offer being accepted under the valuation price is very unlikely, especially if it's not been on the market long. Where is it? Local markets vary, properties in Edinburgh were going for up to 20-25% over the valuation price last summer.

thanks everyone. I offered £420k on the house but another offer came in of around £500k and was accepted (they couldn't tell us exact amount). Your feedback was very helpful though and i understand things better. That house was in Clarkston. I think I will now narrow my search to Portobello or North Berwick. Being close to the sea is a pull for me and it would encourage me to get out and about which would help me meet people in the area. Does Portobello have many houses? At the moment, I can only see flats. I am not adverse to a flat but the size is often slightly more restrictive in terms of room numbers. There are bungalows in a town next to it called Craigentinny. Does anyone know anything about this town? Some of the properties are around a 15min walk to Portobello beach. A bungalow isn't my first choice house type but i think i might have to compromise to be close to the sea. From what is available at the moment in Portobello, i would only be able to afford a flat or very small house.

I looked at Dunbar but it is a bit further out than I would like from Edinburgh. Thank you for the suggestion though.

That's a shame OP, I'm not that familiar with Craigentinny but I had family who lived in Duddingston and in the older new estates at the Jewel and it's easily walkable into Porty. Duddingston has more older properties than newer. There has been permission given to build new estates at Seafield on the shore bit where the car garages are. In fact instead of the garages, not beside. No idea on timescales and would be new builds.

Portobello and surrounding area is very popular. Houses and tenement flats will sell within a few days and way in excess of the HR value (up to 20% over unfortunately). Craigentinny is nice but is largely bungalows. Duddingston is also mainly 1930s bungalows, but there are some older houses.

If you want a seaview in Portobello then you'll need a bigger budget or have to settle for a flat. The downside of the streets very close to the beach (the ones between the high street and the prom) would be parking. It's is an absolute nightmare in most of those roads and some are so narrow you can barely get a car up the middle when people are parked on both sides. There's some lovely terraces that front right onto the prom at the Joppa end but I think you'll be talking £500k+.
The bungalow type properties round the Durhams in the block between the A1 and Duddingston Road should come in within your budget but you might need to do work to the property, particulary to get 4 beds. I wouldn't be put off by the bungalow thing, a lot of them have at least one upstairs bedroom and they are really a large proportion of the housing stock around Edinburgh. The Mountcastle roads are a bit cheaper (it might be due to school catchments?) and are still within 10-15 minute walk of the beach and you've also got Figgate Park on the doorstep of both those areas.
I wouldn't discount Craigentinny either - the parallel streets that run between Moira Terrace and Craigentinny Road / Wakefield Avenue are all very presentable and there's good bus links from Moira Terrace into the city centre.

@emmathedilemma thank you very much.

These two bungalows might be worth me considering. I will try and book a virtual tour.
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/71063368#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/97015022#/

I love this flat but it wouldn't work having only 3 bedrooms and 1 public room when working from home permanently - espc.com/property/49a-argyle-crescent-edinburgh-eh15-2qe/35897311?sid=660907

There are some new build homes in North Berwick by CALA homes. Does anyone have any experience of CALA? There are Dandara homes up for sale too but they are over budget.

I googled the Seafield development. That would be brilliant. It looks to be a while off though and mostly big blocks of flats. If i was to buy a flat i would rather it was one up one down kind of idea. Fully appreciate I cannot stretch to a sea view () but 15-20mins walk is still a huge bonus for me.

Can't really comment on locations etc but of the two bungalows, I prefer the 2nd one based on the photos, just seems to have a nicer family feel about it (obviously helped by it being furnished) and i liked things like the height markings up the door frame in the tiny wee study and it not having taken grey to the extreme. Looks like a happy house.

The flat is lovely and with it being ground floor I wondered if there might be an option to put in an shed type office but the garden doesn't look particularly big. Obviously the floor plans aren't to scale either, but there is a cupboard on the right in the hallway, I wonder if taking that out might make an office space? Probably need to do the proper tour to see.

The Nantwich drive house is a bit further away but it's a nice street. My only concern would be potential odour from Seafield sewage works but I think you should be ok. However if your budget is £450k you are not going to get that house if it's "offers over" 450. It's also under offer so a non-starter. This one is down the road and only has 2 bedrooms with fixed price of £470k so there's a clue how much the other one is likely to go for. espc.com/property/112-craigentinny-avenue-edinburgh-eh7-6rh/35831336?sid=193876
You need to look at the home valuation report price and can expect it to sell for up to 20% over that.
Restalrig Avenue is quite a busy road (bus route) and a good walk from Portobello.
The flat is nice but might have traffic noise in the garden from Sir Harry Lauder road behind it (40mph busy road).
This is also Nantwich Drive, if you want 4 beds for under £450k i think you'll need to be willing to get the paintbrush out espc.com/property/20-nantwich-drive-craigentinny-eh7-6qs/35545848?sid=294171
The Seafield development is still out for public consultation so that could be years.
There's a new development just off Porty high street which is quite affordable. Great location but a bit soulless (this one is under offer but to give you an idea) espc.com/property/26-walford-drive-edinburgh-eh15-1ab/35895697?sid=636010
There's also new houses going up on an old garage site between Fishwives Causeway and Sir Harry Lauder Road but i'm not sure who the developer is.