Moving up to Scotland - Inverness or Central belt?

[Shareornotwhocares]

Hi

DH and I are considering moving back up to Scotland from the SW of England. I'm not Scottish but went to university there and lived in Glasgow back in the 90s.

DH is from Edinburgh and would like to move closer to his family than the 650 miles away that we are now.

We have always said we'd move to the highlands once he has retired (just done) and I can work from anywhere so long as I can easily get to London once a month.

Ideally we'd like Fortwilliam area as we love it there but property rarely comes on the market at the point we can afford. We're looking around the 300K mark for a minimum 3 bed as we'd like to be mortgage free after the move.

There is just the two of us but I need an office to WFH. We have about 260K of equity in our current house and don't mind dipping into a bit of his lump sum from retirement which is why we think 300K is about right.

The problem is logistically we have three options:

1. Get a mortgage in my name and buy then worry about selling ours later - we should be able to see it easily even in a tightening market
2. Sell ours and buys a new build off plan with potentially a second move down the line
3. Sell ours and risk moving into rented

We're going up north to look at areas at the end of this month so we can narrow everything down.

The attraction of Inverness is that its at least on the edge of the highlands which would be our ideal location.... and it has a lot of new building going on when you go out towards Nairn.

However, his family live in Edinburgh (near Dalkeith) so we can't rule out moving back to that area and accepting were a bit further away from where we'd ideally like to be. Again though, there are plenty of new builds.

Its not that we WANT a new build but as we can't realistically just pop up and see properties for viewing its the safest way of proceeding as far as we can see

You can buy my house if you like. Not highlands or central belt but about 1hr North of Edinburgh and Dalkeith, about 2.5hrs South of Inverness and Aberdeen. On a train line. Countryside and access to rail and less than an hour from Glasgow and Edinburgh (and dundee) airports.

In your budget too 🤣

£300k doesn't really get you 3 beds in and around Edinburgh.
If you need to get to Edinburgh once a month then I would seriously factor that in so Nairn would be ideal for Inverness airport. Not wanting to make it sound like you're old but i'd also consider "future proofing" and access to things like hospital and public transport because if for any reason you could no longer drive some parts of the highlands could be very isolated.

Thanks

I'm 46 and he's 63 so whilst not old yet, it could become a factor. We could go higher than £300K if need be but ideally I'd like to be mortgage free. Technically we could got to 500K and be mortgage free if we use all of his lump sum but don't really want to.

I can qualify for a £280K mortgage but not having one is a driver - that and we don't do heat very well. Living in Devon - its getting too hot.

I think part of the problem is we're moving from a 4 bed which we've done to our ideal tastes - and something will have to compromise. The issue is, if we don't do it now that DH has just retired (I can work anywhere ) when will we.

I think I'm just brain dumping a lot of my thoughts to try to clarify them before we go up north for the scouting weekend.

sorry to use you all as a sounding board

Have you considered Perthshire? Easy access to Edinburgh & The Highlands.

Inverness to Dalkeith is 167 miles, and more than a 3 hour drive, OP. It’s not exactly handy access to relatives, although admittedly nearer than Devon!
Wouldn’t it be easier to aim a bit closer - maybe borders, east or west Lothian, or even Fife?

How about around Stirling? Easy access to both Glasgow and Edinburgh and the gateway to the Highlands.

Im in Helensburgh and you can get anywhere pretty easily from here

I know Stirling well - that's where I went to university. I think the thing keeping me on the highlands is when we started to talk about moving up north when DH retired, we jokingly said all we wanted was a two bed bungalow on a loch ...... and then this one came up but unfortunately it was too early in our process to do anything about it:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120771605#/?channel=RES_BUY

I've come to accept that for practical reasons we're going to have to go after a new build but I'm reluctant to give away the hills and water at the same time. Although I'm probably going to have to come around to that way of thinking

I second somewhere nearer the Central Belt. We don’t live there now, but I’m planning on us moving back.

Easier access to hospitals - our local one is struggling for staff and I think it may be to do with it not being in a big city (Glasgow or Edinburgh). Just easier access everywhere.

I think Perth, Stirling or Dundee. (Dundee can be run down, but it has some nice areas (Piper Dam is worth a look))

What about the East coast? South of Aberdeen but north of Edinburgh with quick access to the Cairngorms.
This builder has a good reputation locally: fotheringhamhomes.com/the-beaches-johnshaven/

I am fairly serious about my house @Shareornotwhocares it's close to locations mentioned (not dundee).

How often does he want to see family? Does he have elderly parents? If he does want to see family a lot then I'd go for somewhere nearer the central belt. Fortwilliam or even aest of Inverness- Moray etc is lovely but not a journey I'd want to do very regularly especially in the winter.

There’s just his sister but her kids have started having kids and he would love to see them more. He lives kids , me not so much. As it is he goes up every couple of months but he face times them every week.

A three hour drive for us is nothing. My family (what’s left of them) are in Liverpool. Once my mum passes there will be nothing to tie me to Liverpool but that is a 3.5 hour drive from home. We do that regularly.

we just always “saw” living rurally with nice views and I’m having to reconcile that it might not be doable unless we sell first and move into rented (or stay with his sister) - by the time we
make it to a first view the house is sold to someone else. Buying new off plan gives a bit more protection than buying an existing house blind

I could recommend loads of places "up here", but you probably want to narrow down your requirements (without sounding too much like Kirstie Allsopp ...)
There's lots of areas you could get the view (loch or otherwise) .... I'd definitely suggest Dundee / Fife areas, good access to airports, Edinburgh, countryside. id also suggest further north on the east coast & inland to Cairngorms but longer drive to in-laws, and Aberdeen probably becomes your commuting airport.

If you don't mind the travel to his relatives then follow your heart @Shareornotwhocares
Inverness area, Black Isle, Moray Coast, Speyside, Deeside, Highland Perthshire.

All great areas, stunning scenery.
If you're considering fort William make sure you visit in autumn/winter. Can be very wet!

House prices in picturesque rural Scotland are not cheap though. Remember it's an "offers over" system unless buying new build. Lately houses selling for at least 10% over and nearer 20% in popular areas.

Yes look at the home report value not offers over as that doesn't mean anything in reality . It's just done to generate interest.

Looks at Rosemarkie/ Fortrose. Right on the water.

The A9 shuts more due to crashes in the summer than snow in winter. Plus there's always the train.

Good luck!

Oh, you also don't need to have your house sold before making an offer / having it accepted. We never have.

If your heart is in the highlands then I would rule out a new build in midlothian, these developments are pretty soulless even compared to living in an older property in the city. I was going to also suggest round Stirling and Perth, there's a very "highlands" feel to some of the smaller towns and villages in that area. Or, if you like being by the water the East Neuk of Fife villages would give you that but within an hours drive of Edinburgh airport.

I would say to consider how you might feel about driving quite long distances as you get older. We live in Aberdeenshire and when we were in our 40s thought nothing of 3 hours to Glasgow to my family or 10 hours to the SE of England to dh's family - but this is much more of a consideration now in our early 60s.

Not to mention the cost of fuel !

Falkirk/Stirling areas would be ideal, especially with your budget.

The rental market in the highlands (Inverness particularly) is incredibly competitive at the moment. Very little coming on OP and what is is incredibly expensive (well in comparison to regional salaries).

There are some bungalows coming up in new build developments on the outskirts of Inverness but not right next to the firth.

if you’re on Facebook there’s the highland property for sale or rent group that’s kept active.