Research the area you want to move to thoroughly.When my parents decided to move from their big family home and trade down they couldnt find anything suitable locally so, since they too had relatively few ties to the place they then lived, they decided to move to the broad area where many of my fathers (many) siblings lived. For each town they considered they went and stayed there for a short period, first researched the property market to see if they could get the property they wanted at the right price. Got estate agents details and drove past many houses for sale to get a feel for the area (you can do all this on Right Move now). They also studied local papers and visited the library to find out what was going on locally that would interest them, and dropped one very attractive location simply on the basis that there were no local activities that appealed to them.
They also mapped shops, doctor's surgeries, their church etc. In the end they visited a friend who had just moved to to an area adjacent to their search area, liked the the housing there so much they started researching the town and ended up living there very happily for over 20 years, they could still reach their family easily and as we children were scattered all over the south east we too were still within reach.
If unsure rent for a while. I had a friend who had to make a move, wouldn't research it, wouldn't rent, chose her location based on having lived there very happily 30 years previously. She made the worst decision of her life. What had been ideal when she was in her 30s was a disaster at 60. She couldn't afford .to move again and I am sure her unhappiness led to her early death six years later