decision overwhelm

jakuss

Which area, I will come with you , I want to move to saint Anne's on sea lancs, but I too have no support it's scary on your own

A long way from you I'm afraid otherwise we could have given eachother huge support!

Not easy is it. Did that ourselves. I don’t enjoy living where I do but I don’t count. Shame you can’t have a relative to be with you. Sadly they are all busy busy and not it’s good enough. 🤷‍♀️ good luck.

We thought about downsizing and moving to prepare for possible future problems. What if garden gets to hard to handle, stairs become problem etc. looked around far and wide but realised our house has so many advantages in terms of walking distance to town and countryside walks, family close by, quiet no through road and quite private garden we stayed put. If the worse happened we could easily live downstairs without much adjustment. And if we are too incapacitated to be of on jaunts we could get a gardener. It was not being able to find a perfect place that made me realize we already had it.

My first priority would be transport links. Living in a good area but having no transport to shops, Drs, hospital, places for socialising it wouldnt matter what kind of property you lived in. I speak from experience, needing a car to even access a bus!

I moved a lot and have always had a good feeling on the one I have chosen - go with your instinct

I downsized a few years ago. Now I’m in my 70s, I realise I should have prioritised a downstairs toilet and a proper garden, however small. (I have a backyard with pots, but watering is a real labour in hot weather!)

BlueBelle

The only downer I ll add is allotments here have years long waiting lists

Plus, some scattered rural areas have no taxi service because demand is too small to make it worth while.

(This and the lack of phone signal, street lights, deliveroo etc can be very shocking news to urban dwellers.)

I've had exactly the same issue. Viewed approx 12 houses and none were right for me. I went to one which I wasn't expecting to love, but, I did. I wanted a bigger garden and this one was smaller than I wanted. I knew at that point that the compromise on the garden wasn't as important as the house itself or the area. I just "felt it" and you will too. Good luck x

butterandjam

BlueBelle

The only downer I ll add is allotments here have years long waiting lists

Plus, some scattered rural areas have no taxi service because demand is too small to make it worth while.

(This and the lack of phone signal, street lights, deliveroo etc can be very shocking news to urban dwellers.)

Where we live is a very small town but the taxis are practically non-existent now.
No bus service after about 5.30pm.

Never used Deliveroo or similar!

For many years we lived in a village of less than 50 houses just a mile or maybe 2 out of a small town. It felt very close in my 40s.

I'm not sure it would feel so close if I was infirm. There were elderly people in the village who almost never left it if they couldn't drive.

No busses
No shop
Just a (great) mobile library, a post box, a pub and a church.

I'm not sure I'd go back there now.

When l moved after l retired l had only 3 'must haves'.
1. near a bust stop.
2. within walking distance of a convenience shop.
3. not on a hill !
I did find a very nice house that fitted those requirements and i'm very happy there. I think the less 'needs' you put in the easier it is to find something that suites you.

Thinking of our house:
1. No
2. No
3. No

Yes, we should have moved years ago but could never find anywhere and we like it here.

Transport links super important. Moved my mum & dad from 4 bed Georgian house to 3 bed house built in the 2000s. Built in modern stone, but the garden wall is our old stone wall from school, giving the garden a cottage feel.
Couldn’t find any suitable bungalows as they wanted silly money, plus plenty spending on them to bring up to date & all on hilly roads.
Bus stop just down the road, but they know mum now & tip her off at her front gate 😊 Train station near by - all on a flat road couldn’t be more perfect.

When we moved here the local facilities were very good, including a hospital, a very good minor injuries unit but all have been centralised. The population has increased but the facilities have decreased exponentially. The only things that have increased are the population, houses and traffic.

It's a good idea to check out the Local Authority Development Plan of the area where you propose to purchase a property.

Very good advice Allira. I wish someone had told me that before I moved to a semi rural location which had the requisite local shop, local GP surgery, chemist etc and close by bus stop with routes to a number of areas including the nearest town. Now there's no local shop, down to one bus route which runs every 2 hours weekday, none at weekend. Because of demand, I've yet to get a GP appointment at my surgery. Instead, I along with many others are sent to surgeries in other villages. As there's extremely limited bus services from here to those villages it means a car journey and for literally everything else. I'm now starting to worry about my situation when the time comes that I either don't or can't drive. Wish I'd never moved - hindsight is a wonderful thing.

We would like to have moved, Clicketyclick but, despite looking, never found anything in the right place at the right time and we'd probably have stayed in the area anyway.

We are getting older! but it's not that, it's that the area has changed and is changing so much.

We researched the area we decided to move to last year. We chose the town we chose because everything is in the town centre 2 doctor's surgeries 5 dentists, Walk in Unit, opticians, podiatrists, library, 4 chain food shops, no hills, railway station. We then bought a house in the town centre, 100 yards from all the facilities. because of this concentration of facilities, the town has almost developed a retirement uarter. There are three or four retirement dvelopments clustered at the station end of the High Street and another one about to go up. This means all the in-town facilities are well used all week.

The downside is that the house needs a lot of work, but we looked at lots of much better houses in pretty attractive small towns, with no doctor or dentist, only a few corner shops. Compromises are usually necessary. It is a ueston of what each person can compromise on

It's tricky deciding where to go if you have lots of options M0nica
I have appreciated hearing your ideas on this before today.

We feel the need to move (and now can do this) but actually have yet to find even the right area!

Good luck to you all going through similar.

Take an honest look at your preferred life style whatever it is, ans buy a house that most suits it for the present. and also as far as you can see ahead, for the future.

I would have thought that once you get your own belongings into your property the style of house will not matter a great deal to you----but that is just me-----I have adapted to living in a boarding school in a 19th century mansion, a caravan, various rented flats, and a suburban newbuild.

Gran22boys

Make sure you look closely at what work might need doing. This is vital. Workmen’s prices are extremely high now and costs of materials have rocketed. We are renovating our house and have blown the budget. Prices are going up and up. So don’t be afraid to make a low offer as it’s a buyer’s market at the moment.

Agreed. Prices on renovation are high currently. It seems to be a sellers market here, we're shopping with a grandchild and fear she may not find anything that ticks all her boxes at a decent price.

Why move near family if family won't help with your search Hazelbeech?

I always take someone with me to view. Not family because I am moving within this town. It's the house in my case which is far too big for me now

I have looked at about a dozen but can't make offers until I have at least put my own on the market so that's what I'm trying to do now.

One of my problems is location because I have the best location in town!
The thousands of new builds sprouting up on every farmer's fields have no services whereas the bus stop near me has buses every 10 minutes to 5 destinations.
Shops and doctor, post office etc a short walk away. So I have been spoiled.

I do understand your indecision though. How to prioritise and when to compromise?

I'm not scared of needing work done, having hosted young volunteers for many years. I just avoid talking to people who go on about the cost and work involved!

I'm keen on a do-er upper at the moment. It's in a great location, 1970s, single storey but in an an area of mixed housing so not bungalow-land. If a place is too quiet I might think I'd died already.
But a lot of people are after it 😔

I haven't moved a lot but my in-laws moved 15 times in the 50 years I knew them so we were involved with their house hunting.
They only made one bad choice which was a converted church. It had no natural light in the kitchen and that got MiL down in the end. Not to mention the strained glass windows and the garden full of yew trees with TPOs. 😅

Luckily they were able to sell it again and their final move was to a 1960s house in a pretty village - with a downstairs loo.

Update! Since reading all your helpful comments my offer was accepted on a 1970-80s house on an estate. I could never have foreseen that I'd go for this type of house but I love it. Light, airy with lay out changes that really enhance the house with scope to develop the garden. And a generous corner plot overlooking parkland.
I'm actually relieved I don't have to do a full renovation which is where I was heading. On reflection that would have been too much to cope with.
I had offered on 3 other properties but lost out to cash buyers and gradually lost my confidence. For anyone out there trying to find their next home, 'you know, when you know'. Good luck.

Congratulations Hazelbeech. I hope you’ll be very happy in your new home.