Moving to Scotland

[Axstar]

We are in Silicon Valley. I want to move to the Orkney Islands. My wife wants to move to Florida.

At this rate, ain't nobody moving no where.

edg

Spend a few weeks in Orkney over winter if you haven't already. The shortage of daylight and consistently rubbish weather might temper your views slightly!

Orkney is one of the happiest parts of the UK, for what it is worth. I think if you decide to stay there you accept your lot in life and get on with it. Probably less privacy, and less to do in general, and a good dose of small-town drama thrown into the mix as well. Virtually zero crime, beyond the odd football getting kicked through a window or a plant pot getting stolen out of a front garden by a drunk person.

They play a very idiosyncratic, brutal form of football on Christmas day using the whole of Kirkwall as a pitch!

Saying all that, I would love to visit again! I've not been since I was a kid.

 

[Axstar]

Offers over is a pain, but at least it tends to be an offer over price and a home report value so at least you have an idea, but renting will exhaust the relocation allowance very quickly. Not that it will cover anything other than the conveyancing . Fingers crossed we do find somewhere to live!

Pockets of west Edinburgh around Murrayfield/Clermiston area, or down in Slateford/Balgreen are still quite cheap as the demand for housing there is a lot lower. Gorgie/Dalry used to be cheap but a lot of first time buyers moved in there over the last few years. I don't know East Edinburgh so well; it always feels like you sit on a bus for an hour to get to any of it!

Renting can be pretty expensive, but Edinburgh flats tend to be furnished at least (whereas in Glasgow they can be unfurnished quite often). I would rent cheaply! I know people paying £1000 a month in rent; all for nothing! It doesn't improve your credit score paying all that. Also in some areas you are advised to 'offer over' on the rent, so if a flat is up for £800 pcm you can ensure you get it by offering to pay £850 a month. Madness!

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Pockets of west Edinburgh around Murrayfield/Clermiston area, or down in Slateford/Balgreen are still quite cheap as the demand for housing there is a lot lower. Gorgie/Dalry used to be cheap but a lot of first time buyers moved in there over the last few years. I don't know East Edinburgh so well; it always feels like you sit on a bus for an hour to get to any of it!

Renting can be pretty expensive, but Edinburgh flats tend to be furnished at least (whereas in Glasgow they can be unfurnished quite often). I would rent cheaply! I know people paying £1000 a month in rent; all for nothing! It doesn't improve your credit score paying all that. Also in some areas you are advised to 'offer over' on the rent, so if a flat is up for £800 pcm you can ensure you get it by offering to pay £850 a month. Madness!

All of Edinburgh is out of my price range!

 

[Axstar]

All of Edinburgh is out of my price range!

Come out West! You play bass and I jump onto guitar.

 

[guitar ed]

Iceland as a compromise?

Been there too. Nope from both of us. Reykjavik isn't too bad in the winter, being mostly rain. Akureyri is mostly snow in the winter.

But it's not an "us" kind of place.

I bet we end up somewhere near San Luis Obispo, about 2 hours south of San Jose.

edg

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Come out West! You play bass and I jump onto guitar.

Bathgate, Armadale, Livingston, etc, are likely locations. We had on offer accepted on a great place but it got unaccepted later

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Been there too. Nope from both of us. Reykjavik isn't too bad in the winter, being mostly rain. Akureyri is mostly snow in the winter.

But it's not an "us" kind of place.

I bet we end up somewhere near San Luis Obispo, about 2 hours south of San Jose.

edg

Azores?

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Pockets of west Edinburgh around Murrayfield/Clermiston area, or down in Slateford/Balgreen are still quite cheap as the demand for housing there is a lot lower. Gorgie/Dalry used to be cheap but a lot of first time buyers moved in there over the last few years. I don't know East Edinburgh so well; it always feels like you sit on a bus for an hour to get to any of it!

Renting can be pretty expensive, but Edinburgh flats tend to be furnished at least (whereas in Glasgow they can be unfurnished quite often). I would rent cheaply! I know people paying £1000 a month in rent; all for nothing! It doesn't improve your credit score paying all that. Also in some areas you are advised to 'offer over' on the rent, so if a flat is up for £800 pcm you can ensure you get it by offering to pay £850 a month. Madness!

I might rather rent unfurnished as then it saves me money on storage for furniture!