Help with the housing market and rellocation

[Barley]

Ok, as a few of you probably know, I live on the Isle of Man with my girlfriend.  We currently rent a small 2 bedroomed semi detached house for £650 a month.  Sounds a stupid amount, but houses here cost the same as London.

We're looking at moving back to England, we're both going to need new jobs, and somewhere to live.

We're sick of renting and want to buy somewhere, and to be honest, it could be anywhere in the country.

Does anyone know any good sites they can recommend where we can look for jobs, and also sites with properties for sale?  I'm sure there's tonnes about, websites like that are advertised on television all the time, but I can't remember any     You know, sites like autotrader, where you put in options and it shows you available choices.

Also, does anyone know anywhere in the UK where property is still quite cheap?  Preferably somewhere with job prospects?

Any help you guys can give will be great!

 :blush:

[Benny]

The deadmen housing association will be happy to help, however, details, details.

What sort of work do you both do?
Do you want the quiet life?
Do you want to be able to get into a town?
Commutable to London? What sort of commutes are you content with?
Are you party people?
Coastal?
Urban?

Let's get some pointers then we can swing into motion. I reckon between us all we can have you moved and employed within 14 hours.

[Bunce]

I think this ones quite good

(Channel 4) 4Homes

[Barley]

Originally posted by Benny@Mar 15 2005, 08:40 AM
The deadmen housing association will be happy to help, however, details, details.

What sort of work do you both do?
Do you want the quiet life?
Do you want to be able to get into a town?
Commutable to London? What sort of commutes are you content with?
Are you party people?
Coastal?
Urban?

Let's get some pointers then we can swing into motion. I reckon between us all we can have you moved and employed within 14 hours.

[post=79613]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

To be honest we're not that fussy.  In the back of my mind I'm thinking it will be best to relocate a bit up north, say Manchester area?  Or somewhere near there.  I also head Lincolnshire is cheap and an up and coming area.

We're not huge party animals.  I'd like a job in a technology field, like IT, or telecommunications.

[Benny]

Originally posted by Barley@Mar 15 2005, 02:06 PM
To be honest we're not that fussy. In the back of my mind I'm thinking it will be best to relocate a bit up north, say Manchester area? Or somewhere near there. I also head Lincolnshire is cheap and an up and coming area.

We're not huge party animals. I'd like a job in a technology field, like IT, or telecommunications.

[post=79635]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

Oop North?

Reet, my experience of Oop North.

I lived near Wentworth, J33 M1, for a while. Close enough to commute to Sheffield/Manchester/Leeds, but out in the countryside, fantastic views, as usual, selective pubs were excellent, and in contrast some were very local.

We encountered a little friction from the Northerners who seemed a little put out that us mere southerners would go up there and spend our cash. Admittedly that was rare, but not something to be ignored. One fine gent told my 10 year old to #@ck off back down south where he belonged. BUT, that incident aside they wer generally welcoming and accepting.

Leeds is burgeoning(sp?) at the moment and very popular, if you were looking around, I'm sure you could find somewhere in or around the countryside outside Leeds that would cover all the angles...Personally, if I were set on that area I'd look around the smaller towns outside Leeds. York is nice, avoid Doncaster, I'm not overly taken with Manchester.

Snooks is one from up them parts (Sheff) he may be able to help further.

Personally I'd go for the south coast though
Somewhere outside Brighton/Poole those kinda places, commuter trains straight into the (only;)) city and the best of social lives.

Bristol maybe, Ghost or Monkey I think are out that way...

HTH.

[target]

For the North, your best bet is Manchester or Leeds as Benny already said.

York is nice, but it is expensive for property, but not on the scale of Brighton and the rest of the South East.

Aside from that, pay your money take your choice

[Barley]

Well I come from Cheshire anyway, but don't want to live there.  I wouldn't want to live IN Manchester, perhaps outside it somewhere.  I definitely wouldn't live anywhere close to Birmingham, can't stand the place, except for the Bullring shopping centre  The reason I suggest the North, it simply because it's cheaper than the south.

Ideally we'd like to live in Brighton, but prices are mad there.  My girlfriends family are from Sussex anyway.

[TeaLeaf]

Well I can't commment on life in northern parts as I have never lived there, but there are some lovely villages north of coventry and that general area.  Close enough to Birminham/Coventry for lerger employers but not so close that you can smell the polution........

And if you ever need help with finding a mortgage then just shout and I will put you in touch with our mortgage consultant (interest declared: if he does your mortgage then my firm would get an introducer's fee).

TL.

[A Twig]

Worthing and Eastbourne are great if you like the Brighton area. Between 20-30 minutes away from Brighton, housing not too expensive, and despite reputations, most definitely not old people's towns.

Good nightlife abounds, plenty of social type stuff, and both are up and coming areas, buy now and you should be able to make a tidy profit. I currently own a house in Eastbourne which I'm renting out, very pleasant part of the world. My sister lives in a flat on Worthing seafront. Again absolutely lovely, great pubs, nice scenery etc..

[Jamoe]

I'm in Lincolnshire, prices are generally cheaper (bough my house for 42k, should have ben about £65k) but so are wages and skilled job opportunities. You might try for a job in Nottingham/Sheffield and commute from somewhere in Lincs but it wil all depend on what u want todo.

Funny thing, but today I read an article in our local newspaper about how bad lincolns economy is compared to over Counties. Lincolnshire is generally growing, but at a slower rate, although lincoln itself has good growth.

IT Jobs are sparse i know that much. Most of lincolns jobs are lower skilled. I myself will be looking for a new Job come summer time (and after the wedding), and will probably aim for Nottingham.

[Gh0st Face Killah]

Bristol is worth a look, house prices vary a lot depending on which area you look at, Clifton for example has similar prices to london, but other areas are a lot cheaper.
There are quite a few it jobs in the brstol area. Try site like Monster and Fish4jobs. The Fish for site will also find you property and you could also try rightmove as well.

Very good nightlife and lots of excellent pubs in Bristol, plus it has a very good road and rail network to the rest of the country and the cost of living is significantly less than london.

[Blunt]

Originally posted by Gh0st Face Killah@Mar 17 2005, 03:01 PM
Bristol is worth a look, house prices vary a lot depending on which area you look at, Clifton for example has similar prices to london, but other areas are a lot cheaper.
There are quite a few it jobs in the brstol area. Try site like Monster and Fish4jobs. The Fish for site will also find you property and you could also try rightmove as well.

Very good nightlife and lots of excellent pubs in Bristol, plus it has a very good road and rail network to the rest of the country and the cost of living is significantly less than london.

[post=79793]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

Living in the Mendips I can be in Bristol or Bath in 20 mins, yet the house prices are a lot more reasonable than in the cities.
Other plusses include country pubs, good schools, country pubs, etc.


did I mention the nice country pubs?

[Penfold]

I think that I'd be looking for the areas whch would be most related to your job and then the area to live. I know there are towns where many IT /telecomms industries have localised - although I'm not sure where. I think it's towards Birmgham way. A bit of research i.e. taking the top 50 companies related to your preferred type of work and placing on the map will quickly establish if there's a catchment area you should be working to and therefore which are a commutable to it.

From an aesthetic pov, then I'm with Twig. You're used to the sea - there are some brilliant housing opportunites on the South Coast (imho). Places such a Littlehampton are next for major re-development and currently prices are fairly reasonable.

GL

PEN

[A Twig]

Unfortunately my future planned property investment company isn't quite there yet, otherwise I'd be able to offer you a nice hosue on the south coast. Prob another year or so tho...