Heartland

I'm joining you lot soon, moving 'down north' at the end of the month. It's a work relocation thing so they are buying my flat off me for a guaranteed price (woohoo!), now all I need to do is find somewhere to live from August, with a budget of around £125K.

Anyone know Selby? I've been looking at properties on t'internet and have found 3 or 4 that are worth a visit, probably tomorrow or Friday. Realistically, how long would it take me to drive from here to Tadcaster? Autoroute says 30 mins, which would do me fine.

Another area I was looking at until recently is Acomb in York. I was wondering why the prices were a bit cheaper than anywhere else and then I found out it's a bit rough. Is it really that bad? Shame cos there's some nice houses round there.

So it's looking like Selby for me. Looks like a nice sized wee town, not too villag-ey, and not too far away from civilization (York, Leeds). I can get broadband there too which I couldn't live without now.

If I go looking at properties in the next few days I'll report back and let you know how I got on. Wish me luck!

Nnnnnnnooooooooooo Not Selby! It's arse. York is blooming gorgous albeit very expensive. I was looking at buying last year. there are some well priced properties but I guess you need to know the good from the bad areas.
What's wrong with Leeds? There's some nice areas outside Leeds too! Just not Selby

Sexygoth wrote:Nnnnnnnooooooooooo Not Selby! It's arse. York is blooming gorgous albeit very expensive. I was looking at buying last year. there are some well priced properties but I guess you need to know the good from the bad areas.
What's wrong with Leeds? There's some nice areas outside Leeds too! Just not Selby

Argh! I just knew someone was gonna say that! Truth is I don't know Leeds very much at all, whereas I've at least been to York on a couple of occasions
Property searches around Leeds haven't thrown up much to be honest. What sort of areas are within a 30 minute drive of Tadcaster? (bearing in mind that the first few months will be spent commuting on a scooter)

...and what's so wrong with Selby? I'm fast becoming an old git (36) so I'm not too worried about moving out of town and into the sticks, so to speak.

Oh don't get me wrong I totally love the countryside but just not Selby!!

Selby is a nice little town, but a bit too quiet for my liking - having said that there's a few nice pubs there serving ales from a local brewery (Old Mill).

The areas to avoid in York are Tang Hall, Acomb and parts of the Dringhouses area. All these areas have alot of ex-council properties. Go figure.

If your budget is flexible enough, for goodness' sake buy a house in a nice area of York - you won't regret it! I wouldn't live anywhere else now - and that's quite a statement considering I'm of southern origin!

Scardwel wrote:Selby is a nice little town, but a bit too quiet for my liking - having said that there's a few nice pubs there serving ales from a local brewery (Old Mill).

The areas to avoid in York are Tang Hall, Acomb and parts of the Dringhouses area. All these areas have alot of ex-council properties. Go figure.

Dammit, the three places that show up as anything near affordable

Scardwel wrote: If your budget is flexible enough, for goodness' sake buy a house in a nice area of York...

That's the problem you see, a tight budget. I only have a wee one bedroomed flat up here in Edinburgh to sell and I want to buy a car at the same time. So £125K is probably as much as I have to spend.

Thanks for the info though.

Here's some properties on my 'to view list'. What do you think?

http://tinyurl.com/25wrd
http://tinyurl.com/34twb
http://tinyurl.com/3y8kf
http://tinyurl.com/2az98

Now off to do some Leeds research...

Avoid house 1. Ivy may look pretty but causes a hell of a lot of damage to the brickwork and it's a bitch to keep under control. That one looks as if it's even got into the eaves.

I was gonna say "all that green cr@p will have to come off, natch" . I think it looks horrible. Nice interior though.

DerekR wrote:Now off to do some Leeds research...

farsley

center of the universe & not far from the leeds ringroad

Buy a house in Cape Town, it's a bit of a commute but the views are worth it.

The garage looks as if it's got an 'organic' roof as well. I hate the stuff. Always seems like a good idea at the time when it's planted.

Even if you had it removed it will have badly marked the brickwork.

Oh, and as you're moving from a flat to a house don't forget to budget £150 for your 30 foot ladder for all those exterior DIY maintenance jobs you can't manage by standing on a stool.

both of these are just round the corner from me

http://212.50.188.108/cgi-win/vebra.cgi ... RE/17236/1

http://212.50.188.108/cgi-win/vebra.cgi ... IS/17318/1

Quiff Boy wrote:both of these are just round the corner from me

http://212.50.188.108/cgi-win/vebra.cgi ... RE/17236/1

http://212.50.188.108/cgi-win/vebra.cgi ... IS/17318/1

Nice work Quiffy, but I really want a garden. Now if you could find me something nearer Taddy (that commute looked scary, even though it's only 37 minutes) with a nice garden I'll definitely consider it!

Get working on it! (I knew I should have done this earlier, ask you guys that is). Any decent estate agent links would be appreciated.

http://www.estateangels.co.uk/place/21556/Farsley

judging by the for sale signs round here, homebuyers seems to have the north & north-west of leeds sewn up, along with "william h brown" and "manning stainton - pudsey"

Quiff Boy wrote:http://212.50.188.108/cgi-win/vebra.cgi ... IS/17318/1

going to have a look at this one myself tomorrow

mmmmmmmmmmmmm nice

Quiff Boy wrote: going to have a look at this one myself tomorrow

Ah'm gonnae gazump ye! hehehe

Whoever gets it, those tiles in the kitchen must go!

Just imagine them after a night in an altered state.

Lived in York for a while: would avoid Tang Hall like the plague since I was burgled there four times in six months. And this was on the Hull Road, not even Tang Hall "proper".

A mate lived in Acomb and didn't have any big problems. Can't remember much of the area ... largely coz it was the opposite side of town from me so we drank in the middle. He seemed to find it OK, though, but this was as a student when standards were lower.

As for Selby, I've only ever passed through it a couple of times and it looks like one of those chavvie little towns. You know the sort, small, full of charity shops and after dark the streets are awash with kids who don't actually _do_ anything much but give the impression they might. I doubt there's anything wrong with the place, but I can't see there being very much to attract you.

I'm still hunting. Still checking out Selby, despite it's "arse-ness"

What about Wetherby? Nice and close to Tadcaster and it's got broadband (a major deciding factor!)

http://tinyurl.com/23lto
http://tinyurl.com/yrzxy
http://tinyurl.com/2vumq)

Found a couple in Tadcaster itself too

http://tinyurl.com/38vmf
http://tinyurl.com/3ylvn

(yes, I've had a rethink of the finances slightly, might be able to afford up to £140K).

I would suggest the three in Wetherby are all ex-council properties. Nothing wromg with that per se, but it's useful to have a better idea of the area than you're gonna get on a short visit before you buy one. Wetherby is a very sought after and expensive location.

The two in Tadcaster look better and handier for you. I don't know what Tadcaster's like though. I drive past the brewery every day. The river there floods a lot. It might be an idea to check they're not on a flood plain.

Have you considered renting for a few months while you find somewhere? It would make looking and deciding much easier, I would have thought.

As for Selby, prices there are soaring because they're building a bypass which will make it easier to commute to Leeds.

I probably will end up renting for a few months. I start in my new job on 2nd August no matter what, even if I find the perfect house right now I doubt if I'll be in by that date. Everything is basically paid for by the relocation people and temporary accomodation is included in this (ie it will be paid by the company, up to 10% of my salary I believe), however it has to be pet-friendly as I have two cats who will NOT be going into a shelter. The brewery is where I will be working by the way! Huge flood plains behind it! Luckily the properties in Tadcaster are both 'up the hill' so to speak, well the one on York Road definitely is.
Planning a trip for Monday! Definitely going to check out the Wetherby/Tadcaster properties. Might leave Selby til later.

DerekR wrote:(yes, I've had a rethink of the finances slightly, might be able to afford up to £140K).

You could afford a flat or a terraced house in a nice area of York for that kind of dosh. There's some nice properties for sale in the local rag at the moment: http://thisisyork.co.uk/york/classified/fish4homes.html

York is where it's at!

I wouldn't rush into buying ANYTHING in Yorkshire just now, having seen how mad prices have got in the last year. I've got Southerner mates who keep poking around up here because they're convinced it's North so it must be cheap as chips, then retreating all disgruntled because their £20k below the asking price offer has been laughed out of court. & I got gazumped 3 times a year ago before I finally found a gullible old lady to sell me this place in Huddersfield...might be much more sensible to rent, keep the capital from selling your current place somewhere to hand & be poised to pounce when the market gets a bit less silly...?

I was lucky in the end, but it was a thoroughly panicky process (foolishly told landlord exactly where he could shove the rent rise for his bursting pipes & mushroom-sprouting carpet BEFORE I found somewhere to buy, whereupon he started threatening to send the boys round if I didn't bugger off forthwith...), & the market's only got more inflated since then.

I've found a pet-friendly 'to let' at last I'm off to have a look at it on Tuesday - what do you think? Is a converted church goff enough?



No, no, not the whole thing, just a small 1 bedroomed ground floor flat. It should do me for a couple of months anyway and take the pressure off finding somewhere to buy.

Thanks for all the assistance you good, good people