roblpm Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 Ok, before we start discussing, well done, house prices and money are not the most important things in life, making your family happy and settled are much more important. On to your post; Why all the moves, I`ve tended to average about three years in most of my rented places? Sorry, but "manky letting places" and "1400 a month" does not compute. Why 1400? I rented a decent coach house in the Grange for 1000 a month (shared) for three years before the owner sold the land, one of the ridiculously priced flats they built on it was on one of these threads recently(south oswald road) if I`d know Fred the Shred was so close I would have gone round and asked for help reading balance sheets. The coach house still stands as it is a listed building, certainly not the most luxurious house, but not manky,and a massive garden before the developers f*cked it up, and 1000 p.m was in the peak boom,there are amazing rental bargains if you look around? Moves because: House A let by DJ Alexancer!! Water coming in through roof, sewage in the garden etc etc! House B very nice, 900 per month out of the catchment area that child a was already in, not guaranteed that child b would get in! House C very expensive but only place in catchment area when we needed it, will only let on fixed 12 month terms. Potential rental house D needs to be unfurnished, have wooden floors as child b has asthma and preferably not miles away from the school again. Hmmmmmm aha there aren't any of them at £1000pm!! I think its all very well, but if you have kids the letting situation is not good. I'm sure somewhere on here there are threads about German / French style letting arrangements, but in the UK it sucks! Hence the manic urge to own property that got us in this mess in the first place! If it was just me I'd be renting a slum anywhere for a couple of hundred quid a month, but it aint!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roblpm Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 So you don't get the #32 bus much. ccc, where you from originally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sofargone Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Folks,As a long time HPCer and poster I thought I ought to 'fess up! We have been renting for the last 4 years after moving up from London, 3 different houses and were facing moving again in August. 2 small children. So to cut a long story short a bungalow cam up in Greenbank and we bought it at the offers around price, I hadnt even looked at it when we put the offer in!! Wife liked it. Have to say I am very happy! Get the keys tomorrow. The estate agent said "Oooh you got that for about £75,000 less than you would have a year ago" and I said "yeah and it will be £75,000 cheaper in a year's time".!! Congrats roblpm. Like you, we faced exactly same issue - rent money v interest in the bank v need for a home Think you quizzed me sometime ago bout where we'd bought. Is yours a dooer-upper? and in a cul-de-sac or on the main road? wishing you many happy years in your home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savetheclaypigeon Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Congratulations roblpm! Hope you and your family have many happy years in the new hoose. If it was just me I'd be renting a slum anywhere for a couple of hundred quid a month, but it aint!! Renting with a young family can't be much fun. Luckily, I'm in the situation you describe above. I'll be looking for a rental place come the Summer and I'm determined to pay as little as possible. If anyone sees a guy living out a wheelie bin on Spottiswoode Street, surfing HPC on a laptop, do not be alarmed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 ccc, where you from originally? Barnton, Parkgove area. Nobody in Edinburgh knows where Parkgrove is !! It only exists for those that live there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roblpm Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 Congrats roblpm. Like you, we faced exactly same issue - rent money v interest in the bank v need for a homeThink you quizzed me sometime ago bout where we'd bought. Is yours a dooer-upper? and in a cul-de-sac or on the main road? wishing you many happy years in your home! Well ours is the only one we have ever seen that hasnt been extended or modified but is in move in condition barring a bit of decorating. The old lady who lived there was obviously very house proud! Non through road, just about the highest point in greenbank, so even though the word on the street is that domestic wind turbines arent much good, i think we may have the ideal location for one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geed Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Yes, that is one major plus! The primary is excellent by all accounts. The secondary is a good school but the stats are not great due to the catchment area. It is due to be pulled down and rebuilt pretty soon. I'd hope that would improve its results somewhat. New schools tend to have a positive impact on the teachers and pupils from what I hear. Both my kids are under 3 so worrying about secondary schools is not necessary for quite a while. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The main reason we are interested in Portobello is that it has a fantastic community and great local shops and facilities. You also get a lot more for your money. And it's by the sea! There are also some really beautiful areas in Porobello, with some lovely victorian and georgian properties. There are two stunning ones which are at the top of our price range and have been on the market for ages: http://www.espc.co.uk/Buying/271097.html http://www.espc.co.uk/Buying/268117.html There is one huge drawback we have discovered about these properies though. They are directly underneath major power lines (and also beside a busy slip road). I had a look online and there are higher incidences of cancer and leukemia in people living beside power lines so this has really put us off. The trouble is, half of Portobello is close to these power lines. I'm not sure I'd want to risk my kids health just to live in a nice house. It's a bloody nightmare because otherwise we would have bought one of those places like a shot. So we are quite limited in what streets we would consider living in. We'll probably still end up in Morningside putting up with the snooty crowd! Yes in that respect Edinburgh is unique, apart from Crammond and Gullane (out of Edinburgh really and I do take your point that Portobello has its nice spots but the Prom is a sh!tehole....fancy a Wendy's luv?) the Edinburgh shore line makes the Caspian sea looks like the Maldives. Most cities value shore frontages...not Edinburgh...pah the sea...yuk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geed Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Forgot to mention,,,well done robplm...I thought you would buy sooner rather than later judging by your posts...pressure from the missus etc....nice area...don't be getting all morningside yah! on us now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sofargone Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Well ours is the only one we have ever seen that hasnt been extended or modified but is in move in condition barring a bit of decorating. The old lady who lived there was obviously very house proud!Non through road, just about the highest point in greenbank, so even though the word on the street is that domestic wind turbines arent much good, i think we may have the ideal location for one! Oooooh am totally flummoxed now. This is a bit like those riddles that go "my first is in snake but not in crawl, my second is in tumble but not in fall" etc. I thought I knew the road from your descrip (and I would have been not that far away) but no, I don't, as the two I saw were (a) in a state and ( badly modified Therefore you either bought AGES ago or through a private sale! :-) Glad you have got settled. I worry slightly that, having bought, we will lose out if prices fall more but then the house we sold would have fallen more in value too (it took 7 months to sell) so it works out as evens in my mind. No doubt someone more economically attuned will correct me! But I'm a homebody and my kids were desperate to put posters up/put pins in the wall and so on and we have a landlord who stresses me a little so am looking forward to the move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sofargone Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 (edited) Well ours is the only one we have ever seen that hasnt been extended or modified but is in move in condition barring a bit of decorating. The old lady who lived there was obviously very house proud!Non through road, just about the highest point in greenbank, so even though the word on the street is that domestic wind turbines arent much good, i think we may have the ideal location for one! Oooooh am totally flummoxed now. This is a bit like those riddles that go "my first is in snake but not in crawl, my second is in tumble but not in fall" etc. I thought I knew the road from your descrip (and I would have been not that far away) but no, I don't, as the two I saw were (1) in a state and (2) badly modified Therefore you either bought AGES ago or through a private sale! :-) Glad you have got settled. I worry slightly that, having bought, we will lose out if prices fall more but then the house we sold would have fallen more in value too (it took 7 months to sell) so it works out as evens in my mind. No doubt someone more economically attuned will correct me! But I'm a homebody and my kids were desperate to put posters up/put pins in the wall and so on and we have a landlord who stresses me a little so am looking forward to the move. Edited May 3, 2009 by sofargone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roblpm Posted May 4, 2009 Author Share Posted May 4, 2009 Oooooh am totally flummoxed now. This is a bit like those riddles that go "my first is in snake but not in crawl, my second is in tumble but not in fall" etc. I thought I knew the road from your descrip (and I would have been not that far away) but no, I don't, as the two I saw were (1) in a state and (2) badly modified Therefore you either bought AGES ago or through a private sale! :-) Glad you have got settled. I worry slightly that, having bought, we will lose out if prices fall more but then the house we sold would have fallen more in value too (it took 7 months to sell) so it works out as evens in my mind. No doubt someone more economically attuned will correct me! But I'm a homebody and my kids were desperate to put posters up/put pins in the wall and so on and we have a landlord who stresses me a little so am looking forward to the move. Sofargone, I'm just being mysterious cos you wouldnt tell me which one you bought in case I am a mad stalker!! (which I'm not!) Anyway we are in Greenbank Gardens on the internal corner. We bought it before it went on the ESPC, my wife saw the for sale sign on the saturday, got an appointment on the tuseday morning and we had an offer accepted on the tuesday lunchtime. Not sure it ever went on the espc. We offered at the "offers around" price. There was plenty of interest though! We had the estate agent hassling us on the wednesday as we had offered subject to survey (that meant me actually looking at it!) and they had other people interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sofargone Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 (edited) Sofargone, I'm just being mysterious cos you wouldnt tell me which one you bought in case I am a mad stalker!! (which I'm not!)Anyway we are in Greenbank Gardens on the internal corner. We bought it before it went on the ESPC, my wife saw the for sale sign on the saturday, got an appointment on the tuseday morning and we had an offer accepted on the tuesday lunchtime. Not sure it ever went on the espc. We offered at the "offers around" price. There was plenty of interest though! We had the estate agent hassling us on the wednesday as we had offered subject to survey (that meant me actually looking at it!) and they had other people interested. wow, well done guys - I know now which one - it did go on espc on the monday and as we had bought the week before we looked online out of nosiness (we would have had to get the attic converted) and yes, looked in great nick bar a few cosmetic things. Really big garden if I remember right and great, great location. Can't remember if it was 2 or 3 bedrooms. We've bought a 4 and 3 for a good bit more........we're on the main road. Edited May 4, 2009 by sofargone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roblpm Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 wow, well done guys - I know now which one - it did go on espc on the monday and as we had bought the week before we looked online out of nosiness (we would have had to get the attic converted) and yes, looked in great nick bar a few cosmetic things. Really big garden if I remember right and great, great location. Can't remember if it was 2 or 3 bedrooms. We've bought a 4 and 3 for a good bit more........we're on the main road. Yep great location, great views out the back as you look over the houses in Greenbank Park to the Pentlands, garden is great. House is small!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Getting a garden office as a stop gap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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