izzi81

We moved to NS with no jobs and about $36000, so I think you'll be absolutely fine with $470000, particularly if you're looking for something rural :-)

caretaker

I wonder if the OP has ever seen Trailer Park Boys? A snapshot of Nova Scotia counter-culture.

noodlesandcheese

Thanks izzi, that's really good to hear. We have a pretty frugal lifestyle, so many years of working in places that don't have access to pretty much anything (usually areas where supplies need to be flown in) have just made it second nature so I'm hoping that this week serve us week in NS.

Caretaker, no I haven't but have just googled and I'm now trying find someway of watching it Still can't be as mind boggling as the Siberian counterculture, that was downright terrifying!

Buddyboy

I have lived in Ontario since 1975 when we first immigrated from the UK and have lived in Nova Scotia since 2001. Be wary of advice from people in other provinces who do not know NS well and comment only on reputation. I have seen all of Canada and chose to retire here in NS simply because it is the best place to live in Canada IF you do not have the worries of finding work.

I have read all your earlier posts in this thread and feel sure you would be a good fit and be happy in a rural community here. Your expectations sound very reasonable with your eyes open. Nova Scotia is on the same latitude as Monte Carlo. Our weather is neither as hot nor as cold as you think it might be. We have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world but don't tell anyone. We like to keep it a secret. I live on the south shore near Liverpool. I can go to a nearby beach on a hot summer weekend and have a mile of sand and ocean shared with about 20 others.

Finding work can be very, very hard. If you have solved that you are over that hurdle. Buying property is easy and, yes, there are some very cheap properties around. An earlier poster correctly said cheapies need lots of work and all that entails. You are better to spend more and get one in better shape to live in. Understand that it can take literally years to sell remote properties here, often because sellers are not motivated to sell at more competitive prices. It's up to you if you leave money in a second property in the UK. That complicates your move but is doable. My wife and I own a second property, a condominium apartment in Halifax which we have had for our own use for ten years. It has seen good appreciation. We could have made a fair bit of income had we rented it for those 10 years. Think about buying such a property rather than a second house if that's the route you go.

Nova Scotia is a bit more expensive in some respects, cheaper in others. The people, as you likely have found, are amazingly friendly and life here is how it should be, bar the hurdles I have described. Go for it. From what I have read you will love it here. Oh, and Trailer Park Boys? Yes, many here are simpler, more straight forward people, easy to look down on if you are that way inclined. The further you get from Halifax, the more that's the case. However, they make wonderful neighbours and friends.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

noodlesandcheese

Buddy boy, thank you so much for your post, it's extremely helpful and get much appreciated. It's real relief to hear that our expectations are reasonable and don't worry, my lip are sealed about the beaches

Thanks for the advice about houses, we've had cut sat about it and we are happy to spend more to get better condition, we don't mind the work of doing cosmetic renovations, but anything structural or more complex is a bit out of our league! We had briefly thought about buying a condo in Halifax, so that sounds like it might be a good plan for us, ideally we want our move to be as straightforwards as possible, and in truth we didn't like the idea of being tied to the UK in such a way still, so well definitely have a look into condos thanks.

Hopefully we should be OK on work front as my husband had a job go to, we also both have other skills to which might be able to serve as backup if things don't go to plan. I've spent several years working writing natural resource management policies and managing their implementation for several governments I'm fluent in four languages in addition to English (French is one) and can get by in another five languages, my husband is a chartered forester (his career prior to his current one, but he's kept a foot in the site just in case) and has spent several years managing nature reserve and don't community education/outreach stuff. How much good any of these would be in Nova Scotia I'm not sure, but we're pretty adaptable, laid back people and don't really mind what we do, is the life more than the job we want if that makes sense.

We don't look down on anyone, I'm really sorry if that was the way I've come across at all as that couldn't be further from the truth. I've spent most of my career living in places where the people had virtually no education and were illiterate but I've leant far more from them than from anywhere else. Snobbery makes me really angry, I find it sickening.
My comments about being terrified were simply that where we lived in Siberia (absolutely the middle of nowhere with just a tiny local village of less than 100 people) the local people had a lot of very intricate customs and became very offended if you got anything even slighy wrong - a colleague very nearly ended up in a knife fight over what we thought was a very very minor transgression, he apologized profusely but the locals weren't very tolerant or forgiving! I should add that we weren't doing any sort of missionary or outreach work, our research just meant we were in the same geographical location, we had permission to be there from locals too, and we tried to be as sensitive as we possibly could, but it was like trading on eggshells.

Thank to so much again for trading the time to reply, you've set our mind at rest on an awful lot of things.

jimmydean

Howefamily

I thought that was a good post too by Buddyboy.

Buddyboy

Sorry noodlesn, I should have addressed that. A year or two ago I would have said "not much" but in the last year awareness of the need for gluten free seems to have really caught on. Now our local supermarkets have whole sections dedicated to gluten free. They seem to now cater for it as much as sugar free for diabetics. Plenty of choice from what I have seen.

MillieF

Add me to the list too please. Please stick around Buddyboy

dbd33

My daughter worked at a shop called "Great Ocean" in Halifax. They sold lots of gluten free, organic, vegetarian and other nutrition free products. Dunno if it's still there, the owners may have starved by now.

charlsar

Hi, I haven't got too much to add to Buddyboy's excellent reply and I have written a few posts on my family's experience since we moved here (coming up to two years next month!). Suffice to say we love it here on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. If you have a job you are half way there. $40k is a bit tight to live on, but that depends on how much your mortgage is and from your post noodle, it doesn't sound much! Definitely agree with going for the second property around the HRM area, you will easily rent it out.
Things are slow paced out in the country areas, but aren't they everywhere. We are out in the country-ish here in Hubbards, but only 30 mins to Halifax and all the things to do around there, 5 mins to the beach, 15 mins to Chester, so it all depends on what you want.
I still seriously don't get what people have against NS; great summers (compare to UK!), not too cold winters (compared to the rest of Canada), stunning scenery and a great little city just down the road (always something going on in Halifax in the summer).
So I say go for it Noodlesandcheese!

DandNHill

There's not much wrong at all! Nowhere is perfect anyway. I had to move from NS 3 months ago and I truly feel like NS is home, not the UK...
Love the place and if it hadn't been for hubby not finding a job we would never have left!!!
It's a great place

Howefamily

Its a wonderful place, BUT unless you have money, you need to get a job and thats the main battle. Finding work here is all about networking and some luck. Once thats cracked its a great place to be.