bandrui

Thanks Mallory, I shall take a look! It will be at my outer limits of how far West I want to be. I LOVE that area and Cornwall but if I am more central within the South, it opens up so many more options for day trips etc.

flbrit59

Have u thought about the Isle of Wight ? I loved living there !

bandrui

I'm sure that I would love it too but I am living on an island right now and it gets quite expensive to go back and forth on the ferry so thought I'd try having access to roads for a while. But thanks for the suggestion. Keep 'em coming.

bandrui

You're right. I probably should have titled this differently, but I'll see it through and if it dies I'll open up a new one for specific areas.

Pistolpete2

sallysimmons raised the issue of using a Phil Spencer-style homesearch/homefinder service the other day. She has found one for the Lake District which charges just 1% of the property value or 10% of the savings between asking and accepted offer, whichever is higher. Those rates seem good and low and I'm not sure that they are attainable UK-wide where I've seen 2 1/2% before, however, it may be feasible for you to consider the services of such an entity. My only concern is that the websites I have seen so far seem to be directed at the TOP end of the market, however there is no harm in checking as you will most likely need to get an inside track on your property in order to get something decent at around your budget in the areas you are looking due to your very specific needs.

Typically, if you give your home finder very clear instructions at the get-go they will have a much better idea as to the task in hand and you should be able to negotiate a decent quote for their cut.

Pistolpete2

These are important features of a plan which allow for value (due to not being easily-commutable to anywhere) but quality of life. Of course the car is there if you can afford it and each to their own.

I have a copy of Kent Pub Walks which I have there to remind me that walking to and from the pub and the social side of it is a must-have in my retirement life-style. I must have access to country walks from my abode.

bandrui

The value idea can be a double-edged sword. I would want a property I buy to have good resale value, just in case I change my mind at some point.

Yes, quality of life is the important thing here. One of the things that I have really missed about England are the pubs... not because I am a heavy drinker, which I am not, but because they offer a unique environment that I have not seen duplicated anywhere else.
I found a property that had potential in Stour Row, near Shaftesbury, Dorset but it must have been the only village in the UK without a pub. I don't have the book you mention but I have a copy of Britain's 500 Best Pubs which has some pub walks.
Pub walks aside, I too must have access to country walks. Each time I go to the UK, I walk for miles in the countryside and hope to do much more of that. Walking the Cotswold Way and the Kerry Ridgeway appeal to me.

The home finder is not a service that I could see myself using, both because I would find it difficult to give hard and fast criteria and because, even when just looking at places online, I know whether it has the right "feeling" about it for me, something that I could never describe to an agent. I am a gut feel kind of person and that can overrule some of the other criteria, plus I like to allow synchronicity to play a part.

Pistolpete2

Fair dinkum!

bandrui

I have realised that another thing I am looking for is rolling hillside. I suppose it won't be too good for cycling (for me anyway) but it has so much more visual appeal.

Gabgoeshome

Dorset has to be calling your name right ?

Don't think you should contemplate Norfolk/Suffolk after all ...I am finding your quest very interesting BTW

Pistolpete2

Have been thinking of the Vale of the White Horse for you and the area around Uffington Wilts, but it looks a bit pricey. Do you know of Candida Lycett Green (John Betjeman's daughter)? She lives there. Funnily enough she writes about English country life.

Rolling hillsides also exist in the area around Cerne Abbas in Dorset but the Cerne Giant can be intimidating.

bandrui

Had a very enjoyable cider at the White Horse pub in Uffington last trip. Yes, liked the area. No, haven't heard of C.L.G. Is she a poet too? I like her topic!

Speaking of poets, Pete, and hills, Gab, I was reading about Wordsworth's Quantock Hills and my thinking is, if he can write so eloquently about that countryside, it can't be bad, right? Was it you who suggested Taunton, Gab, at the edge of the Quantocks? I live to research. Seriously, I love researching... anything. I wonder if I can get a job as a researcher for someone in the UK?

I shall look into Cerne Abbas too. I don't think the Giant would bother me at all.

p.s It's good to laugh after this past day.

Pistolpete2

Think CLG is just a writer.

Check this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010...et?INTCMP=SRCH

Note that a nuclear power station is on the north side of the Quantocks but a fairly safe distance away if actually residing in the Quantocks.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x...f&mapp=map.srf

bandrui

That photo... beautiful! And the write-up cetainly makes it sound appealing. Maybe we have something here.

Adding: http://www.quantockonline.co.uk/

sallysimmons

The home finder I'll be using is not choosing the actual home for us. Just giving us more options than we could find online, and screening out any real 'dogs.' Then she'll have a list of properties for us to visit.

I think the real value of it for me is that I know the best houses are sold/rented before they ever go on the market. If I was in the UK, I could make relationships with all the estate agents and make sure they let me know when something is available, but from here I can't do that. That's what I want the home finder for.