Looking For a Property

The contract on the flat (apartment) that Karl and I have been renting since October 14th 06 ends in April. I can’t believe it’s been nearly 18 months since we moved in, but more importantly, I can’t believe we’re deciding to look for somewhere new.

The ‘problem’ as it stands is that our current area is one of both natural beauty, and historic importance. While this means it’s a gorgeous, scenic place to live, it also means we pay a ridiculous amount of rent and tax for what is effectively 2 rooms and a shower (I can’t call it a bathroom, it doesn’t have a bath!) Less than 2 miles up the road and you can get 3 or 4 times the space for the same rent, and have a garden, and pay less council tax.

Anyway, we’ve already got our eyes on the areas we can move to (limited by my proximity to work because I don’t drive) but the worry now is being able to balance finding a place early enough to move out in our own time, but not getting in there too early and losing money on a contract we probably can’t get out of until it legally ends. There is of course the small matter of having a cat too, which significantly reduces the property available to us.

While I’m one of those strange people that actually enjoys moving house for the most part, I certainly don’t look forward to having to deal with estate agents, setting up a new Internet connection and so forth. Unfortunately we’re outgrowing our current space and it’s more financially viable to find somewhere where heating money isn’t pouring out of the creaky old gappy windows too. Sigh. I guess we’ve just got to suck it up and get on with it!

28 Comments

  1. Have fun moving into your new place :) Historic significance does seem to raise the prices of housing. Is there a special monument in the area?

  2. Jem

    14 Jan at 10:28 pm

    Is there a special monument in the area? Well, you could say that :) I’m pretty darn close to the Iron Bridge – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Bridge The whole area is full of museums and buildings that are totally ancient.

  3. http://tinyurl.com/34p55p – that might interest you. Good luck finding a new place to live. :)

  4. Jem

    14 Jan at 10:39 pm

    ^ That link seems very sales oriented.. we’ll be renting again (plus, we’ll be going TF12 most likely, not TF8..)

  5. Good luck in the move. Hopefully you’ll find a good place that allows Hex to live there. I know my sister had a hard time finding a good place that was affordable and where she could have a cat.

  6. 18 months, god it shows how much I have been reading this website! damn that’s a long time. You must be a damn good blogger to get me to read anything for that long. Congratulation. Hope you find somewhere nice, best of luck. I also moved into something new (http://www.grantmc.co.uk), my new design I’m all settled and just developing the back end now.

  7. Jem

    14 Jan at 10:48 pm

    That’s twice you’ve plugged your new design Grant :p

  8. I need a new place too :( The race is on, bitch. Mine shall be bigger and betterererer than yours. >:)

  9. 18 months is nothing, some of us have been e-stalking Jem for many many years now… :P

  10. Yea i know, its my dirty habit, spamming :(

  11. Good luck finding somewhere, it sounds like you are in a great position to upgrade and lower costs, what can go wrong? Hope Hex doesn’t limit your options too much.

  12. GL finding a place! At least it’s possible there! Finding somewhere to live in my city is just… ugh. I don’t want to think about it. So, I will live at home forever.

  13. Moving is such a hassle, but I generally like it, too. Anyways, good luck finding a place soon!

  14. When you start applying make sure they know that Hex is fixed. Sometimes that will make a difference cause a fixed male cat won’t spray, that is usually one of the main problems landlords have with cats. That smell doesn’t come out easy. Good luck finding a new place. Maybe photos?

  15. I like moving houses too. Good luck with your search for a new place! I hope it doesn’t become TOO much of a hassle. You know, when you’re packing up it’s when you realize how much stuff you have. Unless you are incredibly anti-pack ratting… but I thought I could fit all my stuff in a minimum of two boxes and the last time I moved I realized I was soo wrong. Make sure you get enough boxes :P Well, good luck again!

  16. I would love to move, but this is such a good deal that I probably stick here still my school ends (I’m not living with mom and dad :P). I hope you find new place in time :)

  17. I’ll be moving out towards the end of this year as well. The reason I’m not doing it now, is because of the tenant (gran left me her apartment)… so I also get to procrastinate doing some calculations as far as the expenses go (… at least I won’t have to pay rent). So… good luck =) … especially as you have a cat. My parents had experience with a tenant who had a cat (didn’t tell them), that ended up tearing a good few stuff apart…

  18. I’m surprised you have to pay council tax – is this usual for tenants in England? As far as I’m aware, council taxes are the responsibility of the landowner here in Australia. Strange! Nevertheless, I wish you the best of luck with your move. Perhaps you could invest in a bicycle to travel to work in, if it turns out you have to move further away than anticipated?

  19. I have just been looking for student housing so I’ve experienced a little of what you’re talking about, such as dealing with agents etc. I hope you find somewhere nice.

  20. Unrelated, but the sidebar on your Hobbies page looks rather funky to me… is it meant to be that way? :s

  21. I know the area you are looking at rather well alot of my friends and work associates live near there, not a bad place to live to be honest and most places are easy to get to whether you drive or not. I hope you find a suitable place.

  22. We pay a lot for our apartment too (2 bedrooms and a full bath) because it’s in a college town. The only good thing is, everything is included (water, heat) except electric. I certainly don’t enjoy moving so I don’t understand why you do :P Good luck though :) It doesn’t seem like it’s been 18 months since you moved in because I remember you blogging about it.

  23. Good luck with the move :) I work in an estate agents and sometimes some landlords are pretty flexible even if they state no pets. Often they put that there to guard against dogs rather than cats and I’ve had a couple of landlords allow tenants with cats in despite the ad initially stating no pets. It’s worth checking with the agents sometimes anyways just in case. I need to move out of my student house in June, the thought scares me as we have accrued so much stuff during the last 3 years.

  24. Good luck :) You enjoy moving house? I’d hate moving anywhere, I get unsettled so easily. I was supposed to be revising on BBC Bitesize today at school but I checked all my favourite blogs instead. Every single one of them was blocked, apart from yours.

  25. Wow, it’s been 18 months already.. it’s as if I read last week about you two moving.. heh. Good luck with finding something perfect, and a garden! :)

  26. Good luck, Jem! Hopefully you’ll find something snazzy and big enough for Hex to roll around in. ;D

  27. Karl would rather have pulled his own teeth than move to Broseley, what have you done to him? You’ve domesticated him haven’t you?

  28. Jem

    22 Jan at 2:49 pm

    With the cost of living going up, Broseley is the saner option!