Moving House: Your top tips

[Dark Knight]

Mr Kane
some people are happy to move around , to experience differing aspect of the UK and when they are valued by their employer, they are rewarded and supported in this, unlike those limited by a lack of marketable skills
The north /south argument is a cliche and lost any value years ago ,each area has it's own pro's and con's and does not stand up to close scrutiny, for every example you cite, there are the same examples in the lakes, the Yorkshire wolds, the Northumbrian coast, the Scottish glens etc etc

I am happy you have reached your zenith, both in life and in your career, but some of us still have drive and ambition and have not yet thrown in the towel and look forward to many more productive and well rewarded years ahead of us

[Mo2013]

Derek, flitting around is OK in your forties, and maybe some do not have a choice but HAVE to go where their employer tells them to - but not many people would want to uproot themselves in their 60's - nothing to do with ambition and drive, because a lot of people have retired from their career by then and looking forward to retirement. Not many people would up sticks at our age - certainly it would not be because of their job.

[david63]

Derek, flitting around is OK in your forties, and maybe some do not have a choice but HAVE to go where their employer tells them to - but not many people would want to uproot themselves in their 60's - nothing to do with ambition and drive, because a lot of people have retired from their career by then and looking forward to retirement. Not many people would up sticks at our age - certainly it would not be because of their job.

No employer can TELL any employee that they have to move - although I will accept that in some situations a move is necessary in order to retain their employment.

Many people in their 60's will move for a whole host of reasons - one being to downsize in order to have some spare cash to go cruising with

[Dark Knight]

Lady D had the choice to move or not ,as she did not really need to work, but as you say David, the extra income pays for new cars, holidays etc and Lady D's shopping habbit and it gave us the opportunity to upsize our house as an investment, so when we reach retirement age, we can sell up, downsize and have a well funded retirement, rather than rely on the meagre state pension or an inheritance to make ends meet

[GillD46]

Many people in their 60's will move for a whole host of reasons - one being to downsize in order to have some spare cash to go cruising with

Oh how I wish that was the case for us. We downsized considerably - 4 bed, 4 bathroom house to a 3 bed, 1bath bungalow (though we added another bedroom and bathroom after moving) and even before the building costs, far from releasing capital to spend, we had to spend considerably more of our capital just to buy this home.

[Andrea S]

DK,
You are young and this job/ house move has come at a good time for you.

A move at any time has to be a joint decision taking into account what is best for you as a family. In your case it appears to be a move you are both happy with.

Before you reach retirement age you may find you have other house moves which I am sure will benefit you even more. The one thing that I think has worked very well for you so far is that it hasn't affected your own work.

As others have often stated they are at the opposite end of their working life to you and being happy and settled becomes very important.

Your last post shows that this is something you are also aiming for.

[Andrea S]

GillD46

Sadly you can't have everything.

Downsizing for financial gain will often involve moving to a cheaper area in to something much smaller.

You have somewhere you love , in a place that sounds beautiful and you have room for your family.

[Dark Knight]

Andrea
you are quite right, this move offered us a further opportunity to upsize, make better provision for our retirement and also afford us the chance to experience new things and benefit from a much lower cost of living
sometimes I do forget that for many ,they are looking at the end of their working life, or have no further chance of improving their earning potential and are settled in their ways, which is fine for them, but as we are not yet in our 50's, Lady D is not even mid 40's it works for us
I suppose it is a case of what you are comfortable with, but to dismiss the rest of the country, on the grounds of snobbery, is childish at best.

[The Monocled Mutineer]

Everytime I have "been up north" whether for work (in a previous life in my 30's & 40s up to 2002) or visiting relatives (we hardly have any being childless, botherless and sisterless and aunties and uncles having not produced either), I never feel comfortable, find most of the place depressing and bleak (and not just the weather) and was always glad to be back south again - this especially goes for the cities.

I concede there is some good countryside up there but there is little else to entice me - other than possibly a visit to Sat Bains in Nottingham, L'Enclume in Cartmel and (as I admire Art Deco) the Midland Hotel in Morecombe.

To live up there ... shudder.

[Mo2013]

Derek, each to their own but as has already been said, there are beautiful places in other parts of the country. I live in an industrial part of West Yorkshire, but do not have to travel very far before I am in beautiful countryside. I remember visiting London by rail many years ago and was appalled at how grim it was coming in. I think unless you live in a lovely little hamlet, every place has its grim spots. It would be nice to live in an idyllic spot but if we all could, and did, well you can imagine the end result.

[Dark Knight]

Mr Kane
each to their own
I have, in reverse of yourself, been down south from east to west on many many occasions for business and for social activities
my view of the south woul be that it is, overcrowded, stupidly expensive to have any quality of life, congested and dirty and most people are ill mannered and insular and the main topic of conversation seemed to be how much their house was worth
indeed when we returned from our time in Northern Ireland, I asked Lady Dark, if she wanted to return down south to live
her reply was that it was the last place on earth she wanted to be ,as she had found that it was far more pleasant away from the south and she would rather have a life, and not spend the rest of it ,paying over the odds for everything from water to petrol

[The Monocled Mutineer]

Dark Knight:

You said "my view of the south would be that it is, overcrowded, stupidly expensive to have any quality of life, congested and dirty and most people are ill mannered and insular and the main topic of conversation seemed to be how much their house was worth"

~~~

I'm sorry that you've had that experience. With a few exceptions I have never come across those sort of things and certainly do not feel overcrowded or dirty (environment). I have never discussed the value of where my property with anyone other than Mrs Kane and certainly never on a cruise forum or around a cruise dining table.

[Dark Knight]

Mr Kane
as with your views, I can only speak as I find, I have spent many months in the south and lived in Surrey for a while and it is my own personal experience, that the north is a far friendlier and accomodating place than the south
I find that the people of the south, in the main , obsessed with status, money and the misgided view that only they matter and that the world stops at Watford gap.
I would much rather be able to enjoy the fruits of my labour , rather than have to subsist due to crippling house prices and over priced commodities.

[Silver_Shiney]

No employer can TELL any employee that they have to move - although I will accept that in some situations a move is necessary in order to retain their employment.

I wish the military was like that. Two days after we moved into our first married quarter, I got my marching orders to another base, so we were in the first house for only 6 weeks.

Families either have to move with the serviceman/woman or separate - not so bad if you've got your own house but if you're in quarters, you have the added stress of finding accommodation if the family doesn't want to move.

One senior officer I knew was denied promotion because his wife had her own career, to get promoted he'd have to take on a certain role which meant his wife would have to live with him at the new base (he resigned shortly afterwards).

[Silver_Shiney]

Mr Kane
as with your views, I can only speak as I find, I have spent many months in the south and lived in Surrey for a while and it is my own personal experience, that the north is a far friendlier and accomodating place than the south
I find that the people of the south, in the main , obsessed with status, money and the misgided view that only they matter and that the world stops at Watford gap.

Experience wins over conjecture every time.

[david63]

No employer can TELL any employee that they have to move - although I will accept that in some situations a move is necessary in order to retain their employment.

I wish the military was like that. Two days after we moved into our first married quarter, I got my marching orders to another base, so we were in the first house for only 6 weeks.

Families either have to move with the serviceman/woman or separate - not so bad if you've got your own house but if you're in quarters, you have the added stress of finding accommodation if the family doesn't want to move.

One senior officer I knew was denied promotion because his wife had her own career, to get promoted he'd have to take on a certain role which meant his wife would have to live with him at the new base (he resigned shortly afterwards).

Accepted - but I would not class being in any of the armed services as being in "normal" employment

[Silver_Shiney]

No employer can TELL any employee that they have to move - although I will accept that in some situations a move is necessary in order to retain their employment.

I wish the military was like that. Two days after we moved into our first married quarter, I got my marching orders to another base, so we were in the first house for only 6 weeks.

Families either have to move with the serviceman/woman or separate - not so bad if you've got your own house but if you're in quarters, you have the added stress of finding accommodation if the family doesn't want to move.

One senior officer I knew was denied promotion because his wife had her own career, to get promoted he'd have to take on a certain role which meant his wife would have to live with him at the new base (he resigned shortly afterwards).

Accepted - but I would not class being in any of the armed services as being in "normal" employment

Neither would I!! Glad to be out of it.