Moving to Fife...is it worth it?

[Pete]

I was up in Dunfermline a few weeks ago and stumbled upon the big housing development program that's going on. It blew me away....whatever direction you look they are building new houses of every description for miles!!

Suburban heaven as far as the eye could see.

I done a bit more research and what you get for your money puts Edinburgh to shame. Four bedroom detatched houses for about £180000 and three bed semis for about £160000!! You'd be toiling to buy a decent 1 bed flat in edinburgh for that. It's probably common practice but the developers were chucking deals at me left, right and centre making it very tempting.

Has anyone else just went for it? I take it the big catch is the bridge if you work in Edinburgh but surely it can't be that bad?:dunno:
Are there decent enough bus and rail services?

There's been a steady increase in the amount of tanked up teenagers running riot and junkies in my area and I've had it! :brickwall

[Little Miss Perfect]

I've just taken the plunge to move across the water myself,not to Dunfermline but Rosyth where i've bought a 3 bed end terraced house in tip top and move in condition for about £15,000 less than i hope to sell my 2 bed flat in Edinburgh for.

My work is based in Leith and i only do 3 x 12 hour shifts and drive so hopefully the travelling won't be too bad. Well put it this way if i leave work at 8pm i can be home now for 8.10pm, however when i have my early finish once in a while and finish at 4pm it can take up to 55 minutes to get home. I'm changing my hours slightly so will always finish at 8pm and my OH can get over in 25 minutes.

The only stumbling block i have just now is selling my flat, i think if i had put it on market a month earlier it would have sold by now but with the way things are just now it's dire, and not so long ago the flats in my area were flying off the market.

Decided to look at Fife because you get MUCH more for your money and it's still in some parts up and coming. The house prices in Edinburgh are ridiculous IMO and it's definately worth broadening your horizons and looking that wee bit further afield as it's amazing what you can get for your money.

[Brando7]

I was up in Dunfermline a few weeks ago and stumbled upon the big housing development program that's going on. It blew me away....whatever direction you look they are building new houses of every description for miles!!

Suburban heaven as far as the eye could see.

I done a bit more research and what you get for your money puts Edinburgh to shame. Four bedroom detatched houses for about £180000 and three bed semis for about £160000!! You'd be toiling to buy a decent 1 bed flat in edinburgh for that. It's probably common practice but the developers were chucking deals at me left, right and centre making it very tempting.

Has anyone else just went for it? I take it the big catch is the bridge if you work in Edinburgh but surely it can't be that bad?:dunno:
Are there decent enough bus and rail services?

There's been a steady increase in the amount of tanked up teenagers running riot and junkies in my area and I've had it! :brickwall


Come from Rosyth myself n whenever i pass that site u r on about there 40-50 houses just appear n they r stunning n llike yoursef more n more people cashing in on their property in Edinburgh n buying cheaper n better properly in Dunfermline hench the bridge traffic in the mornings, think if u over the bridge by 7.00am u should be ok but anytime after that u will have a wee wait 2 get over

[MSK]

I've just taken the plunge to move across the water myself,not to Dunfermline but Rosyth where i've bought a 3 bed end terraced house in tip top and move in condition for about £15,000 less than i hope to sell my 2 bed flat in Edinburgh for.

My work is based in Leith and i only do 3 x 12 hour shifts and drive so hopefully the travelling won't be too bad. Well put it this way if i leave work at 8pm i can be home now for 8.10pm, however when i have my early finish once in a while and finish at 4pm it can take up to 55 minutes to get home. I'm changing my hours slightly so will always finish at 8pm and my OH can get over in 25 minutes.

.Leith tae Rosyth in 10 minutes ..what dae ye drive J ...a rocket !!!!! :greengrin

[sg7nil]

Leith tae Rosyth in 10 minutes ..what dae ye drive J ...a rocket !!!!! :greengrin

An offshore powerboat could do the trip in that time.. in a car you'd be lucky to be at Goldenacre up Ferry Road these days in 10 minutes!

[Little Miss Perfect]

Leith tae Rosyth in 10 minutes ..what dae ye drive J ...a rocket !!!!! :greengrin

Naw lol i've no moved yet, i mean 10 minutes from Leith to my house just now. Are you stupid man :greengrin

Don't have entry date for new house yet, oh and the flat's still for sale if you want to buy it for the girls lol

[Idlewild]

Peter, I was in the same boat as you, but I decided to go for it. I went for a new house at Redrow Middlebank Rise and it should be ready in six weeks.

Upgrading from a one bedroom pokey flat in Gorgie to a 3 bedroom semi detached house in Fife, for only an extra £25k, seems like perfect sense. Got a large garden is well!

Only downside is the commute - i dont drive so i'll have to get to the train station on a bus then a train to Edinburgh, but I used to get the bus from The Murrays which took 45 - 55 mins every day and apparantly the total journey from Dunfermline should take the same.

Anyone know if there's a bus service in Dunfermline to Inverkeithing station?

[col02]

Lot to be said for moving from Edinburgh as we recently bought a house in Bathgate for a fraction of what we would pay in Edinburgh for a similiar sized place. If folk are looking to get the best for their money then Fife or West Lothian seem like very wise moves assuming the commute to work in town is not too bad.

[Brando7]

Peter, I was in the same boat as you, but I decided to go for it. I went for a new house at Redrow Middlebank Rise and it should be ready in six weeks.

Upgrading from a one bedroom pokey flat in Gorgie to a 3 bedroom semi detached house in Fife, for only an extra £25k, seems like perfect sense. Got a large garden is well!

Only downside is the commute - i dont drive so i'll have to get to the train station on a bus then a train to Edinburgh, but I used to get the bus from The Murrays which took 45 - 55 mins every day and apparantly the total journey from Dunfermline should take the same.

Anyone know if there's a bus service in Dunfermline to Inverkeithing station?


Yea there is, u should be able 2 get the number 79 bus n that will take u right to the station, no sure if it goes past new estates tho, drop off just on the main road but it a 2 minute walk from there to the station

U might need 2 get 2 buses tho depending on how stagecoach has panned that route or IMO u could be quicker walking to Dalgety Bay train station rather than bussing it to Inverkeithing

[Pete]

Peter, I was in the same boat as you, but I decided to go for it. I went for a new house at Redrow Middlebank Rise and it should be ready in six weeks.

Upgrading from a one bedroom pokey flat in Gorgie to a 3 bedroom semi detached house in Fife, for only an extra £25k, seems like perfect sense. Got a large garden is well!

Only downside is the commute - i dont drive so i'll have to get to the train station on a bus then a train to Edinburgh, but I used to get the bus from The Murrays which took 45 - 55 mins every day and apparantly the total journey from Dunfermline should take the same.

Anyone know if there's a bus service in Dunfermline to Inverkeithing station?

:tee hee:Chances are you just missed out on being my next door neighbour.

That's one of the developments I visited and I looked at the only remaining the bedroom semi they have left. It was very impressive and they were willing to knock ten grand off the price because they want it sold soon as. The only stumbling block is that it will be completed in about six weeks...probably too soon for me to get everything sorted and it will probably be away by the time I do.
It looks like a nice development in a nice location that's out the way. I don't think it's that far away from Inverkeithing park and ride either...maybe walkable?

[Pete]

I've just taken the plunge to move across the water myself,not to Dunfermline but Rosyth where i've bought a 3 bed end terraced house in tip top and move in condition for about £15,000 less than i hope to sell my 2 bed flat in Edinburgh for.

My work is based in Leith and i only do 3 x 12 hour shifts and drive so hopefully the travelling won't be too bad. Well put it this way if i leave work at 8pm i can be home now for 8.10pm, however when i have my early finish once in a while and finish at 4pm it can take up to 55 minutes to get home. I'm changing my hours slightly so will always finish at 8pm and my OH can get over in 25 minutes.

The only stumbling block i have just now is selling my flat, i think if i had put it on market a month earlier it would have sold by now but with the way things are just now it's dire, and not so long ago the flats in my area were flying off the market.

Decided to look at Fife because you get MUCH more for your money and it's still in some parts up and coming. The house prices in Edinburgh are ridiculous IMO and it's definately worth broadening your horizons and looking that wee bit further afield as it's amazing what you can get for your money.

Selling your flat will be the biggest problem. The typical people who buy these properties in Edinburgh just can't get mortgages any more.
My mate was selling his flat and in the space of four weeks he didn't have one viewing. It was a reasonable fixed price to begin with but even when he reduced it he still didn't get anyone so the whole chain collapsed. If I was to sell I might have to sell below the valuation...nightmare.

You're right about broadening your horizons though...much better value for your money. It's all about quality of life as well. You think you're moving into a nice area in Edinburgh because you know the majority of the houses there are privately owned. What you don't realise is is that a lot of them are buy-to-lets full of radges who don't care about anything. The council pays the landlord a wack of money to house them privately because they have nowhere else to put them. Even if a suitable council house becomes available they don't have to move. The only community spirit in some areas of the city involves radges and junkies sucking up to even harder radges and junkies.
I don't mean to generalise but when all these tower blocks come down some people in some nice areas are in for a shock.

God, I hope this credit crunch thing ends soon.

[PC Stamp]

Selling your flat will be the biggest problem. The typical people who buy these properties in Edinburgh just can't get mortgages any more.
My mate was selling his flat and in the space of four weeks he didn't have one viewing. It was a reasonable fixed price to begin with but even when he reduced it he still didn't get anyone so the whole chain collapsed. If I was to sell I might have to sell below the valuation...nightmare.

You're right about broadening your horizons though...much better value for your money. It's all about quality of life as well. You think you're moving into a nice area in Edinburgh because you know the majority of the houses there are privately owned. What you don't realise is is that a lot of them are buy-to-lets full of radges who don't care about anything. The council pays the landlord a wack of money to house them privately because they have nowhere else to put them. Even if a suitable council house becomes available they don't have to move. The only community spirit in some areas of the city involves radges and junkies sucking up to even harder radges and junkies.
I don't mean to generalise but when all these tower blocks come down some people in some nice areas are in for a shock.

God, I hope this credit crunch thing ends soon.


A lot of lenders are naturally using the credit crunch as an excuse to re-evaluate their entire lending policies. Sadly they have now though IMHO gone way overboard in the other direction!!

Where in the not too distant past pretty much anyone and everyone could borrow money a number of lenders are now using the current climate to lend to pretty well no-one apart from their existing customers whose payment histories they can track and know well.

Over the last year we've seen something like 13000 different mortgage products available now reduced to less than 4000 at present. Base rate cuts are not in many cases being passed on to borrowers and current fixed and tracker products which previously had much more attractive rates when compared to standard variable rate are looking less than appetising with far less of a rate differential and hefty arrangement/booking fees!

First time buyers of course can currently forget buying anything unless they have at least a 10% deposit available in almost every case now.

It's having the knock on effect of slowing down the property market of course as people can't raise finance but as yet doesn't seem to be impacting to any great extent on house prices in Edinburgh/Scotland.

Effectively, if you are selling, you should still be able to get around the price you want but it may take as LMP is finding, a little bit longer.

[Little Miss Perfect]

I suppose the only good thing about my buying/trying to sell is,i've signed nothing,i have no entry date and the couple i've bought from haven't bought anything yet either,so i am hoping they just sit tight and wait til i sell before they pressurise me into signing missives etc,if they don't i can pull out and they're back to square one having to try and sell again.

My flat is on at fixed price and i have added a cashback incentive to it to see if that makes any difference and also put in in Evening News property section. Viewing so far has been sloooooooooow.

Its just scunnering that the flats in my area were flying off the market as soon as they were going on sale and now it seems it's all come to a standstill.

[MSK]

Naw lol i've no moved yet, i mean 10 minutes from Leith to my house just now. Are you stupid man :greengrin

Don't have entry date for new house yet, oh and the flat's still for sale if you want to buy it for the girls lolNope..Stacie is still harbouring hopes of dating a hibs player (hoping he is gonna make thousands)...she is going out wi a youth player but at the moment she wont name him & we aint seen him ...her fella's wont come near my door ...dont know why ...:confused:.....:greengrin

Ps...She is doing catwalk modelling for "New look"....she is gonna buy a mansion ..unfortunately...it aint Magdalene ...:greengrin

[cabbageandribs1875]

get yourself a house in the capital of west lothian(bathgate) train takes less than 25 mins from bathgate-waverley:agree: soon be more hibby's from bathgate on :hnet: than there is fae the toon :cool2::thumbsup:

[MyJo]

I was up in Dunfermline a few weeks ago and stumbled upon the big housing development program that's going on. It blew me away....whatever direction you look they are building new houses of every description for miles!!

Suburban heaven as far as the eye could see.

I done a bit more research and what you get for your money puts Edinburgh to shame. Four bedroom detatched houses for about £180000 and three bed semis for about £160000!! You'd be toiling to buy a decent 1 bed flat in edinburgh for that. It's probably common practice but the developers were chucking deals at me left, right and centre making it very tempting.

Has anyone else just went for it? I take it the big catch is the bridge if you work in Edinburgh but surely it can't be that bad?:dunno:
Are there decent enough bus and rail services?

There's been a steady increase in the amount of tanked up teenagers running riot and junkies in my area and I've had it! :brickwall

I moved to Dunfermline in September last year, we bought a house in the Duloch Muir development by Gladedale and i can safely say its the best thing we have ever done :agree:

Myself, my missus and our 1 year old daughter were squashed into a one bed upper villa in the jewel and rapidly running out of space while my mother-in-law lived in a three bed house around the corner on her own but spent most evenings around at ours anyway so we decided to sell up and pool our resources and ended up buying a big 4 bed detached house, the house is ten times better than anything we could have afforded in town.....if our new house was built even on the very outskirts of edinburgh it would easily cost double what we have paid.

Everybody has got plenty of space to do what we like, a big garden for the wee one to play in and we're surrounded by privately owned new build homes with decent families in them.......therefore nae gangs of wee bawbags runnings the streets and junkies trashing thier council houses next door to you...the quality of life is so much better.

They are chucking up new schools, shopping centres, leisure centres and supermarkets and investing a lot of money into redevelopment of the existing older facilities as well.

Transport isn't a problem, it takes us half an hour to drive from our house to Kinnaird park on the other side of edinburgh on a quiet day and commuting to edinburgh city centre takes about 40 minutes in the morning if you leave early enough (we normally leave about half 6 and the later you leave it the longer it takes because of traffic) I get the train home as well and i can leave work at 5 and be home by 6........it took me just as long to get home to the Jewel on the 4 bus when i lived in edinburgh.

There are the city connect buses from Dunfermline or Inverkeithing as well for commuting to and from edinburgh if you prefer but ive never used them so i dont know what they are like.

The only thing i dont really know about is the nightlife and watering holes because i dont drink but im sure other fifers could fill you in on that if needed.

So i would say yes its definately worth it and i would recommend living here to anyone disillusioned with Edinburgh :agree:

[matty_f]

My wife and I moved with our young son to Dunfermline 3 years ago (nearly 4 now) and haven't looked back. We've increased our family , and I commute to Edinburgh every day. It's not as bad as it's made out, in fact I often get home quicker than colleagues who stay in Edinburgh!

I absolutely love it over here, and would recommend it to anyone!

[Phil D. Rolls]

I was working at Queen Margaret Hospital for a wee while, and it amazed me to see traffic queued from Halbeath to bridge at 7am.

No wonder all they talk about over here is the bridge. It's not like they're dull or anything like that.

[HibbyDave]

Been in Dunfermline since 1985. Good place to live with much better health care and good schooling if your bringing up kids etc.

Downside is occasionally miss the last train home after a night out in Edin and taxi costs £40:brickwall.
There is the option of the "war zone bus" from waverley bridge at about 1am and only costs about £7.00 though.


P.S. Just in case you need any help with mortgages etc PM me (I'm an Independent Financial Adviser with good contacts in Fife)

[Brando7]

Been in Dunfermline since 1985. Good place to live with much better health care and good schooling if your bringing up kids etc.

Downside is occasionally miss the last train home after a night out in Edin and taxi costs £40:brickwall.
There is the option of the "war zone bus" from waverley bridge at about 1am and only costs about £7.00 though.


P.S. Just in case you need any help with mortgages etc PM me (I'm an Independent Financial Adviser with good contacts in Fife)

Could have done wi that info a month or 2 ago :greengrin

[Pete]

Been in Dunfermline since 1985. Good place to live with much better health care and good schooling if your bringing up kids etc.

Downside is occasionally miss the last train home after a night out in Edin and taxi costs £40:brickwall.
There is the option of the "war zone bus" from waverley bridge at about 1am and only costs about £7.00 though.


P.S. Just in case you need any help with mortgages etc PM me (I'm an Independent Financial Adviser with good contacts in Fife)

People seem to think Edinburgh is streets ahead of anywhere else in that respect for some reason...perhaps because they just don't know any different. That's what I, and probably the majority of young couples with kids, consider to be the main priority when choosing somewhere to live.

didn't know there was a "war zone" type bus that runs late. That's a bonus.

[Pete]

I moved to Dunfermline in September last year, we bought a house in the Duloch Muir development by Gladedale and i can safely say its the best thing we have ever done :agree:

Myself, my missus and our 1 year old daughter were squashed into a one bed upper villa in the jewel and rapidly running out of space while my mother-in-law lived in a three bed house around the corner on her own but spent most evenings around at ours anyway so we decided to sell up and pool our resources and ended up buying a big 4 bed detached house, the house is ten times better than anything we could have afforded in town.....if our new house was built even on the very outskirts of edinburgh it would easily cost double what we have paid.

Everybody has got plenty of space to do what we like, a big garden for the wee one to play in and we're surrounded by privately owned new build homes with decent families in them.......therefore nae gangs of wee bawbags runnings the streets and junkies trashing thier council houses next door to you...the quality of life is so much better.

They are chucking up new schools, shopping centres, leisure centres and supermarkets and investing a lot of money into redevelopment of the existing older facilities as well.

Transport isn't a problem, it takes us half an hour to drive from our house to Kinnaird park on the other side of edinburgh on a quiet day and commuting to edinburgh city centre takes about 40 minutes in the morning if you leave early enough (we normally leave about half 6 and the later you leave it the longer it takes because of traffic) I get the train home as well and i can leave work at 5 and be home by 6........it took me just as long to get home to the Jewel on the 4 bus when i lived in edinburgh.

There are the city connect buses from Dunfermline or Inverkeithing as well for commuting to and from edinburgh if you prefer but ive never used them so i dont know what they are like.

The only thing i dont really know about is the nightlife and watering holes because i dont drink but im sure other fifers could fill you in on that if needed.

So i would say yes its definately worth it and i would recommend living here to anyone disillusioned with Edinburgh :agree:


That duloch muir where you lives looks quite nice. We had a wee look around it and the surrounding developments and were quite impressed.
These 4 bed detatched homes are heafers and have everything you want. The sales people were shoving them at me for around £200 grand...an absolute bargain when you consider what the same property would cost in Edinburgh. Even houses in Dunbar cost more and it's further away! They cost just a bit too much though.

One thing that worries me is the amount of "to-let" signs I see in these new developments. I want to get away from scrounging schemies living in private lets, not just move across the bridge and live in the same sort of situation. I hope to god fife council aren't adopting the same policy as their edinburgh counterparts.

p.s. Crikey, how do you do it.....living with my mother in law would be hell on earth!! Respect.:dizzy:

[NaeTechnoHibby]

Fife seems to be a better commute than from Broxburn :bitchy:

20 minutes to Newbridge (2 miles) oan a good 'flowing' day and 45 minutes if it isnae :brickwall:brickwall

They are building another "Business park" at Newbridge which is gonna rival the Gyle, but without a bye yer leave, to the West Lothian peeps:

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Flying-start-for-business-park.3833683.jp

It used to be less than 10 minutes when I started driving to work, 8 years ago :bitchy:

[Stonewall]

Moved out of Edinburgh to Linlithgow eight or nine years ago and can honestly say I've never regretted it for a minute. I wouldn't consider moving back to Edinburgh now.

I think a lot of my friends thought I was moving to the back of beyond but in terms of infrastructure it's far ahead of Edinburgh and certainly has cheaper property prices.

The commute is the only thing to consider and I'm glad I live near the station. The traffic is noticably heavier than it was when we moved here and given the amount of building both happpening and planed for the towns within commuting distance of the city it's only going to get worse.

[Little Miss Perfect]

Well that's my flat sold, took 5 weeks, moving 4 weeks on Friday:thumbsup:

[MSK]

Well that's my flat sold, took 5 weeks, moving 4 weeks on Friday:thumbsup:Excellent J ...good tae hear ..good luck in yer new home !! :thumbsup:

[Chez]

Moved out of Edinburgh to Linlithgow eight or nine years ago and can honestly say I've never regretted it for a minute. I wouldn't consider moving back to Edinburgh now.

I think a lot of my friends thought I was moving to the back of beyond but in terms of infrastructure it's far ahead of Edinburgh and certainly has cheaper property prices.

The commute is the only thing to consider and I'm glad I live near the station. The traffic is noticably heavier than it was when we moved here and given the amount of building both happpening and planed for the towns within commuting distance of the city it's only going to get worse.

Take it yer no far from Lowport - was there about 2 weekends ago and I loved it :thumbsup:

[Little Miss Perfect]

Excellent J ...good tae hear ..good luck in yer new home !! :thumbsup:

Cheers Kenny :thumbsup:

Here i passed your bit earlier and see someone had dumped a load of rubbish in your garden :bitchy: :greengrin

[Dashing Bob S]

Love Edinburgh. Wild horses wouldn't drag me to Fife.

[MSK]

Cheers Kenny :thumbsup:

Here i passed your bit earlier and see someone had dumped a load of rubbish in your garden :bitchy: :greengrinAye..these bloody flytippers ..turn yer back for one minute eh !!! :greengrin....