Monthly Archives: September 2013

BuyPlanDesign

Right at the Beginning (first post)

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To set the scene
We were in Aberdeen in August 2013 and were idly looking through the property section of the local paper, the Aberdeen Press & Journal, eyeing up rural properties. We very casually wondered whether perhaps we should think about moving back to the area. To be affordable – we currently live near Lowestoft, Suffolk, which is a low-cost area to buy/sell a house, whilst Aberdeen is very expensive – we could buy a derelict property and restore or convert it.
The thought quickly took hold, we decided we might actually want to do it, so we made the effort to look for opportunities.
We discovered the ASPC website (Aberdeen Solictors Property Centre) and searched for properties for conversion or restoration.

Having checked out most of the available properties, we concluded:

  1.  There was a wide variety of types of properties up for sale – mills, churches, crofts, farm steadings, even a surplus-to-requirements ex-Scottish Water storage tank.
  2.  There were few opportunities in or immediately around Aberdeen and they were relatively expensive.
  3.  There was a range of possibilities around the three satellite towns to Aberdeen – Stonehaven to the south, Inverurie to the west and Ellon to the north.
  4. There are plenty of (much) more remote opportunities, affordable and often with large plots of land but not in easy reach of family.
  5.  Most have one or more obvious, fatal, disadvantages, apart from cost!

We were most interested in large-ish farm steadings with a decent plot of land attached, within 30 minutes of Aberdeen. One, Mill of Leask Steading (AKA Foxwood House,) caught our eye. It was a good size, in a lovely sheltered location off the A90 between Ellon and Peterhead and had the potential to be a dream home. At this point we were not organised, so although we acquired a solicitor and registered an interest in the property, we were not able to move fast enough when it came to putting in an offer.

So we lost the option of buying. In retrospect the ‘offers over’ price of £170k would probably have killed us financially and we would have been unable to finish the conversion.

We licked our wounds and started planning…