You know the 3 things that matter the most when buying real estate, right?
Location, location, location :-P

We have a saying in DK: There is no point in crying over spilt milk.

Chuck it up as a lesson learned and move on :-)

Hope you find your forever area soon. Look on the bright side: you have so many options, and you’re doing great on the FIRE part! Just keep going and soon you’ll be work optional :-)

Yeah, we should have spent more in hindsight, even just slightly more would have made all of the difference!

We found some buyers for £225k, hoping it won't fall through.

I'm hoping for an update from you soon! :)

stoozing guide would be interesting, particularly how you are going about it. I have looked into it a bit but not given it a good go.

I'm stoozing at the moment with around £60k. Two of the cards were only for existing customers so not sure if they're available now but worth a look. The cards that I have are: Lloyds (£15k), Marks & Spencer (£15k), Chase (just launched, £8.5k), Natwest (11.5k), Barclaycard (6.5k), Virgin (£4.2k), and HSBC, who would only give me £500 despite being a customer of theirs for over 20 years with a flawless credit record. I wouldn't have bothered opening it if I'd known!

I haven't got most of these cards, I'll try some out, thank you!

I've been using the Halifax Clarity 0% money transfer deal to get the money out quickly then balance transferring, so I won't be able to use Lloyds.

I'd love to know more and understand the stoozing methods you have been/currently are using - sounds super interesting! Thanks Dan (aka PursueFire)

Hey Dan!

I'll write up a guide when all is said and done :) I hope you're doing well.

Thanks for the update and good post on renting vs buying.

I think the issue we have in the UK is that rental stock is quite poor. If rental stock was better then it's a super interesting debate but it's almost impossible to get a solid, long term rental property in a nice area.

From your perspective of moving up North, you suggested you may like somewhere rural/semi rural. Have you considered the Peak District or North Yorkshire? Both are close to larger cities but offer surprisingly brilliant amenities for rural locations. Quality of life seems excellent too.

We considered both but are in West Yorkshire and bought a house in a very strong suburb at the right time before the boom so decided against it. We've actually seen a boom vs your decline.

I think either of the locations would suit you well but for me the Peak district is a stellar location due to it's central England location.

Let me know how you get on :)

Ryan

Yeah I'm finding this out now when trying to find a rental and being met with everyone saying "Enquiries are full." This paired with how long it takes to buy a house in the UK makes it terrible for people looking for short-term accommodation.

We visited the Lake District recently, would love to live there!