Anyone emigrated overseas to buy a horse property?

claire1976

claire1976

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Totally random post I know. I just wondered if anyone on here has emigrated abroad for a better life with the sole purpose of being able to buy property with land for horses?
Being rather bored at work I've been searching the web and found some very cheap houses in USA with acres of land for less than a 2 bed city apartment here in UK. Its soooo unfair that my OH and I have jobs that can't be relocated as I am really fed up living here at the mo!
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with the sole purpose of being able to buy property with land for horses?


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No. Seems a bit of a strange thing to do in my opinion. I wouldn't move country for the sole purpose of buying land for horses.

I would, and I did, for many other reasons though.
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I lived abroad for two years in my early twenties and now we're in the process of moving abroad again for the very reasons you mentioned.

We've been pretty depressed with the property prices here for a while and want something similar to you by the sounds of it. We'd looked at France before as house prices there are considerably lower but neither of us speak any French. We finally started looking at prices in Denmark and found a beautiful place next to a lake with about 8 acres of land, 4 stables and a 5 bedroom house :|

My OH works as a consultant in London and many of his colleagues dont actually live in the UK now. So we've decided to take the plunge and go back to Denmark (complete with 2 dogs, 1 horse and a rabbit
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Longer term.... I desperatly want to spend some time in the US my OH has always fancied New Zealand. Annoyingly, the US isnt the easiest country to get into but my OH is hoping to end up based with Microsoft which would give us the option to move out there.

For now, we'll have to settle for Europe I think
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We only came back here looking for a better quality of life and it just hasnt happened at all. Dont particularly like the UK for many reasons these days so why stay? :|
 
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No. Seems a bit of a strange thing to do in my opinion. I wouldn't move country for the sole purpose of buying land for horses.[ QUOTE ]


Not strange at all!!! For me - horses are my therapy and after a very tricky 5 years of major illness I'm looking for a better life. I can't afford to achieve what I want here in UK in terms of owning land so emigrating is the only chance I'd have!
 
There's so many reasons why I dislike the UK and the only reason I haven't seriously considered emigrating is due to health probs I've had and that I rely on my family so much.
If I was in a physical and financial position to do so I think I would have moved ages ago. Despite having good jobs between me and my OH we could never afford to buy a property with land here in UK. At the mo I have to make do with renting 2 measly acres of crap grazing!
 
But how would you pay for it? How would you live is what I mean? Horses are only a small part of most people's lives (time wise I mean) therefore there is so much more to life than just finding grass for them. Wouldn't it be better to move for a good job or a quieter lifestyle, more money or whatever?

There were many reasons for us moving here but most of the reasons were business/economically-based; they just happened to involve horses.
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I moved with my family last year, we've been lucky enough to find a lovely house with a bit of land so that I can keep my horses literally on the doorstep........but........all that is a added bonus and not the reason we moved at all.
 
I know what you're saying Tia and I'm just being idealistic. Thats why I said 'if only my OH and I had jobs we could relocate'. I have lots of equity in my house due to an insurance payout for critical illness. I could easily buy somewhere outright overseas but you're right- I wouldn't have much to live on! For now, my career has a back seat as I don't really need much of an income- ideally I want a better life for my family and I and it would be perfect if horses were involved more than they can be now.
Out in interest Tia how long have you been in Canada and do you miss UK?
 
I'm going the other way and while horses are part of the equation, when I looked into it a few years ago that alone was not enough to warrant relocation. (And I am a professional horseman so it's a very big part of my life.) Now that there are other motivating factors it is certainly workable and I am looking forward to it but I wouldn't be making the decision based on any single factor.

Also, keep in mind that it's not actually that easy to emmigrate. There are very strict and convoluted laws about employment, investment etc. And emmigrating to the US is VERY difficult unless you have a lot to offer - you literally have to prove that in a country of nearly 400 million people there is no one who can do the job you're coming to do!! The only way I've seen people pull it off is to get transferred within a company or offered a job by an American organisation, and even then the visa is tied to the job. The other option is to be able to invest an obcene amount of money - which will work nicely here, too.
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Canada's not actually that much easier, although we apparently have a negative brithrate now so we're pretty dependent on emmigration. But being part of the Commonwealth does have it's advantages, especially if there are relevant family connections.

I know lots of people who have emmigrated to Canada. Oddly, the one thing they all say really got to them was not having the foods they were used to. I guess it's such a basic assumption! And it can be really hard on a relationship, especially if it means significant economic upheaval.

I'm not trying to put you off - I know you are only "blue sky-ing" but as someone currently going through the process I can tell you it's quite difficult even if you are HIGHLY motivated on a number of levels.

On the upside the exchange for here is CRAZY!! It's 2.5 and the actual prices are about the same so something that costs a dollar here costs a pound in the UK, except that with the conversion it costs someone spending pounds less than half!!!

Which, of course, makes me a bit of an idiot . . . but it's worth it.
 
This will be my 3rd year here and I like it where I am......but for certain I miss England! I loved my life in England and here just isn't comparable.....however it's nice here too, just different.

How about you looked into doing something self-employed overseas? That way you could pick and choose what you do AND you could still buy a property with land to house your horses?

I have to say we did consider buying a farm in France and converting barns into holiday accommocation. Would this appeal?
 
Not to rain on the parade but "self-employed" is not a profession countries like to see on an application for emmigration, at least not without an OH raking it in or a lot of money in the bank.
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Countries want to know new arrivals won't be a drain on the system, at least not initially!

Trust me, I've looked into it . . .

That said, selling almost any house in the UK would probably produce sufficient revenue to meet the requirements, given the conversion.
 
I know someone who is moving to the US for a better life and that primarilly involves horses. They are building a large 'horse farm'. Moving sometime this year I believe
 
Yes but if Claire was considering Europe then she doesn't have to go through any immigration applications...she can just up sticks and move.
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I entered Canada on a Self-Employed Business category; me being the Principal Applicant and it took 2 years to gain Permanent Residence. That timeframe has gone up dramatically since then though and now the PR timelines are around 4 - 5 years for UK Citizens.
 
It is something I've considered I must admit. I've been self employed before - owned a pet shop and bred animals. I would love the idea of buying somewhere where I could take ppl out trekking and my OH wants to do jeep safari's. Canada and USA appeal to me on different levels but I am well aware of the employment and immigration restrictions.
It's just such a huge risk and I hate the idea of having to return to the Uk with my tail between my legs with ppl saying 'I told you so'!!!
 
Do a tonne of research and build a realistic Business Plan and perhaps it will help you figure out whether it is do-able or not?

We sort of cheated when we came here mind you, as husband still has his UK company, so although we wouldn't have returned to the UK we could have been propped up by it. As it is the farm pays for itself - we chose to pop a number of fingers in a number of pies so that we weren't putting all of our eggs in one basket though and I think that is always a good idea.

We produce hay, we offer trail rides, we produce and sell young horses, we board horses.....so if one of these were to not be economically viable we would still have other things to fall back on. Our hay and our horse sales bring in the greatest margin by far however they have also cost us the greatest in terms of paying out for the infrastructure.

If you can find complimentary aspects of one business then that has to be the way to go. For example; I trail ride my young horses which I am paid for, but which in turn gives the horses a wealth of experience and input into their training.

See where I am going? It is possible if you look and think long and hard.....oh and make sure you UNDER-estimate your potential income, LOL!!
 
Thanks Tia - Great advice as always (perhaps you should charge for your knowledge)!!!
I'll do some research for sure but still don't know if I'd have the courage to actually go through with it.
 
I think the price is true for some things, but not all - food in particular doesn't fit that, but gas does - chocolate bars and beer and VERY expensive here in relative terms, $5 plus for a pint in a bar, and $1 plus for a mars bar - madness - good job I don't buy either! Certainly the wages are not pound for dollar either, but neither do they follow the exchange rate. It's just different here!
 
Just look on it as recycling
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. People helped me when I was Immigrating....I enjoy returning the favour to the system.
 
Some property is very very cheap here in Canada, would love some of the land that is on the market, however, it is unworkable because the really cheap land / houses are too far from where I would be able to find a job. Canada is huge, but the vast vast majority of people live within 50 miles of the US-Canada border, because that is where the economic centres are. In the UK you can buy property and land far cheaper in the remote areas, scotland, wales etc but again, it's the lack of work that makes them so much cheaper. The housing market is still pretty good here, and I say that living in one of the most expensive areas in the country, but remote properties tend not to go up with the rest of the housing boom, they stay relatively static, which is fine if you are planning on staying there for the rest of your life, but not the greatest investment if you need to move to a city, back to the UK etc in later life. I can't imagine moving anywhere just for cheap land / houses, you have to like the country, the people, the way of life, and certainyl if you are looking at the US, make sure you can get insurance coverage, because health care is expensive, and I know you said you have had health problems in the past.
 
Hi am ex pom living in South Africa, lots of horses and property here! things are on the up in the horsey world and some of the country side is among the best in the world!
One major plus is that the pound is very very strong aginst the rand, good luck in whatever you do.
 
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