House hunting

[pistolpete]

Hi all. I hope to one day maybe as soon as next year leave the rat race of livery and work and buy a small holding for me my other half, a dog and two horses. It needs to have nice hacking ideally not be in thick clay soil. Not be next to an estate killing pheasants all winter! Three bedroom house to put family and friends up for visits. I would like three or four acres for the horses and OH would like woods and a stream. Budget of 350-400K. Is this doable? Where are best horsey areas? Also as I have one in Liphook Equine hospital right now! Don't laugh but where are the equine hospitals in Wales? Really look forward to suggestions, thanks.

 

[cremedemonthe]

This is what we did, came down from Surrey Hills to west Wales and a 2 acre smallholding with woods and stream.
There are bridlepaths further out from us as well as footpaths but round here where I live the local landowners block footpaths and bridlepaths and it's all perfectly normal as this is Wales!
No killing or shooting of Pheasants here as there are no Pheasants, main vermin seem to be foxes in fact I haven't even seen a rat,yet and I have poultry so expect attention from rats. I have plenty of mice however.
Yes it's do able with your budget, just need to search and search and search online as well as ask around as someone usually knows of a place that isn't on the net that's a real bargain.
Go on bing maps to check out the footpaths and bridlepaths near where you want to go. Have you any idea where abouts in Wales you want to go, it's a large place!
Have a look through this to wet your appetite and good luck,
http://www.thesmallholdingcentre.co.uk/search?tratyp=Resale&orderby=most_recent
Oz

 

[pistolpete]

Thanks CDM I have enjoyed browsing that website! Also like Profile Homes and Rural scene. Are there others? Not fussed which part of Wales need good riding and sandy soil would be a massive plus.

 

[cremedemonthe]

Thanks CDM I have enjoyed browsing that website! Also like Profile Homes and Rural scene. Are there others? Not fussed which part of Wales need good riding and sandy soil would be a massive plus.

We have clay and slate here but then I am up fairly high up. Not sure about sandy soil, maybe some of the other's reading this might know where that might be?
To find ours I just kept googling smallholdings, farms, land for sale in Wales and trawled through the sites.
It's worth looking on rightmove.co.uk too as sometime little gems are on there and no one thinks to look for small holdings on there so they get over looked.
I did have an advantage in the fact that after searching for 6-7 months and lots of driving (500-600 miles a days) and wasted journeys due to misrepresented properties (there's lots of rubbish here as well as good ones so beware) we asked one of our friends who lives down this way to be out scout. If we found something we liked the look of they'd go and have the first look.
I can give you the details of a really good surveyor if/when you need one, a very honest and thorough one, he saved us a fortune when he found out that one of the properties we really liked and had put an offer on which had been accepted was full of asbestos , cesspit broken and damaged under ground as were the cold water pipes and rising damp, in fact there was nothing right with the place but to us on the outside and untrained eyes it looked beautiful.
If we'd bought it we would have had to demolish it and start again!

 

[cremedemonthe]

Here, have a look through these

http://www.primelocation.com/for-sa...est_price&search_source=refine&view_type=grid

 

[Dizzle]

I was literally just about to post something very similar, we are looking for a detached house where we can have the pony at home (and of course her friend, because she can't live alone) and a few foul, ours needs to be less than half an hour from Cheltenham though and I've seen a few already, despite a limited budget. I think it's just a case of trawling the web constantly (prime location app lets you add key words to the search term such as 'acre, field, stable' etc). Sounds like there are a few extra sites I could be searching though.

 

[cremedemonthe]

Here's another off of one of my facebook groups, hope it helps, Oz

https://www.facebook.com/SmallHoldingwwales/

Apologies if it's on one of the other links I have showed you, wasn't sure so though I'd add it anyway

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55127987.html

This is nice, beautiful area and not too far from the coast which is an added bonus.

We did the same as Cremedementhe when we were planning to move here to Wales, drove hundreds of miles to view houses. Hopes raised, hopes dashed, got lost endlessly around the Welsh lanes, almost got divorced twice because I can't read a map apparently, fell in love with houses we couldn't afford, got shown houses in our budget which were falling down, damp, built on marshland or swaying in the wind on top of a mountain. Learnt how 'creative' estate agents can be in their adverts. On a positive note it was all a wonderful learning curve, discovered how really beautiful Wales is, met a lot of lovely people, viewed some stunning houses (apart from the unsuitable ones) and slowly started to narrow down the area we'd like to move to.

So we moved here last summer. My advice when you view a house here is to pop in to the nearest pub and chat to the locals, always a mine of information they are! Also there are smaller estate agents who don't always advertise on the big websites.

http://www.fred-rees-and-son.co.uk/search.htm

http://clareevansandco.co.uk/index.php/property-search/

These two were particularly helpful.

Good luck, hope you find your dream house soon.

 

[cremedemonthe]

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55127987.html

This is nice, beautiful area and not too far from the coast which is an added bonus.

We did the same as Cremedementhe when we were planning to move here to Wales, drove hundreds of miles to view houses. Hopes raised, hopes dashed, got lost endlessly around the Welsh lanes, almost got divorced twice because I can't read a map apparently, fell in love with houses we couldn't afford, got shown houses in our budget which were falling down, damp, built on marshland or swaying in the wind on top of a mountain. Learnt how 'creative' estate agents can be in their adverts. On a positive note it was all a wonderful learning curve, discovered how really beautiful Wales is, met a lot of lovely people, viewed some stunning houses (apart from the unsuitable ones) and slowly started to narrow down the area we'd like to move to.

So we moved here last summer. My advice when you view a house here is to pop in to the nearest pub and chat to the locals, always a mine of information they are! Also there are smaller estate agents who don't always advertise on the big websites.

http://www.fred-rees-and-son.co.uk/search.htm

http://clareevansandco.co.uk/index.php/property-search/

These two were particularly helpful.

Good luck, hope you find your dream house soon.

All VERY true!
However I didn't nearly get divorced as single but nearly felt like strangling my Sister who accompanied me a few times (she's an Estate Agent back up in Surrey)
Was best on my own to be honest and that's when I found our place with the help of my friend who lives here, we used philip ling a very good estate agent who doesn't cover things up. He's in Newcastle Emlyn, my nearest town

Here:http://www.philipling.co.uk/

Oz

 

[RidesWestern]

Do research the riding, I have many friends who moved to Wales expecting there to be amazing riding, sadly most have been very disappointed. Bridleways on the OS map often don't exist on the ground, unrideable etc - worth speaking to people that live/ride in the area that you are looking at to find out the true state of things riding wise. The area we are is has amazing off road riding, we knew & researched the area before buying our current farm. I will have a look for any properties in my area
This is the estate agent we bought our farm through, often have little gems
http://evansbros.co.uk/property/nr-lampeter/
http://evansbros.co.uk/property/arnant-llandysul/
http://evansbros.co.uk/property/tregaron/
http://evansbros.co.uk/property/gwelfro-tregaron/
http://evansbros.co.uk/property/parc-meurig-lampeter/

Regarding land... Wales does tend to have a lot of rain....

 

[Annagain]

If you want sandy soil and access to a good vet I'd suggest coastal Pembrokeshire or South Carmarthenshire (along the A48/A40/A477). Cotts in Narberth (http://www.cottsequine.co.uk/) are excellent vets and would be very accessible from those areas. Pembs in particular is not a cheap option though. You might struggle to get the land you need on that budget unless you're prepared to do a lot of work on the house. You might find something decent in Carmarthenshire for that money. Gower would also be a nice area for you but is on the expensive side and the roads in and out aren't great for horseboxes - lots of narrow roads with concrete walls either side!

Alternatively you might find something in the Monmouthshire / Brecon area which would be quite handy for B&W at Breadstone (Gloucestershire). B&W also have a smaller vet hospital in the Vale of Glamorgan (pretty expensive area due to proximity to Cardiff) which is accessible from most of SE Wales as it's 1/2 a mile from the M4, but they send all their big cases to Breadstone.

The areas people have mentioned above are lovely but that little bit further off the beaten track - they're great if you want that but not particularly handy for vet hospitals and they would probably refer you to Cotts or Three Counties in Malvern if you were further east.

 

[pistolpete]

Thanks everyone. So excited just looking at all these options. One more year at work then I can start looking properly.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

If you want sandy soil and access to a good vet I'd suggest coastal Pembrokeshire or South Carmarthenshire (along the A48/A40/A477).

Not sure what prices in the Llyn peninsula are like these days but we looked at a house just outside Pwhelli a few years ago that had lovely sandy soil (which ragwort loves btw, have never seen so much ragwort) and possibly the cheapest/easiest outdoor school ever built.

 

[RidesWestern]

We use an excellent Equine Vets near Llandeilo, they cover a wide area, have facilities for operations there as well. The Brechfa Forest area is a good area for horse riding, the land there tends to be poorer though...

 

[Enfys]

We use an excellent Equine Vets near Llandeilo, they cover a wide area, have facilities for operations there as well.
Read more at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?741772-House-hunting#YqVmjrIxCdyfP8lp.99

Philippa?

 

[RidesWestern]

Dyffryn Tywi Equine Clinic

 

[Bradsmum]

Good morning. I'm trying to escape the rat race in Surrey and we have looked at a few properties, generally between Llandovery and Brechfa. To those of you who have moved into Wales, how have your horses adapted to the low flying military aircraft in the area. On our last visit, I got the fright of my life when a prop plane appeared just over the treetops!

 

[Archangel]

It must be catching as I am in Surrey and have just bought a house in Wales just below Brechfa!

 

[pistolpete]

How exciting Archangel. I keep looking and am amazed at prices. My two bedroom bungalow in expensive Hampshire should cover cost of a house and some land nicely.

 

[Bradsmum]

Congratulation Archangel in making the breakaway. It looks like one we were interested in further over near Llandysul is now under offer so we have missed out. Good excuse to check out some more properties for that 'perfect' house/land. Hope your move goes smoothly and quickly. Good luck.

 

[Annagain]

Good morning. I'm trying to escape the rat race in Surrey and we have looked at a few properties, generally between Llandovery and Brechfa. To those of you who have moved into Wales, how have your horses adapted to the low flying military aircraft in the area. On our last visit, I got the fright of my life when a prop plane appeared just over the treetops!

They get used to them. I'm not that far over but quite close to what was RAF St Athan. We don't get much in and out of there these days but until about 8 years ago we had a lot of helicopters. Sea Kings and Chinooks in particular. None of my horses have ever been bothered by them. After not seeing one for years we had a Chinook about 100m above us the other day. My boy (I've had him years so he's seen them before) was fascinated but not frightened. Fast jets might be different as you don't really get the noise warning first. We've never really had them round here, not at top speed anyway as they're taking off or landing when they're near us.

 

[Archangel]

How exciting Archangel. I keep looking and am amazed at prices. My two bedroom bungalow in expensive Hampshire should cover cost of a house and some land nicely.

I think it will, the house I was looking at in Dorset with no land was double the price of the house in Wales that has land and outbuildings.

Congratulation Archangel in making the breakaway. It looks like one we were interested in further over near Llandysul is now under offer so we have missed out. Good excuse to check out some more properties for that 'perfect' house/land. Hope your move goes smoothly and quickly. Good luck.

Thank you very much. We spent nearly two years looking and had many disappointments so it is a relief to have finally bought a house.

 

[cremedemonthe]

Good morning. I'm trying to escape the rat race in Surrey and we have looked at a few properties, generally between Llandovery and Brechfa. To those of you who have moved into Wales, how have your horses adapted to the low flying military aircraft in the area. On our last visit, I got the fright of my life when a prop plane appeared just over the treetops!

We get less than a handful a year flying over us, so quick you blink and miss them, none of the animals in fields round here bothers with them and even my noise phobic dog ignores them. Last jet fighter we saw here was in May approx, before that around March time, you get a few for a day or two then nothing for months, not really a problem I would have thought

 

[Bradsmum]

Thanks CDM, that's encouraging. The last house we viewed had jets (usually come in pairs apparently) about once a month! Obviously it depends where you are so we will have to be selective.

 

[cremedemonthe]

Thanks CDM, that's encouraging. The last house we viewed had jets (usually come in pairs apparently) about once a month! Obviously it depends where you are so we will have to be selective.

Today we had a Chinook over the next hill and went off towards Llandysul, was so exciting as we don't see them very often we went out to watch, sad but true!
Oz

 

[Annagain]

Today we had a Chinook over the next hill and went off towards Llandysul, was so exciting as we don't see them very often we went out to watch, sad but true!
Oz

That's West Wales for you. I'm surprised there wasn't a village fete to mark the occasion!

 

[cremedemonthe]

That's West Wales for you. I'm surprised there wasn't a village fete to mark the occasion!

LOL, well if anything unusual happens here like someone getting a new hoover or curtains, there is much excitement!
I kid you not!
Oz

 

[Bradsmum]

Lol. Sounds promising, tho the pairs of jets flying roughly once a month that I mentioned previously was told to me at a viewing of a property near Llandysul so perhaps it just depends which side of the 'hill' you are.

 

[Bradsmum]

Yay we finally made it to Wales. We've settled in mid-Wales kind of South East from Aberystwyth and we love it. Had a weekend of moving each horse down and they both travelled really well, I was soooo relieved. They're settling in well and I love having them at home. Met a few of the neighbours and they are great so now we are spending our time unpacking, finding people to carry out some renovation work - seem to have struck lucky so far, getting to know the area and visiting the beach which is only 7 miles away - what's not to like

 

[dollymix]

North wales is a great horsey area! You’d be able to find something for 350k I think. nearest Equine hospital is Leahurst on the Wirral. Super place!