We've been in our current place for 10 years, I'm not very good at change! And renting has got so much more of a pain in the arse since we last did it - bidding wars and being expected to offer X months' rent upfront seems common,
With my place, I just saw it and said - I'll take it. Underrated tactic
The rent you pay in advance is mandated by law - five weeks and no more
and I can't be arsed with any of it. I want to find somewhere to live and hopefully never have to go through the process again. It might sound daft but the insecurity of renting has really affected my mental health over the past few years, maybe it's just a lot worse down here and doing it as a temporary thing instead of it being your home for hopefully the forseeable isn't the same, but I want to free up that energy and space in my brain for other things. Probably worrying about the boiler exploding.
I can get not wanting to do it... I'm hardly thrilled at the idea
But relocating to where I am in the 'Pool took, like, two weeks of my life all told. But maybe I am lucky. Honestly apart from the flooding nonsense it's a dream
But even if so it's possible. Do what you want like, don't take chances just cause some other punter got lucky! Moving of any kind is really stressful.
For me though the positity of the fresh start and the area just massively outweighed the hassle. Maybe that itself is a luxury but I really hope not
Also don't like how when I looked on Rightmove at flats in Liverpool to get an idea, most of what came up were 'investment properties' and not, you know, homes for actual people.
When I was looking I basically got the same feeling as online dating
- wrong wrong wrong, this is a nightmare, I'll never get anything. That's just the numbers game though, it takes only one.
It is horrible out there. And the bloody Tories water down the bill for renters at every chance they get. Nah, you're not wrong at all, and it can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. But I think they are there to be found. Not every landlord is a scam artist.
As I said, it's been ages since I lived in Manchester, but I never really thought of the city centre as being a place where people lived bar the big glass tower on Deansgate that various Man Utd players were always rumoured to live in. When I last lived there they were converting any warehouse left standing into 'luxury apartments'. Stayed in one for a while temporarily with a friend and it was alright, but involved walking back home next to the canal which I would not want to do on a December evening.
I did look at Manchester - far less seriously. My sister lived in Castlefield for years and I found Deansgate nice to visit
But I went out in Manchester enough. I dunno, I wouldn't be happy there. Seeing fights in Piccadilly Gardens. The centre at night is an unpoliced mess. Most of the new build apartments just give me a London vibe - IE. cram as many people in as possible, here's yer Costa here's yer Maccies fuck society you've got shops. London has some amazing positives and I still wouldn't live there. I think living in central Manchester would be a bad move. I'm actually a fan of the little quieter places all over Cheshire, Northwich looks alright? Depends what you're looking for. But Manchester for me felt like abandoning my identity and my best chance at personal happiness - if I really had to start over in a new city (I do have family and other ties in Liverpool anyway), I think moving to Manchester wouldbe such a waste.
With my job, technically, I could live in Barcelona and they'd be fine with it. I'm sure there's people who think me remaining in Liverpool is crazy
But Manchester? Hahaha