[Mungo24]

I am after a bit of food for thought and am hoping you folks will be able to help.  At the minute I rent land form neighbours and keep sheep, pigs and chickens.  In the not too distant future I would like to buy my own smallholding, my plan is to choose a few areas and visit them over the next few years to narrow down the search area.

I have a wish list for what would be a livestock based smallholding.

Trees, I like trees and would miss them if there wasn't any around
Hills/mountains, to walk in and I like the scenery
Near the sea/lakes, I would like to fish and forage for shellfish and I like beaches
Not to extreme weather wise, months of snow or freezing temps is out
Not the worst midge areas, I don't react well to the bites.
Access to a good abbatoir and market, up to 2hrs away would be a max
10+ acres
Not too remote, being able to drive somewhere to buy food etc
Internet access
Reasonable priced area, I would be looking at up to 300,000 to spend

I appreciate that I may be looking for somewhere that doesn't exist but some areas that might fit the bill will help with research.  Not looking to move for a few years yet so plenty of time to look around.

Many thanks

[fsmnutter]

We're in Aberdeenshire and sounds like would tick a lot of those boxes.
Quite a lot of properties for sale about those prices and acreage.
Moray coast available for the sea part, with a bit of a microclimate keeping snow to a minimum, and sea breezes keeping midges lower too.
Cairngorms not far away for your mountains, and if you look in the right spots there are a few forests about.
There is a really nice abattoir geared up for private kills at grantown on spey, and markets at Huntly and inverurie.
Hope that's given you one place to think about.

[Mungo24]

Thank you, that is perfect. I shall pop it on my list.

[Brucklay]

Before moving to Aberdeenshire I lived in Perthshire (Big Tree Country) lots and lots of trees, forest walks, central. More expensive than Aberdeenshire and you won't have the same choice but for that money you could find something. I love where I live but given the choice I would like to be closer to where lots goes on.

[bloomer]

Basically the east coast, its drier and has less bugs :-)

Fife, perth and kinross, angus, aberdeenshire.

For 300k you have plenty of options.

[Factotum]

Moray is great - ticks all the boxes for us - we just outside a small village near Forres.

The beaches of the Moray coast are about 14 miles, the Cairngorms about 30, the nearest supermarket is 9, the nearest good slaughter house is 28.

But, we do get loads of midges and clegs for a few days each year - a minor irritation!

See http://www.ckdgalbraith.co.uk/property/ELG130195/Deskford - just the first example I found with a quick search.

Wishing you luck with your quest...

Sue

[Steph Hen]

Angus or Aberdeenshire.
Lovely coast, hills, drier weather.

[Rosemary]

Just mind, the natives may be revolting 

[Mungo24]

Brill thanks folks, looks like a visit to Aberdeenshire might be on the cards.

[oor wullie]

There are loads of great places in the NE but be aware that prices can vary a lot particularly with distance from Aberdeen.  The money in Aberdeen can be unbelievable (I know plenty guys who left school with no qualifications and now earn 6 figures).  This means there are plenty people with money to burn looking for property commutable to Aberdeen, however if you don't need to be close to the town then it is less of a problem.

[goosepimple]

West coast is beautiful but is much wetter than the east which comes in to its own in autumn I think, beautiful crisp mornings, big blue sky.  Yes agree Angus glens are fantastic and so is Perthshire, the further north you go you'll see less cars on the roads, peace and quiet.
 
Someone has put a post on about a smallholding in / near Shotts - haven't read it yet but I know there is an abattoir there and you'd be central to a lot of things east and west.
 
Alternatively after the independence vote in September you may find there could be movement....but let's not get into that. 

[ballingall]

I think from your wish list, east coast definitely suits better. Anyplace from Fife, Perthshire and Angus. I don't tend up Aberdeenshire way that often so can't comment on it so much.


Even to be honest, you could consider some of the other central belt areas- you have to be very careful where to look, as you can hit onto commuter prices, but there are some cheaper areas with good smallholdings- I'm thinking Lanark, and Newton Mearns areas.


Beth

[goosepimple]

Yes, Lanark, Biggar, Moffat are all beautiful areas, hilly and lovely scenery.  I'd personally try to get a bit of land that is reasonably flat and hilly ones can be a pest for a number of reasons.  Also land with a river, burn or the like is great as it opens up all sorts of possibilities and you can expand your repertoire with wildfowl etc if you can manage to secure a bit - a loop to form a pond with an inflow and outflow is brilliant and you have instant drinking water for livestock, fishing possibilities and somewhere for floodwaters to disappear into    and its endless fun for the kiddies.

[Rosemary]

Have a look on here http://www.anmgroup.co.uk/estates/farms-and-estates.php

http://www.acandco.com/property/details/aacrps-IVR140093 Aberdien Considine has the most appalling website - they used to have a "house with land" search option but no more.

Definitely worth having a holiday in the area to see what you think. And, if the press are to be believed  , some 700,000 folk are going to flee Scotland if there's a YES vote next month, so there should be bargains to be had then.

[Mungo24]

Oh man, looking at some of the smallholdings for sale has given me itchy feet. Thanks for all the helpful comments, next holiday destination sorted.