Moving to Surrey from Virginia

gpees.co.uk/forsaleoffice/Grayshott/88 Gascoigne-Peess American. We have decided that we want to move to England and settle over there after, after living in the US for 5 years. We are in the process of sorting his visa and have started thinking about where to live. We currently live just outside of DC and my OH wants to move London, however I've suggested moving, Guildford area as it's close enough to London without being  in the centre. What we really need is a little bit of advice about the area and places to live as I'm not familiar with it. We've registered with a couple of estate agents including Gascoigne-Pees and could do with some suggestions of other estate agents and areas around Guildford that people would recommend?

Hi BishopK,

I think that the page Real estate in England may help you in your search.

Thank you,

Priscilla :)

Dear Virginia!
I hope I may be able to offer some thoughts you may find of benefit. I'm a priest. I have spent a great deal of time in Virginia and understand the communities and culture. My father worked for the government and lived across from the Pentagon for some time,  then in Annapolis, and later he moved to Middleburg, if that helps. . We spent many months in Hot Springs Virginia, and White Sulphur Springs WV when I was a child.

You've mentioned the Guildford area. I live in East Sussex, in a rural setting. What I like most about this area of England is it has such similarities to Virginia. The culture is rich in history and lore and the terrain has some similarities to the Fairfax area. We have roads in this area, where not as majestic as the Blue Ridge Parkway, they still offer endless miles of hills and streams.

There has been a paradigm shift taking place in the Surrey, Sussex areas. Where ten years ago, the East Sussex area of Bexhill hosted the highest age mean in the EU, it is now quickly becoming one of the youngest. Property values are in flux, yet there are still excellent values available.   

One of the unique benefits of this area is transportation. We have fast rail service available to key London rail centres, plus we have the attraction of multiple international and domestic air carriers, with an emphasis on lower airfares due to the presence of competition.

And, one unique position is the ability to pop across to France for breakfast, do your day's shopping (thus saving substantial amounts on key items,), and then back home all before dinner time. This is through either Eurostar or the Channel Tunnel.

I've had the blessing of being able to live all over the world. But my heart always brings me home to the South East corner of England.

I would be delighted to provide more focused information on any area in which you have a particular interest, if you could kindly guide me as to more specific interests. Estate agents in the UK, in general, don't tend to have the same overall motivation (hunger?) that the american styled agents have.

If you would like to pop over for a weekend, I'd be happy to offer a few hours to show you around and introduce you to some of the areas of Sussex/Surrey which I feel may be of interest.

The only 'cost' might be that I'd probably beg you to bring me several packets of country ham, for which I would reimburse you immediately upon arrival!

You may learn a bit about me by typing my full name into Google, or you may type my dog's name as well. Our dog is much better known than I am :-)      Mr Piddles is a dyslexic Jack Russell.

May all your journeys be ones of discovery!

in His service

Father Bill Haymaker
St Paul's Parish
Bexhill