Well I've moved around the North West, down to London, back to the North West, down to Devon and then back to the North West (I sound like a yo-yo!). Make sure you thoroughly research where you are going to live. Visit as often as possible, make sure you buy a copy of the local paper as often as possible (but don't let all the burglaries get you down - they happen everywhere!). When you go down to visit don't necessarily stay in a hotel, see if there are any pubs which do bed and breakfast (a surprising number do). It will be more personal and you will have the chance to meet local people. Go with your gut feeling, when moving to Devon I identified three possible places to live just by looking on the internet (it had to be within a certain distance of work etc etc), but on going down for a few days there was one I didn't like the feel of and so crossed it off my list.