Buying a House in London

St00zer

I am interested in buying a house in London but do not want to spend more then £250K and I want it to be 3 bed.

I appreciate I would have to compromise on certain things due to price in particular what area I could buy in.

What areas can people recommend that are OK to live in for a 3 bed house that is close to the tube at around £250K ?

There are some areas in this price range for a 3bed house but those areas are not very good at all.

Do people think I would be better off in a 2 bed flat close to Central London for £250k then a 3 bed house in a not so nice area ?

I would buy the house with the view of starting a family in a few years.

I would appreciate any advice.

Blacksheep1979

you'll be lucky to get a 2 bed flat in zone 2 in a decent area close to a tube for that sort of money. For a 3 bed you're looking in zone three and not particularly salubrious areas either...

BitterAndTwisted

Do not even contemplate buying a property in a city you are not very familiar with and you don't seem familiar with our city at all. Even in decent neighbourhoods here there can be streets which are no-go areas for the emergency services, never mind the poor local residents. On the other hand, there are what seem to be unpromising areas with really quite decent streets with lovely neighbours: I live in such a place but a lot of my friends wouldn't walk around here late at night and I certainly wouldn't contemplate raising a family here because the local schools are very, very poor. The cheapest three-bedroomed houses here are £210,000 in Zone 3

Spend time down here, walk around and get a feel for the place.

St00zer

Bit and Twist

Which area is that?

adg1

London is a huge city with, depending on where you draw the line, 8 million residents and countless little areas.

I wouldn't even contemplate buying a property in an area so diverse as London unless I had rented there previously.

For example, there are large pockets where there is a certian nationality which is predominant and people from other backgrounds can feel intimidated by the area whereas those from that background would feel totally at ease.

In most places there are no-go areas. How would you be able to know where they are without spending time in an area?

Base the area you chose on your commute to work and other things that are important to you and rent in your chosen area for 6 months. That way, if it doesn't work out you haven't thrown £250K at a property, just a few thousand.

BitterAndTwisted

St00zer wrote: »

Bit and Twist

Which area is that?

I'm in N17 and N15 & N16 are just down the road. It's extremely multicultural round here and very "diverse" in some pockets. For "diverse" read "crack-dealers and ho's". On the other hand the majority of properties are Victorian with lovely high ceilings and period features and there are proper local shops and great Turkish grocers on the High Road. At the moment there are no empty and boarded-up shops like some neighbourhoods, so it's busy, cheerful and vibrant. Local transport is superb: two tube stations, three or four overground stations and more buses than you can shake a stick at. I can be at Oxford Circus in 20 minutes and Liverpool Street in 15

GDB2222

Bitter and Twisted is absolutely right about N17 - aka Tottenham.

I bought a flat at auction in Tottenham. It was a very nice looking modern block. It was cheap, and I bought it as an investment without doing a lot of research. It turned out to be a nightmare, really, and I was pleased to sell it in the end for more than I paid. It was in the same block that Victoria Climbie was murdered in.

I live in North London, and I made that mistake. So, I strongly suggest that you, as an out-of-towner, stay in the area before buying there.

St00zer

I wouldn't want to live in Tottenham. The area is very rough and too many young kids up to no good. Walthamstow is not that much better but I would prefer Walthamstow over Tottenham if I was forced to choose.

I think it is fair to say areas which look 'cheap' are areas people don't want to live in and are pretty "rough" whereas the opposite is true for areas which are'nt cheap.

What do people think of Turnpike Lane and Wood Green? These are slightly more expensive areas but I think are also rough.

I have been in these areas a few times but have never lived there so people who live in these areas will know better then me.

I'm Interested in peoples thoughts. Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

Parts of Turnpike Lane and Wood Green are bit rough too, although houses on The Ladder are very sought after. These are the streets which join Green Lanes and Wightman Road north of Finsbury Park going up to Turnpike Lane. Just over the road in Hornsey is decent, too but parts of Crouch End are pretty unaffordable to us ordinary folks these days.

St00zer

B & T

How long have you lived in Tottenham? How long does it usually take to sell a house in that area ?

BitterAndTwisted

I've lived here for nearly 30 years but can't help you on the selling of houses as I've never owned one.