Any reasonable property prices in the London area??

Running_Horse

£130,000 will buy you a Victorian house in Rochester Kent, which is the least cr*ppy of the Medway Towns.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16500780.html?premiumA=true

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27336406.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30713384.html

But don't forget to include travel costs in your budget, which won't be cheap.

Sounds like you need to save and build up your careers before buying, which may not be a bad thing as few are predicting massive price rises in the near future.

hazyjo

WalkinX wrote: »

There was one that was a maisonette to buy but then in futher details it had service charge and ground rent - I thought you only pay rent and service charge when you was a) renting and or b) in an flat.

Am I wrong?

Yep - to the best of my knowledge. They're pretty much the same as flats, it's just that they have their own front door. There are usually still shared areas like gardens, the roof, guttering, outside lighting, etc. There's still a freeholder (unless it's a shared f/h) so you still pay ground rent, and there will be service charge. I did live in a flat with no maintenance charge, it was a converted Victorian house and I had upstairs and others had down. We just did things off our own back and paid the freeholder a small amount each year in ground rent. Definitely need to consider the cost of service charge if you go down the flat (/maisonette) route.

Does your GF not have any guaranteed salary? What's the longest she's gone without work?

Jx

WalkinX

Not sure but a few months I think. She is back ont he show she was doing before her last job - but's not great money, though I guess it's stable.

Thanks for telling me bout ground rent and such, didn't think aplied to maisonetes if you was buying but guess it does.

Aye true on transport. I pay over £100 a month for a monthly train ticket, have to see if it costs more from Kent.

BitterAndTwisted

Unfortunately it appears that the further you move out of London for less expensive property prices the more your commuting costs would be. Also, as your g/f presumably travels quite late at night after work finishes you are going to be limited by the times of the last trains.

Have you had a look at Croydon? Some parts of it are really quite nice (I have friends who live there) the commuting-times are very short and trains appear to run very, very late at night as well.

I'm still convinced that you should keep your heads down and save like squirrels for at least a couple of years to build up a decent deposit. I doubt prices are going to soar in the next few years like they have in the past.

WalkinX

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Unfortunately it appears that the further you move out of London for less expensive property prices the more your commuting costs would be. Also, as your g/f presumably travels quite late at night after work finishes you are going to be limited by the times of the last trains.

Have you had a look at Croydon? Some parts of it are really quite nice (I have friends who live there) the commuting-times are very short and trains appear to run very, very late at night as well.

I'm still convinced that you should keep your heads down and save like squirrels for at least a couple of years to build up a decent deposit. I doubt prices are going to soar in the next few years like they have in the past.

Yeah I have. Croydon would be ok actually but it seems the vast majority of their available properties are the part buy, part rent schemes that I want to avoid.

grey_lady

Have you looked at Thurrock? Upminster, Rainham, Purfleet etc
only half hour on the train and much cheaper house prices.

A 2 bed house for under 140k shoud be doable.

WalkinX

Thanks I will look into those.

Just did a qucik check on commuter costs from Kent to London - not good

shimano

cashbackproblems wrote: »

lol i have a budget of 250k and still cant find a decent 2 bedroom flat, though i am looking in North london and new builds. I think maybe East london is cheaper and maybe SE as mentioned, but you get some dodgy areas around there. As for houses you have no chance, unless you look at areas like chelthnam you might get a 2 bed terrace for 100-130k. If you want to be in london just keep saving until you get 60/70K and then you might be in for a shot.

Should be able to find something fine. I just got a cracking 2 bedroom place in West London (Zone 3) for shade under 290k (big 2 double bedroom flat with garage).

I had about 75k deposit.

Back to the OP - try areas like Chessington, Raynes Park etc, can usually get flats for <150k.

Running_Horse

You can save some money doing it by coach and find a pick up point nearer your home.

http://www.thekingsferry.co.uk/commuter-services/

But it's still going to be a struggle on a lower wage.

neverdespairgirl

Running_Horse wrote: »

£130,000 will buy you a Victorian house in Rochester Kent, which is the least cr*ppy of the Medway Towns.

But don't forget to include travel costs in your budget, which won't be cheap.

A 12 month season ticket from Rochester to London is about £3k per person, a long way off cheap. An extra few hundred if you want a tube / bus addition to it.

Probably outside the OP's budget?