what are good research tools to decide home location?

xyz123

hi

we are looking to get on a property ladder. but just cant decide any areas. wherever we have looked either we cant afford or we dont like. i know it will be a compromise (considering our budget of 300k in london) but want to make the best decision possible.

where can i start searching for locations either in london or in outer counties with commute into london? where can i find information on average house prices / schools / safety etc ? can someone pleaes point me to some useful research tools?

cheers

halflost

xyz123 wrote: »

hi

we are looking to get on a property ladder. but just cant decide any areas. wherever we have looked either we cant afford or we dont like. i know it will be a compromise (considering our budget of 300k in london) but want to make the best decision possible.

where can i start searching for locations either in london or in outer counties with commute into london? where can i find information on average house prices / schools / safety etc ? can someone pleaes point me to some useful research tools?

cheers

For prices and statistics use: https://www.upmystreet.com

To determine areas, I find this website so so so useful: http://www.commutefrom.com/

Basically plug in where you want to get to, and what your time for travel is - and it will tell you the places furthest out to go and you can go from there!

For things around sold house prices, you can use https://www.nethouseprices.co.uk and plug in some postcodes that you find.

Regarding looking at the market and understand prices things have been up for, then use rightmove and click "Price Comparison Report" and plugin any postcodes you have.

You definitely want to install Property Bee in firefox so that when you search for rightmove listings you can see when it was first seen, any price reductions and comments changes: http://www.property-bee.com/

Make sure you register and have "Work in a bee" ticked to get that information.

Regarding other things - Google Maps is great to pick out areas, street view what it looks like and to pinpoint locations and get postcodes.

Good luck!!

evoke

Your eyes and ears are the best research tools, in my opinion. Many of the property search sites that provide information on areas are rubbish.

flora48

Visit any possible areas several times and at different times of the day, both weekdays and weekends. Are school times going to cause congestion, will it affect you? Do the local kids hang out nearby, are you on the route home from the pub, do the dog walkers pass by? Talk to the locals, are they friendly or is it a closed shop?
Check school reports on the Ofsted site as well as using all that others have mentioned.
Good luck.

property.advert

London is easy. You simply move out from the centre on tube and train lines you can use until you find somewhere you can afford to buy and then research those areas as to whether you are happy to live there.

An example is Edmonton. Decent train to Liverpool Street, zone 4, £300k would buy a house, but it is murder capital of the UK, asylum central and a craphole. Conversely £300k would hardly buy a 1 bed flat in Angel. Do not forget about the overland as well as the tube when researching.

My feeling is that if you are young without kids then the nearer to where you work with some decent places to enjoy nearby after work is the best solution.

PasturesNew

Crime maps by the Met: http://maps.met.police.uk/

What's the area like - compare poverty/areas by postcode: http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/

PasturesNew

Another way is to use zoopla.co.uk to give you an idea of average house prices on a map. Go to zoopla, type in the town, click for the map view, zoom out and you'll start to see average house prices on the map. This will help to guide you to areas that you can afford. Ignore any little message that says "too many search results" because you're only interested in those averages labels, which are colour coordinated for ease of spotting price trends across regions.

amcluesent

>can someone pleaes point me to some useful research tools?<

Look for where the Waitrose are, they only go to nice areas. Weybridge has two.

poppysarah

amcluesent wrote: »

>can someone pleaes point me to some useful research tools?<

Look for where the Waitrose are, they only go to nice areas. Weybridge has two.

Conversely look at where the McDs are and stay away?

amcluesent

Yep, any sign of CashConverters on the High Street, minarets and interweb cafes selling SIMs for cheap calls to Africa would be things to look for.

poolboy

I'd look at places that had several options for the commute, like tube, overland, cycle etc. If you get stuck at night with a disruption there's an alternative.

Shopwise nice suggestions - Waitrose, M&S, John Lewis type businesses. Cash Coverters, kebab shops, news n fags deffo no no.

I have always owned in SW London - Kingston Teddington areas, they will always let well if your circumstances change.