Great House, bad area

leanneb010

Just viewed a house that I have kind of fell in love with.. Smaller than expected but the garden was enormous and perfect for kids. I would class it as walk in, and in general it was really well presented. The sellers were forthcoming with any details we asked about... All good.

However, it is not in the greatest of areas, and it does have a heavy reputation, but so does where I stay now (but I know this area having lived here all my life).

It's close to my family and the price for a semi detached is within my price range here, to get a similar flat elsewhere in Glasgow I'm going either miles away or it's 20k over what I can afford.

My cousin stays 5 min away and she has said it isn't a great area, but her partner lived there all his life...

Do I go for the house, on the basis I really like it, but may not be able to sell in the future, or suck up the fact I may have to move miles away.

Any advice welcome.

powerwin

What kind of issues could you face with the area?

leanneb010

Teens hanging about, hear about a lot of ASBOs. We tend to keep to ourselves but sometimes you don't have to do anything for some people to have a go.

CompBunny

How old are your kids and what is the nearest school/secondary school like?

leanneb010

My little girl is only 10months, the nearest primary is about 5/10 min away, pretty standard, nothing special, the next nearest is about 15min away, both walking, and I believe is slightly better. Secondary school wise (although a long way off is a worry) Hoping that I can cross council boundaries and get her into an all girl school. Failing that I might save and try and go private, but it may have picked up by then.

gordonbennet

Yes - is this the place you'd like your kids to grow up? These are possibly similar to the kids they will be hanging out with in a few years.

Has the property ever been burgled? That kind of thing can really change your view of your home.

Ok, I'm going to say it! "Location location location."

VfM4meplse

You can create a palace anywhere. You cannot, however, tow your palace to the right location.

Chalk this one down to experience and see if you can try to recreate this nice home on a better area. I would suggest looking for a slightly smaller property with potential to extend so you can have a larger home in a good area eventually. A financial stretch in this direction will be worth it.

CompBunny

Its your call of course, and you know the area, but my opinion (bear in mind I do not have children, so take with a pinch of salt) would be that the dream home that compromises so much on area could just be storing up the problems for the future where school/friends/socio-economic factors are concerned!

Its a tough one... of course you want your perfect home! Best of luck whatever you decide x

leanneb010

The property hasn't been burgled in the time the sellers have been there, and they did not know of any break ins. My cousin didn't know of any, it's basically just anti social behaviour and teens hanging about.

My problem is, within my price range, I'm likely to run into these problems everywhere, even where I stay now. Catch 22. It would mean trading being close to family to go somewhere I don't know and still might have similar issue....

God I hate the youth of today

kr15snw

We currently live in a 'bad area' but it's just talk! Hubby has been here for 12 years and never had a problem! A lot of these area's are overhyped!

Could you try talking to some of the locals?

leanneb010

Well the sellers, told us a bit, and did say that a lot of it was overhyped and could name all their immediate neighbours. There is a number of bought properties including the other half of the villa. My cousin doesn't like it, her partner comes from there, but she admits I am at the far end from the "hang out" area. She also says that she is not keen on her house, which makes her a bit jaded.
I live in an area that was so bad, they actually renamed the street to try and curb it's rep, but have never had an issue.

Unfortunately, outwith this area, the only properties available are flats, which doesn't give the option to extend. This is a 2 bed semi detached villa, that we could extend to the side or to the back (leaving plenty of garden still, it's that big)

Completely torn, but my uncle has offered to take me down at night for a look to see if there is large groups of youth etc, so I hope this will help.

Got another few properties to view, but this is top of the pile so far.