Where would you buy if you had £325k?

property.advert

It would be a moderate deposit on a house or flat in a desirable area but as to outright purchase it is way short of the mark.

bluebeary

ognum wrote: »

Cambridge is an area I know and I think you budget may be a bit tight for a family sized 3/4 bed close enough to the station for a one hour commute.

You could get a small 3 bed Victorian terrace 15-20 mins walk and then a 45 minute train ride, then it would depend how far from Kings Cross you are.

It definitely is family friendly and has good schools but I think you would need to up the budget a bit!

what about trumpington or the village where lord archer used to live, cant remember the name of it but there is a pub called the red lion there

where the clock stood still, is it grantchester ?

hey is the garden centre still at trumpington, plus you have the perse prep

some good houses round that area

bluebeary

stortford is ok, nothing at stansted bar good transport links i guess

chesterford, wenden, newport, sawbridgeworth ?

milly_molly_mandy

How about the villages between Amersham and High Wycombe such as Hazlemere, Holmer Green, Penn and Tylers Green. Stations close by are High Wycombe and Amersham. We have some of the best grammer schools and the secondary schools are good aswell. 3/4 bed Semis are from about 250-350k and detached houses from about 350-450k. We are not far from M40/M25.

scorpio73

Thanks everybody for your suggestions. Interesting reading and I am going to check the mentioned places. If anybody has more suggestions please feel free to share. Ideally we are looking for a period property.

Amba_Gambla

Why not buy a place near where you work, or perhaps near your family or friends. I always find that these are good places to start looking.

securityman

Anyone from Wickford, Essex?
Whats that like for the same things the op asked?
Schools, commute to London etc?

pmlindyloo

scorpio73 wrote: »

Hi there,

My first post here. Would appreciate any ideas and suggestions. My question is simple. Where would you buy if you had £325k? I am aware that our budget wouldn't go that far in many places but would be interesting to see any ideas. The criteria are:

- 3/4 bed house
- lively and nice upmarket market town commutable to London
- not more than 1 hour commute time
- family friendly
- good schools

Thanks!

Someone mentioned Maidstone. I live half way between Maidstone and Ashford. Would not consider either to be upmarket!

Lovely to live in a kentish village and have access to either town but you do become a taxi service for your children when they become teenagers as they want the facilities in the large towns and the last bus home is far too early for them!!!

Strapped

ultrarunner wrote: »

I would look at where the grammar schools are and work from there.

Yes - to make sure to avoid them.

Strapped

Re. the hour commute - it does somewhat depend on where you need to get to. London's a big place! Although having said that, I'd also favour Edenbridge/Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells for upmarket. Or you could consider Horsham or Haywards Heath if you would consider not-quite-upmarket. You would get 4 beds for your money there, and Horsham has some very well regarded schools (both state and private).