buying in london for £225k

Loopgames

shirleyheights wrote: »

we like the 1920/30s style. I guess the reduction is a reflection if the works. never really considered fairlop.

I can tell you that a similar property also needed doing up went for £213k. I too like that sort of style and area is great. That particular property has been on the market for some time. I would have offered price close to £200/205k, and maxed at £210k.

cattie

Eltham is a nice and very safe area, despite the bad press that the Steven Lawrence case has brought upon it. Most people who move to Eltham stay in Eltham when they decide they need a bigger or smaller house.

You might just manage to get a 30's house needing updating for that price now that people are reluctant to pay over the £250k stamp duty threshold. If you like period and character, then you could get a lovely Progress cottage style house in a conservation area.

It's very green area with Oxleas woods, Oxleas Meadows & Eltham Park and Avery Hill Park on it's doorstep as well as the wide open spaces of Greenwich park, Blackheath and Woolwich Common all nearby.

Moomum

Another vote for Eltham here, there are some lovely Victorian houses and three fab schools. As someone said before you can get a three bed terraced for under £250k.

shirleyheights

thanks for the heads up. Looks like Eltham is leading at the moment and that south east corner :-)

I will also look at Walthamstow. In fact, we had a viewing there over the weekend.

ruggedtoast

I lived in Eltham for a few years and I would swim the Atlantic not to have to do so again.

It looks fine bit I would hesitate to say it is nice and very safe. It's a horrible place to be an ethnic minority and I had friends who were terrorised there, including one who was chased in his car by some racists at a petrol station because he was olive skinned and his girlfriend was blonde.

Mottingham is like the end of the civilised world.

cattie

ruggedtoast wrote: »

I lived in Eltham for a few years and I would swim the Atlantic not to have to do so again.

It looks fine bit I would hesitate to say it is nice and very safe. It's a horrible place to be an ethnic minority and I had friends who were terrorised there, including one who was chased in his car by some racists at a petrol station because he was olive skinned and his girlfriend was blonde.

Mottingham is like the end of the civilised world.

Well I'd be very interested to know exactly what part of Eltham this happened in? Perhaps Middle Park Estate, which sprawls into Mottingham, which did at one time have a bad reputation, due to the type of people granted council housing there? But that area lost it's bad name some years ago, although it's certainly not where I would chose to live.

I've lived in Eltham for 10yrs now and have to say it's the safest place and the most friendliest place I've lived to date.

Even when the riots were on, many Eltham residents took to the streets to ensure their High Street was kept safe from any incoming looters. Now how many places in London did a similar thing happen?

As mentioned previously, because of the whole Steven Lawrence saga, Eltham has unfortunately suffered some very bad press & it's about time people stopped spouting it is a racist area when it is in reality no different to any other London suburb.

Whilst the greater percentage of inhabitants are white, that doesn't make them racist and people from other nationalities do live quite safely and happily here. There are no gory headlines in the local paper, unlike those that relate to places such as Lewisham/New Cross or Woowhich/Plumstead where murders, stabbings and other crimes are quite commonplace.

ruggedtoast

cattie wrote: »

Well I'd be very interested to know exactly what part of Eltham this happened in? Perhaps Middle Park Estate, which sprawls into Mottingham, which did at one time have a bad reputation, due to the type of people granted council housing there? But that area lost it's bad name some years ago, although it's certainly not where I would chose to live.

I've lived in Eltham for 10yrs now and have to say it's the safest place and the most friendliest place I've lived to date.

Even when the riots were on, many Eltham residents took to the streets to ensure their High Street was kept safe from any incoming looters. Now how many places in London did a similar thing happen?

As mentioned previously, because of the whole Steven Lawrence saga, Eltham has unfortunately suffered some very bad press & it's about time people stopped spouting it is a racist area when it is in reality no different to any other London suburb.

Whilst the greater percentage of inhabitants are white, that doesn't make them racist and people from other nationalities do live quite safely and happily here. There are no gory headlines in the local paper, unlike those that relate to places such as Lewisham/New Cross or Woowhich/Plumstead where murders, stabbings and other crimes are quite commonplace.

Fine, every area has it's good and bad but in my experience of living there for three years, Eltham had a disproportionate number of violent, racist and / or quite insular people aside from the normal ones.

I lived around Avery Hill and the High Street as I was a student there. Most students kept a lot profile in the town as it was not a welcoming place to be for anyone who didn't fit an Eltham profile and violent attacks on students were far from unheard of.

No one felt especially safe on campus either as there was a spate of robberies, and Eltham chavs intimidating people into signing them into the Union, where they would invariably, start trouble.

Friends who were of ethnic minorities tried to avoid the town as much as possible, I once went to the shops outside the University with a black friend and we had to turn back because a bunch of youths were doing monkey chants and shouting all kinds of threats.

I also remember a nice night out at this complete dump:

http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/57/5741/Old_Post_Office/Eltham

We had an uneasy few pints and then had to leave hurriedly when my friend overheard a couple of thugs in the toilets planning to beat us up when we left as they had deduced that we were "effings students".

Eltham is a hot bed of BNP activity which incidentally had it's headquartes in Eltham until 1995 when it was shut down.

Eltham, just no.

Incidentally I remember the brave vigilantes keeping the streets of Eltham safe when they were on the national news fighting with the police, who had identified them as a racist mob looking for an excuse to beat up black people.

Here they are again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8694541/London-riots-vigilantes-clash-with-police-in-Eltham.html

ed110220

ruggedtoast wrote: »

This was about what our budget was for a 3 bed and we pretty much gave up just from looking at the prices on rightmove and a few drive bys. You might be able to get somewhere in the dodgier bits of Watford for that much; there are a lot of BISF places up for sale in around Harrow Weald and Oxhey (not places I would rush to live but relatively convenient) as well.

I can't speak for Watford or Oxhey as I've never been there, but I live in a BISF house in Bath and for a non-luxury house it's very nice and spacious: semi-detached, three bedrooms (two good sized double, one single), light and airy with a pleasing convenient layout.

Its original features (if it still has them) have some charm too such as the panelled doors, built-in cupboards and picture rails etc.

Strapped

shirleyheights wrote: »

Is it possible to buy a 3 bed freehold house in London in a nice area?

We are just starting our search as we are expecting our property to be under offer shortly.

OH and me are reasonably opened minded about location as we dont need to be in any particular location for work or school.

Ideally 2 receptions and a rear garden of 50 feet or greater. quiet location and some character would be nice.

We would consider a property needing a refurb, but that cost should be deducted as £225k is our overall budget. We would consider a 2 bed if it meant a nicer area/location.

thanks for any recommendations.

If you don't need any particular location for work or school, then why not consider being a bit further out but within travelling distance of whatever it is that you want London for. There are lots of places you'd get a decent 3 bed for that budget.

hazyjo

I lived in Eltham for around 7 years and actually quite liked it. Felt quite leafy and safe. Did used to notice groups of kids hanging around sometimes, but never felt threatened.

Lived at Eltham Park end for a few years. That was okay. Then moved to a cottage on the Progress Estate which I loved.

Liked having the High Street nearby. Electric Cafe was always good and reliable (modern Italian on High St), and a lovely old burger place tucked down a side alley bit off the High St. Not that great for pubs. Had the usual stuff - maccy Ds, hair salons, Dotty P's, etc - maybe take a 'virtual walk' round on google maps.

New Eltham's nicer if you can find anything for that price.

Jx