Nervous about buying in London - advice needed

princeperch

money will remain cheap for years to come. even when the BoEBR does go up it will almost certainly only go up by.25pc - to test the water. There will be no aggressive increases imo.

if you believe what half of the people on HPC say, they seem to think you'll be able to buy a detached 4 bed house in richmond for about £2.50 in a few years time.

it just aint going to happen lads.

JayZed

OP, we were in a similar position to you about 9 years ago - we were renting in Muswell Hill, couldn't afford to buy there, and we also settled on the Harringay Ladder as an affordable compromise. It was okay - great for restaurants and small local shops on Green Lanes, not bad for transport (no tube but Haringey/Hornsey rail stations), and within walking distance of Crouch End when we craved hand-crafted organic Peruvian yak's yoghurt. But it also had its downsides - we had HMOs on either side of us and had various problems with neighbours, from endless fly-tipping to an armed drug-dealer.

The Ladder also has really dreadful schools and really isn't a great place for kids. We moved shortly after our daughter was born to Bounds Green (N11), where we live now. I've seen it described upthread as "a boring Sunday afternoon in the 1980s" - I think that's a bit harsh, but it's true that it's verging on the suburban and certainly isn't urban hipster territory. However, our neighbourhood (Bowes) has a great primary school and a good community with lots of young families. And a good pub.

If you're thinking of having kids in the next couple of years, I would probably give the Ladder a miss and look in the general vicinity of Ally Park. Or even boring Bounds Green. If you're looking for an intermediate place for a few years before starting a family, then the Ladder is a pretty fun, vibrant place.

I agree with what everyone says about the New River Village, by the way. We had a look at one of the flats there when it was first built and they were overpriced shoeboxes. Hornsey is nice, though.

And definitely buy, don't keep renting. Absolutely no question in my mind that's the right thing to do. House prices probably aren't going to rocket in the next few years, but they're not going to plummet either.

Hillbilly1

Good views JZ. I had a search of N11 and was surprised at the prices. But nice to know about the schools. Also good transport links with tube and overground.

padington

Another good reason to move close to ally pally ...

http://www.alexandrapalace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Farrells-Materplan.pdf

Cigarist

demontfort wrote: »

I'm not having a dig at the OP, good luck if you want to buy. I'm just challenging these myths about UK property and London property in particular. I see the same naive and tired old arguments being trotted out day after day. Good areas always hold value, interest rates will be 0.5% for the next 5 years, prices only go up, supply and demand, renting is dead money. In summary you have this blind faith that you can't go wrong with London property. If I tried to punt the same argument for investing in stocks I'd be labelled the next Bernie Madoff.

The London property market is a massive bubble right now only been held up by the cash being pumped in by the asians, arabs and russians who clearly have more money than sense. Outiside of Westminster, K&C and a few other hotspots prices are stagnating or dropping but people can't face up to the truth. Buy now if you plan to stay in that place for the long term, otherwise you could find your cash locked up for a very long time unless you want to take a loss when you sell. As for me at the click of a mouse I just cashed in a £12k profit this morning on a £27k Seven month investment in Baobab Resources so I'm more than happy to keep trading shares and you can all keep your piles of bricks. Different horses for different courses and all that. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

If they have more money than you, it would seem they have more money AND sense.:D

zcrat41

I'd look outside London if I were you. I own a 2 bed property with a garden within walking distance if a train station that's 35 mins to kings x for less than 160k. Don't underestimate how much your salary will drop during maternity and how it might not get back on track quickly afterwards. I'd def buy in your position but I'd be buying with a family in mind. Having to pay fees/stamp duty etc in 5 years could be a killer. And you could be of with no 2 which mortgage companies take into account.

padington

zcrat41 wrote: »

I'd look outside London if I were you. I own a 2 bed property with a garden within walking distance if a train station that's 35 mins to kings x for less than 160k. Don't underestimate how much your salary will drop during maternity and how it might not get back on track quickly afterwards. I'd def buy in your position but I'd be buying with a family in mind. Having to pay fees/stamp duty etc in 5 years could be a killer. And you could be of with no 2 which mortgage companies take into account.

But then you're stuck to only having a few hours in London after work before you have to run for the last train, that's such a drag. Also the money saved riding a bike / occasional tube as opposed to train fairs is huge.