House in a very bad school area

aniahill

Dan-Dan wrote: »

that article is from 2012 , over 2 years ago , have you looked at the ofsted report since?
is this house on RM ? maybe post a link?

They were given some serious telling off and it's a little better but still very poor.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/27718588

donfanatico

looks alright to me

Dan-Dan

is it ex LA ? looks it....

aniahill

Dan-Dan wrote: »

is it ex LA ? looks it....

Yes - everything we can afford is, but that doesn't bother me

Dan-Dan

I`m no snob believe me , but there are areas everywhere where LA areas do equal social problems , if it doesnt bother you , then i would suggest the schools rating shouldnt either , if the house ticks your boxes
I know poole a little , its one of those places where its half and half , which as i say , is similar to hundreds of places up and down the country

moneyistooshorttomention

When I came to sell my last house, my buyer basically had a choice between a rather better (and cheaper) house than mine in a bad area with a bad school and my house. My (then) house was in an average area and had choice of well-regarded schools nearby.

My feeling is that my buyer bought my house precisely because of the difference in nearby schools.

The other house did sell after a shorter time on the market than mine (ie went particularly quickly), whereas mine took a pretty "standard" amount of time to go (very much the length of time I thought it would take at the outset). So, obviously, some people will put cheapness first for a house and blow what the nearby neighbourhood/school are like.

The other house was in an L.A. area that was "known about" by us locals (and that would have included my buyer).

DaftyDuck

There are a whole lot of websites that link to crime rates, antisocial behaviour, social structure and the like....

Here
here
here
and here

It's not the lowest rate for crime, but not that high either. Reasonably well-off, reasonably OK in most areas... there are better nearby, and only you can tell if you would be troubled. Most of those sites churn out the same data in different forms, but they (and some others) are well worth a breeze through. One of them gives the names and phone numbers for the PCSO's covering that area.... give them a call, and have a chat. Nothing ventured.....

aniahill

Dan-Dan wrote: »

I`m no snob believe me , but there are areas everywhere where LA areas do equal social problems , if it doesnt bother you , then i would suggest the schools rating shouldnt either , if the house ticks your boxes
I know poole a little , its one of those places where its half and half , which as i say , is similar to hundreds of places up and down the country

I should say ex LA doesn't put me off straight away - I don't know the area. I currently live on the other side of Bournemouth (where I would like to stay...). Poole is a very very divided place - there seems to be so little middle ground between beautiful while fantastically expensive and ratty but still quite expensive.

There are other places for us to look. I'm not ready to buy yet; about to meet with the mortgage advisor tomorrow, then wedding, then touch ups in the flat before putting it on the market. We probably need to learn more about the areas - places seem to go from nice to horrific in a very short distance.

MartynK

I live over in Bournemouth, My partner and I are looking to do exactly what you guys are doing, not quite yet though don't worry

Its ok, not bad off Herbert Ave so its fairly convenient but its a mixed bag really, some nice places, some not so nice.
The price isn't bad for a 3 bed for the area, you head closer to Bournemouth then it goes up in price.

The school is pretty bad still from a quick ask around the office and its certainly cheap for the area which raises my eyebrows already.
But I don't think you'd have to much trouble selling it again, whether or not you made a profit on it is anyone's guess

Brock_and_Roll

Born in Poole and lived around the area all my life - I would say that the place is more Bournemouth than Poole but that's splitting hairs.

The area is a bit rough - but its certainly not the worst part of Poole. Does the house back onto the heath? - This is +/- as you can get problems caused by this.

As I am sure you know, £180k does not go very far in one of the most expensive regions of England. However, the old saying is that it is best to buy the smallest place in the best area than the biggest place in the worst area. Given that you have no intention of having kids, do you really need 3 beds? Perhaps a 2-bed house or a nice flat in a better area might be a better starting point and may be easier to sell when you come to move onwards and upwards?