House in a very bad school area

aniahill

MartynK wrote: »

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

I was just about to beat you down as direct competition!! We're not ready either - hopefully the summer time to make it easier to sell.

Are you from here originally? I'm not and I think it makes it harder to know what to do. I hear bad things about areas and I ask a guy in the office who's in his 60s, Bournemouth born and bred with a lot of buying and selling experience, and he says that it's hard to tell without standing outside the place.

After living on a through road, I'd really like to not any more so I'm looking for dead ends/crescents and there seems to be a few in this area which is the patch of land between my and his work... Keep looking I guess!

MartynK

Haha, yeah don't worry we're still trying to work out how to afford a 3 bed, around that price range + We will probably save up more and get something north of 210.

I've lived in Dorset most of my life, although I've been spoilt in some of the places I've lived. On a personal level I wouldn't go near that area, but I'm bias due to my past experience.

That guy at work is correct through, drive down a couple of evenings/days, mid and end week and weekend and just see what the area is like and sometimes you get a feel for the area the minute you pull up. I'm probably stereotyping, but I'm sure you know what I mean

I'd probably put the place on par with Boscombe really, some nice areas some not so nice. Dorset is ridiculously priced though we've found when look for places near our work.

aniahill

Brock_and_Roll wrote: »

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?

I think it is opposite the ones which back onto the heath - could you tell me what problems there could potentially be please? I've seen another property which does back onto it and I did wonder.

We currently live in my flat in Southbourne/Iford and we just want somewhere which is all both of ours (shared between us, owning freehold and no one upstairs - essentially I want to go upstairs to bed!). We don't need 3 beds, I'm fine with 2 but couldn't cope with 1 after living in 2 - we looked at a 1 bed in Bosc recently and just couldn't conceive of where everything would go!

Depending on how mine sells we could spend more than this, especially if an offer were accepted. Maybe once we've seen the mort advisor we'll have more of a realistic goal...

aniahill

MartynK wrote: »

Haha, yeah don't worry we're still trying to work out how to afford a 3 bed, around that price range + We will probably save up more and get something north of 210.

I've lived in Dorset most of my life, although I've been spoilt in some of the places I've lived. On a personal level I wouldn't go near that area, but I'm bias due to my past experience.

That guy at work is correct through, drive down a couple of evenings/days, mid and end week and weekend and just see what the area is like and sometimes you get a feel for the area the minute you pull up. I'm probably stereotyping, but I'm sure you know what I mean

I'd probably put the place on par with Boscombe really, some nice areas some not so nice. Dorset is ridiculously priced though we've found when look for places near our work.

You see, Bosc I wouldn't mind because I know the area well now but that is too expensive apart from a few places which have no ORP etc.

Hopefully when we've seen the mort advisor we can look at different areas and I've only just seen that my overpayment hasn't been taken off of the amount I owe on the mortgage so potentially I've got nearly £8k more. It's not that we couldn't get more on a mortgage (I don't think) more that I don't want to struggle.

I know exactly what you mean about getting a feel - I went to a place on Sunday night that I thought would feel a bit rough, but when we were there it wasn't too bad. That may have been because it was Sunday night TBH http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/31276601

Good luck with your saving - we were going to do that, but because I am on a FTB scheme I'll only get 60% of the value of my place and 40% to repay the government loan, so if prices start to rise like predicted, it'll get harder for us and we'll just be chasing.

Brock_and_Roll

aniahill wrote: »

I think it is opposite the ones which back onto the heath - could you tell me what problems there could potentially be please? I've seen another property which does back onto it and I did wonder.

We currently live in my flat in Southbourne/Iford and we just want somewhere which is all both of ours (shared between us, owning freehold and no one upstairs - essentially I want to go upstairs to bed!). We don't need 3 beds, I'm fine with 2 but couldn't cope with 1 after living in 2 - we looked at a 1 bed in Bosc recently and just couldn't conceive of where everything would go!

Depending on how mine sells we could spend more than this, especially if an offer were accepted. Maybe once we've seen the mort advisor we'll have more of a realistic goal...

2 possible problems with the heath 1) antisocial behaviour i.e. riding mopeds, drinking, fire starting etc. 2) access/escape route for burglars

I think the other poster was a little unfair, I think the area rates better than Boscombe in a lot of respects - especially given all Boscombe's well known or at least perceived drug & crime problems.

Obviously I don't know your circumstances in terms of jobs, commutes etc and perhaps I am now old and boring but I like the quiet life so would look further out. For example this place in the village of Burton which is not far as the crow flies from where you are now:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43025050.html

Nice village atmos, less social problems and a decent pub that DOES NOT have blue lights in the toilets.....!!

MartynK

To be fair it depends entirely on were you live in either area,

Closer to the sea in Boscombe and the price's ramp right up and is very nice, but yup, I agree further away you get the worse it gets.

Its a mixed bag really, one road of the main road might be quiet pleasant, another road down and its terrible.

Maybe try Charminster or Canford Heath, Prices might be higher though in either area.

Good luck to yourself as well though. I do agree Brock_and_Roll though, 180k is pushing it to get a decent size and a pretty nice area. 200+ seems to be the sweet spot. Or look further afield and commute in from Ferndown/Wimbourne maybe? (not sure on prices there might be even higher)

aniahill

Brock_and_Roll wrote: »

2 possible problems with the heath 1) antisocial behaviour i.e. riding mopeds, drinking, fire starting etc. 2) access/escape route for burglars

I think the other poster was a little unfair, I think the area rates better than Boscombe in a lot of respects - especially given all Boscombe's well known or at least perceived drug & crime problems.

Obviously I don't know your circumstances in terms of jobs, commutes etc and perhaps I am now old and boring but I like the quiet life so would look further out. For example this place in the village of Burton which is not far as the crow flies from where you are now:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43025050.html

Nice village atmos, less social problems and a decent pub that DOES NOT have blue lights in the toilets.....!!

Yes that is true with regards to the heath - I'm a bit oblivious to these things...

Unfortunately we've only one car between us so we need to be within 1/2 hour walk of a train station or up to an hour's walk of Branksome for my work. Admittedly I could get the bus but it's so time inefficient - if I miss my train, the 10 min train journey is over an hour on the bus!

We're not crazy drinkers or anything with a desire to stay out all night (we were putting together our seating plan for the wedding yesterday and he was surprised that I wasn't falling asleep when he saw it was past 11pm), but we do have to be able to get around easily. I walk everywhere so if we could cut out the train cost that would be even better!

Slinky

Could you not spend say £2k of your new house budget on a second car which will then give you many more options as to where you are going to buy?

aniahill

Slinky wrote: »

Could you not spend say £2k of your new house budget on a second car which will then give you many more options as to where you are going to buy?

I've given up the car by choice in order to lose weight and get fitter - I'm not very good at doing extra exercise but if walking to work is part of my routine, I'm exercising every day.

I do know what you mean, but it's not something that would work for me - I've lost 7 stone by doing this and eating better (I can only cook what I bring home!) so I don't want to slip

bouicca21

If you are going to look at buying an ex la house the you need to look very carefully at the estate. There are some lovely ones. But it is now so difficult to get a council house that if there are still a lot of rented properties the likelihood is that the neighbours will have multiple problems, because only those with multiple problems have a chance in hell of getting one (at least that's true in my area).

Schools have lives, so one that is good or bad now may be very different in a few years time. 3% a-c is pretty bad and sounds like a combination of failing school and serious demographic problems - the sort of school that has a huge turnover of demoralised staff.

Have a wander round the area on a Friday/Saturday night, look for drug activity round the local pubs, talk to the police community service people.