Leave an 'up and coming' area for a house?

smfdurham

A year ago we bought our first flat, a 2 bed ex-council flat in Leytonstone close to the tube. It cost £190k and we put down a £19k deposit with all the money we had in the world. We had it valued and to our surprise it’s now worth £250k-270k.

We’re considering our options for Summer 2015 (not considering a move this year).

If we sell, we would have at least £100k in cash to put down as a deposit on the next place. We could buy a fairly shabby, 3 bed house in not the best area of Leytonstone for £500k if we’re lucky. But what seems more attractive is spending £400-500k in an area which is established as being nice such as Loughton, Buckhurst Hill or Brentwood. Now I know both of these places are out of London, but they’re only around 20-30 mins extra in terms of commute (and you might get a seat). That sum of money gets you a lovely 3/4 bed house close to the tube/train (crossrail when it’s built) in an area that on paper is better than Leytonstone.

Would we be foolish to sell the flat and move next year? Leytonstone seems to be appreciating in value more than most places right now, but how much higher can a 2 bed ex-council flat get? Do you think a 3/4 bed in those places will be a safe investment in years to come? To me, this property must have a significantly higher ceiling value than a 2 bed flat (albeit the flat is closer to London).

Appreciate any thoughts!

6feet

smfdurham wrote: »

A year ago we bought our first flat, a 2 bed ex-council flat in Leytonstone close to the tube. It cost £190k and we put down a £19k deposit with all the money we had in the world. We had it valued and to our surprise it’s now worth £250k-270k.

We’re considering our options for Summer 2015 (not considering a move this year).

If we sell, we would have at least £100k in cash to put down as a deposit on the next place. We could buy a fairly shabby, 3 bed house in not the best area of Leytonstone for £500k if we’re lucky. But what seems more attractive is spending £400-500k in an area which is established as being nice such as Loughton, Buckhurst Hill or Brentwood. Now I know both of these places are out of London, but they’re only around 20-30 mins extra in terms of commute (and you might get a seat). That sum of money gets you a lovely 3/4 bed house close to the tube/train (crossrail when it’s built) in an area that on paper is better than Leytonstone.

Would we be foolish to sell the flat and move next year? Leytonstone seems to be appreciating in value more than most places right now, but how much higher can a 2 bed ex-council flat get? Do you think a 3/4 bed in those places will be a safe investment in years to come? To me, this property must have a significantly higher ceiling value than a 2 bed flat (albeit the flat is closer to London).

Appreciate any thoughts!

The two in bold are zone 6 and zone 5 the only one out of London is Brentwood......

smfdurham

Thanks for the reply! Those places in bold are definitely in Essex tho! (And in zone 5/6)

Npadgham

Brentwood is a nice area. I'm in Billericay which is close-by. It is very TOWIE though!

Trains are not particularly regular from Brentwood so maybe consider Shenfield which is much better! Also just as nice as Brentwood and only a 5 min drive.

TheCyclingProgrammer

You could look out as far as Billericay/Chelmsford. Only 35m on the train from Chelmsford and £400-500k will get you somewhere very nice. Prices are rising in that area too and the area continues to be developed.

makeyourdaddyproud

£500k is a bit of a jump from £270k, and in only a year? Are you planning to take on more debt?

6feet

smfdurham wrote: »

Thanks for the reply! Those places in bold are definitely in Essex tho! (And in zone 5/6)

yes but zone 6 travel card much cheaper than outside of zone 6. Property in Shenfield is very expensive now unless you live in Hutton. I am in Gidea Park so know the area. I prefer this area to Leytonstone but I have children.....

dell12

We bought in Leytonstone a year before you did and are have just sold our flat. We've made a 60% in two years (It was a bit of a mess when we bought it and we've put in alot of hard work - but still!). Leytonstone's changed alot for the better in the just over 2 years we've been here.

I'd of loved to stay in the area as I think it's on the up, but we've priced out of buying a house sadly. We've taken a punt on somewhere south of the river but we've been able to buy a 3/4 bed house for significantly less than we've sold our 2 bed flat.

In regards to your question - there's ex local authority then there ex local authority. You get terrible unmortgageable concrete constructions and you get nicer brick mansions. It depends alot on what you're looks like and is maintained. For what it's worth I think ex LA property will always be worth less than a nice Victorian house but the better end of the market should still go up in a similar ratio.

cattie

I'd definitely leave an ex council flat for a house & an area like Leytonstone for something a little further out & a more civilised way of life.

I've lived in areas in the past that have been classed as up & coming & all it means these days is that a basically grotty area is becoming more appealing because the nearer trendy/more central areas have become far too expensive so people start considering property there.

Moving from an area that is considered up & coming to move a little further out is a good way to capitalise on property prices providing you can buy a property of a bigger size for the same price or for less money than you sell at.

What you need to be aware of is that London & it's environ's have seen huge rises in property prices over the past few months alone. So the longer you leave it to make the move, the more prices can increase. Yes you might get more for your flat, but then the type of house in the location you want will have gone up by at least a similar amount too.

dell12

Most areas were up and coming at one time or another.

Notting Hill and Islington used to be pretty rough places not that many years ago. Hackney is fast going the same way.

I think it depends what you want from life. Sure London isn't ideal if you want a nice little cottage overlooking a field, but if you want a bit of nightlife, culture and to be somewhere where there's always stuff going on I can't think of many places better.

smfdurham

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

You could look out as far as Billericay/Chelmsford. Only 35m on the train from Chelmsford and £400-500k will get you somewhere very nice. Prices are rising in that area too and the area continues to be developed.

Thank you for lots of very useful replies! Didn't realise they were so accessible into London. Definitely worth us checking out