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

smfdurham

hazyjo wrote: »

I hated Brentwood but know lots love it. Trains were horrendous - always late and full of very annoying people! It's very flashy in some respects too (yet a bit grotty round the edges), I do watch TOWIE but didn't really want to live amongst them and their pop-up shops lol. Also found drugs (coke) a massive problem in some pubs. Some landlords clamped down, one in particular did zilch. Most people I met seemed up to the eyeballs in debt too.

Add North Chingford to that list. No tubes, seat in and out of town. Heaven (where I am now).

Chelmsford feels too big for my tastes, but agree it's one to add to the list. Along with Shenfield - heavenly, lovely, quiet fast trains into London!

In your shoes, I'd sell and trade up. No question. I would try to get something slightly outside the main popular Essex areas though (eg North Chingford or even Highams Park where the prices are currently rocketing. Houses around the £370k mark now are on for a hundred grand more than they were a year ago).

Jx

That's great advice thank you! We like the slightly shabby but small community feel of Leytonstone (well at least the Bushwood area where we live). Not to say we wouldn't like something else, but TOWIE sounds like hell to me which is a consideration, i'd like a nice old fashioned pub on my doorstep (think real ale or craft beer!). Which of the mentioned areas do you think are less TOWIE?

Why do you say North Chingford, are other parts of Chingford not worth considering? The reason I hadn't considered anything other than tube or cross rail was to keep costs down for transport and consider the impact of crossrail on house value (i.e. good if you're on crossrail and potentially bad if you're not) but getting a seat is a big consideration, that might make Chingford a better bet than say Brentwood

hazyjo

smfdurham wrote: »

That's great advice thank you! We like the slightly shabby but small community feel of Leytonstone (well at least the Bushwood area where we live). Not to say we wouldn't like something else, but TOWIE sounds like hell to me which is a consideration, i'd like a nice old fashioned pub on my doorstep (think real ale or craft beer!). Which of the mentioned areas do you think are less TOWIE?

Why do you say North Chingford, are other parts of Chingford not worth considering? The reason I hadn't considered anything other than tube or cross rail was to keep costs down for transport and consider the impact of crossrail on house value (i.e. good if you're on crossrail and potentially bad if you're not) but getting a seat is a big consideration, that might make Chingford a better bet than say Brentwood

Highams Park might be a good option. Slightly shabby, but still some nice restaurants and cafes. The pub's a bit battered now but they did it up in around 2010 and it was much improved. They have live bands, etc on occasionally. North Chingford does have an element of TOWIE (they have filmed there a few times now!) but the late bars are up near the station and it's quite contained. It does seriously lack a good pub, although the Kings Head is bordering classy (ie not a proper boozer!) and does have a few fireplaces! Not exactly a friendly small local though, more like somewhere you'd take your mum or friends. The Larkshall is nice (same chain as County Arms in Highams Park (will call "HP" from now on)) - (google images - it at least looks like a country pub!). That's a good mile from me (a mile from HP and North Chingford). The Queen Elizabeth is more of a carvery. The pub side is okay. Stables on the side - was there Sat and it did look like a few had driven out for a 'country pub visit'!

(I honestly don't spend much times in pubs these days lol.)

You have Connaught Waters on your doorstep (10 min walk from Chingford Station). Massive lake - great for dog walking.

I don't like Chingford Mount. Slightly run down, especially near where the dog track used to be. Although that side of Chingford is fine once you're north of the crossroads with New Road/Hall Lane (esp north of Priory Ave) - but much further from stations.

They often class anything north of New Road as North Chingford, although, realistically, I'd say north of Endlebury Road is more like it.

I'd also avoid Chingford Hatch, and Friday Hill (although parts of that are considered desirable).

I would shortlist these in your shoes:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43934035.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30270300.html

Left of Larkshall Road (HP) (plus Coolgardie Avenue on the right) are okay, but not exactly near anything.

You would get a seat at Brentwood. The only stop before it is Shenfield - but hardly anyone there uses it as they all get the fast train (which doesn't stop at Brentwood). For my first year, I actually paid the hundred or two more pa to go back a stop to Shenfield to get the fast train. All well and good if the bloody trains ran reliably on the slow line!!! Lost count of the amount of times I went fast to Shenfield from Liv St only to wait 20+ mins for a train back to Brentwood before giving up and spending nearly a tenner in a cab (that's not counting the times they'd change their mind which platform it'd come in on so you'd swap over several times). Grrrr. The worst line I ever used.

Have some virtual walks round

Jx

smfdurham

That second one looks lovely!

Really appreciate all that info, feel like I have a decent impression about the area already. We've always been lucky to live within a 2 min walk of a great local pub and a tube/train station which is a luxury we'd find difficult to give up. I think 1 mile is top end of how far we'd like to be from transport, but when you get to half a mile and less it really starts to impact on prices so it seems

I think next step is to have a drive round and give lots of excuses for pub lunches to check out these areas!

TheCyclingProgrammer

Wherever you live in Essex, you're never going to be far from a decent village pub. It will get less TOWIE the further out you go but don't bother looking south of the A127 (Basildon, Vange, Canvey Island etc.).

To be honest, if it appeals to you, there are lots of nice villages around the major towns in Essex that you'll probably find somewhere nice in your budget, just bear in mind it might not be quite as convenient for the train (but you could always cycle to the station).

hazyjo

Some fair points from TCP above. So long as you don't mind a bus or a drive! Some LOVELY country pubs in Essex

Possibly add Stansted Mountfitchet to your list. I might go there next (not for years yet!). Worth a virtual walk round maybe. Start at the station and go straight across road, then come back and look down roads it crossed. Fairly quaint, but got a station, and nice restaurants, several pubs, ets.

I would also write anything off under a mile to a station - but that's cos I commute. Once you don't need to, it opens up lots of doors. I didn't want the hassle of adding a drive to a station.

Oh, and the Bull on the Green (and various other names before) is now a Prezzo in Chingford (if doing a virtual walk).

I'd actually write that second house off cos of its shared drive - missed that!

Jx

hazyjo

Try lunch in Godot's bistro - £12.95 for two courses and a glass of wine Service sometimes hit and miss but can't go too wrong with the food - and it's a nice little restaurant.

(And similar deal in Elche (tapas - gorgeous!)). The Thai (Pat Pong) is lovely, as is Mamma Mia's.

I always feel like I'm on holiday in Chingford Lots of independent shops/restaurants/cafes.

Virtual walk from here to very end of road: http://goo.gl/maps/YZiW0

(Then turn round and walk other way from link - up to lake on left.)

Jx
PS I'm not on commission lol.

smfdurham

Great! Might head over to Chingford in the next week or two to explore, thanks for doing your bit for the Chingford tourist board

RealLife

''LA property will always be worth less than a nice Victorian house''


...some Victorian, Edwardian houses are council (or social landlord) properties.

tootallulah

Looking at the market I would really consider moving this year, taking your profit and investing in a house ASAP, it will always increase more than an ex-LA flat, by next year houses may be out of your price bracket.

Also look for the easiest commute, if you get a house you are likely to be in it for a while, the journey becomes an issue over time!

Daniel54

smfdurham wrote: »

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!

For a start,I know Buckhurst Hill and surrounding area well.Hazyjo has given you a good steer over North Chingford and sound advice on areas best avoided for commuters like Chingford Hatch.

I was going to reply in a slightly different manner,but on re-readingyour OP as quoted above your emphasis is all about your property as an investment,not about where you want to live and your plans for the future.

I say this because these semi rural areas with easy commuting are predominantly areas for families and many of the professional couples who move here to flats subsequently upgrade to a house when they need more space.So it as about where you want to live and how you plan for the future.You correctly identify that the extra 10 minutes on the Central Line makes a big difference to the demographics of the area.

Properties don't change hands very often here..There is very little for sale in your price bracket at the moment for this reason

Over time the combination of a decent and safe area with easy commuting means that your investment should be more than secure,even if percentage increases in North Leytonstone might have been greater.

Don't be put off by TOWIE.Yes these Essex stereotypes do exist,but they are just a small sub-section of a larger and varied community and part of what you get as part of a nice area and easy commute in south west Essex ( although Brentwood has got more than its fair share !).Things don't suddenly change if I drive a couple of miles into a London postcode.

So jump on the tube,have a drink in the Three Colts and a walk to the lakes in Lords Bushes and buy yourselves something tasty in Waitrose or a coffee in Costa before heading back East.Its not Nirvana ( and North Chingford ticks most of the same boxes apart from the tube) but it is a decent area to live and raise a family and I would never swap my seat and a normal maximum 4 minute wait for a tube at peak times for the much longer journeys elsewhere.

Hope this helps