How do you judge if an area is on the slide?

ReadingTim

Surely the real trick (and where the money is made) is to identify the areas which are currently 'rough' but are prime for gentrification - perhaps you want to stay put and hope you'll see the area come full circle?

Failing that, as mentioned above, the number of bookies and fried chicken shops is a pretty good indicator...

SimoneD

I was always recommended to find the worst house in the best street not the best house in the worst street. Positive indicators of ok areas are skips and general building work showing confidence/investment in the area. It very much depends on what you want to get from where you live - some people want to live in the 'nice' areas others like to live in the active bustle of a city.

You can also use something like zoopla and see what the post code prices have been doing compared to other locations you are looking to purchase a house see example here for leeds 6 post code

zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/browse/ls6/?q=ls6

moneyistooshorttomention

Hmmm...

Well I "read the runes" re my last area (ie where my starter house was) and what I noticed personally was:

- there was an increasing percentage of sold houses going to buy-to-letters (rather than home-owners). That was what I took as Major Sign of Trouble Ahead (darn it....).

- it was only a subjective impression (as I hadn't been keeping records of it) but it felt like more rubbish/etc was being littered around in the area.

- there weren't as many skips around as I would like (ie denoting House That Work Was Being Done On).

- I think one of the clinchers to me personally was that I had gradually got more and more in touch with the very localised grapevine. That grapevine told me that many years previous to my buying into that area the local Council had had Plans to drive a major road through my very specific little area. The residents had got together and stopped it at the time. I did wonder whether the Council might ever resurrect that idea and my logic told me they might and that, this time, a smaller proportion of people living there would be home-owners (ie with investments - financially and emotionally - in the area). Because my specific little area was in a booming/building type city = I didn't rate my chances re whether the local Council might resurrect that particular little brainchild scheme of theirs at some point and thought the odds weren't good that they might do so.

NO chance was I going to leave myself open to the Compulsory Purchase (or wish they would) scenario.

EDIT; Mustnt forget - I had started to notice people in My Circle leaving the specific little area. It was a very mixed area - people from "top to bottom" of Society. But some of the "middlings" (ie like me) had left....

Add in a drugs raid nearby and rehabilitating druggies having place nearby (and local grapevine had told me quite a bit about resultant problems).....and....

carefullycautious

What puts me off houses/ flats immediately are drawn curtains that seem to be constantly drawn and flags hanging out of windows.

And as above the general state of the garden.

Plus if I google map an area and there are lots of children hanging around.

I am now at an age that I would rather live either backing onto a railway line and have a really busy road at the front.

I would never go onto an estate again.

Dan-Dan

I`m laughing at the burnt out cars and smashed windows advice , i mean , if someone needs telling that those things are bad , maybe they would settle in just fine..!

david29dpo

Avoid anywhere with a Cash Converters.

Grumpelstiltskin

Looking at my street on the police website it shows one crime reported in the month of July - unsocial behaviour.


I must have missed that probably an argument as to which mobility scooter had the right of way on the narrow pavement, walking sticks at dawn.


:rotfl::rotfl:

roneik

Some of the posts got me laughing. I sometimes wonder what happened to this country
I cant put into print what I am thinking , but happy day's everyone . I go to bed with a world war two helmet on .and wear welding goggles at all times.:j:j

roneik

QUOTE=Dan-Dan;69136191]I`m laughing at the burnt out cars and smashed windows advice , i mean , if someone needs telling that those things are bad , maybe they would settle in just fine..![/QUOTE]



:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

love_lifer

yes I'm not so dim that I'd miss the obvious signs; it's the less obvious ones i'm trying to pick up. perhaps paying more attention to the crime stats is more useful. the numbers in the area I live now are through the roof. I know its rough but even I was shocked