South London FTB Dilemma: Croydon or Crystal Palace?

ReadingTim

zagubov wrote: »

As the other posters have said, pick somewhere where you'd be happy to live., not as a potential investment.

London has places where living would be miserable and rising house prices aren't an adequate reward for putting up with that.

On the contrary - I would suggest that for the timeframe the OP's considering, the fact s/he is a FTB, sole purchaser and doesn't seem to have any kids, rising house prices would be more than adequate rewards for a slightly grim area in the first couple of years. An area might be a bit of a sh!thole, but if I'm out at work all week and yet my house earns more than I do in a year, I'd stomach it for a few years, especially if I'm really only there to sleep and at weekends. And really, are any of these places that bad?!? Are you really more likely to get mugged, stabbed (or worse) living in one area than the next?

Obviously the very immediate location is important, and you have to like living in the property: I'd find it hard stumping up all of my hard earned on somewhere which I didn't want to look at, let alone live in! Also, your immediate neighbours can make or break a place, regardless of how desirable the postcode is, so don't overlook that; but on the whole, I don't think it's wrong to consider the investment potential for a short/medium term period.

mystic_trev

padington wrote: »

Personally I disagree about some of the above advice.

I doubt the OP wants to live in Wood Green.:D

lisyloo

ReadingTim wrote: »

And really, are any of these places that bad?!? Are you really more likely to get mugged, stabbed (or worse) living in one area than the next?

In London yes and yes.
I've lived in many areas and the main issue is noise TBH.
If you have people fighting/shouting, either in a next door flat or in the street every night then that can easily impact your ability to perform at your work.

You are unlikely to be shot, stabbed etc. But anti social behaviour can have a massive impact on your health, life and your house price as well.

Emy74

Lived in Croydon all my life without any problem. South Croydon has good train links to Victoria and London Bridge. It's the best area of Croydon especially close to the station for me.

With the new Westfield and other work going on in the town can see the area holding its value well.

Wouldn't consider west Croydon, South Norwood, Thornton Heath etc especially if you are planning to raise kids there