Scouting locations to buy in

lildoonbuggy

How have others dealt with buying a house when location isn't a primary concern? We have no family near us so are a bit stuck in terms of what we should research before settling on something. Both work in London and are looking for family friendly place that isn't going to leave us without holidays for the next 30 years. All insights and experiences would be highly valued! :beer:

Lucky_Duck_2

Assuming you are going to travel in by train each day then I'd suggest the quality (or lack of it) of the train service and cost of a season ticket will be quite important.

hazyjo

Where in London do you both need to get to? What sort of budget? Where are you now?

lildoonbuggy

We're in North London at the moment, with me working in Central London and I imagine I will stay there. My husband works a bike ride from home however the workplace is fairly uninspired and doesn't have a great reputation in his field. In a year he'd like to be working in London for a reputable international organisation (his previous background) , and we've found that there seem to be hubs in East London and Croydon.

At the moment I'm just researching on right move and by asking colleagues at work. We will likely start doing day trips on the weekend to get a feel for some of the front runners, but am not sure how others have managed things down! It almost has me wondering whether buying is the right choice, but I want to give us the best shot at making that decision especially being in our thirties and likely to start a family in the next 3 years.

hazyjo

Was asking specifically where in London as it obviously makes a huge difference if Oxford Street or Piccadilly or Bank.

I was in NE London and recently moved to Leigh-on-Sea. I walk from Fenchurch Street to Liverpool Street. Halved my mortgage and got a better house in a far better location. Prefer the travel even though it's longer and twice the price.

Toucan_toucan

We're in a sort of similar position. We live in London, my job is here, but want to move out for more space (not planning on the kids part though). No ties to anywhere in the local area, and family isn't too much of a problem as we're already 2+ hours away from them.


We've tried to broadly list criteria that we need, and have found it's quite amazing how many places don't have the basics (and I don't even think we're being too fussy!). So, for us, it's as follows: decent public transport (OH doesn't drive), which has to include a railway station, a big supermarket within 15 minutes on the bus at most (and that bus can't be once a week!), at least one of each of a Chinese, Indian, fish & chip shop and pub, again within walking distance, somewhere close by for walks (we'd love a dog & like walking in general), ideally near some water for sailing, a gym and/or pool within a short bus ride or drive. We've done a bit of google mapping to try to get an overall list, and are starting to visit potential places with a view to seeing what might work.


Ok, having read all that maybe we are fussy!


Anyway, we've found that places in Kent (the Medway towns, Faversham, Whitstable etc.), some in Essex (Chelmsford, Southend), the south coast (Hastings, Brighton), and going round to parts of Hampshire are on the list. I've then just been looking at Rightmove with our house criteria to see what sort of places are coming up within our size/budget. That immediately knocks some places off the list (Brighton!).


We're in no immediate rush, which has helped a lot, and my employers are pretty good at allowing working from home and flexibility about which office we work from, so that has meant we're not totally tied to a really narrow set of places.


I hope this has helped a bit.

agrinnall

You need to give us some idea of budget, we could send you to look at Virginia Water but if Medway is what you can afford that would be wasting all of our time.

victoriavictorious

No idea of your budget but have you considered Ramsgate / Broadstairs? Fast trains into St. Pancras, some nice properties at good prices, fab coastline. Admittedly Ramsgate can be a bit rough around the edges but it's improving, quite arty and has some nice quirky shops. It's even got a Waitrose!

JoJo1978

How far are you prepared to commute for a lifestyle and less expensive property? Husband and I have just relocated from SE London to Newark in Nottinghamshire.

We sold a 3 bed ex LA semi and bought a six bed detached with the proceeds. Slightly different situation maybe, we are mortgage free and child free, in our 40s.

We quit our London careers too. But husband now works for London firm three days a week, two at home and one in London. I've just picked up a remote working contract with one day a fortnight in London. 75 minutes on train, plenty of people here do the commute 5 days a week.

How London centric are you about work? Where we are based now is slap bang in the middle of England with several other major cities commutable. And so much closer to the peaks, dales and lakes.

There's an online community called Life After London that you should visit, lots of advice on areas and real stories. And if commuting distance is key, try commutefrom

z1a

Tring .

lildoonbuggy

Thank you all for the insight (especially z1a - made me chuckle). I'm in Charing Cross whereas husband is still to narrow down on a London job. Commuting will come into that though. Ideal budget is £320 - £350k for a 2 bed house with some sort of yard, mainly because I feel it's insanity to pay more. However I'm conscious that's not something I can control. I would ideally spend less than 2 hours commuting a day. Jojo we tried the midlands previously but found ourselves a bit bored and restless. We like being near bustle and the airports and travel as often as we can. Toucan, completely identify - right down to the sailing though its not a requirement (yet!). I'd love to find a place that has soul and sort of adopts us into its culture. Not having family around does leave a big gap, so maybe that's also influencing this feeling of wanting to set roots. A few places have been mentioned here for me to right move, so thank you again for fuelling my madness!