Just a general moan about housing and a missed opportunity

lisyloo

steampowered wrote: »

If you can't afford a semi-detached in the location you want, try a terraced a 2 or 3 bed flat instead.

There are houses you can buy in London for the cash you are offering. How about somewhere like https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/47848203?search_identifier=32da4011b24d01301f5a9e5df51fca07 ?

Must admit I think that’s pretty awful.
Considered moving yet?

novelty-socks

One thing I would say is had you bought that apartment, you might have some trouble selling it in the current market. I'm - admittedly - in north London (and looking to buy), but the market here is very slow. Places we've seen have been on the market for months, prices are being reduced … hang in there and you might yet be able to secure somewhere at the magic £300k mark.

Edit: also, you seem wedded to the idea of a house. Living in London, you might reconsider whether a flat can be the 'home' that you're looking for. You might find if you ditch the requirement for semi-detached and stairs, you'll have a much bigger pool of suitable places to choose from. Plenty of other people in London have made happy homes in flats. Maybe you could consider the same?

tlc678910

Hi,
I just had a look on rightmove at Stevenage. You can get some quite smart places for 300k. From 250k you can get places with potential as doer uppers to add value over time. As housing is expensive in the commuter belt anywhere with the potential to extend you could probably add a lot of value.

The train line says the average time Stevenage to Kings cross is 30 mins. With an average 144 trains per week day travelling Stevenage to Kings cross.

I'm not sure of different areas within as I'm not from there but my brother has lived there over a decade and it always seems pleasant when we visit (just on an average estate nothing fancy).

There are a lot of sold subject to contract houses on right move so I'm guessing they do go quite quickly which makes it more tricky.

I'm sure if you consider a house in any area you don't know someone on here will know if and let you know if they think it is a reasonable area to live.

Tlc

getmore4less

There are probably other sites but this one did what I wanted.

https://www.commutermaps.co.uk/

pick a station and rightmove it with map view 1/2 mile walk.
eg
Leighton Buzzard stations(36 mins EUSTON) +1/2 mile 2b+ upto £300k

Go out to Bletchley(45mins) close enough to MK for jobs there is this 3 bed

A bit further from the station there is this 2/3 bed with annex providing rental potential(mortgage may be trickier)

sitesafe

1 hour train journey to London - DETACHED 3 bed houses near to station - Kettering in Northants. Many £230k. Many others too. Prices have risen fast there in the past few years - was on a list of being one of the top ten places in U.K. for house price rises
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73767332.html

ibizafan_2

There are plenty of Londoners moving to Rugby because of the more reasonable house prices, and there are lots of new builds and older terraced houses within walking distance of the station. Great service to Euston and well under an hour, but the cost of the season ticket is considerable.

theoretica

I would suggest a look at your whole lifestyle - how long is your wife's commute at present? Before buying somewhere further out have you thought of renting to try out the lifestyle, and perhaps save more with the cheaper rent.

MysteryMe

Do you actually want some practical advice or was it as you say in your OP a chance to get stuff off your chest?

Without any idea on where you are working in London it's difficult to suggest areas as ideally you want the mainline train to be going into a terminal where you can easily get to your place of work without adding another 40 mins to the journey etc

Crashy_Time

https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/london-house-prices-nodeal-brexit-would-hit-capital-s-house-prices-like-a-sledgehammer-a123541.html

davidwood681

More is lost by indecision than the wrong decision