Commutable Towns and Cities close to London

Consecca

Caz3121 said:

Consecca said:

I guess that will be up to mortgage lender to determine what I can realistically afford in terms of budget, based on my salary.  Minimum 2 bedrooms. Yep, I would be open to both flats and houses as options.

have you used any of the mortgage calculators? would 4.5x salary + deposit give you options?

Not got round to that yet, as I am not in a serious postion to buy at the moment, and I'm confident those variables (salary and deposit) will increase in the future in my favour, but until they are real actual numbers, I would be just speculating, and so I will leave running the numbers for now but keep my options very modest.

Consecca

tower said:

Bishop’s Stortford or Harlow are about 40mins on the fast train to Liverpool st. Plenty of new homes being built. Stortford is nicer.

Hmm intresting, first time I have heard these are's mentioned. Will keep tabs on these options. Thanks

Consecca

Emmia said:

@Consecca LTV is essentially the value of the loan vs the value of the property you're buying e.g. a £100k property with a £10k (10%) deposit would have a 90% LTV. LTV is important for mortgage purposes,  lenders will have a minimum LTV and better rates are usually available the lower the LTV and the bigger proportion of the property you own.

Thanks for explaning that @Emmia.  So in your example would 90% not be considred a very good LTV?
When you say rates, what do you mean by that? 
Sorry but I am a first time buyer here so this is all new terminology to me that I am still trying to wrap my head around. 

Emmia

@Consecca A 90% LTV or a 10% deposit is likely to be at the upper limit of what lenders will do for you (you are borrowing 90% of the purchase price). Higher LTVs also tend to have a higher rate of interest - for example HSBCs interest rate for a 2 year fix fee saver is... 
2.04% at 90% LTV 
1.84% at 85% LTV 
1.79% at 80% LTV
1.69% at 70% LTV
1.49% at 60% LTV

I realise this might not look a lot different, but on a £100k property over 25years (2year fix)  you'll pay £372 a month with a 90% LTV  or £231 a month with a 60% LTV

numbercruncher8

If your work station is Bank, that opens up a wide range of possibilities: stations along the Thameslink Line, but also places on lines going into Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, and Cannon Street. 

You've got time if you aren't buying straight away. What I would say is don't write off any area on the basis that someone else doesn't like it. There are good bits and bad bits to each area, and of course each area is priced differently, some will suit you better than others. Could even be the case that if you're happy with your current area that this may be the best choice.

wjr4

Consecca said:

wjr4 said:

If you’re considering Withan, I recommend renting there first to see if you like the area. I don’t live too far away from there and I wouldn’t choose to live there. Have you looked anywhere on the C2C line? 

I'm surprised you say that because I have heard a lot of nice things about it, from what I have read so far on it and seen pictures of, looks like a qaint nice little town. 
What is the C2C line?

I have friends who live there and personally, I wouldn’t because I find it’s a bit dodgy! The C2C train line runs from Southend to Fenchurch street so lots of towns on that line. Avoid Basildon & Laindon. Another area which is nice is Rayleigh. 

spoovy

Consecca said:

spoovy said:

I'm in a similar situation. Swindon, Milton Keynes, Northampton & Basingstoke are all on my list as relatively good value options, and are all better than Essex / Kent if you like outdoorsy stuff, and all offer serious alternatives for places to work too with Reading, Oxford, Bristol commutable.

Nice to know we have someone on this thread in a similar postion.  Personally I would prefer the Kent / Essex end. But horses for courses.  I'm not seriously looking yet, just weighing up my options while I am still saving but I know I have a lot more saving to do, 30K is my deposit goal, what is your's and what value of property are you hoping to get?

I'm a couple of years down the line from you and reached my/our target deposit as of last month; I'm just waiting to see what happens with house prices / lockdown / recession etc now.  We waited until we had over 50% LTV as I'm quite debt averse, but we're looking in the same price range -- under £250k.
Incidentally I also have friends in Witham and I think it's quite nice, though I haven't been to see them in a couple of years.   Asking strangers if an area is nice or not is kind of pointless though imo because it depends mainly on who you're asking and what they grew up with.   People who grew up in Tunbridge Wells or Windsor might think an certain area is frighteningly rough, but I grew up in a really rough part of Birmingham so I'd think it's really nice!  This is true of where I live now actually! .

spencerrothchild

Wait for the coming house price crash in the coming new Great Depression 

Consecca

Emmia said:

@Consecca A 90% LTV or a 10% deposit is likely to be at the upper limit of what lenders will do for you (you are borrowing 90% of the purchase price). Higher LTVs also tend to have a higher rate of interest - for example HSBCs interest rate for a 2 year fix fee saver is... 
2.04% at 90% LTV 
1.84% at 85% LTV 
1.79% at 80% LTV
1.69% at 70% LTV
1.49% at 60% LTV

I realise this might not look a lot different, but on a £100k property over 25years (2year fix)  you'll pay £372 a month with a 90% LTV  or £231 a month with a 60% LTV

Thanks for explaining that again @Emmia.  Intresting to see a condensed table of rates side by side, that makes it a lot more clear.  So really, say for example  we stick with your numbers, From a 10% deposit, I would be paying £372 just on the intrest alone before any of the actual cost of the mortage - that is crazy expensive!  How much ££ on top of that would the mortgage payments be? 

Consecca

numbercruncher8 said:

If your work station is Bank, that opens up a wide range of possibilities: stations along the Thameslink Line, but also places on lines going into Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, and Cannon Street. 

You've got time if you aren't buying straight away. What I would say is don't write off any area on the basis that someone else doesn't like it. There are good bits and bad bits to each area, and of course each area is priced differently, some will suit you better than others. Could even be the case that if you're happy with your current area that this may be the best choice.

    You make some Good points @nu@numbercruncher8 Yep a ton of variables to bear in mind for sure.  But to be honest I think a lot of these decsions will be made for me, based on the fact I will only have a modest budget as a single buyer so although ther will be lot of these areas that have convenient links to the stations you mention, that of course comes at a price - many of which will be out of my league but like you say just because somewhere else is cheaper or bit further out does no make it a sess pit crime zone.