Buying a flat/house in Birmingham

elsien

Agree. Run down rather than rough. I’d live there and I’m a single woman.  Then again I already live in a run down area (not Brum) so I’m used to it.  

JenniferZenn

Doozergirl said:

JenniferZenn said:

Doozergirl said:

elsien said:

@Doozergirl might have some ideas. 

The up and coming area in terms of capital appreciation is definitely Stirchley.  It's heaven for a foodie right, still visibly run down but definitely filling with young, cool buyers when you look at the people.  

I'm not sure what the flat market is like though, it's

mainly houses so might be out of budget, but if I were looking that is definitely where I'd search.   

Thanks for the input. sorry about me being novice but just to check, does the run down type of towns/cities safe to live alone ? 

I don't think Stirchley is rough; you'd be using Bournville station for a start as it's right there and are surrounded by nice areas like Selly Park, Kings Norton & Kings Heath. 

It's just that the High St really, really died there and a lot of the buildings on the Pershore Road haven't been renovated yet but it is in the process of happening and that's why it's a good place to buy in.

If you look at the people, there's a lot of young families with prams etc and quite a vibrant community social scene, as well as the fabulous independent restaurants that appear hidden in the day but appear at night.  We have friends around the corner.  

I'd much rather live in Stirchley than Erdington. 

My daughter went to school in Handsworth so I know there are some nicer areas when I was driving around to get her around Handsworth Wood etc but the state of the saddest parts of humanity are absolutely laid bare there for all to see.  Not a chance would I live around there.  

Appreciate your advise. Thank you very much. I will check out Stirchley .

JenniferZenn

Also , could somebody help me understand how the records of sold prices/history on a house will useful to get an idea/insight on a property. say for example the below 

Doozergirl

JenniferZenn said:

Also , could somebody help me understand how the records of sold prices/history on a house will useful to get an idea/insight on a property. say for example the below 

Too old to be of any use.  Much more recent sales of similar properties nearby are more useful.  Still not definitive.  

SiliconChip

I'd agree with @Doozergirl that Stirchley is a good call for a place where house prices are reasonable at the moment and likely to rise considerably over the medium term. When I first lived in Birmingham (mid 1980s) I lived in Cotteridge and worked in Bournville (no prizes for guessing who for ) and Stirchley was run down but quite lively, particularly for curry houses, although there weren't many places to drink at that time. Since my return to Birmingham 7 years ago (I now live a bit further out but drive through Stirchley quite often) it was even more run down but has had a lot of new commerical activity, with an artisan bakery, pop up bars, new restaurants, and recently the opening of a new Aldi on a site that had been derelict for many years. What hasn't happened much yet is renovation and gentrification of the housing stock, but I think it's inevitable that it will happen over the next few years, so this could be a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor. I can't think of much in the way of purpose built blocks of flats but there may well be existing conversions of houses into flats, plus flats over commercial premises, that you could consider if houses are out of your price range.

JenniferZenn

SiliconChip said:

I'd agree with @Doozergirl that Stirchley is a good call for a place where house prices are reasonable at the moment and likely to rise considerably over the medium term. When I first lived in Birmingham (mid 1980s) I lived in Cotteridge and worked in Bournville (no prizes for guessing who for ) and Stirchley was run down but quite lively, particularly for curry houses, although there weren't many places to drink at that time. Since my return to Birmingham 7 years ago (I now live a bit further out but drive through Stirchley quite often) it was even more run down but has had a lot of new commerical activity, with an artisan bakery, pop up bars, new restaurants, and recently the opening of a new Aldi on a site that had been derelict for many years. What hasn't happened much yet is renovation and gentrification of the housing stock, but I think it's inevitable that it will happen over the next few years, so this could be a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor. I can't think of much in the way of purpose built blocks of flats but there may well be existing conversions of houses into flats, plus flats over commercial premises, that you could consider if houses are out of your price range.

Thank you for info. Any idea what is average 

JenniferZenn

Been on the websites searching but I can barely see one bedroom houses on the market in Birmingham . If I were to check  ht 2 bed room , the min price in Stirchley is £200,000   

MFWannabe

JenniferZenn said:

Been on the websites searching but I can barely see one bedroom houses on the market in Birmingham . If I were to check  ht 2 bed room , the min price in Stirchley is £200,000   

You would get a property for that value on a salary of 35k with a 60k deposit 
that’s a mortgage of 140k (4 times salary) 

millie

Castle Bromwich is not far from Erdington and it is quite nice there. There are several small blocks of flats 3 story ones with probably 15 or so flats in each block. They are close to Castle Bromwich Gardens. They sell For around £120,000 To £140,000. It is on the outskirt of Birmingham so not far for a bit of county side and about 5 miles from Birmingham Airport.