Disillusioned and just buying anything

mi-key

The forest is lovely ( my parents live there in a small village, and I know a couple of others who live right out in the woods in the scary dark bits ) but it is very hard to find decent properties unless you have a big budget ! and a car is definitely a must.

Lyndey area is nice, and you do get some cheaper houses there, or cheltenham has some nice bits.

Remember though if you do buy somewhere, there is no saying you  have to stay there forever. You could get something you are mainly happy with now and then see how it goes, and always move in a  few years if a better place comes up

TripleH

My first home was a 2 bed flat in a nice inner city family area of Leeds. I had a work colleague who grew up in the wider area confirm it was a nice enough area to live in.

It was a great start on the property ladder but I was isolated away from anyone I knew and I went into a shell. I got lucky doubling my money on the property otherwise it would have been a complete disaster so I think it might be better to err on the side of caution and not jump into something only to find it goes wrong fir you.

aliby21

In terms of money saving, if you are thinking of buying somewhere just to own a property, which you will then  'drop on RM the day you move in', make sure you factor in the sunk costs associated with a house move - solicitors, estate agents, stamp duty if applicable, also any perks you would no longer have as a FTB

Is it possible to quantify this? I know you're right, but surely paying another 12k on rent is going to be worse and still having 0 equity to show for it.

You would be best placed to come up with some idea of costs - some are fixed for price of house like stamp duty, others like conveyancing can depend on what sort of firm you use.  there are online calculators, plug in your options and get some figures

on the zero equity, it is worth pointing out that if you are looking at housing as an investment it is the same as investing in the stock market, the value of your investments can go down as well as up.  I am not a Crashy, but there is no guarantee you will have + equity especially if you are only looking at owning the place for six months or a year. 

You seem to have three criteria that are important to you
- close to family and friends
- good transport links
- "nice" house / street
but you are finding that your budget does not stretch to a property that fulfils all three of these. So you need to select which are the most important and where you are prepared to compromise.  Or keep renting, keep saving, try and increase your income.

Would learning to drive / buying a car increase your options by decreasing  your reliance on public transport?

BungalowBel

My one and only foray into the Forest of Dean was a visit to a village (which shall remain nameless)   where the locals closed ranks against 'foreigners' and made me and my husband most unwelcome and some were threatening.  Won't visit there again in a hurry!

However, I think the OP needs to decide where they can compromise.  We were prepared to have a house style we found ugly to be able to afford the area were wanted.  (Luckily we didn't have to make that compromise in the end). No house is ever going to be perfect.

GixerKate

You've mentioned a number of places that you have discounted due to needing own transport, presumably you don't have a vehicle?  Maybe this is something you could rectify as then it would open up more possibilities around Glos, Stroud etc.

[Deleted User]

In a similar situation myself. 95% of the market is crap, anything good is priced out of reach.

The UK has a lot of bad houses. There's nothing that can be done about it because they are mostly terrace or semis, so they can't even be torn down and replaced with something decent easily. Most new builds are a bad joke, car dependent, overpriced, tiny, and often poorly built.

Most people seem to just give up on getting anything good and try to make the inside better, resulting in poorly thought out renovations.

The sad reality is that you and I will probably have to settle, or emigrate. The latter is attractive but difficult.

RelievedSheff

[Deleted User] said:

In a similar situation myself. 95% of the market is crap, anything good is priced out of reach.

The UK has a lot of bad houses. There's nothing that can be done about it because they are mostly terrace or semis, so they can't even be torn down and replaced with something decent easily. Most new builds are a bad joke, car dependent, overpriced, tiny, and often poorly built.

Most people seem to just give up on getting anything good and try to make the inside better, resulting in poorly thought out renovations.

The sad reality is that you and I will probably have to settle, or emigrate. The latter is attractive but difficult.

If you dislike current housing stock why not buy some land and build something you do like.

jrawle

A few people are starting to say, "why don't you just get a car?" so I thought I'd add my own comments. OP, I can fully understand why you'd prefer to live somewhere that isn't car dependent. I hate the idea of having to drive to get absolutely anywhere, to add to the pollution, congestion, etc. So much better if you can walk, cycle, and get to the bus stop or railway station easily.

Like many people, I did a quick Rightmove search. I found e.g. a 3 bed detached house for £300,000, 1.5 miles from Gloucester station. That's walking distance for me, but others' opinions may vary.

For your first home, you have to compromise. Is it living sightly further away, but still walking distance (like 1.5 miles)? Is it living in one of those terraced streets? Or perhaps you should consider an apartment. Which compromise you make will depend on your priorities. I did the latter, and I'm glad I did. Remember that this isn't the place you have to live for the rest of your life, and won't be perfect. You'll build equity rather than simply paying rent each month to be lost forever. In some years' time, you can then afford a property more like the one you'd imagined. I reckon I saved £60-70,000 in the ten or so years I owned my flat vs renting. Oh and don't look at the prices from 5 or 10 years ago and begrudge the money the owners have made, and refuse to view them. If you buy now, you will be in that position in 10 years' time. This isn't greed; it's the way the housing market works. You can hardly expect them to sell their houses well below market value just because you think rising house prices are unfair.

ArbitraryRandom

aliby21 said:

In terms of money saving, if you are thinking of buying somewhere just to own a property, which you will then  'drop on RM the day you move in', make sure you factor in the sunk costs associated with a house move - solicitors, estate agents, stamp duty if applicable, also any perks you would no longer have as a FTB

Is it possible to quantify this? I know you're right, but surely paying another 12k on rent is going to be worse and still having 0 equity to show for it.

You seem to have three criteria that are important to you
- close to family and friends
- good transport links
- "nice" house / street
but you are finding that your budget does not stretch to a property that fulfils all three of these. So you need to select which are the most important and where you are prepared to compromise.  Or keep renting, keep saving, try and increase your income.

Would learning to drive / buying a car increase your options by decreasing  your reliance on public transport?

This twice over. 

There's a difference between buying 'anything' - meaning something that's completely inappropriate for your needs and that will be difficult to sell 'just because', and buying something that's not your 'dream house'. 

Waiting forever for the perfect house is stupid because nothing will ever be 'perfect'; Life is about compromises. Even if something comes on the market that you think it perfect, there will be things you find you're not happy with after living with it a few years. But buying something that will be a money sink or millstone is just as bad. 

So make a list of 'must', 'want' and 'under no circumstances', then look at the housing stock again. 

mi-key

BungalowBel said:

My one and only foray into the Forest of Dean was a visit to a village (which shall remain nameless)   where the locals closed ranks against 'foreigners' and made me and my husband most unwelcome and some were threatening.  Won't visit there again in a hurry!

However, I think the OP needs to decide where they can compromise.  We were prepared to have a house style we found ugly to be able to afford the area were wanted.  (Luckily we didn't have to make that compromise in the end). No house is ever going to be perfect.

There are some odd places there, I think some of the residents are their own parents, it can get a bit 'deliverance' in the dark hidden places !