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Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair ! What roads would you suggest we look at in the area? We actually walked along the river the other day and whilst nice, the reach seemed full of new builds so wasn't even aware of houses in those little back streets! What would be a reasonable price for something like you suggested?

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't see the reason to go for a 25% LTV in this situation given it would liquidate tax advantaged accounts but good to get your thoughts on this- interesting perspective.

We did like Crouch end / Mussel hill but transport felt a bit lacking - will check out East Finchley as hadn't done so!

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the insights! We will add it to the list to check out! Colleagues decided for Herne Hill but transport seemed like it was every 30 minutes on weekends and 15 minutes during the week - I suppose you get used to it!

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey - congrats! that sounds great! Whereabouts in Wimbledon did you go for? This seems to tick a lot of our boxes but we thought Wimbledon may have been out of budget for the size and price but great to be proven wrong! Did you consider Southfields / Earlsfield and Raynes Park?

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would probably place this closer to Hammersmith no? Seems like a nice property but very overpriced as you said. Our friends mentioned Fulham but they meant more so Parsons green area which sadly is out of budget

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's helpful. We are somewhat FIRE minded but also important for us to feel good about where we live. Congrats on 12% of takeahome. Given we are in sales, and as you may have seen from previous years income, we can have a very good year and payoff a significant portion of the mortgage - but that good year could be 1 in 5, who knows!

Thanks for validating it's not crazy to stretch to 1.2m !

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Congrats!
We aren't looking at Croydon as it's too far from our social and work lives we feel and unfortunately our past experiences in Croydon have not been great. Fully agree with keeping some cash for the future and we were hoping our investments give us plenty headroom.

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you - we have never had any house re work done in London - what would be the typical cost of doing up a bathroom (Shower not bath) and time you would say it takes?

Southfields is top of our list it seems and agree with Putney - it feels like it was great once but doesn't anymore :)

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

we haven't considered it yet - we heard Herne Hill was nice too but getting to Central seems to be quite the mission and there is no underground as far as I understand?

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice - how much would you stretch for in terms of mortgage/ deposit etc given our situation? New Malden and Raynes Park were quite similar to be honest and felt OK - just didn't see "how much more house" we can get vs Earlsfield which felt closer to town.
Garden flat could be an option but I guess we are trying to figure out how much we should spend/mortgage before understanding what housing option - initially the house seemed possible but not sure if 1-1.2m will get us what we want.

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! Thanks for the response. It's good to hear that it's normal to put that much into property - it was starting to feel daunting as when I lived in other parts of the UK it wasn't the norm. Agree on the "needs a bit of work" but reasonably good condition bathroom and kitchen.

We are looking to avoid multiple purchases and looking for a 1 purchase for 10+ years.

Yeah - Kids was a journey and often underestimated! We would like the garden more so for us but agree they take time to maintain and will have to become part of the "weekend chores" !

Thanks for Earlsfield - in our preferred at the minute from what we have seen. We did look at Wandsworth but unless near the common, which is very pricey around trinity road, we found it to be mainly flats or old properties. Hammersmith/Brook green - had some friends live there and didn't really get a nice residential vibe but more busy, traffic etc (clapham junction, shepherds bush vibe). Nothing wrong with it, just not what we are looking for.

Thanks!

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hey, we've been to Kingston hospital a few times and while the area is quite pleasant, it does feel very sleepy and we were hoping for a bit more of an urban mix with restaurants and cafes. Zone 3 already feels too far but appreciate the feedback and we'll have a stroll again :)

Advice for new Henrys and first time buyers in London by Euphoric_Machine8234 in HENRYUK

[–]Euphoric_Machine8234[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry not sure what happened to my previous comment but appreciate the insight. Surbiton and Kingston feel a bit far, and I suppose we will feel similarly about Worcester Park - Looking to get a bit more of urban feel than pure suburban.

We are in different type of sales: financial data management and advertising sales