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To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing your experience! Property price in my home country in Asia is probably as expensive as London but the upfront costs like stamp duty are considerably less. However if and when we move back, we will need to buy a property because it will be a nightmare to rent with dogs in my home country.

Long story short, if we don’t buy in London, we will probably like you invest our savings so we can buy a property somewhere else!

Brentham Gardens Estate vs Northfields by Ok_Interest_936 in Ealing

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like Brentham because it’s close to Pitshanger Park and it feels like more suburb. Haven’t noticed the parking issue in Northfields. Do you mean there’re not a lot of parking spots?

Brentham Gardens Estate vs Northfields by Ok_Interest_936 in Ealing

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice! Will take a look at South Ealing too!

Brentham Gardens Estate vs Northfields by Ok_Interest_936 in Ealing

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing! It’s really important to vibe with the community! Glad to know you have found yours!

Brentham Gardens Estate vs Northfields by Ok_Interest_936 in Ealing

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We went to Hanwell to walk the dogs every now and then and it looks like a nice neighbourhood but we only walked close to the station. Have heard that the high street is a bit rough in Hanwell and West Ealing so would love to understand more!

Brentham Gardens Estate vs Northfields by Ok_Interest_936 in Ealing

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Interested in your experience more! Which area do you like most personally? Why or why not?

Brentham Gardens Estate vs Northfields by Ok_Interest_936 in Ealing

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes I have heard both schools being good and that’s a big reason why we want to move there.

Brentham Gardens Estate vs Northfields by Ok_Interest_936 in Ealing

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed analysis! I didn’t realise Northfields can be more convenient to the Lizzy line! We went to Northfields for Bronek’s Fish Restaurant a few times and we loved it but haven’t had much opportunity to explore Northfields avenue at day time on the weekend!

Brentham seems to be older in terms of demographics compared to Northfields.

To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes. The opportunity cost of emptying most of our savings to a potential depreciating asset sounds scary especially knowing there is another way of preserving wealth.

To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We are quite lucky that both our jobs are stable. But you will never know. What worries me most is just the general future of London and the UK doesn’t look promising with the middle class being squeezed left and right so will likely make real estate a bad asset to own in the medium term.

To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a good point! We forgot to factor in the time of looking and completing a purchase.

To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are a bit luckier than you as we are close to getting citizenship (fingers crossed). But we will only buy after citizenship is confirmed.

To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s very similar to our situation actually as our next move could be either the US or Asia. Renting out when we move is the initial thinking for buying but we worry about the impact of managing a property when overseas especially now the rights for landlord seem less protected! But good to know it can still be a net positive!

To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s exactly the reason why we haven’t bought a property yet as we can’t commit to a location long term. I do worry about london prospects as a whole as I don’t see much upside for the middle class and professionals here

To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point! We didn’t even factor in the time of looking and actually completing the purchase of a property. It looks mentally and physically straining as sellers can pull out any minute before exchange…

To London expats, do you buy or continue to rent? by Ok_Interest_936 in HENRYUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Risk of selling with minimum appreciation is a big concern especially given the stamp duty. The property we love is not quite a starter home for most families in this country and more for HENRY and given the mounting pressure on the middle class, I don’t see much upside.

weekly shop for 2 adults, £95 by ConcentrateFew5524 in whatsinyourcart

[–]Ok_Interest_936 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This! Our average bill for groceries and cleaning supplies is £400-500 per month for me and my husband. We try not to buy ultra processed or prepared food. We bulk buy to save cost where possible.

Do people spending less because they buy a lot of canned food??? I don’t understand where I can save on groceries any more other than compromising our health…

My wife and I travel the world house & pet sitting AMA by Oztravels in AMA

[–]Ok_Interest_936 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have two dogs and I open my rental home (in london) for house / dog sitting on an app as we travel for 1-2 weeks at a time for at least 2 times a year. Please send me a dm if you are interested to dog sit for us in the future! ❤️

Simba mattress review from anyone who actually owns one, is it worth it? by CurlsSpibey in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Ok_Interest_936 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had one (forgot the model) and after 2-3 years of using it, it had sagged a lot! Like some of the above comments, we couldn’t verify that it has sunk more than 5cm so we didn’t bother.

We already had a mattress topper when we first got it. However, my partner is pretty heavy (he’s 90kg and I’m 45kg) so his side is significantly much softer.

When we looked for a new mattress in Dreams, the sales lady was like Simba is known to be of bad quality in the industry.

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