WWYD re housing

[Catvsworld]

Would you rather
The best house on the worst street
The worse house on the best street
Or and ok house on a ok street

My friend who lives round the corner is giving me a bit of anxiety about were we live she keeps going on about the chavs in the council block and how she wants to move ant wait ect and she lives futher away from the block than we do

we have moved on the edge of a council estate it's just two blocks the and tbh it's very very quite round her even during the Hoilday the park is rammed but that's it's eveyone on my road own there home we have never had a issue we like our home would like it better if we had side gate and a bigger garden but hay ho it's our first home


We could afford to move to a awful house in a really fab area however my sister has done this and has really suffered she can't afford to do the house up as she paid a lot for the location and her children have rapidly become the children to avoid on the street as they don't attend private school and my sister drives a banger people think my sister is some kind of social deviant and not like the people who should be buying a house in there road


Please reassure me we live in a ok area in a ok house just haven a sudden panic and think maybe we should move we live here 18 months

[Seeyounearertime]

We have a decent house in an okish area.

Basically... My thoughts are that you're in your house more than in the street so wouldn't you want where you spend your time to be as best as you can get? Iyswim

[ilovesooty]

I think I'd be paying very little attention to a friend who talked like that.

[DiggersRest]

We bought a lovely little house in a shitty part of London that is now booming. Win / win for us

I will say though we never thought it was a shit area, just everyone else!

[Catvsworld]

God I really liked living here but the more she went on about how she hates it here it's really in unnerved me and even been looking on right move

[monkeysox]

Location location location. Always.

[ghostyslovesheep]

I'd get a new friend!

you like the area - it's nice - your happy - why does what she thinks matter?

For what it's worth I live in a lovely house in an okay area - it needed work but I like it - area is not flash or uber posh - it's not a crime riddled hole either - it's just dull and normal

[Catvsworld]

Thanks

The area were we live in going though huge re generation and due to London house prices it's really seeing a boom as its so close to london but the houses are so much cheaper

[Lilaclily]

Ignore her, it's your life not hers, maybe she's jealous about something else

[SweetieXPie]

I have a friend who lives in 'a not so great area' I couldn't care less but she bangs on and on (especially around other school mum's) about how she lives in the good part of that area, basically not close to the 'dodgy council estate' down the road.
To me people like this may as well say, 'I am really self conscious about where I live so I feel I need to explain I live in the good bit'

[noisytoys]

I live in a run down flat in a rubbish area - did what we could to get on the property ladder and bought what we could afford. Can always sell and move later.

[SweetieXPie]

If you are happy there I wouldn't worry. I have lived in good and bad areas and tbh my nicest neighbours were when I lived, in what was considered a bad area

[HeddaGarbled]

It's one of those bits of advice you see on property programmes on TV or articles in newspapers. The idea is that you buy the cheapest house on a posh street, do it up and then either make a profit by selling on or enjoy living in a posh area for less money. As you have so rightly identified there are several potential problems with this (can't afford to do it up because you spent all your money buying it in the first place, snobby neighbours etc).

The concerns about living in a less posh area are worries about crime and anti-social behaviour plus your house might not make as much profit when/if you move. But it sounds like none of those are problems for you.

Your friend has been sucked in to believing that advice which is applicable sometimes is applicable regardless of individual circumstances. So she's a bit of a twit really. You sound nice - a person who is happy and grateful for what they have and isn't grabby and shallow. I hope that one day in the future, when you and your family are ready to move, you will get your side gate and bigger garden.

[Junosmum]

Always go for the worst house on the best street- you can easily improve a house. Improving an area is virtually impossible.

Your friend sounds like she's a bit judgemental but she's not wrong- a good area is worth a lot.

[Catvsworld]

Thing is she only has 90k left on her mortgage and wants to move close to London and get a mortgage when she's almost finished hers I think she is crazy

She wants to live in one of those Victorian houses you get in Chiswick you no long back yard and all the neighbours work at the Bbc that sort of life with a waitrose express and members only soft play

[DiggersRest]

Juno not if you buy in London and wait long enough

[ilovesooty]

I agree with ghosty

I still don't see why her comments matter to you or why you even want to listen to her.

[minifingerz]

I live in a shitty area in a very nice big house.

We are surrounded by people who are worse off than we are, and I'm aware of this. Makes me feel very grateful for what we have and very lucky.

My Db lives in a small house in a very expensive area. They always feel worse off and a bit hard done by compared to their neighbors.

And my area is now gentrifying. Glad we stayed!

[minifingerz]

Juno - a lot of South London was grim and poor 30 years ago. Now it's covered in artisan coffee shops and you can't buy a 2 bedroom flat for less than 500K.

[Voteforpedr0]

Best area every time

[Catvsworld]

minifingerz

This my sister feels the same she has a tiney home on a lovey stree they are classed and poor by the other neighbours and don't really let the kids play with hers

He's not poor she earns 25k on a normal Steet were your neighbours don't earn 100k 25k wouldn't be anything to be sniffed at

It has given a lot of social anxiety she can't afford to do the house up with out taking on lots more debut and she's already taken on a huge mortgage to buy the house if the first place

[HelenF35]

My first flat I bought was a lovely flat in a 'crappy area'. I did however believe that the crappy area was due a boom as it was right next to the very expensive city centre and had free parking. I was correct and property value went up almost 3 fold in 4 years. My next house was a crappy house, actually the house was structurally sound and well sized but very badly decorated. It was in a pretty good area though. Had a nightmare with the refurb and although I love my house I'm not sure I would do it again. Ok house in OK area sounds like a much better plan.

[DrWhy]

We compromised and went for a nice house in an OK area, we wanted to buy somewhere big enough to be a long term family home and the insane stamp duty here means we couldn't upgrade again in 5 years. It's still a perfectly OK area, in the catchment for an excellent school but just a few miles further out. I wouldn't compromise to an area I didn't feel safe just for a nice house.

[GreaseIsNotTheWord]

We bought a lovely house in a rubbish area. The house was amazing. And when dh and I bought it as a young couple it was fab...we closed the door behind us and I didn't really care where we were or what was going on outside that door.

Then we had ds1 and massively regretted it. I started seeing the area through new eyes...the poor schools, lack of community facilities, the other deprived looking houses, the high unemployment and droves of people walking the street to the shop in their PJ's . And I started noticing the local accent which ds1 started to pick up.

I sound like a terrible snob I know, but it's true. We ditched the amazing house for a much smaller and nowhere near as nice house but in the best area. I don't regret it for a second.

[KaosReigns]

Worst house, best street.

But that's only because my partner and brother are both tradies and the plan would be to fix it up either for our use, or to sell at a profit.

[NotReallySureNow]

Worst house in the best street is the universal advice is it not?