£500k to buy in London. Three kids

[Batteriesallgone]

Where should we go?

Don’t know london at all (went to Natural History Museum once as a child!). Need a three bed. House or flat. Good transport links to central London. Good primary schools.

Is this possible? I know London is crazy prices, and it’s huge, I have no idea where to start looking on rightmove. Love the idea of living as close to central London as possible but don’t know if that’s too idealistic / unaffordable / ridiculous.

There must be somewhere in London we can live where you can get to Mayfair and Stratford in under an hour, and Heathrow in under 2.

*You totally can if your

New Barnet in the LB of Barnet - North London has an overground which is about 20 minutes into Kings Cross and less than an hour to all three areas you have mentioned.

Great schools in Barnet, both primary and secondary..
though not exactly the buzzing, young vibe you seem to be looking for.

@Tawdrylocalbrouhaha it's ok here! Train links not quite as good as a couple of miles down the road in carshalton / Sutton / Croydon so a bit cheaper.

Lots of green space. Good schools.

Not such a bad place. No hipster cafes though.

Norbury/Streatham

Lovely community, tonnes of green space, good schools, and great transport links

This is the sort of thing you get for £500k
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67467631.html

This is gorgeous

Yes we are willing to compromise space, but really we do need three beds and some form of garden / balcony / area you can step outside. Not fussed about parking, and when people say easy transport, we don’t drive so need public transport not the M25.

I do want ‘the London experience’ but I’m actually pretty flexible, the priority is DH not spending more time on transport than he does at home.

Having said we’d prefer north, we keep coming back to look at Streatham and Lewisham on rightmove. Something about those areas just appeals. Definitely going to look for somewhere to stay next weekend to wander around and check it out ‘on the ground’.

So glad you’ve all contributed, staring at all the possible areas and trying to work out where to start in checking them out was giving me a panic attack!!

Did you check the one I put up earlier? I know it's Kilburn rather than the nicer West Hampstead, but transport is fantastic.

Very nicely presented Etino, bit of property porn!

In reality I tend to go for places that look a bit shit, I love the ‘was a nice house 20 years ago but probably now smells of cat wee’ vibe. Being the wanky hipster that I am

I did Cardinal and it looked nice, my concern is that having looked on rightmove for other properties there doesn’t seem much around there we can afford and I don’t want to get my hopes up about an area that might prove really hard to find a property in, if that makes sense.

Don't forget CrossRail will be up an running in 2019, it could change your location options?

What about Putney? My friend lived there a few years ago and I loved visiting her there(weekly)

Burke Close, Putney
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75627788.html

I live in Streatham and can highly recommend it, feel free to give me a shout if you have specific questions. To get to north London you can quickly get to Balham/Tooting Bec and jump on the northern line, or head to Brixton on the bus (maybe 15-20 min) and then take the victoria line which goes up towards Kings Cross and beyond.

I live in Walthamstow, Walthamstow village has got lots of hipster cafes and pubs and it is starting to spread down Hoe St now.

Transport links via the Victoria line through Kings X, Euston,, Oxford Circus, Victoria etc are good. The overground takes 15 mins to Liverpool St.

You could get a 3 bed house for 500k.

Yes. It’s difficult because I respond to someone and then my response is interpreted by someone else to mean something else. I’m not sure what to say... I just looking for ideas of areas to start looking.

Sorry to anyone who doesn’t like where they live or hates their commute. It sucks to live somewhere that makes you unhappy.

Where do you live at the moment? So curious!

I actually think you almost have the opposite problem OP - with a couple of obvious exceptions, the majority of us are on here championing our own areas!

Given the option, I would take a freehold over a leasehold any day of the week - so a house over a flat

With flats, you will have the risk of more noise from neighbours and more complaints from neighbours over your noise
But most of all, you have the chance of a massive bill for maintenance being demanded at any point with no option of deferring
Or the opposite and a freeholder with no interest in upkeep and therefore a property that looks shabby because they won't spend money on it

I’m a big fan of Catford and Lewisham! It’s definitely not “the pits”

Yes, this. Catford: not as rough as you might think (I should get a job in PR for the council...). Lots of lovely green spaces on the doorstep (Ladywell Fields, Hilly Fields, Mountsfield Park), a burgeoning wanky cafe/pub/street food element and some great, relatively cheap houses. Trains etc aren't bad - lots of options and lewisham is nearby for dlr to Canary Wharf, Stratford etc. The south circular is hideous but I don't drive either so that doesn't bother me.

@URaflutteringcunt how rude . Penge is one of the oldest names in London and celtic in origin. So there. pengetouristboard.co.uk/would-penge-by-any-other-name-smell-so-sweet-the-origins-of-the-p-word/

OP, I live between Catford and Forest Hill - both are great - Catford has more potential for a hipster takeover though, similar to what happened to Peckham.

Go North or West. That's my advice (not very useful)

Hanwell if you need to get to Heathrow a lot. Streatham is fine, too - I used to live there when it was a lot rougher, now it's gone all foodie.

Have a look at West Norwood.

Right next to Streatham, smaller and very changed in the last few years.

I think if you want the London lifestyle, ie step out of your house and immediately there are restaurants and bars and hot yoga and vegan restaurants and cat cafes and street food and punks standing with a sign that says photos for £1 and a tube and buses all night long... then you are absolutely looking at a flat.