Hi everyone!
Sounds like the general consensus so far is number 4 - look harder for commutable houses. Certainly no one saying wait for a partner, and no one is saying wait and buy in a few years. Some people saying that perhaps "bad" areas are not as bad as I think, but it seems many more of you are saying not to do that and to look harder for a good area. Thank you so much
I know the old adage about buying the worst house in the nicest area well, but my concerns when i put this post up was that "what's the next step when the worst house is the nicest area is out of your budget". And you guys have given me some great answers - you've found me some nicest areas that I hadn't quite realised were workable for me in terms of commuting.
To answer a couple questions,
@Bluevelvetsofa no I am not looking for anything big, ideally a 2 bed, but I would be very happy in a 1 bed with no garden as long as I felt safe there. And hey I don't need parking! I hadn't also considered about resale value in a nondesirable area, thank you, but also thank you @CanOfMangoTango for giving me the other perspective. I am finding it tricky when I go on house viewings, see a perfectly nice house, see a bit of a dodgy street and then ask my colleagues at work who always seem to have 3 anecdotes of people who got burgled on that street and another who got mugged and how they would never live there. So I am trying to not be judgemental, but then when other people are, it is tricky for me to separate fact from snobbery. Especially when I know deep in my heart, that I also wouldn't have felt at ease walking back from the train station in those areas at night.
@User543211 I would be happy to buy somewhere in a nice area than needed doing up as a few people said, but as per @Iamallowedtodisagreewithyou, those are go for quite a bit of money too, when they're in Leeds!
I don't have any friends in the area to buy with, no. @Miaowzabella but would have been a great solution to the lack of partner if I did have one! I wish I could move my brother up here and buy with him!
@AllTheChaos I was a lodger before myself and had some bad experiences with it, so I'm not sure I would do a lodger - I'd rather have somewhere smaller/cheaper than I could afford on my own, but that is a great thought in terms of making me feel safer, so I will have a think about that. Good to hear of other people making a long commute without driving work too, thank you!
@GardenGladness23 Roundhay is gorgeous and I would love to live there if it were in my budget! Meanwood is one of the places that I had been considering as it was the one out of all of the places I've said that I've been warned off that I felt the most okay in. A couple people said things to me however like "Meanwood's not too bad a choice! I never got burgled whilst living there - they tended to go for my neighbours because they were so visibly students, so you'll be fine!" and I found that a bit unnerving, as I don't like the idea of the only protection against burglary being whether or not a potential burglar thinks I look a student!
I have since this thread had my eyes opened to Outwood, but didn't know Sandal - thank you. I will look at Baidon too.
And a couple of people have brought up Meanwood's Waitrose hahaha - the side of Meanwood that I am able to afford is the side of Meanwood that made me not feel 100% safe - the side with the bars over the front doors and windows. I know it's "up and coming" etc, but it just doesn't change that I viewed a house that I loved there, but yet felt relieved when the seller changed their mind about selling it because of my buried deep concerns about the street it was on.
@Dueanamechange2025 A pair of great houses, thank you. Colleagues had been telling me to avoid Morley, which is why I hadn't been there - are their thoughts not justified then? Because then I could add Morley back on my list.
@Dmsandfloatydress Fingers crossed on the partner in a 5 years time for me haha!
I had initially focussed my search on houses within boroughs of Leeds itself, as being unable to drive, it is hard to truly understand which places are genuinely commutable by public transport and which aren't (e.g. I have been looking on Google Maps in West Yorkshire close to a train station, without knowing so easily about the places you have suggested that have good bus links for example). I had more recently started looking more at further away towns but had still found them out of budget, which is why I was feeling like maybe I was making the wrong moves and wondering whether I should stop looking. When I talk to colleagues, people do always seem to suggest places that are North of Leeds which are all out of my budget, so it has been really very helpful to hear your suggestions for the South of Leeds.
I certainly have missed some of those towns that are South of Leeds that some of you suggested - some really gorgeous links have been sent.
I have looked hard but I agree I have been looking in the wrong places (focussing on trying find somewhere affordable in a Leeds borough) rather than finding the commutable but affordable towns outside @Bjorkdidit so thank you - I know where to focus now. And that Lofthouse house is gorgeous. I do know that burglaries happen everywhere, but I want it to be something that I am not think about everyday (just like other bad luck events that could happen to any of us that we just don't worry about it daily) - and I would worry about it a lot more if both my neighbours on each side had been burgled (as had been the case at one of the houses I viewed!)
I think you and this thread have made me realise is that I am looking for the kind of place where i grew up - I grew up in a house in an area amongst a lot of retired people in small bungalows so it was quiet, not rough but also not big mansions, suburbia. I need to get out of the city don't I!
@Friendlynortherner you have hugely sold me on Saltaire - I have been before and liked it, but thought it was all posh flats on the market, hadn't thought of it in terms on housing and I can see that there are some on Rightmove in my budget like the one you sent, so thank you ever so much - probably, currently my favourite area of the suggestions.
@TimeForATerf that is the exact area I had been keen on but every time I have looked there, every thing had been entirely out of budget - I wonder if her house is probably worth much more than that 220-230 now.
@qwertyasdfgzxcv A good question but with my list of restrictions (commutable by train to Leeds city centre, house not a flat, under £240k - I don't think I am allowed to be fussy on where I want to live, so I would go anywhere that fit those requirements!)
@Summerhillsquare I do understand - I am not asking for chi chi bars and cafes. As someone who will always have to walk home from the train station in the dark rather than be able to park outside my house, it is important to me to not feel scared as I'm walking every night. I'm not asking for white and wealthy. We all have priorities or desirables when we look for a house - some people's priority is a garden, some people's is a designated parking spot, some people's is separate kitchen and dining room - those are not my priority - mine is to live on streets that I don't feel scared on. I think it's okay for me to ask if that's achievable (and remember I was willing to do option A if everyone had said that was the only option for me!)
I didn't grow up wealthy, but I didn't grow up in an area where I felt scared to live, and I have realised as an adult, that I hugely appreciated that and that is important to me.
@CraneBeak Very helpful thank you - it is why I included my split of money in the OP, just in case anyone thought that perhaps I should increase my deposit slightly. a 260k property on 18k deposit sounds fantastic - I'm pleased for you. I will have to see if that is an option for me.
@RedRosie I would certainly be saving for a flat if I lived in London I agree, as it's a necessity really there, but here where I don't need to, I think it's not worth risking being unable to sell and being stuck with it. Thank you for your kind words.