To ask for your thoughts on this flat

[MarikaPepper]

Before I post a link, can someone tell me whether this would be a good idea?!

It will go up in price. If you love it, it suits you and you can afford it, buy it!

Good price, nice flat, plenty of potential to upgrade the spec. Yes the kitchen is narrow but at that price for a 2 bed you won't get perfection. Nice road, good area, and near lots of nice areas. GFI.

Marika Well it'll go up in price in line with local property prices but in 4-5 years you won't really have made much of a dent in the mortgage. So you'll sell for more than you paid for it (Brexit-willing) but what will that actually buy you? The same sort of thing in the same area. Especially given it doesn't have a bath or outside space. Personally if I was looking to sell that quickly I'd want a property I could add value to - i.e. one that needed a bit of work.

That said: if you can afford to keep it to rent out and still put a deposit down on another property, you don't really need to worry!

I realise I sounded like I contradicted myself there saying it will need work and also doesn't need work! But what I mean was that the work it might need is probably the boring kind of work that doesn't make you any money whereas the work that makes you money is pretty much all done - it's all a fairly high spec already.

It is beeeeeautiful though and the area is amazing.

Tbh when it comes to buying houses I tend to think that a property is worth what you're willing to pay for it.

In terms of an offer, I would be surprised if they sell it for more than 500k, as that's a stamp duty threshold

What OlennasWimple said.

Do your research first. You really need to know what you are getting into with a leasehold property.

Also find out about your neighbours in the building - are they renting/ owner-occupiers? Noise above and below? I would think about that seriously having lived in a first floor North London flat (also Leasehold).

The flat looks lovely and the price is ok (it will go up of course) and I am not saying it's not a goer but go into this wisely.

OP, I don't know that bit of London well, but this sort of thing is a good example of a place where you would be able to live in it as is but also add value yourself by updating the bathroom, kitchen and overall decor over the next few years (but don't touch the lovely parquet floor!!)

If you were more into major renovation, this one has planning permission in place for the lean to / side return so you could play around with layout and potentially make a nice return

Have a look at the sold for prices on sites like Zoopla and Mouseprice to see what people are actually paying for property rather than what they are being listed at (and how fast the market is moving)

that flat is gorgeous. Lovely big windows and high ceilings. Im very jealous. Its extraordinarily expensive but i suppose thats just London for you!!! Hope you get it!!

Lovely flat. Price seems reasonable.

If I were you I'd offer £500k.

Having lived in a very similar flat, it will be cold. Very cold.

Also noise issues and potentially things like the shower not working when your neighbour is using it!

It is very attractive but here go the negatives.

One: if you have children, you could have problems with the downstairs neighbours.

Two: I personally don't like laminated floors, I think they look cheap and don't last very long

Three: Not having somewhere to park the car would be a drawback for its resale.

Looks lovely but I second what others have said about noise. The first flat I bought was in a similar property in London. Also first floor. My upstairs and downstairs neighbours weren't unusually noisy but the noise really travelled. It was awful and made me very miserable.

Not sure how it compares but I once lived in a single level house that had been divided down the middle to make two 'maisonettes'. It was like I was living in the same house as my neighbours (which I guess I was). I could hear draws opening and closing, coughing and knew exactly what they were watching on telly. Miserable times,

Hm I know the area. I'd bear in mind how far the nearest tube is - even if it's not an issue for you personally - it will be for resale. Ditto the car space - it might not be a problem for you - but will put off other buyers

Can only echo others concerns about heating and sound in old Victorian houses.

but also for ref (admittedly a while ago) we bought a three bed in zone 3 within five minutes walk of the tube for half the price. I know you love the area but it might be worth thinking a bit more laterally if you're looking to make a profit.

Have you looked at perpertiea hat are similar and near to cross rail as they're due to rocket once it's in. Hard if you already love a certain area though as I've found lots of people say they'll travel to see you but actually don't lol. It's a beautiful flat.

No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't want to in the middle and have two lots of neighbours to contend with.

Top or bottom only for me.

It looks lovely but that's mainly due to their nice decorating and furniture, which won't be there when they leave.
I live in zone two so I understand local prices
However this would just not tempt me as I do think it will be very noisy as those kinds of conversions always are.
If you want to make money - don't buy this one, buy the worst one in the best area. It's more than I paid for my three-bed terrace with a garden in zone two.
If you want to live somewhere you love forever, well, then that's a different story.

Gorgeous place. What's the parking like? What is the outside space nearby like? Parks etc? Have you met upstairs yet?

It looks very nice.
Downsides for me are : it's long and narrow, I much prefer squarer kitchens.
Natural light, are the Windows south facing? I live in a house with huge Windows ( double fronted) and boy does it make a difference , natural light flooding into the rooms as opposed to the bog standard Windows.
Parking. Like you said that isn't a concern for you though.
Noise , check out the flat when the neighbours are home.

I lived on that road! On the opposite side, ground floor flat with garden. We nearly bought it as we loved the area and garden, but with two kids in a two bedroom flat... anyway we bought a house in E17 for the same money.
So here's my thoughts:
That road is busy throughout the day and can be noisy. You're next to the fire station, so that can be noisy.
Park behind is lovely with a cafe but it's not the same as a garden.
Tube is miles. You need to get the W3 and that gets really busy at rush hour.
When we were there there was a spate of burglaries.
Do you need schools? You should get into Campsbourne.
I also agree I wouldn't want people above and below. Too much scope for noise.

On the other hand, it's a lovely area as I'm sure you know. Property round there holds its value and if it's just one or two of you, it could be a perfect starter home.

You can park on Priory road and the side roads by the way.

Do you particularly need to live in N8 OP? Value for money is also dependent on whether it's on a main road, outlook, near a tube and shops etc.
If you're happy with all the above, it looks like good value to me.
For comparison, we just bought a one bed flat for 550,000 in SW15 (Putney) - 500m sq and no outside space - in similar condition, but lovely views over a park and brilliant location. All facilities in the doorstep etc.
In Chelsea you would be looking at a studio for that price.
It depends where you want /need to be and whether you value space over location.

I used to live off priory road. Nice area (but walking to finsbury was a pain for the tube). Crouch End primary school crisis...are you OK or sure this is not an issue for you? 60sqm is a small flat. My limit for me alone is 70sqm, for 2 is 85sqm for 3 or more is 90+sqm. I've lived 2 people in a flat almost identical to this and the only thing that saved us was the garden. But it's personal. For this size, it's a nice flat. Echo noise proofing checks. Good luck!

Looks like a nice flat. You live near me, I'm in N8 as well small world. It's a lovely area for family's etc btw if you don't live here already

It is a hell of a lot of money BUT it is in London I guess.

OP if you can afford it go for it . I think its beautiful .