To say ‘buy the worst house in the best area’ is not always the best advice.

Totickleamockingbird · 2020-09-25T19:19:50+00:00

I have seen rough areas of London move up so fast that we didn’t imagine it happening that quickly (Leyton/Walthamstow anyone?). I am looking to hear from people who took a chance on a rough area and it paid off. I know what the standard advice is but just want to see the other side of the picture too.

Piglet89 · 25/09/2020 20:23

You can scream “But...the Village!!!!” until you’re blue in the face.

Walthamstow’s still a shithole.

Original poster

Totickleamockingbird · 25/09/2020 20:30

@Piglet89

You can scream “But...the Village!!!!” until you’re blue in the face.

Walthamstow’s still a shithole.

To be honest, mainly from the viewpoint of property prices, both these area have gone up astronomically in the last ten years. I still remember the crime rate of Leyton. I think this will happen in Walthamstow too eventually and will happen elsewhere. That is why I want to hear experiences of the other side of the story too.

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CoRhona · 25/09/2020 20:31

We were in Walthamstow earlier this week, the bit we were in had a lovely village-y feel.

LasagneLady · 25/09/2020 20:42

We love in the smallest, most nondescript house on our long street (think 1970s vs huge Edwardians). It is probably worth only half of the other houses. But it's one of the best streets in town, near good schools, the station, quick walk into town etc.....we love it and have made it very cosy.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 25/09/2020 20:45

Never sure though if it takes 5yrs or 10yrs/ there’s an area near me that I swear will be the next boom- but no idea how long it will take and if I moved there my child would likely end up at a school where stabbings are regular

Original poster

Totickleamockingbird · 25/09/2020 20:48

It is not always possible though, is it? No matter how much we say ‘buy the worst house’, it is nearly always much higher in price than an average/good house in a less desirable area.

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hibbledibble · 25/09/2020 20:55

It's pretty shit advice, especially if you live in London. Everyone's needs are different.

As you said, areas in London do rapidly fall in and out of favour (though pretty much everywhere is gentrifying now).

Hackney is now seen as the trendy bees knees yummy mummy central. Anyone who has lived in London long enough will remember when it was a shithole that you didn't dare venture into for fear of getting stabbed. Same as Brixton.

Original poster

Totickleamockingbird · 25/09/2020 20:58

@hibbledibble

It's pretty shit advice, especially if you live in London. Everyone's needs are different.

As you said, areas in London do rapidly fall in and out of favour (though pretty much everywhere is gentrifying now).

Hackney is now seen as the trendy bees knees yummy mummy central. Anyone who has lived in London long enough will remember when it was a shithole that you didn't dare venture into for fear of getting stabbed. Same as Brixton.

I agree with you. I still remember how, in my student days, I had to skip a job offer because it was in Hackney and a lot of my friends feared it’s unsafe (job finished pretty late in the evenings). I do wonder if the location of an area is logistically great, it will eventually go up, no matter what.

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unlimiteddilutingjuice · 25/09/2020 20:58

I bought in a "rough" area.
It hasn't gentrified and I don't want it to. I love it here.

BathshebaAndGabriel · 25/09/2020 21:05

Bought in Hackney 16 years ago with a friend of mine. She was a West London girl and blanched at my suggestion we look in Hackney.
My father feared for my life and asked me to take self defence lessons.
Yeah everyone loves it now. It was a dump (and many parts of it still are) but I knew house prices would rise as people could no longer afford Islington.
Same with Leyton compared to Hackney, innit.

Blibbyblobby · 25/09/2020 21:18

To say ‘buy the worst house in the best area’ is not always the best advice

Definitely. If you follow it, you'll end up living next door to the sort of people who would only consider living in a good area.

HotChoc10 · 25/09/2020 21:31

I bought a house in Leyton in 2016 because it was where I could afford a family home and still get into central easily enough. It is definitely still shit.

However, I would rather be here than in a gardenless flat in a bougier area. Unless you're absolutely minted you have to compromise on something!

JoJoSM2 · 25/09/2020 21:32

I’ve invested in some areas that then got a lot more expensive. Yes, that’s paid off financially. Would I have lived in any of them then or now? No way. Just because houses have 7-digit price tags and there are a few trendy bars/restaurants, doesn’t mean it’s a gentrified area as that takes decades.

Having said that, you can also make money on ‘nice’ areas. Some areas really nice, not grotty and crime-ridden but still relatively cheap and they go up in value quickly. Eg had you bought in Carshalton a few years ago, you’d be sitting on double the value now.

The ‘worst house in the best area’ does make sense as you can add value by doing work and increase your investment in a space of a few months while also getting to live somewhere lovely.

OoohTheStatsDontLie · 25/09/2020 21:36

I think London is different as it's just so over populated. In lots of other cities the shit areas remain shit. I think some former industrial areas can improve as heavy industry moves away and say mills get converted into nice flats. But a lot of shit residential areas in other cities, remain shit residential areas

HavelockVetinari · 25/09/2020 21:37

We bought in an "up-and-coming" area in South East London back in 2010. It massively paid off, 5 years later we sold for £200k more than we paid. A combination of the aftermath of the 2008 crash and gentrification. I do think area matters enormously, but since covid things are a bit more uncertain. It's a great time to snap a bargain for first time buyers, but far riskier for those wanting to move.

CakeandCoffeeQueen · 25/09/2020 21:44

We bought in north London 10 year ago thinking it improve, house prices have gone up (doubled) but it isn’t really nicer to live here than it was when we first moved. I think if we stuck it out for another 10 it could be like stoke Newington but I don’t really want to stay another 10 with that hope.

Thecazelets · 25/09/2020 22:04

Trouble is no one has a crystal ball. And it's so soul destroying living in a area you don't love just on the basis of a possible future pay-off. I do have friends living in Homerton or Peckham who are now laughing all the way to the bank, having bought when we were in our twenties, but some of those then-cheap-but-now-trendy bits of London were really hard to get to if not depressing and/or scary 25 years ago. And some of those areas still have a limited bubble where eg. period housing and cafes are in evidence and 70s road schemes etc are not. Depends a bt on your life stage - I've tried both, and the 'worst house in best area' plan was much more liveable once we had dc.

Blibbyblobby · 25/09/2020 22:25

@CakeandCoffeeQueen

We bought in north London 10 year ago thinking it improve, house prices have gone up (doubled) but it isn’t really nicer to live here than it was when we first moved. I think if we stuck it out for another 10 it could be like stoke Newington but I don’t really want to stay another 10 with that hope.

I think you might live where we do! I remember advising someone who was thinking of moving here that you have to be ok with the place as it is. If you move in waiting for it to be the next Stokey in a few years, you will be disappointed and stressed. You have to buy in a place you will be happy to live in as it is, then anything else is a bonus.

Original poster

Totickleamockingbird · 25/09/2020 22:32

Consensus seems to be that buying with the thought of moving later is probably the best middle ground and that living somewhere rough with the hope of it getting better with time is a recipe for grief.

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monkeyonthetable · 25/09/2020 22:34

A friend working in London bought a terraced house in Walthamstow and within a year it had gone up so much in value she sold it and retired, buying a beautiful house, twice the size, in her home town.

titchy · 25/09/2020 22:36

Thing is you could just have easily bought in Thornton Heath, or Tottenham, or Wood Green rather than Walthamstow or Stoke Newington - and still be waiting....

hibbledibble · 25/09/2020 22:37

cake and blibby which area are you referring to? Pm me if you don't want to share here. I do have a fair idea, but wanted to check.

Ubercornsfunkytop3 · 25/09/2020 22:40

Interested by this thread but I’m in the North (Yorkshire) and just don’t feel this happens here....interested in being corrected of others think differently though. In my experiences places either remain shit or places that were once ok borderline nice get worse 😂.

Blibbyblobby · 25/09/2020 22:46

@hibbledibble

cake and blibby which area are you referring to? Pm me if you don't want to share here. I do have a fair idea, but wanted to check.

I'm South Tottenham. We like it here, but we bought for what is it not what it could someday turn into. We've been here more than 15 years now!

CaraDuneRedux · 25/09/2020 23:05

Confirmation bias OP. People writing the articles in the Sunday magazine property pages are the ones the gamble paid off for.

Take me as an example. First house, couldn't afford very much. Three areas I could have chosen from, all marginal edge of downright dodgy/just about okay. Two of them gentrified. One nose dived. Guess which one I chose? It took me 20 years, downsizing to a one bedroom flat and gradually clawing my way back up to get back to where I'd started - a modest 2 bed terrace. But this time in a "naice" area.

Damn well not taking a gamble on gentrification ever again.