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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

91 replies

Totickleamockingbird · 25/09/2020 20:19

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.

OP posts:
Atalune · 25/09/2020 23:13

Friend just sold in Walthamstow. Not the village. 1.2million.

RedToothBrush · 25/09/2020 23:21

Gentrification outside London is limited. It is happening, but one of the issues is that in say Manchester, is that because the prices aren't rising as fast is that there isn't as much to be gained by taking the gamble to move to the 'up and coming' area in quite the same way. There simply isn't the money to be made. The money is being made in rental not ownership.

There are a few exceptions to this rule but the opportunity to 'get a bargin' in an upcoming area is generally a very London way of thinking imo.

Conversely when we bought in 2007 up north, our gamble was that we could have got something much bigger in an area which wasn't as nice, but we risked being stuck there with a higher chance of negative equity for longer. And that if there was a crash then any potential 'upcoming' of an area was much more unlikely anyway.

We bought a smaller house in a nice area because a) we intended to live there a long time b) we wanted to live somewhere nice in that time c) it was ultimately a safer bet financially.

It highlights the different risks of buying in a rising market or a potentially declining one - many places across the country are still only at or just above 2008 prices.

testingtimes123 · 25/09/2020 23:23

This is all so London-centric though......not everyone lives in London!
I lived in London years ago, and still visit, Even the gentrified places still feel very rough and cagey !!
Name and shame those of you who bought places that haven't been gentrified?!

QueenBlueberries · 25/09/2020 23:23

Depends how long you have to wait or if you are prepared to just see it as an investment. If you bought anything on the crossrail new line, even if it's a rubbish area, you will be quids in.

We bought a house in Forest Gate 20 years ago, and sold it the year before the olympics and made a small fortune. The area remained dodgy though, and still is.

Original poster
Totickleamockingbird · 25/09/2020 23:24

@CaraDuneRedux

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.

It seems to me that we think in two different ways when we think ‘gentrification’. One class of people take it to be a massive price hike that could be used to get to a better area, even if it means a bit more commuting. The other class of people take it to be related to the population of that area. Now as quite a few from the first category simply up and leave as soon as they can, this doesn’t really change the feel of the rough area as the net gain of so-called ‘gentry’ stays very low probably. This is quite interesting and I wonder wh at will happen now that Covid has so massively changed the face of work. Work from home is suddenly much more feasible and is actively being encouraged. There is no end to this in sight either.
OP posts:
Divebar · 25/09/2020 23:28

I’d like to know which parts of London “ have fallen out of favour” as someone said upthread. If I couldn’t afford a nice area I would buy as close to the borders with the nice area as possible but I would choose safe and dull ( Morden) over trendier / less safe locations nearby

OhTheRoses · 25/09/2020 23:41

I settled in London in 1980. A married lady at work, who was about 25 and seemed very grown up, pioneered with her DH a purchase in .....Wandsworth. It seemed very brave and high risk at the time.

Original poster
Totickleamockingbird · 25/09/2020 23:45

@OhTheRoses

I settled in London in 1980. A married lady at work, who was about 25 and seemed very grown up, pioneered with her DH a purchase in .....Wandsworth. It seemed very brave and high risk at the time.
This is interesting. That is about 40 years and it may well be the time for a whole generation to grow up and move out from an area that they feel is not good enough for their children.
OP posts:
hibbledibble · 25/09/2020 23:45

dive many places which were built for the aspiring middle classes, with good housing stock, and nice areas, became pretty atrocious in the 70s. This includes Islington and Camden for example. They have gentrified hugely since then of course.

BatonRouge · 25/09/2020 23:49

@hibbledibble

dive many places which were built for the aspiring middle classes, with good housing stock, and nice areas, became pretty atrocious in the 70s. This includes Islington and Camden for example. They have gentrified hugely since then of course.
and Balham! Such a turnaround.
SodaPerson · 25/09/2020 23:49

It's generally good advice on my experience.

If you to live there, you'll be happier in a smaller house/flat in a better area.

When it comes to selling, it will be a lot quicker / easier.

OhTheRoses · 25/09/2020 23:53

@Totickleamockingbird or to sell-up for £2 mill plus, downsize to Surrey and help their grown up children. I know of families who did it 5 years or so ago when they thought they'd be caught by the mansion tax

OhTheRoses · 25/09/2020 23:55

I'm not sure Tooting ever quite made it; or Streatham.

bellie710 · 25/09/2020 23:56

We bought a flat 15 years ago on the Hackney/Islington border. It was an up and coming area and when we sold it 7 years later it had doubled in price, 5 years on it would make your eyes water! BUT the area is still a shit hole! The schools are awful, there were so many police incidents at the estates, in the 5 years we were there 2 people were shot at the end of the road and there have been numerous knife incidents since then. I still loved living there when we were just a couple but we moved when our kids were ready to start school as I just didn't feel it was a safe place to bring up kids.

OhTheRoses · 25/09/2020 23:57

My DC are semi obsessed with Aldgate and places I thought were dreadful in the 80s around SE London which had awful transport links and no tube.

AllGongNoDinner · 25/09/2020 23:58

I grew up in Kent and worked in Vauxhall. I bought a house in battersea and Christ the flack I got! Tbf battersea was an out and out dive with not a whole lot going for it. This was 1991.

OhTheRoses · 26/09/2020 00:00

@AllGongNoDinner - in 1991 Battersea was pretty sought after I thought. Lots of nice restaurants and it had Prince of Wales Drive, etc!

Original poster
Totickleamockingbird · 26/09/2020 00:00

@AllGongNoDinner

I grew up in Kent and worked in Vauxhall. I bought a house in battersea and Christ the flack I got! Tbf battersea was an out and out dive with not a whole lot going for it. This was 1991.
Grin I will need to sell all assets, including my home, plus take a massive loan to afford a one bed in Battersea now. Seems like 30-40 years do the trick. Aldgate is most definitely not good for children. That traffic and pollution.
OP posts:
OhTheRoses · 26/09/2020 00:03

Oh time helps. My first flat was in Putney in 1982. Two double beds and a garage for £31.5k Shock

Original poster
Totickleamockingbird · 26/09/2020 00:04

@OhTheRoses

Oh time helps. My first flat was in Putney in 1982. Two double beds and a garage for £31.5k Shock
Bloody hell! Grin
OP posts:
OhTheRoses · 26/09/2020 00:06

It was quite a stretch at the time.

AllGongNoDinner · 26/09/2020 00:10

Well I was only 23 and all I cared about was proximity to work - I definitely don’t remember it being a great catch

newnameforthis123 · 26/09/2020 00:18

Me ex bought (aka his parents did) in 2009 in Hackney for around 300k and his place is now worth around £1.5m. Pretty galling as I paid the mortgage for a good few years but hey ho! I fucking loved that flat, the area is gentrified AF now but also buzzing. My working class roots and status as wannabe climber are conflicted feelings wise!!

MintyMabel · 26/09/2020 00:24

Might be true in London, wouldn’t happen where I am.

Plus, I spend way more time in my house than outside it. I’d rather live in comfort in a crappier area than be cramped in some trendy area, which will no doubt be full if the type of people I try to avoid.

elmouno · 26/09/2020 00:30

I think there is a correlation between presumably naice area and having unbearably nosey neighbours who won't want you to do anything with your property. So... Nice isn't always so nice if you're trying to avoid those types of curtain twitchers. The best area is the one where you can get the most land and the least amount of people around you 😶