Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Should I buy a house somewhere a bit grim?

110 replies

AllByMySelfDontWannaBe · 16/11/2020 04:55

I need your thoughts and advice! Might be long, only read if you're interested in property and towns 😁

I am mid 30s and would really like to buy somewhere and get on the ladder. There are two places I'm looking to buy in and cant decide what would be best.

Option 1 is a medium sized town set to become a small city. It's local to me. This is a former industrial town that has, in the four years I've been in the area, really upped its game. Once scruffy and kind of in a post industrial slump, it has built a new tech and start up hub it has filled, it has a university and design school, it is in a very strategic part of the country with excellent links to some key places. Just things like when I arrived in the area there wasnt a single coworking space, there are now three. There are big works going on to clean up and polish the old buildings, make over the streets, etc, you can see the standard of shops and services are slowly gentrifying.
Disadvantages: the region is industrial not exactly enchanting, its isnt a place that gets my heart singing, it still has a faintly "grim" feel in parts as it is in the process of being regenerated. Also risk of it NOT taking off.
Advantages: I can afford a 3 bedroom house with a garden in the centre, or a 2 bedroom at the low end of my budget, and the way things are going I think I would make a good profit when I sell. Also I have friends locally. I do feel a little affectionate towards it.

Option 2 is a well established, well heeled buzzing small city in a beautiful part of the country. It's one of the most expensive places to buy in, it's a very romantic location and idyllic city. Buying here my property would definitely hold its value, but I dont think I would make money on it. I have always wanted to live here.
Disadvantages: At the top end of my budget, I would only be able to afford a one bed flat. I also dont know the region at all, this is all based on dreaming! Dont know anyone here.
Advantages: Fulfilling a bit of a dream, property will hold value.

I cant decide whether to go for option 2 straight off the bat, or whether I should start off with option 1 as it would be financially easier, plus in a place I know well, and aim for option 2 later. Location isnt an issue re work. I think ordinarily I would head straight for option 2 but covid triggered a few MH issues in me and I have slightly cold feet about rocking on up somewhere I dont know anybody until this has all blown over. That's a minor issue though!

What do you think? Anyone got any anecdotes to share?

YABU: Buy in the dream place
YANBU: Buy in the grim place

OP posts:
CheetasOnFajitas · 16/11/2020 09:23

How about investing in 1. then letting it out and renting in 2? Or you can always live in 1 for a bit but rent it out and move to 2 later if you get bored.

RelightMyPfizer · 16/11/2020 09:25

@CheetasOnFajitas

How about investing in 1. then letting it out and renting in 2? Or you can always live in 1 for a bit but rent it out and move to 2 later if you get bored.
You need a very big deposit for buy to let at the moment and you need to already own a property. A 1 bed flat is going to be a dodgy buy to let for getting financing on.
Youngatheart00 · 16/11/2020 09:26

Surprised that someone said Sheffield is the fourth biggest city?

I would have said Leeds or Bristol?

Ferrari458 · 16/11/2020 09:29

It would be much easier if you'd just say where the properties are? I would buy the house because it will be freehold. Based on experience of owning flats I'd avoid leasehold like the plague. If unsure about the location of the houses you're considering then keep looking. Whatever you do, don't bank on property being an investment you can profit from. Hopefully that will happen, but it shouldn't be a major consideration, you need to live where you will feel happy.

CheetasOnFajitas · 16/11/2020 09:31

I was suggesting renting out the house not the flat. Also, if you buy on a residential mortgage and live there for a bit you can sometimes rent out with just a consent to let from your lender-I did that for years. However OP is not in the U.K. so the availability of finance and the finer details of buying will be completely different where she is. It was just a thought.

Porcupineinwaiting · 16/11/2020 09:33

@Youngatheart00 nope, Sheffield. And has been for many years.

Haworthia · 16/11/2020 09:34

Option 1 doesn’t actually sound that grim. I thought you were going to describe some hellhole full of crime and antisocial behaviour. It sounds like a pretty decent place to live.

Think carefully about how you’ll feel about option 2 once the novelty has worn off and you miss to her family and friends. But If it’s your dream location, go for it.

Blondiney · 16/11/2020 09:34

Option 1. Your investment will be safe and probably grow, and it's not grim. I could never live in grim.

Blondiney · 16/11/2020 09:35

That's Option 2 then. Christ it's still too early for me.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 16/11/2020 09:39

Its difficult.option 1 is a risk. I've seen friends do both 1 & 2 with variable outcomes.

I did option 1 a few yrs ago but for an "up and coming" area of london. Our flat nearly doubled in value 3.5 years. The key things were: it had great transport (train, tube and good bus links). It was surrounded on all sides by well established nice areas. It had attractive high quality housing stock. It had good amenities (small supermarket, good doctors surgery, nice restaurants and bars). We were also terrifically lucky that we were buying when prices had been falling, no one could have predicted they would rise the way they did.

A friend however did similar but the area she chose never quite took off, she didnt lose money but got stuck in the property longer than she expected and it didnt catapult her to a better area.

Equally my sibling bought in a nice area and did not make any money, they probably overpaid at the outset and as a result taking into account money spent to do up the house a bit, were left not having kept up with wider housing market inflation. They then needed to move to a bigger place to accommodate a growing family and it was a hassle.

Another relative bought in a wildly popular nice area and it continued to outpace other areas.

It can go either way.

Bistromamma · 16/11/2020 09:40

I’d go option one too. Space is so important and outside space too. Perhaps co wider it a five year project, You’ve plenty of time to re evaluate and move if it’s not to your liking.

Giantsfallover · 16/11/2020 09:41

Another one who thought that option 2 was Bath.

Zenithbear · 16/11/2020 09:44

I'd go for 1.
It doesn't fit my idea of grim at all. I like that industrial feel especially if it's being made the most of. It sounds more real than the other place.
2 comes across that it may attract the sort that just aren't my kind of people.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 16/11/2020 09:48

I bought in a grim area because it worked for me in terms of friends, work etc. Over the last 20 years it has gentrified somewhat, and property values are 500% higher (not a typo. London.)

It is still grim in many ways, but I don't care because people are more important to me than a prosperous looking and attractive environment. Would you miss your friends if you moved? Are you someone who makes friends wherever they go?

TheNanny23 · 16/11/2020 09:57

@Youngatheart00 it’s more like tenth in reality...but it spends how you measure it - by local authority etc.

When reading the OP I was thinking of Preston vs Cambridge which are obviously poles apart. Whereas the examples given if taken at face value Brighton is oversaturated (and actually probably seen as a bit naff by many) and Sheffield pretty much has it all in terms of transport, facilities, character, easy access to countryside.

You seem to be focusing a lot on re sale- whilst that can be understandable, markets can be unpredictable especially in today’s climate, and if you are planning to stay 3 years or more then you should focus more on where you want to be and what you want from your property rather than re- sale value. If you don’t mind doing so buying a 2 bed in option one that needs some updating and doing that work will probably mean you net a profit in the end.

It’s my dream to live in a Yorkshire market town but actually turned down an opportunity to move that way recently...as it’s not the right time and we aren’t quite at that stage in our lives yet. Could option 2 be the same for you?

minipie · 16/11/2020 09:59

Are your friends likely to stay in Option 1? Or is there a risk they all move on within a year or two?

If they are likely to stay - I would pick option 1. Friends are important and make a huge difference to how much you enjoy living somewhere. Plus it sounds like you have affection for Option 1, even though you say Option 2 is the dream. Option 1 also has more potential for profit meaning that perhaps eventually you could use that profit to buy a 2 bed in Option 2. I really wouldn’t want to choose a 1 bed, they are very limited.

Poppyismyfavourite · 16/11/2020 10:02

I say option 1
because: bigger house, garden, your friends are there. It's not really clear to me why you want to live in area 2 except because it's pretty?

AS LONG AS: you're prepared to stay there as long as it takes to increase in value.

movingonup20 · 16/11/2020 10:04

Sheffield is nice so not a good comparison I suspect.

LillianGish · 16/11/2020 10:05

What does 'grim' even mean? Do you think it's grim, do other people think it's grim or do you just think other people might think it's grim? Is the house more important to you and having your own garden etc or the area around it? My home is important, but so is being able to walk outside around an area I love without having to get into a car - I actually felt this even more strongly during lockdown. Also what about friends? Moving away from them is always going to be a big decision whether you are scaling up or down.

BungleandGeorge · 16/11/2020 10:08

Friends and larger property would be a big draw for area 1. When you say it’s a bit grim though is there really no crime problem, there are usually for places that have become very run down. I wouldn’t buy purely based on investment potential as universities and business areas may be quite unstable in the next few years. I’d buy where you’d prefer to live. I’d probably go for option 2 if you’d prefer living there bearing in mind the smaller house etc. If you choose to settle down with a partner/children it becomes way more difficult to relocate!

RelightMyPfizer · 16/11/2020 10:09

@Youngatheart00

Surprised that someone said Sheffield is the fourth biggest city?

I would have said Leeds or Bristol?

It is a technicality and all about what a city is. Manchester is subdivided so Salford is a separate city as an example

London
Birmingham
Leeds (Leeds Bradford is a conurbation through and is probably bigger than Birmingham)
Sheffield
Manchester (but Manchester and Salford are bigger than Sheffield). Greater Manchester is much larger
Liverpool (but again that excludes many suburbs as in different areas).

This is off the top of my head- there are various lists but they do disagree and differ- it is all about what you are judging as the city.

joystir59 · 16/11/2020 10:12

You may not be happy in a 1 bed flat and you may struggle to sell it.

WellTidy · 16/11/2020 10:17

I'd be wary of buying a one-bed flat (not if this were all you could afford, in any area, though) as I have been told that the market is dropping for one-bed flats. People are tending to WFH more (and this is only increasing due to Covid) and they want more than one bedroom, to have a delineation between work space and home space. I think it may be harder to sell.

LilacPebbles · 16/11/2020 10:34

I love my grim city. Proud of the major role in played in the industrial revolution as well.

Janegrey333 · 16/11/2020 11:03

So called “grim” places are not to be dismissed. If they have an industrial vibe, I find them characterful and attractive. The “chocolate box” village where everything is twee can feel cloying and dull. It’s a bit Stepford wives.