To think this house is worth it and London won't crash?

[Yazhi]

After searching for a long time we have found a house in an area that both DH and I like. DH thinks we should wait and see if the prices drop in London. Flats seem to have dropped and he's hoping houses follow. Who do you think is right?

Just laughing at 'futility room'.

a lot of parents who were going to go private deciding to apply for state places, presumably as a bit of a panic after financial uncertainty

@GappyValley our don’t private school place wasn’t confirmed until after the deadline for state applications closed, even though the private school application went in earlier. We had to apply for state in case he didn’t get the private school place. Nothing to do with our financial circumstances.

Our son’s

As for the parents in Rhodes Ave being snooty....

As mentioned not a parent myself but I was my dog at the recreation ground next to Rhodes Ave/APS. My dog plays with bubbles which in turn attracts the attention of children and she's got a fan club, and as a result have got to know a few of the mum's. They're very definitely middle class, all nannies and working in fashion but are perfectly friendly.

Was my dog? Walk my dog!

@Firsttimecatlady

As an aside- nice to see no matter if the house is on for £90k or £1.6m, there’ll always be an IKEA Kallax in there somewhere... the last great social leveller...?

@HaveringWavering

a lot of parents who were going to go private deciding to apply for state places, presumably as a bit of a panic after financial uncertainty

@GappyValley our don’t private school place wasn’t confirmed until after the deadline for state applications closed, even though the private school application went in earlier. We had to apply for state in case he didn’t get the private school place. Nothing to do with our financial circumstances.

The private schools here confirm the places 6 months before the state ones do

Most private schools will confirm a place 12-18 months before the child starts school, and want the deposit at around the same time

The states then have applications in at the Christmas before the admission year, with offers sent out in the April for admission 6 months later

So lots of parents seemed to have put in those applications despite having accepted a state place, but then declined to take the place which meant lots of waiting list kids got places

OP: houses are selling very very fast.

If you like the house, view and offer.

And don’t link in social media. The ‘hits’ on the property will rocket, the EAs will encourage the sellers to go to ‘best and final’ at an inflated rate above asking price, and you are drawing attention to the house from other would be buyers.

Good luck!

@BuffySummersReportingforSanity

As lovely as Muswell Hill is, people are completely deluding themselves if they think that there aren't just as nice and better value places to live which have equal commute times into central London

I don't want to live in a commuter town. Not even slightly. Most places in the Home Counties are priced equivalently to London on top of being deeply suburban and blah. Fuck no.

I want to be in London. Because I love London.

100% agree. Even now that I will never have to do my 35 minute commute to the City more than twice a week, still zero interest in moving beyond zone 3.

OP - if MH doesn't work out, you might consider Stoke Newington. Good schools, lots of families, nice high street. Again, no tube, but easy buses to Angel etc. If you're French, Highbury seems to be the place to go.

OMG they are both beautiful. Your Dh is a fool if he doesn't put an offer in soon. Do it today OP. Don't offer because prices are going to crash? What a tool he is!

@Iwonder08

Prices in London won't crash. There is a zero chance they will drop in Muswell Hill. Lots of green space, good schools, safe. It is very desirable

Can you imagine if Muswell Hill was on a tube line...

Sorry, as you were.

Stunning house. Rosebury road will not decrease in value..... secondary schools are great ( APS most likely, may even get in to Fortismere!) top primary too! Plus in the middle of two great parks, especially ally pally. Good transport links and near to the broadway.

It will not be a bad investment. People will always want to live in Muswell Hill.

I just don't want my house all over the Internet, punkt. It's private. Our private, personal space

Let’s hope you never want to sell it.

And from here you can walk to Ally Pally station, it's on the overground so added bonus of not having to take the tube if working in central.

@GappyValley

Most private schools will confirm a place 12-18 months before the child starts school, and want the deposit at around the same time

Bizarre- the school we applied for told us it was making its offers on the date that it did so that it was in sync with all the other independents that parents might also have applied to. (We only applied to one ourselves). It’s academically selective and I don’t think they’d want to assess reception kids too far in advance as too hard to tell what they will be like when they start.

@Blossomtoes

I just don't want my house all over the Internet, punkt. It's private. Our private, personal space

Let’s hope you never want to sell it.

Yeah, in London that “details on application” level of privacy will only kick in at around 5 million!

Love the idea that if you want a diverse cultural mix you have to live in London because that's the only place that has this

@Blossomtoes

I just don't want my house all over the Internet, punkt. It's private. Our private, personal space

Let’s hope you never want to sell it.

Well I will just empty it and put stunt furniture in, or go off market

Where do you commute to OP? I live around that area, PM me if you want some local transport tips.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz is that statement wrong? Where else do you suggest that has as rich a cultural mix as London?

[quote HaveringWavering]@GappyValley

Most private schools will confirm a place 12-18 months before the child starts school, and want the deposit at around the same time

Bizarre- the school we applied for told us it was making its offers on the date that it did so that it was in sync with all the other independents that parents might also have applied to. (We only applied to one ourselves). It’s academically selective and I don’t think they’d want to assess reception kids too far in advance as too hard to tell what they will be like when they start.[/quote]
Interesting…
The only one on our shortlist that does proper assessments (Thomas’s) is doing a random ballot for the second year running, but will still offer at the same sort of time as the years when they did in-person assessments - October/November - so still before the state applications have to go in

It’s such an ingrained timetable for all the schools around here that I had always assumed it was the same for the rest of London
Really interesting to hear it isn’t

@lettie9 well I live in Reading and it’s pretty diverse. My next door neighbours on one side are from Mozambique and Romania on the other side.

Wikipedia says:
According to the 2011 census, 74.8% of the borough's population were described as White (65.3% White British), 9.1% as South Asian, 6.7% as Black, 3.9% Mixed, 4.5% as Chinese and 0.9% as other ethnic group. In 2010, it was reported that Reading had 150 different spoken languages within its population.

And it’s only 25 minutes to central London, less than some areas that are actually in London.

Obviously other cities like Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester etc are also very diverse.

Suspect they might mean diverse in terms of highly educated European professionals...

@Yazhi and @lettie9 - sorry, made lots of mistakes in reading and posting late last night and we're at cross purposes (my mistake).

I'm not saying a person definitely can't earn 6 figures by age 30 unless they're a banker. I earn six figures as a digital contractor. I came to it late but there are others in my industry on the same money much younger, though most of the young ones are more like mid-30s as they'd still need some work experience before being able to go contracting. Obviously it's possible to get that level of salary before age 30 but I think if we were to look at salary surveys etc those people would be a very tiny percentage of people overall, even in London there can't be that many jobs at those figures percentage wise.

In my sleepy haze last night I got mixed up between 6 and 7 figures and salary/house. I was focussing only on the house, and the house is 7 figures. I guess I'm talking in broad brush strokes but the whole of London has those 7 figure house prices and I don't think the whole of London can be made up of people who reached 6 figure salaries, and also had their other half reach a 6 figure salary both by a young enough age to get a 25-year mortgage of £780k? Yahzi you can afford yours by selling that stock, so it's not on your salaries alone right?

So as those 6 figure types of people will be a small % of Londoners, the rest of the people buying those 7 figure houses must have had inheritances, bought and sold previously, sold stock, etc etc.

I lived in London for many years and most of the people I knew there at the time were in TV, or social workers, or nurses, and none of them were on 6 figure salaries. I moved out 17 years ago and can only assume that the makeup of London must have drastically changed as now the houses are 7 figures not 6 figures, and not that many people percentage wise earn 6 figures and also have their partner earn 6 figures. So the house buyers must be getting the ££ from somewhere else.

Hope that makes more sense! Note to self - don't read and post on MN when half asleep!

ps also here for tips on which jobs do get you to 6 figures nowadays by age 30 so can encourage kids in that direction!