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?

@Grellbunt

Look at what house 2 sold for in 1997

300k

Shit

My house is worth £300k now . It's much bigger than those houses with 1/4 acre garden. But then it's not in London. I

@MiloAndEddie

Well that’s a stealth brag if ever I saw one

Yep. Like the people on Location, Location, who are struggling to find what they want for £1m or more... usually youngish couples, with high salaries and/or huge deposit/inheritance money, who can't find what they're looking for, despite being internet savvy.

I love these threads. Everyone pointing out that you could buy a castle in Royston Vasey for a fraction of the price. And yet we stupid Londoners will keep on buying these massively overpriced houses and then selling them on to even stupider people for even more money...why won't we listen?!

I'm trying to sell my London flat and have dropped the price by almost a fifth. Agents tell me houses are also dipping now

It’s not true, they’re just cheering you up.

Completely disagree @Diverseopinions there are a lot of kids in London in houses like the one the OP might buy who are at state school. There are also a lot who aren’t. That’s a plus point, a amhe of society.

Frankly in this part of London you’d be looked down at private school at a £1.6m house. Certainly one of he smaller ones.

One of the many reasons supporting the state sector is a positive thing in my opinion.

What's with the focus on persuading OP to pay for private school instead?

London state schools will be full of kids in similar houses and similar situations. Many/most London state schools already have good wraparound. Or OP can pay for an after-school and holiday nanny if she wants. Many people prefer to have kids in state for primary and focus on private for secondary instead. Some people actively want their kids in a state environment for primary for political or emotional reasons.

OP can choose private or state if she wants, but a lot of the reasons being put forward for private are... Let's politely say, making a distorted representation of reality.

My house is worth £300k now grin. It's much bigger than those houses with 1/4 acre garden. But then it's not in London.

Where is it? I’d love to know.

Lovely house. Go for it. Where we are in London the property market for houses is going crazy last few weeks. Prices had dipped a bit and i think now people realise it's probably at a low and going to Go back up/ getting called back to office etc etc. Now things are going to sealed bids before they've even hit righmove.

You won’t “need” to go down the private Ed route in MH.

Plenty of children will be in bigger houses and some in smaller. Some in flats, some in private rented, some in social housing but plenty in that sort of house. Some families may well have that Hitchin or Scottish house as their holiday home.
I think I prefer house 2 just because the futility room is in the basement. The washing machine is likely to be on floorboards in the other house which makes more noise. Concrete floor and out of the way would be my preference.

The trouble is, so many have predicted a London crash .
Economics will suggest that profiteers will be crawling around london now and will be stocking up to sell on, later , at a massive profit.
Just an opinion.

Kids know the difference. I would say from as early as 10 years' old. I have teenagers. Trust me, they know.

The majority of houses in the catchment will be pretty similar to this one. It's London. The rest of the houses on this street are worth in the same range, and in the next street too, and the one after that. It's likely to be mid range in value, not way higher than most. There will be a mix, yes. There will be some flats in catchment, and some social housing, probably, and maybe some detached 6-beds. For many people, that is a plus of London state schooling. There are no state schools in areas of London where a family house costs £1.6m where a child, or teen, is going to stand out for living in a family house.

A good test for how much you love a house is 'would I care if I lived here for 10 years and at the end it was worth the same or less than when I bought it?' If the answer is no I wouldn't mind, and you can afford it without a risky amount of borrowing, then do it. A house is a home. If it goes up in value that nice extra, not the reason for buying it. My DH said we should wait last summer and rent rather than buy because of his predicted Covid house price cash. We saw a house we liked and I pushed to buy not rent. Now I'm feeling smug because prices have risen c 10% in this area since then, and we'd be stuck in a dingy rental whilst prices rise steply around us if we'd followed his advice. I said I was willing to buy and to accept that its value could fall, as we'd made a lot of money on our own sale and it's greedy to expect to make money on every house transaction.

As pp have pointed out your DC would not be out of place in state school because classmates will be from your street or the one over.
I'd recommend figuring out what house to want to purchase ASAP so you can go and assess the local school - I don't think you can get a feel for them unless you visit. You'll either get a good or bad vibe which can then guide you as to whether you go private.

[quote slippersandprosecco]Example of what you could get in a pretty market town with super fast and regular trains into London and a much better change at getting into outstanding schools. If this isn't to your taste then are also plenty of Edwardian style houses akin to the ones you listed, but bigger for the same price.

People spending that many £££ in London outskirts are fools! Especially for a house that doesn't even have its own parking!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/80403462#/[/quote]
It’s really dated and the kitchen’s a joke. You’d have to spend a fortune to get that to the standard of the first house OP posted.

@Camdenish

You won’t “need” to go down the private Ed route in MH.

Plenty of children will be in bigger houses and some in smaller. Some in flats, some in private rented, some in social housing but plenty in that sort of house. Some families may well have that Hitchin or Scottish house as their holiday home.
I think I prefer house 2 just because the futility room is in the basement. The washing machine is likely to be on floorboards in the other house which makes more noise. Concrete floor and out of the way would be my preference.

The side return is not done though and that’s a lot of money/mess. Plus the kitchen needs replacing.

OP can always put the futility in the basement in the other house and use the current one as a pantry/storage.

It’s really dated and the kitchen’s a joke. You’d have to spend a fortune to get that to the standard of the first house OP posted.

Just looked at it, and... too true. I don't actually want to pretend I'm a Bennet sister, thanks. I want a modern family house in the city.

It’s muswell hill, you’re never going to lose out

@slippersandprosecco I quite like it for a weekend away but completely different in terms of maintenance and lifestyle.

I'd go for the first house. Especially with it having the secret cellar that you can convert to a utility and family room, then use the space where the current utility room is on the ground floor for something else.

House 2 you'd be paying for the look, and all the furniture would be leaving on the purchase!

If you plan to stay there long-term and can get a fixed rate mortgage, you can ride out market fluctuations. If you need to be able to sell or re-finance in the next few years, then obviously buying is a big gamble.

True, true, TatianaBis.

How about this one

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107063255#/

@Yazhi I echo what @califragalistico says. It's a great area for quality of life. I lived in Muswell Hill for the duration of DCs late primary/ secondary education and it was absolutely perfect. I miss it madly, we sold up in 2015 as DH resented living in a suburb we are divorced now and while I'm happy with my current situation just the mention of Rosebery Road sent me such waves of nostalgia, it's lovely

Flats have dropped. Because after all the lockdowns, nobody wants somewhere with no side space.

I don't know enough about it, Jangle33. Thank you for giving me some info.

I like state schools and mixing. I believe in supporting them. I'm glad it's all good and that there is a great mix.

It's unbelievable that 1.6 millon is just ordinary and actually cheap by.many standards - but, I guess it's true.

@Diverseopinions

I don't know enough about it, Jangle33. Thank you for giving me some info.

I like state schools and mixing. I believe in supporting them. I'm glad it's all good and that there is a great mix.

It's unbelievable that 1.6 millon is just ordinary and actually cheap by.many standards - but, I guess it's true.

In many state schools there isn't a true mix because private schools siphon off the wealthiest in the area