Hello lovely mums!
We are an international family planning to relocate from Richmond, Surrey to Cambridge. We started looking for a 4 bed property to buy and had our first viewing yesterday. The house is a project house so price is reduced. It’s in Newnham and asking price is £870k. We were expecting offers under the asking price and were surprised to see that there were offers above it on the first day open for viewings. I myself loved the house and would definitely buy it if we were in a position to get our lower offer accepted but unfortunately, it seems it won’t be for us...
Is it really quick like that the process of buying houses in Cambridge? That competitive? In your opinion, is Brexit hitting down prices over there? Because of that experience we had with this house, we are planning ourselves to be in a position to offer above asking price in the future so we have better chances of getting it.
Also, I just loved the Newnham area. Met locals who introduced themselves to us and invited us in. Very open minded people and extremely friendly. Is that really or we were lucky?
About schools, we have a 3 and 5 year old. We have access to great schools here in Richmond so I got a but disappointed when saw that Newnham Croft is only “good”, according to ofstead. Of course ofstead is not all that matters and apparently it has to be with the international background of students (having English as second language) which is not a problem for us at all. Apparently secondary schools are outstanding, if I’m not wrong, would be Parkside Community College.
What is your viewing on Newnham Croft? We are in a tricky situation as circumstances are leading us to move in the first semester of 2019 which means my 3 years old will have a place in reception offered here in Richmond but deadlines closed. We should be there before September but how does it works getting him (and his 5 year old) in line for Newnham Croft. Here in Richmond places in Reception are very hard to get due to high demand.
I’m very sorry for the huge text, but as this move is very important for us, a big step, and because I value imensibly mums net opinions, I’m looking for advice here.
Reasons we are moving is to scape from London’s polluted air, busy skylines close to Heathrow (where we live) and give our children a chance to get more outside and with nature. At the same time we want to keep our cultural lives interesting and be surrounded by open minded people. Husband works from home most times but will commute to Liverpool Street once or twice a week. I m stay at home mum and we have a labrador who you will probably see jumping on Cambridge’s canals and river. Thanks in advance!