What would you do? Ideas of places to move to in Surrey within 40mins Waterloo, Budget £850K

[perrinelli]

Hi ladies
Any ideas of good places in Surrey to move to, good train links to Waterloo (25 - 40mins), good access to countryside, somewhere we could be in walking distance of the station and buggy pushing distance of shops? 4 - 5 bedrooms and a nice garden?

I have a DD aged 3 and another due in a couple of months so schools will be an issue, we'd be looking at state primary and maybe private (the cheaper end) secondary.

Looked at Epsom, Weybridge, Esher and Guildford (only on internet) but so hard to get a full impression. So far it seems to me we'd get more for our money in Epsom, Weybridge might be just a bit too posh and in Guildford we might not be able to be that close to the station and feel semi rural.
Would love to hear your thoughts!

i mean, terraced house not terraced garden

no rice paddies in SW so far as I know

this is the sort of thing

we used to live on the "grid" nearby

wee gardens there and terrible parking though

i used to commute from guildford to waterloo (and then on to barnes ) - if we moved back to the uk now, i suspect we'd head back to guildford tbh. i used london road rather than guildford main, and always got a seat.

yes we moved out in the end but in some ways I regret it

SW is a great spot, some good schools, on the tube, better prices than hc commuting, and really nice people and communities

I second East Molesey - very villagey feel and some lovely houses.

Thanks for all your helpful posts. Some more information:

• I don't think we could get what we're looking for these days in Earlsfield for our money, we really want detached (DH likes to play his trumpet without a mute) and a larger garden than we have nowWhen I've looked at Wandsworth Common/Earlsfield a lot of the stuff on offer for that price is victorian terraces with small gardens and quite narrow. i do agree though that this is a lovely area and we're in the catchment for a really good primary school where DD is starting nursery in september so we won't decide to move away lightly and I'll keep an eye on what comes up round here. Just haven't quite got enough space in our current house (2.5 bedrooms) and feels uncomfortable to spend quite a lot more money and get maybe just one more bedroom and a smaller garden! My parents are also on the Surrey/Hampshire border down the A3 and it would be lovely to be a bit closer as Mum has DD one day a week up here but finds the 1.5hr drive a bit much.

• Period features are not a deal breaker at all though obviously hoping for a certain amount of curb appeal, perhaps that post implied we might get something in Weybridge in our budget?

• It's a really good point about considering something a bit further from the station and DH using bike or moped as I've noticed already you do get more for your money once you're more than 20ish mins walk from the train. I suppose it would just be adjusting and going from having everything really close in walking distance where we live now. i also have this notion that we will keep in touch with my young and hip friends without kids (I am youngish but not hip) who will come and visit us so wanted to be quite close to a station for them too!

On Saturday we're going to do a reccie in Epsom/Ewell so we'll see how we get on. Am hoping it will either help us decide to go for it or help me to get over it, stop obsessing and be content with what we have! If we do go for it then we'll definitely do some reccie's in the other areas to compare and try to narrow it down.

weybridge - busy road, but you have gates. my friend lives right near here. Fantastic schools on your doorstep

Yes I think I mentioned the moped, it definitely is the way to go.

At that price you can get 4 bed house in the centre of Guildford, town centre on south side, which is all within close walking of the countryside (and shops). You will be in catchment for good primary and definitely Guildford County Secondary, maybe George Abbot if you are lucky, or St Peter's if you are Catholic.

So I'd go for Guildford, for lovely countryside, and everything else you ask for. Some people choose to commute from the slower London Road station fo a seat, but DH used to get a seat from the main station when he commuted (until last summer).

www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=6622962

www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=8559603

www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=6961196

ooh, I agree about Godalming! Very pretty.

Have you thought about Farnham, very pretty but not the fastest route into London TBH.

For example:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33495791.html

My sister's in Farnham and it is nice but I think we're pushing it saying 40 mins commute into Waterloo for my DH so that has to be the limit. He works quite long hours so wouldn't want a move out to mean that we never saw him in the week.

dickcheeseandthecrackers is quite successfully selling Weybridge so definitely want to go and have a look round there.

My DH can be a bit infuriating though - he is reluctant to commit to a move saying only that he would only move if he felt he got a 'real bargain' - no such think in the Surrey commuter belt methinks unless you want something that no one else wants!

Woodham

private lake access

6 bedrooms

Ooh buy the church

This would be Goldsworth Primary catchment

This would be Westfield or Barnsbury catchment

Near a station but not sure of commuting time

I like this

We v recently moved to central Guildford - not as 'country' as I had hoped but close to lots, just an adjustment to drive to everything vs life in SW where the buggy got used more. That being said we chose this after seeing all of Surrey and going crazy - compromise was for the commute (DH goes to Canary Wharf and couldn't bear too long a commute - trains are regular and air con!) and the schools tbh. Anywhere near Woking gives great commute and houses (Woodham I liked, Pyrford, Hook Heath) but schools weren't as attractive, from my ltd experience.
Get the local papers when house supplements are out and talk to friendly estate agents but bear in mind bargains are rare as everyone has 'nice' houses!

Perrinelli, if you have any specific q's about weybridge do post them for me.

On the schools situ, it's competitive to get in, as is most of Surrey obviously. But we are lucky to have some outstanding schools in the area. Look up Oatlands Junior and Cleves Middle Schools. Plus another outstanding catholic school - St Charles. Plus two very good other schools, St James and Mamby Lodge.

so today I realized two things,

1. The nesting thing really happens
2. It's a bad idea to go house hunting with a 3 yo in tow.

So we had our reccie today in Epsom & Ewell and looked at a couple of houses - really worth doing as you can only tell so much from looking online. The first one seemed smaller than it had appeared and the agent admitted they use a camera with a special lens that 'stretches' the rooms! Nice area but the reality of what you can get for your money is a bit depressing.

Anyway, think this moving thing might be 'nesting' as part of wanting more space is feeling that Im drowning in stuff at home and it's all too cluttered - we're not good at clearing out stuff & it just accumulates. So we got back today and I started decluttering and having a sort out. It was when I was clearing out the spice drawer and (I'm ashamed to admit) writing out labels for the tops of the jars ( I really don't normally do this sort of thing) that it struck me that it might all have something to do with being 31 weeks pregnant....!

I've vowed to stop looking on zoopla.com for a bit and my dh and mum are going to help with the decluttering (dh realizes this is the lesser of 2 evils compared to moving)

We're in Epsom, moved here from Fulham 18 months ago, and are very happy. Schools are good, including secondary, and you also have grammars accessible (just about) if that appeals later. We live about 20 mins walk to the station, DH cycles usually, or there is a bus. Shops are fine for everyday, and Kingston is about 15 mins drive away if you feel the need, and we can get back to our friends in Fulham/Putney etc in 35-45 minutes.

We moved from Earlsfield to Ewell and hated it, so moved to T Wells. Think Epsom is different, although I still didn't love it, so we started looking around - from Winchester, through Guildford, Godalming, Chiddingfold, Haslemere, Claygate (lovely!), and ended up in Kent. So far so good. And we didn't have your budget, so I'm sure you can get something lovely in a great catchment with a good garden somewhere in that arc!!