what can 600k buy in a commuter town from London?

[Steth]

Finally realised i'm fooling myself and that we will not be able to afford the house we want in the area we want soooooo I desperately need your advice on where we can live that is still commutable to London? We've looked at Harpenden - way too expensive. Had a quick look at Guildford and Godalming. We love period properties. We'd like 3/4 bed, ideally detached and with a decent garden. We can travel about an 1 - 1hr30mins to get to London.

Am I still being ridiculous with our budget?
Thank you all!

I second EmmaCate's view that there are great parts of TW that aren't in the 'Village' which is just an extension of London really. You can walk to the station from other great parts of town.....and yes, traffic is a nightmare and parking can be difficult - but that's not that dissimilar to London. Personally, I'm so glad we made the move!

a bigger house and garden wont help you much when you suddenly need to call on your friends and family for help in a crisis and they have an hour car ride to get to to you (or vice versa) .

and your h is stuck on daily long commutes.

example - one child falls at school and needs to go to hospial for stitches - now you can leave other child with friend or family very easily and h can get there in less than one hour across london.

in your massive garden large house - you really going to be stuck; maybe waiting two hours or more for moral and practical support.

also in snow or other traffic crisis your h can still easily get home, even by walking - whereas 40 or 50 miles out he may have to stop overnight in london on several occasions. consider if you happy wih that scenario.

really do you believe that your life day to day would be transfomed simply by having more space?

if family and friends are important to you then stay where you are in smaller property - look around near by to move to bigger garden or whatever.

think about your lifestyle and what is important - if moving and starting again to make new friends is scary and you like the comfort and help of family and friends nearby then stay put . look at what is available locally.

if the most important thing is moving, being prepared to start over find new local friends and benefit from large space - and h happy with commute - then go for it but be ready for the emotional upheaval and time neeed to build that support you might need in an emergency

why not rent your house out and then rent somewhere you think you would like to live - then if it doesn't suit you can back track without to much difficulty.

Also with renting you get to know a town and can then decide if you want to sty, where to live with a lot more knowledge about the town yourselves rather than relying on other peoples likes and dislikes

Where I live near Sevenoaks, near commutable station, some modern 5 bed detached houses start with a 6 - the ones I would say which have "snob value" as they look prettier. Ours isn't as pretty but is very well built, ex local authority, starts with a 3/4 and is a 1950s 4 bed semi with large rooms and a sizeable garden. What I would say though is if you do go for West Kent and see something you like in a village, go for it as not many properties come up (as there aren't many full stop) and they sell in weeks rather than months even now. We weren't actually thinking of moving for another year, were "just looking" when we saw our house and put an offer in.

I am moving to TW in 2 weeks! I am a SAHM and my DH also works in the City.

I know ladym speaks negatively about it, and that may well be her experience, but my closest friend is living there and working in London, and says much more pleasant that getting the tube into work. Added to which, TW is wonderful to live in. Apparently every second person is a Londoner in exile, and that is represented in the shops and restaurants (there is a Fenwicks FGS!). Alongside that, there is sensationally beautiful green space right on our doorstep (Kent isn't called the garden of England for nothing). We are going to be right in town (to ensure we get into Claremont, awesome primary) and it does look like parking could be an issue, but lots of the houses actually have garages off road. We are on a ground floor flat, and that is the case, as it is for all the flats close by.

I am going to seriously miss London (w9), but excited at thought of slower pace of life and having a garden that my DS can play in, whilst I cook etc. Wheras atm, we are confined to indoors or park.

In terms of commute, the key is to consider where the train pulls in. If it pulls into Marylebone, forget it. Your DH will have a bitch of a journey from door-to-door. Whereas if the train pulls into the City, sorted!

Good luck!

boringschoolchoicenickname unfortunately DH is never home for bedtime stories - he works late most evening with the odd exception - he's not a workaholic just expected to put in the hours. But it would be nice if he didn't have to commute 2 hrs, i think thats not an option. I think I will have to look more into DH moving south east london so theres a possibility of having all our boxes ticked - short commute, better value for money on property and a big garden. Okay don't shoot me in you are from SE London but DH has a view that there is a high proportion of housing estates which could possibly mean more crime and mediocre state schools, I think this is unreasonable so I may have a very hard time convincing him

bbface - hope that you enjoy it as much as those of us who have made the move do. It is a fantastic place to live and has a fantastic range of shops, an awe inspiring range of coffee shops, and a thriving cultural scene.
(Word of warning though - Claremont are not taking any more bulge classes so there will be a serious shortage of places next year, they have already warned parents of children who got in this year, that they won't get all of the siblings in).

I live in a lovely green village not very far from Harpenden. We moved out from St. Albans.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge/

Try Berkhamsted, Potten End, Little Gaddesden, Great Gaddesden, Nettleden, Frithsden, Aldbury.

DHs commute is now 1hr 10mins, door to door to from Berkhamsted to Moorgate.

Cestlavielife's post is very wise. We made the big move 2 1/2 years ago. Took a good year to start making proper friends, although we were lucky in having a couple of friends close by. I now have a good set of friends, and building my support network. But it has been tough.

DH has 10 mon longer commute than when in London but gets to sit rather than stand. However he works right by our mainline station. Switching to tube for even one stop would make it much harder for him to sustain the commute he thinks.

I had/have flexibility with my job, but living here really narrows commuting ability for me - we don't want 2 of us stuck in London with ill child here.

It's been a fairly hard adjustment but we never doubted that it was the right decision for us so it was worth it. The space, hills and beach are wonderful and exactly what we wanted. We had the move here planned for 3 or 4 years and honed down our preferred locations over that time so we knew what we were getting into as much as we could.

Take your time exploring your options, don't rush into it.