Where to live in N. London?

[triplespin]

Hi there

Can we have some ideas on where to move to in North London which is not more than 10-15 mins drive (minus traffic) or has good public transport links to Swiss Cottage/Finchley Road? We are looking for a 3-4 bed house, can settle for a flat if it is 4 bedroom and our budget is 750K tops. We are not really diy-ers so the property needs to be in relatively liveable condition as we won't have much capital to renovate it for some time.In terms of the area itself, the usual really - safe, family friendly and not too far from public transport for getting in to work. From simple online searches it seems such an area / property does not exist within our budget, but maybe some mnetters will prove me wrong ! It seems Golders Green is far too expensive - Hendon and Muswell Hill come up on the searches - are there pockets of those areas that are nice?

lol yeh pockets

You won't get from Muswell Hill to Swiss Cottage in 10/15 mins drive (unless you are doing it in the middle of the night!)

Golders Green is much closer but I don't know about prices of property, do you have to factor in schools?

I'm surprised Golders Green is coming up as more expensive than Muswell Hill. I'm sure there are 1930s houses in Golders that would work with your budget. And is a quick drive / bus down the Finchley Rd to Swiss Cottage.

Near chalk farm?
But t b h think you'll struggle to get all that on yr budget...

A couple of houses in or near Golders Green:

Four beds, £760k

Four beds, £650k

Schools are not an issue. I just wanted to confirm that I wasn't missing anything. It seems it would be virtually impossible to get all that in our price range then.

Thanks WhatKatyDidn't. These look great, but are quite far from the station in terms of walking, but potentially there could be a bus.

What is E. Finchley like as an area?

Yes, the first one is a bit far from Golders Green station, but the second one only 0.4 miles. I think going down to Swiss Cottage is best done on the number 13 bus, which you can get from the station or any of the other stops along Finchley Road.

East Finchley is nice, nicer than Golders Green IMO. More leafy and some beautiful roads and parks, good pubs.

True the 2nd one is much closer - odd why its priced so low. I think we will need to drive around these areas to have a better idea as we're not too familiar with either. Maybe we'll come across something suitable, though i'm not so hopefuly at this stage!

East Finchley is really nice, quite suburban but sounds as though this is what you are looking for.

Muswell Hill is great, but cheaper parts tend to be quite far from transport and the really lovely parts of Muswell Hill are pricey for houses (last year we looked there, but it felt as though 825k would sort of be the minimum, and things have gone up).

Crouch End is also nice, and bits of Archway are too. I guess further west is a bit closer to Swiss Cottage but I don't really know about prices there.