Surrey. Where? How? Help!

[sooperswooper]

Moving into the area from down South and quite apart from the heart attacks suffered realising what we can now afford (up to about 300k if you're selling a lovely character 2/3 bed property, ideally with a mahoosive garden out in the fringes of the countryside but within striking distance of a train station & commutable by car to woking ) wanted some advice if poss. RightMove/Zoopla are my BFFs now but I could of with a bit of real experience and input.

So if anyone happens to be browsing from surrey, where might you recommend area wise based on the above? Have one 13mo ds. Got a day of viewings of sat (with said ds. Ooooo twill be fun) - farnborough, farnham, guildford, godalming areas. Woking doesn't really inspire (or what does is out of our price range) and north east of woking seems again beautiful (weybridge) but out of price range.

Also, anyone any ideas about any storage facilities as I don't think we'll find somewhere before our house completes as its hoping to in the next few weeks so we're going to have to shift everything from a four bed, 3 storey house into a storage facility for a while. Luckily we're already staying in oxfordshire (got to love friends who are lending the house to us) so luckily we don't need to worry about renting- just need to find somewhere to buy. Obviously because we don't really know the area in which we'll be living, bit difficult for storage, but I suppose if we go relatively central to store everything (i.e. Guildford/Woking) then that'd be easier when we do buy.

Just to settle a dispute between me and my dh; properties that are worth their salt DO get snapped up within the first viewing, usually at asking price up here don't they? Dh is convinced that being totally chain free will enable us to get at least 10% off the asking price and "take out time" in making an offer. Utter bollocks, I say.

Hate to say it, but Kingfield is a really really awful area of Woking, wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. I think you need to look more strategically - look at school catchment areas (it will come around far faster than you think), and only after that, funnel down to the actual house. Don't get swayed by pictures of houses that have been decorated nicely (like the Kingfield one), you can do that yourself!

Woking has very green bits to get out to - Horsell Common for one. But it sounds like you have set your mind against it, and would rather have a long commute. Horses for courses

I know I am a bit late to the party here but I have lived in Farnborough and Camberley. Farnborough has some great houses and is cheaper than Camberley (perhaps because Farnborough is in Hampshire?) but the town centre is definitely the pits. However, because Camberley is so close (you can't really see the dividing line when you live there) when we lived in Farnborough we just shopped in Camberley which has a decent town centre.

Camberley is nice although as with much of Surrey the traffic can be a problem. For that reason, though it is a lovely little place, I would avoid Farnham.

I agree with some of the others that you might have better luck in Hampshire. I would suggest Basingstoke - 20 -30 minutes on the train to Woking depending on whether it is a stopping train or not. It is on the main line to Waterloo so you can be in central London in 45 mins. Housing is cheaper, it is surrounded by countryside and there are lots of open green spaces. The M3 as the main route to everywhere! I think you can drive to Woking in under an hour but I haven't done it for ages so can't say for sure. The town centre is pretty good and so are the schools.

Where did you see in goldsworth park you didn't like? I'm surprised by that - I think it's lovely. Big park, lake, good (and on the up) school, a waitrose. :o
Horsell is lovely, St. John's is pretty but the school isnt good.

King field isn't great, the school is so-so, but that property isn't in the bad area of it.

There's not a lot online but things sell before they make it online often.

Personally I wouldn't want that kind of commute every day. But it depends on what works for you.

Perhaps it wasn't in gold worth park then and I've been harbouring under an untrue disillusion! Thanks for the suggestions- food for thought. Offered and accepted on cranleigh but tonight thought I'd give myself a break from work and look at house. Google satellited and saw all these solar panels and bright orange housing estate opposite our house. Turns out google superimposed the artist impression of what it should look like in a few years!! more digging later (very well hidden away) reveals 39 affordable houses and flats within 30ft. The building of which will start in the new year

Back to the drawing board...

Just found a few but lost the post...

However, this might fit the bill.

Huge garden

no wonder they're selling!! Wouldn't want to live across from a building site for years.

Any chance you could be thinking of sythwood? It's between goldsworth park and Horsell. Not nice. But the areas around it are fine. In fact I know someone who paid about an extra 100k for a house on the other side of the road from sythwood as that is "Horsell" so is worth so much more :o

Bisley is ok, near big sainsburys :o which is handy! Quite a busy road through it though. Any of the villages between Guildford and Woking that you like? Jacobs well etc? I think the further south of Guildford that you go the more expensive it gets!

We looked at Jacobs well, actually. But! I turns out I was totally wrong. So we're proceeding with buying the Cranleigh one.

There has been so much food for thought here- it's been excellent so thank you. Obviously if something goes wrong with the purchase, then, in the words of Arnold, I'll be back..

The best things about Farnborough and Woking are the roads out of it.