Buying my first house to grow my family

[NewStart178]

Hi All,

Recently, my husband and I have started looking around for our first house. We take time every weekend travelling to different places around London in person to have a general idea about each area. We have got good feeling for the following places: Sevenoaks (Kent), Wimbledon (the surrounding areas like Merton Park, Raynes Park not the central area which is too expensive for us), North Greenwich, Lee and Elm Park, HornChurch (near Essex)

We are both working in central London. We have a budget of around £400,000 and ideally would like to have a 2 bed house not too far from central, to live and grow our family in the next 5-10 years at least.

Among the place we visited, we like Sevenoaks the most as it seems to filled up with young families. However, the transport cost to London seems to be a big issue in the long term given that the fare keeps raising every year. (we don't mind the 1hour travelling time though).

It would be great if we can hear your opinions about the following:

1. Please could you share your experience about living in the above areas (or any where near by), are these nice and safe places to grow your children. Are the school (primary) ok?
2. For Sevenoaks, is there any place nearby that is equally nice, at more or less the same price (or better), but with lower costs to commute to London (I know I am a bit greedy here)
3. Are there other places which you think offers better value for money and we missed out?

Thank you very much for your help!

Helen

Your search criteria is giving you too much choice I think. All the areas you have mentioned are good areas to live in. Sevenoaks is a good choice and less than 30mins to London Bridge. Be mindful of your onward journey once you get to the London terminus station as taking the tube can add to your travel time.

If I were you, I would look at where in London you work and that would help me determine where to concentrate my research in areas.

Good luck in your home search. I understand the feeling of wanting to put down roots. I was in your position 2yrs ago.

Have a look at Bexley and Chislehurst, good quick and cheaper commute, nice villagey feel to both

@iamusuallybeingunreasonable: I will plan for Chislehurst or Bexley (or both) next weekend then. Thanks for the idea!

@Notyetthere: thanks for the advice - London Bridge will prob be our main destination if we travel from outside. From LB to our offices will take around 10-15 mins extra, so I think this is kind of reasonable.

"Your search criteria is giving you too much choice I think" - About this. Do you think that there are other important factors that I have not put into the equation. Would you please share your experience?

Currently, I don't think we need anything more than a 2 bed, about schooling, both myself and my husband have grown up teaching ourselves and learning from kind people around us much more than from any school, so I don't think it is too much of an important factor yet (Prob it will change when I have children?)

Really SevenOaks and Wimbledon attracted me the most, I just think that for Wimbledon I have to pay quite a bit of premium for its historic value which I don't really need.

I came across an old useful thread which compares SevenOaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells here. Not sure if the situation still stays the same since then.

Hi, it has been a while since a posted these questions. Since then we have looked around different places around Sevenoaks. I think that we are going to finalise soon.

I just want to ask if anyone has any experience about Orpington, how is that area as compared to Sevenoaks?

Hi newstart - I grew up near Orpington and worked there for a bit and much prefer Bromley if you're looking in that area. It's got a nice pedestrian high street, lots of green spaces etc I agree that Bexley village and Chislehurst are also nice places to live.

Thanks MrsBarlow, I will definitely give Bromley and Orpington a try this weekend then. I actually quite like Chislehurst and Brexley but people told me that they are much more pricey than Sevenoaks, that put me off from looking seriously into properties in these two areas. I just want to do a reality check now. Is it really the case? Or I got it completely wrong?

I don't know Sevenoaks very well but Chislehurst and Bexley are quite expensive to buy in. Depends what you're looking for but there's also sidcup and bexleyheath near there (not as 'pretty' as bexley/chislehurst but you get more for your money). Might also depend on where in London you need to get to.

I have friends near Chislehurts and its lovely.