Where to move in London?

[RaspberryPi1]

After many years of renting in London we are looking to buy our first place and start a family. I work in clapham, and DP near bank. Our budget is around 650k, though we could push to 700k for something that ticks all the boxes, and we are also happy to get our hands a bit dirty with a project. Over the next few weeks we are planning on visiting a few areas to get a better feeling on where to go.

We preferably would like a house with 3 beds. Though a flat with outdoor space will work. Bar that we are quite flexible. DP would like to keep his commute to 45 mins, and I'm happy with upto an hour. Our families are from the north, so it would be nice to be near the north/west of London, but that is by no means a firm requirement! We'd like to live in an area with lots of things going and a decent high Street.

Shortlist so far:
Honor oak park/forest hill
West harrow/harrow on the hill
Ealing Broadway/pitshanger

Are there any particular roads in these areas to focus a search on?
And please feel free to suggest any other areas!

Thanks!

Ladywell is lovely! Best of luck with your bidding! You can def get a house in penge for your budget and alexandra infants is a lovely school (tiny catchment so make sure you live close). Parts of anerley and crystal palace are also very nice!

I live in nunhead and would happily live in all of the areas that you mention ie HOP/ladywell/sydenham/penge/brockley/crofton park/forest hill etc.

We looked extensively in catford too but the transport was an issue for me.
Exciting times, good luck!

Do keep an eye on school catchment areas though, better in my opinion to live a little further out like penge and be close to a good school than further in but in a school blackhole. I know it is not an immediate concern for you but when the day comes it is very stressful for many.

UPDATE
Yesterday we had an offer accepted! It's taken some time but we are very happy.
However, the property has the original single glazed wooden windows. We do like them, though the condition seems rather poor. How much (per a pane) would refurbishment cost? Are there any other options... we'd rather not replace with pvc, though if the cost of repairing is very high, that maybe an option

How exciting! Where did you settle for in the end?

Close to Ladywell fields.
Now to get the survey and mortgage approved!

Hi Raspberry, I don't know this area at all but two of my work colleagues both live in Manwood Rd (if that's where you had offer accepted) and it sounds like the friendliest rd Ive ever heard of!

Congratulations OP - that area is lovely and getting lovelier. Are you the Lewisham end or the Catford end?

We're getting quotes for window refurbishment at the moment too so will be happy to compare notes.

Survey came back. We expected issues, but the roof is worse than expected.
Missing and broken tiles, signs of damp on some of the roof timbers.

We will contact some roofers, but was wondering what to expect in terms costs of repairing the roof, or replacing the roof. Just looking for a vague cost, and any recommended roofers in the south East.

Try the brockleycentral blog raspberry there's lots of recommendations on there. You can always try to get the cost of roof work taken off of the purchase price..,
We are looking to buy in same area, how did you find the market? Did you have to bid against others, or were you able to go in under the asking price?

SarfEast will give that a go. I imagine today will be spent ringing around various places for quotes.
Estate agent and vendor's solicitor has been a bit of a joke, chased them numerous times a day for simple requests, and they don't even have the courtesy of getting back to me! However when the estate agent wants something from me, then it's a different story!

Market isn't as hot as the estate agents make out. Of all the properties we've looked at there has only been 3 buyers max, mostly just one other. Bids have always been around 10% lower to start with. I still trawl through rightmove, and there is so much overpriced tat! Some places have been re listed at a HIGHER price even though they haven't sold at a lower price

We put our place on the market today and have 4 viewings tomorrow - not sure what the offers will be like though! You feel so powerless don't you.

Good luck with everying, and if you need a guide when you get here let me know :D