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Original poster

How far are you willing to stretch yourself for your dream house?

53 replies

Boobz · 16/10/2015 16:36

I have seen a house I really want.

It's not quite the right time to move, we don't quite have enough money, the mortgage payments would be a stretch and I am in between chemotherapy and surgery so it's not ideal in terms of my focus either!

And we live in Italy, so it's not really easy to sell/buy from afar.

But oh I want it! Is there a magic fairy service who can do everything for me who I don't have to pay a huge amount to that will just make it happen? (find me a mortgage, do up my house to sell which is currently tenanted, sort solicitors out etc?)

My (very rich through hard work but also through London property) uncle has always said to stretch yourself as far as you can to get the best property as it always pays off...

Dream House near West Dulwich

OP posts:
TheUnwillingNarcheska · 16/10/2015 16:55

I would question the quality of life you would have once you lived there, not just financially but what the area has to offer you.

In the past the advice was to always push yourself to the financial hilt as house prices would always increase. I wonder if people feel the same way now after the crash.

I am in my forever house and we blew our whole house decoration budget on buying it. So although I love it there is still quite a bit of work to do to it.

But we can still afford to live, not survive but live. I wouldn't want to live in fear of needing something big and not being able to afford it.

Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 17:03

We would be able to live rather than just survive, but you are right - we would be using everything we have and therefore nothing left in savings should we need to do/buy something big.

I fear I am doomed to live in Streatham forever.

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jevoudrais · 16/10/2015 17:13

My also very rich uncle with a rather large property portfolio advises to stretch yourself whilst young because if you make a hash of it you still have time on your side to get it back together. Post kids/mid 30's he doesn't apply the same mentality, and thinks more risk aversion is neccessary. Different people define 'stretched' very differently, too.

I have never come across a dream house. Houses I like, but that's it. Bricks and mortar don't mean much to me, I feel like I could be happy in many houses/parts of the country, so probably not a good one to answer!

bigTillyMint · 16/10/2015 17:19

Boobz, I am interested as to why that is your dream house - there are many houses in London not dissimilar to that one. And do you know the area?

I would say that the area is just as important as the house, especially in London where there are so many like that. You could get a decent house in East Dulwich for that money, which is a much better area to live in IMHO.

lalalonglegs · 16/10/2015 17:53

Do you know the road? It's a bit of a cut-through and I would consider Lancaster Ave more West Norwood than West Dulwich. With the best will in the world, I think you could do better - I don't think it's that well designed, the garden is manky and who wants a shower room in the cellar?

Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 18:01

jevousdrais - we have lived all over the world and we're so looking to coming home and putting down some routes for the DC, which I think is why I am probably overinvesting emotionally in a house.

Hi Tilly - ok dream house may be stretching it. But I thought the location for the house you could get was very good... Close to Tulse Hill, 15 mins walk from Brockwell Park and close to West Dulwich too. It's 1800 sq ft which is about a third bigger than our current place.

We would ideally like to live in Herne Hill, but characterful semis with 4 beds and a garden in HH go for 1.6+ and we can't stretch that far!

So it's not without compromise but it's closer to our ideal or dream than a lot of what else I can find...

I don't know East Dulwich at all really - can you send examples of similar houses in good roads in ED so I can compare? (off to look myself now...)

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SwedishEdith · 16/10/2015 18:06

I like the house but I'm not sure I'd like the words "Deep" and "End" above my bed.

Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 18:07

OK ok, I am sold on the East Dulwich idea. For those that know the area, which roads are the best ones to live on? Is there an actual villagey centre to be near to? Or are all parts of ED created equally?

Budget we have is £1.07m (at a stretch!) and needs to be near to transport link as DH and I both work in centre of town-ish.

And does anyone think this is a mad idea to be trying to do it now - am I better off just waiting until we have moved home in 9 months' time?

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lalalonglegs · 16/10/2015 18:17

I like the roads at the bottom end of LL - especially Ashbourne Grove, Melbourne Grove etc that have nice, fairly wide, Victorian semis - but they might be above your budget. Imo, a lot of East Dulwich has quite narrow terraced Victorian houses which tend to be smaller. Lordship Lane is very long and the only real transport hub is East Dulwich station so you want to be close to that end or going towards Denmark Hill or Peckham.

Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 18:17

Hmm - most of the ones I can find in ED are about £1.25m which I think are of a comparable standard/size house - are people taking offers at the moment? If I put in a £1.07m offer on a £1.25 house, is anyone likely to entertain it?!

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lalalonglegs · 16/10/2015 18:21

I doubt it to be honest.

lalalonglegs · 16/10/2015 18:28

I don't know the road but this is close to Tulse Hill and looks quite substantial
£950k or this for £920k is near some excellent primary and a great secondary school and would give you lots of money to redecorate. Busy road but in Herne Hill and tons of potential!

Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 18:50

Hmm - that Tulse Hill one is nice inside but I don't really like the outside TBH. Also it's really still Streatham - am really trying to get out of Streatham! The £920k one is also even deeper Streatham and not nearly as nice as my "dream" house I posted originally - I'd be happier to spend the extra £150k I have in the budget and get closer to HH/bigger house.

But the last one yes - I had forgotten about that one - perfect location and it's been on the market for a while now - I think I might send DH to look at that one tomorrow if he can...

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lalalonglegs · 16/10/2015 18:53

I don't know how long you have lived in Italy but Streatham is considered really quite naice these days Shock. And people go to extraordinary lengths to live within the Dunraven catchment area so perhaps worth getting over your SW16 prejudices Smile.

namechangedtoday15 · 16/10/2015 19:03

Is the "stretch" for the short term or the foreseeable future? When we bought our current house, it wasn't the right time (maternity leave, nursery fees) and we borrowed every penny the bank would lend us.

We couldn't afford to do very much to it, we didn't go out too much because we couldn't afford the night out and a babysitter, holidays were camping. And whilst I loved loved loved the house because of the life it gave us (school, neighbours etc) life was pretty miserable watching the pennies.

It was like that for 3-4 years until we stopped having to pay nursery fees & I could increase my hours. I wouldn't have wanted to do it long term - no house is worth that (imo).

Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 19:08

Yes I'm sure it is, but I have already lived there for 7 years and really want to move a bit closer to our preferred areas of HH or Brixton, so I don't mean to offend anyone who does want to live there, it's just not for us anymore. Our kids don't have to be in a particular catchment, thankfully, so we don't have to worry about being close to a good school which is a blessing at least, and gives us more options. Thanks for your help.

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Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 19:11

The stretch will be for 3 years and then we will move abroad again and rent it out, and when we're abroad we have a house provided for us, so the stretch would be short term in that sense. When we returned 3 years after that, I would hope DH and I's salary would have gone up making the stretch a bit less (although I guess life gets more expensive as the kids get older and need more things!)

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bigTillyMint · 16/10/2015 19:28

Go on Right move and put East Dulwich into the search. I found a few under the 1 million mark. Goose Green is near to the train station, but lots of buses down Lordship Lane and onto Denmark Hill for further trainlines into town. Loads of shops/bars/restaurants on LL and around, no need to get into a catchment if your DC are going private!

Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 19:36

Hey Tilly - I've had a look at East Dulwich but all of the ones we can afford are essentially the same size as we have now (about 1400 sq foot) and we're really need some extra space, so want to get to the 18-1900 sq foot with a garden threshold - unless I am missing some obvious ones... the houses I would be interested in in that area are all around 1.2 or 1.25m as far as I can see... off for another hunt...

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silversixpence · 16/10/2015 19:38

This is my dream house so have been trying to do the same mental gymnastics Grin. I agree that there are many houses just like that all over London. If you haven't set down roots consider looking at other areas eg Beckenham borders where you could get a stunning house for the same money (or money left for schooling etc).

Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 20:16

I think part of the dream house thing though is the right location... I know we could get a bigger more grand house further out like Beckenham, but we want to be closer in than where we already are...

Brixton would be another good one but struggled so far to find something I would call a dream house.

That house is lovely Silver

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Original poster
Boobz · 16/10/2015 20:17

Love a bit of parquet flooring...

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Original poster
Boobz · 17/10/2015 16:23

Does anyone know anything about Camberwell?

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lalalonglegs · 17/10/2015 17:01

Some lovely houses, crap transport.

bigTillyMint · 18/10/2015 11:36

Camberwell has Denmark Hill train station which has good links, but looks mobbed whenever I pass! And loads of buses. So transport isn't that crap. Only about 15-20mins on the bus to the Elephant too.
It depends on whereabouts really - some lovely houses as lalalonglegs says