Location vs house (Stamford)

[housesearching]

I will be specific with area in the off chance people here know it, but it's the classic house vs location question many of us battle! We visit Stamford a fair bit and think it's lovely, but those who know the area know there is huge disparity in house prices between Stamford and local villages or towns like Market Deeping. In your opinion is it worth the money? We could afford a very large high end 4 bed in the Fens, but Stamford is looking more like a 3 bed that needs doing up (looking for detached). Is it worth compromising in your opinion or do you live somewhere less desirable with more of a drive for the perfect house?

I don’t know the area whatsoever. However, my thought process would be:

Is the compromised location safe and pleasant? (a big no to anywhere grotty)

And then, how would it suit your lifestyle? Eg no point paying for fancy shops or restaurants if you spend your days walking dogs and reading books at home.

If you have the option of Stamford, go for it. Such a lovely place compared to others nearby. Will the house you can afford be big enough? Because if you’re squeezed in day to day even the best location won’t make up for that imo.

We've just gone for bigger/better with more space in the Fens but more travel to work, etc. For us it's the right trade off.

Stamford is lovely, but Market Deeping isn't bad either. Whereabouts do you need to be? What's your budget? There's quite a range in Stamford

I live there. It really depends on your life style and where exactly in town you’ll be buying. In particular your commute. I wouldn’t move from where we are unless it was to a really nice house because I really like being able to walk to the train station and cafes etc. Others prefer having a bigger house. Happy to answer any questions.

It can be noisy in the evenings as it is the local night life hotspot. Youngsters (from Market Deeping etc) get bussed in. Stamford is also used as a rat run when the A1 is blocked.

Having said that, I’d rather live in Stamford than a field.

Market Deeping is fine. Stamford is lovely.

Do you need to consider schools?

Where are you commuting to as the traffic across Stamford at peak times is tiresome?

Do you need regular access to the mainline station at Peterborough?

Interests?

Thanks everyone. I work in Peterborough although flexibly and work from home 2-3 days a week so not too concerned about commute (but will be looking closer to the A1 side) we are in the catchment for Stamford schools already for secondary so it would just mean they could walk instead of bus.

Lifestyle...we're home bodies tbh and as I work from home that does suggest investing in the house more really, but we are quite rural right now, I love the idea of being able to walk to pubs, shops, have a big interest in heritage etc. Be involved in community but not in the sometimes overwhelming way villages can be. I'd also like to have just one car, we rely on 2 currently and would anywhere outside of Stamford (although Market Deeping might be ok as obviously they have good buses) The Fens takes us further from my parents who help quite a bit.

I love the idea of the children having freedom as teenagers, and as they grow up Stamford is obviously the place for going out in the evening rather than Peterborough etc.

It also seems a good investment, prices in Stamford seem to increase so much better than even villages a few miles out (have been keeping an eye for a few years!) this is a 10-15 year home most likely.

My husband is driving to Norfolk for work at the moment (not permanently) so Fens are more do-able for him but he feels it disconnects us, he's the one that doesn't want to be East, he's quite comforted by the A1!

Following your update I’d 100% choose Stamford so long as you can find something within good walking distance of the town centre.

Oh and budget is £300,000, need either 4 bed or 3 bed with study/extra reception, which would be ok but we are quite keen for detached which is what is limiting our choices (and don't have a lot of cash for a project). Which is why I'm quite torn as £300,000 does get us what we need (and more) in Market Deeping or even more in Crowland.

Have you looked at at Thorny? It’s beautiful and very cheap.

House prices in Stamford are ridiculous.

Look at the catchment areas for Casterton as I think it’s only the SES which are in town itself. Is Stamford New College 16+?

@ErnestJones there's Stamford Wellend Academy which is where my eldest wants to go to currently, doing open days next year, Casterton is catchment too but presumably bus. There's a college in town to do A levels.

Thorney is lovely and prices are good DH isn't too keen on going that side of Peterborough, tbh he's the one being more difficult than me I could make anywhere work! Although it would be a 25 minute drive to my parents vs 10 Stamford would be, they help me a fair bit.

We are not from the area originally, only been here a few years, my parents moved to be near us so while they would never put expectations on us to stay close, it does feel a bit mean to move too far and after years of no help it's amazing to have them so close- and their company too!) so this is one of my main hesitations I guess, whereas DH feels the Fens are isolating, so that's his main reason. Sorry if I've done that annoying thing of asking for helping and dismissing some answers, it's so useful to write it down and have people challenge me because it develops my gut feeling one way or another!

In that case I’d suggest dropping the detached requirement. You’re really going to struggle to find something detached close enough to town to make it worth it. This house for instance:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76090591.html

It sounds like you prefer Stamford.

Does the house have to be detached?

Stamford is beautiful, my mum lives there
She loves it as she in in her late 70's, can walk into town and it has loads of activities
It is very overpriced though
Market Deepjng is okay, my parents used to live in the village of langtoft
Have you though about Bourne, there's also the village of Morton nearby with an ok bus service plus you are in the catchment for Bourne Grammar
If you work from home I would say you need the space to separate work and home life
Good luck!

Agree that you shouldn't rule out a semi. You get a lot more house for your money.

We are quite keen for detached because we hate noise...next door can be making perfectly normal noise like a mid volume TV, friends chatting etc but it really irrationally gets under my skin. They're not even noisy neighbours, my biggest fear is getting bad neighbours! We have discussed whether we'd be better off doing the complete opposite and getting a small holding out near Boston haha.

We also need a garage. There are a few detached properties on in our price range (happy to be a 20-30 minute walk from the centre), we have some viewings booked, but I think it might be a case of getting out and viewing houses, including semis so we can see in front of us what compromises we are making and then we can decide if Stamford is worth that sacrifice.

I agree as I work from home I need to be careful not to compromise on the house too much.

I don’t think you will get that in Stamford on your budget. Get thee onto Rightmove and see what is available. You might get a new build but check out the freehold /leasehold arrangements.

There are 3 properties within our budget on that are detached, garage and with either 4 beds or additional reception that only require cosmetic work, but the issue is we have to sell so the fact they don't come on as often as the semis is the main issue, we aren't looking for a unicorn but we can't pounce on any of them quickly if we really like them.

Have you considered putting in an office in the garden? That could open up some other houses.

Also, does a 30 min walk from the centre make sense for you? If you’d like one car, then 30 mins walk each way to get coffee/lunch seems much. Probably too far to carry much shopping too. Doesn’t sound that convenient.

We get shopping delivered so that wouldn't be an issue, but I take your point about popping out. I don't think I'd be willing to compromise on the house too much just to be able to walk into town quickly because I don't think we'd be doing it that regularly, would be weekends, holidays etc, I walk a fair bit. But maybe we should look closer to 20 mins rather than 30 (2 of the houses are a 20 min walk and I'd be fine with that...I think!)

I would want to drive as little as possible in Stamford, the traffic is the main reason we've avoided it thus far and are looking at houses close to an A1 junction that avoids the George, so I suppose I do need to consider walking distance a bit more.

House buying is all about compromise.

Personally I think the detached and garage issues can be sacrificed for the Stamford location if you can get a semi which is a good size and solidly built (older preferable) and which has off road parking or easy street parking. The gains of a garage and detached don't seem to justify being in a location you love less. If you talking about bedding an extra bedroom or something, then yes the cheaper village would be necessary, but not for detached and garage.

The Stamford house will be worth more than the detached with garage of equal value, in a few years time.

So, as long as your living accommodation will be big enough (downstairs and upstairs) be prepared to compromise on the 'nice to have extras' which might be study, garage, detached etc.

If the house features are really important to you and you won't be going into town much anyway, then perhaps it is better to get the house you want and accept you can't afford Stamford.

I hadn't spotted that you're talking about living 30 mins walk from town - that seems quite a way to me. Not a distance to be carrying shopping or living in an attractive town centre location......and if you rarely go to town, you won't be accessing the benefits of the town apart from the increase in house prices over time. You sound like you'd like a modern detached house with a garage - you'd quite like to be somewhere lovely like Stamford if you can be, but actually are more interested in the house than location and if you can't have both, value the house more.

There's no right answer - just recognising when you can't afford both the house and location you'd like and then deciding which you personally value most.

Thanks @WombatChocolate I know you're right. We haven't got a buyer yet so I think we are going to spend some time in January viewing some semis and detached houses in our budget in Stamford to get a feel (as there are a couple of houses that tick all the boxes included detached within a 20 minute walk so I'm hopeful that with January there may be a couple more).

Being walking distance is more for the children really, I grew up in a town where the walk was probably something akin to 20-30 mins, but I loved having the independence of not having to rely on my parents/ buses etc, I walked everywhere (during the day at least, not at night admittedly) Whereas the villages we look at would mean we would be a taxi for several years (and the bus service has been decimated to nothing!) it's more we have the option to walk whereas right now we have to drive everywhere, there is nowhere in walking distance, not even a pub. I work in Peterborough centre most of the week and get shopping delivered so it's not that I need to be popping here and there regularly. It's making me realise Market Deeping is the most sensible second contender. It's my DH who is being the most difficult really, not wanting Market Deeping but being more stubborn for detached, so hopefully when we get out and see what our money gets us it'll force him into a decision as he doesn't research like I do!

The other option is for us to stay put and build more equity so we have more money to play with, I don't want to make the mistake of buying another step on the ladder, we only moved in 2017 but bought the wrong house that has not grown with us.

Sorry I'm sure none of that is of any interest to anyone, but is helping me digest my feelings ha!!