Confused - SW London/Surrrey

[Confusedaboutlots]

Hi

Name changed for this. Am in a bit of a pickle trying to navigate the London market for our “forever” family home. In the middle of selling our two bed house in Blackheath and looking to move to SW London to be nearer my parents but also for the schools.

On my list is a nice comfortable home with four beds, good sized garden, kitchen diner or potential to make one, good links to london (40 mins train), closish to my parents in Richmond (45 mins drive), good schools.

Problem is my husband, who is used to rural living in Scotland, also wants: detached, leafy and green - basically the dream house!

He is quite frugal but wants this dream house now and feels like life is too short not to!

We have been seeing lots of semis in Surbiton, New Malden, Worcester Park. but would anyone recommend a bit further out eg Cheam, Ewell to see if we can get a detached/closer to the dream? it seems that people are offering for a lot more than asking which is making it tricky.

Husband has even looked at Banstead to get the dream house, but for me seems so far and like there would be little to do to families?

I’m worried about spending so much to be scrimping my whole life. Think it’s better to get a normal family house now and invest the spare cash we get!

If you were in our situation, would you:

• buy your dream house now, even if it was further out? Is life too short not to?
• buy a normal -5/10 year house closer to SW London, invest the cash and look to buy the dream house in future

I suppose property prices could stabilise but not sure and don’t want to miss the opportunity to buy if they double in the next 5 years.

He is 41, I’m 36. One DC but plan to have another. he is a good driver, I’m not! Our salaries may go up in future (Id need to reach partnership) but no guarantee.

Sorry for lots of questions but my head is a bit scrambled and would love any thoughts.

thanks

Sorry - forgot to mention our budget is up to £975k or so- due to savings and inheritance. This should be loads but it doesn’t seem to be given the London market

Hey,

I'm around that area, I'd recommend places like Shepperton, Egham, Chertsey, Walton-on-Thames - they are nice areas and close to Richmond, but probably a little less pricey than Surbiton etc as they are just outside London.

Some train lines are better than others - Shepperton is 55 mins into Waterloo but a really lovely town. Walton is a quicker train, not sure about Egham but Chertsey is reasonable if you don't mind changing once, otherwise it's over an hour I think.

That said though, even around these places you're probably looking at £700k minimum to get a 4-bed detached, so I guess it depends what your budget is .

Oh ok, just seen your update! You should definitely be able to get somewhere big within that budget around the areas I mentioned above.

There are lots of other areas with quicker train links around there too, like Ashford and Staines. Loads of lovely roads and houses, just the towns aren't quite as nice.

Do you have any commuting requirements? To get to a certain London station x times per week/month.

Or other essentials?
Because you're search area is too wide. You need to narrow it down. Detached houses for 1 million are easy to find. But not if you are looking in every place from Twickenham to Cheam to Guildford.

Yes so i’d like to be close to my parents who live near richmond (45 mins drive) and we work in London Bridge and Blackfriars. Will probably work at the office 2/3 times a week going forwards.

Yeah agreed, our search area is just too wide which is why I’m feeling quite overwhelmed! thanks so much

So actually that narrows it down a huge amount, the parents and the London Bridge/Blackfriars bit.

I think you need to clarify what you're looking for. You've said your dh wants remote, country, miles from anywhere. Then you imply you want somewhere where there's stuff for families.

Which is it? Cos middle of nowhere and toddler classes on hand are opposite ends of the spectrum!

Do you know which schools you would like - that might be a hood starting point for narrowing down your search area. Actually schools will probably be the limiting factor ultimately so set that criteria first.

Absolutely re schools. If you want grammar you need to start looking at all the 11+ threads for sw London and the ilk.

I think there is still enough to do for children in Cheam, Banstead etc. The issue with Banstead is the trains, they are not very frequent to Sutton. Also it's helpful to drive, but the driving is easier, so you would probably find it easier to build confidence. Most places have decent carparks which helped me!

Cheam Village is nice. I would also suggest Carshalton Beeches as somewhere quite near to open green spaces but on the train line to London Bridge, or Carshalton Village (the Thameslink is quick). I would say a possible disadvantage of these areas to New Malden etc is there is probably less in the way of independent coffee shops/restaurants etc, although there are nice places on the High Streets and you are near some nice pubs with big gardens, especially in Banstead. I live in one of the more suburban areas mentioned and it suits us well.

Personally, I would buy a 5/10 year house closer to South West London, and look at buying a 'dream house' later on.

If you want a second child, I imagine you will really appreciate being nearer your parents, and if you are working your way towards partnership - working all the long hours that is likely to entail - I think you would want to minimise your commute as much as possible, particularly with two little ones at home!

Look at Horsell. It is a village very close to Woking. Lovely community, local pubs, shops, schools, plus walking distance to vast countryside on the common. There is a range of housing to suit your budget. Fantastic fast links to London. Loads of people relocate from London and then commute.