First time buyer - feeling overwhelmed

[Irecan]

Hi there,

My husband and I are planning on buying somewhere in london or on the outskirts. We have a 300k budget max, tbh I would prefer 250k max but doesn’t seem possible. It will likely be a 2 bed flat with a garden at best or maybe an ex local maisonette if we’re lucky.

I’m starting to feel overwhelmed and disheartened, mainly because I find the property searching tedious, there’s so many areas of london that I’ve never been to before and it’s impossible to know what they’re all like. It’s also time consuming, for example yesterday we viewed two properties, one was an hour and 15 from us and the second was another hour and and a half from that one. Neither of them were nice and they were at our max budgets.
Its really disheartening that our budget which I think is quite high, is only going to get us mediocre properties.
We have worked and saved so hard for our deposit and I recently got a promotion
which is double my previous income. How can we not be earning enough to get decent properties? even outside london the prices are similar and we’d have to factor in transport costs! It’s depressing, my gratitude for getting my promotion was soon met with disappointment that it seems no money will ever be enough in london! We have to stay here for at least another 3 years as I am
now on a 3 year training course as part of my promotion. It’s likely we won’t even move then because my husband is also tied to London for his work too.

Basically, I’m asking.. am I going about this wrong? Should I be only contacting well known estate agents to make sure we get the best properties? I’ve been emailing whichever ones I like on right move then I’m getting several calls during working hours encouraging us to view ASAP etc etc. we’re not in a rush to move, we don’t want to move earlier than December but could wait until Feb. Should we wait and only view properties that are amazing? Or is it so competitive that we should just take what we get?

also how on earth do we find time to view
all these properties. ? We currently live in greenwich, some areas we can afford are

Croydon
South Norwood
Bromley
Dartford
Thamesmead/ Abbey Wood
Romford
outside london, Brentwood or Leigh on sea

I just don’t know how to find the time to view properties as they are all at least an hour away on public transport. I have been to South Norwood and Crystal place and I like it, bromely is nice but a bit small town?

we like green space, markets, diversity, independent shops etc.

I don't know London so am sure someone more knowledgeable will be along but it seems to me that a good first step would be to narrow down your search area. I think anyone would be overwhelmed by a search area that big. You can't build any sort of relationship with that many EAs or keep on top of the local market. Is there a way to narrow it down a bit?

If you're in no rush, relax and take your time. Prices certainly aren't increasing, and are predicted to fall, particularly for flats, so you may get more for your money if you wait six months.

Congratulations on your promotion. However tough it is, it must be easier on double your old salary!

If your jobs are secure, why don't you continue to rent or even live with family, if you might be fortunate enough be able to do so. while you continue to save.
During this term, take some time to research areas and try to decide where you really want/ need to be. Clearly, those are expensive areas, some more than others.
Prices are coming down and I think they have a lot further to go so it may be much better to wait as long as you have secure jobs and are credit worthy.

To be honest I am amazed you can even get a 2 bed with a garden for £300k, I thought you’d be looking more like £400k, London is expensive.

If you’re not in a hurry I would stop viewing properties and focus your time on narrowing down your choice of areas. Get to know the ones that are in your budget and just view properties in the ones you like the most.

Check out Moving Home with Charlie videos. Yes, he waffles, but there is really important advice in there.

If you can, wait 2 years and the world will likely be your oyster.

Really important to make sure that whatever you buy, you can afford even higher mortgage costs, potential redundancy, change of life circumstances and will not be badly impacted if you run into negative equity a few years down the line.

What you are seeing now in terms of house prices is going to look very different come the end of the year. 400,000 need to remortgage between July and October, most of whom were on 2 year fixed rates after stamp duty breaks during COVID. The average mortgage will go up £250pcm and I think we will see price drops.

Not familiar with some of the Essex options and don't know Croydon or S Norwood too well. Romford used to have a rough rep, idk about these days. I absolutely under no circumstances would move to Thamesmead or Abbey Wood. Not only are they rough, but they have been for 30 years and despite attempts at gentrification, are still no better. Bromley is always a reasonable option for those looking to access London and has been for donkey's years. I am afraid I don't know the roads well, just its reputation. Dartford, well, I was made to live there as a teen, I wouldn't go out of my way to move back, but I have to acknowledge it is still on the almost affordable end of the just outside London scale and has a few nice areas on the outskirts (Sutton-at-Hone, Wilmington). I never felt massively unsafe there, but if you are drinking in town on a Saturday night, there will be brawls, some with knives.

A slightly more affordable option up the road from Dartford is Crayford. It's a bit of a no man's land with not much going on and not fantastic shops and it's a bit run down, but houses there have traditionally always been more affordable because it has fewer amenities, but it is also one stop closer into London and does at least have a v good Sainsbury's.

Unless you are in a rental that is destroying your mental health though, my advice would be to try to hold off for 2 years.

Yiu are likely overwhelmed because you haven't decided on an area. Decide on an area you can afford, get to know it a bit and then start looking/making relationships with agents etc.

You have time. The way you are doing things means you could end up making mistakes and buying somewhere in an area you hate just because you are feeling pressured. What are you looking for? Is it somewhere to settle and have kids? Or do you want to feel more urban? I would work this out first.

I know someof the areas you mention well:

Croydon- I wouldn't personally, as it isn't my thing. I am sure some people like it (I have friends who have been happy there- but depends on which part. I don't know many people who love Thornton Heath, for example), and it has an IKEA :) For somewhere further out, it has an edgy vibe.

South Norwood- relatively good transport for the SE London backwaters, lively community, not far to CP but a bit run down (and a fair few tower blocks). Some nice housing. I have known people who loved living there and those that hated it. Not gentrified in the same way as CP or similar, but some decent cafes etc have been opening in the past few years.

Bromley- actually better than it seems as it has a lot of a stuff on your doorstep. Good transport connections. Good for families. Definitely not one for you if you want a fully urban vibe- I would have found it too suburban before kids.

Dartford- am biased as I grew up a few towns away, but I wouldn't.

Thamesmead/ Abbey Wood- not to my taste, but is on the up with the Elizabeth Line.

Two near me - I prefer bexleyheath to dartford, abbey wood, Thames mead. Practical town centre, swimming pool, cinema, danson park is nice. Transport is overground only though and it is a full grammar area.

At the 300 end but there are options, modern flats and maisonettes and occasionally a small terrace. Eg.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126730202#/?channel=RES_BUY
A house, needs work.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132891149#/?channel=RES_BUY
near the station, under budget

Not to be confused with Bexley when you search, OP. Bexley is known as Bexley village and properties are twice the price.

Bexleyheath is okay, yeah. Deffo rather there than Thamesmead or Abbey Wood.

If you are going in that direction, Welling might also be an option. Tho, when I left there 4 years ago, there were spates of muggings on the High Street and I was happy to get out. It's a bit like Crayford in that it's somewhat of a no man's land, but there are tons of buses to Bexleyheath for shopping, cinema, food etc.

Bexleyheath is also close to Hall Place which is a lovely place to walk around and waste some time in. Feeding the ducks and geese there stopped us from cracking up during lockdown.

Thank you for the responses, you are all making absolute sense. I need to calm down, I tend to get very obsessive about things.

We are currently in a discounted marketed rent (DMR) apartment, our lease ends in Feb and they check your records at renewal so we’d be earning too much by then (which is a good thing). The reason we thought about buying was that we have two dogs and also plan to have a baby next year, finding a rental with dogs is a nightmare and it’s also so expensive to rent now. Since we have the deposit, I thought it would make sense to try and buy before our lease is up.

How long would it take to find a place normally? I don’t want to leave until last minute.

We are trying to be in the catchment areas for good state schools as we may end up staying in the property for 5-7years in order to make a profit on the house (I imagine we could lose value before it climbs up again?)

we both need good transport links into the city.

thanks @newyeardelurker but the first property is cash buyers only and the second would need a lot of work I think. We couldn’t afford to re do a whole house unless it was minimal stuff like flooring and painting.

I always thought it was cheaper to buy or that it made more sense to buy than to rent but perhaps not at the moment?

It may take 10 to 20 years for prices to recover to their COVID highs, so please bear that in mind. You're likely to see continual falls for 3 years (35% top to bottom?) then a plateau for 10 to 15 years.

You'll still be able to move on/up but it's only likely if you have been aggressively overpaying the capital element of your mortgage to build up (replace lost) equity.

I don't know London so am sure someone more knowledgeable will be along but it seems to me that a good first step would be to narrow down your search area

This was my first thoughts too! I’m from London and we narrowed down to three areas first it’s just too big otherwise!!

I don't know the other areas at all but we have lived in South Norwood since 2013 and are very happy here. Its changed loads in that time and has a nice community. We actually know lots of our neighbours and people are generally down to earth and willing to help each other out. It has good transport links and plenty of cafes etc. Some lovely green spaces too. Our children are in primary and the schools are good to outstanding although I'm not a fan of ofsted! You can definitely get a 2 bed for 300k as I was looking with a friend only last week who is moving to the area from Brighton as it got too expensive there!