Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Would you buy something like this?

149 replies

Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 09:11

This is a very expensive area of South West London, with great train connections, schools, all the amenities you can think of, safe and very close to Kingston, which is an amazing town for shopping (just saying this as I appreciate people from other parts of the country might think this price is nuts for a property like this):

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132580421#/?channel=RES_BUY

Check out this 2 bedroom maisonette for sale on Rightmove

2 bedroom maisonette for sale in Ardmay Gardens, Surbiton, KT6 for £500,000. Marketed by Matthew James, Surbiton

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132580421#/?channel=RES_BUY

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 12:45

justaweeone · 01/08/2023 12:28

Okay, if you buy a flat how long would you probably live there for? Think how much it would cost to move again. Drying washing, you can't beat a garden. It's a nice evening instead of going to the pub, family bbq in the garden. You can potter at home while DC plays in the garden. Grow some herbs, salad items.
That house doesn't need a refurb imo, it needs a deep clean of the bathroom, fresh lick of paint, a good clean and a carpet cleaner on the carpets for a start, then you can gradually do things as you can afford them.
Go and have a look ( this is key as you don't get the complete picture front rightmove) and remember how different it will look with your things in it and some TLC.
We bought a similar house years ago and it was eventually a new bathroom and a new kitchen a few years later. We ripped up the carpets and were lucky to find floorboards which we sanded.
It was all done on a budget dvd looked like a different house when we sold it 7 years later.

Show quote history

Some have suggested it will need major work - I guess it's hard to tell from pics only. I have a lot to learn I think as I never bough a house before.
We wouldn't necessarily be selling the flat quickly if we bought one, I'd ensure it's a type of property where I could see ourselves living for a relatively long time.

OP posts:
Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 12:47

minipie · 01/08/2023 12:31

What about this one OP, it is a similar size to the one in your OP I think, but has a garden? Also share of freehold, garage, off street parking and close to two parks. Not as instantly appealing on the photos but could be worth a look.

This has the entrance in the kitchen, don't like that :(

OP posts:
Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 12:48

FrenchandSaunders · 01/08/2023 12:41

That Douglas Road one is Tolworth OP, not Surbiton. Your original one is so much better. Don't compromise on the location.

I know :( but kind of in between the two, not as close to the A3 as some others so potentially acceptable, would need to go and see

OP posts:
JassyRadlett · 01/08/2023 12:48

How old is your DD, OP? The other thing to think about will be school catchments - the location of the Ardmay Gardens one is lovely and much better than the Ditton Rd and further south options but worth checking school intakes if you're coming up to either a primary or secondary feeder moment... eg if you were looking at Tolworth Girls one of the more southerly options might really work, while the Hollyfield catchment has shrunk a lot in recent years as it's improved so rapidly - I know a few people this year who'd expected to get in and would have done so comfortably a few years back who didn't make it in this year.

I think a lot comes down to lifestyle. If you're out and about people, then being closer to the river/cafes/good pubs will win out.

minipie · 01/08/2023 12:52

Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 12:47

This has the entrance in the kitchen, don't like that :(

Show quote history

I don’t love that either. Would be easy to partition off a little entrance corridor though - but that would make the kitchen smaller

However I would 100x choose something with entrance into the kitchen over something with no garden, especially for the same price.

Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 12:53

@JassyRadlett Thank you! sounds like you know the area well, would you consider this type of property for that budget? Don't want DD to miss out on having a garden but equally we can't have it all...

OP posts:
minipie · 01/08/2023 12:53

Yes school catchments is a very very good point!

PickAChew · 01/08/2023 12:53

caringcarer · 01/08/2023 09:31

It looks lovely inside and spacious but I don't like the outside of the building so no I wouldn't buy it, especially for such an expensive price. You could buy a nice 4 bedroom detached where I live in the Midlands for that price.

Your part of the Midlands would be a crap commute, though. 🙄

JassyRadlett · 01/08/2023 13:01

Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 12:53

@JassyRadlett Thank you! sounds like you know the area well, would you consider this type of property for that budget? Don't want DD to miss out on having a garden but equally we can't have it all...

I would! The layout is fantastic and tbh I think the photo of the exterior makes it look less nice than it actually so. I have friends who lived on Ardmay Gardens with their two kids for years and it was just so central and convenient while also being quiet.

I wouldn't do Ditton Road because it's such a rat run and likely to get worse with traffic calming elsewhere, plus the layout of that flat is awful. Further south becomes a pain if you're trying to commute and combining that with nursery/after school club runs - back when we were both in the office full time we had to leave the car at the station.

The other area I'd look at is the King Charles Rd area, just because it's got such a lot of fabulous green space with Fishponds and the rec, but still manageable for the station, and decent school options.

watersprites · 01/08/2023 13:06

Property wise it's not bad & there's a lot you can do the exterior to make it look nicer

watersprites · 01/08/2023 13:06

I would want a garden though

watersprites · 01/08/2023 13:07

although for 4 I think it will be small.

watersprites · 01/08/2023 13:08

THere's a reason New Malden is cheaper ... nowhere near as desirable.

tbf it's up & coming & does have some nice older properties

JassyRadlett · 01/08/2023 13:11

Though I do have one caveat which is if your DD hasn't started primary yet there might be a risk that Ardmay Gardens is right on the edge of the usual distance for quite a few primaries - hopefully that will ease as the overall school population declines but there's a risk it could become a weird black spot. I think most years it would just make it into Maple Infants?

But that might not be relevant to you!

Heronwatcher · 01/08/2023 13:15

I wouldn’t buy the maisonette with a child no. You’re paying for the fact that it’s been tarted up inside and you’ll probably have constant complaints from neighbours about noise from the people below/ either side, especially with those wooden floors which will amplify sound. Also far too many close neighbours to make noise and annoy you- 3 with direct connecting walls, another 2 very very close.

Far better to go for a ground floor flat or small house in a worse condition and live with it for a while.

caringcarer · 01/08/2023 13:22

PickAChew · 01/08/2023 12:53

Your part of the Midlands would be a crap commute, though. 🙄

Show quote history

1 hour and 28 mins into Euston.

Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 13:22

@AnnieKennyfanclub No, the whole point is that we want to be in Surbiton, I know I could get more for money elsewhere but I don't want to live elsewhere :)
I don't like Epsom and Ewell, we have been and I cannot see myself living there

OP posts:
JassyRadlett · 01/08/2023 13:24

caringcarer · 01/08/2023 13:22

1 hour and 28 mins into Euston.

Show quote history

Versus seventeen minutes into Waterloo. I bet it's a cheaper commute too!

Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 13:24

caringcarer · 01/08/2023 13:22

1 hour and 28 mins into Euston.

Show quote history

I get into central London in 18 minutes - also, assume train tickets would cost a fortune. And last, but not least, I do not know the Midlands, I have a job and a life here in London and have zero interest in living elsewhere :) Appreciate it works for you but my life is here and I am not going to give it up just to get a 4 bed house, iyswim

OP posts:
AnnieKennyfanclub · 01/08/2023 13:26

did I touch a nerve @Iamabarbiegirl ouch! Surbiton isn’t exactly delightful either!

Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 13:27

@Heronwatcher I always find it funny how here the Brits seem to hate hearing noise from neighbours :D Isn't that always the case unless you live in a detached property? Most of the world population live in flats, I don't see why it's an issue

OP posts:
Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 13:28

@AnnieKennyfanclub you didn't touch a nerve at all :) I posted about this yesterday in fact. There is plenty of places we have considered where I know I'd get a house, but personally I do not see myself living in those places because of my lifestyle and what we are used to as a family. To each their own!

OP posts:
peachgreen · 01/08/2023 13:32

Surbiton is bloody delightful imo! I've lived lots of places and it remains my favourite overall. I left to be able to afford to buy a bigger house and raise my daughter by the sea, and I don't regret it, but I also think we would have been just as happy staying in a flat in Surbiton.

Original poster
Iamabarbiegirl · 01/08/2023 13:34

@peachgreen agree, I don't understand how people can find it a bad place to be, there is a reason why it is in such high demand and expensive and it's because it's a lovely place to live with great trains into London.

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread