Anyone want to be my Phil and Kirstie? (Essex)

[startingoveragainagain]

We've finally gone under offer woo! So now I need to start looking for a home for my dog, my cat and me. I need to be commutable to Chelmsford (max once a week), and I have family and friends in South Essex / London borders so would like to be close to them as they'll be able to help with dog care. I'm currently near Halstead.

I'm sort of thinking Billericay, Rayleigh, and Leigh but I have no clue what these places are actually like

I can probably afford to pay about £420,000, happy to do work - although will need to be liveable, needs to be on a very quiet road as my cat has only lived in the countryside with her own land, needs to be near a good walk for the dog preferably off lead walking as she has never needed to do much lead walking. I need somewhere to work from as I work mostly from home. I'm going to be downsizing and I'm looking for my bachelor pad, which'll be my forever home as I want to grow roots and lick my wounds.

Suggest away :)

Went to see this yesterday. It was a hard no.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145189751#/?channel=RES_BUY

It was dark, they had dogs who had eaten bits of skirting boards etc. It would need a lot of work to get it to a level i'd be happy to live in and even then the position still wouldn't appeal to me.

I'm thinking I might need to stay in Nth Essex, but let's see how the ones today fair...

@startingoveragainagain
Did you look at Bicknacre? It's quite nice.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143109176#/?channel=RES_BUY

OP, Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) for properties linked look poor which means they will be cold.

I'm attaching link for Gov. site where you can read up on EPC and enter address of any property that interests you. From experience EA don't always provide full and factual information.

www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate.

Good luck with your house search. There is a little gem out there waiting for you.

@spotddog That's really useful. Thank you.

I think i'm going to go with the Rettendon one - i'm so bored of looking.

Good luck.. but opposite the skip hire yard and close to the noisy A130 ? Hmm.

Yes, I know. It's not ideal, but it is the one that suits my needs better than any others. :/

I've had a long chat with my financial advisor and as much as I want to be paying £700 a month till I'm 70 - I've decided to reduce the budget back to the original max of £425,000 or less.

I'm sacking off the idea of being in south essex, I felt like it's a lot more built up than I like and it's expensive... So I'm back to the drawing board. Still need to beable to get to Chelmsford once a week.

Help!!!! thank you.

On your budget I'd be moving into Chelmsford, you can get a nice house in a nice area near a park for that. Do a search on Rightmove within 5 miles of the station.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145722233#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145949486#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134720024#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145508129#/?channel=RES_BUY

@TimeToChanteName Thank you. None of those feel right, I don't really want to be somewhere so built up.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143194196

@Ilovemyshed that's lovely but it's on a main road, and I don't want anything that's listed.

What's Noak Bridge like?

It’s Basildon

My son lives there. Part of it is in a conservation area and the houses mainly date from the 1990s onwards. They have tried to make it look like a village setting with a school, doc surgery and a couple of shops - a grocery/post office and a pharmacy. There are some nice walks and a duck pond. BUT it is close to the A127. I don't think your cats would wander to it, but it would be a concern.

I suggested a house to you some time ago in Billericay (and Rayleigh). You didn't comment on either, but I maintain that if you want to live south of Chelmsford, the Billericay house at £430k would have met all your requirements. However, south of Chelmsford is more built up, so if that is a dealbreaker, then there is no point trying to find something that doesn't exist. The Billericay house was in a fairly rural part of Billericay and isn't far from Stock, which you liked. Houses do get snapped up pretty quickly though and I'm not sure if that house is still available.

I'm in Billericay and it is a lovely area - I also have two cats.

I'm beginning to think what you want doesn't exist, not in the areas you're looking at anyway. I'm not sure I'd be willing to make the level of compromise you're seeking for the sake of a cat either.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144251282#/?channel=RES_BUY

what about this, near Chelmsford but a village

It has the same postcode as Basildon but is separated from it by the A127.

I dont think this is on the market anyone.

anymore!

Howe Green is quite a busy road isn't it? I mean, I am a good 20 miles away yet I know the road and have driven along it multiple times.

ETA:
I agree the Stock area meets your requirements. I wouldn't go for Noak Bridge personally.

I think that too.

I don't think the compromise is just for her. I really don't like feeling overlooked, or being in built up areas. I don't like busy roads. I also hadn't realised how many 1960s/70s houses there were, which I don't like the style of.

Just want a nice small cottage (with an upstairs bathroom), that's not listed in a quiet location.

But I'll be living in a tent soon!

Yes, it is not as busy as it used to be as the new A130 has taken away a lot of the through traffic.

However, there are massive plans afoot to develop the area here, including large warehouses and the residents are objecting in large numbers.

No, it's not. But it was when I provided the link. As I said, properties in Billericay get snapped up.

I think Noak Bridge was mentioned when you first set out on your journey. Personally I’d avoid. It is mainly cramped housing. There is this one which has just gone on the market in Hutton. Very near the railway line but you will get capital gain in this area as opposed to some of the cheaper ‘no man’s lands’ of Noak Bridge etc.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146307797#/?channel=RES_BUY