£200k deposit and can't afford a family home

[Catcakes]

We have a sizable deposit, household income just shy of £100k and we can't find a basic 3 bedroom house (that's not a flat) that we can afford. Our budget is circa £600k but everything in our range is either a total dump, in a dodgy area, or we get totally outbid. I know the housing market is bad but seriously, what the hell is going on? We have don't have time or money for a big renovation. Where is everyone getting all their cash from to afford these basic houses?!

And yes we're in the SE and sort of in the London suburbs. And no we can't move to the north East 😂

I'm actually asking why isn't it easily possible to find a livable home

lol. 600k and nothing is livable? Are you sure about that?

Thanks that looks lovely, but over our budget by 50k sadly. The commute looks like a bit of a slog but we have started looking at Horsham actually.

What about this. Very unusual for London and it's lovely and under budget

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147735998#/?channel=RES_BUY

If you're looking in Dorking OP , you certainly won't like Croydon .

You're in investment banker commuter zone and will need a bigger budget

So is the problem that it's "just all very dull" or that you cannot find something "livable"?

Yes. There's certainly a lot of exaggeration by the OP, I think!

It's so beautiful around Dorking 🌳

So. Not dumps then 🙄

We have no desire to live in London, I never said that? We currently rent in Surrey. We just need to get to London for work.

Thanks for the recommendation though, will look into the area.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146578895#/?channel=RES_BUY

OP: look on Rightmove.
Within a very short time, people have been able to find nice houses in the area, within budget.

I love that one! What a gorgeous house.

For £600k you absolutely can get something liveable with 3 bedrooms in the wider Dorking area but you might have to accept that it’s not quite up to fairytale aspirations.

I can vouch for Horsham, great place to live and you’ll find something nice for your budget even if you have to redecorate over the years. We moved here having lived in zone 2 & 3 and are very happy and settled. Let me see what I can find on Rightmove and I’ll let you know the best in terms of area etc. Or I’m happy to give advice on any you fancy and want a bit of local knowledge on!

This is beautiful 😍

I can only assume that theres a chicken processing plant one side of it and an open air mega-brothel the other side of it, as frankly it seems too good to be true.

Yep OP, nothing decent to buy in SE London in the £600k range.

Look at this shithole in Beckenham

This one is the pits too

Then look in the Berkshire area, you’ll easily get a nice 3 bed for that budget, and lots of areas there are commutable to London, especially if only going 2-3 times a week.

Kenley (particularly up on the hill) Sanderstead and riddlesdown are all decent, quiet areas with good access to countryside. Borough of Croydon is the only downside. Consider caterham too. All reasonably easy (and cheap-ish) to get into London. Horsham less so.

Im in Fleet now and really liking it after 25 years in London, decent detached houses there for your budget. look there as well. Around 40/50 mins to Waterloo.

Can you post to one of them

I get what you mean @Catcakes . Things are very out of whack

I suspect the nice houses people have been able to turn up within budget are exactly the sort of thing you’ve gone to look at only either to be outbid or a lot of more serious non-cosmetic work turns up with further investigation.

In a different location we found lots of lovely period houses that were either riddled with woodworm or had damp problems.

Keep looking and don’t stress.Out of interest are a lot of the properties probate or people downsizing that haven’t done much to their house for decades or even ex rental. There is a lot of unrealistic pricing as reality hasn’t set in about the interest rate rise added to the cost of living.Added to which renovation costs have increased quite a bit over the last few years.
Just keep looking and saving.Its a buyers market and some are offering up to 10% off.

Define “family home”. We can’t afford a 4 bed detached but could afford a 3 bed semi with no garage.

FFS put an offer in, if you are chain-free and ready to go it may well be accepted. It’s 7% over your budget, not 30%. The worst they can do is say no.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147864344?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY
This is lovely - 4 bed 2 bath - and there are others similar on rightmove.

@Saschka @Catcakes
Yes, sorry, that was why I posted the link to it. I know it's over budget but it's been on the market nearly a month. If you're proceedable you could make an offer not much over your budget and may get lucky.