Starting the hunt….

TangoWithAnEskimo · 2025-01-06T08:48:40+00:00

Hi all! We are biting the bullet and have decided to move away from central London and into the suburbs. Does anyone have any tips on how to begin the search? We’ve identified areas but is it literally a case of sitting on Rightmove or is there anything else I could be doing? We have contacted schools and nurseries already!

DullTinsel · 06/01/2025 09:04

Speak to EAs in the areas you like. Physically go and see them and tell them what you want so you are not just an email address or a voice on the phone. If they know you're keen they may go the extra mile letting you know about houses coming into the market.

zingally · 06/01/2025 11:12

In my experience, most neighbourhoods have a local FB group. It can be worth asking on there for reviews of the area. You can also ask for recommendations of estate agents people have used recently.

For me though, in my move last year, within the same large town, it was just a case of sitting on Rightmove and Zoopla! It helped that I know most of the town pretty well already, so I could easy see what houses were an instant nope and which warranted a proper look at.

Gekko21 · 06/01/2025 11:22

Visit your chosen areas many times, at different times of the day, week, year. Walk down all the streets and narrow down your search criteria - get specific about neighbourhoods, streets, max distance from station / shops / other amenities. Make a list of compromises you are prepared / not prepared to make and order them - continually refine it. The reason to order them is that likely things you feel can't be compromised on will need to be once the reality sets in, in terms of what you can afford / what's available on the market.

By doing the above, you can avoid wasting time viewing properties that don't tick the boxes. This is especially helpful when you are travelling some distance to view and don't want to waste your Saturdays.

Re Rightmove, don't just get sucked into the photos. Look very closely at floorplans - room sizes, layouts, what's possible with the space (room to extend up or out, knock through etc.). Use Google maps to calculate the actual walking distance to places. Use the Chrome plugins to see previous listing prices so you can assess a property's real value. Look at recent sold prices in the area.

Original poster

TangoWithAnEskimo · 06/01/2025 11:42

Gekko21 · 06/01/2025 11:22

Visit your chosen areas many times, at different times of the day, week, year. Walk down all the streets and narrow down your search criteria - get specific about neighbourhoods, streets, max distance from station / shops / other amenities. Make a list of compromises you are prepared / not prepared to make and order them - continually refine it. The reason to order them is that likely things you feel can't be compromised on will need to be once the reality sets in, in terms of what you can afford / what's available on the market.

By doing the above, you can avoid wasting time viewing properties that don't tick the boxes. This is especially helpful when you are travelling some distance to view and don't want to waste your Saturdays.

Re Rightmove, don't just get sucked into the photos. Look very closely at floorplans - room sizes, layouts, what's possible with the space (room to extend up or out, knock through etc.). Use Google maps to calculate the actual walking distance to places. Use the Chrome plugins to see previous listing prices so you can assess a property's real value. Look at recent sold prices in the area.

Wow wow wow. What a kind person you are to write all of this for me. What is the chrome plugin?

OP posts:

Crikeyalmighty · 06/01/2025 11:47

@TangoWithAnEskimo as per previous poster I would say don't get carried away with someone's lovely stylised interior- look at the space and area and how it would work for your life 'as itis'

Don't get carried away with the'oh with a new kitchen and loft conversion and oh a kitchen extension it would be amazing- because before you know it that's £140k on top - and you could be 15 years getting to that point and by then it's no longer 'right' etc- you must these days factor in those costs- it's no longer the odd £40k etc

Gekko21 · 06/01/2025 11:51

TangoWithAnEskimo · 06/01/2025 11:42

Wow wow wow. What a kind person you are to write all of this for me. What is the chrome plugin?

Show quote history

You are welcome. We were viewing properties much further away and found lots of benefit in things like extended desk research and weekend trips to just pound the pavements. It saved us lots of time when we had an offer on ours and then had to mobilise very quickly to find an onward house.

The extension is called PaTMa. I was using another but it moved to requiring payment. I switched to this one and its free. There may be others but this one does what it needs to do, i.e. tell you whether a property has been reduced in price, by how much and when.

Original poster

TangoWithAnEskimo · 06/01/2025 12:27

Gekko21 · 06/01/2025 11:51

You are welcome. We were viewing properties much further away and found lots of benefit in things like extended desk research and weekend trips to just pound the pavements. It saved us lots of time when we had an offer on ours and then had to mobilise very quickly to find an onward house.

The extension is called PaTMa. I was using another but it moved to requiring payment. I switched to this one and its free. There may be others but this one does what it needs to do, i.e. tell you whether a property has been reduced in price, by how much and when.

Show quote history

This is so helpful. Especially with two little ones (with a one year age gap!) we don’t want to be wasting time. We are chain free so ready to go go go and Rightmove is not that great atm in the area.

OP posts:

Original poster

TangoWithAnEskimo · 06/01/2025 12:27

Crikeyalmighty · 06/01/2025 11:47

@TangoWithAnEskimo as per previous poster I would say don't get carried away with someone's lovely stylised interior- look at the space and area and how it would work for your life 'as itis'

Don't get carried away with the'oh with a new kitchen and loft conversion and oh a kitchen extension it would be amazing- because before you know it that's £140k on top - and you could be 15 years getting to that point and by then it's no longer 'right' etc- you must these days factor in those costs- it's no longer the odd £40k etc

It is our top criteria that apart from perhaps new carpet, we don’t want to do any renovation at all.

OP posts:

Gekko21 · 06/01/2025 12:44

If there's not much on Rightmove in the areas you are looking right now, you probably have a window between now and the spring to get all your background research done so you can be on it when properties do come on. In reality, we never found there was a big flood of property coming on in the spring as the market isn't that buoyant. However, the lack of properties does mean it pays to be decisive as anything that is already refurbished is likely to go quickly. It's the stuff that needs work that sits around because as the PP said, renovations can get expensive quickly.

However, in your list of compromises, I'd maybe had one refurb in your back pocket that you would be prepared to do (even if you had to wait a few years). I say that because everyone wants a newly done property but there may not be that many on the market and they will likely attract a premium. So if you can suck up the cost of fitting a new kitchen or redoing a bathroom, it may take some of the pressure off. We also didn't want to do more work (done enough on our current house) but in the end we offered on one that needs the kitchen moving because there was very little out there that ticked the boxes. Great that you are chain free though as you won't feel the time pressure so much as people in chains and will be in a good bargaining position when it comes to offering.

Original poster

TangoWithAnEskimo · 06/01/2025 12:58

Gekko21 · 06/01/2025 12:44

If there's not much on Rightmove in the areas you are looking right now, you probably have a window between now and the spring to get all your background research done so you can be on it when properties do come on. In reality, we never found there was a big flood of property coming on in the spring as the market isn't that buoyant. However, the lack of properties does mean it pays to be decisive as anything that is already refurbished is likely to go quickly. It's the stuff that needs work that sits around because as the PP said, renovations can get expensive quickly.

However, in your list of compromises, I'd maybe had one refurb in your back pocket that you would be prepared to do (even if you had to wait a few years). I say that because everyone wants a newly done property but there may not be that many on the market and they will likely attract a premium. So if you can suck up the cost of fitting a new kitchen or redoing a bathroom, it may take some of the pressure off. We also didn't want to do more work (done enough on our current house) but in the end we offered on one that needs the kitchen moving because there was very little out there that ticked the boxes. Great that you are chain free though as you won't feel the time pressure so much as people in chains and will be in a good bargaining position when it comes to offering.

Can I PM you the area we are moving to as you seem an expert 🤪😅

OP posts:

Gekko21 · 06/01/2025 13:05

Feel free to PM me. I'm not sure I'm an expert but we are (hopefully!) nearing the end of our property move journey so have built up some experience :D. We are moving further afield but do currently live in London so may be able to offer some thoughts.

Tupster · 06/01/2025 13:13

You don't say where you are in terms of budget/FTB etc, so forgive me if I'm making assumptions, but I definitely agree with getting in touch with agents and being on their lists. I'm in the midst of selling in a prime "up from London" area and even with how the market is now, the good family properties in under £450k region get snapped up almost as soon as they hit the market. Won't be quite such short supply everywhere but it never hurts to be the person who is notified of a good property before it hits Rightmove.

Crikeyalmighty · 06/01/2025 13:23

@TangoWithAnEskimo a wise decision I think - I base my view on a friend who bought one that needed 'a bit of work' 5 years later it still hasn't had more than a bit of work done and it no longer suits their needs - it's ok if you get one really really cheap and have the ready cash to do what's needed in say 18 months- but that's a big ask and many don't