Hello all,
I’m a first time buyer in my early thirties looking to buy in London. I’m single, but would like to meet someone and have a family at some point.
Taking into account my current priorities and with an eye on my potential future plans, I’m looking at 3-bed houses in family-friendly areas within easy reach of central London and a good commute for me. Currently looking at south London zone 4 (eg South Norwood area).
I’d love to stay in London for as long as possible, as I see myself working in London for pretty much the rest of my career.
However, if I do meet someone and we have kids, what worries me is we won’t be able to afford the next step up the property ladder (a bigger 3-bed or a 4-bed), although we’ll likely have 2 incomes to go towards the mortgage (rather than just my income now).
I’m trying to focus now on finding a place that will hopefully grow in value over time.
What’s the best way of finding somewhere likely to grow in value, to help make a potential next move up the ladder possible? From what I’ve seen, it’s things like: access to a garden and driveway/parking space, quiet street with easy access to transport links, shops/good schools/parks nearby, possibility to add an extension. I haven’t found anywhere in my budget yet that has potential for an extension, but will also factor that in.
Bearing in mind I may not be able to tick off all these things, what would you say are the most ones to prioritise and is there anything else I should look out for? I think easy access to transport links/parks/shops and quiet street are a good place to start, personally, but grateful for any and all thoughts you have.
Thank you!