Buying in a “rough” area - did it pay off for you?

[KhakiCat]

If you bought in a “rough” area of your town or city, how has it worked out years later?

Has it changed for the better?

If so, did you ever feel during the “rough” years that you made a bad decision?

I’m hoping to hear from people who bought in places that had friends saying “good God, why on earth would you buy there?!” 20-30 years ago: in London that would be Hackney, Peckham, Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Tooting, Brixton, Camden, et al.

Thanks for any experiences as starting to plan a move away from my gamble area only 9 months in…!

For me it was a simple decision to buy.
As a single FTB it was either a scruffy house in a road with a bad reputation in a town I didn't know, 25-miles away from my work, family & friends or I could not afford to buy. There was no middle ground so I bit the bullet and bought before I was priced out.

Sold 3yrs later and made a reasonable amount from a rising market plus of course I was 3yrs into my mortgage term so a win win.
The area didn't improve in that time (and still hasn't all these years later) but the buyer was someone very much like me, buy there or buy nowhere.

As it happens I had no trouble in those 3yrs, there were plenty of undesirables in the road (it was a bit of a dumping ground for the LA) but they left me alone and I lived a quiet life while honing my DIY skills.
When I left, my house was the best looking one on the street and I knew I had done something right when I overheard a couple walking past one day saying how nice my house looked (they did not know I was in earshot).

Thanks, all. Interesting to hear your experiences! I am comforted that:

a) most areas in London do seem to get better over time, albeit a very long time (I am adjacent to some better parts too).

b) I don't hate the area, just isn't the amazing area I could've been in for a much smaller property - a flat - but I know I'd regret that decision, too (most of the time I am sure that compromising the property would've been worse)!

c) someone raised the very good point that they sold their 'rough area' property to someone who, just like them, was buying all they can afford (should I decide to sell, I am sure I would make a profit).

I also feel like getting out more and taking advantage of what's available within walking distance around me will definitely help. There is a park, a big road full of shops and a market.

Time to learn to love it rather than pine for what could've been!

My mam bought a huge detached listed house that would have cost double or more anywhere else but it was in this rough little village (one of the ones you see on 'worst places in Britain' and 'Forgotton town' or 'Slum places' type videos).

It never got better only worse and made her life hell until the end, we where constantly robbed, bullied, beaten, window smashed etc... worst decision I think she ever made. A few fancier new build houses popped up over the 2 decades (from developers who bought land cheap) but the inbred troglodytes that ran feral through the place never vanished and the crime rate never dropped.

Just as some fancier new builds rose older established businesses closed as well so the pubs, shops, take aways, pharmacy, school, doctors etc... all vanished over time leaving abandoned building everywhere and meaning that you had to leave the village to get anything you want/need and only 1 bus ran thought the village and took an hour to get in to the city either direction too.

The landscape changed but it never got 'better'.

We turned down East Dulwich in the 70s as being way too rough. Ditto Herne Hill. Shit.

Moved to Croyon instead?

I live in a rough area and regret it. It was supposedly up and coming but the anti social behaviour on my street has got significantly worse. The house has doubled in value so I guess that’s one good thing. I will end up selling to a landlord who will probably turn it into another HMO (my street is full of them).

If you can afford it buy in a nicer area. I couldn’t afford to buy in a nicer area so didn’t really have a choice.

Not living in London/UK so can’t speak for those places but I bought my first flat in the second roughest neighborhood of the city I live. People gasp when I tell them where I live and continuously ask if I feel safe living there.

Honestly I do. I love it there, I got a lot of space for my money, great views (in my opinion) I do find myself conveniently located still (2 miles from city center and 3 miles from the beach), and in my specific building I love my neighbors, everyone is friendly, helpful and polite.

Sure, I can see the differences between the nicer neighborhoods but honestly the nicer parts of the city feel a bit souless.

I bought less than 3 years ago so don’t fit within the having bought 20 years ago part. But the market has changed a lot in 3 years and my place is easily worth double what I paid for it already. I was mortgage free on this place so could easily sell and move « up » or away but honestly I genuinely love my place and this « hood » feels like mine and moving to a different neighborhood just doesn’t feel right for now ( I could genuinely see me staying here another decade).

In fact I bought a second place a few months ago, in the good neighborhood of the same city (for a little over 2 times the price of my first property) and it’s this property I have chosen to rent out because as much as it’s been nice to explore living in the nicer parts with a lot more shops and restaurants all around and everything a very short walk away. My current neighborhood just has grown on me and I don’t feel like giving up the space and view and dare I say it, « quietness » for the more centric/fancy location.

So for me for now buying my first place where I did has been the absolute best decision and I would completely do it again (ask me again in 15 years though). I don’t regret buying my second property either in a « better » location but it costed a lot more, is way less spacious and while its value will most likely rise also fairly rapidly it will take me a lot longer to make similar gains and get my money
« back ».