Owning your own home

My new place (if it ever fucking goes through) is also "just off Bromley Road". Crazy amount of flat for the price/distance from Central London.

@6pt Cheers for that! If it works out, or if we want to check out the area more, I might be in touch for more specifics. What's the pub and Turkish supermarket?

I'm glad there are other forumengers in the area, I was starting to feel like Leytonstone was the place to be.

Where is South Easts?

Camberwell

Turkish supermarket is the TFC on Bromley Road, pub is the Catford Constitutional Club on the Broadway. TB and I are on Braidwood, there are a few others hidden in the area :)

Wanstead?
Ilford?
Barking?
Wtf?

Brixton boy, relegated to Tooting for the last 8 years, need to move closer to work in Stratford but can't afford it. Anyone experienced in the eastern outer rim territories?

moi aussi.
also "just off Bromley Road" (a bit nearer 6pt).
We bought a house. A motherfucking house with 3 bedrooms and front and back garden.
And, I'm no promuter, but it's not that far from the action. And there are trains to london bridge, charing cross, st pancras, city thameslink... it's pretty well connected. There's even a night bus that comes to 2min walk away from us (although I do tend to fall asleep on it and have to walk back from hither green...). We haven't explored much yet, and because I already sort of knew lewisham I seem to spend a lot of time cycling to lewisham roundabout and then from there to wherever I need to get to.

I like the town centre. It's a bit unreconstructed, but that's fine by me. Shopping centre and small market. Lewisham has bigger shopping centre and market (with all the cheap fruit and veg you could possibly want). Good Turkish and Caribbean eats. Fabric shops. Homebase, Travis Perkins, Wickes all nearby. Our neighbour invited us round for her birthday barbecue at the weekend - that didn't happen in 8 years in Stockwell...

Chingford is one hell of a commute though. I do the south circular round to woolwich free ferry 2 or 3 days a week, which works but isn't very lovely. It does have the advantage of dumping you relatively close to the Greenway, should you wish to take the scenic route up the Lea valley. Or barge up past East Ham, Wanstead etc. I don't recommend the North Circular :/

Plaistow?
Not really got a centre, but close to Stratford and Green Street for shops and stuff.
(I don't know what it's like these days but I enjoyed living there a decade ago, okay pre Stratford "heat", but it's always been a bit below the radar and closer into town than the other places you mention. But - do you have kids? The impression I got was that it was fine for grownups but a bit rough for the kiddiewinks.)

I have a bit of a soft spot for Barking, but that might say more about me... It's an old town centre, it's on the River Roding, there are interesting historical bits dotted around near town, a modern town square (funny "arboretum"), if you like slightly bleak post-industrial wildernesses there are plenty of those nearby, some effort with small businesses trying to get things going by the river, and the full range of housing - shiny flats over the new town square, interesting low-rise "rain garden" new developments further out, loads of inter- and post-war (including the Becontree estate to the east) . There isn't so much demand/competition for housing out there but in a way it means that people - council, developers, local businesses - make an actual effort with things.

Yeah, anywhere close would work really I guess. Not very up on the finer points of the east. Other options are Edmonton/Enfield areas and cycle down the Lee nav to work. But I know even less about that kind of northerness and it looks a bit bleak and suburban.

@6pt @hoefla Thanks for all this! Really sounds like the only downside is my commute, which would only be for a year maximum, and could be less if I changed schools earlier, which is a definite possibility. Seems like it would be 15 miles minimum but because the transport links are so good, there might be a way to cheat and make it a bit more manageable. And I wouldn't want to miss out on a fantastic seeming place because of a job I don't intend to do there forever.

thread's eye-opening for a non-londoner. bought my own place this year, really glad I didn't have to duke it out in the ~london property market~

@RPM ended up buying a 3 bed in Barking 2.5 years ago all things said decent enough area. Its quite shocking even in the small amount of time I have been how much I paid and how much its now worth.

i'd agree that plaistow is worth looking at, houses in E13 have gone up a fair bit recently due to it's proximity to stratford, but are still a decent discount to stratford prices
10 min ride to olympic velodrome

if you are looking for cheaper areas follow the students
http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/rentals/top-25-areas-students-rent-london

also plumstead is worth mentioning ( a little bit further out ) it's an upcoming area with decent 3 bed houses at decent prices

Finally get the keys to the new house tomorrow.....A whole 7 months after accepting the offer on my old flat.
I would be relieved if I wasn't so stressed about moving.

hadn't seen this on the homes and property website, but it seems to be a good tool to check what prices houses have sold for historically and a very rough guide as to what they are worth now

http://zoopla.homesandproperty.co.uk/home-values/browse/london/e15/stratford-west-ham/?category=residential&q=e15&search_source=nav

drill down into the street in question and you can see sale prices of houses along each street ordered by street number

nethouseprices.com was the original and still (IMHO) the best and seeing what all of your friends/family paid for their houses

meh i prefer the homes and property one ... gives my street a much higher rating !

what's that app that @6pt recommends for plotting commute in etc?
ta

Locatable
Where's your new place, damo? Somewhere near me now?

Fanks.

Yes I think so Tom. It's on Wells Park Road. Next door to the Talma....

pssht, bloody miles away :(

I might be able to make SEs. Maybe.

Post Office mortgage service is jokes

Please note we are currently experiencing high volumes of
applications. We will contact you regarding any referred Approvals in
Principle/referred full applications with our lending decision within 3
working days.
Once we have accepted a full application and you have paid any
required valuation fees, your case will be allocated to an underwriter -
we are reviewing applications received on 12th August 2014. The
underwriter will then contact you to request any further information we
need to process your application. Please note we are currently working
on post received on 25th July 2014.
We are working hard to process cases as quickly as possible. We will
send you updates, via text message, at key stages as we process your
application. Thank you for your patience.

They haven't opened their post for a month! A month!

I was dreading my house move but in the end it wasn't too bad. Pretty uneventful.

Any recommendations for a great solicitor, or ones to avoid?

Our mortgage adviser would recommend us one through the eConveyancer company, and the estate agent also has a small panel. Who should we believe?