-
Yeah, it's downsizing as well. I didn't think we could release much cash just by crossing the rubicon aka LBR, any delta would get consumed by transaction costs.
I'm hoping that by going from a larger 5 bed (not a loft conversion) to a 3 bed (maybe do a loft conversion for 4th bed or buy a place where one has been done), plus crossing the rubicon, we can make it worthwhile financially and also end up in a place that's a bit easier to manage, and save a bit on running costs too.
And hopefully find that we end up in a really nice street with lovely neighbours so I don't end up regretting the whole thing, but obviously that's veering off into fantasy.
ChasnotRobert-
Re Neighbours, there are some really nice streets round our way including ours that have street whatsapps, annual street party etc. Often shorter ones or ones with LTN style interventions.
However my impression of some of the streets with bigger houses such as Vicarage and Manor Rd is that a lot more of them are flats and also the streets are much longer so there is less of a community feel. That's just my assumption though, not actually based on hard evidence.
cjr
When we bought we did a spreadsheet with ‘average’ houses in different areas to see what the price diff was between diff zones of Leyton and Walthamstow.
I think generally e17, closer to the tube was 100k more than for a similar property in e10, (on the LBR/church Rd corner of the ‘golden triangle’ mentioned upthread) but I suspect that might have narrowed over the last two years.
With £27,500 stamp duty on an 800k house and renovating at current prices, I suspect you will need to do more than cross LBR to end up with a significantly lower mortgage, unless you are looking to downsize as well.