Buying house - having doubts.

[Pocket10s]

Hi all

First time house buyer - found a house in an area which seems lovely and at a premium but we can afford it. The house itself looked great bar one or two things we would want to change.

Now we have agreed a price and are at the stage of searches. So quite late but not at exchange.

I’m having major anxiety about the house as I found out the area is ex council - it ain’t anymore but it was and I’m worried we are moving somewhere that might not be desirable or rough.

Some googling about the area gives mixed results. Upon asking one forum people said it’s not so nice when compared to other areas - while asking people who live there they say they love it and have no issues. On a deprived area map it comes up as deprived but I’m not sure what this equals in terms of safety? A block or two away is not deprived at all.

I come from a rough area. I’m trying to do everything to have a quiet and safer life for my family. I’m not sure what else to do and I’m sick of being worried about this.

If I didn’t research further I would have been excited about it as I was before - it’s only because I digged further into the area.

What would you suggest I do? Anyone else been in the same situation?

 

[Beans on toast Dave]

im in the same situation, but further down the line than you,
keep getting feelings of is it right could i do better, what ifs and buts, its a life changing decision

i guess im really stressed about it but i believe that's a natural thing as its a huge change

if you like the house and can afford it go for it you can always move again if its not right
only you can decide if its right, but that's easier said than done

 

[COYS]

Drive around the area at differnt times of the day, especially after dark to get a feel. If there are kids hanging about or bins on fire then you can always pull out.

Ultimately if your gut is saying no then you should listen to it. There will be other houses.

Also any clues on thr area/postcode so people might be able to help?

 

[Uther]

Most places are rough, and if they're not it will be nearby. Just go with your gut feelings.

 

[Pocket10s]

Drive around the area at differnt times of the day, especially after dark to get a feel. If there are kids hanging about or bins on fire then you can always pull out.

Ultimately if your gut is saying no then you should listen to it. There will be other houses.

Also any clues on thr area/postcode so people might be able to help?

Thanks for the responses; kind of settling to know it's normal. I've been around the area a few times now - no real warning signs apart from a neighbour playing music (for 3mins?) and another neighbour talking loudly to his family outside.

The area is Friday Hill Chingford.

 

[kindai]

Friday Hill Chingford

Oooof, better get your stab vest for the morning sprint to your armored vehicle.

 

[COYS]

Have a look at the crime states site such as these and see what you think

https://www.ilivehere.co.uk/crime-statistics-waltham-forest-friday-hill.html

 

[Haggisman]

If you're not sure, then it's definitely worth doing some more investigation - as said above, spend some time in the area (not just driving through!) at various times of day/during the week. Buying a house is a big commitment, and it's not like you can just change your mind without a serious financial impact, so you want to be sure - if not, it can make your life a misery.

Unfortunately, even if the area seems decent enough now, there's no guarantee that won't change over the years... when we moved into our current house, the area seemed decent enough, but it's gone downhill quite a bit the last couple of years, and now we can't wait to move out. Working from home the last few months has been even worse as it's been easy to see quite how many ***** there are around here now

 

[Loagi]

What I did was knock on 5 random doors on the road and tell them I was thinking of buying the house that was for sale and ask them would they recommend it. As soon as they realised I wasn't trying to sell them anything I found people were more than happy to talk.

To be honest, within 2 seconds you'll know. You've just got to get over the initial embarrassment of doing it - if you can take the Mrs along it will also overcome any hesitation on the person answering the door.

 

[neocon]

Wish I'd knocked nextdoor before I bought my house, pretty sure I wouldn't have bought.

 

[moon man]

Yeah ditto with the inspecting at different times of day, also ease of resale? On a tea break so Havnt read all posts.
I was 100 yards from dewsbury Moor half a decade ago so know the feeling of not wanting that again.

 

[dacads]

Yeah ask the existing tenant about neighbours or ask yourself

crime stats as someone mentioned is a good indicator

 

[Siliconslave]

Defiantly worth hanging around Friday evenings at closing time (might be a bit hard now) talking to the neighbours and checking the crime rates - will give you an idea of whats happening around the area. Also have a look at the parish councils records as well, they should be available online and will give you an idea of hyper local issues and whats being done to deal with them.

 

[wildman]

turn up at the local off license in the area wearing a balaclava and wielding a machete. If the shop owner hand over the cash with no resistance, area is ok, you should move in. If however he pulls out a shotgun or other weaponry and tries to defend his store, means he has seen it all before and you are about to move into the equivalent of the Brandon Estate in Southwark.

Either way you are quids in, if he hands the cash over you just made some bunce on the hip and you end up moving to a nice area.................................

 

[clv101]

What I did was knock on 5 random doors on the road and tell them I was thinking of buying the house that was for sale and ask them would they recommend it. As soon as they realised I wasn't trying to sell them anything I found people were more than happy to talk.

To be honest, within 2 seconds you'll know. You've just got to get over the initial embarrassment of doing it - if you can take the Mrs along it will also overcome any hesitation on the person answering the door.

Brilliant idea, well worth a hour of meeting the neighbors before such a huge decision.

 

[neocon]

It is Chingford though, places like that just aren't great. If you want to be safe you should live outside the M25.

The houses look like they're worth £10k but are priced at 400k.

 

[happy_2008]

Shouldn't this be posted in the home section? Anyway, you could try joining the groups on facebook to see if there are any problems? I noticed on FB that my estate has its own FB group as do the new house im purchasing.

 

[Stu999]

Defiantly worth hanging around Friday evenings at closing time (might be a bit hard now) talking to the neighbours and checking the crime rates - will give you an idea of whats happening around the area. Also have a look at the parish councils records as well, they should be available online and will give you an idea of hyper local issues and whats being done to deal with them.

Friday and Saturday nights are good times to check especially in the hour after pubs kicking out (hard to do right now with lockdown)

The website police.uk will give you crime stats.

 

[nitram100]

I would personally not risk buying anywhere in or near London, the rate of change is too fast. Before you know it there is a 12 storey high rise being built in your back garden.

I would only move to the sticks if I were gonna buy a place.

 

[Haggisman]

What I did was knock on 5 random doors on the road and tell them I was thinking of buying the house that was for sale and ask them would they recommend it. As soon as they realised I wasn't trying to sell them anything I found people were more than happy to talk.

To be honest, within 2 seconds you'll know. You've just got to get over the initial embarrassment of doing it - if you can take the Mrs along it will also overcome any hesitation on the person answering the door.

Yes, good suggestion - we knocked on both the neighbours doors - both were happy to talk to us (and we get on really well with both). Another house we looked at, knocked on 1 door, the girl answering it was rough as hell and really shifty, the house opposite looked like the door had been kicked in. We cancelled the viewing for that one pretty quickly...

Yeah ask the existing tenant about neighbours or ask yourself

Asking the existing owner is probably not that useful. After all, they want you to buy the house so they're going to say it's a lovely area with nothing to be worried about!