Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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Bought a flat in central-ish London  
Offer accepted, Solicitors doing their thing, survey done, full mortgage offer accepted, etc... probably a few weeks away from exchanging.
It's a one bedroom flat in Wandsworth, not too far from the river / trains, etc. Got a balcony, roof terrace and underground car parking. All I really need right now and for the prices around that area, I couldn't go any larger 
Will upload pics when I'm in.
[Edited on 27-09-2013 by Paul_J]
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
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LDN m8
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Nath
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Registered: 3rd Apr 02
Location: MK
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Spill the beans, how much??
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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£190, Wellington Road?
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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quote:
Originally posted by Nath
Spill the beans, how much??
Thankfully now quite as much as this says:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/html/bj.stm
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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How long is your commute from your new place? Most people I know that live in London have paid twice as much for their place than I paid for mine, only to save about 5 minutes on their commute over mine 
If I was going to put up with the hassle of living in London, I would want to be about 10 minutes from the office.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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I just took your area as an example (obviously it's a fairly pointless example, because you might not work anywhere near me ).
My commute is 55 minutes, door to door, from my flat in Woking to my office in Canary Wharf.
Assuming I live an 8 minute walk from Wandsworth Town station (same distance that I actually live from Woking station), total commute time is 50 minutes, a saving of 5 minutes
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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It's better being able to tell people you paid some stupid amount for a bedsit in some council shit hole though.
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Ben G
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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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Time is money and all that jazz.
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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quote:
Originally posted by James
I just took your area as an example (obviously it's a fairly pointless example, because you might not work anywhere near me ).
My commute is 55 minutes, door to door, from my flat in Woking to my office in Canary Wharf.
Assuming I live an 8 minute walk from Wandsworth Town station (same distance that I actually live from Woking station), total commute time is 50 minutes, a saving of 5 minutes
I work from home a lot (so the commute isn't much of an issue) and generally all over the place the rest of the time.
I have an office at Monument which is only about 25 - 30 mins away by train / tube / walking, which would be my local office.
But I may also need to go down to offices near Guildford or up near Harpenden, which is why this location is good (as the train line at Clapham Junction can get me to both of those easily).
The main reason for wanting to live in London, is I love the city, the social scene and the amount of things there are to do. I used to live outside the city, in a more remote area where it'd be a £35 taxi each way every time I wanted to go out for a night out. Then when I was out the bars were full of 18-21 year olds ... Apart from that, there was only 1 local pub and not much else in the area to be entertained with / to meet people.
Ultimately, I came to a bit of a realisation. If I bought a nice little terrace house or something in an area like that, I'd end up with a boring life and filling my life with materialistic things to make up for it.
I've been living in London renting for over a year now and loving it, met loads of cool people and made loads of friends around my age group (London social scene tends to be older than outside of London). Constantly find things to do, whether it's local sporting activities, y-plan spontaneous events, mid week pub crawls or just exploring the city on my push bike.
The lifestyle isn't for everyone and it'd seem like the worst decision in the world to someone settled down with a wife and kids in the suburbs but for me, right now - it's the right move.
If in a few years my life desires change, I can rent out the property or sell it and move on.
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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Is it the one in Wellington Road though?
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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quote:
Originally posted by John
Is it the one in Wellington Road though?
I don't understand the joke?
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Marc
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Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
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Pics?
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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No joke, I just had a look on rightmove and that was my first guess.
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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quote:
Originally posted by James
My commute is 55 minutes, door to door, from my flat in Woking to my office in Canary Wharf.
Do you live in that flat now? I know a while ago you were just renting it out and still living with the parents?
What do you think of Woking? I considered it, as it's not too far from where my parents live too and can get into Waterloo in about 20 mins. However, I personally don't like the town, it feels quite industrial / run down (i.e. the shopping centre etc) and I'm not sure if there is any social scene / night life - but I'd imagine it is full of young chavs?
The problem you have is woking is too far from London for night buses to be an option, so any night out in London requires either an early night, staying over at a friends or an all nighter. I personally wanted to be central enough that I could jump on my bike and meet some friends if they just randomly decided to go chill in a park somewhere or meet in a pub.
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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quote:
Originally posted by Marc
Pics?
Expect to exchange in a week or two, so will get some pics soon.
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Ian
Site Administrator
Registered: 28th Aug 99
Location: Liverpool
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I think I'd like to live in a city, can't compare London but everyone I know who lives in Liverpool loves it. Pain in the tits though for things like parking and shopping.
[Edited on 02-10-2013 by Ian]
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Gary
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Registered: 22nd Nov 06
Location: West Yorkshire
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Lived in the city and loved it at the time. It grows tiresome though, but i was practically brought up on a farm so would rather live in the sticks now
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Paul_J
quote:
Originally posted by James
My commute is 55 minutes, door to door, from my flat in Woking to my office in Canary Wharf.
Do you live in that flat now? I know a while ago you were just renting it out and still living with the parents?
What do you think of Woking? I considered it, as it's not too far from where my parents live too and can get into Waterloo in about 20 mins. However, I personally don't like the town, it feels quite industrial / run down (i.e. the shopping centre etc) and I'm not sure if there is any social scene / night life - but I'd imagine it is full of young chavs?
The problem you have is woking is too far from London for night buses to be an option, so any night out in London requires either an early night, staying over at a friends or an all nighter. I personally wanted to be central enough that I could jump on my bike and meet some friends if they just randomly decided to go chill in a park somewhere or meet in a pub.
 I've always lived in that flat since I bought it.
Woking is a dump, but it's convenient for London and good for shopping. They are also just starting a multi-million pound re-development so in a few years time it should be nice.
The great thing about working in London is that I get all the benefits that you mentioned Monday - Friday, but then I get to relax outside of London at the weekend. My last train home is 1am, maybe I'm getting old but this is almost always late enough for me
I'm looking to buy a bigger place in the next year or 2 and rent out my current place, but even if I do it will still be near Woking because of the commute time.
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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Ah fair enough! Yeah I often find it strange how much of a dump Woking is, considering it's good commuter links and the fact the locally there are quite strong businesses too. I expect the place will be good after some redevelopment!
Not sure why I thought you had rented it out - thought I read that somewhere.
Last train at 1am isn't bad I guess. The problem is that say you're out at hammersmith at a pub with a few friends, you'll have to leave early to travel by bus or tube to a train station (maybe 30 mins or so) to then catch a train back (maybe 30 mins - an hour), to then walk home.
For just a 'few drinks with friends' you end up having to spend over an hour getting home and end up getting to bed late.
I find the 'social' things are just so much more laid back now than when I lived outside of london. Now I can just jump on my bike, meet some people for a few hours and cycle back in 12 minutes or so. Early enough to get a good night sleep etc.
When I was living outside of london, I was having to go out in work clothes or carry a spare set of clothes - probably have a work bag with me too. Then it was just hassle getting home at the end of the night, having to take a bus or tube to a train station, then waiting for a train, then taking the train home and getting home late.
It just made 'going out' a bit of a hassle, where as now it's just like convenient and easy. Also the fact things generally happen last minute, whether it's meeting for drinks or going for a meal or whatever - being local in London just makes it easy to get to, where as living outside of London you just have to plan more for doing things and it just makes the whole process pointless / stressful unless it's a big event.
[Edited on 02-10-2013 by Paul_J]
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Ojc
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Registered: 14th Nov 00
Location: Reading: Drives : Clio 197
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I worked with a Pole who lives in Wandsworth in a 1 bed flat, I'll pass him your number. Artur is his name
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deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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I'd hate living in a City. Like a bit of greenery, fresh air etc, plus I'm a grumpy bastard. Give me a cottage so I can make it my own kingdom any day!
But good for you 
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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Just signing the contract today
Guess it's actually happening... bye bye money, hello property.
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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nicely done  Wandsworth is nice as is Putney, I used to live between both and am now at the top of Wandsworth Bridge Rd on the Kings Rd. Make sure you get down The Ship regularly 
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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quote:
Originally posted by deano87
I'd hate living in a City. Like a bit of greenery, fresh air etc, plus I'm a grumpy bastard. Give me a cottage so I can make it my own kingdom any day!
But good for you
we have significantly more green space than most towns and villages tbh!
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