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Prices In Esher/elmbridge


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HOLA441

My wife and I have just sold our 2 bed maisonette in Putney and are considering a move down the A3 to Esher/Weybridge/usual suspects

This week I rang several EAs in Esher, several of whom talked the market but 2 who were honest and said that the market was slowing and set to get worse towards the festive period. Clearly if this is true then we should rent and wait for 5-6 months before buying, being an opportunist!

Anyone have an opinion on this?

I think this is a very different market from the one in London at the moment?

Opinions appreciated

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HOLA442

What level of the market and where ?

If you are above £1M it's slowed - the right priced stuff still sells quickly, the greedy sellers are looking a bit daft. Stuff on private estates and off main roads is still selling and making very good money - anything with a decent size garden and decent proportioned rooms is still selling, whatever the condition...

sub £500K it's all selling unless it's got huge compromises. In the middle, it still seems solid.

But Elmbridge is a big place - do you mean the best bits of Esher, Cobham, Oxshott and Weybridge etc. or are you looking at less desirable bits of those and other areas ?

If you have £4M to spend, I think you will need to be quick, especially if you want a neoGeorgian new house - they are still selling very quickly.

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HOLA443
What level of the market and where ?

If you are above £1M it's slowed - the right priced stuff still sells quickly, the greedy sellers are looking a bit daft. Stuff on private estates and off main roads is still selling and making very good money - anything with a decent size garden and decent proportioned rooms is still selling, whatever the condition...

sub £500K it's all selling unless it's got huge compromises. In the middle, it still seems solid.

But Elmbridge is a big place - do you mean the best bits of Esher, Cobham, Oxshott and Weybridge etc. or are you looking at less desirable bits of those and other areas ?

If you have £4M to spend, I think you will need to be quick, especially if you want a neoGeorgian new house - they are still selling very quickly.

We are looking to spend around £1-£1.25m. We are focusing on the better areas and ones that are very commutable.

Had a look at the weekend and our choices seem limited. We are considering hanging on for a while until the effect of interest rate rises hits a bit.

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HOLA444
We are looking to spend around £1-£1.25m. We are focusing on the better areas and ones that are very commutable.

Had a look at the weekend and our choices seem limited. We are considering hanging on for a while until the effect of interest rate rises hits a bit.

Most of the new people to the area are ex-SW Londonites. [we were].

People tend to stay once they get there - partly because they hatch and want schools etc. The market you are in is the sweet spot for developers at the moment - they have forced up the prices for any decent house on any land because they get planning for a £2.5M 4-5000sq foot house and build to the plot's extremities - which is why you are mostly looking at crap for £1M.

You want to work out what's walking distance to a station too - if it's Oxshott, bear in mind that the Fairmile part of Cobham is a walk straight through the woods (and a pleasant walk it is too), if it's Cobham, the houses in walking distance to the station are not particularly great - mostly sub £900K 1930's archetypal suburbia nearest the station.

Esher is again a place where it's a bit odd to find something desirable for walking to the station - Sandown Park being in the way..... there are a couple of cheaper private roads near Esher centre - up to about £1.5M, these are mainly nice enough houses - but will probably require a bit of modernising to offer truly comfortable modern living. There are a couple of private estates on Copsem Lane (A244) out of Esher - these are probably £1.5-1.6M - no swimming pools and not as much privacy as you'd think, but solid, decent family houses with reasonable places in walking distance.... (Esher centre) - you can't really walk to the station from there though.

For trains, Esher is better than Oxshott/Cobham - but if you get the right trains, you can get the train in from Oxshott in sub 30 mins (and home again at night).

[We live on the border of Oxshott and Cobham, as you can probably guess.... - I have my eye open (always) for a move up, but I want a house I can gut and redo to our tastes - I am competing with the builders at the moment for that step up - though like you - I am finding it hard to get property - we may just extend to get two more bedroom suites and a cinema room (though she'll no doubt call it a nursery..].]

If you do find somewhere you like the look of - PM and if I can, I'll tell you what I know of the locale and what's being built in the area.....

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HOLA445
My wife and I have just sold our 2 bed maisonette in Putney and are considering a move down the A3 to Esher/Weybridge/usual suspects

This week I rang several EAs in Esher, several of whom talked the market but 2 who were honest and said that the market was slowing and set to get worse towards the festive period. Clearly if this is true then we should rent and wait for 5-6 months before buying, being an opportunist!

Anyone have an opinion on this?

I think this is a very different market from the one in London at the moment?

Opinions appreciated

We moved from Wandsworth/Putney to Weybridge a few months ago. I think there is a more frequent service from Weybridge/Walton on Thames to/from Waterloo than from Esher. The fastest trains get to Waterloo in 29 minutes and the service is surprisingly reliable.

I've only been monitoring one house that didn't sell

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=00662

when it was shown to us it was 699K.

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HOLA446
We moved from Wandsworth/Putney to Weybridge a few months ago. I think there is a more frequent service from Weybridge/Walton on Thames to/from Waterloo than from Esher. The fastest trains get to Waterloo in 29 minutes and the service is surprisingly reliable.

I've only been monitoring one house that didn't sell

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.a...p;agentid=00662

when it was shown to us it was 699K.

very odd peculiar house that looks like it needs north of £100K spending on it on a small plot with very small room sizes and let's be honest, only its builder could love its looks and it's not in the best position opposite the shops (if I have it right). It's also too far to walk to the station, right ?

Was it ever worth £699K - is it worth £625K or whatever for its site value - because the house is not worth it on its own.

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HOLA447
My wife and I have just sold our 2 bed maisonette in Putney and are considering a move down the A3 to Esher/Weybridge/usual suspects

This week I rang several EAs in Esher, several of whom talked the market but 2 who were honest and said that the market was slowing and set to get worse towards the festive period. Clearly if this is true then we should rent and wait for 5-6 months before buying, being an opportunist!

Anyone have an opinion on this?

Well the Property for sale in Esher are very good. I mean the area is very nice and the properties are brilliant with lots of space around them.

I think this is a very different market from the one in London at the moment?

Opinions appreciated

The market in London seems to be predictable but that doesn't help in buying property at the right time since they all very expensive, and there never seems to be a right time!

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HOLA448
Well the Property for sale in Esher are very good. I mean the area is very nice and the properties are brilliant with lots of space around them.

The market in London seems to be predictable but that doesn't help in buying property at the right time since they all very expensive, and there never seems to be a right time!

I hate to be nosy and admit to being a northerner but how does one move from a 2 bed maisonettte in putney which is worth less than £500k to a £1m house. Am i way out with my valuation of 2 bed maisonettes in Putney or do people in the south east really earn that much more than us in the north.

I'd really like to understand this and would be happy to hear from anyone if they have the answer

Is it city bonuses ??

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HOLA449
very odd peculiar house that looks like it needs north of £100K spending on it on a small plot with very small room sizes and let's be honest, only its builder could love its looks and it's not in the best position opposite the shops (if I have it right). It's also too far to walk to the station, right ?

Was it ever worth £699K - is it worth £625K or whatever for its site value - because the house is not worth it on its own.

Rachman,

All true - hence why we didn't buy it! I was merely using it as an example that not everything flies off the shelf. I would say that it is within walking distance of the station - 15 minutes?

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HOLA4410
I hate to be nosy and admit to being a northerner but how does one move from a 2 bed maisonettte in putney which is worth less than £500k to a £1m house. Am i way out with my valuation of 2 bed maisonettes in Putney or do people in the south east really earn that much more than us in the north.

I'd really like to understand this and would be happy to hear from anyone if they have the answer

Is it city bonuses ??

I know that 2 bed flats are going for more than 400k so it wouldn't surprise me that 2 bed maisonettte is over 500k. I lost a bet recently that Putney prices wouldn't go up 10% over the last year - in fact I was underwater around half way through the bet!

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HOLA4411
I hate to be nosy and admit to being a northerner but how does one move from a 2 bed maisonettte in putney which is worth less than £500k to a £1m house. Am i way out with my valuation of 2 bed maisonettes in Putney or do people in the south east really earn that much more than us in the north.

If you paid £250K for the Putney flat 3 or 4 years ago and were single when you bought, you both had a flat, that's the thick end of probably £900K of flat now - probably £400K of combined equity. You'll probably be earning north of £120K as a couple on averageish London professional wages (or single wages of say £140K/150k would be typical/normal for a mid 30 something professional who is good at what he does) - so the missus (or househusband in these enlightened times) does not need to earn much if at all.

Wages are simply much much higher in town. I am a northerner too - I would earn a quarter (or a third if I got paid right at the top of the Manchester market) of what I do now working back up north, my missus would earn a third of her current wages - we'd work a bit less hard but we'd earn loads less - we'd live in a much smaller house and we'd have fewer good holidays, I'd not buy my watches, Porsches and toys :) and Jimmy Choo would have to make a stock market announcement about their fall in profits.

So you can afford a bigger mortgage and you still have money to live on. Bonuses help (though mine are less than 15-20% of salary), but the salaries (in the financial and professional services sector at least) are massively higher - it's why I moved at least.

It's still a big mortgage/risk to take on though ........ - we took it on because it works for us - I will be able (touch wood) to retire at 40 if I want to and will never HAVE to work again if I do it right - if I'd stayed in Manchester, I'll be working till I am 55-60.

It's how most people have done it (that I know).

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HOLA4412
If you paid £250K for the Putney flat 3 or 4 years ago and were single when you bought, you both had a flat, that's the thick end of probably £900K of flat now - probably £400K of combined equity. You'll probably be earning north of £120K as a couple on averageish London professional wages (or single wages of say £140K/150k would be typical/normal for a mid 30 something professional who is good at what he does) - so the missus (or househusband in these enlightened times) does not need to earn much if at all.

Wages are simply much much higher in town. I am a northerner too - I would earn a quarter (or a third if I got paid right at the top of the Manchester market) of what I do now working back up north, my missus would earn a third of her current wages - we'd work a bit less hard but we'd earn loads less - we'd live in a much smaller house and we'd have fewer good holidays, I'd not buy my watches, Porsches and toys :) and Jimmy Choo would have to make a stock market announcement about their fall in profits.

So you can afford a bigger mortgage and you still have money to live on. Bonuses help (though mine are less than 15-20% of salary), but the salaries (in the financial and professional services sector at least) are massively higher - it's why I moved at least.

It's still a big mortgage/risk to take on though ........ - we took it on because it works for us - I will be able (touch wood) to retire at 40 if I want to and will never HAVE to work again if I do it right - if I'd stayed in Manchester, I'll be working till I am 55-60.

It's how most people have done it (that I know).

Many thanks for this. Only point i would pick up on is that I think prices in the midlands are probably 1/3 rd of that in London now (a 12 year old 4 bed detached in easy commuting distance of birmingham and in a nice self contained village for £300k ). i appreciate that one day you can come back up north and bank a load of equity (assuming house prices in London do not crash and that we in the midlands do not increase our prices for rich Southerners)

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  • 3 weeks later...
12
HOLA4413

Esher has really calmed down, but there are a few chancers. Take this one for instance:

It was on the market just over a year ago for 525k, needing a bit of work, don't know how much.

Here it is now for 850K 1 year later

Hilarious.

Nice and roomy house on the same road, just a few doors away

And this one is 950k, still a vast amount of money, but a much nicer, more traditional, big Esher house. Been on the market for a while and unable to sell, so overpriced. Assuming it would sell at 900, but the owners are greedy, what does it really make the 1st one worth?

I reckon, the improvements would cost around 70k, so let's be charitable and say that extensions get back the money you paid for them, and that the extension added 70-75k to the house from Day 1. Say a 30% increase on 600k in 1 year = 780k, which 3 months ago would have been about right, but now, I think they have fallen back. We were told back then by an EA that prices were "frothy" and "toppy" and that 0.5 on the BoE base rate would cause them to fall back.

Incidentally, the 3rd bedroom is small, and that puts a severe upper limit on the house round here. I would say 725 would be more reasonably.

I will be tracking this, from my rental bunker elsewhere in sunny Esher. :)

If it goes for 850, we have just seen the very top of the market round here, or we have made an enormous mistake by STRing.

Something similar not far away was on for 995 and didn't sell till the asking price was down at 695. But I mentioned that in another post and don't want to get boring.

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HOLA4414

That first one is a classic example of trying to get people who don't want to do any work and charging a premium for it. Like you, I'd have priced it in the low to mid £700Ks.

The second one needs £60-80K on it and is big but typical of a badly extended house - priced per square foot - it's fugly, dated and the wrong end of Ember Lane for top money. I'd not want to pay more than say £775K to £800K for it and then do it up - there is also a ceiling on Ember Lane - caused by the fact these houses tend to be smaller - pushing the market up like they are trying to do for this is not going to work for a house that's 'tired'.... - absolute chancers - there's no money in it for a developer/fixer upper and it's too big/expensive for most people going to do the work themselves. It WILL sit there for a while as the sellers believe it's worth more than it is. By the time you've done the work, the house would have to be worth £1.3M to justify the stamp duty, agent's fees, interest payments and work done (and a small profit) - it won't be because the max price there for a house (whether 6 beds or not) is probably just over £1M (maybe £1.1M at a push) - this is not the house that's going to get it....

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HOLA4415
That first one is a classic example of trying to get people who don't want to do any work and charging a premium for it. Like you, I'd have priced it in the low to mid £700Ks.

The second one needs £60-80K on it and is big but typical of a badly extended house - priced per square foot - it's fugly, dated and the wrong end of Ember Lane for top money. I'd not want to pay more than say £775K to £800K for it and then do it up - there is also a ceiling on Ember Lane - caused by the fact these houses tend to be smaller - pushing the market up like they are trying to do for this is not going to work for a house that's 'tired'.... - absolute chancers - there's no money in it for a developer/fixer upper and it's too big/expensive for most people going to do the work themselves. It WILL sit there for a while as the sellers believe it's worth more than it is. By the time you've done the work, the house would have to be worth £1.3M to justify the stamp duty, agent's fees, interest payments and work done (and a small profit) - it won't be because the max price there for a house (whether 6 beds or not) is probably just over £1M (maybe £1.1M at a push) - this is not the house that's going to get it....

Yeah, but the developers are moving into Ember Lane (or at least they have been, they might be thinking twice at the moment). It is handy for the station, but I agree it is definitely not a premier road in Esher, particularly as it is a rush hour cut through when hampton court way is busy (and even when it isn't). Also everyone who doesn't want to pay for the station car park, sticks their car in Ember Lane.

I haven't seen the inside of the 950k property. Sounds like you have. Are you a local EA?

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HOLA4416

EA, God no - I just looked at the photos, took a view on the age of the occupants and noted they'd stripped the floor in the dining room and put in an old person's take on a modern bathroom - complete with carpet.

The outside is straight out of the mid 1980's - faux French chateau colours - very naff. It's also overextended as is - badly done too with just cheap rendering covering what I suspect is just blockwork. The back was remodelled in the 1980's too - just look at the 'Italianate villa' arches and awnings.

the developers prefer the smaller houses on the wider plots - this is priced too high for them to be interested - as I say, on a sq foot basis, not taking into account the negatives of the way it looks or the condition....

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HOLA4417
EA, God no - I just looked at the photos, took a view on the age of the occupants and noted they'd stripped the floor in the dining room and put in an old person's take on a modern bathroom - complete with carpet.

The outside is straight out of the mid 1980's - faux French chateau colours - very naff. It's also overextended as is - badly done too with just cheap rendering covering what I suspect is just blockwork. The back was remodelled in the 1980's too - just look at the 'Italianate villa' arches and awnings.

the developers prefer the smaller houses on the wider plots - this is priced too high for them to be interested - as I say, on a sq foot basis, not taking into account the negatives of the way it looks or the condition....

Those blue/green roof-tile houses are quite popular round Esher though. Back in May, one went on one of those Open Days for "well over" the 850 guide price. It wasn't as big as this one (crap extension notwithstanding) and was on a better road. Whenever they come up they used to go very quickly. Not this one, but as you say, it needs work and is probably over priced at the moment and I would say ridiculously over priced in about a year. :)

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HOLA4418
That first one is a classic example of trying to get people who don't want to do any work and charging a premium for it. Like you, I'd have priced it in the low to mid £700Ks.

Well we would have both been wrong, because Snivals are now showing it as under offer. WTF??

Shome mishtake shurely?

Incidentally, to anyone for whom the price of Esher is a bit high (99.5% of the country I would think), Walton on Thames has a better train service to Waterloo than Esher and has some very nice areas around. It also has a newly opened shopping centre with all the usual suspects (Carluccios, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Starbucks and Costas). It is cheaper than Esher as well, but not that much.

However, it can be a bit Chavvy in places. Burwood Park and Ashley Park are good places but if you have kids you need to be on the right side of Queens Road/Hersham Road (can't remember which one) otherwise, it's Rydens School, which doesn't have a great reputation.

We were looking to move there but it fell through and that is when we decided to rent.

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  • 2 weeks later...
18
HOLA4419

Hi,

I have relocated from the midlands to this area recently. Been looking around for some time, need a semi or terrace close to mainline station and in driving distance to Epsom with a max budget of 330k.

Been looking in Esher recently and found an area called Sheriff Close.

Can anyone tell me why these are much cheaper than the rest of Esher? They look ok, I realise it's the cheap part of Esher but they just seem a bit too good to be true.

There are also 3 up for sale in this small area, warning sign? EA says it's a 'coincidence'! I don't believe in them.

This is the link (if it works):

http://www.gpees.co.uk/property-details.ph...&rps=gptrps

Edited by Bullygig
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HOLA4420

council estate

railway

sewage works

industrial estate

not really Esher

ex local authority (or similar) property at a guess.

for starters.

Plus getting to Epsom in the morning down the A244 through Oxshott and Malden Rushett in less than an hour. Good luck.

I'd look at Ashtead or Leatherhead.

Edited by Rachman
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HOLA4421
council estate

railway

sewage works

industrial estate

not really Esher

ex local authority (or similar) property at a guess.

for starters.

Plus getting to Epsom in the morning down the A244 through Oxshott and Malden Rushett in less than an hour. Good luck.

I'd look at Ashtead or Leatherhead.

You make it sound lovely! Seriously, thanks for your response.

We have a couple of viewings there on Saturday, I'll take a look. I'm afraid my budget is proving a serious limitation, been looking for 6 months now.

On the traffic, I currently drive from Thames Ditton every day to Epsom down the A240 and it takes about 30 mins so I would probably go that way.

Depressing stuff moving from Nottingham where I had a nice 2 bed semi with a large garden in a nice area which I'm being offered in the region of £100k for at the moment!

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HOLA4422

Sorry to be so negative, but there's no point not being blunt.

I'd try, Dorking - but it's a small town (nice though), Leatherhead (parts are chavvy but not that bad), keep away from 'that side of the railway' in Epsom - you go there, you'll know why...., parts of Banstead and uptowards Tadworth are cheaper than others, but I think you have to be choosy.

I'd go for Dorking and commute that extra 5 minutes.... - does the train not go straight into Epsom from there ?

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HOLA4423
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HOLA4424
Bluntness appreciated, that's the reason I asked!

Will do the viewing anyway, but with eyes wide open.

Will take a look at Dorking, thanks for your comments.

Dorking is nice and there is Epsom itself which has nice parts.

That is definitely a scraggy end of Esher, right by all those things that Rachman mentioned.

If you are going to buy, and are concerned about prices holding their value, then this isn't the right house I would say. These will be the first to go down in Esher, although Esher will hold its value in general better than a lot of places.

Rachman, it sounds like you have the same journey as me to get to the M25.

Recently I have gone towards cobham, down fairmile lane round to stoke road and then right by the garden centre and then right again after the disabled foundation HQ. Brings you out at the roundabout just b4 the m25 roundabout. I reckon it saves about 1015 minutes with all the cr@p in Oxshott at the moment.

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HOLA4425
Those blue/green roof-tile houses are quite popular round Esher though. Back in May, one went on one of those Open Days for "well over" the 850 guide price. It wasn't as big as this one (crap extension notwithstanding) and was on a better road. Whenever they come up they used to go very quickly. Not this one, but as you say, it needs work and is probably over priced at the moment and I would say ridiculously over priced in about a year. :)

Just recently moved into Thames Ditton (Weston Green end) and can thoroughly recommend it. Ember Lane is only 10 minutes from where we live but I find that area souless. I've got Esher station, Thames Ditton and Hinchley Wood station 8, 10 and 12 minutes walk respectively. (TD station is in zone 6 so train fares are cheaper). Esher high street's a 20 minute walk and Kingston a 10 minute drive.

Also if you get yourself in the right catchment area of Thames Ditton you've got superb state education from 5 through 18 with Thames Ditton Infant, Thames Ditton Junior, Hinchley Wood and Esher College - the reason all the oldies are steadily being replaced by young families. It's pricey - but where isn't. Certainly a much better bet than Ember lane or the souless area around Esher station, why prices are pretty similar.

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