[culvers]

After years in London, me and my wife have moved to kent and love it here. Currently renting, but looking to buy at some point (if the price is right!)

What are some decent areas to buy in at realistic prices that are not too posh but also not over run with bicycle riding hoody chavs? Quite like the deal area myself..

Noticed this on rightmove: http://www.rightmove...y-29851153.html down from 240k to 200k in just 4 months according to property bee, although dont like the house and think it is still way over priced. (perfect "garden" for voyeurs! lol )

Ideally i would like to secure a nice 3 to 4 bed home with good sized garden for 150k or less - what are the chances of this happening?

Have noticed some consistent reductions in the past few months on property bee, but still looking way too expensive. Have heard about pfizer closing so was wondering if there were some big drops to come, or whether the decent areas would prove resilient to price drops?

Cheers for any thoughts

This post has been edited by culvers: 21 August 2011 - 02:18 PM

[worried1]

culvers, on 21 August 2011 - 02:15 PM, said:

Cheers for any thoughts

I think it depends how close you are to a fast train line into London. Prices in East Kent are a fraction of those in London, so a lot of people who don;t mind a slightly longer/more expensive commute are likely to prop prices up a bit to take up the slack when local employment worsens.

Deal is probably a good shout. I have heard it is not a bad area, and the train takes over 2 hours into Charing Cross (still over 1.5 hours if changing at Ashford for the fast St Pancras service). This is the type of area you would expect to see hit by price falls.

If you do need to get into town quite quickly, why not try Ashford itself? Lots of it will be pretty infested with the hoodies that you mention, but there must be some nice parts. Even if you have to drive 15 minutes into the station, under 40 minutes into London from this distance is excellent and prices do not seem to have gone up that much to me. I can't think of anywhere cheaper with a sub-1 hour connection to London.

[culvers]

update: seems like 1 and 2 bed flats in ashford are on around 110k - 120k on right move (were 100k last year for the same places), and houses seem more expensive too..
No sign of a HPC here...

[Opium of the People]

Faversham has properties coming in around your price tab and with fast links to London.

[WageSlaveBear]

I have to get to work in Maidstone, but the further west you go the more expensive the houses.
There some amazing properties in Ramsgate,

http://www.rightmove...y-21253659.html

Ok this is big money, but I suspect it would be twice that anywhere else

[worried1]

WageSlaveBear, on 03 March 2012 - 08:03 PM, said:

I have to get to work in Maidstone, but the further west you go the more expensive the houses.
There some amazing properties in Ramsgate,

http://www.rightmove...y-21253659.html

Ok this is big money, but I suspect it would be twice that anywhere else

Wow! Is that typical? You'd be lucky to get a small flat within a house like that in Tunbridge Wells/Sevenoaks for that money.

[culvers]

pricing still seems to be so out of sync, look at these two, both asking 120k

http://www.rightmove...y-37216061.html - 1 bedroom "thing" (seems to have chopped up a house somehow) 1.5 miles from station

http://www.rightmove...y-36731897.html - 3 bed house with cellar and garden, 0.4 miles from station

Both of these are priced the same, however the second one is a "proper" house, has 3 bedrooms, a cellar, and is closer to the station. Just futher evidence in my mind that asking prices are just made up figures with no relation to reality. Im going to hunker down until 2013 and see what the state of play is then...

[tim123]

culvers, on 09 March 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

pricing still seems to be so out of sync, look at these two, both asking 120k

http://www.rightmove...y-37216061.html - 1 bedroom "thing" (seems to have chopped up a house somehow) 1.5 miles from station

http://www.rightmove...y-36731897.html - 3 bed house with cellar and garden, 0.4 miles from station

Both of these are priced the same, however the second one is a "proper" house, has 3 bedrooms, a cellar, and is closer to the station. Just futher evidence in my mind that asking prices are just made up figures with no relation to reality. Im going to hunker down until 2013 and see what the state of play is then...

the first is probably in "move in " condition with the second requiring lots of work

tim

[rantnrave]

Am also in the process of relocating to Kent. During the interview process, I stayed a couple of nights in Ashford since it was the cheapest hotel we could find in the vicinity. It didn't take too long to realise that actually Ashford seemed a little more pleasant than where I'd be working. So, we're thinking of basing ourselves there. Prices are less obscene than I thought. There are some kitefliers, for sure, but some half decent three-bed semis for around £130K.

One question I have though is that a lot of the stuff on Rightmove includes a price range rather than one price, eg £130,000 to £150,000. Am I missing something here? Why would I want to offer the upper end rather than the lower? Would £125K in such a scenario be immediately rejected?

Appreciate any insight into this phenomenon and the town itself.

Ta.

[swissy_fit]

rantnrave, on 16 August 2012 - 07:35 AM, said:

Am also in the process of relocating to Kent. During the interview process, I stayed a couple of nights in Ashford since it was the cheapest hotel we could find in the vicinity. It didn't take too long to realise that actually Ashford seemed a little more pleasant than where I'd be working. So, we're thinking of basing ourselves there. Prices are less obscene than I thought. There are some kitefliers, for sure, but some half decent three-bed semis for around £130K.

One question I have though is that a lot of the stuff on Rightmove includes a price range rather than one price, eg £130,000 to £150,000. Am I missing something here? Why would I want to offer the upper end rather than the lower? Would £125K in such a scenario be immediately rejected?

Appreciate any insight into this phenomenon and the town itself.

Ta.

There's a rather famous couple that may have something to sell you in Ashford. I think they specialised in houses of about that size. Please, please beat them down as far as you can.

[tim123]

rantnrave, on 16 August 2012 - 07:35 AM, said:

Am also in the process of relocating to Kent. During the interview process, I stayed a couple of nights in Ashford since it was the cheapest hotel we could find in the vicinity. It didn't take too long to realise that actually Ashford seemed a little more pleasant than where I'd be working. So, we're thinking of basing ourselves there. Prices are less obscene than I thought. There are some kitefliers, for sure, but some half decent three-bed semis for around £130K.

One question I have though is that a lot of the stuff on Rightmove includes a price range rather than one price, eg £130,000 to £150,000. Am I missing something here? Why would I want to offer the upper end rather than the lower? Would £125K in such a scenario be immediately rejected?

Appreciate any insight into this phenomenon and the town itself.

Ta.

ISTM that a local EA "Ward and Co" started this method of pricing and it caught on with the others. BICBW

Like you I still haven't worked out why someone might offer the higher price as I have yet to see a "lower" price that is competitive.

There are lots of bits of Ashford that you don't want to buy in. Not because you will be mugged in the street, but because you will have difficulty selling on.

OTOH there are some areas where prices are silly given then ordinaryness of the town.

tim

[rantnrave]

tim123, on 17 August 2012 - 09:34 AM, said:

ISTM that a local EA "Ward and Co" started this method of pricing and it caught on with the others. BICBW

Like you I still haven't worked out why someone might offer the higher price as I have yet to see a "lower" price that is competitive.

There are lots of bits of Ashford that you don't want to buy in. Not because you will be mugged in the street, but because you will have difficulty selling on.

OTOH there are some areas where prices are silly given then ordinaryness of the town.

tim

Any thoughts re Willesborough? Looking at renting a two bed flat in that area until we get to know the town.