Which Area is for Me?
Do you buy the best property that you can in your desired area or move further and further from your desired area until you can find the property that you want within your budget? The answer is normally somewhere in between but even if we didn’t have any financial constraints would choosing where to live be easy? Would we simply choose the nicest house in the best area?
We would still have other considerations such proximity to schools and family, which to many people are more important than living in the “best” area, so although we must first establish which areas are within our reach these will then need to be refined according to our priorities. Try thinking of the process as a funnel with all the potential properties going in at the top and eventually ending up with quite a narrow choice at the bottom.
Start With a Large Area
Most people have a rough idea of where they want to live. Maybe it is close to where you grew up or still have family. People generally stick to areas that they or their partners are familiar with. It is important that you don’t limit yourself to just one town but rather the larger surrounding area as this will give you more choice and increase your chances of finding a suitable property.
How much Space Do You Need?
Many people are willing to compromise on space if it allows them to move to a “better” area but there will be normally be a minimum requirement and this tends to be categorised by the number of bedrooms. Children are not going to want to share once they reach a certain age (my guess is about 8 these days) so if you are buying for the long term you will need to factor this in. Alternatively you could buy a property where there is potential to add a bedroom later.
Establish your budget
This will be critical to your decision as you need to establish which parts of your larger area are within your reach. Estate Agents get many prospective buyers registering with unrealistic expectations. If you happen to get a senior member of staff when you call you should be advised that what you are looking for does not exist but if it is a junior that registers you will just not be sent any details. At the bottom of each of our area pages we list the average prices for different types of property.
Once you’ve reached this point you will be left with a few small areas. These can then be narrowed down further with your secondary criteria. These are factors which desirable but not essential.
We would put proximity to schools in this category as although you may want to be close to the best school in the area these are often the most expensive properties and out of reach for many families. If you absolutely have to be in the catchment for a particular school think about renting for a year or two and then moving on.
Families will also want to be close to parks and other recreational facilities. A good local park can be a trade off for accepting a property with a smaller garden if a larger one is too expensive.
If you run your own business or are in a long term employment do not underestimate the benefits of living close to your place of work. If you totted up the number of hours spent sitting in traffic it would depress you to think how much of your life is being wasted. Add on to this the effect on your health of the associated stress.
If you have your heart set on a distinctive type of property, be it a penthouse flat or an Edwardian semi, this will considerably narrow down your choice. You may want to start with and even larger area so that you have a few properties to choose from in your price range.
Crime levels can vary even in neighboring areas so if this is of particular importance to you it is worth spending some time seeing how your areas compare.
Settling upon a particular area is a fine balancing act but if you follow our advice and start with a large area then you should still have plenty of choice once your other criteria have been met.