London House Search: Main Priority
The London house search…
I often get asked “What should be my main priority when searching for a London house?”
My answer is usually “it depends”…
It depends on what stage of life you are in…
Maybe, you are lucky enough to have children?
If you are, I would highly recommend that you put schooling at the very top of your wish list and I would base where you are going to live on where your child will be going to school, or at least where you are planning on sending them to school.
The ideal journey time to and from school should be no more than a 25 minute car journey to school in the mornings… That’s the absolute maximum!
If you do not have children or are more concerned with travelling to and from work, then I would suggest that commuting time is at the top of your wish list…
When looking into commuting, my best advice is that you also need to take into account commuting to and from stations (at both ends of the journey!) as overall commuting time, instead of simply train times.
That is of course if you are planning on commuting to work via train.
Fixer-uppers are not always the smartest of London houses to buy.
They require a lot of expertise and take even more time and certainly deliver even more stress on top of what is already a particular stressful experience (buying a property and moving home has often been voted as one of the top 3 events that anyone goes through in their life)…
Potentially treat your next London house as something that you can potentially add value to over time.
Maybe you are looking for a house in the city centre?
Maybe you are looking for a house with access to a few acres of communal land?
Maybe you are looking for a house with a prime view of a London park?
“Treat your first house as an investment if you can.”
It could be having a gym or having a pool…
Regardless of what you are looking for, there will typically be ONE aspect of your London house search that will take precedence.
It could be schooling…
It could be your commute…
It could be being able to value to it over time…
It could be outside space…
It could be private parking…
After you have narrowed down your London house search to your true ONE priority… Only then does it make your search all that much easier.