Buying apartment in London

[Foreigner]

Planning to buy 1 or 2br apartment in London. Budget aud1m.

Do AFFers have suggestions of areas worth considering?

 

[quokka77]

You won't get much for your seven figures right now. You should have bought when the AUD was above 60p? Anything close to a tube station is super expensive but well worth the effort.

 

[cove]

We used zoopla to zero in on the areas we considered suitable. My brother went half share in a one bedroom apartment with 28 years of ground lease to run as he figured by the time the lease ran out he would be too old to care. Currently the exchange rate is unhelpful. We looked around the tourist haunts and then settled for a non tourist haunt.
With the cross city rail project being quite advanced getting from Heathrow to many areas will dramatically improve so look at how that could work for you.

 

[Foreigner]

We used zoopla to zero in on the areas we considered suitable. My brother went half share in a one bedroom apartment with 28 years of ground lease to run as he figured by the time the lease ran out he would be too old to care. Currently the exchange rate is unhelpful. We looked around the tourist haunts and then settled for a non tourist haunt.
With the cross city rail project being quite advanced getting from Heathrow to many areas will dramatically improve so look at how that could work for you.

Thanks cove. Good info. FX is not quite an issue as I've USDs.

Info at this link was useful:

http://m.londonlovesbusiness.com/pr...2015-and-2016/9624.article?mobilesite=enabled

 

[cove]

Having USDs will be a good help in getting a London property.
If you plan to be in business in London you could select a completely different location. We settled on being adjacent to the Docklands Light Rail system which we love using and we can walk to the Jubilee line of the tube. The Cross City Rail is creating a mini boom and the number of cranes operating on construction sites is quite amazing. One new block of apartments down by the Canary Wharf/ Cross Harbour station sold out completely in 24 hours as it will be an estimated 37 minutes from Heathrow.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Planning to buy 1 or 2br apartment in London. Budget aud1m.

Do AFFers have suggestions of areas worth considering?

Anywhere in Zone 1, or the border of Zone 1 and 2 and you can't go much wrong. If you are thinking of letting the apartment out, distance to the tube is important - renters will be looking for something in the 5-7 minute walking range (or less).

Many areas are mixed - houses, apartments and former government housing (apartments). I've lived in former government housing and really like it... big bed rooms, separate bathroom and toilet, big living rooms. They can represent excellent value for money in terms of space.

 

[Rareified Air]

My old housemate has a small one bed flat in Norbiton (zone 5) she is trying to sell. It's not big but very close to the train station and inside your budget.
On stop from Kingston on Thames and about two stops the other direction to Wimbledon.

 

[Edge]

I would suggest something around Warwick Avenue tube station: https//goo.gl/maps/CHRkM

I lived there for a couple of years, it's beautiful. Little Venice. Walking distance to Paddington (Heathrow Express), Oxford Street, Regents Park, Hyde Park. Safe, convenient, but not cheap. Unsure if it fits in your price bracket at the moment.

 

[cove]

If you are thinking of buying do not think of it as an investment but more of a lifestyle choice. Then be certain you can work the frequent flyer points system to get to your chosen location as comfortably and often and at the lowest cost. Don't leave it until you are too old and start losing mobility.
The choices of locations are very personal.

 

[opusman]

Anywhere in Zone 1, or the border of Zone 1 and 2 and you can't go much wrong.

$1mill AUD won't go far in Zone 1 these days!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

$1mill AUD won't go far in Zone 1 these days!

That may be the case... but what do they say? 'location location location!' If you want to rent the property, zone 1 makes sense, if you want an investment, zone 1 would appear to make sense (unless it's currently overvalued). There's certainly a big attraction living close to the centre of london.

 

[Edge]

Also keep in mind that there's likely to be minimal stock on offer at the moment (August). While I'm not familiar with the market over there, I imagine you'd be looking at mid-September to mid-November period for supply to pick up?