Should I buy a tiny, less-than-ideal flat?

[Cycleops]

You hang in @wafter , you're in a strong position and you can pick and choose. If the seller doesn't like it he can go hang.

 

[wafter]

You hang in @wafter , you're in a strong position and you can pick and choose. If the seller doesn't like it he can go hang.

Thanks

Have pretty much forgotten about the small flat now and am more pragmatic about the nicer one. Feb's Nationwide house price index was published today and prices are now falling year-on-year; down 1.1% on last Feb and around 3.7% peak from August. Added to other factors this is making the long game look increasing more worthwhile / sensible..

 

[srw]

dreaming of buying a flat in Oxford so that I might return to the simple, low-outgoing, cycle-centric lifestyle I crave to maintain my mental and physical health.

In *Oxford*??!!!

Crumbs. It's just about the most expensive place in the country to buy property relative to local incomes.

Even going to Bicester or Witney or Thame will give you much more chance. Going properly further afield will help a lot. The cash price of a pokey studio flat in Oxford will buy you a decent house in the country near [insert your favourite Northern, Welsh or Scottish city], with enough left over to live modestly for a year or so while you establish yourself and find a new job.

 

[Jameshow]

In *Oxford*??!!!

Crumbs. It's just about the most expensive place in the country to buy property relative to local incomes.

Even going to Bicester or Witney or Thame will give you much more chance. Going properly further afield will help a lot. The cash price of a pokey studio flat in Oxford will buy you a decent house in the country near [insert your favourite Northern, Welsh or Scottish city], with enough left over to live modestly for a year or so while you establish yourself and find a new job.

I think he has family commitments to take into consideration.....

 

[wafter]

In *Oxford*??!!!

Crumbs. It's just about the most expensive place in the country to buy property relative to local incomes.

Even going to Bicester or Witney or Thame will give you much more chance. Going properly further afield will help a lot. The cash price of a pokey studio flat in Oxford will buy you a decent house in the country near [insert your favourite Northern, Welsh or Scottish city], with enough left over to live modestly for a year or so while you establish yourself and find a new job.

Thanks - I'm well aware of all of those points. I'm far more concerned by the lifestyle, social and cultural opportunities available to me than the property itself (well, certainly its size).

I don't want to be a prisoner in my own home; going slowly mental wasting what's left of my life because I despise the area I live in and have no desire to interact with it or those who reside locally - as is the case currently.

I've grown up around grotty, culturally-barren, overdeveloped little market / latterly commuter towns like Bicester and would genuinely rather put my head in an oven than consider living out the rest of my years in such a place. Granted, I'd prefer a bit more space than most postage-stamp flats in Oxford would afford, however I don't need that much and with space comes the greater burden of increased maintenance costs, energy bills, council tax..

I'm well aware that my budget could buy me a very nice three-bed house in rural Wales for example; probably with money to spare.. but other than the glorious countryside, what else could that offer? Hundreds of miles away from friends and family, limited opportunities to socialise, a ballache to obtain basic provisions, the need to find a new job when I'm basically unemployable and realistically the need to drive pretty much everywhere.

I've lived in Oxford on and off for many years, and these have absolutely been the least-miserable of my life.. thanks largely I think to how most neccessities can easily be realised by bike.. which contributes enormously to maintaining my mental and physical health. I know what to expect, love what the city can offer and short of moving to Utrecht (which if course is never going to happen) can't think of anywhere else I'd rather live.

Ta for your input, though

 

[chris667]

As someone who is a landlord in that part of the country, I agree that the idea of BTL being sustainable in places like Oxford is not really viable. I am really delighted I'm not one of those people who thought being highly leveraged was sensible.

We'll be entering the age of the corporate landlord soon. People who currently complain about private landlords have a real shock coming.

As to you, @wafter , keep patient and being the person who puts the lowest offer in. It sounds that things are rough but you're on the right track. As previously mentioned go and make friends with as many estate agents as you can. In the past, some of mine have given me a call and said things like "This nice young couple have split up, they're really desperate to sell, and make a really low offer". Unscrupulous business, but there you go.

I lived on a boat for 12 years. A lot of that time was spent in Oxford. Don't be tempted to do that. Terrible investment unless you really want to do it. Park homes can be OK if you don't want to pass it on, but be very careful of the landlords.

 

[Cycleops]

Agree about Bicester

 

[rockyroller]

might want to think optimistically. maybe find a place with room for company?

when I met Wifey she had a small "studio apartment" basically a small bedroom w/ a doorway (no door) to an eat-in kitchen. off the kitchen was a full bath w/tub & back stairs to an unfenced yard. I proceeded to dop off a cat, in addition to hers & an aquarium full of fish. I spent a lot of time there but never moved in. it was a little crowded w/ her cat, may cat, the fish & me showing up quite a lot. didn't take long for us to move in together, somewhere else

reminds me, George Carlin used to have a funny bit about "room for your stuff" he might have used a different word hehe

 

[AndyRM]

I've only skimmed through this biblical thread, but it seems as though you are making the right decision in hanging fire, so well done.

I have always had 3 criteria when buying a house:

1 - Outdoor space (not necessarily a garden, but a park or something)
2 - Near public transport
3 - Near the coast

(A shop is a nice to have bonus).

I have been lucky in that the three places I've bought, all three requirements have been there, but I'd be willing to sacrifice one if the other two were options.

 

[wafter]

As someone who is a landlord in that part of the country, I agree that the idea of BTL being sustainable in places like Oxford is not really viable. I am really delighted I'm not one of those people who thought being highly leveraged was sensible.

We'll be entering the age of the corporate landlord soon. People who currently complain about private landlords have a real shock coming.

As to you, @wafter , keep patient and being the person who puts the lowest offer in. It sounds that things are rough but you're on the right track. As previously mentioned go and make friends with as many estate agents as you can. In the past, some of mine have given me a call and said things like "This nice young couple have split up, they're really desperate to sell, and make a really low offer". Unscrupulous business, but there you go.

I lived on a boat for 12 years. A lot of that time was spent in Oxford. Don't be tempted to do that. Terrible investment unless you really want to do it. Park homes can be OK if you don't want to pass it on, but be very careful of the landlords.

Thanks for your thoughts - it's interesting to hear an opinion from the other side of the fence, while I appreciate your points about house boats and park homes; had a sniff around both but came to the same conclusion as yourself. Again; good to hear this from someone with experience.

I hear what you're saying about corporate landlords; equally given the appalling state of some privately-owned rentals I've viewed in the past I think this could certainly have its advantages too.

I certainly plan to try and play the agents at their own game. The recent situation has been "interesting" - of course they were my best friends up until the point they got a higher offer, then total radio silence. Not a surprise of course as 99% of them seem to be deeply unscrupulous and never would I credit any of them with a gram of morality. On the up side, as someone who's always concerned with treating people well (even if I don't always manage it) it's refreshing to feel absolutely no moral obligations when it comes to dealing with these "people".

As it stands both properites I've viewed recently remain on the market. Available inventory is pretty static but there is turnover; not sure how much is stuff that's actually sold versus stuff being pulled from the market. Only one property I've saved out of casual interest is currently listed as SSTC.

I'm seeing a lot of reductions and flat prices seem lower relative to the time I've been looking; with a lot of stuff hovering around the £200k mark. That said, unsurprisingly the stuff at the bottom of the market is pretty grotty and seems typical of the bulk of the stock coming to market currently.. making me think it's coming from landlords attempting to offload the dregs of their stuff first.

There's not a whole lot about that appeals currently - which on the one hand is somewhat demoralising; on the other makes it an easy decision to sit it out and see how the current situation goes.

I guess I all I can do is wait, save, and try to resist the growing urges to throw myself in front of a bus.

Agree about Bicester

Lol - I know it's a hole but I'm surprised that its reputation has reached Ghana

might want to think optimistically. maybe find a place with room for company?

when I met Wifey she had a small "studio apartment" basically a small bedroom w/ a doorway (no door) to an eat-in kitchen. off the kitchen was a full bath w/tub & back stairs to an unfenced yard. I proceeded to dop off a cat, in addition to hers & an aquarium full of fish. I spent a lot of time there but never moved in. it was a little crowded w/ her cat, may cat, the fish & me showing up quite a lot. didn't take long for us to move in together, somewhere else

reminds me, George Carlin used to have a funny bit about "room for your stuff" he might have used a different word hehe

Thanks for the thought, although I think you misunderstand my situation. I'm struggling to afford a tiny one-bed flat, so the liklihood of being able to get something larger is extremely unlikely. I have however considered the potential for a second bedroom and getting in a lodger, however while the additional money would be welcome, one of the largest draws is somewhere I can be away from others as I don't do well being around people constantly, so in reality I think this would be a bad idea.

I've only skimmed through this biblical thread, but it seems as though you are making the right decision in hanging fire, so well done.

I have always had 3 criteria when buying a house:

1 - Outdoor space (not necessarily a garden, but a park or something)
2 - Near public transport
3 - Near the coast

(A shop is a nice to have bonus).

I have been lucky in that the three places I've bought, all three requirements have been there, but I'd be willing to sacrifice one if the other two were options.

Thanks - appreciate the encouragement

Totally agree about outdoor space; locally a shared garden is as good as it's going to get, but Oxford's small and pretty green, while the areas I'm looking in are never far away from decent green spaces. Public transport concerns me less as it's pretty crap and 95% of the time I'd seek to travel under my own steam. I like the coast but Oxford's about as far away as you'll get in the British isles

As usual I have my own set of boxes to tick and of course can never get them all.. the difficulty IMO is in recognising which I can live without.


Anyway, following the initial flurry of hope drawn from a couple of properties that precipitated this thread, moving is once more looking very much like a long-term goal... and tbh the state my head's in currently I very much doubt I'd be able to chase anything even were it available.

Thanks again for everyones' input