Is anyone else having trouble house hunting?

hi,
I lived in horsham for 3 yrs and so know the areas well. A few other areas that give good access to gatwick worth looking at would be;

Dorking
Haywards heath
Villages off the A23 such as hurstpierpoint (great spot!), cowfold
Reigate

avoid Crawley, Horley

These places will have a good number of converted period house so as othrs have said a good ground floor flat may be worth looking at

Mostly, I just wanted to give a shout-out to Fairlight. Beautiful place. We walk on Winchelsea Beach a lot,  and I've probably taken hundreds of pictures of Fairlight 

You have no idea how much that just excited me! I have never met anyone, even from the UK who has the slightest clue where fairlight is!

If you wanted to move back to the States I hear they're selling houses in Detroit for $500 

That high? You'd have to pay me to live there! 

Do you have to buy a house?  My DH's first place was a 2-bed flat that he lived in for 4 years.  In that time, he ended up making a £30,000 profit, even with the falling sale prices of this past year.  And his salary went up (and then it included mine) so we were able to afford that 3-bed semi that you are talking about.  It might be worth thinking about the flat as a stepping stone to the house you want to buy in the future...or rent something very affordable and keep saving more for the deposit so you have more options next year at this time (we put off buying to do this and it really built up our deposit).

I wouldn't buy a house in the UK right now. Prices have a lot further to fall, imo, as they are still way out of whack with historic norms versus incomes. Plus this recession is still in its early days. As unemployment rises so, inevitably, will foreclosures. And its foreclosures that typically kill prices and bring sellers that are in denial with their "wishing prices" back down to earth.

We've looked in Reigate, Dorking, Haywards Heath and those general areas. We are really looking to not spend over £230,000. Anything in that price range in those areas tends to be dingy ex local authority estates. We did find one we liked well enough even thought it was near loal authority housing in Haywards Heath. But it was literally right nextdoor to the football stadium..no thanks!

Everyone is saying no to Horley! The house I really love is there though :\\\'(


Giantaxe, I know prices will fall. And we probably will end up renting for about 6 months by the looks of it. I just really want to get into a house and settle though. I mean...I figure when we buy a house, it'll probably drop in value for a bit. However we are looking for a 3 bedroom place...so my hope is even if the prices fall, we can stay in it long enough to at least re-coup what we have paid for it.

You have no idea how much that just excited me! I have never met anyone, even from the UK who has the slightest clue where fairlight is!

First place we started househunting was Pett Level, many years ago.

Older members have probably seen Fairlight without knowing it. Disney did an adaptation of Dr Syn (with Patrick McGoohan. w00t!) in 1964 that was filmed around here and released in both the UK and the US. It opens with a shot of smugglers unloading rum onto Winchelsea Beach, with Fairlight in the distance. It was rereleased on DVD a month before I left the States, which I took as an omen. (Mine arrived a week before I left).

I'd apologize for the threadjack, but it's your thread, so I won't 

I've never heard of that film. I'll have to let my Grandparents know, they'll be thrilled!

I wish I could enjoy living here...right now I am kinda stuck out here on my own while DH is off flying around all day. I first came here to visit my Grandparents in 2002 when I was 15ish and we walked EVERYWHERE...My grandpa loves to hike around here and would take me along.

I should really just take my lazy butt up and walk on the firehills since I live practically ontop of them. I bet that would make me feel better and a little less lonely and idle. Thanks for reminding me what a beautiful little place Fairlight is! 

Oops! Sorry. Meant to give the  URL for the DVD. Sadly, it's Region 1. Only available in the UK on VHS.

But it was literally right nextdoor to the football stadium..no thanks!

Haywards Heath Town Football club - average attendence for 2006/07 was 61.  The highest attendence that season was 97. 

http://www.nomad-online.co.uk/Directory/Haywards%20Heath%20Town/Haywards%20Heath%20Town.html

Being next door to this club is no reason to put you off a house...the only time you'd notice them is if the ball ever went into your garden!  It's not like being next to a Premiership club with attendances in the tens of thousands!!!


Vicky

We went there during a game for a second viewing. There were not thousands of people, but the people that were there were loud and obnoxious and walking right in front of the house. We were there for 45 minutes..we could hear them all during the game, and after the game, a group of people were just..."hanging out" right in front of the house, and not the kind of people you want hanging outside your house. The whole street as a whole just was not good.

I may not be from here, but I think after looking as much as we have I have a good feel for what areas are decent and which ones aren't. Out of the 4 of us there(me, DH, and his parents) we all felt the same way.  I liked the house enough, to try and get over the area, but when we went for the second viewing...I just couldn't do it.  I just don't want to live at the house that happens to be where the teenage boys seem to want to hang out  loitering around after games. It really was just a gut feeling.

We've looked in Reigate, Dorking, Haywards Heath and those general areas. We are really looking to not spend over ?230,000. Anything in that price range in those areas tends to be dingy ex local authority estates. We did find one we liked well enough even thought it was near loal authority housing in Haywards Heath. But it was literally right nextdoor to the football stadium..no thanks!

Hi Ashy,

Congratulations on your marriage and move.

Coincidentally I'm originally from Haywards Heath and both my parents and sister still live there. The area near to the stadium isn't especially nice (around America Lane), but overall it's a nice town, if a little boring. The journey to Gatwick would take about half as long as your husband's present journey, even less by train. A lot of the surrounding villages are very pleasant too (Lindfield, Cuckfield, Balcombe, Ardingly) if you can't handle life in the fast lane in Haywards Heath!

I think people are being stubborn with their asking prices, but if you persevere I'm sure you'll get something you are happy with eventually.