Any advice Cambridgeshire?

I'm currently in Germany and trying to locate a rental for June...I found a potential house, but quite a distance from the base (we're military).  I thought that by getting away from the base locale I could secure a better overall house, and this one's 37 miles away.  The exterior of the house is great, but when I got the interior shots I was apalled.  Peach, pink and purple walls, ballerina wall borders, you name it.  Also, no dishwasher and washer / dryer hookup is in the garage.  130 sq. meters, for a four bedroom house at 1050 pcm.  Does this sound average?  Would I be better off and waiting until I'm in country?  Thanks!!!

what town are you looking at?

i was living in a small town close to one of the american bases in cambridgeshire.  my house was £650 month for a really nice one bedroom.  there are a lot of very cute market towns in that area and they can get quite pricey. 

Hi, my husband was born and raised in St. Ives near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, which is very near to the American Air Force base in Alconbury. As a result, I know the area quite well. I LOVE Cambridgeshire. It has beautiful countryside with dozens of lovely market towns and villages.

As for property, I can tell you that it's quite expensive though. Because of the university, most rental properties will either be dirt cheap and equally dirty "student" style accommodation, or else very expensive houses and flats. A typical one bedroom flat in the area will cost roughly 650-800 pounds and much higher for a house or multiple bedroom flat. Otherwise, I'd suggest checking out the areas of Ely and Peterborough, which are a bit farther out but will have better prices and more to choose from.

Did you say 130 sq metres for a 4 bedroom house?  That can't be right.  That would be approximately 400 sq foot house.  Even my tiny 1 bedroom (studio?) apt. when I was in the States was 650 sq. feet in size.

Beware, British people love to paint their walls and lay down carpet in outrageously loud colors.  I'm talking orange carpets, bright red walls, crazy wallpaper, awful curtains etc.  I think the nation is afflicted with bad taste when it comes to interior color design   
We had something similar to ballerina wall borders when we moved into the house, they had a 7 year old daughter, not totally unexpected.  We just ripped them off the wall, of course we bought the house so we could do that.  That didn't annoy me as much as the awful wallpaper and carpets, though.

You're right and I feel like an idiot...The realtor said she didn't have the exact measurements, but that her guess was 65 up and 65 down(stairs)...When I saw the interior shots, the bedrooms would hold ONLY a bed, nothing else at all, so the room are really small.  I've been hearing that this is pretty standard.  Is it normal that the washer and dryer would be outside in a garage?  The landlord apparently said that we were welcome to paint the house, but I hate to think of jumping into all that combined with an international move.  I guess it's either that or the ballerinas though! Thanks for your help!!!

Did you say 130 sq metres for a 4 bedroom house? That can't be right. That would be approximately 400 sq foot house. Even my tiny 1 bedroom (studio?) apt. when I was in the States was 650 sq. feet in size.

Beware, British people love to paint their walls and lay down carpet in outrageously loud colors. I'm talking orange carpets, bright red walls, crazy wallpaper, awful curtains etc. I think the nation is afflicted with bad taste when it comes to interior color design
We had something similar to ballerina wall borders when we moved into the house, they had a 7 year old daughter, not totally unexpected. We just ripped them off the wall, of course we bought the house so we could do that. That didn't annoy me as much as the awful wallpaper and carpets, though.

It's a tiny town on the Nene River, 37 miles from the base.  Thanks!

what town are you looking at?

i was living in a small town close to one of the american bases in cambridgeshire.  my house was £650 month for a really nice one bedroom.  there are a lot of very cute market towns in that area and they can get quite pricey. 

Thanks for your help...I'm checking it out!

Hi, my husband was born and raised in St. Ives near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, which is very near to the American Air Force base in Alconbury. As a result, I know the area quite well. I LOVE Cambridgeshire. It has beautiful countryside with dozens of lovely market towns and villages.

As for property, I can tell you that it's quite expensive though. Because of the university, most rental properties will either be dirt cheap and equally dirty "student" style accommodation, or else very expensive houses and flats. A typical one bedroom flat in the area will cost roughly 650-800 pounds and much higher for a house or multiple bedroom flat. Otherwise, I'd suggest checking out the areas of Ely and Peterborough, which are a bit farther out but will have better prices and more to choose from.

i used the rental agency just lets.... www.justlets.com.  even if you don't use them it'll give you a good idea of prices, etc in the peterborough area. 

What base are you talking about? My husband grew up outside the Mildenhall area, and we lived in Ely for 3 years together until we came back to the US.

Yep, we'll be stationed at Mildenhall...I've been told that the area right around the base now isn't very nice, so trying to figure out how far we need to go...Thanks!

What base are you talking about? My husband grew up outside the Mildenhall area, and we lived in Ely for 3 years together until we came back to the US.

Thanks very much!!!

i used the rental agency just lets.... www.justlets.com.  even if you don't use them it'll give you a good idea of prices, etc in the peterborough area. 

oh and every thursday peterborough local paper has its property pages.  mostly for sale but some rental places.  it will also give you an idea of the real estate/letting agents/estate agents around this area. 

MIL has her washing machine in her garage but she has a door from the kitchen leading directly into the garage (and a door out the back of the garage leading to the back garden.  It's actually really convenient and saves a lot of space in the kitchen.  It's only about 5 feet from the kitchen to the washer, maybe slightly cold in winter but not bad really.
British kitchens and houses in general are smaller than American ones by and large so you'll get washing machines right in the kitchen or even out in a garage.  It'd be best to see pictures of where the garage and washer/dryer are in relation to the rest of the house, it might be suitable.
Having said that, if all of the bedrooms will only hold a bed and nothing else then I'd be wary.  Remember, though a lot of 3rd or 4th bedrooms in British houses are generally only big enough to hold a single bed and nothing else.  That's why a lot of ppl, myself included, use it for a study/computer room.  Generally the master bedroom and 2nd bedroom are of a reasonably good size, but maybe not this house if it's only 65 m sq. on each floor!

sometimes you'll hear small bedrooms referred to as "box room".  i think that's because all it can hold is a box.  my house is 3 bedroom but you'd be hard pressed to put a single bed in the 3rd bedroom- i just holds a desk and a filing cabinet.  maybe it could be used as a nursey but...

Ah, we know LOADS about Mildenhall.  

Mildenhall itself has a lot to rent, some of the places are pretty nice so it is worth having a look. However, the surrounding villages are a lot nicer in my opinion, the only sort of "complication" is that there is nothing IN them so you have to rely on the bus service. Which is notoriously a pain in the butt. They've built a huge new bus station in Mildenhall and upped the nuber of routes they can handle, but they can't find people to man it so it is closed most of the time. The buses still run, but for a while you are just left on your own to guess how things work and where things go. I'm sure people on the base will be able to help though!

Beck Row is where almost all of the base houseing is, which is basically attached to Mildenhall. Same place, really. Places like Ely, St. Ives, Peterborough... they are all really way too far away for an easy commute. Might look easy on the map - Ely especially - but it took us 30-45 minutes one way to get into Mildenhall. PLUS, it is way more expensive. You are better off looking in places like Isleham, West Row, Freckenham, Barton Mills. All of the Letting Agents in Mildenhall will have listings for thiese outskirt cities if you don't want to stay in BeckRow/Mildenhall proper.

Ely, Bury St. Edmunds, Newmarket, and Cambridge are the biggest nearby cities and they have quite a lot to offer, bus routes to them both, and they are also the nearest train stations. Ely has a direct route to London several times a day. It runs via Cambridge, which is a huge city and one of my favorite places in the world.
 
My husband's family lives in West Row, he grew up there and I lived the with him for a time. Our favorite pub in the world is there.