good value for the money?

OK guys, we put a hefty deposit down on a rental house today for when we move here in August. We want to see if it is a good value for the price. Of course without seeing it you can't know exactly how the house is so you can't say for certain but I wanna ask in general anyway.

We found a really nice(well maintained and clean) 3 bed tudor house with offstreet parking, nice garden with patio and shed with power, 2 doubles and 1 single bed on the small side, very modern kitchen, hardwoods throughout. We are paying 1550 pcm in Ham (between Kingston and Richmond). From what I read there is low crime and there are good schools in Kingston too and is well suited for a family with 2 small kids not yet in school.

Not knowing about the rest of the areas in other sides of London (north, west, etc... not southeast though) we have to just trust our relo agent when she says this is a good value, one of the best she has seen for the money. Does this sound like we're overpaying? We seemed to focus alot on the Kingston area (the relo agent steered us in that general for price and quality of the area -- in her opinion) and we don't know if there were other areas in the west or north that are comparable that are significantly cheaper for the same things.

If you think we're overpaying can you say compared to where in particular (so we can compare ourselves). Obviously if we back out now we're out our hefty deposit but we just want to feel good about the deal we made, seeing as things are so expensive in London.

I can pose this question to my FH when he gets home tonight, but sounds okay to me so far.  I've lived in Kingston, and while I don't know a huge amount about the housing prices there, I can vouch for it as a good area to live.  He would know better than I if that price sounds right (though it sounds very low for a 3 bed house!!).

Hi!

The 'Kingston' area is generally considered a 'nice' area to be in. It's very hard to give feedback based on a written description, but I'd say that if the house is clean, well maintained, maybe recently refurbished or has decent high quality fixtures and fittings etc, is in a quietish street with similar familes to yours living there then £1550/month for a 3 bedroom place seems like a very reasonable amount.

Like any place in the UK, areas and their 'tones' can change within a very short distance - just a few hundred yards or a couple of streets in some cases!

I used to pop over to Kingston when friends were at the university there, and so they were in the area in student housing, compared to the areas I lived in at university (Bradford, W.Yorks) these places were fantastic! and the areas were nice too, the quality of Kingston and surrounding areas carries on with family type residences and of course the high end as well. So long as your place isn't too close to the student areas even if there's a few nearby, you shouldn't find them too much bother.

The general area itself I think is very nice - Twickenham, Teddington, Walton on Thames, Esher etc are all nearby and very nice as well. As you get to know the place, Worcester Park is a very desirable area just on the other side of Kingston.

Overall, I think you've found yourself a very reasonably priced, good home to rent from your description, and I think you mentioned £2K a month allowance previously, so use the rest of the dosh to pay for the council tax and utilities if you can!

Good luck with everything!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I live in Teddington and your rental seems like good value for the money. It is nice that the kitchen is modern too! Rents in Teddington, vary widely according to location (£1500 - 5000). Sounds like a good choice to me.

I'd say that almost anything that isn't rat-infested and has 3 bedrooms with doors would be a good deal for 1550 in Kingston. Sounds like your place is significantly nicer than that, so well done. 

I am not far away (Isleworth) and that sounds like a good price to me. 

Well, guess I shouldn't be too concerned anymore because the landlords backed out. Seems they decided they really didn't want any dogs. I've got 2 more nets in the water but we'll see if either of them can get past the dogs thing.

Guess we'll be going back to the states without any place to live for when we do the real move.

Hi!


Overall, I think you've found yourself a very reasonably priced, good home to rent from your description, and I think you mentioned £2K a month allowance previously, so use the rest of the dosh to pay for the council tax and utilities if you can!

We decided we didn't want to live so paycheck to paycheck so we bumped our budget down to the 1500 area for monthly rent so we had to start looking at 3 beds. I hope we find something now that these people have backed out.

Well, guess I shouldn't be too concerned anymore because the landlords backed out. Seems they decided they really didn't want any dogs. I've got 2 more nets in the water but we'll see if either of them can get past the dogs thing.

Guess we'll be going back to the states without any place to live for when we do the real move.

That sucks.   We've got two cats, and also rent, and so I feel your pain.

What a bummer. 

As an FYI, when checking out places it may be helpful to use upmystreet, it does neighborhood profiles based on postcode.  It tells you a bit about who lives in your specific area.  Here's a link, just change the postcode to get the low-down on where your potential rental property is located.  You may need to sign up to have this access (it's free).

Accuracy may not be 100%, but it should provide a good feel for the neighborhood.

http://www.upmystreet.com/local/my-neighbours/neighbourhood-profile/l/se10+8px.html

Also, once you sign-up you can post questions in their "news & views" section which filters topics based on what postcode the posters are registered in and thus you would be speaking directly to locals.  I don't really use their posting boards so I can't tell you how responsive they are.