buying a flat in london

[bassnation]

just thought i'd ask peoples advise on this, as my divorce will finally happen this year and it looks like i can get at least 150k from the sale of the house. i want to settle down in london but its been ten years since i've bought a property.

first of all, what can i get for my money? i understand 150k will be a large deposit at best here, but i'm thinking of probably a large 1 bed flat for 250. my kids will stay with me every weekend, but i think a sofa bed will probably do the trick otherwise if i have to get a 2 bed i'm not really going to be living anywhere great. is this a reasonable assessment?

location wise i'm thinking herne hill or borough. i need to get away from west norwood cos the transport is crap and the place is beginning to do my head in. borough is going to be very expensive tho is it? i'm not keen on west london, but i work out that way and need easy transport, but my kids live to the east so its kind of tricky getting somewhere that will be ideal for both those committments. never lived in north london and the prospect is somewhere between frightening and alien!

any advice?

 

[tom pr]

Can't offer advice, but will be watching the topic eagerly as i'm going to need to get my own flat in London near the end of this year, and it's going to be a big contrast from Aberdeen where two of us are renting a really nice two bedroom flat for 550 a month...

 

[tryptych]

Friends of mine just bought a pretty nice, though not massive, one bed flat in Clapton for roughly £250k.

Someone else I know said she'd seen some shocking properties around Homerton/Hackney/London Fields for closer to £200k

 

[viktorvaughn]

Mortgages - help me please.

What % is the deposit normally?

If you have a steady job with good security is it rash to rent somewhere if you know you want to live there for the next 5 or 10 years?

How much roughly is a place with, say, two bedrooms but no sitting room in E/NE London?

Any tips for places to live in that area, up and coming etc.?