Ever wonder about the pros and cons of renting vs buying a property? In the second panel at our London event on the 24th of August 2023, we were joined by two amazing panelists to discuss this further.
Jade Vanriel (here), a seasoned property buyer and content creator, and Nadine Bacchus (here), a pandemic renovator, share their personal journeys and lessons learned.
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Ever wonder about the pros and cons of renting vs buying a property? In the second panel at our London event on the 24th of August 2023, we were joined by two amazing panelists to discuss this further.
Jade Vanriel (here), a seasoned property buyer and content creator, and Nadine Bacchus (here), a pandemic renovator, share their personal journeys and lessons learned.
FOLLOW PENNIES TO POUNDS 💸
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/penniestopoundspod/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/penniestopound
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@penniestopounds?_t=8ZGvHcCqLIs&_r=1
LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/company/pennies-to-pounds
Website - www.penniestopounds.co.uk
Contact - info@penniestopounds.co.uk
Hey guys, and welcome back to the Penny Spouse podcast with your host, keir, and this is a podcast waiting to destroy your myths, simplify difficult financial jargon and rectify your own personal problems. Happy Monday. As I'm sure you can probably tell, I do not sound like myself. I have been extremely ill, hence why I haven't been here for two weeks. My voice has disappeared. I'm trying to claw it back, so I do sound a little bit different. Please forgive me. I'm on the road to recovery, though you'll be happy to know. However, I can't leave you guys too long without another episode, so this is part two of our live show Back in London. This is an incredible panel as well all about renting versus buying. What should you do? Should you rent? Should you buy? What should you consider? So I was joined here with Nadine and Jade Van Riel, both two amazing property content creators, and, without further ado, here is your episode.
Speaker 2:Renting versus buying. I've got an incredible panel. As always, I'm good at creating panels. So, panelists, please can you come up? Jade and Nadine, my incredible panelists, can you come down? Give them a round of applause for you guys. Thank you so much. How are you both Good? Thank you so happy to be here. I'm excited to have you both. So, before we get into the questions, tell us a little about yourselves, both of you. Shall I go first?
Speaker 3:So I'm Nadine. I got onto the property ladder in 2020, the week that the world went into lockdown, so I was a pandemic renovator, was desperately seeking inspiration for this renovation online and noticed that there wasn't much visibility, with just black couples in that space. It's funny, even in 2020, the home renovation space was very middle class and white, so I was like I'm going to just document my thing isn't it? And people seem to like it.
Speaker 3:People seem to like it so yeah, that's what I've been doing this time. I'm on Instagram just showing about home renovations and from a very millennial point of view.
Speaker 2:Yes, we've loved it. My dad, if people don't know. We moved out of our house in London to Suffolk and my dad is very big on DIY, so he's been creating his own content. His own DIY content.
Speaker 4:I love that, so it's the C-O's as well, jay, tell us about you. Yes, so I started my whole property journey at the age of 22. So back in 2016, I bought my first flat so a long time ago, but the market was still crazy then and it is now. And since then I've just been documenting my journey. I've also been sharing tools, working with developers and agents to educate other people about how to buy their first homes and other homes, so we've been doing it quite a long time.
Speaker 2:You have, you have and you've helped someone big by their home, didn't you?
Speaker 4:I did? Let's get it out of the way now, Jay. Let's get out of the way. Who was it? Tion Wayne?
Speaker 2:Tion Wayne, you did, and how was that journey?
Speaker 4:That was a long journey. It took about two years. There was a lot of ups and downs. There was a lot of things going on in the media at the time and it was, you know, someone that was inexperienced at the time. So also they didn't really know where their trajectory was going to go and I kind of had to be, you know, forward thinking in terms of privacy, what they'll need in the future. So there was a lot that went into it, but it was amazing nonetheless.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. I mean, I've seen Tion's bathroom and I'm envious, I'm envious, I want Tion's bathroom. It turned out really well. Right, let's get into the panel now. I'm going to start with you, nadine. What should people consider when they decide in between renting a property and buying? And we'll come to you after this.
Speaker 3:Jayda. Okay, so I have quite an interesting journey on renting and buying and I've done both. So I had a very comfortable home life situation. I was living at home well into my 20s getting on with my parents. I was under no real rush to do either. I was kind of just aimlessly saving and because I'm kind of disciplined with money, I wasn't really touching it. I was like, cool, maybe like one day I'll buy a house. Then met my partner and we spoke about home ownership and we were like, oh, that's something we want to do. And I'd done something that all of the elders were like do not. We rented together.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my mum was like really against it, Like every one of that generation in my family were like so against it. They were like you're throwing money down the bin, blah, blah. And it was literally the most beautiful one and a half years of my relationship, Like living with him for the first time so many firsts with the comfort of knowing that we've not signed a deed to a property. I think renting just gave the relationship a chance to flourish and then, separately to him, it just gave me that chance to kind of like fly the nest in a way that didn't feel so pressured. So that worked for me where I was at and also it had a time limit on how long I was renting. I knew that it wasn't indefinite. I was like I definitely want to have affordable rent and then still be able to save something for this kind of potential home ownership goal. So I think you know you kind of know you're kind of sent to where you're at, depending on, like, how serious you are about your future plans. For me the property thing got really real for two reasons and it's funny because Emmanuel and Teo mentioned these themes and I was like nodding along.
Speaker 3:Firstly, I have a really unique experience where I help care for my Nan, so I am very up close to being around an elderly person and what that looks like getting old and how comfortable your elderly life can be. My Nan's elderly life is difficult but it's comfortable. You know she was on the ladder, Her place is very comfortable, she's got savings and it helps a lot. So I was like, okay, definitely want to be secure, Like I'm seeing how this is helping her. Then, as Emmanuel said, I saw my mom stop working at 55 and that was because her mortgage was paid off. Literally she paid off her mortgage and handed in her notice.
Speaker 2:Wow, she was like I'm done.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I was. And then I just saw this woman doing like horse riding and beekeeping. I was like this needs to be me. So that's when I really had the penny drop moment about the future. Yeah, the future felt like tangible yes, and I think that's how you know when it's time, you know there's a time for both and I think that penny has to drop for you to know, like, where you're sitting.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love that. What about you, dude?
Speaker 4:I agree For me. I had a completely different background, so my thing was, straight out of uni, save and buy a house because I did not want to rent. That's because I had my dad, my family members, grandparents, like you said completely against the idea of wasting my money, right? So my only option was to buy my first home. So lots of sacrifice did that.
Speaker 4:Now, seven years later, I'm kind of experienced a renting period now as I'm in a transition of selling my property and buying another one, and I just thought I kind of want to have a period of a bit of carefreeness, which is what you got to experience.
Speaker 4:So I say that to say it really does depend on where you're at. I think buying a home I'm always the advocate of that. I've been the advocate for seven, eight years. However, I think a lot of people don't realize what really goes into it and how much of a long term commitment it really is. But also, even before you get the keys, the work that has to go into getting to that point, and I think you kind of just need to be honest with what you can actually afford and where you are currently at and if you are in a position where you're comfortable at home and you don't need to go and rent or flee the nest, then enjoy that period and save and maximize that period that you're in, but at the same time, if you are somebody that needs to get out but you can't quite afford to buy, there could be an option of renting. I just think it's just something you really need to go into with a plan. Yeah yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:I agree, just for anyone who wants to put in questions. So it's the same code as earlier. Some people couldn't scan it from the back, so the website is slido. I'll see your questions and we'll pick it at the end. Coming back to you now, nadine, what are the costs that are associated with the renting process? So we're going to come to Jaden in a second about the buying process. But what are renting? What should people consider? Are the things to save for, or can you just go in there and just say I'm going to leave tomorrow and I'm just going?
Speaker 3:to rent. Yeah, like now. From what I'm hearing from my friends that are renting, it's literally like people are bidding or rental properties. So you kind of have to save a deposit. Like normally, deposits are five weeks, four weeks, five weeks, but now it's like six, seven weeks.
Speaker 4:This is London. Some people are putting forward like six months rent to secure a place, yeah, so like renting.
Speaker 3:You know, when you have those arguments with your mum, you're like I'm moving out Just remember you need a bit of money stacked even just to rent. So you know you need to have a deposit saved to rent and then obviously you know, as a tenant you will have not only your rent but more than likely bills as well. So and council tax I think a lot of people forget that yeah let's talk about council tax.
Speaker 2:That's a big one. I didn't know existed until my dad let me know, right?
Speaker 3:I think people forget that when you have a tenancy agreement, like there are certain things that legally the landlord is saying like this person lives here, I just pay the mortgage. Like this is their responsibility. So TV licenses on you, council taxes on you and your bills and your bills Exactly yeah. Like it's very rare that you're moving into a place that has like Wi-Fi, like some of these new builds come with like Wi-Fi in the building, but you have to pay for that.
Speaker 4:Yes, I have that. So, my current situation, so I'm living at a bill to rent. So it's essentially a whole new industry where these huge developments are being built solely for rental purposes, and I find it a good experience now and probably great for some people, if you do kind of want that ready made feeling.
Speaker 4:So it's almost like you are moving into a new build house but you're renting it. So, like you said, with my internet, I pay 10 pounds a month, but it's the same supply for the whole building. There's a gym, there's all of those things. So, yeah, and with some built rents as well, you don't actually have to have a deposit, but of course everyone is running to them.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that's the thing I think off the back, what you say in the Dean about the bidding. I had a friend who went for a prophecy that was up for rent for 2000 pounds but in order to get it she had to bid for it and then she managed to get it at something like 2,900 pounds a month. That's the only way she was going to get it. She put out just one maximum bid. She managed to find out what's the bid before me. She outdone them. They couldn't top it and that's what they're paying to almost three grand a month to be able to get a property. So there's a lot of bidding going on.
Speaker 3:It's actually crazy, but it's like you know, I think when we talk about rent we think, oh, like you, kind of agonize at the costs. But then you know, like you touched on this, you know before, renting has, in a weird way, like being able to get out of a family home. For a lot of us and a lot of my close friends has literally been like the making of them. It's literally been the thing that just like crystallized their adulthood. Just even if it was one or two years renting, the costs and the commitment of renting can seem a bit crazy, but you know, we have to talk about personal life in these big life decisions as well. It's not just about investments, it can be about quality of life and where your headspace and emotional space is at as well. And I think like renting has been a refuge for a lot of people, A lot of people.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and we have to remember that not everyone will be able to buy at certain times in life. So some people can probably buy quite young. I bought 22, but most of the people around me did not. They're buying at 30, 28. So there's going to be stages for different things in life and I don't think renting is necessarily bad, but I do think if you're going to make sure you have a plan, you have a plan?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we've touched on the renting costs. What about the buying cost, jade?
Speaker 4:The buying costs. So for the first time in 13 years, it has been officially recorded that buying a home has now become more expensive than renting in certain places, particularly the south. That's obviously to do with like mortgage rates etc. So I say that to say that both things are expensive. That's the first thing. Second thing when you're buying a home, you of course have to have a deposit. Now there are loads of different schemes where you can do 5% deposits, 10% deposits, etc. So if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, look into that.
Speaker 4:But of course you have your deposit. You have solicitor fees. You may have a mortgage broker fee if they require a payment, but I always suggest going with a free one, because they do get paid by the bank that you go with. You have a valuation fee, which is when the bank sends someone over to the property you like to value it. Most of the time you have to pay for that. Then you have fees along the journey and then, of course, when you move in, your bills are right there. So there is a lot that goes into it, furnishing it if you're doing it up and to be honest, I mean I've owned my property for seven years and you're always paying for something. That's the truth Always. You are.
Speaker 3:You know? Yeah, I mean my boiler is. I think it's one of those last legs. No, honestly it's so sad Because if I have to replace my boiler it is so much money. Like am I going Jamaica next year?
Speaker 2:I don't know, yeah, questions are being asked now.
Speaker 3:Heating or get warm in.
Speaker 2:Jamaica which one, I'm not in.
Speaker 4:Jamaica.
Speaker 3:I'm not, no, I agree With.
Speaker 4:Speaking of boiler as well. There are some situations. So the flat that I purchased has a centralized heating system. So boiler issues I had them, but I didn't have to pay for them. That's, the council would pay, so yeah.
Speaker 2:But there are a lot of fees associated with both monthly and everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's good to remember that. So I'm going to come back to you, nadine. So, for those who are looking to move in with someone else, right and I think quite often we talk about the home ownership journey, it's always a solo one. More often it's like you want to get in a protégé, or if you look at things like friends, right, they will live in together. So, for people looking to move in with someone else, whether it's a partner, whether it's a friend or friends, what are the things that they should consider? I'm going to start with you, nadine. Come to you, nadine.
Speaker 3:Let's get into this tea, because this was something that a lot of people that love me were a bit kind of like concerned about. I was buying with a boyfriend and you know there was a lot of what, if, what, if what, if what, if what, if everything crumbles and like I just have this approach to life where none of us have a crystal ball and the more I'm getting into my 30s like life moves mad Things happen that you just don't even expect Ray cups, makeups, people get ill, so it's like none of us know you know what's going to happen.
Speaker 3:So you kind of have to go off of instinct and how you feel like now you know. So I felt very comfortable buying with a boyfriend. However, our solicitor did flag when the house was all going through. She was like, how do you guys want to own this together? And I was like what? And she was like, how do you want to own it? And she explained that there are basically two types of ways that we can own the house. So basically tenants in common or what's going yeah joint tenants basically.
Speaker 3:So it's basically two ways that you can own a property, and she spoke to us very candidly about our situation as boyfriend girlfriend. Because when you're married it's a bit different and, I guess, kind of legally easier. Where you know you're married, you're legally joint, so the house just becomes a marital asset Anyway, whereas we're boyfriend and girlfriend. She was like you guys really need to think about this because you're not each other's next of kid. So Basically I'll quickly explain the difference. So joint tenants is essentially like you you own the house almost as like one entity, so it's just like both of your names are down.
Speaker 3:A lot of people describe that as 50-50, but actually technically it's not. So what I mean by that is if you look deaf is the best way to explain what happens. So if one of you were to unfortunately pass away, the other one would just get the house Right and then tenants in common is essentially that 50-50 that split. Essentially you both own a share of the property in your own right. So what that means that again bringing up the unfortunate example of death if one of you was to tragically pass away, the other person wouldn't automatically get the house, so have a will yeah.
Speaker 3:That was an awkward conversation to have with my partner because when it was explained to me I was like I don't know if I die, if I want you to have the house Like. I was just like I know that sounds cold but I was like, well, I have to think of, like our current situation. We're not married, you're not my next of kin, my next of kin is my mum. If I pass, maybe I want my family to have to benefit from the property. And it felt really cold.
Speaker 3:But our solicitor was very like these are good conversations and realistic conversations to have. So he was happy with that. Had to draft my will to talk about like yeah, if I was to pass, what would happen. I can tell you guys what's in it Essentially, obviously for will, you can kind of put whatever you want in there, not all of it's legally minded, but your executive, your will will like fight you for all of your wishes to be met if possible. So I basically said that if I was to pass away, I would allow my partner to have 12 months to grieve me in the our home.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, how kind that's nice To all my degree viewing in your home. Okay, nice, nice.
Speaker 3:Why this tears of pack my blogging? So I've actually spoken directly to the executor and said please allow him Time in the property to to grieve, to grieve and sort himself out. After that we've got sell up baby, you know, and then basically my share goes to name members of my family because I'm still quite young, I'm not going to be updating my will all the time. So I did put a clause in there to say, however, if I was to pass and we have a child, then my share goes to my child in trust. So that feels really rambly and long, but essentially, if you are buying with someone, those are things to Way up to way up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's really good input what you jade.
Speaker 4:I would echo that. I did a real on this and it went crazy, because a lot of people don't have those Conversations, and one point that I made clear as well is like also make sure that the partner you're buying with doesn't have any secret children or anything like that, because that's where things can get sticky If, in the event of them passing away and you're thinking, oh, I'm gonna get the rest, but actually they have no way of child coming out of nowhere.
Speaker 4:No, I actually have rights to this. True so you just need to have those real conversations, like buying a home, renting a home with a partner is a big deal. You're essentially merging your lives, merging your finances, merging a lot of different things, and you just one want to know that it's the right person and to know that you're both on the same page and you're both going into it level-headed and Balanced, you know, and agreeing on everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that is so cool. You both said so. On the pennies pounds podcast we did an episode with Sardia and Amanda, so they are friends from Liverpool who bought their property together. So I want to ask you both what your thoughts could be mentioned. Couples, couples you know, You're in a relationship you buy with your partner great. What's your thoughts on buying with friends?
Speaker 3:Hmm, hmm, okay. So for me, I'm Caribbean, so I Come from the culture where people did that. You know, like a lot of like uncles bought with people and people done partner and put their money together. That's how a lot of those West Indian people from West London got them big houses in Notting Hill, because now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, now, times are different, time to different.
Speaker 3:But you know where, that's kind of a cultural tradition of like my background. It doesn't scare me. You do hear some horror stories. I just think, like I said earlier, like anything in life, there's a risk of anything in life, even buying yourself, there's a risk.
Speaker 4:Exactly, you're gonna be earning the same amount next year and you can't even afford it. So there's always gonna be moving parts. I agree. Yeah, I feel with the whole buying with friends situation Correct, because that's how some of my grandparents bought, etc. But I think times are different. I think people are different now as well. I think then people are a lot more trustworthy. People really needed the home because People went renting to them and it was like we have to do this together or there's no other way. So I think, know the friendship that you're Investing in, know the person well, know their finances. You're actually gonna have to sit down with your friend and speak about what they earn, their outgoings, can they afford their share of the mortgage and the bills, and you're gonna have to really know, like in detail, and you're also gonna have to share that information with a friend. So know what you're actually comfortable with.
Speaker 3:I know sharing, and I think the most common sort of dispute I've seen come up is when it's two single people that bought together and then someone meet someone. That is when you're the audience.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a really common one, where it's like when we bought together as friends our lives, our lives and lifestyles and wants and futures. We're looking very similar. Now I've met someone and you know there's that pressure over there and that emotional tug to do something with that person. Yeah, so I feel like you know you have to have those conversations and, to be fair, sometimes you can talk these things to death but, yeah, you never know.
Speaker 4:You just never know. I think. Just speak about the scenarios, have a vague idea of a vague Intentionals yeah, and then have an idea of what you do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Right one on my last question before we go to the Q&A panel. So, as I said earlier, please put questions in if you want a question and we'll come to them in a second. But for both of you, what's one takeaway that you want to leave everyone here with? So I've e-jed One, what? Okay, gosh, there's so many. I'll give you three, yeah.
Speaker 4:I'll be generous tonight. I'll think of one. There's loads. Follow me online if you want more, but I would say, have a plan. Honestly, know what you're getting yourself into. Buying a home is not impossible. It is very possible. People are doing it every day. However, those people that are doing it, they either have money from their family or they have really sacrificed and planned ahead, and it hasn't just happened overnight. So understand that you do have to be flexible. You know, with the way the market is now, many people have put pause on buying, and that's okay as long as you continue with your plan. Use this time to save more, strategize more research on locations and then, when the time is right, be ready is what I'd say. I think that was loads in one.
Speaker 2:You gave us more than we also.
Speaker 4:I love that though.
Speaker 3:We needed that. I agree with everything that Jada said. But I'm just going to be really biased and say please consider a fixer-upper, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very specific.
Speaker 3:That's what you did right. That's what I did. I bought a house that was broken down. It was broken down, there's no way to put it. We took it back to Brick. We renovated it very slowly. I lived with IEGSMA for a year because of all the dust and it was tough. But, like Jade said, there is sacrifice in most people's home ownership journey and we chose that rope because the property was affordable. The property mortgage was affordable because it was affordable, just because this house needed so much work. So I would say, consider a fixer-upper and consider a slow renovation, which is what we did, which is, we bought the house. We had a little bit of money. With the money we had, we renovated what we could and then we slowly done it, room by room. So, save a bit, do a room, because all that time the house is ours. Yes, exactly, there's no rush.
Speaker 4:There's no rush. My house isn't even really finished now there's so many jobs like this it wasn't finished after seven years and I'm like I'm selling it now I've done way too much and there's still more to do, but it's what it is.
Speaker 2:Exactly, it's not going journey. It's always not going job. Thank you so much, guys. I'm going to run on pause, please. Thank you. So we've got some of your questions in here. I'm having a full to through because it's mixing with the other ones, but this one is for you, jade. So for Jade, how were you able to buy your home at 22? Did you use any schemes?
Speaker 4:How sacrificing no life, literally not going out, only spending on food and travel to work and living in an uncomfortable situation is what pushed me to do it so young. So I left uni and didn't want to go back home to my mom because I felt grown up. So I ended up moving in with an aunt and she welcomed me with open arms. It was amazing. It was comfortable. I wasn't paying her and then very quickly that changed. As soon as I got a job. It was right, you need to start paying your way. At the time I felt like that was the worst thing in the world, because it's like you know what I'm trying to do. But now in hindsight, thank God she did that because I was so uncomfortable that it forced me to really be serious about saving and moving essentially. So that's kind of the background of it. Obviously I was saving on and off for years throughout uni and college and stuff always at the part-time job.
Speaker 4:And what was the second question? And what did you use in your schemes? I didn't use any schemes because I didn't know about any schemes, to be honest with you. It was a long time ago and schemes just weren't. They weren't popping, no one was talking about them. It was very hush-hush People that knew, knew and if you didn't know, you didn't know. But also my advice on home ownership was coming from my parents. They didn't know about schemes. It was a traditional save get a mortgage, buy a house and buy something that you had to do work to at that. So that's what I did. I did try to use the help to buy ISA, because it launched the year that I found my property, but I didn't have it long enough to even make any money, so I literally didn't have any help in hand in that way. But yeah, now would I have used a scheme? Not necessarily, unless I was dead set on living in a certain location, like London specifically, and I couldn't afford it.
Speaker 2:That's interesting. That's why I'd say it. I think I'm going to come to you with this. Nadine, how much would you suggest to save for hidden fees? Eg furnishing.
Speaker 3:Okay, so this really weird thing happens when you get the keys to your house and you see it empty the penny really drops, I have to furnish this entire house.
Speaker 3:It's so funny. It didn't occur to me that I had. No, I had a bed, and it sounds silly. You think you're going to think of that, but you're just so focused on getting the house. So I would definitely say furnishing a house budget-wise, fully furnishing. So for everything you're probably going to need like a good 6K to begin with. What I would say, because interiors is my passion, I would say if you can, don't rush out to IKEA and buy everything in one go, especially if you Do it a little bit.
Speaker 3:IKEA is amazing. If you're renting, honestly, that's why everyone If? You're renting IKEA is incredible, but if you're buying somewhere and you think you're going to be in that property a while, I would definitely say go for quality, save up, do a lot of research on, take your time as well, yeah, because I did stuff like that, like when I first moved in, I was on a budget and I did try to rush a lot of projects and then your style changes, your things that you like changes.
Speaker 3:So I agree, go room by room and budget and take your time, yeah definitely this is a bit boring, but things like your big purchases, like your sofa, your dining table, I would advise just try and go classic. There's so many trends out there, but something classic that's like a good shape, level wood or whatever, is going to stand the test of time. You'll really care for it, that sort of thing. So I would say to fully furnish a property, everyone's standards and tastes are different, but 5, 6k perhaps Right on the numbers.
Speaker 3:wow, I mean, if you really want a good mattress, a good sofa, is like two grand. Yeah, funny.
Speaker 2:I didn't know how much sofa work was on that one, but also look as well for sales and extra space. It's true, space and marketplace. Exactly, space and marketplace is really good.
Speaker 4:A lot of extra space stuff that I, when I first moved into my flat, I got because I was broke, but a lot of it was unused. It was in great condition. Amazing, it's 50% off.
Speaker 2:So, shop around Right last question for you both, then how do you suggest choosing a location to buy in? Well, okay, I'll go first.
Speaker 3:So, we moved further out of London, we were both priced out of the areas that were from Peckham and Crystal Palace. We were like we were so priced out it was unbelievable. So my boyfriend, who's from Peckham, he was like Craydon and I was like, but we can afford to live there and I was like the type of property we want is there. At the time when we were looking so we were looking in 2019, it's like Craydon had all these beautiful Victorian terraced houses Do you know what I mean that were just on the market and available. So I was like, if that's the property we want, we really should consider. So I took him around the area and he was like, took your foot and he fasted it. He was like, reminds me of Peckham a bit.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, he felt home then.
Speaker 3:He felt at home and I won him round and now he's so happy that we did that and weirdly we're further out and now benefiting from all these fast trains. So it's kind of just like worked out really well, like 12 minutes to London Bridge, Like I've got a straight train here to.
Speaker 3:St Pancreas. So it's kind of like we thought that being in zone four was going to be like the end of the world. So I would definitely say don't get caught up over. Like what's the high street? Like coffee shops, travel like no, like you need to think about your day to day life in the house, the property, property type. We wanted a Victorian house, so we went to the area where there were Victorian houses in our budget and that just happened to be the bar of Croydon, nice. So that's how I approached it.
Speaker 2:Nice Love that. How about you, James?
Speaker 4:So I approached it based on this is what I can afford and this is what I'm going to have to deal with, and it's not my forever home. That was my thing. I was so young I knew that was never going to be my forever home at 22. So for me I am from London. I'm from Zone 2, Kendall Green, Northwest London Price is ridiculous, Like the flat I grew up in now is worth about 7,800 K Crazy. My mom doesn't own it anymore. We were priced out.
Speaker 4:So I had to think of OK, where has great links into London? Because at the time I was working in central London, not too far from North London and East London where I have some family, and then I just had to be open. I wasn't open at first. I was very specific on certain areas in ethics, like grays, just places that I was familiar with. But in hindsight now, when I look back and I look at the places I was viewing, it made no sense because they were either tiny, they were overpriced. A lot of new builds that are like four years old now people are trying to sell onto me for a premium and it wasn't worth that. So my advice is to honestly be open, Like many of us are from certain places in London. Our family is there. This is what we know. But it's great to kind of branch out and open up your eyes. I moved to an area and family members and friends have moved there now since, and now I'm leaving.
Speaker 3:But they never would have done that before because they didn't know about it, or Peckham, and them live near us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they come to you. Yeah, like, there you go.
Speaker 3:I feel like we started a trend, yeah, and like people have started Exactly.
Speaker 4:And I think it just does take one or two and then things start changing. The area becomes a bit more multicultural, you're more comfortable or you start to see the things that you need Get closer to you, but then you also realize that where you live is not actually where you're always going to be. So I was in London like. So I moved to Essex. Right, I was in London three, four times a week just for meetings and getting on with things and, like you said, fast trains, transport links that is what's really important. As long as those things are there, you can honestly live anywhere. Of course you need to get. If you need to get to work or if you're working from home, even better. Like you have more options and I just think you need to research an area like crazy.
Speaker 4:I was doing things like going online looking at council notes to see what future plans were happening in those locations, in those boroughs and things like that, because then it tells you what's coming and what you could potentially benefit from if you buy there. Because, yes, buying a home to live in, people say, isn't an investment, but for me it has been an investment, because now I'm selling it and I'm walking away with money I would not have made if I was renting somewhere or if I was just buying anywhere that didn't really have much growth. So researching the area is so, so important. But also be really open. You never know what you might find.
Speaker 2:I love that. Thank you both of you. This is an incredible panel. Before we go, where can we all find you? So I'm Unidine.
Speaker 3:So I'm on Instagram. Nads underscore back us.
Speaker 4:I'm on Instagram, youtube and TikTok. Jade Van Real Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Give them a round of applause for these guys. Thank you, Toe. Thank you darling, Thank you.