Buying a house - Norbury VS Thornton Heath Post Reply

[kcbh27]

Hello all!

We are deep into the house-hunt and am having so much fun. ( )

But - I am finding such differences in the pricing of some houses and I simply cannot see the differences.

For example: There is a house in north Thornton Heath that looks amazing, has been cared for, has attic dormer, conservatory, new kitchen (no dishwasher)... etc. All to a very high standard. The garden is immaculate and the house is a 5 bedroom. - All for the low, low price of £600k
Then:
There is a house only 2 minutes away. Just across into Norbury. Its very similar but: No upgrades, 4 bedroom, garden cared for but basic, closer to a busy road, on a through road... But it is only £25k less. (£575k)
Smaller and, while cared for, not upgraded in the least.

I was expecting a much more significant difference between the two. Is there something that I am not seeing that I should be taking into consideration? I don't think that I could do the work required to bring the one up to the same standards, for £25k. But I am still open to the house if there is something else that I simply do not understand (first time buyer in the UK - we have property in Canada).

Thanks in advance.

[sebastianbear]

Hi
I hope someone who knows these areas will post - I don't, except to drive through - but I'm willing to bet it's all about location i.e the reputation of an area + local school catchment area.
Unfortunately, you can't just assume that children will go to the nearest school, as some are oversubscribed, so being within the catchment of a good school carries a premium. You also can't assume that particular areas are pleasant to live in. Local estate agents might help, although they might be a little 'economical with the truth'.
Other factors might be that one house needs to sell - and it's August, when people are away - or another one is in a desirable area and/or has lots of potential to expand.
Good luck.

[brihoney]

You can look at Zoopla (and probably other sites too) to see what house have actually sold for in those streets which is very useful. I agree with post above, plus also some estate agents will price at top of market, and others lower. In my opinion Hart are lower, and ones with fancy branding are often higher. And foxton's agents will stab each other in the back to get the commission so beware of your agent goes on holiday.

When we were being our house, there was easily 50k between houses that I thought were very similar on the same 'estate' and within 2 minutes of each other. They had all been built at the same time, but some had bigger gardens, some were on quieter roads, some had been knocked through into open plan and some had bathrooms downstairs not upstairs. But prices didn't seem that logical to me.

You can always offer below asking price if you don't agree with valuation.

[Balhamicvinegar]

Property prices are essentially set by the owners of the house and often people try it on to get more if a house has done well in the area, houses regularly go on for an inflated price but often don't sell. It's also often about good timing and demand, a few years ago we bought our house for £85k less than our neighbours paid 6 months after they bought theirs and the properties are basically the same.

[Luilou]

Three years ago, a friend of mine was looking to buy a property. I went to some viewings with him around Norbury, Streatham and Thornton Heath. In reference to your question and what we saw then and subsequently know I personally would choose Norbury over Thornton Heath. Thornton Heath is a long way off of "up and coming" even with the regeneration of Croydon. Just my personal opinion...

[Ruby Rhubarb]

Historically Norbury has always been considered nicer and therefore more expensive. A lot of junior city workers / professions used to live in Norbury but moved to places like Riddlesdown or further out once they had a little bit more money.

[FL1]

I am v.familiar with both of these areas. Basically, it comes down to how desirable the postcode is. Thornton Heath has a rather bad reputation, whereas Norbury has a relatively good one. This isn't to say it will always be like this but as previous people have mentioned above, Thornton Heath certainly has quite a way to go.

Personally, I would choose Norbury over TH any day. It also has better transport connections. I would also advise you to look at Crystal Palace as we bought there in November and it's a great place to live and not far from where you have already mentioned. It has lovely parks, a lot of restaurants and gastropubs etc and is reasonable price-wise too.

Good luck with your search! Happy to help if you have any other questions.

[boonkoh]

Unlike most other prices in life, the sticker price (a.k.a asking price) on properties is not a fixed price. So you will get loads of variations. This was most acute during the 2008 financial crisis, with homeowners still in denial and Rightmove consistently reporting that achieved prices were 10%+ lower than asking prices.

Nowadays the asking price is being achieved more regularly, but still - there are some delusional sellers out there from the house prices I've seen, and so I would take any asking prices with a pinch of salt.

Its good that you're looking deeply into prices and comparing properties in a analytical and scientific way - that's the only way you're going to know whether the asking price is fair value or not.

[Luilou]

I second what FL1 has said. Crystal Palace has some lovely properties and independent shops. My friend ended up buying nearer Norwood Junction, slightly cheaper property than the Crystal Palace "triangle" but regular fast trains into London Bridge (10mins) or to East Croydon (5mins). Norwood Junction itself is nothing to shout about, all the restaurants and places to go are in Crystal Palace which is an uphill 20min walk or 5 mins in the car/on the bus...but still definitely Norwood Junction over Thornton Heath...IMHO.

[carofg]

Hi

I just wanted to also wade in on the pros and cons...
TH is the first station in Zone 4 while Norbury is the last in zone 3. Not a huge difference but is definitely advantageous to know.

600k sounds like a lot for a house in TH unless its more towards Crystal Palace?
I live in TH and it only got its first Poundland a few months ago.
A family on my street were trying to sell their 4brm house (terrible layout and overpriced) for 450k but not takers. Reduced price to 330k and still no takers so that should tell you something..
If youre moving from Wandsworth go with Norbury or Crystal Palace.