Humour me - house on a budget in southern Herts

[Chris71]

MrDecadent said:

There are some villages with train stations that might be better value - Watton at Stone looked nice when I drove through but might be a tad quiet!

As long as there's a village pub or something I'd be happy. Mrs Chris71, however, works as a music teacher and would probably benefit from somewhere with more potential students.

On that note, anyone know how the schools compare between Baldock and Letchworth? More for her employment than any potential offspring at this stage.

[Chris71]

StonetheCrows said:

Letchworth, Hoddesdon....me thinks that Chris is just picking places that have a Kart track

Next stop an industrial estate on the outside of Milton Keynes.

Think it's more or less come down to Baldock Vs Letchworth. Did a whole load more viewings today and - while I appreciate this is a personal thing - they confirmed I far prefer Baldock as a town centre. On the other hand, they also confirmed you get more house for your money in Letchworth.

That said, I did see a house in Baldock I quite liked. The outside was pure '70s council house - it's the sort of place everyone's grand parents lived in when I was a kid - which isn't great, but it was nice inside. Even had a garage.

[Chris71]

Went for another look around Letchworth yesterday. We went into one of the town centre's only two(?) pubs at 6pm on a Sunday afternoon, watched a fight nearly break out between a couple of inebriates and counted all the signs about people dealing drugs on the premises.

Despite this, for reasons I can't quite fathom, my OH still insists she prefers it to Baldock. She's mentioned the lack of shops in Baldock, but it's not as if she's the sort of person who scoots off to Harvey Nic's every weekend as it is.

I could get over that if she had her heart set on a house we both liked - irrespective of the area - but she now appears to have gone off the one we were seriously considering in Letchworth.

Is there a tearing your hair out smiley?

[Chris71]

boolay said:

Originally a Quaker towm, so no traditional pubs.

Regarding shops, Letchworth might have more of them, but they aren't exactly quality! Besides, Baldock has the shop of the Devil - what more do you need?!

Trust me, I'm all too aware of Letchworth's God-bothering lentil-munching past.

And the standard of the shops.

The level of development planned for Baldock is a bit of a concern. We found out they are about to build several hundred new houses just opposite one of the places we were were/are seriously considering an offer on. Nice of the estate agents to mention that.

We seem to have exhausted the current crop of Letchworth and Baldock properties within our budget and requirements, so might re-visit Hertford, Ware and Bishop's Stortford.

[Chris71]

In the end we didn't go for Letchworth or Baldock. My fiancee and I simply couldn't agree on which one to go for, but after upping the budget a tad we found somewhere we both really liked ... Hertford.

The logic was basically that its size and amenity value is closer to Letchworth (which was important to her), but its character and social scene is more like Baldock (which was important to me). It's also usefully closer to London and the M25.

[Chris71]

AceOfHearts said:

Have you looked at Stanstead Abbotts as well? Its on the same line as Hertford East (2 stops away) and I doubt will be much more pricewise than Hertford?

Nope, driven through it loads of times, though.

It's all academic now, but I think Bishops Stortford would have been our next port of call if we'd looked at that part of the world. OH wasn't so keen on the Liverpool St Line and Stanstead Abbotts is perhaps a bit too small for her tastes (I like villagey, but she was after a small town really...)