Woking, new job and weekly commute

Woking, new job and weekly commute

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Rude

Original Poster:

227 posts

220 months

Wednesday 10th September 2014
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Hi

Just accepted a job in Woking. I will be weekly commuting and plan to buy a flat for during the week. Want secure parking and everything else is up for grabs. Flat budget is 350k. Please help. Do I get something central (job is) in one of the new developments and then use as a BTL in the future given the the link into Waterloo being ideal for getting to town, or look somewhere on the train line into Woking (Guildford etc, I guess) and spend a few minutes getting there.

All ideas welcome. Budget is relatively non-negotiable, and I don't want to be spending a long time getting to work (in the centre of Woking) bud don't want to be set on fire or such like martyrdom end either, despite being a well built company director type smile

Cheers all

Rude

kingston12

5,473 posts

156 months

Thursday 11th September 2014
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It probably wouldn't make too much sense to look outside of Woking if you are actually working there. It is a bit rough socially in the town centre, but the facilities are quite good and if you were to buy one of those central flats, you would get secure parking and be right on point if you wanted to get the train for a night out in London or Guildford.

Guildford is much nicer and there is more to do, but it is more expensive and why put yourself through the hassle and cost of a daily commute rather than just travelling when you actually need to?

Walton/Weybridge to the north are much nicer as well, but they are much quieter places, and despite being closer to London, the trains from there into town are not really any faster and certainly not as frequent.

The main problem with buying one of those flats in Woking town centre is that the yield seems really low compared to the rest of the area, so may not be the best BTL investment when you have finished living there.

Frik

13,542 posts

242 months

Thursday 11th September 2014
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If you're weekly commuting I'd definitely go for something central. Sounds like you've got a reasonable budget for it. Woking may not be nicest town nearby but you're only there during the week and the amenities are good.

London prices are pushing up everything walkable from Woking station so it would certainly seem like a wise investment. They're throwing them up left right and centre, mind. I'd aim for a walk to the station of less than 10 minutes.

Avoid the east side of town, north of the railway around Maybury. Look towards Horsell or York road if you fancy something a bit less high rise.

Rude

Original Poster:

227 posts

220 months

Thursday 11th September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks both. Useful stuff. There does seem to be quite of a bit of choice so hopefully I can get this sorted easily.

FuryExocet

3,011 posts

180 months

Thursday 11th September 2014
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Be mindful that the new apartments also house some of the dross in Woking (assuming housing association or council)

rasto

2,188 posts

236 months

Thursday 11th September 2014
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We're in St. Johns which is just outside of Woking, I used to walk in down the canal which took about 40 minutes, or the bus or car if the weather wasn't good or I was feeling lazy wink The advantage is that you aren't in Woking but it's very easy to get into for an evening if necessary. Cab fare back home used to be about £5. As others have said, there are lots of new developments going up around the town so I would have thought you would be spoiled for choice.

Welcome to the area from a fellow ex 'northener' - I used to live in Harrow and commuted to Woking on the m25 for 2 years before moving here but that was almost 20 years ago now.

Edit: Forgot to mention that a colleague of mine lives in one of the new flat developments with secured and allocated parking and had quite a few issues with other people using his space, they supply the bare minimum number of parking spaces so this can cause problems when people have guests.

Edited by rasto on Thursday 11th September 19:59

Rude

Original Poster:

227 posts

220 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks both.

I didn't appreciate that the council dregs would be housed in the new developments. Appreciate that there can be issues of car park space allocation and the like. That's life sometimes though.

I saw a flat in St Johns. Looked nice and a walk/cycle into town would be a good idea. I quite like the idea of a quieter life too - my main house is in a village and I like that. No need for a bustling (whatever that means) cafe culture for me. Peace, quiet and security for my car will do nicely.

What other areas around Woking work in the same vein as St Johns?

I am now looking to rent for 6 months or so, so that I can get a feel for where is good and where is less so. I know I will pay through the nose for the privilege but at least it prevents a screw up.

Rude

rasto

2,188 posts

236 months

Friday 12th September 2014
quotequote all
Horsell is closer to Woking and is also more expensive.

Ottershaw, West End, Bisley, Brookwood are all slightly further out but offer pretty much the same as St. Johns.

Mayford, Pyrford, Pirbright are nice but quite expensive. Knaphill is next to St. Johns (we are almost half way between the 2) and has quite a few newish developments plus quite a big new estate being built.

BlackCup

1,231 posts

182 months

Friday 12th September 2014
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West Byfleet is very nice (I work there too) and live in between there and Woking, but very expensive.

BlackCup

1,231 posts

182 months

Saturday 13th September 2014
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swerni said:
BlackCup said:
West Byfleet is very nice (I work there too) and live in between there and Woking, but very expensive.
Also very boring and has a crap chippy wink
ragecensored

rofl

Rude

Original Poster:

227 posts

220 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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Well I've gone for a really nice apartment in St Johns. Close enough to town, secure and not a st heap unlike most of the flats I saw. If I want curry smells strong enough to burn my eyes, I'll ask, and if I want to wade through your crap to get into your crummy sthole flat, again give me the chance to ask first. Some of the flats were unbelievable. I am clearly getting old, but peace and quiet and a nice clean, well maintained flat a little way further out really was what I wanted. I'm rather chuffed now! Now to buy a bike to cycle in a each day and I'm sorted. Thanks for the advice on here - really helpful.

Rude

rasto

2,188 posts

236 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Rude said:
Well I've gone for a really nice apartment in St Johns. Close enough to town, secure and not a st heap unlike most of the flats I saw. If I want curry smells strong enough to burn my eyes, I'll ask, and if I want to wade through your crap to get into your crummy sthole flat, again give me the chance to ask first. Some of the flats were unbelievable. I am clearly getting old, but peace and quiet and a nice clean, well maintained flat a little way further out really was what I wanted. I'm rather chuffed now! Now to buy a bike to cycle in a each day and I'm sorted. Thanks for the advice on here - really helpful.

Rude
Will wave to you when I'm walking the dog on St. Johns Lye wink

BlackCup

1,231 posts

182 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Rude said:
Well I've gone for a really nice apartment in St Johns. Close enough to town, secure and not a st heap unlike most of the flats I saw. If I want curry smells strong enough to burn my eyes, I'll ask, and if I want to wade through your crap to get into your crummy sthole flat, again give me the chance to ask first. Some of the flats were unbelievable. I am clearly getting old, but peace and quiet and a nice clean, well maintained flat a little way further out really was what I wanted. I'm rather chuffed now! Now to buy a bike to cycle in a each day and I'm sorted. Thanks for the advice on here - really helpful.

Rude
Pop into Evans cycles in Woking they do budget up to eye watering.