Fabulous flats

The Boy and I had a great day house-hunting in West Charlton yesterday - I hadn't realised how much walking we had done, my calves are aching today! It went really well and we have a definitive list of which roads we like and which we're less keen on. I think we've even narrowed in down to two streets, from matching up our desirable areas to properties we can afford - Eversley Road and Sandtoft Road.We were really impressed with both roads - residential, period houses, quiet, and up on the slopes so they had views over Greenwich and to Canary Wharf.

We saw three lovely flats on Eversley Road which gave us lots to think about - one upstairs flat with four bedrooms but a tiny garden, one downstairs flat with a huge garden but only two bedrooms, and the last visit of the day was another upstairs flat with three bedrooms, loads of storage, and a beautiful garden. We were sold! It was everything we were looking for and ticked every box. It's right at the top of our price range so we need to check our figures with the broker tomorrow, and the Lloyds Bank on Tuesday. It may be an unaffordable dream.

We also need to get a move on with our flat now as well so we're in a position to begin making offers if we see anywhere we like. First job will be to get it valued, the Boy and I hope to get some quotes for this tomorrow. As soon as we have a valuation the housing association put the flat on the market and have eight weeks to sell it. If we can get a valuation of £320k and a buyer through the housing association we would be in a very strong position to move on the flat we like. But there are quite a lot of 'ifs' in that statement! And I have to accept that the likelihood is by the time we have our act together, the 'dream flat' will be gone.

But it was very encouraging to find potential places in the area we love for the price we can afford, and as we get into Spring and more properties begin to trickle onto the market, I'm sure it won't be too long before something we love comes on at a time when we are ready to proceed. 2011 could be an unbelievably exciting year for us - a baby and a new home. I couldn't wish for anything more.