Property expert buys the home she loves

American property professional Beth Dean-Pope knows a good property deal when she sees one. And when she discovered Barratt North London’s Downley Park development in High Wycombe, she was so impressed she bought the four-bedroom showhome.

Beth, 41, is the director of marketing and sales at South Central Management (SCM), a property company that delivers a variety of services to landowners and joint venture partners in London, from site identification, land acquisition and construction management to marketing, sales and after care. So, she’s a true property professional.

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Beth moved to the UK four years ago and has been renting a house in Tring with her English husband Kevin (41) who owns an IT company in Winchester, and their three children Maddy (16), Hallam (13) and Coralie (12).

As Maddy will be going to Henley College in September, the family decided to buy a house within easy travelling distance of the college. Beth says: “We did our research online, putting our location criteria into the search engine. Barratt’s Downley Park popped up top of the list, being only a 30-minute car ride away for Maddy. Since I am in the property business, I know Barratt very well. We knew the build quality would be good, something we could take for granted, so the next step was to visit.

"We’d actually planned to visit four developments by different developers in the area but when we saw Downley Park we knew we’d struck lucky first time. First impressions were brilliant. We really liked the way Barratt had designed the scheme, with great street scenes and lots of open green space; it’s quite rare for developers these days to keep so much space free for residents to use as a social area, like a village green.”

As Beth was buying her first house in the UK, she qualified for Barratt’s Head Start scheme, which was created for first time buyers. Beth adds: “I guess it’s quite unusual to be a first time buyer at the age of 41! I really liked the fact that Barratt was offering the Head Start programme long before the Government’s recent incentives. With three children, we needed a four-bedroom house but, despite the fact that Kevin and I both earn good salaries, we were worried that we wouldn’t have had enough money to secure the mortgage; Head Start made a big difference for us.”

The house cost £417,500 and through Head Start the couple got a 75 per cent mortgage and paid the 10 per cent deposit, while Barratt paid the remaining 15 per cent by way of a loan, which they can pay back in up to ten years. Since they bought the showhome, all the fixtures and fittings were included too.

Downley Park ticked all the boxes for the whole family as Beth explains: “Being American, having a large private garden was paramount for me. We all love the open-plan kitchen/dining room/den; we’re a close family and love being in the same place. Kevin is a great cook so while he’s making a meal, the rest of us can sit and watch television or have fun on the playstation, while still being able to chat to him; being together is important to us and this room layout lets us do that.”

Most of the couple’s family and friends live either in the south of England or the States. Beth adds: “I put pictures of the house on Facebook so everyone knows what it looks like and they can’t wait to visit.”

Beth’s company handles both new and refurbished properties, but for her, new wins hands down, she adds: “I prefer new build mainly because of the warranties that come with them. Barratt has a great warranty, not just the NHBC one but the Builder Warranty which is very good; that was very important for us. We also like the fact our energy assessments are band C so we know we will be energy efficient and see our bills go down.”

Does Beth think she bought at the right time? “At SCM we have found that over the last few months people are visiting developments not just to look but to actually make offers; that’s 100 miles away from where we were six months ago. Prices are probably not going to get any lower, I think they will stay flat for a while and then we will see them start to climb next year; buying right now is actually quite smart.”

As for the location, it’s perfect for everyone. Beth says: “A Victorian school building on the development has been converted into a community centre with activities like yoga twice a week. We’ve got a variety of local shops and pubs and a big new shopping centre nearby in the town centre. We have two Yorkies and there’s lots of places to walk them in the area. There’s the best of both worlds here; plenty of amenities, places to go and things to do and yet in Downley you can live a more intimate village lifestyle where there’s a real sense of community. The travel links are very good; I can get in and out of London easily by train and Kevin has easy access to the motorway when travelling to Winchester each day.”

Downley Park is well placed for commuters: High Wycombe train station is within a ten minute drive and has direct trains to London Marylebone which take around 40 minutes. The road network provides easy access into London and surrounding areas with the A40 and M40 offering links to London and the West.

Prices start from £200,000 for a two-bedroom coach house, three-bedroom houses start from £264,995. For more information on Downley Park and Part Exchange, visit barratthomes.co.uk.