Gonna be honest, I'm not an expert on property buying because I live in rented accommodation.
If you want somewhere in East London easily commutable to the city you can try Stratford although that's probably expensive now. Walthamstow is a bit meh but the Victoria line takes you to Oxford Circus and those parts. Chingford is a pretty decent area. It's mainly quiet, but it's just down the road from Edmonton once you hit the A406.
If you want Enfield, you can try the Bush Hill Park area because the overhead train takes you straight to Liverpool Street. One of the stops is not far from where I live and I can get to LS in 25 minutes easily. The trains run every 15 minutes and there's rarely ever a problem with them.
Barnet is still nice, that's where a lot of people want to flee because it's leafy suburbia and very scenic as well as spacious and quiet and you still have all the facilities you need. Primrose Hill, Swiss Cottage, Hampstead are the GOAT North London areas, but unless you're making serious bank, forget it.
If it's not the place I live in now, I can't see myself ever buying in London personally, especially with the economy the way it is. My sister lives in Cheshunt and she's struggling to pay her mortgage. I'm interested in Hertfordshire and the outer areas as far as buying, but I'm holding fire as to what I want to do in the near future as far as moving to a new place. Maybe when I settle down with a new woman and my career progresses I'll know for sure. I might just buy a property abroad and continue to rent here, who knows. But unless I can put down a huge deposit, I wouldn't even think about buying a place right now.
