Anyone else trying to buy in London?

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Bes

Bes

Bes

Soldato
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I'm just wondering how people's London buying experience has been.

I've been looking at properties around Brixton Hill. A few come up that I like, but both full asking price offers I have made have resulted in sealed bids and me losing.

Anyone else got the same frustrations? Any tips on how to win at sealed bids in terms of amounts and so on?
 
Looking for a 2 bed period place with a garden or roof terrace on a quiet road. Nothing special. It just seems that demand is off the charts. All very frustrating. Up against a lot of other first- time- buyers.
 
We are south.. and everything gets snapped up for more than the asking. There's a big shortage of homes for sale round here.. anything that goes up is gone within a week. We just bought a 2 bed maisonette in zone 4 for 230k - 160 year lease.. and we seem to have got a good deal there judging by my zoopla alerts lately! Mental.
 
London is a place for the rich. I havd bedn living here 35 years and now i have to leave as i cannot afford to buy or even rent here anymore its getting ridiculous
 
Everything's worth what someone is willing to pay. There's approx 250 working days a year, 250*41 years = 10,250. 160,000/10,250 is £15 per day. Plus you're left with the asset. Meh.
 
I am looking at buying at the moment in Wallington, which is just west of Croydon. Have had an offer accepted on a property - 2 bedroom terrace - but had to offer significantly over (7.7%) the asking price to secure it. Another couple offered more than us but vendor went with our offer as we were F2B with no chain.
 
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We're looking to get out of London (don't like London really, it's too busy, crowded and expensive and we want some space), but we're not selling we're going to rent if we can. It's amazing what you can get for rent!
 
Make sure it is very clear in your offer that you have a mortgage lined up and a solicitor under instructions, include letters from both confirming it. Don't get sucked into spending more than you can afford and be patient.
 
With regards to sealed bid, mine wasnt in London but there was a few on the same asking price so it was obvious the next time it had to be over asking, i had mine accepted by picking an odd number that someone else wont have picked. I paid 6k over rather than the 2.5 or 5k usual bids
 
Very glad we bought in London when we did - 5 years back. Was looking to sell up and buy again this year but having been gazumped on a couple of places, my girlfriend and I decided to buy the remaining 50% of the property off my mate for a very good price - so no estate agent fees, no hassle and are now doing it up - will put a renovation thread up soon.

Buying in London is unpredictable and aggressive - I put a thread up a number of years back before buying this place and was called stupid, naive, etc. by loads of forum members due to the finances involved. It's probably been the best investment I've made!

Don't envy anyone trying to buy now though. It's tough :(
 
Freefaller said:
We're looking to get out of London (don't like London really, it's too busy, crowded and expensive and we want some space), but we're not selling we're going to rent if we can. It's amazing what you can get for rent!
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This is becoming an increasingly common trend because people are wanting to move out of the city, but don't want to quit the London property market (i.e. retain their investment given the huge returns this decade).

I've window-shopped at what London has to offer property wise and for me it is just too expensive, even with a reasonable deposit and 6-figure household income. The only vaguely affordable places are either too small or in a dodgy area (that's not to say they are a bad investment, but I just wouldn't want to move my family there). 5 years ago would have been a great time to buy, but I didn't work in London then and it just feels like we've missed the boat now. Likewise if I was single then probably I would have just bought a flat somewhere in east London giving fast access to the city and canary wharf. I actually think prices in that area were reasonable not that long ago given the local job market, but the problem is it is very much suited to people without children.
 
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