Frustrated FTB in London

Ivana_Tinkle

The crux of your problem seems to be that you're consistently putting in an offer of what you think a property's worth, only to be outbid by a fairly significant amount. Sounds like your research is leading you to consistently undervalue the properties you're interested in.

The problem's not really anything to do with the speed properties are selling - it's that you're not willing or able to pay enough to secure the ones you like. Sorry, as I know this won't be what you want to hear, but perhaps you need to consider either trying to up your budget a bit or concentrating your search on the cheaper of the areas you've listed. It's bloody hard to be a FTB in London - good luck!

suestew

Well we recently sold in NW London and I wish we had got the asking price. The market was slow with not a lot of offers and the ones we got were well under...

meadow408

I see your point Ivana Tinkle, but the way I see it is that EAs always tend to overvalue the properties (some more than others) they market to secure a good price for their clients and hence their fees, paying even more than their valuation is a good way to end up in negative equity if the house market reversed for any reason in the next few years; also the mortgage provider could come back with a lower valuation and not confirm the loan requested. But yes I see your point, I'll have to slightly overpay next time if I want to get the house I want/like as this seems to be how the market is going.

sinbad182

meadow408 wrote: »

I see your point Ivana Tinkle, but the way I see it is that EAs always tend to overvalue the properties (some more than others) they market to secure a good price for their clients and hence their fees, paying even more than their valuation is a good way to end up in negative equity if the house market reversed for any reason in the next few years; also the mortgage provider could come back with a lower valuation and not confirm the loan requested. But yes I see your point, I'll have to slightly overpay next time if I want to get the house I want/like as this seems to be how the market is going.

If the properties are selling, and selling quick, are the EAs overvaluing them?

Sounds like they've got it spot on in terms of pricing as per local demand!

ruggedtoast

Wall of text.

jennyc85

I feel your pain! I'm having a similar struggle in Bristol, right at the other end of the market, looking for 2 bed houses in need of work up to £130k. I've missed out on viewing a number of places as they are being snapped up within days of coming on the market, before I've had chance to view them. Its all right if you have a flexible job and can attend viewings at the drop of the hat, but if you have to schedule them in for the next day or two it can be too late! House hunting could certainly be a full time job.. good luck!

BigAunty

meadow408 wrote: »

...
I find that very rarely the asking price reflects the actual value of the property, EAs have all the interest to inflate prices and when they see that they can get away with it and ppl still buy it can spiral higher and higher.

You know that there is no 'actual' specific scientific objective value to a house, don't you? They are never worth an independent neutral sum of £x. They only ever reap what a buyer is prepared to pay for them and this is subject to things like demand, emotional attachment by the buyer and seller, and so forth.

What you are saying is that they aren't worth it to you - clearly if the properties you are interested in are actually selling, then they aren't overvalued to those buying them...

It's a shame that you've had a mix of being rejected for both offering under the asking price and offering the asking price only to be pipped by someone else.

I bet you wish you'd offered the asking price on the first property. It may have been too much for you but if property price inflation in London does its usual and just steams on upwards, you'd have 'broke even' fairly soon and you'd only ever realise a loss on its value if you sold it in the future for less than you paid.

I also think your scattergun approach to looking for properties in vast swathes of London doesn't do you many favours - why not target a particular area/type of property rather than disperse your research all over the place, so that you can spring forward with viewings and offers in what seems to be a really competitive market. You cannot tell how hot a local market is just by looking at recent sales prices which may not tell you the actual condition of the property anyway, so can be meaningless.

jayship

Patience is a virtue and u will end up with a property of your choice

Property prices in London have slightly increased but cant work out why you are unable to get a property in your selected area within your price range?

You may want to look towards Woodford and surrounding areas in East London with a good choice within your budget and easy to sell in future. South Harrow is a lot cheaper than north and pinner.

Dont know much about property prices in SE London. Alternative is to attend a property auction in London which will give you an idea of area and prices. Personally i find them very interesting and informative.

Ivana_Tinkle

If the properties are selling for the asking price then how on earth can you conclude they're overpriced? (You may well decide the price rises are unsustainable, or that you're not willing to pay that much, but that's a different matter.)

newbian

meadow408 wrote: »

My budget is max 500k as I don't want to end up in the next stamp duty bracket.
I'm looking in the South East (East/North Dulwich, Honor Oak Park, Crofton Park, Herne Hill), in the South West (Wimbledon, Merton Park, Haydon's Road) and North West (Pinner, North Harrow).

The SW areas you mentioned are in areas where prices tend to hold. We considered Wimbledon area but the value was just outrageous compared to other areas. So we took it right off the list.

For SE you should move further east to snap up value. Greenwich borough is undergoing a lot of redevelopment and there is good value there. That's SE3, SE7, SE9, SE18. But you have to really do your research as some areas are nicer than others.

Don't know NW but Pinner I understand to be quite a nice area with a lot of well off City types commuting so again, you are competing with people who can pay asking price.