Am I mad to do this?

metso

Hi my partner and I have been looking for a flat in central London for a while and up to a point everything we saw was a complete disaster and led us feeling depressed about ever finding a flat.

Then we saw a flat that we both liked in a fantastic up & coming area , very close to the tube station (.4 mile). I saw it first on a saturday and thought yep I can definitely see us living here, so we arranged for another viewing on Monday as bids had to be in by 3pm Tuesday.
Both times during the viewings there were quite a few people turning up and viewing the property and generally showing an interest.

During initial conversations with the EA he hinted that he'd received several offers, having already received asking price and hinted at a figure that the sellers were looking for (10k more than advertised asking price)

I went away from the viewing thinking to myself if the EA & seller had purposely underpriced the property to encourage a high demand.
Things seems to be going crazy right now in London with prices. What with every viewing i've been to recently attended by 10/15 other couples.

The good properties don't even reach RM anymore, when they do, you phone them up and the EA say's they're under offer already!

anyhow, my partner & I ended up over bidding by 12k and won the bid, The EA told me we won it by 2k, being 2k above a cash buyer and several other above asking price bids.

I wondered to myself is the EA just telling me this to make myself feel better about the property or what? My partner reckons that EA are now bound by an ethical code that they have to be honest about bids etc..

I would really appreciate views from anyone who's already got onto the housing market and can helpful offer some guidance to some FTB.

other points to add are, having spoken to the Mortage company I have in principal, the fact that property is above a commercial premises (Bookies) & being on top floor (4th) without a lift work against us, but being in a fantastic area (islington) work in our favour.

thank you for your light in this dark and winding road!!!

demontfort

Ah the old classic desperate London buyer story. Yes it's natural to have doubts about shelling out several hundred thousand on a dark and dank shoebox above Mustafa's Kebab Shop in Stabsville Central which just like every other rathole part of London is supoosedly an up and coming area.

My advice take a step back and look at what you are paying and what you are getting in return.

BitterAndTwisted

Estate agents are not bound by an "ethical" code. They hardly ever feel bound by statutory ones! The only code they know is getting multiple viewers to attend, thus driving everyone into a frenzy lest they miss any possibility of purchasing.

If you're happy with the price you offered, then just go ahead and buy but personally I would never, ever buy above a commercial premises. By the way Islington is not " a fantastic up & coming area"! It's been up and gone decades ago.

somethingcorporate

I bet the EA was laughing all the way to the bank

I am so glad I live in a place with far less crazies in the housing market.

mrginge

It may be grim up north, but at least we don't have to deal with !!!! like this.

[Deleted User]

Can't say whether the Estate Agent is being honest or not but I've been househunting in East London recently and concur that a lot of places are going for above asking price. It starts to feel like the only way you can have a hope of securing a place is by paying (what feels like) over the odds.

lawriejones1

Well, at this stage - unless you've committed to everything (beyond having the offer agreed) - you're not in a bad position.

I think the fact that you are concerned raises alarm bells. I'm sure that there is very little value in London and that properties can sell incredibly quickly, but if you feel that you have been railroaded or are unhappy about your purchase, that's something that would make me worry.

Just because everyone is buying somewhere, doesn't mean it's the right thing for you. For some, renting and saving is a more secure way of securing a positive future.

SG27

somethingcorporate wrote: »

I bet the EA was laughing all the way to the bank

I am so glad I live in a place with far less crazies in the housing market.

Me too, and I live just 50 miles away in Essex. It's like a totally different world!

curedham

I concur, just bought a place SW London. Plenty of houses/flats gone over the asking price, the good ones anyway. We bid one 10K over and lost. EA indicated that it was gone by multiples of our 10K extra. The one that we got in the end we bid 15K over the asking price.

After we got it, EA told us that we were 5K over the 2nd highest bidder. True/false who know, what I know that we lost a few because of this best and final offer thing and didn't bid high enough.

gazter

mrginge wrote: »

It may be grim up north, but at least we don't have to deal with !!!! like this.

I remember trying to buy a house in cumbria in 2003/4 it was starting to get close to this...

Mozzanov

metso wrote: »

I wondered to myself is the EA just telling me this to make myself feel better about the property or what? My partner reckons that EA are now bound by an ethical code that they have to be honest about bids etc..

EA? Honest? Ethical code? Hahahaha, that made my day, made me laugh and put a big smile on my face!!! Thank you, mate.

You and your partner need to reflect on whether this is really the right place for you. London seems to be a world of its own when it comes to property prices, but being happy with where you've moving (location, transport, local amenities, the property itself, etc) is very important. The right place is priceless and worth paying extra for, IMO.