Is anyone else currently buying in London? Isn't the frenzy putting you off?

candyfliss

I'm paying less than I would to rent a flat in finchley for a 4 bed house in Richmond.

Really??
We live in Finchley, in a one bed flat, and there is no way we could afford a 4 bed house in Richmond.
Though, if i'm wrong, that would be amazing!

browneyedbazzi

candyfliss wrote: »

Really??
We live in Finchley, in a one bed flat, and there is no way we could afford a 4 bed house in Richmond.
Though, if i'm wrong, that would be amazing!

It will depend on how much of a deposit you have saved up and what mortgage rate you can get.

We're buying a 3 bed house on quite a nice road in a good neighbourhood and our mortgage payments will be about 35% lower than the rent we're paying for a small 2 bed flat on a main road.

lissliss

Marty13 wrote: »

This is a great question - we have the mortgage survey on a place we're buying on Monday and wondering the same thing.

All the best and I hope you get the valuation that you need! It would be great if you could let us know.

We actually withdrew a 15 per cent over asking price offer on a property the other day because we got cold feet about the mortgage valuation coming up short. We felt that the house was worth the amount we offered to us, but similar houses on the same street sold for at least 28k less than our offer in September. Kicking myself now though...:(

demontfort

I thought I’d just bring a bit of sanity to what has sadly now become another London property ramping thread and shatter some of the myths that people are perpetuating on here. First of all:


· It’s very clear we are in a bubble even the estate agents don’t deny it

· London house prices have slumped significantly in the past

· London prices will drop or stagnate in coming years providing:


Ø The government stops interfering in the market

Ø Carney does his job properly and starts raising interest rates

Ø RBS and Lloyds focus on repaying the taxpayer rather than issuing sub prime mortgages


As a London property owner I would like to see prices fall. I bought a few months ago in a cheapish area of inner London where prices have stagnated the last few years but right now I can see asking prices here are ramping up week after week. Fortunately I bought at low LTV, 2.4 salary multiple and under asking so when the government subsidies run out, interest rates start rising and prices start dropping, I’ll be fine.


Unfortunately there’s a lot of London FTBs buying right now or that have bought the last few years who have overstretched themselves in the mistaken belief that rates will remain low indefinitely, prices will continue to rise and every grim armpit of inner London will soon be gentrified into the new Notting Hill. Hence the proliferation of delusional posts by insecure London property owners whenever anybody suggests that prices could fall.

Once you combine all of the above factors then you have a London market that is the interest only mortgage capital of the world sustained by foreign speculators and money launderers, naive FTBs backed by cheap government money and supersize zombie mortgages kept on life support by a nonsensical interest rate policy. So now it’s up to a government and BoE who clearly suffer from short term memory loss to decide whether they want to help the bubble deflate or sit back and do nothing until it pops. Based on what I’ve seen so far they’ll continue to choose the cowardly and destructive option. Will we ever learn from our mistakes! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

IronWolf

Just remember, people thought the same in 2006, they'd still be waiting for the dust to settle...

If you find a home that you like, that you can afford, then dont worry about negative equity. Buying a home is more than an investment dont forget.

Beige

I'm really enjoying reading the posts about peoples recent experiences of trying to buy in London, hope to see a few more.

We offered 7% over the guide(??) price and won. Agent said there were higher offers but because of our position we were chosen (I'll take that with a pinch of salt).

lissliss - i'll let you know what happens with the valuation.

Cowboy.

Yes I am in the process of buying a house in London. I've had to pay over the asking price. I don't like it but there is no choice.

The problem with London is that people from all over the world are flocking to it. It's getting crowded so the properties are in demand because not many are being built to meet the requirements of population growth.

I don't think the bubble will slow, when it bursts the property prices will still be high.

Highly recommend people read this article on London property boom by the New York Times recently: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/londons-great-exodus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

pinkpiglit

HarrietM wrote: »

I'm terrified we'll be gazumped or the sellers' purchase falls through...we can't afford any more

That's my worry too!

We're already have a flat, but we want to buy further up the ladder and can only just afford the place we've agreed to buy. If that were to fall through for some reason, we would end up back at square one as we couldn't afford to pay another 10% (just picked that amount as it's a nice round number) for the property we want. Even if ours goes up by 10%, the difference between the two values will be too big.

Unless I win the lottery of course..... :rotfl:

ging84

Turnbull2000 wrote: »

If and when the 'dust settles', it's almost certain that prices will still be a good 20-30% higher in a few years time.

20-30% higher than what?
asking prices have already jumped 10-15% in the last few months and people are still being told to bid 10-15% above asking prices to secure properties

so 20-30% higher that's priced in if you are buying now
are you almost certain houses will be about the same in a few years time as they are now? or almost certain they'll be be another 20-30% on top, so nearly 45-70% above what they were just a few months ago?

AndyGuil

Most properties in London are putting on 10% per year, higher in some areas. They are selling very quickly. There is much higher demand than supply. Most couples in a position to save for a deposit are able to afford a mortgage and they are supporting the market at the bottom end as well as the BTL, often with a loan to earnings ratio of 3 for FTB. Help to buy is going to enable more people to get onto the ladder without having to wait so long for the deposit to build up.