House buying in London- current market is moving so quickly! Any advice?

Metranil_Vavin

Sadly anything (I was going to say decent, but it seems just anything) coming up in pretty much any part of London at the moment is being snapped up well before it ever gets to Rightmove/Zoopla etc, and in fact often properties that do make it there are under offer by the time you phone the agent.

I'm not sure what the solution is apart from taking time off to intensively dedicate to searching, and the best way at the moment is to actually go into every agent in the area you are interested in and asking what they have coming up.

If you do get to your weekend viewing and the property is still available, be ready to make a quick offer if you want it, and the comment about offering over the asking price is also sadly a reality in a lot of cases.

It's not a good time to be trying to get onto the property market in London.

Dan-Dan

Well chaps , dont complain when others beat you to the punch in a `hot` market then , i think my advice is absolutley 110% spot on , just because you dont agree , doesnt make it wrong, you need to get ahead , how else do you do that , than make things happen yourselves!?

AndyGuil

I was lucky. The property I purchased came up on Saturday morning. Booked the viewing immediately. Turned up with other couples looking at the same time. Bought it within an hour of walking out of there.

You have to be on the phone to estate agents and make sure you have alerts sent out as soon as a property comes up on Zoopla, Rightmove etc. It is hard to get a property without being able to view during the week. It is possible, I managed... just!

ognum

readytofly wrote: »

I'm a nanny in charge of small children. I simply cannot 'take an hour off work' thank you for the tip.

You say we so I assume you have a partner you are buying with. Let them go!

cattie

I fear you are going to struggle on that budget for the area you wish to buy in. The days of a property with more than one bedroom in Greater London at under £250k are running out fast.

If you can't make the time to view asap or get somebody else who you really trust to view & then offer on your behalf, you're going to find you have been left behind in the rush to snap up a home in this fast moving market.

So many properties are selling for way above asking prices at the moment & so offering high is the only real way to try to secure a property for yourself with the market the way it is.

benjus

How long does it take you to get from work to the area you want to buy in? Many agents will do viewings at 6:30 on weekdays, possibly later. If the viewings are non-accompanied (i.e. conducted by the owner-occupiers, not the agent), you have even more flexibility.

I'm not totally convinced about waiting until Saturday being too late either - agents want a good number of viewings to get a few competing offers, so they may not advise the vendor to accept an offer from the first viewing - unless it's significantly above asking price.

Metranil_Vavin

I agree that maybe getting someone else to view may be a good option, can your other half do daytime viewings?

Mattygroves2

It is possible to buy via weekend open houses but you have to be very quick and offer above asking price. If you can't afford to offer above asking then you need to think about looking at cheaper places. When not viewing houses then you probably need to spend your weekends visiting all the estate agents in your search areas to make sure they remember you when new properties come onto the market.

Make yourselves as attractive as possible with mortgage AIP, solicitor, deposit funds etc all lined up and ready to go.

egoode

Just one tip for when you finally get an offer accepted unless the survey shows that the place is going to fall down in the next few months don't quibble too much over what comes up on the survey. The market is rising so quickly they are very unlikely to reduce the price based on something from the survey as they are most likely going to be able to remarket it and get even more than what you offered.

Consider the survey more a heads up on things you will need to do when you finally own it.

As for actually getting to see the places as others have said you need to find a way to be available for viewings during the week. Or trust someone else to view properties for you. I'd even suggest if the place is on a street you know and a layout similar to others you have seen and liked put an offer in without even viewing if you can't make it there in time.

Jenniefour

Only advice I can add is to beg, borrow or steal a bit more money if you only have 1% leeway - that may not be enough to touch the sides in this market. Especially if there are several offers and vendors/EA's decide to go to sealed bids - which, in effect is to be regarded as your one and only chance to make an offer.

Someone posted on here a couple of days ago - offered just over 5% over and didn't get it. What movilogo has said about being prepared to offer 10% over is not a joke or flippant comment. I would be asking an agent or two in the area you're looking at what the average over asking is at the moment for the kind of property you have in mind so you have some idea. Some properties in my area of London have gone for well over the 10% in the last year. If you really have to stay with 1% leeway then you may need to adjust your expectations on what you can afford.

Also agree with above about not getting too hooked up on a survey - in this market if you go back to negotiate then that might abort the sale since there will be no shortage of other buyers behind you who are not going to quibble.