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

readytofly

Thankyou all, the tips are all very helpful, some reassuring. No 13 miles isn't a long way but I have to be in the local area to where I work for the children. It is possible I could ask my employers if I can take the one of the children with me to a viewing but if it's anytime after 2pm I wouldn't be able to. I'm really excited for this viewing at the weekend BUT if we were to have an offer accepted and it all completed within 3 months we would still have two months remaining on our tenancy contract and I'm not sure we would afford to keep up with a mortgage AND rent. :-(

Annisele

readytofly wrote: »

I cant bear to stay in our tiny rental house another year, wasting more time being tied in to a 12 month tenancy contract.

So don't sign up to another 12 month contract.

Unless you have some really unusual tenancy agreement, if you stay without signing another agreement your tenancy will become "statutory periodic". Basically that means you have to give one months' notice and your landlord has to give you two months. (It's a bit more complicated than that - G_M explains it much better than I could - but that's the gist).

readytofly

Annisele wrote: »

So don't sign up to another 12 month contract.

Unless you have some really unusual tenancy agreement, if you stay without signing another agreement your tenancy will become "statutory periodic". Basically that means you have to give one months' notice and your landlord has to give you two months. (It's a bit more complicated than that - G_M explains it much better than I could - but that's the gist).

Thank you. Do you know what would happen with regards to council tax we still had a tenancy contract and a house? Would we only pay the tax for whichever place we lived in?

readytofly

Oh I've just read a bit of that link you shared- if we can come to a mutual agreement with our landlord we may be able to end the tenancy early. I'm thinking we could offer to pay the re-let fee for him which is £250 in exchange for leaving a month or two early. Hopefully he will answer his blinking phone today!

benjus

readytofly wrote: »

Thank you. Do you know what would happen with regards to council tax we still had a tenancy contract and a house? Would we only pay the tax for whichever place we lived in?

You will be liable for council tax on both. However, most councils waive the council tax for unoccupied properties, but only for a certain length of time (e.g. 3 months) - after which it generally goes back to the full level. Check the specific policies of the council(s) involved.

mpet

TrixA wrote: »

As someone else who is trying to buy in London at the mo' I have to say I disagree with the view that weekday viewings are critical. In our experience, if you make an offer during the week the agent will still advise the vendor to wait for the Saturday open home, so that they have plenty of offers to choose from on Monday morning. Often the offer on Monday is just an expression of interest, you'll then be invited to submit 'full and final' bids by Tuesday. A bid made during the week will likely only be accepted if it's way over asking price.
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100% agree with this. I have a buyer for my house (no chain), I don't need a mortgage and it makes no difference if you are the first to see a property. If the EA has a number of viewings lined up, they will generally wait until everyone has viewed, generate a bit of a bidding war, then line up all offers for the vendor to decide.

sartois

I was in exactly the same position as you and the asking price really should be seen as the starting price. I have seen places advertised at £235k going for £260k even though the 3% stamp duty kicks in after £250k. It doesn't matter if your the first to see it as houses aren't sold on first come first served basis. You are also competing with cash buyers and investors who can and will offer over 10% to secure properties in London, knowing that they will be worth at least 14% more within a year.

Have you considered going for a New build? This was my solution as there is no bidding war (it really is first come first served), and you can also take advantage of the HTB equity scheme which will provide you with 20% deposit. This potentially means you can get a cheaper mortgage as your deposit would be 25% instead of 10%, and you can probably go a bit higher than your original budget. The builders are normally prevented from selling these to overseas investors as well.

sartois

tigsly wrote: »

You could offer 10% over asking - by looking at houses priced lower?!

I suspect getting a house is just a chunk of luck reallly

The problem with this is that it will eat into their 10% deposit, as the Mortgage provider will only offer a Mortgage for the house is worth (which is probably the original asking price rather than the inflated price)

BillJones

readytofly wrote: »

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

What are your hours? Maybe you need to be prepared to travel outside normal hours. For a start, if you see a place that you like, head over that evening to have a look from the outside. Ask the estate agent if the owner is happy to show you round themselves outside estate agent hours, and do it on the day that you see it come onto the market.

Do you have google alerts set up to email you with appropriate houses the first time they make it onto the web? If not, set them up now.

Next, make sure that you are in as good a position as possible for when you do see a place. This means proof of deposit, agreement in principle and no property to sell yourself.

BillJones

readytofly wrote: »

my husband is closer and could get to viewings but he doesnt have a car.

This makes no sense. What's wrong with a taxi?