First time buyer: one bedroom in London

Crashy_Time

redefinr said:

I went down a few times this week to check around. It's actually pretty nice around, the gentrification is definitely on.
The building it's in a nice block of new builds. There is some good green areas around and each building is medium size, not too big. Here's an aerial:

There are just 2 things for me that are not exactly as I wanted. First, it's the shape of the house which make it harder to separate the rooms...but I can get a bit creative with that I guess. Second, it's quite a high traffic area, but to a certain degree it's everywhere I been looking at. 
The flat is brand new, it's nicely priced, band B in Greenwich council tax, Service Charge are decent (1288pa) considering concierge,gym and pool and most importantly ews1 certificate it's there. I called a bunch of new builds I was interested in various area and none of them told me they had the certificate. Not even 1.
There is a Travelodge next to the building and I could spend the night there, but to be honest it's not going to make any difference...it could be the quietest night ever or there could be some major crime happening it's London.
I'm sending an offer for £255K and see where it goes. If the vendor accept, great! If not, I'm still looking around. In fact, I will be looking anyway even if the offer get accepted. So far, I have only one regret, that I missed on this property on Goldhawk Road:

This was the property I should have bought. Unfortunately, I was haggling too much on the price and missed it.

Can`t really see what you think you have missed out on TBH?

redefinr

EA told me the vendor will let me know tomorrow EOP about his decision. Strangely, he's not telling me to go higher or the typical crap 'someone else offered more'...

Crashy_Time

EA and vendor will be praying hard that you buy it.

bouicca21

I’d expect the vendor to have their own copy of the lease, plus service charge demands And be able to show them to you before getting as far as paying a solicitor to get hold of copies.  No way would I trust what an EA says.

redefinr

bouicca21 said:

I’d expect the vendor to have their own copy of the lease, plus service charge demands And be able to show them to you before getting as far as paying a solicitor to get hold of copies.  No way would I trust what an EA says.

Great advice, I will request that if the offer gets accepted! I think I will also go for a 2nd look.

redefinr

Vendor came back with a £257k Counter Offer, basically 2k more. It's quite feasible I'd say. I'm thinking about it, but I think I will go for it

blue_max_3

redefinr said:

Vendor came back with a £257k Counter Offer, basically 2k more. It's quite feasible I'd say. I'm thinking about it, but I think I will go for it

But if you go back and tell them your maxed out, they'd accept. It's a buyers market!

redefinr

blue_max_3 said:

redefinr said:

Vendor came back with a £257k Counter Offer, basically 2k more. It's quite feasible I'd say. I'm thinking about it, but I think I will go for it

But if you go back and tell them your maxed out, they'd accept. It's a buyers market!

2K more is not a complete deal breaker for me. I told EA I'm fine with it as long as they make the flat available asap. This '6 months notice' is a bit too much... I know it will takes few months to clear all bureaucracies but still....I dont want to wait until Jan 2021.

Slithery

redefinr said:

I told EA I'm fine with it as long as they make the flat available asap. This '6 months notice' is a bit too much... I know it will takes few months to clear all bureaucracies but still....I dont want to wait until Jan 2021.

The EA has absolutely no say in the matter, it's completely up to the tenants how long they wish to stay for until the courts say otherwise (which will be at least 6 months).

numbercruncher8

TBH I think the EA would just make up any old bull to get the deal over the line. 
I wouldn't exchange before the property is vacant and you check it over, anything else removes the motivation from the seller. If the tenant is amenable this could happen extremely quickly. For example, landlord offering incentives or another property. If they are not, it could be a while.

I don't think you should stop looking, and keep searching for other areas. If the deal ends up taking months I think it's pretty likely something better will come on to the market. Government interventions have so far prevented some tough decisions up until now.