Buying flat in london

bouicca21

Thé basics involve finding out about how long the lease has left, checking ground rent, and checking service charge.  Service charges can vary enormously - mine on a small purpose built 1960s block is about £1200-£1300 a year.  If we had a lift it would be more as they are notoriously expensive to maintain.  If we had additional services like a concierge, a gym and a swimming pool it would be still more - someone I know pays £4000 a year for that.

Newnoel

GDB2222 said:

These areas you mentioned are quite different. For example, Hampstead Heath is a wonderful area for walking, but you didn’t mention that as being important to you. So, you need to think about what is important for you, to help narrow down your choices.  Otherwise, it’s too confusing. 

Also, it is one of the most expensive parts of London. Very little in your price bracket there

kaymee

GDB2222 said:

These areas you mentioned are quite different. For example, Hampstead Heath is a wonderful area for walking, but you didn’t mention that as being important to you. So, you need to think about what is important for you, to help narrow down your choices.  Otherwise, it’s too confusing. 

Tbh, I’m selecting areas I’m familiar with, have easy access to the city and the west, and have newer build properties in my budget. I have never lived in a house, so I’m worried about being able to manage / maintain a house on my own. I also don’t have an experience in renovation, so staying away from properties that need work. I like the idea of being around nice cafes and bars, so islington or clerkenwell would be nice. But nine elms and dalston offer the convenience of new builds, amenities etc. 

I have thought a lot about what I would like inside the home, but not much about what I would want from an area, I think subconsciously I’m thinking I’ll have to compromise somewhere - the kind of flat, or the kind of area, and I’m leaning towards the latter. For instance, I don’t like how rowdy / crowded dalston gets in the evenings (from the couple of times I’ve checked it out) but I’m still considering it in the shortlist as it has some good developments and is close to the city.

kaymee

Thanks @propertyhunter, your input is quite helpful!

Sandtree

bouicca21 said:

Thé basics involve finding out about how long the lease has left, checking ground rent, and checking service charge.  Service charges can vary enormously - mine on a small purpose built 1960s block is about £1200-£1300 a year.  If we had a lift it would be more as they are notoriously expensive to maintain.  If we had additional services like a concierge, a gym and a swimming pool it would be still more - someone I know pays £4000 a year for that.

The last flat we rented, and had considered buying was £8,000 a year... the price was based on footprint and the penthouses were circa £40,000 a year. In other parts of the country that'd be way more than the mortgage payments.

The building did have a lot of lifts and there were roof and window issues being saved up for. Before anyone says, it was actually a share of freehold property and so in theory not greedy freeholders/agents creaming off the monies.

What was odd however was the building next door paid 50% of the upkeep of the swimming pool and carpark and yet their service charge (despite having less units) was £3-4k a year for a 2 bed... they too had lifts (though not as many proportionally) but their concierge was 8am-10pm 7 days a week whereas ours was 24hr.

Thankfully the place we bought is more like £2,000 a year but 2021 was nil charge due to a massive water bill rebate received. The managing agent is poor though having missed a number of free opportunities (eg upgrading the TV system to SkyQ) and subsequently billing for it later.

Schwarzwald

kaymee said:

Hello, I’m a single 36 year old woman looking to buy my first flat in london. I’m quite clueless about properties and finding the search a bit overwhelming, so any tips would help!
….

I was in a v similar position in early/mid 2020. Healthy budget in London, but not a clear idea what and where I was looking for.

I just completed 2 months ago.

IMHO what helped me: try to narrow down on 2-3 areas and view as many properties as possible. You’ll quickly develop a better skill for reading EA ads and floorplans and develop a much better sense what you want. 

I was pretty picky but viewed in excess of 50 properties (London has a lot of ridiculously priced properties but highly skilled photographers…).

I also figured out my 4-5 non-negotiable criteria (spaciousness, distance to tube, zone 2, period property, garden, needs to make financial sense), and my negotiable ones (primarily: borough).

once i figured these out, viewings became more filtered and once i stepped into my now home, I knew I’ll out down an offer - just exchange and completion took 10 month (1,200 sq.ft, split level Georgian period property, 2min to two-lines tube station, private garden, 10% below asking, East London zone 2).

happy for now

kaymee

Thanks @Schwarzwald! I have started arranging a lot of viewings as well, I think there’s no other way but to just get into it, till I start getting a better idea of the market / what’s I can get in my budget. 

Schwarzwald said:

once i figured these out, viewings became more filtered and once i stepped into my now home, I knew I’ll out down an offer - just exchange and completion took 10 month (1,200 sq.ft, split level Georgian period property, 2min to two-lines tube station, private garden, 10% below asking, East London zone 2).

Congratulations on your new purchase!!! It sounds lovely Would you mind me asking which tube did you go for? Distance to tube is also one of my criteria, but I keep getting advice to choose the “right” lines (I.e. ones with better connectivity).

Also, do you have any tips on figuring out a fair price and on price negotiations? I know I can access past transaction data and apply the general property market trend to it, to make sure it’s not ridiculously quoted, but any rules on how or how much I should be negotiating?

thanks for sharing your experience!

GDB2222

A good walk is a great way to start the day.  I’m just saying that you might think again about being close to the station. 

Schwarzwald

GDB2222 said:

A good walk is a great way to start the day.  I’m just saying that you might think again about being close to the station. 

Very true, but besides convenience and flexibility, it is also a safety aspect, in particular in London, and in particular for women.

 And if you fancy a walk, you can always skip the first tube stop and walk 15min to the stop thereafter … but you got the choice 😉

Schwarzwald

kaymee said:

Would you mind me asking which tube did you go for? Distance to tube is also one of my criteria, but I keep getting advice to choose the “right” lines (I.e. ones with better connectivity).

Also, do you have any tips on figuring out a fair price and on price negotiations? I know I can access past transaction data and apply the general property market trend to it, to make sure it’s not ridiculously quoted, but any rules on how or how much I should be negotiating?

I ended up between Mile End and Bow Road. I have access to three tube lines in immediate walking distance: Central, District and Hammersmith & City.

I get pretty much everywhere in zones 1-2 within 25-30min and max 1 line change.

 It was not an area that was on my radar initially, in fact had never really spent time there, but I found Bethnal Green and Islington already too expensive for what you get for a 2/3 bedroom in the 650-800k range – leave alone West London in general.

 And as I said, a (quiet) spacious property with garden and immediate tube access was more important to me than a fancy neighbourhood with trendy cafes – but that is a personal choice. And IMO there is only one way to for properties in E3 in the long-term (maybe with bumps in between) … and that is UP, look at what happened to E2/E8 in the last 10-15 years.

 

I also liked the Finsbury Park area, N4. Great access to public transport, a park around the corner, lots of period properties and relatively better priced than, for example, Hampstead.

 

In terms of valuing, I put together a “comparison sheet” in excel and tracked each single property that I viewed. To prepare my offer, I also researched all Sold properties and prices in the very street I was looking at for the last 5 years (e.g. Rightmove).

I primarily focused on price per sq.ft, as I find the number of bedrooms v misleading. You can change the number of bedrooms in a given property easily, but square footage is square footage unless you do an extension.

I then adjusted for Leasehold vs (Share of) Freehold, garden vs no garden, etc. to come up with the specific price I was willing to bid. I also included a 5-7% budget for furniture, modernizing the space and select room refurbs.