Has anyone broke even or profited from selling their new build flat in London?

l_f_w

AFF8879 said:

l_f_w said:

csgohan4 said:

OP do you want to hear something different, specifically what you want to hear?

Just looking for genuine stories which I'm struggling to find to be honest

If you want to buy the new build, then go for it. But if you’re looking for a flurry of people to reply with how much money they’ve made flipping a 1 bed new build flat in London within three years then it ain’t going to happen.

Keen to hear the bad stories just as much as the good 

Tiglet2

My son bought a 1 bedroom flat three years ago.  It is not a new build, but in three years the value has probably gone up by about £10k, certainly no more than that.  By the time estate agent and conveyancing fees are factored in, he would be lucky to break even.  This is the south east.  Is that what you wanted to hear, OP?

hazyjo

You've already said there's a significant difference in price between the two options.

The day you're in your new build, it's second hand. If prices generally increase around 20%, that (loosely) will be on the older properties. Try punching some figures into a calculator to see if the price of an equivalent 2nd hand flat plus 20% will equal what you buy the shiny new one for. Try different percentages to see how much the market would need to increase for you to break even or make a profit.

I bought a house in 2011 which the previous owner had bought new at a massively inflated price. They still made a profit, but only 50k or so, while Zoopla was presuming it should be a couple of hundred grand more, as everything else had gone up around it.

Not all new builds are so inflated, but yours, and many in schemes, seem to be.

It was probably you I recommended to look in Wanstead. Leyton would not be on my list.

deeboy12

Not an answer to the specific question, but if East London have you considered East Ham, Plaistow, West Ham?

hazyjo

deeboy12 said:

Not an answer to the specific question, but if East London have you considered East Ham, Plaistow, West Ham?

I strongly suggest visiting at all times of the day if they're in the running.

Emmia

I'd look at the prices of secondhand flats to work out whether the new build HTB is worth it - personally I wouldn't buy a 1 bed (having another room however small, is useful for many things, and gives a bit more flexibility if you find yourself there for longer) and south facing windows can make the whole place really hot in summer.

But if you're only planning to be there for a few years, then you'll probably be better off renting (perhaps a 1 bed in the same block as where you'd buy)

l_f_w

deeboy12 said:

Not an answer to the specific question, but if East London have you considered East Ham, Plaistow, West Ham?

I've had a look at Plaistow (only the area around the station), feels a lot quieter and more residential. Haven't ventured to East/West Ham but maybe I will - can get a lot more for your money in those areas. 

steampowered

I bought a 2-bed flat in Greenwich in 2016 for £470k. The flat was 3 years old when I bought it.

Just sold it for £475k.

That's a loss after estate agent fees, conveyancing costs and stamp duty costs are factored in. However if I did not own the flat I would have needed to be paying rent, so after taking that into account I worked out that I was still better off buying (just!) 

If I had bought one of the new builds on the nearby development, similar 2-bed new build flats were going for £650k or thereabouts, I reckon I would have made a c. £100k loss. 

googler

l_f_w said:

csgohan4 said:

OP do you want to hear something different, specifically what you want to hear?

Just looking for genuine stories which I'm struggling to find to be honest

It's a UK-wide forum. Take the population of London, figure out what percentage that is of the total UK population, and apply that percentage to the likely total readership here. And account for the fact that some readers here will only look at other sub-forums, not this one. That leaves you with a small pool of potential stories, I would suggest. 


Never mind the fact that most everyone outwith London will likely look at what you're thinking of spending on a 1-bed, and instantly dismiss the discussion as not for them ...

demontfort

Here's an example for you, I bought my 2 bed flat in lovely Leyton, 10 years ago. The vendor had bought if from new 8 years before and made a £2k profit when he sold it to me, mind you he agreed to leave all his furniture so he wasn't exactly laughing all the way to the bank.

Leyton like most of East London is grossly overpriced right now especially the new builds with 2 beds going for more than double what I paid. A lot of people who bought the costly period flat conversions only stay for a few years when they wise up and figure that Leyton is another East London dump. As for new builds a number of people who bought into the Leyton Central development on the former Glynn Hopkin's site in 2016 have been burnt and lost money when selling later down the line.  See this link showing the price changes.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/e10-5fa.html

I'd say £300k is a fair price for a one bed in Leyton, £350k and above you should be moving into 2 bed territory, £400k plus you can bag yourself a pokey house.  Happy to provide more perspective on Leyton property.