Central London anyone having a hard time selling?

danrees

jenner wrote: »

thanks doozergirl, i have spent months studying rightmove and the flat downstairs from me went for 225 (after being on for 235) last month, however, it needed a lot of work and the estate agent said that because the tenant in there was a heavy smoker (and believe me she was) a lot of people wouldnt even come to view it. the fact that mine is decorated and is the top floor rather than a middle flat is thought to be worth more, so hopefully. im just worried about first time buyers (who i suppose buy flats) getting a mortgage for it, my mortgage is only 70k but someone buying this will need to borrow at least 200k,,, i dont know where people get the money from??

i grew up in penge, birkbeck road. out of all the restaurants in beckenham, the only one i havent been to is la racasse!! i suppose i should go before i move!

Your post reveals much about the unsustainability of the current London market, more than you probably realise.

At current bank lending patterns you will need somebody with at least a £11,000 deposit and joint earnings of £56,000 to achieve a mortgage on a generous 4x joint earnings basis with a low 5% deposit (some lenders now requiring 10% or 20%).

Repayments on this would be £1,300 (interest only) or £1,600 (repayment) on a 6.99% mortgage.

No disrespect to Beckenham (which I understand to be a nice area), but you can easily rent a 2 bedroom flat with a garden in Dulwich for £1,250, less than an interest-only mortgage on that flat.

As a first time buyer, I wouldn't even dream of buying somewhere until an interest only mortgage is the same as or less than the rent on a comparable property.

clobber_2

My grandma got strafed in Beckenham during the war. They missed.

This is of no relevance to the thread whatsoever, but it has always put me off Beckenham.

My grandma however (16 at the time) thought is was quite exciting.

Rabiddog_2

You should only compare a Rent with an interest-only mortgage. I would possibly dispute the 1300 for a 2bed in dulwich tho..as that is what someone would pay in Herne Hill.. Its my neck of the woods too...
30 year mortgages are common in USA ...
I think the thing is that FTB have the guts and the reason,(mortgage famine) to stay out of what they see as a falling market...So when they perceive it has bottomed out, it will turn very quickly.. with many buyers piling in...but that could be two years away..

(is strafed a euphemism?)

danrees

I was comparing rent with interest only? Although this was on a 25 year mortgage.

3 bedroom house with garden in Dulwich Village/West Dulwich here for £1,250: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-17622608.rsp?pa_n=6&tr_t=rent

2 bedroom flat with garden in East Dulwich here for £288pw/£1,248pm: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-20791763.rsp?pa_n=7&tr_t=rent

And that is asking prices - you can easily get 5% off rental prices if you are willing to commit to a 12 month contract.

Similar flats to the above are currently priced at £300k to £350k. A 25 year interest only mortgage at 6.99% on £300k is £1,750pm...

cells

jenner wrote: »

in beckenham

for both reasons really, even long before this dip in the market, i have always thought how awful it would be to want to sell and get stuck with a property for months without it selling, i just cant imagine what people do when they've had a property on the market for nearly a year, i cant understand it and dread it happening to me.
im looking to move out of london and have seen loads of flats at the coast i would be interested in viewing but havent even asked to see them yet because mine is not (yet) on the market and i wouldnt be able to put an offer in. i have spent months doing it up, new bathroom, radiators, flooring, decoration, de clutter all that jazz, so its taken time to get it ready to sell, i would have been embarrased to try and sell it in its previous condition!

the smart ones will lower the price to a point where it sells within a week
the dumb ones will wait 5 years for the "recovery"
the ultra dumb ones will chace the market down and potentially lose their homes, well the banks home that they have a mortgage on.

cells

ChocolateLover wrote: »

I have done everything I can to make the place look its best ,its now empty and looks totally unloved:o ,but at least its "ready to go" ...ha ha ..I have been since last year ,I know when I put it on the market things were just starting to slow down,now ...well it looks like standstill,I have no choice at the moment but to accept the offer
Its literally a 2 minute walk from Hyde Park ,maybe because its a lower ground ? though that didnt put me off when I was buying
Choccy

what did you pay for it? and which year was that?

Jarvissa

cells wrote: »

what did you pay for it? and which year was that?

Don't answer this clown! He'll accuse you of greed and then gloat at your potential misfortune.

puddy

what is ;chasing the market down' and why does it result in losing your property

fc123

clobber wrote: »

My grandma got strafed in Beckenham during the war. They missed.

This is of no relevance to the thread whatsoever, but it has always put me off Beckenham.

My grandma however (16 at the time) thought is was quite exciting.

My grandad bought a semi off plan in the 30's.
It was just under Shooters Hill and during WW2, all around them were anti aircraft guns to shoot at the bombers coming over.

Several houses (and the inhabitants) were bombed out.

When he talked about it, it he never seemed put out by it or thought 'any day we could be bombed just like Mr and Mrs Jones next door but one'.

No relevance either...but was thinking about him today (he died years back)

Doozergirl

jenner wrote: »

what is ;chasing the market down' and why does it result in losing your property

Because cell's comments wouldn't mean a great deal without a bit of drama.

Chasing the market down would be only lowering your asking price after the property had already fallen in value so rather then get the top price you were able to at the time, you end up selling much cheaper.

You would only lose your home if you were unable to keep up the repayments on your mortgage. It has little to do with house prices or chasing the market down.

If you can afford the repayments, you'll be fine. There's even a benefit to selling even cheaper in that the property you want to move up to will also be a lot cheaper and the cost to change smaller than it would have been if you had sold at a higher price.

Negative equity, where the cost of your mortgage is higher than the value of your property could potential scupper someone's plans to move but the reality is that if house prices fell by 20% only something like 2% of home owners would be affected by negative equity and even then, it doesn't go hand in hand that they would lose the roof over their heads.