A couple of months ago, I found the perfect house. It wasn't in my chosen area but in every other way it exceeded my wildest dreams. Two big bedrooms, through-lounge, fabulous garden, great kitchen and private parking round the back.
Even better, the owners wanted a quick sale! I put in an offer, had to up it by £10,000 owing to competition, and had my offer accepted because I was a cash buyer.
And then my dream came crashing down. I tried the walk to the station and it involved having to go through an underpass. Well, I don't care how well lit it is, I am NOT going through a creepy, stinky underpass in the daytime, let alone at night! In the day, I have been known to walk half a mile out of my way to find a way of crossing a major road above ground.
With my heart in my boots, and feeling dreadful at having to let the vendors down, I withdrew my offer.
Since then, there hasn't been anything I have remotely liked. BUT... prices are coming down a little, and there seems to be a sudden influx of ex-Buy To Let properties onto the market. Many of them are ex-Local Authority flats, which are a big no-no, owing to the risk of getting a sudden huge repairs bill dumped on you, which the council tenants wouldn't have to pay. A friend of mine was landed with a bill of £49,000. He handed the keys in to his mortgage company and walked away.
I wonder if there is any form of insurance you can take out which would protect owners of ex-LA properties against large bills? Hmm... must look into it.
Tuesday 28 November 2017
Wednesday 5 July 2017
House hunting by proxy
It's two months since my last post and in all those weeks, I have achieved sweet FA. But there are green shoots of hope on the horizon in the form of a good friend of 40 - yes, incredible, isn't it? - years standing, who has come into an inheritance and wants to invest in a property with me, so I can get back into the still overheated London property market.
Nationwide Building Society reports that London property is still increasing, but I have noticed a certain stalling... properties first listed in March that are still unsold... the 'reduced'[ word appearing on listings. All to the good as far as I am concerned!
Today, in 30 degrees F heat, my good and loyal friend trekked a long way (the bus had been diverted owing to roadworks) to view two flats for me in East Finchley. One was a big upper maisonette with a nice garden, but had a vertiginous staircase leading to a loft room, and my bete noir, kiddiwinkies, living downstairs. So that is out. How can I write the Great Novel when ankle biters are screaming on the climbing frame and trampoline in their garden, which borders mine?
The other was a ground floor flat, much smaller, with a succession of tenants upstairs and a tiny garden that backs onto garages. No, and again no.
Perhaps my check list is too long. Perhaps I have been spoiled. But really, at the age of 72, I deserve peace and quiet, a nice garden and proximity to transport, as I don't drive. After all, at my age, it might be the last home I ever buy!
Nationwide Building Society reports that London property is still increasing, but I have noticed a certain stalling... properties first listed in March that are still unsold... the 'reduced'[ word appearing on listings. All to the good as far as I am concerned!
Today, in 30 degrees F heat, my good and loyal friend trekked a long way (the bus had been diverted owing to roadworks) to view two flats for me in East Finchley. One was a big upper maisonette with a nice garden, but had a vertiginous staircase leading to a loft room, and my bete noir, kiddiwinkies, living downstairs. So that is out. How can I write the Great Novel when ankle biters are screaming on the climbing frame and trampoline in their garden, which borders mine?
The other was a ground floor flat, much smaller, with a succession of tenants upstairs and a tiny garden that backs onto garages. No, and again no.
Perhaps my check list is too long. Perhaps I have been spoiled. But really, at the age of 72, I deserve peace and quiet, a nice garden and proximity to transport, as I don't drive. After all, at my age, it might be the last home I ever buy!
Tuesday 16 May 2017
Still no luck finding a home
Prices where I currently live (house share with my boyfriend) have literally doubled in eighteen months. Two years ago, I was going to buy the house next door for £336,000, but backed out as it needed loads of work and had an illegal loft conversion. The house on the other side - done up, but a lot smaller and with a garden a quarter of the size - has just gone on the market for £700,000.
This price hike is staggering... unbelievable.
Since I last posted, I have seen four properties. Two were in my favourite spot, Highgate, London N6. One had a kitchen with no windows. It was sandwiched between the living room and the bedroom, which was on the front of the house, not ideal if you're a light sleeper like me.
One was quite nice but too small - nowhere to put my office desk, filing cabinets, etc. And no outside space.
One was on the fourth floor with a Juliet balcony and I got vertigo when I looked out. The kitchen was built into a corner with sloping ceilings, so there was little cupboard space. Nowhere to put breadmaker, microwave, juicer, smoothie-maker, mixer and all the other tools of DIY cook's trade.
Then there was the one with a front bedroom onto a very noisy main road. Not only that, but the vendor confessed that the tenant upstairs was an insomniac who paced the floor at 3 am and turned on her computer. Above the bedroom, of course.
Finally, I had a call from a gentleman whose flat I had viewed three years ago, only to have him withdraw it from the market because he couldn't find anywhere to move to. Now he has decided to move out of London so he offered me first dibs, obvious forgetting he had told me about the wooden floors upstairs and lack of soundproofing, and the freeholder who grabbed £2,000 a year and did no repairs.
But I have been offered a helping hand, should I want to take it. It goes against the grain to accept a cash injection from a friend, but a good mate has come into a goodly inheritance and prefers to invest it in a property with me rather than make 0.1% to stash it in the building society.
This means I can up my budget.... but there is STILL hardly anything on the market, even in my larger price bracket. Anyone got a tent for sale?
This price hike is staggering... unbelievable.
Since I last posted, I have seen four properties. Two were in my favourite spot, Highgate, London N6. One had a kitchen with no windows. It was sandwiched between the living room and the bedroom, which was on the front of the house, not ideal if you're a light sleeper like me.
One was quite nice but too small - nowhere to put my office desk, filing cabinets, etc. And no outside space.
One was on the fourth floor with a Juliet balcony and I got vertigo when I looked out. The kitchen was built into a corner with sloping ceilings, so there was little cupboard space. Nowhere to put breadmaker, microwave, juicer, smoothie-maker, mixer and all the other tools of DIY cook's trade.
Then there was the one with a front bedroom onto a very noisy main road. Not only that, but the vendor confessed that the tenant upstairs was an insomniac who paced the floor at 3 am and turned on her computer. Above the bedroom, of course.
Finally, I had a call from a gentleman whose flat I had viewed three years ago, only to have him withdraw it from the market because he couldn't find anywhere to move to. Now he has decided to move out of London so he offered me first dibs, obvious forgetting he had told me about the wooden floors upstairs and lack of soundproofing, and the freeholder who grabbed £2,000 a year and did no repairs.
But I have been offered a helping hand, should I want to take it. It goes against the grain to accept a cash injection from a friend, but a good mate has come into a goodly inheritance and prefers to invest it in a property with me rather than make 0.1% to stash it in the building society.
This means I can up my budget.... but there is STILL hardly anything on the market, even in my larger price bracket. Anyone got a tent for sale?
Monday 30 January 2017
Selling houses the American way
I have just read that US estate agency Keller Williams is opening up in Britain. Apparently one of their staff was so appalled at the lackadaisical treatment he encountered while trying to buy a flat in London (lost keys, unanswered questions, agent not getting back to him for days) that he decided the UK was ready for a taste of American real estate agency treatment, where phone calls are answered instantly, even out of office hours, and online enquiries dealt with within five minutes. They offer the full package, sourcing solicitors and lenders and chasing paperwork, and claim to reduce the average 10 weeks it takes to complete, to just one.
Oh, how I empathise with this guy's experiences of UK estate agents! My latest attempt to buy a flat went like this.
Day 1: email agent.
Day 2: no reply.
Day 3: still no reply, so ring agent. Agent claims not to know anything about the property and will get someone to ring me on Monday.
Day 4 - Monday: nobody rings.
Day 5: Tuesday passes and still nobody rings.
Day 6: I ring and get - oh joy! - a human being. He asks if I can come along at 6 pm when he is showing the flat to some other clients. I say no, as it takes me two hours to get there and I don't want to be travelling the two hours back in the rush hour. He asks if I can come at 6 pm the following night instead. Didn't he listen to my objections first time around? He asks if I can come on Saturday. I say no as I have visitors. I request a daytime viewing during the week. He says he will ask the vendor and ring me the next day. I tell him either Friday or Monday are good for me.
Day 11. Monday. Agent never got back to me. I can only assume he received an offer, or several, over the weekend and it's now proceeding to the dreaded 'best bids' stage.
I despair. It's obvious to me that, as there are few properties and many would-be buyers, agents have got lazy and no longer feel the need to make an effort.
Roll on Keller Williams. Expect a call from me!
Oh, how I empathise with this guy's experiences of UK estate agents! My latest attempt to buy a flat went like this.
Day 1: email agent.
Day 2: no reply.
Day 3: still no reply, so ring agent. Agent claims not to know anything about the property and will get someone to ring me on Monday.
Day 4 - Monday: nobody rings.
Day 5: Tuesday passes and still nobody rings.
Day 6: I ring and get - oh joy! - a human being. He asks if I can come along at 6 pm when he is showing the flat to some other clients. I say no, as it takes me two hours to get there and I don't want to be travelling the two hours back in the rush hour. He asks if I can come at 6 pm the following night instead. Didn't he listen to my objections first time around? He asks if I can come on Saturday. I say no as I have visitors. I request a daytime viewing during the week. He says he will ask the vendor and ring me the next day. I tell him either Friday or Monday are good for me.
Day 11. Monday. Agent never got back to me. I can only assume he received an offer, or several, over the weekend and it's now proceeding to the dreaded 'best bids' stage.
I despair. It's obvious to me that, as there are few properties and many would-be buyers, agents have got lazy and no longer feel the need to make an effort.
Roll on Keller Williams. Expect a call from me!
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