Buying in London. Come here and share your stories

[Flowers2014]

So we are trying to buy in London and the market is crazy. Everything that we've seen has gone for 10%-20% over the asking price. Because of DP and his work we can't go too out of London which is making this whole process much harder than it needs to be. We have a good budget but in this market it's just not enough.

I'm tired by the process now so we are taking a break from it. We have until Nov to move out of out rented flat so we are going take the spring off and try again in the summer.

Anyone else in the same boat of trying to buy in London? Come share your stories with me!

Bluegrass you would be surprised. We didn't think it would be that hard either but turns out lots of people are going right up to the edge of 'help to buy' which is 600k so that's been pushing up the prices of anything over 450k or at least that's what every estate agent has told me.

I'll have a look at Queen's Park, we do want somewhere still young and trendy. Plus it's we are looking to move abroad in 5/6 years so it still needs some rental potential.

Thank you so much ladies! I have plenty of new areas to look at. DP and I have been a bit stuck on where to look next.

Lovely area - Barnes if you are willing to compromise a little on the commute.

and just under budget

Gorgeous little cottage in desirable location "just" over budget....

3/4 bed, sligthly less but over budget

London IS mad.

The law needs to be chaged, once it has gone to solicitors it should be a binding contract, no gazumping or gazundering.

Your budgets above 500k and having difficulty to buy? Us, mortals, only had a tiny budget of under 200k and we wanted a house. So we bought what ticked the boxes, i.e. quick commute into City for work, green, quiet, parks, affordable childcare, OK schools nearby, like-minded people. Far from trendy but close enough to trendy areas. That was in 2009. The prices staled until beginning of 2013, and then - whoops - it shot up by 50% within last year. I tried to relocate for a while, but it was so difficult to get something to view - FTB prevailed so the properties got sold even before they went onto market. I was not a FTB, and if I was to go into rental, I could not have afforded anything suitable by the time I found. My personal circumstances forced me stay where I am and I am so glad that I was forced out of the house buying madness. When I bought in 2009, it was nothing like this. It is MAD.

Seminyak, you bought at just the right time before the prices started to go up, which was (I think) around May/June time last year. You were very lucky indeed!

I know Forest Hill well as my ex lives there and five years ago it was affordable for the likes of me (on the bottom rung) - but not anymore; values there have risen sharply since the opening of the new overground line and I am now priced out.

I am certain you wouldn't be able to buy there now for less than asking. It's a lovely, safe area with pleasant surrounding areas. Lucky you - enjoy!

Queens Park and Kensal Rise prices are insane at the moment - my neighbours in QP sold their 2 bed flat for pretty much what we bought our house for 7 years ago! Kensal Rise prices even more insane. Willesden Green still more affordable (and on jubilee line)

Agree with pp advising Greenwich - lots of new flats just come on the market at Capital Quay, 2-bed could be 400ishk. Deptford bridge to cannon Street, 20mins

Hah! Good luck with Kensal / queens park!! That's well over our budget and you get far less for your money compared to going out on the jubilee to willesden green / dollis hill. Even cricklewood is now expensive. Houses which last December would have sold for 650 are now being marketed as 850!!! Completely ridiculous. Golders green is nice but not particularly cheap really... If driving is an option, areas around child's hill are cheaper (assuming you want to stay nw).

I get the feeling that everywhere is too expensive if the commute in the City is good.

We have no give on budget or commuting time and neither of us drives. I don't even have a license!

I think we are going to have I consider bethnal green or the older new builds in Canary wharf/wapping. We thought with our budget we would find something decent and nice to live in but London prices are just too much.

Flowers2014, this is below your budget and it is 12 mins by train from the nearest station to London Bridge. Just for opening your eyes a bit.

Stargirl04 totally agree re Seminyak's comment - you're definitely lucky you bought at that price in FH (which is wonderful!), a friend just sold a fairly small conversion flat in not-the-best-bit of SE23 for v close to £400k. They had 40+ viewers and all offers were way over asking. I know north London is way worse and SE London is good value in comparison but FH is no longer cheap cheap cheap. Wish it was as would love friends to buy here but they are all priced out now if not already on the ladder.

Anyway I do highly recommend the area and you should be able to get something reasonable for £600, possibly a 3 bed 30s house if you're lucky. Fab transport links and lovely community, great schools. Good luck, I do feel for anyone buying out there and thank my lucky stars that our chain survived this time last year as we'd not be in London now if we'd missed the boat!!

Agree Lulupeg re Forest hill, it has definitely 'up and come' - ie is now pricey!

We bought a 4 bed house there just recently and were outbid on one house beforehand (which went to sealed bids, we offered £712k and it went for 'considerably more' said the agent!).

BUT there are still some good deals to be had there, but you need to move v quick because its going up and up at pace.

We moved from East Dulwich as we wanted a house and couldn't afford one there - our 3-bed flat in ED sold in a day, 3 offers way over asking price. Its insane.

Flowers - nope, you can get a 3-4 bed house with a 12 min commute to London bridge, or 20 mins to cannon street. You just have to know where to look. People with a 500k+ budget who complain about buying a place in London get no sympathy from me, sorry.

Just had a quick snoop on rightmove.

There are 52 2-bed flats on there for over one million pounds in NW3 which is Hampstead and surrounding areas.

Bonkers.

DancingLady- I did say further up that I'm not from London so I don't know where to look and pp have given me great suggestions. I'm trying to look around and not just in obvious places. So if you know an area which is 20mins from cannon street or Blackfriars or farringdon please suggest it here I'm totally open to suggestions at this point

Golders Green - it really does depend on where. We used to live there. Anywhere east of Finchley Road I would jump at, north of North End Road and east of the tube station you are getting into Hampstead Garden Suburb and some serious . To the west/north-west of the tube station, the further you travel up Golders Green Road towards the North Circular, the seedier it gets. I wouldn't want to live west of Hendon Way / A41, but most people would say that is Cricklewood anyways.

But generally speaking, GG is close to Hampstead Heath, Golders Hill park is glorious, and the high street is really quite useful. It has the most fantastic Turkish restaurant! (However it is also quite Jewish which means that a lot of shops on the high street are closed on Saturdays.)

Those question marks were supposed to be pound signs!

Flowers - Hither Green is 20 mins to Cannon St, 25 mins to Charing X, several outstanding schools, great parks. Drawbacks: it's not fancy, there aren't loads of bars/restaurants/cafes, but you can walk to Blackheath in 25 mins (and drool over the houses there ). I meet loads of Londoners who've never heard of it though. And I hadn't either, til DH and I were priced out of SE23, where we owned a flat but couldn't afford a house.

Definitely look at the Catford end of FH as that Catford stations go into Blackfriars, Waterloo East and Farringdon - possibly others I don't commute much myself but have used these routes for occasional trips into town. FH has the overland and London Bridge (v quick) / Victoria (slightly slower) trains. I don't drive and know loads of FH mums who don't either. You'd get something fantastic in Catford for £600 if you move quickly. Look at Blythe Hill area.

It's really worth going on a transport exploration at the weekend, this is what we've done on every house hunt and we have lived all over London and owned in Bethnal Green, Peckham (worth a look?) and now Forest Hill. Each time we chose a slightly up and coming area so if I was looking now id focus on Catford/FH borders, Catford proper or Hither Green (all houses rather than flats). I'd also consider Penge by the conservation area (lovely) parts of Sydenham(SE26) and Norwood but don't know these areas as well myself.

Thanks DancingLady I'll add it to my list of places I need to show DP on the weekend.

We are very lucky with our budget but with hours we work we do need to be v close to farringdon/Blackfriars so I guess the biggest thing for us has been trying to manage the commuting time. I currently commute for 1hr and honestly it's been killing me.

Actually the hardest part so far for me has been managing DP's expectation. He is a massive post code snob and thinks for our budget we should be able to get a 2 bed place near finchley road station or west hampstead. All because friends of his and colleagues have managed it. But I keep reminding him that they bought a few years ago and with massive family help (which we don't have)

OP are these your priorities -

Price 600k
Safety - an area you feel 'safe' in - please explain your definition of safe.
Less than 30m commute - door to door? and where to exactly?
Young and trendy - so not suburbs?

a 30 minute commute is pretty short, the average I believe is 45, so you limiting yourself to places which are automatically more expensive as they are closer in. I'm on a line into Blackfriars (Peckham Rye, zone 2) but prices round here are stupid, though I think 600K would get you and one or 2 bed flat. That line also includes Nunhead, Crofton Park and Catford - Crofton Park is nice (and you have the option of Brockley station nearby too) and cheaper than Peckham.

Flowers - we had a similar budget and only needed a 2 bed. We bought a couple of years ago in Shoreditch, which might be just out of your budget now but there are some places nearby which are walking distance to the City. We don't drive either, and wanted to be somewhere with lots for adults to do nearby. A lot of the places suggested are great for families, but as you mentioned a 1-2 bed it seems that's not your main concern.

You mention taking a break from househunting until the summer but I'd be concerned that prices would change fairly significantly even in those few months. I think we spent nearly a year househunting and prices had definitely changed from when we first looked to when we finally found a place - I think it's gone even crazier now.

A few more central suggestions - could mean a very quick commute by foot, bus or bike.

Something like this in SE1 £545k

Shoreditch E2 £560k

Bethnal Green £600k (would probably go for more)

Tower Bridge £550k