How is the London property market just now - not sure where to start with an offer

[dottygamekeeper]

Its a long time since we have bought/sold a property so we feel a bit out of touch, and are not sure whether the Brexit debacle has knocked confidence in the London property market.

We are thinking of putting in an offer on a flat in Kentish Town, does anyone have a feel as to what might be a reasonable offer ie could we start at 10% below asking price or are we going to be laughed at or thought rude?

If I were selling at the moment in London and was offered 10% under the pre-Brexit price then I'd bite your arm off. There have been two property auctions that I have looked at since Brexit (auctions typically have lower guide prices than "normal" house sales). In the first, there was one London property that failed to sell. In the second, about 50-60% failed to sell and almost all the others sold at their guide price or only slightly above. So those who do this for a living feel there is a way to come down yet.

Usual caveats about if you love the flat, can afford it, it's cheaper than renting etc etc then buy it.

We are already in the process but are hearing different things. Investors are pulling out but there are plenty of buyers with not a huge amount coming on the market so demand high. But I think it depends on what / where and how much you're paying.

Just anecdote, but judging by how long properties round here (E11) stay on Rightmove, houses definitely seem to be taking longer to sell. A year or so back, couples were literally queuing down the street on open days. Haven't seen that for ages.

The market in London (and the UK) and definitely cooled. No more of this silly overbidding nonsense. I've heard of lots of people offering 10-20% lower than asking price atm and people in the process of buying trying to renegotiate their offer by that much.

The balance of power has switched to the buyer at last (yay). I got an email today from an EA which had £25k discounts off several properties above £275k so I think 10% is more than reasonable. Basically no one is buying as everyone is worried about a crash so it's a good time to try your luck with a silly offer.

www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/buying/postbrexit-property-asking-prices-continue-to-fall-as-buyers-demand-better-deals-following-vote-a102681.html

Hmm - I have heard that silly offers are being put in on London properties (10+ % below asking price), but not that they are being accepted. So, sure, put in a silly low offer but don't necessarily expect it to get you very far...

look at the market info - how much did the vendor pay? how much work has been done? is vendor still making massive profit?

How much are you prepared to pay?

Knock 20% off and make an offer.

They might say no, fine then up your price.

We sold a few months ago and had some cheeky offers in. They came back with more sensible offers and we eventually got to an agreed position.

I didn't take it personally! That's business.

Thanks for all the replies.

Vendor bought flat 4 years ago, has done nothing to it (as was new build at time) but it is in good condition and the full asking price represents almost 40% profit on the price originally paid....

I guess part of our reticence is that we know the vendor (not well, but to speak to) but maybe we man up, as Believeitornot says, and treat it purely as a business transaction.

Brexit has definitely knocked confidence in the housing market. There'll probably be less competition from other buyers. A lot of people are waiting to see if prices will drop. I've seen sellers on here and other forums complaining they've had hardly any viewings. Use this to your advantage! I don't think anyone selling now would expect to get full asking price although I guess it depends how competitively priced it is.

Good luck!

Decent houses in good locations sensibly priced still sell quickly ime it's the ones which are ambitiously price that hang around.

I'm seeing a lot more reductions and sales falling through round my way (SE4, 13, 14). Less so where my BTL is in Medway , Kent.

Interesting thread here.

We recently put in an offer 10% lower than (reduced) asking price on a 3 bedroom flat.

Sellers rejected it, a big thing was made about other buyers interested/clamouring to buy it, went to sealed bids/best & final offers.

We went with £5k under asking price...it was accepted!
But they then pulled out about a week or so later, saying they had changed their mind etc.

I personally think they are holding out for the price they want....but in this climate, had it been me, I would have taken the money & run!

They'd already "made" a 6 figure profit with the offer we made, had barely lived there for 2 or 3 years and hadn't done anything to improve the property (needed fair amount of work).

They were not in the process of buying a property- I think they had plans to sell up & move in with friends/family before finding their next home.

Anyhow, just my opinion, but I think there is a fair amount of wishing thinking and just plain greed going on with sellers/agents (as it ever was).

We are still looking and would not be ashamed or embarrassed to offer at least 10% below asking price if not more.

It's a business transaction, we're not here to make friends. If a seller is insulted by an offer below asking price, well that's fine, we'll just keep looking!

We are selling and it was very quiet until now but we had 8 viewings this weeks so not bad, it definitely looks like it's picking up.
We have priced very competitively which is why we won't accept offers under asking price. I would look at the latest sold prices as well as the for sale price of houses in the surrounding streets. At the end of the day if you make a low offer the worse that can happen is that it doesn't get accepted.

Depends where you are as ever. We are in SW15/18 and prices are certainly no lower. There are slightly fewer properties coming on the market but then, lack of supply is always an issue around here because people move here and stay here. Which in turn keeps prices high.

Our house has been on for 6 weeks with 2 viewings. Before the referendum houses in our road went in days.

There is hardly anything else available in our immediate area either. People really are holding back.

We have lost the house we wanted in another part of the country.

There are a lot of flats coming onto the market around here (assume BTLers getting out) but very few family houses.

i went to 2 open days yesterday in london - at both ones i was 1 of 2 people! pre-brexit vote there would be at least 10+ and a queue out the door. everyone else is waiting which is fine by me as there's less competition.

Azalui - just out of curiosity, where are you looking? Nothing decent coming up in my area.

kirinm - i'm looking in walthamstow, leytonstone and leyton. there's not a lot coming onto the market at the moment so you would think there would be high demand for the properties that do pop up so i was shocked it was just me and another person at these viewings yesterday especially as they're such popular areas.

are you buying too? where are you looking?

We were looking in that area at the beginning of the year and prices / competition was mental. But places that were accepting offers at £460+ actually ended up going for £420k (I've checked the land registry - I'm a bit obsessed where we've lost out)!

We changed locations and expectations as we didn't think we'd ever get an Abraham flat and that's what we were trying for. We prefer where we already are which is Peckham. We are buying in New Cross but our vendor is playing games so we are keeping an eye out just in case something comes on but it's pretty dead here.

Brexit has caused a 10% cut in central London

www.mortgageintroducer.com/property-value-falls-6-post-brexit/#.V4uVXLgrLR0

Looking at Rightmove, around SW11 there has been a lot of cuts in asking prices, I'd guess 6% would be about average. There are lots of new instructions but apparently very little sales.