Am I a fool to sell my flat in London for 10k less than what I bought it for in 2017?

[Ellax]

Will be losing about 70k including the stamp duty and renovations I did to the place but it’s not really suitable for us any more with the stairs and buggy. Should I wait for things to improve or do you think the market will stay crappy for years to come?

TIA !!

increased remote working will mean people can live further out

Eventually London house prices will have to come down or at least stagnate if less people are getting on the bottom rung as historically so much of it is driven by equity.

If all houses are 1m who will be buying them as not enough people earn high 6 figs? Plus we now have higher taxes thanks to covid & I reckon future increases in CGT & IHT.

@mars2

increased remote working will mean people can live further out

I'm not convinced remote working is going to be as popular as it might have seemed after the first lockdown. Will have to wait and see I guess.

Living in the outer zones and commuting in even if it is only a couple of days a week increases travel costs massively.

I can only talk for my peers who admittedly did already wfh 1-2 days a wk which will now increase to 3-4 days.

Lots of friends/neighbours already moved to z 5/6 pre covid.

Plus if you have flexi hours you can avoid peak travel.

Our commute costs will probably be higher however we get a much bigger house so it's worth it imo.

we only stayed where we are for so long as DH & I are both locals so great to have gps around the corner for childcare but dc are older now.

I realise you don't want to say too much

If it's a nice bit of Zone 1 and you can rent it out, I'd do that.

Our garden is small but thank god we have one. I can imagine a lot of people value a garden more now.

I'd go for it. Because even if prices do rise the chances are your new house will probably go up more than a flat would.

It's so tricky knowing what the London market will do. For my two cents, I reckon if the pandemic had ended after six months, WFH etc would have carried on indefinitely. But a year+ has given people and companies time to spot the many downsides. I think London will bounce back this summer, with the market picking up fast. Lockdown has made me YEARN for London's bars and culture and people and fun. I think there are a lot of people on Mumsnet in particular who want to convince themselves that WFH will last forever, and of course, there will be a shift. But it's already peaked. There is also the brutal reality that the jobs that are easiest to shift to WFH are also the ones that are easiest to outsource altogether to India. I genuinely think people who have upped sticks to the middle of nowhere and honestly think it won't impact on their careers (or, more specifically, their salaries) are wildly optimistic.

I would absolutely agree that moving to the sticks & wfh 100% would be a crazy thing to do.
I already wfh 1/2 the time & work locally & like my time in the office. DH already did a bit from home. Tbh I don't know many big firms eg Big 4, MC law firms, CS who didn't already have some remote working.

The pandemic has just made my mind shift & whereas before I was happy in z3 in a small house but now I want more space for the same price as I don't want more disposable income tied up, life is too short!

In the 80s & 90s inner London zones were not that desirable compared to the outer leafy suburbs & home counties, so maybe it's just a cycle back to that. My parents house cost about 50k in the mid 80s in z 2/3.

For those in SE London - which agents did you use?

@kirinm round our way I’d use PJ. We’ve dealt with them a lot in various ways; I wouldn’t invite them to my birthday party iyswim but they’re good at what they do.

I work in a law firm and we only ever did 1 day wfh. I think that could possibly increase to 2 but colleagues are totally fed up with wfh and junior staff really benefit from being able to speak with more senior staff when they're training. I am glad that I am more senior because I think I would have really struggled over the last year otherwise.

DH works for MC law firm & remote working always existed. We both would hate wfh 5 days a wk.

Moving from z3 to z5/6 & commuting for 3-4 days is not that big a deal imo. Some trains are faster than the Northern Line!

@mars2

DH works for MC law firm & remote working always existed. We both would hate wfh 5 days a wk.

Moving from z3 to z5/6 & commuting for 3-4 days is not that big a deal imo. Some trains are faster than the Northern Line!

It's not the time - well, it is especially as southern and south western wee notoriously shit but the increased cost.

I can't see how you can skip the flat buying stage in London. In my area, you're looking at £700k for a house of any kind and those are very few and far between. £800-900k is more realistic

That's just not true. Of course there are houses for less than £700k in London. You can get a 3 bed for £500k in SW London.

@BootsScootsAndToots

I can't see how you can skip the flat buying stage in London. In my area, you're looking at £700k for a house of any kind and those are very few and far between. £800-900k is more realistic

That's just not true. Of course there are houses for less than £700k in London. You can get a 3 bed for £500k in SW London.

Can you? How far south west are you talking?

Oh yes I acknowledge the increased cost but for us it won't make a big difference as it won't impact me & DH won't be doing it everyday plus the cost is outweighed by the fact we can get a much bigger property for a similar price.

Ah Rightmove says there are 110 houses for sale in the entirety of south west London mainly in Mitcham. So as long as you want to live in Mitcham you're okay.

You need to try and forget the price you paid as that has no bearing on what it's worth now. It's classic investor psychology to "anchor" the value of an asset to the price you paid, we all do it, but it's irrational.

Kirin, it's all very well being snooty about properties under £500k or areas of London like Mitcham, but doesn't that display a considerable lack of empathy and appreciation of the budget of the majority of people, including those who are first time buyers, second time buyers and forever home buyers.

There will always be people who are very keen to live in MItcham because it enables them to have a journey to work which is sensible for them and gives them a family house they can afford. Why sneer at that?

@kirinm Not Mitcham, and I meant to add zone 3 in SW London.

But you made the point nicely - you think you're too good for somewhere you can actually afford 😂

@WombatChocolate

Kirin, it's all very well being snooty about properties under £500k or areas of London like Mitcham, but doesn't that display a considerable lack of empathy and appreciation of the budget of the majority of people, including those who are first time buyers, second time buyers and forever home buyers.

There will always be people who are very keen to live in MItcham because it enables them to have a journey to work which is sensible for them and gives them a family house they can afford. Why sneer at that?

I'm not being snooty - believe me I live in a not very nice area that is probably only 'expensive' because it's not too far from the city. It's still not very nice. I don't want to live in Mitcham or Croydon. There's lots of places that I don't want to live. My point is that jumping up the ladder is not easy. Moving areas and having to set up an entirely new social network / schools / nurseries etc isn't jumping up the ladder, it's changing everything.

[quote BootsScootsAndToots]@kirinm Not Mitcham, and I meant to add zone 3 in SW London.

But you made the point nicely - you think you're too good for somewhere you can actually afford 😂[/quote]
You have no idea what I can or can't afford or where I actually live.