How much for my north London flat?

[northlondon1]

We bought our 3-bed flat, a Victorian conversion, in Archway in 2016 for £815k. I'm getting such different views from two estate agents as to how the local market for flats is doing, and how much our flat would fetch now. One is saying as low as £750k, the other £850k. It's a beautiful flat, spacious (1200 sq ft), terrace but no garden.

We're looking to sell to buy a bigger place. It feels like the market for terraced houses in the area is on the up, and quite significantly.

Would anyone in the local area, particularly any estate agents, care to comment?

Oh wow @Itscoldouthere I've never heard of Brickworks before, but like what I see. The properties are all beautiful. However, I think they might be overpriced... for example, Mercers Road is off Holloway Road, I'm honestly shocked they think a 2-bed flat there can command £845k. It's near Yerbury School and all, but it's definitely not as upmarket as Whitehall Park. But maybe I don't know squat and they're right? I'm going to contact them for sure and have a chat. Thank you.

@northlondon1 I think Brickworks have quite a targeted market, they style some homes before selling (I know someone who does this for them) so I think they do know what they are doing, although I’ve recently had emails from them on price reductions but it’s always flats with no outside space. All of their properties are generally very tidy and stylish, not quite The Modern House but not tatty run of the mill either.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

Is it worth comparing with flats in nearby areas like Crouch End or Gospel Oak?
Keep checking Rightmove regularly as it will give you a much better picture than a one off snapshot. How long places stay on the market, how long before prices are reduced etc. I've been looking to buy in North London (various parts of haringey) and properties are selling very quickly although I have to admit I've only been looking at places with gardens.

I think your latest valuation over 900K is an obvious overvalu to win busimness. Agree with pp that realitically you can sell for 800+ but who knowsd how much over.
Hence I was saying earlier I'd put it on 830 and see. I bet there will be several offers! It's spacious, well-presented and has a terrace, 5min to tube.
This is one of the best areas in London for large green spaces!
If you were in, say, Holloway even people would want a garden more, I do think in your case the terrace would be enough to many.

sorry for typos!

London property valuations are so difficult and really location specific. In terms of the perosn who might buy yours, which other specific areas would they look? Can you then get some examples of the price brackets in these places and try to map on your flat?

t's near Yerbury School and all, but it's definitely not as upmarket as Whitehall . I think it’s the Yerbury factor! Some people are willing to pay a premium for certain schools. And Mercers Road is a nice Road and I’d say way more upmarket than Whitehall Park. It’s a journo and actor enclave!

It's really not more upmarket. The more typical property prices for the streets around Mercers St vs. our street testify to this fact. The Yerbury factor isn't that big. It's strange that Brickworks has priced them so highly, but they could well price our street even more highly - can report back!

Maybe things have changed, (mine are now at uni) but when I lived in Muswell Hill we had quite a few friends who moved up from Yerbury to go to secondary school, they certainly felt it was as good as the primary schools in MH and had only moved house for Fortismere/APS.

Sorry itscold- I wasn't pooping on Yerbury, it's a great school. I just meant the streets around Yerbury, whilst desirable and expensive, are generally cheaper than equivalent properties in Whitehall Park. It's likely to do with their proximity to Holloway rather than Highgate. This is just my observation from looking at properties over the last few years.

Are secondaries good in MH? We have toyed with staying in north London for our next (and final) move, but I'm just so worried about secondary. Which ones are the good ones, and how big are their catchment areas typically? Primaries seem to have the tiniest catchments, with Yerbury being a prime example.

@northlondon1 well getting in good state secondary schools is much more stressful than primary school, lots of really good state primaries in North London.
I’m not up to date as my children have left school, but Muswell Hill has been a place people move to for schools for years, especially if you want mixed sex state education, I believe it still is, although think APS has overtaken Fortismere. That’s one of the reasons houses are expensive in MH, catchment areas are surprisingly small seeing how big the schools are.
I don’t know how old your children are, but it all creeps up on you quickly. We moved from Islington to MH initially for primary, but made sure we were in catchment for secondary as we knew (at the time Fortismere) was very good, so glad we did think long term as it was so stressful for some of our primary friends who were out of catchment for secondary.
I would say if you think you might want to stay in your next house for a long time then you should at least have an idea about secondary schools, however if you think you may have a few moves, then don’t worry too much.

@Itscoldouthere the next move will be the final! The stamp duty is crazy, can't keep paying it

So we just sold our 1-bed gardenless flat in Archway through JTM homes. EA thought it was worth around £330k - £335k. Suggested we put it on the market for £350k to see what happened.

We sold within two weeks for £340k. This happened all within the last few months, so stamp duty holiday helped.

We bought the place around 10 years ago. The price inflated hugely between 2011 and 2016, but slowed down a lot after 2016.

I love Archway and would have stayed there happily (zone 2 station; Hampstead Heath on the doorstep;) but it was getting too expensive.

I think what would put me off your flat is the lack of garden. People after a 3-bed usually have a family (or want to start one). When we were looking for our next property, outside space was a 'must-have'.

Would you recommend JTM, Edge? I haven't yet spoken with them.

I wonder if people looking for a 'family home' in Archway would be after a 4 or 5 bed anyway, so our place would be a transition on the ladder, so perhaps less of an expectation of a garden?

JTM did well for us. They’re long established in the area and the EA was quite upfront about the ceiling cost a flat like ours would have. I don’t think he would have suggested a figure that wasn’t attainable. It’s worth giving them a go.

I agree that a 3-bed is a ‘transition’ home rather than a lifelong family home. Obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but as second-steppers we definitely wanted outside space. It didn’t have to be big and we would have considered a large balcony and/or a shared garden at this stage. However for us it was a non-negotiable requirement. That’s not to say other people won’t feel differently.

The place we live in now has a small courtyard garden. We expect to stay here for around 5 years. Our next property must be house and must have a decent sized garden.

A garden less flat in Archway may be good for a “half-way house” for rehabilitating ex cons. Perhaps give Pentonville a ring.

Thanks Edge! I'll give them a ring did you manage to negotiate their fees with them?

@TomatoSoup69 that's exactly where we are. Bloody marvellous isn't it😊

Surely a large terrace (that OP has) is an outside space, Edge,.
i'd say marginally better than a small courtyard garden as these are often dark / bit well-like (obviously there ar nice ones too deending on location but terraces are no worse imo).

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/98538053#/ This one is on for £900k by David Andrew.

The terrace would put me off as you couldn’t let children use it unsupervised.

Thanks datestamp for looking that up

That maisonette presents well but it's on a main road. I love their ambition, £900k cmon!

too much for a 2-bed flat, and a busy-ishh road.
DateStamp it's no good for small boistreous kids, I agree, but a couple with school age kids wouldn't mind a terrace, I think.

We are in N10 so closeby in North London. I think most people want some access to outdoor space even if it's a small one especially at that price range.
If you are not in a rush to move, I would wait for covid situation to be over. Once it's life back to normal with people heading back to office, there will be more people interested.

I agree it seems overpriced but it would be worth watching to see if and when it sells and fir how much.

I’m not sure I could trust any child of mine not to fall off a terrace!