London Sellers £1.35m - £2m

[Notstayinginmylane]

How are you finding the process? We have been on for nearly two weeks. Our price falls somewhere between the two figures above. We are zone 2, South London, large Victorian townhouse on a lovely road. Great links to the city.

It is a comfortable family home and we have always put the most expensive of everything in here eg stone floor, granite kitchen tops, chef’s ovens etc. There is enough work to do for someone to put their own stamp on it eg paint walls but nothing structural to do.

People on here always say it’s the price but why is no one offering if it’s just the price? Slightly less grand houses near us at a lower price are also not selling. More expensive houses in surrounding areas don’t seem to be selling. I don’t know who will buy ours as it is out of reach for most first time buyers and a big stretch for those in flats. But suspect smaller houses are also not selling.

Had this been July, we would have been under offer days ago. We have had a smattering of viewings, including locals who appreciate how good the location is. But there seem to be no cash or ready buyers.

Hit me with your experiences and tell
me which bit of London you’re in… Maybe there are micro climates!

@renonovice I think you’re right. This country is only going one way and a change in government is not enough to
reverse the disaster that was Brexit nor the demographic timebomb of this country. Do you think that in the years ahead, as the babyboomers begin to die, we will actually see a proper crash, not a blip? So few have downsized.

Sorry I lost another post.

I was also going to say if you look at your example;

Bought a house for 700k with a reasonably affordable mortgage of 350k & not mega high salaries. Selling 15 yrs later for double although I know you have spent money on work. I assume you are over 40 but today that's not achievable to under 40s unless they have mega salaries &/or bank of mum & dad or got on the ladder at 20 (unusual in the last decade) so built equity. It's a different landscape.

@Notstayinginmylane I have read that theory but honestly don't know & don't think there will be a crash. I do think we won't see anything like the growth in the 90s & 00s in the next 10-20 years. Will the people paying 1.5m for your home be able to sell it for 3m in 2038? I'm not sure.

Cynically I think the gov may try and tap into that property "wealth" or it will happen by stealth. You need that operation, well it's a 2 yr wait. We can't find any decent carers for you, etc.

The issue of cheap debt & asset inflation is that it masked wage stagnation or at least made it more palatable. But it's now exposed & I'm also not sure how the gov can convince younger generations to pay more tax, retire later but that's another conversation!

All very relevant @renonovice . Perhaps there is little point in tying up more capital in property when it’s just going to get siphoned off too.

I feel like we are in for some difficult times however hopefully I'm wrong!

Depends on the interactions the seller gives the agent. If seller says I’m only interested in offers higher than xx then what’s the point going to seller to say well I know you want offers higher than xx but here is an offer less than yy???

So what’s driving the desire to move?

You say current house is lovely in a nice area and no mortgage if I read that right, but want to move to a more expensive house with more debt on higher rates that will require 500k of renovations.

We have been here 15 years and that’s the only reason. It’s the fear of stagnating and I like a challenge. Current house is maxed so can’t improve it save redecorating. The other area is more ££ so in theory better investment/leafier. Our area is younger so more established area may be a better fit as we grow old. If we didn’t have DC I would want to tear it all up and relocate. Oh and DH getting old so may be put out to pasture/get too nervous about taking on mortgage soon.

nice work x

we were lucky to able to buy our 2m property for cash. I would not be comfortable taking out a loan at this size

We recently completed on a house just over the top end of your price bracket. 4 bed Victorian terrace in NW1, so pretty central. Sale agreed in September (sellers delayed completion). It's not a perfect house, we want to reconfigure some rooms to suit our family, and a little tired looking (it was renovated 10 years ago but had a family living there since). High end fittings, but they've had a fair few years of use.

We found that there was very little for sale at that price in our area - some smaller houses at 1.5M (which we'd quickly outgrow) or slightly bigger 5 beds but 3M+. Spent about 9 months looking and there is even less on sale now.

It's way too early in the year yet OP. People will barely be getting their act together re moving so don't worry about lack of activity. It'll come, you may just have to wait for it until maybe the end of February when temps start to thaw and the coming spring makes people wake from their winter hibernation.

Thanks @PeachDelany . I am not hopeful despite the offers as I think both sets have to sell first too… People have only looked at our place as things never come up on our street so weren’t looking to move but wanted to look.

The only problem is, we can’t secure the onward purchase without a firm offer on ours. It may seem crazy but it’s a good opportunity for us as the area we are looking at is usually insanely expensive.

I think you should always look at your house as a home, never an investment.

You seem to have it good, OP. A great house that you can afford, a happy family. A young area will keep you young. Maybe look for challenge, fulfilment, whatever in something other than housing project?

When did you get that offer? No matter how good the broker is they still can only work with the market, right? If not can you please give me their details?!

Zombie thread but interesting reading anyway.

Particularly the references to the house price crash crew (HPC) who made their presence known in that thread early on.

Hope that @Notstayinginmylane managed to make the move she wanted and took no notice of the jealous comments sent her way.