Musings of the London Property Buyers Agents

We’re no experts on the American property market - actually, we know nothing about the American property market but for us in London, a 36% drop sounds like very bad news - normally reserved for the repossessions market.

So has Hef been foreclosed?  Apparently not, but according to the Wall Street Journal, he and Mrs Hef (they split in 1998) have apparently accepted an offer of $18 million, $10 million less than the asking price from 25 year old Daren Metropoulos, the son of C. Dean Metropoulos, a super-successful private equity investor.

The house in question is not Playboy Mansion, where Hugh Hefner still lives with the ‘playmates’ but the smaller version next door where his wife had been living.

So was it just grossly over-priced to begin with or has Hugh taken a hit where it hurts?  There are a few top end drops in London at the moment, but they are almost exclusively the reserve of the handful of people like us in the know.  If you need London Property Buyers Agents who might just be able to secure a similar gem, in London, you can contact us here.

Technorati Tags: Buyers agents, Hugh Hefner's house, Hugh Hefner's house for sale, London Property Buyers Agents, property buyers agents

Tags: Buyers agents, Hugh Hefner's house, Hugh Hefner's house for sale, London Property Buyers Agents, property buyers agents

Giggles from the offices of London Property Buyers Agents

What a fabulous story for a Friday blog.

It turns out that two weeks ago, Boris Johnson erected a weird wooden shed on the first floor roof of his Grade II listed home in Angel.  But yesterday, Islington planners instructed him to pull it down after a tip-off from a disgruntled neighbour.  Most people would be pretty fed up that NIMBY neighbours complained and for the planners involvement but according to many newspaper reports, Bojo is apparently ‘grateful for the advice’.  Isn’t that nice?

Maybe Boris has just realised that sticking an ugly shed on top of a roof has tarnished any pretensions he had to being a ‘classy bloke’.

Technorati Tags: Boris Johnson, Islington house, plannning permission, shed

Tags: Boris Johnson, Islington house, plannning permission, shed

Musings of a London Property Buyers Agent

It seems that we have talked of nothing but house prices this week, so we thought we’d turn our attention to the desirability of further house price falls and soaring prices to help readers make up their own minds.

Firstly, if the market crashes again, here are the good things:

• Non-homeowners may be able to afford their own homes
• There will be more repossessions for those in a position to buy
• House prices in some areas will fall lower than the initial build cost, which is good for buyers

And the negatives:

• Many people will go into negative equity and some will lose their homes
• Bankruptcies will increase
• To some extent, the gap will widen between the rich and the poor

And the good things about a soaring market place:

• Some people will make an awful lot of money
• Downsizers can release cash to fund a new chapter in their lives, such as school fees, retirement etc 
• Existing homeowners are spared the worry of being in negative equity

And the bad:

• Wannabe-homeowners need to borrow more to live in smaller homes
• Fewer people will be able to buy a home of their own
• The chasm between rich and poor could widen as more people choose to rent as opposed to buy, lining the pockets of landlords

So the moral of the story in the view of this Property Buyers Agents is a steady, stable property market is the best thing for us all.  People with skill will still make money in property and some amateurs will struggle.  Confidence will return to the market and people will be able to move when they want to, without losing money - if they bought well in the first place of course!

Technorati Tags: House Prices, London Property Buyers Agent, London Property Buyers Agents, property slump

Tags: House Prices, London Property Buyers Agent, London Property Buyers Agents, property slump