Musings of a London Property Buyers Agent

A disgruntled Leicester Estate Agent has placed an ad in a local newspaper, warning vendors and other agents of the underhand tactics of an investment purchaser, who tried to gazunder by dropping his offer at the last minute which meant a chain of three purchases fell apart.

According to Estate Agent Today, the advert reads: €œWe have had 3 house sales fall through this week due to the actions of SFS Investments of Barkby Road, Leicester. Be Warned!!!€

Michael Wolfe, a partner of Leicester Premier Estate Agents said, €œI was so upset for our vendors  when these clients reduced their prices, effectively pulling out of the sale.

€œOne of the clients has just had a baby, another one is heavily pregnant, and the other was already distressed at selling the family home following the death of her father.

€œThese €˜purchasers€™ are so emotionally detached from the buying process that they have no regard. They quite blatantly strung along these clients to the point where they had packed their belongings and were ready to move.€

He also criticised HIPs, adding, €œAs these particular clients have an in-house conveyancing arm and with HIPs putting the onus to provide all legal documentation on to the property owner, they are able to walk away from the transaction without having incurred a single penny in expense.”

We’ve seen a great deal in the press recently about the North South divide in respect of the recovery of the property market with reports that it’s still grim up North for anyone involved in property, but certainly in the South East, there seems to be less gazundering these days.  The market changed markedly between March and May of this year and after a slow start, as predicted, buyers are piling in concerned that they missed the bottom of the market. 
 
From our perspective as London Property Buyers Agents, while there is so little stock around, gazumping is more likely to happen than gazundering, particularly when buyers have negotiated a good deal and then can’t proceed quickly.  The moral of the story is get organised.  Send in a surveyor quickly, stick to your word and make sure the vendor sticks to theirs.  If it all goes pear-shaped, you could always name and shame!

Technorati Tags: London Buyer's Agents, London Property Buyers Agent, London Property Buyers Agents

Tags: London Buyer's Agents, London Property Buyers Agent, London Property Buyers Agents

Musings of a London Property Buyers Agent

Last year, a Bristol property developer failed to sell his latest £1 million house, even after reducing the price by £300,000 so he joined the swathes of developers, selling gimmicks with their overpriced homes, by offering a second hand Ferrari to the buyer.  Valuing the Ferrari at £100,000, he bought it specifically to entice buyers to offer, but after nine months on the market and huge local publicity in the Bristol Evening Post, the house has failed to sell.

Maybe it’s just because we’re based in London, but I would suggest that most people owning million pound property aren’t interested in Ferraris, but being more flash than class, the developer seems to be tarring all buyers of neo-Georgian property with the same brush!

But I digress.  To add insult to injury, we just priced a red Ferrari F430 Coupe with a 2005 plate and according to Parkers Guide, similar cars are on sale for £80K and £90K.  Which begs the question, if he is marketing an £80K car for £100K, does that mean his £1million pound house is only worth £800K?  Or less?

Credibility gone I think!

If you want to buy a million pound house which is worth £1million or more, come and talk to your favourite London Property Buyers Agents.  (That’s us), in case you had forgotten.

Technorati Tags: Buyers agents, Gimmicks, London Buyer's Agents, London Property Buyers Agents, Property sales gimmicks

Tags: Buyers agents, Gimmicks, London Buyer's Agents, London Property Buyers Agents, Property sales gimmicks

Musings of a London Buyers Agent

It’s a well-known fact that The Bishops Avenue in Hampstead is one of the most expensive and well-known residential streets in the UK.  Large detached houses on substantial plots of land with (mostly) quiet gardens means it appeals to many people.  Proximity to Hampstead Heath, the chi-chi boutiques of Hampstead village and good road transport links add to it’s appeal.  But perhaps it is the fact that so many of the beautiful 30s houses have been pulled down and replaced with  varying degrees of success, which really make it an attractive street in which to buy property these days.

Inevitably the replacements are several times the size of the originals and very much more grand, so now, it is not uncommon for buyers to purchase with the sole intention to rip down the existing monstrosity and start again, nor is it likely the planners will refuse permission.  Heck, there’s already several rather hideous blocks of flats there now.  Though why anyone would want to part with several million for an admittedly fabulous flat when you could buy a lovely detached in a classier road round the corner, beats me.  You can always pay for a house-sitter or security patrol, after all.

One of the problems The Bishops Avenue has, which neighbouring streets don’t have so much of an issue with, is that many of the houses are 2nd, 3rd or 8th homes and rarely lived in.  So although most people have retained the required security / maintenance people, not everyone does and some houses look decidedly scruffy.  Inevitably, this gets noticed and as The Telegraph reports today, Lakshmi Mittal et al now have a set of squatters as neighbours.

According to The Telegraph, the 3 men are describing themselves as ‘good squatters’.  Apparently the house is virtually derelict and they have plastered ceilings, reconnected the electrics and repaired two of the bathrooms, which doesn’t sound too bad.  I wonder what the neighbours think of the ‘occasional parties’ and barbecues on Sundays though?  The Royal families from Saudi Arabia and Brunei both have properties in the area but I can’t really see either of them popping round for a burger.

We’ve just completed a load of research for a Client who has just had an offer accepted on a new home and are about to do some more for another Client whose offer was accepted yesterday and we will find out exactly who lives next door.  So if you don’t want to find you’ve bought next door to squatters, Manse and Garret might just be the Buyers Agents for you.

Technorati Tags: Buyers Agent, Hampstead, London Buyer's Agents, Property in Hampstead, Squatters, The Bishops Avenue

Tags: Buyers Agent, Hampstead, London Buyer's Agents, Property in Hampstead, Squatters, The Bishops Avenue