Musings of a London Property Search Agent

London bargain-hunters should make their way to the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington on Monday 11th of May for the next residential auction as a few corkers are up for grabs, albeit with optimistic guide-prices in the view of this London Property Search Agent.

Our picks of the bunch include a 2 bedroom cottage in Notting Hill on the infamous Portobello Road.  It’s at the Notting Hill Gate end so not too busy but the new tenants need to be prepared for the hordes walking past the window to attend the market on Saturdays.  Savills are hoping to get over £700,000 for it, which is probably realistic but not really a bargain in this market. 

First-time buyers without the thick end of 3/4 of a million to spend might consider 2 Brayfield Terrace in Islington.  Again it needs work but with a guide price of £390,000, it offers value for someone prepared to roll up their sleeves who would otherwise be in a flat.  It’s in the heart of Barnsbury, one of the best parts of Islington for public transport as it is within 10 minutes walk of Caledonian Road tube on the Piccadilly line and 15 minutes of Highbury and Islington on the Victoria line.

Investors might consider 119 Ashfield Street Whitechapel which is currently laid out as an HMO with 7 letting rooms available, possibly 8.  It’s up for £390,000+ and since it has a history as an HMO is unlikely to make much more than that in our opinion, giving a 9% yield.  It’s not necessarily a bargain however:  there is work to be done and is a small number of period houses among many new-builds so those looking for certain short-term capital appreciation shouldn’t be willing to pay much over £350,000.  It does look fabulous though and in an area such as Whitechapel, which has been up and coming for a while, it may go for alot more.

Lastly there is a flat with no reserve in Harbut Road in Battersea, where I lived many moons ago.  The flat has no reserve but flats in this road close to Clapham Junction used to make £300,000 to £400,000 at the top of the market so given that work needs to be done, a number starting with a two would probably be good value.

Of course if you fancy buying a property at auction yourself, but aren’t sure how to go about it without regretting it forever then don’t hesitate to call this Property Search Agent on 020 7923 7564 and we will bid on your behalf or subscribe to our newsletter for some hints and tips.

Technorati Tags: London property, London Property Auction, London Property Search Agent

Tags: London property, London Property Auction, London Property Search Agent

Musings of a London Property Search Agent

After a rather depressing budget yesterday - this morning everyone has an opinion on whether or not the Chancellor is right to predict an end to the recession by the end of the year.  With the news that GDP is forecast to drop by 3.5% the Chancellor is essentially saying that the position at the end of 2009 could be so bad that the only way is up.  It’s hard to see how this will affect property prices.

Some pundits have already predicted an almighty bounce in 2010, with a similar Spring property market to that of 2007, when Property Search Agents had to get buyers in prior to properties being marketed to have a chance of securing them.

Given the preponderance of relatively high asking prices which we discussed on April 20th, see link below, I suspect that although there will inevitably be a flood of buyers to the market, as people realise they have waited too long, any bounce will very much depend on what has happened to pricing in the interim.  So those areas where asking prices are still relatively high or have jumped in comparison with 2007 and sales are going through, will fare much better than areas where there are many vendors keen to sell who have brought prices for the area down overall.  What will be interesting to see, is how fast prices in these areas jump back.  This London property search Agent will keep you informed.

http://www.manseandgarretproperty.com/property/market-news/asking-prices-up-33-in-kensington-and-chelsea

Technorati Tags: affect of recession on house prices, GDP, London property, London Property Search Agents, recession

Tags: affect of recession on house prices, GDP, London property, London Property Search Agents, recession

Rantings of a London Property Search Agent

Well it could have been a very different afternoon could it not? 

Stamp duty, REITS, empty rate relief and clarification on regulation for buy-to-lets: there is really no good news.  And what on earth are they doing pushing £80m into shared ownership schemes: pushing hard pressed first-time buyers into quarter/ half shares of over-priced one bedroom flats?  It’s a nonsense!  But don’t get me started on that little chestnut!  

Acknowledging that the housing sector is key to the recovery of the UK economy, Alistair Darling said: ‘the key to the health of our society is the long term supply of housing€™ so the government are supporting the construction industry to ensure more homes are built with £500million for stalled schemes and a further £100m to encourage local authorities to build green homes.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this to be honest, because mass-produced new-build is notoriously over-priced and frankly, unfortunately developers and investors caught in the headlights need to live with the consequences.   This is a long term fix, but has been widely criticised by the developers it is designed to help, for being unclear.  Given the fiasco of the mortgage support scheme, that is an entirely fair point.  Interestingly, although most banks closed their book to developers last year, self-builders are not struggling to get finance.  It this because their due diligence is not dependent on unsustainable sales figures?

I am most irritated about stamp duty.  Significant reductions  for property sub-£500K where 3% is payable would have assisted the market and injected a little confidence.  The extension of 0% stamp duty for transactions up to £175,000 for the rest of the year is certainly welcome, but so much more could have been done.  This is not going to help many buyers in London and therefore is pretty much irrelevant to the property market in the capital.

Technorati Tags: Business rate relief on empty properties, London property, London Property Search Agent, REITs, Stamp Duty, The budget

Tags: Business rate relief on empty properties, London property, London Property Search Agent, REITs, Stamp Duty, The budget