Owning your own home

west norwood - too late. estate agent there proudly told us how he had a personal hand in the rising fortunes of the area over the last ten years, and how desirable the high street is now.

catford, I'm trying not to say too much as I don't want to jinx my own efforts, but while prices there are rising crazy fast, there seems to be a bit of a mis-step all the time - estate agents were under-estimating what people were willing to bid, 6 months ago, but a place we saw that was £375k (3-bed house) a month ago has just gone back on the market at £350k. on the other hand we also viewed some 2-bed flats in same (good) condition, £350. it's a bit anyone and no-one's guess right now.

I am a bit concerned about mortgage lender's valuation not meeting our offer. anyone had experience with that?

west norwood

A lot of the Horniman market traders are also going to the Catford market.

I have had to stop going on about how much I love Catford because I am a bit scared it's going to turn into Brockley. Although hopefully the giant cat and the south circular will keep it grimy and loveable.

I avoid Catford. I'm in the middle of there and Bromley and find the latter a bit nicer. I never managed to check out that pub you recommended though - thinks it's closed now?

I am a bit concerned about mortgage lender's valuation not meeting our offer. anyone had experience with that?

A flat we went to look at in Clapton, back around this time two years ago (we had our offer accepted at the start of March 2012).

It wasn't for us - they'd taken out too many of the period features to make it fancy, and it was too expensive - but the sale had already fallen through once for exactly that reason and we heard through the grapevine it happened again.

The irony now being that property prices have gone up so much in the last two years the seller will have been kicking themselves that this happened.

The problem is often surveyors travel into London from quite far out. Ours came from Sidcup. How a surveyor from Sidcup can be expected to keep up-to-speed with property micro-bubbles on the other side of the river is beyond me...

I avoid Catford. I'm in the middle of there and Bromley and find the latter a bit nicer. I never managed to check out that pub you recommended though - thinks it's closed now?

Bromley is charmless but functional. I am sad you are missing out on Catford but each to their own. The pub is now the Catford Constitutional Club, owned by the same people who run the one in Grove Park you've tweeted about.

A flat we went to look at in Clapton, back around this time two years ago (we had our offer accepted at the start of March 2012).

It wasn't for us - they'd taken out too many of the period features to make it fancy, and it was too expensive - but the sale had already fallen through once for exactly that reason and we heard through the grapevine it happened again.

The irony now being that property prices have gone up so much in the last two years the seller will have been kicking themselves that this happened.

The problem is often surveyors travel into London from quite far out. Ours came from Sidcup. How a surveyor from Sidcup can be expected to keep up-to-speed with property micro-bubbles on the other side of the river is beyond me...

A building is a building, Shirley? Do you think surveyors scour the property section of the Sidcup Gazette in order to keep up to speed with local prices? They look at the interweb, just like you did when you found it.

Bromley is charmless but functional. I am sad you are missing out on Catford but each to their own. The pub is now the Catford Constitutional Club, owned by the same people who run the one in Grove Park you've tweeted about.

I'm still finding my feet here, to be honest. And once work, sleep and commuting is taken into account I have about five minutes a week to waste locally. Mrs Sparky took a liking to Bromley so we head that way when she comes to London from the Shires. Next time I'll try and drag her the other way.

:)

A building is a building, Shirley? Do you think surveyors scour the property section of the Sidcup Gazette in order to keep up to speed with local prices? They look at the interweb, just like you did when you found it.

you can't feel the vibe on the tinterweb though can you, that heavy odour of je ne sais quoi in the air.

I think you've stood in something.

The problem is banks using large firms of surveyors and paying tiny fees, instead of just instructing a good local surveyor.

a monkey could do a mortgage valuation. go to house. tick boxes. look up comparables. click send. next.

there is a massive difference between a mv and a full survey but no-one wants to pay for at least a day of a chartered building surveyor's time.

Interesting article in the Guardian. Even more interesting comments. Not that much sympathy there, especially among those working in London and having to live further out. Not saying what's wrong/right, but interesting to read.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/05/families-priced-out-london-homes-benefit-cap

Cheap? You sure.

There are decent(ish) streets where properties go for around 300 quid per sq foot.

Interesting article in the Guardian. Even more interesting comments. Not that much sympathy there, especially among those working in London and having to live further out. Not saying what's wrong/right, but interesting to read.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/05/families-priced-out-london-homes-benefit-cap

This also appeared at the weekend.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/01/council-tenant-move-bankers-covent-garden

If you can't even get the Guardianista to sympathise you are onto a loser. I offer no opinion on it.

there is a massive difference between a mv and a full survey but no-one wants to pay for at least a day of a chartered building surveyor's time.

Probably because building surveyors cost more pound for pound than a QC.

Do you know any?

/i'm in the wrong game.

ha - building surveying is for mugs. you want to do what I do. a bs couldn't hire me until lunch on his rates...

how long do you think it would take to conduct the initial desktop investigations, visit your house, conduct a full inspection (inside, outside, roof, garden), then research comparables, etc and write a full report?

see you at the Black Friars in... ooh... say an hour?

you're buying.

sweet

/not really
//how much does a QS qualification cost these days? can i get one off the internet?

people baulk at spending 0.25% of the value of the most expensive thing they will ever buy.

Most do the 'wine list' thing and pay a little bit more for the homebuyers survey to justify not spending the cash to themselves.

if you aren't going to pay for a full survey, you should just go with the mv from the bank and hope to fuck you don't have a £15k bill under the floorboards or the shiny paint*

*ymmv, please consult an rics chartered surveyor. or pm me for a special rate

we made that mistake. coulda knocked ten grand off for the roof that needed repairing, you're right tho - paying some cunt with a clipboard to do the house-buying equivalent of kicking the tyres is a mugs game.

people baulk at spending 0.25% of the value of the most expensive thing they will ever buy.

if you aren't going to pay for a full survey, you should just go with the mv from the bank and hope to fuck you don't have a £15k bill under the floorboards or the shiny paint

I used to work in a valuations department of a mortgage lender and we'd get this a lot. I wish I was allowed to have quoted that to any complaining customers.

anyone fancy a lunchtime pint at the black friar?

Cheap? You sure.

It's all relative, and I'm comparing to where I've looked in Clapton, Stokey, etc.

£300k can get you a Warner-looking two or three bed terraced house. That sort of money in Hackney will often only get you an iffy conversion with one bed.

I've been spotting some converted properties on the market which haven't had planning permission. Dodgy.

you're right tho - paying some cunt with a clipboard to do the house-buying equivalent of kicking the tyres is a mugs game.

true.

"there may be damp, but you'll have to get in a damp expert"
"there may be roof issues, but you'll have to get in a roof expert"
"there may be electrical issues, but you'll have to get in an electrical expert"

etc, ass-covering etc.

haha.

"based on the information we may or may not have received, you may or may not have a rights of light issue. please pay a solicitor another £15k to confirm"