Location, Location, Location - Thurs 5th Sept - East Dulwich

[Laur]

Yippee Marmora Man is still around !

[Louisa]

Areas do change, and I'm resigned to that fact. I just think inflated property prices are caused by people who move here just for the sale of moving.

Louisa.

[MrBen]

And what about all the cabbies (I meet a lot working late) who lived here since childhood before selling up for a cool half mil+ to the influx and now trading quite nicely from a fancy house in Bromley/Orpingtom/? Plenty similar stories. They all could have done something for any kids with that equity. And they didn't have to move out.

[MrBen]

I have empathy for anyone with family here who can't afford to buy to be near them. But to not acknowledge all of the locals who've moved out and to make a buck and what that means is rather short sighted.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Also, it's not cheaper to live out in the home counties and commute in when you add in the cost of a ?4-6,000 a year season ticket to the cost of your monthly mortgage. In the contact of that extra ?400 a month for a season ticket, on top of your mortgage, East Dulwich and Forest Hill are actually relatively good value.

[StraferJack]

not necessarily cheaper but mortgage companies won't add that 4-6k season ticket onto the amount they will lend you if yuo decide to look in Forest Hill/East Dulwich

[davidh]

disappointing programme. east dulwich got barely a mention plus a few shots of lordship lane, majoring on the a-board outside the defunct sewing shop. beats me how forest hill is preferable to us.

[Otta]

davidh Wrote:

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> disappointing programme. east dulwich got barely a

> mention plus a few shots of lordship lane,

> majoring on the a-board outside the defunct sewing

> shop. beats me how forest hill is preferable to

> us.

I think this is one of my favourite ever posts.

[Jeremy]

Didn't see the show... but Forest Hill is better value, more 'up-and-coming' (therefore potential for profit if that's what you're after), possibly has bigger houses, and has cracking pubs in the shape of The Sylvan Post and The Hob. It's not the most beautiful area, but I can see why people might go for it.

[Earl Aelfheah]

FH has the east london line too.

[LondonMix]

Exactly. The couple preferred ED as a location just not the flat they could afford there. It was shoe box!

[PN33]

Where do they find these properties?! We are having such difficulty finding any one-beds within 2 miles of SE15 for less than ?250k that isn't either ex-Local Authority (with huge service charge) or a total dump that needs another ?50k or so spending on it! Similarly to that berk with the trainers, I would have made an offer on that Forest Hill flat straight away

[Twirly]

PN33 that was probably shot back in the spring. Sadly for buyers, property prices have increased quite a bit since then (7% in 3 months on my flat) so the prices on that programme are probably out of date already. I definitely think the FH flat they bought was better value for money, the ED place had no storage at all.

[Blackcurrant]

PN33 Wrote:

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> Where do they find these properties?! We are

> having such difficulty finding any one-beds within

> 2 miles of SE15 for less than ?250k that isn't

> either ex-Local Authority (with huge service

> charge) or a total dump that needs another ?50k or

> so spending on it! Similarly to that berk with the

> trainers, I would have made an offer on that

> Forest Hill flat straight away

Try Nunhead. The 250K stamp duty barrier is still holding back the price of a lot of flats in places like Ivydale Road. You can find large victorian 2 bedroom flats, but under 250k will need a little work. Once refurbed they are worth nearer 300.

The north end of Ivydale is an easy walk to Brockley for the east london line.

[PN33]

> Try Nunhead. The 250K stamp duty barrier is still

> holding back the price of a lot of flats in places

> like Ivydale Road. You can find large victorian 2

> bedroom flats, but under 250k will need a little

> work. Once refurbed they are worth nearer 300.

>

> The north end of Ivydale is an easy walk to

> Brockley for the east london line.

Nunhead is our number one spot! We are desperately trying to find somewhere around there, and cannot exceed the 250 mark as the deposit alone has been a stretch, paying 3% stamp duty upfront would cripple us. We have been looking every day for the past month and barely anything comes up in Nunhead... it seems by the time we see anything it's already under offer. We are going on a big scouting mission tomorrow though, fingers crossed!

[Twirly]

Don't forget that August is traditionally a quiet month for properties coming on the market and don't lose hope.

[PN33]

Twirly Wrote:

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> Don't forget that August is traditionally a quiet

> month for properties coming on the market and

> don't lose hope.

Thanks for that. I was told the same thing from an estate agent, so naturally disregarded it :-)

[LondonMix]

Try to make friends with some of the agents. They are slime but it makes a big difference. A lot of properties don't even make it to market as agents preview them to select favoured clients on their books. It happens a lot. We have both recently sold and bought this way in ED.

[PN33]

LondonMix Wrote:

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> Try to make friends with some of the agents. They

> are slime but it makes a big difference. A lot of

> properties don't even make it to market as agents

> preview them to select favoured clients on their

> books. It happens a lot. We have both recently

> sold and bought this way in ED.

Thankyou for this; it is also part of our masterplan. It's hard to do when my girlfriend and I both work full-time but we have made a list of all local estate agents (28 by our count) and we plan on seeing as many of them as possible tomorrow and calling the others next week. Thanks a lot for this advice by the way, we are first time buyers and any tips are greatly appreciated

[AcedOut]

Look at places for sale on Rightmove, bypass the agent and drop a letter though the door to arrange a private viewing. If they sell to you, they save the estate agent fees.

[LondonMix]

Yeah, but a lot of places don't even get on to Rightmove.

[PN33]

AcedOut Wrote:

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> Look at places for sale on Rightmove, bypass the

> agent and drop a letter though the door to arrange

> a private viewing. If they sell to you, they save

> the estate agent fees.

Would many sellers go for this do you think? I always thought that it was the convenience/service offered by estate agents when selling which earned their relative crust

[AcedOut]

Some may, but it does also depend on the contract they have signed with the agent.

[PN33]

Ok thanks. Many properties just list the street name and don't mention the number which could be explained by this strategy! But in many cases the properties are probably identifiable somehow if there's an image of the outside front. Thanks for the tip!

[Blackcurrant]

PN33 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> > Try Nunhead. The 250K stamp duty barrier is

> still

> > holding back the price of a lot of flats in

> places

> > like Ivydale Road. You can find large victorian

> 2

> > bedroom flats, but under 250k will need a

> little

> > work. Once refurbed they are worth nearer 300.

> >

> > The north end of Ivydale is an easy walk to

> > Brockley for the east london line.

>

>

> Nunhead is our number one spot! We are desperately

> trying to find somewhere around there, and cannot

> exceed the 250 mark as the deposit alone has been

> a stretch, paying 3% stamp duty upfront would

> cripple us. We have been looking every day for the

> past month and barely anything comes up in

> Nunhead... it seems by the time we see anything

> it's already under offer. We are going on a big

> scouting mission tomorrow though, fingers crossed!

At the moment there is almost nothing on Rightmove. Same story all over London. The main reason for this is extremely low mortgage rates, which means very few people who are financially stretched need to sell. In a normal market there are always a fair few "forced sellers", e.g. overstretched landlords who can't cover the mortgage with rent or people made redundant etc. and find they need to downsize in a hurry. When the BoE cut rates to near zero all the forced sellers disappeared, supply dried up, and prices shot up. This isn't normal and won't continue indefinitely.