Westhill London Property Markets: Anybody have any comments?

[johperks]

I am based in Jakarta, Indonesia and I am thinking of buying an investment property in London. My budget is in the hundreds of thousands of UK pounds and not millions. It has been suggested to me that North and Northwest London is still affordable. And the prices are growing up about 10% a year. Anybody have any comments?

 

[samuelhope]

A flat might be a good option depends if you want to rent it. An empty flat might be costing you next to nothing. Sellers might assume you can afford to keep it empty, whereas if you have tenants in then they might assume you cannot afford it. Damn sure I would not be renting my UK house out if I could afford to keep it empty.

 

[arianaacker]

Not sure there is a right answer to this one. I have waited until a tenants lease was up and then put my house on the market in London. Some potential buyers had a view that the house was "unloved" as it was tenanted and then for sale. It wasn't in poor condition, its just that seeing a house unfurnished can be difficult for some viewers.

You probably need to think of how the tenants will present the house and whether there is any chance they will not want to move and thus put buyers off?

I would probably put it on the market tenanted, as long as the tenants were ok with it - unless you can afford to pay the mortgage for a while with no rent, as it is likely to take a little longer to sell and then average 2/3 months for completion.
Good luck,
Scotty

 

[danweirt]

Westhill property consultants London specialize in properties around North and Northwest London, I found them helpful. You will find their website if you look at the search engines.

 

[madisonwalker]

Yup! I used Westhill property consultants and I found them helpful.

 

[jamirpahn]

Don’t use just one estate agency, there are hundreds. Goodluck!

 

[josephcarmichael]

As someone who looked at about 30 properties for sale earlier this year I was always sceptical of the properties that were empty. Subconsciously I felt no one wanted to live there. I got a much better vibe from places that were occupied. They felt like they were loved and lived in rather than cold and empty.

 

[A Dashing Blade]

Guys . . . no-one on this forum is impressed by first-time posters having a conversation with themselves. Viral marketing is so last century.

 

[NVP]

I am based in Jakarta, Indonesia and I am thinking of buying an investment property in London. My budget is in the hundreds of thousands of UK pounds and not millions. It has been suggested to me that North and Northwest London is still affordable. And the prices are growing up about 10% a year. Anybody have any comments?

spare me ...........

 

[patwolf]

After holding on to our North London flat for almost 3 years and hoping the market would improve, we are now going to take the plunge in 2011. We have had decent tenants in it this whole time, so cant really complain in that regard. We also have amazing managing agents looking after it, if anyone is looking for good property managers just PM me.

Dilemma is: My husband thinks a vacant flat looks like you are serious and would sell easier, I think it smacks of desperation. We only have to give our tenants 2 months notice to vacate. Spring used to be a good time to put a property on the market in London, is this still the case? Any advice and tips to navigate the current market would be appreciated. We live in Sydney now so our knowledge of the London market is a bit out dated. Alas, we remember the good old day

 

[nathan265]

They always say empty houses sell better, but I've bought 3 houses in my life and each time part of the appeal was the stuff the other people had. I liked their style and that helped me to see how the house could look with my stuff in it. So you're getting lots of conflicting advice and opinions - sorry!

 

[tiffanywesthill]

For what its worth, I tend to believe that the home should not be vacant, this is why property `stagers` are becoming increasingly invaluable in the sale of houses - they sell a lifestyle which is difficult to do when the property is empty. Cape Blue mentioned the baking and coffee - so true - I bought an apartment in South Africa, and when I went to view it, the owner had just made herself a delicious bacon and egg breakfast - I walked in and knew it was for me (actually it was stunning, right on the sea front, with amazing views from every room) I ended up buying it because I could see myself there, eating my brekkie on the balcony!

However if I was in your shoes, I might be inclined to keep the property, at least the tenants are responsible, as are the management company.

Having said all that, the problem with having tenants is that they will see viewings as a pain in the butt and will not go to as much trouble as you would to ensure the house is squeaky clean and totally presentable. This can be detrimental, as they may even point out small irritations with your property. Not a good situation to be in, especially if they are not happy about their move and wish to prolong their stay.

Good luck, I am sure you will choose the right course in the end

 

[matthewnobles25]

FYI, as to the above answers regarding using Westhill property consultants London. They were okay but I did not use them in the end. There are so many other specialist agencies.