5 Jun 07 Flatpack fantastic
This weekend we finished setting up the shelving in the living room, all that flatpack goodness brought to us by Ikea. It looks quite good and best of all having surplus shelving is something we desperately need, as storage space here is very limited. The cardboard box mountain that formed from the move, these shelves and also the bedroom furniture flatpack, has now been bundled up and placed into the brilliant new recycling bin that arrived outside our building today.
The presence of that recycling bin means we no longer will trek bagloads up the road for 15 minutes each time we recycle. Fantastic news!
You may have noticed the absence of proper seating furniture in this room. We are still waiting for the sofa to arrive, which will be at least another two weeks. Also we are ordering one more wardrobe for the bedroom, but after that we will officially be ’settled in’.
10 May 07 Exchanging contracts
It’s been two months since we made the offer for the flat and today the anticipation of completing the purchase reaches its peak! In a few hours we will have handed over the 10% deposit and signed the contracts. Next week our bank will supply the big dough to the seller, then we’ll get the keys to our new home! YAY!
Which means we are moving house. There’s all the packing to do, transfer of utilities to manage, removal logistics to arrange, furniture to order, etcetera… For some reason that stuff doesn’t seem pressing since we have two further weeks to vacate our current flat, but it’s just a week until we turn the key.
30 Mar 07 The latest on the new flat
We received the valuation report yesterday which is required by the lender to ensure the property is worth the purchase price, since it will be held as security for the mortgage. The report costs £225 and in addition to that we commissioned a Homebuyer’s Report costing £260. It’s a general survey meant to determine if there are major defects needing repair.
The valuation has some interesting bits that reinforce our thoughts that we’ve made the right buying decision. First off, though, the surveyor just determines whether the purchase price is fair and, if it is, enters that price as the cost valuation, which he did in our case.
A bunch of boxes are ticked in the form: Brick Construction, Asphalt Roof, Gas Central Heating, etc. Surprisingly the size of the flat is written as 80 sq.m or 861 sq.ft. Methinks that’s a bit generous, by 100 square feet or so.
Reassuring that the flat is listed as Habitable :) Standard of Construction, Structural and Decorative Repair are ticked as Good (the highest rating).
Best bits are entered in the General Section of the report:
Is there a ready demand for this class of property in this area: YES
Is the district Improving/Static/Declining as a residential area: IMPROVING
All fine news. We should receive the full Homebuyer’s Report shortly but since the same inspector carried that out there shouldn’t be any surprises.
There’s a significant wait in store for us now until the mortgage funds are released for draw down. It takes about four weeks, which seems very strange and I don’t understand it. Realistically the deal should be done!
22 Mar 07 Approved
Not sure whether to break out in a dandy celebratory boogie, or hide under the blankets for the next 25 years… but today we received notification that our mortgage was approved.
YAY?
Now the bank sends papers to both us and our solicitor, and next comes the valuation of the property. Our solicitor cashed the cheque, but aside from that we haven’t heard if she’s actually begun her research yet.
Next week more shall become clear, I think, and we’re still hoping to move by the end of April.
Moving from this flat soon is a good idea too, since new construction is set to start on either side of us any day now. Jackhammers can be distracting. Also, we never imagined we’d see our neighbourhood get gentrified as soon as it has! Around the corner on Whitechapel Road is a freaking Starbucks “Opening Soon”.. !! Shocker. Where we’re going there’ll be no sign of Starbucks for a long while.
13 Mar 07 Some more flat photos
Well these aren’t the best images, lighting is a bit poor, but you get the idea. I pulled them off the agent’s website.
Kitchen
Main Bathroom
Master Bedroom
Master Ensuite
Second bedroom
7 Mar 07 Under Offer
Matt viewed the flat today and we made an offer on the spot, for full asking price! The agent called the vendor immediately and she was very pleased, but further viewings had been scheduled after ours that were too soon to cancel.
We got a call later in the afternoon that two more offers had been made, but Mr Agent liked us and recommended to the vendor that she accept our offer… which she did! All scheduled viewings have now been cancelled and the flat is essentially off the market.
It has seriously paid off to scour new property listings every 24 hours (for the past three months), as this one was listed only yesterday around noon. Big time score for us!
The listing:
Set within this quiet gated mews development is this extremley well presented two bedroom, two bathroom apartment located in a very desirable location. Arranged on the first floor and with views over the parkland and Hawksmoor church, interest will be high. The living area is wonderfully bright with four double glazed multi pane sash windows overlooking the park land area, The kitchen is open plan to the living room and is modern and fully equipped, there are two bedrooms the master being en-suite and main bathroom. The property profits from laminated wood flooring to the main reception and hallway and is in excellent decorative order. The property comes with a secure parking space and is walking distance to Brick Lane only 5 minutes away.
A whole lot of stuff happens next of course, but mostly it involves handing cash to various people. Our agent recommended a solicitor that we might go with.
But we found a great deal! And in the general area we wanted, too. We should be moved in by mid-May if all goes according to plan.
6 Mar 07 become old, become new
It seems we have lost out on our dream flat! (see the last post). We had a really lousy night being sad, last night.
But then I’m a bit of a property ninja now! I found something to look at today that would be very easy to move into. It’s priced very well but not exciting in any way. It overlooks a graveyard.. of a Hawksmoor church!
As an investment it likely wouldn’t yield much over the next three years… but we would live in it, travel from it, sell it later for a little bit more.
Ugh
5 Mar 07 New prospects
After viewing about fifteen properties since the new year, there’s now one that is an absolute standout. I took a look last week, raved about it to Matt and finally he will get to see it today.
I say ‘finally’ because we’ve experienced some appallingly poor service that estate agents are notorious for. Our contact cancelled not one, but two viewing appointments at very short notice with no justifiable excuse. Normally this bad service would just be an annoyance, but in London a four-day delay in activity could mean losing out on a property you really want if another buyer makes an offer before you. Good properties can easily sell the same day they are listed, so it’s no exaggeration.
Anyway this flat is further east down the road from where we are now, still on Commercial Road. Amazingly it’s the top two floors of a large brick building erected around 1810 with three bedrooms in 1200 square feet. To compare, all other spaces I have seen in the same price range were between 500-750 square feet. The interior is in remarkably good condition, though first the kitchen then eventually the two bathrooms will need upgrading. It’s carpeted throughout which we would remove to restore original wood floors that are hopefully underneath! Original ironwork fireplaces remain in two rooms, and there is direct (though possibly not legal) rooftop access.
The cons are: The flat is directly facing Commercial Road which is a very busy transport artery (but we’re used to this as we currently face the same road now); That section of Commercial Road lacks any neighbourhoodly destination points (but has very good transport access); No parking (we don’t own a car but this could be a problem when reselling); and other minor things like no lift.
Aside from the good stuff mentioned above, Matt and I discovered further details on a visit to the local history library, most notably that the building is ‘Grade II listed‘ or protected for having ’special architectural or historic interest’. Practically this is insignificant, really, but it does mean the building has unique value and this can be a major feature for selling it on later. Funny the estate agent knows nothing of this, or much else about the property for that matter.
This week could get interesting…
31 Jan 07 One offer down
Last week we made an offer for a flat in Bethnel Green.
The Good:
- Located a 5-minute walk to two excellent tube lines, Central and District
- Quiet residential street lined with Victorian brick buildings
- Large 2-bed flat with eat-in kitchen, big sash windows
- Real wood flooring in some rooms covered by the carpet (apparently)
- Still within our East London ‘preferred living zone’
The Bad:
- Signs on lamp posts out front warning of ‘high-crime area’
- Entire innards need ripping out - kitchen, bathroom, carpet, etc
- Not insignificant labour and expense to rebuild & renovate
- 2nd bedroom quite small
- Questionable plumbing throughout building
- Much of the building occupied by renters not owners
The Nasty:
The real problem is the premium asking price, which we know is high from researching previous properties sold in the same buildings (at this useful website, the UK Land Registry database of House Prices). So we offered over 10% less than the asking price, what we thought the property is really worth considering all the work that needs doing. The offer was rejected, and rather unprofessionally I’d say. Sellers here are in the fortunate position of asking inflated prices and are likely to get it from desperate buyers willing to overpay. Reality is nonexistent.
I discussed this problem with one estate agent who said her agency positions itself as one that prices for fair value. She complained that certain dominant agencies inflate their list prices and buyers (for example with city bonuses) overspend, which in turn forces her agency to list properties for higher prices… it’s a vicious cycle that hurts first-time buyers, especially.
We still may get a callback on that offer though, as I find it hard to believe anybody in their right mind will pay top pound for that place.
Then again yesterday I viewed what I would call an absolute shithole 2-bedroom listed for £289,000. Yikes!
We were scheduled to view a place this past weekend in the lovely converted dock/warehouse area of Wapping, in a building called Vancouver House - Vancouver! Its a sign, right? Unfortunately that wasn’t meant to be, as our appointment was cancelled last-minute and the property taken off the market next day.
Onward then.. It’s been six weeks so far that I’ve been scouring listings and I think I/we have viewed only six or seven flats. It’s tempting to look only another mile and a half east where we could get a two or three bed house in the Olympic redevelopment area of Stratford for the same price as a 1-bed flat over here. Stratford’s got some stigma at the moment though, hence cheap prices, and we don’t really want a whole house. But who knows what will happen.
GET FED: