Buying in London

[sitecorp]

Hi,

I'm moving to London in Autumn to take up my first job. I plan to invest for 6 months or so while I get my bearings but hope to purchase soon after that. I was wondering if anyone has any advise in this are. Whether it be which UK banks are best to get a loan with, to areas worth buying in (city center) and legal issues you mioght have faced in the pased.

Thanks

 

[JohnBoy]

where in London will you be based for work? If you let me know I can point you in the right direction. Mortgage -wise you are probably better off going to a broker but also check out the Sunday Times money section each week for mortgage deals.

I have live here for almost 10 years so I know the city quite well.

There are no obvious legal problems with buying over here, though since you will only have been employed for 6 months when you plan to buy, some lenders may be reluctant to pass you too much cash.

PM me for names of agents, websites and advice on various localities.

 

[EvilDoctorK]

One of the best things about buying in the UK (apart from lower stamp duty etc ) is the transparency of the market

The land registry is 100% computerised now for the last 6 years or so .. you can look up all house sales online for the last 6 years and find out exactly how much the house (or similar houses) that you are buying sold for previously (that's the actual price acheive.. not asking price/guide price/marketing price etc.) ... invaluable in making an informed purchase decision ... you don't have to rely on the estate agent saying "the house next door just sold for £1m etc." .. you can actually see how true/untrue this is.

You can get this data in a lot of places - best and simplest website is http://www.houseprices.co.uk/ for my money ... but you could try upmystreet.com and a load of other sites too.

Also don't pay the asking price - generally you'd start at 10+% under the asking price and then offer up from that - most sales dont' make the asking price in my (limited) experience...... unlike in Ireland lately.

On a related note - when will we get something like this in Ireland - aren't they supposed to be computerising the land registry ?

 

[Aegean]

Also don't pay the asking price - generally you'd start at 10+% under the asking price and then offer up from that - most sales dont' make the asking price in my (limited) experience...... unlike in Ireland lately.

That's a bit broad brush I'd say. It really depends on the location as to whether properties are going at the asking price or not.

You say 'city centre' but that could mean anywhere you need to be more specific, at least in price terms. It's better to say 'Okay, this is my budget' and work from there.

I realise that you won't be in the market immediately but be aware that it seems likely that UK interest rates will increase this year so if you choose a UK lender, I'd fix the rate for the short term.