[munimula]

Viewed a 2-bed flat for rent in Chiswick last saturday and then discovered the landlord trying to rent independently via the Loot. Knew from the agent that they are desperate to let asap. Put in an offer today of £1000pcm (asking is about £1200pcm) and the reply was;

Quote

I'll consider it but it's less than the mortgage what with interest rates going up

Can't believe what tight margins these people are operating on. If they let it through the agent they wouldn't be getting much more than the £1000 I offered after agent fees etc. They sound quite desperate though, having to find over £1000 a month extra to pay the mortgage on their BTL!

I'll keep you updated.....

[Michael]

munimula, on Mar 3 2005, 03:08 PM, said:

Viewed a 2-bed flat for rent in Chiswick last saturday and then discovered the landlord trying to rent independently via the Loot. Knew from the agent that they are desperate to let asap. Put in an offer today of £1000pcm (asking is about £1200pcm) and the reply was;
Can't believe what tight margins these people are operating on. If they let it through the agent they wouldn't be getting much more than the £1000 I offered after agent fees etc. They sound quite desperate though, having to find over £1000 a month extra to pay the mortgage on their BTL!

I'll keep you updated.....
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

these muppets were prepared to work on such tight margins because they thought short term capital gains would bail them out.......

[Ignorant Steve]

A guy who used to work with me used to rent a house in Chiswick with a few of his mates. They spent money like they owned the place.

Never did get on the housing ladder, no savings - emigrated disillusioned in 2000.

Why do you need to rent in Chiswick? It's an expensive luxury.

[FernandoMorientes]

Ignorant Steve, on Mar 3 2005, 02:19 PM, said:

A guy who used to work with me used to rent a house in Chiswick with a few of his mates. They spent money like they owned the place.

Never did get on the housing ladder, no savings - emigrated disillusioned in 2000.

Why do you need to rent in Chiswick? It's an expensive luxury.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A two bed flat that close to London for a grand a month is not at all bad?
If you work in London your not going to want to travel 2 hours a day and thats a half hour ride on the tube to CL.
I cant see the problem with that looks a good deal for the area (IMO).

[munimula]

Ignorant Steve, on Mar 3 2005, 03:19 PM, said:

A guy who used to work with me used to rent a house in Chiswick with a few of his mates. They spent money like they owned the place.

Never did get on the housing ladder, no savings - emigrated disillusioned in 2000.

Why do you need to rent in Chiswick? It's an expensive luxury.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Many of us don't have the luxury of living with our parents if we want to work in London and unable to get on the property ladder I'm not prepared to keep slumming it in the shit locations, spent 18 months in Brixton once and hated it. £1000 for a 2-bed flat would actually be a steal for this area, be hard to pay less anywhere other than the likes of Peckham. £1200 wouldn't even be overpriced. What would you propose I did IS - put up a tent in Hyde Park?

[non-FTBer]

Ignorant Steve,

Renting there may be a luxury, but personally while I'm saving for a deposit I'm not going to live in a dingy bedsit.

I can pay only £600 in rent for what would cost me £950 on an IO mortgage.

Why not splash out? If you can still save then you can live wherever the feck you like.


My current landlord is in trouble too.
2 weeks till I move out:
He has had 1 viewing and no offers (not even a cheeky one).
He has had 1 viewing to re-let it, and they didn't seem interested.

He admits that even if he gets £30 a month more than we're paying now (thats what its being advertised for - won't get it IMHO) that it won't even cover the IO mortgage that he has, and thats with a 20% deposit.

And it has been valued by the EA at about the same price he purchased for 2 years ago, so he is likely looking at losing some of his deposit even if he does manage to sell.

I can imagine a few landlords I've known being in similar positions...

[Ignorant Steve]

munimula, on Mar 3 2005, 02:58 PM, said:

Many of us don't have the luxury of living with our parents if we want to work in London and unable to get on the property ladder I'm not prepared to keep slumming it in the shit locations, spent 18 months in Brixton once and hated it. £1000 for a 2-bed flat would actually be a steal for this area, be hard to pay less anywhere other than the likes of Peckham. £1200 wouldn't even be overpriced. What would you propose I did IS - put up a tent in Hyde Park?
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wasn't having a go (for once). Just genuinely interested. Chiswick is neither very close to the centre of London to be an easy commute nor is it far enough out to be cheap(ish).

Surely Acton would give you a similar journey to work for much less rent.

Short bus ride to Chiswick for the nightlife (or whatever).

[JBFTB]

About 6 months ago I was living in a 1st floor flat. The landlord decided to sell it, so as luck would have it (so I thought) a flat in the next building along was also available to rent. I moved to the other flat.

It was about this point that I was having a damn good nose around the market, being shown around the local housing stock - my old flat was on the market for £124k in an EA down the road. When I checked the house price websites it came up as bought for £69k a few years ago.

The thing is though, it's been completely empty ever since I moved out. I've now moved out of the 2nd flat, which turned out to be cold, damp and noisy, and got a much bigger rented house a few streets away for only a little more rent.

As for the old flat, it's either:
1) Still not sold - there are a bunch of for-sale signs up, not sure which flats they refer to
2) It has been sold to BTL and no-one has rented it since
3) It has been sold to someone who's actually going to live there themselves - but where are they after 6 months??

Makes you wonder...

[Antsy]

munimula, on Mar 3 2005, 02:58 PM, said:

Many of us don't have the luxury of living with our parents if we want to work in London and unable to get on the property ladder I'm not prepared to keep slumming it in the shit locations, spent 18 months in Brixton once and hated it. £1000 for a 2-bed flat would actually be a steal for this area, be hard to pay less anywhere other than the likes of Peckham. £1200 wouldn't even be overpriced. What would you propose I did IS - put up a tent in Hyde Park?
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Try SE london - 45 mins to oxford circus, you can get a 3 bed for that amount in a decent location (Crystal Palace, Forest Hill) with decent parks that aren't full of nannies barking into their mobiles. Brixton is highly over-rated, but then people get scared when they aren't on the tube...

[munimula]

Ignorant Steve, on Mar 3 2005, 04:14 PM, said:

Wasn't having a go (for once). Just genuinely interested. Chiswick is neither very close to the centre of London to be an easy commute nor is it far enough out to be cheap(ish).

Surely Acton would give you a similar journey to work for much less rent.

Short bus ride to Chiswick for the nightlife (or whatever).
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Truthfully I'd rather stay in Hampton Wick (Kingston Upon Thames) but I need to share as renting 1-bed would be a waste of money and I can't get anyone to move 'out' to Hampton Wick. Chiswick has very easy direct links to central London, District line isn't that bad (big carriages) and can get a seat from Chiswick Park. Good links out of London on the roads to M4 or M3. Very cosmopolitan vibe on the Chiswick High Road.

[Ignorant Steve]

munimula, on Mar 3 2005, 03:24 PM, said:

Truthfully I'd rather stay in Hampton Wick (Kingston Upon Thames) but I need to share as renting 1-bed would be a waste of money and I can't get anyone to move 'out' to Hampton Wick. Chiswick has very easy direct links to central London, District line isn't that bad (big carriages) and can get a seat from Chiswick Park. Good links out of London on the roads to M4 or M3. Very cosmopolitan vibe on the Chiswick High Road.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All of the reasons you quote for moving to Chiswick are certainly valid if you were buying. Hence why buying prices are higher there than the surrounding areas. But I still wouldn't advocate renting there.

I know Chiswick very well - I live there.

[rockdoctor]

Chiswick floods regularly at high tide - I've seen some excellent pix of canoeists in a Chiswick garage in a metre of water, and another of a swan in someone's front-door area.

I used to live in Putney and one of the entertainments was wandering down to the river when it flooded to see the inevitable furious owner of a sports car or chelsea tractor wading out to their slightly-reduced-in-value car.

[JBFTB]

rockdoctor, on Mar 3 2005, 05:06 PM, said:

...a swan in someone's front-door area
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry, that made me snigger. It just sounds slightly obscene

[Gtr London FTB]

I pay over £1,000 a month for a 1 bed flat not too far from Chiswick, so if you can pick up a 2 bed for that you're doing well.

Granted where I live has much better transport links that Chiswick. I assume that for that price if is probably some distance from Chiswick High Road?

[Casual Observer]

JBFTB, on Mar 3 2005, 05:09 PM, said:

Sorry, that made me snigger. It just sounds slightly obscene 
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Better than a crab in your back passage