"i Want £425,000 Or Else I'll Take It Off The Market"

[ʎqɐqɹǝʞɐɥs]

Surely that's not worthy of a laugh smiley?

Why not? I find the lengths people go to to defend London hilarious. I've lived there, seen both sides of the coin, I can compare - it's overhyped.

[terryturbojr]

Do people even read threads before spouting their bigoted opinions?

[worried1]

People are just responding to the usual tiresome overhyped claims of London residents.

I always find this a difficult argument to understand. Surely the reason that there is a property market at all is to reflect the relative popularity of areas? London is more expensive than other areas because more people want to live there than in other areas.

This does not mean that it will suit everyone, however. A lot of people value larger property, less over-crowding over the convenience and entertainment offered by living in London.

I live in an outer London area not dis-similar to East Sheen. I would not live anywhere else at the moment as I work quite long hours and value the short commute, and the fact that I have the station, river, 1000s of acres of parkland and a large town centre all on my doorstep. As priorities change, I probably won't mind having a longer commute and driving to get to places on the weekend.

Everyone has different priorities so will choose the best place to live for them.

[terryturbojr]

I always find this a difficult argument to understand. Surely the reason that there is a property market at all is to reflect the relative popularity of areas? London is more expensive than other areas because more people want to live there than in other areas.

This does not mean that it will suit everyone, however. A lot of people value larger property, less over-crowding over the convenience and entertainment offered by living in London.

I live in an outer London area not dis-similar to East Sheen. I would not live anywhere else at the moment as I work quite long hours and value the short commute, and the fact that I have the station, river, 1000s of acres of parkland and a large town centre all on my doorstep. As priorities change, I probably won't mind having a longer commute and driving to get to places on the weekend.

Everyone has different priorities so will choose the best place to live for them.

Far too balanced a post. What you really needed to say was London's the best place in the world, everywhere else is shit - that's what will be responded too anyway.

[Guest bound]

Yes I became tired of feral gangs of scrotes roaming round with knives and guns. I was tired of everything being at least twice as expensive as the rest of the UK. I was tired of spending an hour and a half stuck in traffic. I was tired of the miserable bastards on the tube every morning and evening. I was tired of the crowded dirty streets, tired of the crime, immigrants, pollution. Tired of the mentality of 90% of Londoners who can't see or accept that for me where I live now offers me a far better quality of life and an improved work / life balance.

That place isn't even in London! I'll be damned if I ever recognise Richmond as part of London - Virginia Woolf would never have done so.

Besides it's south of the river.

[the_duke_of_hazzard]

People are just responding to the usual tiresome overhyped claims of London residents.

Look back at the thread and see who started it - it was an anti-Londoner.

[OscillatingWildly]

Look back at the thread and see who started it - it was an anti-Londoner.

I started this thread and I am not anti-London.

[worried1]

That place isn't even in London! I'll be damned if I ever recognise Richmond as part of London - Virginia Woolf would never have done so.

Besides it's south of the river.

This is the other problem - most people who have visited London think it is all like the central areas, edgy like Hackney, or rich and full of arabs like Kensington.

In fact, the majority of the 8-9 million people that live in London live in zones 2-6, many of them in 'proper towns' like Richmond that fall under the administrative area of greater London. In some ways, living there is not a whole lot different to living in somewhere like Guildford, but with faster trains and the tube.

This opens another can of worms of course - inner city living vs the suburbs.

[Bobajobbob]

I've lived in central london on and off for almost 20 years with a 2 year break in Paris in the middle. If you live in a good house in a good borough, have friends in the vicinity, and have good transport links to work then it can be a great place to live. Having said that it has become increasingly difficult to do the above in the past ten years even with a good job and good salary. The majority have been priced out by the super rich or the lucky who happened to own property in the right place at the right time. The generation above mine have had it a hell of a lot easier than my generation and accordingly the generations below have it much harder.

London ebs and flows and has periods of great optimism and life and then periods of crime and drudgery. We are currently in the latter phase. Life is simply too expensive at the moment, public services cannot cope and the majority are monitored, persecuted and criminalised for the smallest indiscretion whilst large numbers quite literally get away with murder.

I would love to move from my relatively central London village to a more affluent outer London village, or further afield, for a better quality of life for my kids and a bigger house but even with 2 good salaries and I mean good London salaries and a small mortgage on my current home it is simply not possible without breaking my own golden rules for financial prudence. When I last looked I was looking at having to fork out an additional 500k for a few hundred extra square feet, one extra bedroom and a bigger garden. I've long thought house prices were going to crash so the above scenario has always been out of the question and even if I thought house prices were going to continue to rise it still would have been an enormous risk and expense.

I think that a lot of Londoners also become trapped to a certain extent. they'd like to leave but there is a big mental leap to make for those who fear that they will not be able to find jobs outside of london. So many are specialised in city jobs that simply aren't available outside of London and making the break and finding different work outside of town is not an easy thing to do. When you reach a certain age and have kids much of the advantages of London living are largely obsolete. If I was confident of finding comparable work outside of town I would probably leave tomorrow and not look back.

[Warwick-Watcher]

This is the other problem - most people who have visited London think it is all like the central areas, edgy like Hackney, or rich and full of arabs like Kensington.

In fact, the majority of the 8-9 million people that live in London live in zones 2-6, many of them in 'proper towns' like Richmond that fall under the administrative area of greater London. In some ways, living there is not a whole lot different to living in somewhere like Guildford, but with faster trains and the tube.

This opens another can of worms of course - inner city living vs the suburbs.

As usually happens these threads completely lose the plot and morph into some esoteric "debate" about the benefits or otherwise of London. Let's try to be objective about whether a small terrace in wherever is actually worth paying GBP 375,000 for. There are 4 bed detached houses an hour from London for this sort of price. Is 2 hours of your life 5 days a week worth the extra benefit of a larger house in a more pleasant area for less money ?

[terryturbojr]

As usually happens these threads completely lose the plot and morph into some esoteric "debate" about the benefits or otherwise of London. Let's try to be objective about whether a small terrace in wherever is actually worth paying GBP 375,000 for. There are 4 bed detached houses an hour from London for this sort of price. Is 2 hours of your life 5 days a week worth the extra benefit of a larger house in a more pleasant area for less money ?

I think pleasant is a bit subjective.

[worried1]

Far too balanced a post. What you really needed to say was London's the best place in the world, everywhere else is shit - that's what will be responded too anyway.

In fairness, though I CAN understand why some people find it strange why others would live in London. When you see a small house like the one in this thread on the market for c.£400k, it must be quite strange for people living in places up north where similar houses go for £50k.

People from London and the more expensive parts of the SE do have a different perspective on property than anyone else. Most of the people that I know from the north do not consider flats or terraced housing as starter homes. For them, a 3 bed semi is a reasonable starter home before moving on to a 4+ bed detached when having a family.

This leaves a lot of these type of properties in the north to 'less desirables' hence the type of argument on this thread.

[Guest bound]

As usually happens these threads completely lose the plot and morph into some esoteric "debate" about the benefits or otherwise of London. Let's try to be objective about whether a small terrace in wherever is actually worth paying GBP 375,000 for. There are 4 bed detached houses an hour from London for this sort of price. Is 2 hours of your life 5 days a week worth the extra benefit of a larger house in a more pleasant area for less money ?

I won't satisfied that this thread has morphed into an esoteric debate until we start arguing North versus South of the river.

[@contradevian]

I won't satisfied that this thread has morphed into an esoteric debate until we start arguing North versus South of the river.

Haha yes, there is London and there is London. I live in London, but simply don't "do" South or West London. Sorry!

[Bobajobbob]

To balance my previous thread I'd much rather live in London than many of the UK's drab suburban hell holes with nothing but a Woolworths, a McDonalds and a Tesco superstore for company.

[Tonkers]

Haha yes, there is London and there is London. I live in London, but simply don't "do" South or West London. Sorry!

West is best,

East is a beast

[worried1]

I think pleasant is a bit subjective.

Exactly right. In this current market, £375k would only buy you a 4 bed detached house in the not-so-nice parts of places like Crawley, Maidstone etc. Some may prefer to live there, but others wouldn't.

I have been looking at Guildford lately, and you would by lucky to get a 3 bed detached for that sort of money, and that would be on the 'wrong' side of town.

In the best parts of Guildford as well as other good commuter towns like Weybridge, Sevenoaks etc the price are not much less than in outer London anyway.

I don't deny that it I think it will be these smaller places in sought after areas that will get hit hard in this crash, though. As times get tough, people are bound to become less location specific e.g. moving to North Sheen instead of East Sheen to get more space for their money.

[Guest bound]

Haha yes, there is London and there is London. I live in London, but simply don't "do" South or West London. Sorry!

I have to do South occasionally, but I won't do West.

I swear they put something in the beer down south. If I spend too long South I need to get a stiff drink in me somewhere North to feel normal again.

[OscillatingWildly]

I had hoped the main point of this thread would be how the false bravado of this particular seller, of only a few months ago, has collapsed into a hurried sequence of price drops. She was insisting she would get her "lovely" asking price and if she could not she would withdraw from the market to concentrate on her wedding plans. It seems now that no way does she want to be left holding this property.

The place is clearly poor utility value for a huge chunk of change but she is not alone - there are numerous examples on RightMove of similarly aspirational pricing. Seven weeks after the advert and her tune has changed. Now she is dropping the price - every few weeks - and she certainly is not withdrawing the place from sale, wedding plans or not.

The point I am trying to make is that perceptions have changed. She is not in it for the long-term. She wants out and she is trying to find the way, but the EA's have not helped her with their initial "bids". She is starting to panic, she will not be the last to do so.

Everyone else can now steer this thread back to the usual style of "London is shite/great", "North/South London is shite", "East/West London is shite".

BD

[Flopsy]

Her cottage has no parking, no bath (only a shower on the floorplan), and is mid-terrace.

With so much else to choose from, why would anyone want to buy this property?

Edited September 11, 2008 by Flopsy

[worried1]

Her cottage has no parking, no bath (only a shower on the floorplan), and is mid-terrace.

With so much else to choose from, why would anyone want to buy this property?

My area of interest (Surbiton) is fairly similar to East Sheen. There is a lot on the market, and hardly anything is selling, but the houses that do seem to be going under offer are the small terraces in central locations.

They are still priced higher than larger semis further out, but are still selling albeit very slowly.

[SHERWICK]

My area of interest (Surbiton) is fairly similar to East Sheen. There is a lot on the market, and hardly anything is selling, but the houses that do seem to be going under offer are the small terraces in central locations.

They are still priced higher than larger semis further out, but are still selling albeit very slowly.

Bu..Bu..But East Sheen is close to Kew Gardens!!!! Surely that should add another £100k at least to the price?!?!?!

[thecrashingisles]

Bu..Bu..But East Sheen is close to Kew Gardens!!!! Surely that should add another £100k at least to the price?!?!?!

Plus it's perfect for a plane-spotter!

[quinnbear]

Her cottage has no parking, no bath (only a shower on the floorplan), and is mid-terrace.

With so much else to choose from, why would anyone want to buy this property?

I'll join in as a Londoner for more than 30 years. Now that I am older (with wife and child) I think its a horrible place and I would like to live somewhere greener and with less of the London 'vibrancy'. I guess the problem is that London, like most big cities still has an almost Victorian magic allure, drawing people in for the work.

For me as a teacher the difference in pay between London and t'country is about £5K at most, so I get all the downsides and none of the financial benefits. For people with high paying jobs (for the time being ) it may seem that the price of the high paying job is having to stump up for a house in the city (or face a looong commute).

If you take the price of houses outside London and just add about £30-40K per bedroom you get the London price, for what is practically the same houses! In common with a lot of views on the thread, it is sad that when I now see 3-bed houses that are 'only' £250K (or quarter of a million pounds in old money) I find myself thinking "Oh, that's not a bad price" - then I have to shake myself back to reality! Is someone really going to pay more than £300K for that 2 bed place?

Q

[threesixty]

I think everyone is forgetting that in London your not really buying a house, your effectively buying land. The right to a piece of London is what the last 10yrs has been about. The actual building has been irrelevant for a lot of "investors" for a long time. Houses dont cost much to build from scratch, maybe 30-40 grand. So the extra 300k is just a price derived from supply and demand (demand being the will to buy + credit given by the banks).

The only reason details like "layout" etc.. come into the equation is when the demand side changes (i.e. due to reduced credit). Now housing is becoming rational again, and is about how well a house provides its function, rather than how much money can this house make in 5 yrs.

The government has been forcing (sorry encouraging...) us to use housing as a "financial instrument" for the last 10yrs to make up for the fact that they dont want to give us a pension or healthcare in the long run.

On London being nice..

As a previous poster said, alot of jobs are ONLY in London, so unless you retrain it is hard to move out. Secondly, London is huge. Zone 1 + 2 is not the whole of london. Theres Wanstead, Ealing, Finchley etc.. Zones 3/4/5 where houses cost the same as the nice houses in the home counties. I think the majority of people who hate London were not born there and dont really understand that London is not just Shoreditch.. The vibe in Snarebrook is not that much different to some places in Surrey, it's just that one location is 20 minutes to work and the other is 1.30 hrs... It's up to you really ....