Q. I’m relocating with work to canary wharf and being offered an incentive to buy a property here via my company. The trouble is I don’t know the area at all and wondering whether it might be better to rent for a while first, my issue is I know it must be a good time to buy now, I’m so confused can you offer any advice?
A. Sure, it’s a tricky one especially having a financial incentive waved before you. And yes your right it is a good time to buy as whilst the market continues to make a slow recovery, compared to 2007 prices are still extremely competitive and I would definitely encourage anyone to buy now as I doubt this opportunity will arise again anytime soon as the market seems likely to move forward now albeit cautiously following the hard lesson learned by the banks. Having said that if you are moving to the area for the first time renting would be a better option in that it would give you an opportunity to explore the area first and find out what you like and dislike about it and discover which particular patch would suit you best. Living in a place is definitely one of the best ways of doing that and will certainly give you the edge when it comes to buying that perfect property. If you do decide to brave it and buy straight away to take advantage of that incentive then do your homework. Talk to colleagues that maybe already live in the area, pick up the local press and read what’s going on to familiarise yourself with the area a little more. Go visit as many reputable estate agents as you can and chat to them about the area the transport links and the facilities it offers, and ask them to show you everything they have in your budget that way you will start to realise what is available to you and fits your criteria. Once you have narrowed something down, go back and visit the property at all different times of day, mornings evenings and weekends, just to determine that there aren’t any issues that may irritate you once you have bought the property and moved in. Canary wharf has always been a great area to both live and invest in and as long as you find the right property I’m confident you’ll have no regrets.