Q. I have recently relocated from Canary Wharf to West London to be closer to the school I want my daughter to attend. I sold up and moved into rented accommodation to put myself in a desirable chain free position in the hope that it would give me the edge when it came to offering on the perfect property. However, so far this has not been the case. Despite having a 50% cash deposit and having my mortgage in principle, I still seem to be battling it out with other buyers to secure a property. This is so unexpected, what can I do, I have lost 3 houses now.
A. I hear your frustration! You are the perfect buyer, chain free – check, large cash deposit –check, Mortgage in principle arranged – check, so what more could any seller want? Unfortunately for you, but great news for sellers the property market is raging in West London and prices are now back to and even higher than before the crash. Having recently carried out a property search in that area for a client I was completely taken back by the demand for houses and seeing property going under offer the same day as they hit the market. One of the biggest concerns is that property is actually going to sealed bids because there are often two or three buyers battling it out for the same property. This is resulting in the property going for more than the asking price on quite a few occasions. So what are you to do? Obviously you are a very together buyer with everything any estate agent would ask for when presenting you to their Vendor as a suitable buyer. The biggest problem you are to contend with when there is frenzy like this going on is just sheer greed. Even if on the surface you are the better buyer out of the three, if someone else is prepared to offer that little extra, nine out of ten sellers will take a chance on running with them for the extra cash. What you need to do right now is work with two of your preferred agents. Arm them with so much information about yourself that they will be tripping over themselves to find you a house. Give them proof of that cash deposit, give them your solicitors details and the name and contact number of your financial advisor. Make yourself available to view at the drop of a hat if a new property were to hit the market and be prepared to meet the asking price the next time a desirable property ticks all your boxes. If you can get the agent on side, ultimately if you offer the asking price he will be able to convince his seller that they should run with you as a sure thing rather than risk losing you to someone else who may be somewhat flaky.