Buyer’s Agent in London |
Why would you want to use a buyer’s agent in London?
After all, you can find hundreds of properties in London on the property portals.
And there is no shortage of estate agents who will happily sell you a home.
But as one of my clients, a very successful Danish entrepreneur, recently pointed out, the agents are there to represent the seller, so they do not have your best interests at heart. Indeed, this is the email he sent in response to me asking how his family were and how business was going:
“… all good this end although hard work at moment but then again no one ever suggested it would be easy… I saw an article the other day with building in Campden we looked at without you and you advised against… where now falling down – close escape and shows value of good advice. Not sure what building inspectors have been doing but clearly not a good job…”.
I had completely forgotten about this building until he mentioned it, so I double checked what had happened:
“Luxury flats… have been branded worthless and might be demolished after so many faults were discovered they could be uninsurable.
Residents of the new build block in Camden, north London fear they may be trapped in properties valued at £0 and deemed ‘unmortgageable’ due to the amount of defects.
Within months of the first leaseholder moving in four years ago, the roof began leaking into the communal stairwell and terraces started letting in water, causing water damage to flats.
Interior and exterior walls of the flats have since started to crack, while some windows and doors no longer open and close properly.
Despite years of reports about the building cracking, bending and leaking, the insurance company that provided the 10-year warranty has not paid out.
Now a government minister has asked Camden Council to consider whether it can prosecute the construction firm for “recklessly” signing off on the block of flats that has been judged ‘not fit for purpose’.
An expert surveyor has deemed the building potentially unstable and said consideration should be given to demolition.
Leaseholders said they have forked out more than £300,000 in legal fees over their damaged homes and live in “constant fear” of total financial ruin.” (Source: The Mirror)
Buyer’s Agents in London will help you avoid making an expensive mistake
Now, this is an exceptional case, but shows that buying in a new development doesn’t always guarantee good workmanship, something that has also been highlighted by the cladding debacle and I can show you other developments where there have been issues.
But the quality of the building had nothing to do with why I told the client to avoid this one. Indeed, I didn’t even visit it because there were two other reasons why I thought there were far better options for him.
And this is what a buyer’s agent in London should do for you: spend the majority of the time telling you not to buy property. I know this sounds odd and I have arguably invented the worst business model ever, but it is the right advice.
Because the simple fact is that the majority of properties in London are decidedly average if not poor. If you are happy to settle for average or poor then don’t worry about using a buyer’s agent in London. However, if you don’t know:
- What makes a property a good investment (still important even if you are buying a home)
- What will make certain properties outperform others
- How to find the best opportunities including off-market properties
- How to accurately value a property, so that you won’t be fooled into paying too much
- Tested and proven negotiation techniques to achieve the lowest price possible
Uncover the Pitfalls of Relying on Historical Details: Why You Need a Buyer’s Agent in London
then how likely is it that you will find the best property your money can buy and then acquire it for the lowest price possible?
Of course, if you have lots of spare time then you can learn about valuations by visiting every available property in the market and putting together a spreadsheet of all the sold properties but, even then, you need to be careful.
Because you will often be relying on the estate agents’ details to see the condition of previous properties that have sold (but which you didn’t see). These have an uncanny knack of making properties look better than they actually are. Very often properties will be much smaller than they appear in the photographs and even dark rooms are made to look light using clever lighting.
But then there are the less obvious things. For example, a client emailed me last week asking why I hadn’t suggested a three bedroom apartment in Belgravia which seemed to fit his requirements perfectly.
This always gives me a jolt of panic because my first thought is invariably “Hell’s teeth, what have I missed?”, which is stupid after 22 years of buying properties for clients, but that’s life. However, as usual, when I checked which property he had sent off the internet, it wasn’t good.
Admittedly, it looked lovely in the pictures and had been nicely renovated but there was one key problem that wouldn’t have been obvious unless you knew the property – it was opposite a petrol station – yes, in Belgravia.
So, can you see how relying on historical details can be highly misleading?
Contact: Mercury Homesearch
These are just some of the obvious pitfalls. There are many more subtle ones that can be far more expensive. If you would like to discover what these are, you can request a complimentary copy of my book, The Insider’s Guide To Acquiring £1m to £100m Property in London, by clicking here, emailing dee@mercuryhomesearch.com or calling 02034578855 (+442034578855 from outside the UK).
