How to flip a London property?

Z

z106

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I have an apartment in canary wharf in london which won't be completed for at least another 2 years.

I am thinking of flipping it.

How do i go about this?

The people I bought off have no desire to be involved in assisting me with flipping it.
 
In many cases in the UK (and here as well), the contract forbids you from flipping prior to completion first. You will have to have your contract examined to verify if this procedure is allowed. Also bear in mind the the UK market is presently in a kinda freefall at the moment.
 
Well if you are able to flip it, then it is down to work, so to speak. You could speak to an EA, who should give you the main chances of selling it. You can also try to advertise it in Ireland on places like www.overseasproperty.ie, or in classified ads etc..
 
Mercman, I respectfully disagree that the UK property market is in any kind of 'freefall' at the moment. Maybe you have a different definition of freefall than I do.
 
qwertyuiop, I wish you well but my opinion is that within 2 years the UK market will be significantly lower. If you can sell now I would get out.
 
eamonn, I hate to dissagree with you, but the experts in the market over there are at this time talking about overall London is down appox. 20% and if anything it's getting worse. The only section of the market that is not effected there at the moment is the very top end. Banks are not lending moeny at both ends - to developers and to Joe average who has to jump through rings to get a mortgage offer. As a point in fact the prices drop of New build apartments throughout the UK from Jan '05 to Feb '08 is a full drop of 26% (that is twenty six per cent drop). That is from an official report not make believe.
 
Maybe I am in denial but I don't think the London residential market in general is down 20% (since its peak). I assume you mean in purely sterling terms?

Maybe new apartments are down, but I think the problems in the UK market are more regionally based than in the capital.

However, if residential property, apart from the top-end, is down 20% in London, with the way sterling is now, then its a definite buying opportunity.

Whatever the scale of any drop so far, I agree it prob has not bottomed out. Still, must look into it some more.
 
i was at allsop's auction this week.
apartment 7, Block B, Pollard Street, Manchester M4 sold for £113,000 yesterday ! - original price in april 2005 was - "wait for it" - £236,995 !! and apparently there are plenty more to come onto the auction floor from the regions. I think London is slower to fall but its certainly looking like it will. apparently there was 15,000 different mortgage products on the market this time last year, now they reckon there is about 5,000. saying that i have just done a few remortgages and got a fixed rate of 5.09% with BM Solutions which i am happy with but had to pay a couple of thousand for the pleasure !
 
Eamonn, hereunder is an extract from the report, UK and sterling based, which I mentioned:

Across all four geographic areas (Central and Inner London; Outer London, South East and Eastern; Midlands, Wales and South West; Northern England and Scotland) the average drop for new build flats between the original Land Registry price and subsequent sale price at auction between January 2005 and February 2008 is -26%.

And believe me the second hand market is not much better.
 
Lorna, how come you paid for the priveledge for getting a mortgage? As well as the prices dipping, the rental market has splutterd in London and in Manchester. To answer the orginal Post, if you are able to flip it, take the buyers arm off.
 
mercman, i am currently remortgaging 8 London properties that are coming to the end of their fixed rate deals. i feel comfortable having a fixed arrangement whilst keeping the monthly costs down. BM Solutions charge about 2.5% arrangement fees and so do M Express and B&W etc. except the latter have no decent rates. I am taking out the max funds on the remortgages as intend purchasing some properties i have my eye on which are coming in at great prices. need 15% deposit for most things and i want to be ready to get in quickly as there are plenty of other vultures out there ! you need to be able to put down 10% on the day of an auction so i need money readily available. My local council is crying out for properties which are guaranteed rent schemes. in fact, i haven't got one employed tenant in the 16 buy to lets i have. very comfortable with the council arrangement and very easy once they get to know you and they put you on their reputable landlord scheme. various 2 bed flats sitting on the market for a while now which were £175-£180,000 in my area are now looking like going for £150-155,000 which would be reasonable enough. achieve £850 per month for 2 bedders with no agent fees and £675 for one bedders. 3 bed flat - £975 and 3 bed house in the region of £1,100.
 
Lorna,

Obviously this is crystal ball stuff but ...

Dublin has been hit badly in the last 12 months.

The Irish Auctioneers and valuations institute (IAVI) reckon apartments in dublin fell by 17% in the past year.

I think that on the ground,most people would agree that this is an accurate analysis of the situation.

It seems London has held up pretty well so far.

THere are some reports that Lonodn could be hit by 20% in the next couple of years.

ME being far from an expert on the london market,but with the credit crunch still unravelling then it's fair to say that anythuing is possible.

Lorna - WHat is your outlook in the medium term for London propety?
 
lorna said:
i was at allsop's auction this week.
apartment 7, Block B, Pollard Street, Manchester M4 sold for £113,000 yesterday ! - original price in april 2005 was - "wait for it" - £236,995 !! and apparently there are plenty more to come onto the auction floor from the regions. I think London is slower to fall but its certainly looking like it will. apparently there was 15,000 different mortgage products on the market this time last year, now they reckon there is about 5,000. saying that i have just done a few remortgages and got a fixed rate of 5.09% with BM Solutions which i am happy with but had to pay a couple of thousand for the pleasure !
Click to expand...
I can confirm the selling price. Another in the same block went for 111K. I wasn't at the auction, but the results were published online.

Lorna: Couple of questions for you.

1. How did you find out the original selling price? Was that published in the auction catalogue or did you go to the land registry and pay for a history?

2. What was the bidding like on these properites? Was there keen interest or was it people bottom feeding?
 
Martin77 said:
I can confirm the selling price. Another in the same block went for 111K. I wasn't at the auction, but the results were published online.

Lorna: Couple of questions for you.

1. How did you find out the original selling price? Was that published in the auction catalogue or did you go to the land registry and pay for a history?

2. What was the bidding like on these properites? Was there keen interest or was it people bottom feeding?
Click to expand...

Martin77 www.rightmove.co.uk do actual sale prices for around the last 7 years or so.
 
ringledman said:
Martin77 www.rightmove.co.uk do actual sale prices for around the last 7 years or so.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. Saves spending 3 quid at the land registry ;)

Feel sorry for those people who got in late. But I guess the writing was on the wall.

Flat (New build) sold 05 May 2005 38 Apartment Block A, Pollard Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester M4 7AJ £170,750

Sold at auction 27/3/2008 for £111K.

Flat (New build) sold 25 Apr 2005 7 Apartment Block B, Pollard Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester M4 7AJ £236,995

Sold at auction 27/3/2008 for £113K
 
also, you can get the previously sold prices on nethouseprices.com which is free. as long as you know the first part of the postcode and street name, then away you go.
interest has been slow enough at the last few auctions i attended. everyone wants a great deal of course and we are all holding off for that. i am confident within the London area where my buy to lets are located. as long as the Turks keep floating in to this area then there will be huge demand and this is showing no sign of slowing. to be honest, i have no intentions of buying property anywhere outside of my comfort zone even if it is a steal. my policy is to keep everything on my doorstep where i use same trades for repairs etc.
i dont deal with working tenants at all, only interested in the guaranteed rent schemes through the council which is nice and safe considering they have 9,500 on their waiting list for accommodation. at the end of the day, if you have good contacts within the letting industry which i do and have been dealing with the same people for around 10 years now then i have no fear for the future.
i would be out of my comfort zone if i say bought in Canary Wharf. I dont know that market and probably would be dealing with professionals demanding fabulous apartments etc. as long as my flats are functional, painted magnolia throughout with cheap laminate flooring then the Council are happy.
back to the subject of Allsops recent auction, yes is was a bit more subdued, i went to an auction in November 2006 and people were bidding extraordinary high prices for some run down places and i ended going home with nothing because everyone kept pushing the prices way high.
i would have thought by may/june time there will be some good bargains but then again that's assuming you can get a mortgage ! - they are getting scarce too, the lenders are pulling all the good deals at the moment.
also, we haven't had the level of new build in London that Manchester has seen for example. now down the road at the moment Barratts are building 2 bed flats looking for around £200,000 and more, i dont know who is going to buy these as lots of banks not lending on new builds and they are overpriced. you wont get more that £875 rent for this kind of property in this area. i was buying 2 beds back 3 years ago for £140,000.
 
lorna, - and I would say the way things are panning out in the UK you will be able to purchase similar 2 beds for sub £140k by the Summer. I used to be involved in the Central London market up to a couple of years ago when prices went so mad, I decided to exit the lunacy. The experts are now saying the market is off 20% in the Mayfair area and 25% in the surrounding areas. The problem is now that Commercial property is following this and unless the World Bank and the IMF step in shortly to calm financial disorder, the modern economies could enter a severe period of depression. On a positive note, did you ever consider trying the IIB for lending. Very Competitive and easy to deal with.
 
mercman, i have mostly been using Mortgage Express, Birmingham Midshires, Abbey, Nationwide, GMAC and Bristol & West over the years. I will ask my FA to have a look at IIB. I might be tempted to take on a few more flats in my area if they can be got for £140,000 but I think I would prefer to get my hands on a couple of houses instead.
We are supposed to be moving back to Ireland in July/August next year having spent 20 years in London so cant splash out too much as we are currently building a house which is at roof stage. Thinking I might delay all this moving back business now with the poor exchange rates so might get roof on, windows and doors in, plaster outside then lock it up until further notice.
 
Lorna, Didn't realise you were still in the UK. Been there, done that. Even though the downturn looks like be very severe, I won't say it will last for long and there will be plenty of opportunities. You have got yourself into a good position with a Council (can't figure out which none), so long may it last. @the only problem I would see with that is the condition of the property when you get them back and modernising them to sell on.
 
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