PREPARE TO MOVE

Here a list of things that need to be done when you move to your new home:

1. Notify that you’ve changed address to:
Work
Banks
Pension company
DVLA for your driving licence
Mobile phone company
TV licensing
Water, Gas & Electricity Broadband suppliers

2. Register with:
BT, eletricity supplier
Thames Water, water supplier
Broadband supplier
Council tax

FROM EXCHANGE TO COMPLETION

Here is timeline:

PRE-EXCHANGE CONVEYANCING
You send to your solicitor your signed copy of the contract.
You send to your solicitor a non-refundable deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price).
A completion date has been set.
Either party is still free to pull out at any time.

EXCHANGE
Solocitors go through the contracts by phone to check they are identical and they agree that the contracts are exchanged.
Your solicitor call you and afret getting your approval she/he sends the deposit to the seller's solicitor.
The agreed terms become binding on the buyer and seller.

POST EXCHANGE CONVEYANCING
The buyer must send the purchase price less the exchange deposit.

COMPLETION
Funds are sent by your solicitor to the seller.
The seller must vacate the property.
You receive the transfer deeds and title deeds.
You receive the keys from the estate agent and may move in.

HOW MUCH DOES A RENOVATION COST IN LONDON?

The cost of a London flat refurbishment depends upon several factors:

1. Size and condition of the flat
2. Structural or non structural alterations
3. Necessity to comply with building regs (ie. listed building, alteration of the building facade, etc..)

NB. Professional consultancy (structural engeener, party wall surveyor etc...) adds up around £500 each.

BASIC REFURBISHMENTS
Installing new flooring, fitting a new kitchen, installing some new lighting, painting, joinery work (shelving or cupboards), modifying an existing bathroom = £10-£15k

FULL REFURBISHMENT
Structural work (alteration of internal wall position), replacing ceilings, installing new electrics, installing a new boiler and radiators, re-plastering walls, replacing flooring, fitting a new kitchen and bathroom = £15-£30k

SPECIAL REFURBISHMENT
Major structural internal alterations, addition of insulations, extensions = £35k +

THE COSTS OF BUYING

Here a list of the expenses you might occur when buy a property, based on the purchase of 1 bed flat in London at the date of December 2015, (please note that figures are just indicative and derived from searches and direct or indirect experiences):

Buying Agents around 2.5%t of the agreed purchase price. Sometimes totally worth it.

Mortgage Broker around 250-300£

Mortgage Offer around £200

Solicitor around 2.5% of the agreed purchase price, including

Solicitor's Legal Fee: between £350.00 and £800.00

Leasehold Fee: £125.00

Telegraphic Transfer: £30.00

Bankruptcy Search: £4.00

Priority Search OS1: £3.00

Survey (including “fall through protection”): from £150.00 up to £1000.00
How to chose the right survey

Land Registry: £135.00
VAT@ 20% (Not all costs are subject to VAT)

WHAT CAN GO WRONG

Remember this as a rule set in stone: until the papers are signed there is no legal obligation to either buy or sell. So from the acceptation of the offer until the completion day allot of unpleasant things can happen. Here some experienced I've heard:

Please note: in all the following cases the buyers had lost time and money since surveyor, estate agent and legal fees involved in buying property are non-refundable.

1. The plan of the flat attached to the contract was not representing correctly what was sold at the viewings. In particular the balcony was not appearing in the plan and therefore illegal. (It happens very often in London, means that it was built on the top of the neighbor's roof without any consent or planning approval). My friend stepped out.

THE DOCUMENTS YOU NEED

Offer accepted! Yay! Now you need to move fast: first of all instruct a solicitor.
To avoid any delay, send him and to your lender the following documents:

1. Proof of your ID
This means a copy of your passport, but remember that has to be certified. You can get your passport certified at any post office: bring there both the original document and its copy, and then fill the ID Checking Service Form.

2. Evidence of your earnings
This means your paychecks and P60. The P60 is an official document released by your company (before May 31) that shows the tax you’ve paid in the last tax year.
In case you are self employed you'll be asked to show copies of invoices, your business bank account statements and your tax return. They accept official digital files.

3. Proof of your address
Any official letter addressed to you and issued within the last 3 months. It can be for example an HMR&C notification letter, a local authority tax bill (council tax), a letter from bank, utility bills (except mobile phone bill), TV licence etc. This document has to be provided as certified copy too.

4. Bank statements
Bank statements of the last 3 months. They accept either certified copies or official digital files (pdf printed from the bank website).

PUT IN AN OFFER

The real estate market in London is extremely peculiar, property prices can change dramatically in a very short time. Before arriving to a figure you should consider:

1. The market trend
Certain periods like before elections or after the approval of regulations (like the Mortgage Market Review) are critical. Get the pulse from RICS News, The Guardian, This is Money. If the market is not going that great you have more power to negotiate the price down.

2. Your position
First time buyers, buyers with no chain and buyers who have pre-arranged mortgages are in a very favourable negotiating position, especially if the seller is in a chain (see below).

3. Vendor's position
Try to find out if they in a hurry to sell (very often the case if they are in a chain).

4. Inflated Price 
London real estate agents list prices at minimum 5-10% higher than the figure the vendor has in mind. Have an educated guess at the price the vendor wants and then pitch your own offer a bit below.

5. Repairs required
Estimate how much you will have to invest in the refurbishment/repairs.

THE AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE

Before looking for a property is good to know if you can apply for a mortgage and how much you can borrow.

> Foreigners are able to buy property in the UK.
> Most nationalities are eligible for investment loans, but not with all banks.
> Lenders will require proof of income and possibly to pay up to 40% deposit.
> Foreigners can often secure loans in their own country, with different tax implications.
> Expats will need to secure the services of a solicitor/conveyance solicitor in UK.
> Expats will be asked to pay 10 percent of the purchase price at exchange of contracts.

An Agreement in Principle (AIP) is a document that a lender will provide you after taking some basic information, performing a credit search and coming up with a figure that ‘in principle’ it would be able to lend.

Something to know

The easy credit boom of the 2000s played a big part in the recent UK financial crisis.
From 2012 lenders have to carry out stricter checks on borrowers: expect to be quizzed on habitual spending like your rent, energy bills, mobile phone or gym contract.

HOW TO START THE SEARCH

You actually have 3 ways to start your property search:

Estate Agency

PRO perfect if you have a particular area in mind; you deal with only one persons; they make an initial selection for you; you can build a sort of fiduciary relationship with the agent; they can combine multiple views and take you around with their car.

CONS their clients are the vendors so they don't really work in your interest; they try to sell first all the undesirable properties in their portfolio; if you are not clear from the real beginning they show you a lot of non relevant properties;

My experience with London agencies:

Foxton is the most expensive for buyers (there is no actual commission for buyers but it's well known that it's pretty much added to the property price). They have almost 40% of the properties on the market in their portfolio so sometimes it's an obligatory choice. Very polite agents.

Green and Co young and keen. Affable and not too pushy. Fresh and good service.

Pembertons No transparency whatsoever. Felt screwed over for a good 3 times. Arrogantly pushy without Foxton manners and politeness.

Faron Sutaria very professional and not insistent at all. You have the clear impression that they deal with only certain type of properties

Jorgensen Turner they tend to communicate a lot by phone or text messages, a bit 'old style' service. They deal a lot with still underdeveloped areas, like Kilburn.

KFH they tend to deal mostly with new or just refurbished properties. This reflects their type of clientele.

Marsh and Parsons they deal mainly with large and therefore relatively more expensive properties.

Barnard Marcus: they have often purpose built block and council houses properties in their portfolio.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

Here everybody say that buying a property in London it's a matter of compromise. But what does it mean? And, do you really know what type of property you are after?

So here we go, just a small questionnaire to help you build your priority list:

1. I have a specific London neighborhood in my heart

vs

2. I have more like a budget and I'm flexible about the location

3. I'm planning to live in this property for long time

vs

4. It has to be easily rentable and quickly salable

5. I care a lot about the entrance experience and the general aspect of the building

vs

6. What is important is inside my home

7. I value a lot the view

vs
8. I don't want to climb a lot of steps or to enter my flat

9. I strongly want to personalize it

vs

10. It just have to look good

11. In London I won't use an outdoor space that much

vs 

12. I would love some outdoor space

you would go for...

THE VIEWING CHECKLIST

My Viewing Checklist

1. Is the property freehold or leasehold?
2. What's the length of the lease?
3. Who is the freeholder?
4. How much is the service charge and what's included?
5. What's the council tax band?
6. How much is the ground rent?
7. Is the property actually rented or occupied by the owners?
Note. In case it's rented, ask the tenants when their contract expires, if they are happy to move out and if any minor is living with them.
8. Is the purchase in a chain?
9. When do the vendors expect to exchange?
10. Is there any major work planned for the building?
11. Have the latest interior works been done with approval?
12. Is there any dispute or issue with the neighbours?
13. Have other offers been made so far?

UNDERSTAND THE BASICS

London Real Estate Vocabulary

Flat: how the Brits call an apartment, usually spread over only one floor of a building.

Maisonette: An apartment that is set over two or more floors. Generally located in low-rise buildings and accessible from the ground floor. In London is common to find them in terraced houses (see below).

Duplex: an apartment having rooms on two adjoining floors connected by an inner staircase. They are mainly set in mid-rise or high-rise buildings. Their access can be at any floor of the building. More common in modern or new buildings.

Conversion Flat: an apartment (or maisonette) originated by the subdivision of one house into more units. The original building can also be a warehouse or another industrial building that has been turned into residential.

Townhouse: is a type of housing sets on multiple floors and usually arranged in a row, very common in European city centers. The term originally referred to the city residence of a member of the nobility, as opposed to their country seat. In London they are typically Georgian or Victorian houses. A modern town house have frequently a small footprint on multiple floors.

PROPERTY TITLES IN THE UK

There are a number of different types of property titles in the United Kingdom.
Many are completely unknown to the majority of foreigners.

Freehold

You own the building and the land it stands in perpetuity. You will be register in the land registry as “freeholder” owning a “title absolute”.

Whole houses are normally sold freehold. In London only 10% of the properties are on freehold. You can be the freeholder of a building, but also of a flat.

> You won’t have to pay annual ground rent.
> You have the responsibility for maintaining the fabric of the building – roof, outside walls and fundation included.
> You have responsibility of whatever happens on your property.

Leasehold

You just have a lease from the landlord to use the home for a number of years. Most of the properties in London are sold as leasehold.

THE MAIN 6 STEPS

1. Get an 'Agreement in Principle'
Through your bank or a mortgage broker, get a realistic view of how much you can borrow. What I did

2. Understand The Basics
Understand what they mean for freehold, leasehold and share ownership. But also terrace house, victorian conversion or purpose built block. Property Titles in the UK, Property Types

3. Start looking
Online, through local agencies or... a broker! It might save you time AND money. What are you looking for?

4. Go for viewings
Have with you a list of what to to check and what to ask. My list