House hunting in London is usually a tiring and stressful experience. In London, in particular, the property market is very fast moving and properties tend to get rented very quickly, giving you only a small window for viewings and decision making.
When house hunting in London, If you snooze, you lose.
Annoyingly many Londoners find themselves moving house quite often and therefore the stress of house hunting is one we have to experience often.
Here are my top tips for how to stay sane while house hunting.
Before you start looking, set your must have and nice to have criteria
House hunting in London is all about compromise. You are unlikely to be able to get exactly what you want, in your preferred location and within your budget.
This means you need to decide what is the most important to you and where you are willing to compromise if you have to. Some example criteria are given below.
Write down for each one what you would ideally like and then rank them in terms of importance to you. Prioritise the top criteria first and ensure you are willing to compromise on the others.
- Location
- Price
- House Spec and overall Quality
- Appliances e.g. dishwasher, clothes dryer, microwave
- Floor space
- Outdoor space
- Number of bedrooms
- Type of dwelling (house, converted flat, purpose built flat etc.)
- Car parking availability
As an example, In my most recent move, the most important thing for me was the overall spec and quality of the house and was willing to compromise on the number of bedrooms and space available in order to find somewhere nice that I could afford. In previous moves, I have compromised on location, living further from a tube station, so I could have an additional bedroom.
What’s important to you will probably change each time you move so make sure you consider all the options.
You can’t view everything! Start by creating a shortlist.
Most people will start their house hunting in London by looking at adverts online (for example, rightmove, spareroom or movebubble). No matter where you are searching, there will almost always be a lot of properties listed and it is easy to get overwhelmed looking through them all.
Understand early on that you are not going to be able to view them all so you need to create a shortlist. Use the save feature on the website you are looking at or create a google spreadsheet to keep track of any flat that you think has potential.
Be picky when deciding if a flat makes it onto the short list. Flats will almost always look better on the advert than when you visit so only add a property to your list if you are sure this flat is going to be a valid option.
You don’t want to waste your time on flats that are unlikely to be in contention.
A top tip for searching online, is to set your search budget slightly higher than your actual budget. This is because landlords list their flats at the highest possible price they think they could get, however many will be open to taking lower offers.
Set aside house viewings days & book multiple viewings
I would recommend setting aside whole days for house hunting in London. This is generally more efficient than booking in a viewing one at a time, around other commitments.
This has the advantage of reducing the amount of times you have to travel to your chosen location and it allows you to directly compare different flats making the decision making process easier. You also get the opportunity to spend a whole day in your chosen area which should give you a feel for what it will be like living there. Plus you can try out local coffee shops and cafes.
The only time when single house viewings might be better is when a property has just come onto the market and you are worried someone else will make an offer if you don’t see it straight away. On the advert, look for when the property was first listed. If it’s been on the market a while you will be OK to wait a few days. If it’s brand new and looks really good – you may want to get in there quickly.
Where you have multiple properties to see from one estate agent, ask if you can have someone take you around them all in one go. Usually the agent will drive you between the properties which will save time and allow you to fit more in.
If you have a whole day in one area, you should be able to fit in at least 5 properties. This should be enough for you to get a feel for what is available. If one of these is a good option, it is worth going for it, rather than waiting to see more.
In general I wouldn’t recommend seeing more than 10 properties across 2-3 days. If you still haven’t found anything suitable I would recommend revisiting your search criteria as it might be that you need to change your budget, search area or expectations in order to find something better.
House viewings are exhausting so a whole day of viewings is probably not going to be the most fun. But I believe it is better to get it over and done with rather than allowing the stress to stretch out over multiple weeks.
Ask the right questions and look for key details
You might only spend a few minutes looking around each flat so it’s important that you make the best use of your time and check out the property thoroughly.
Here’s some top things to look for or ask about:
- Is the property furnished – which furniture are included?
- What are the utilities and bills e.g. gas/electric, is there a water metre? How much is the council tax?
- What appliances are there and when were they last replaced? (dishwasher, washing machine etc.)
- Have there been any issues with pests e.g. mice, moths etc. ?
- Are there any signs of damage, damp etc.?
- How thick / soundproof are the walls? Are you able to hear your neighbours?
- How far is the nearest tube / bus station?
- Does the garden / balcony get sun in the summertime?
- Do the windows have double glazing? Are there any drafts?
- Is there enough space for your needs?
- Do you have good mobile phone signal in the property?
- How long has the property been on the market? Has there been a lot of interest so far?
- How secure is the property?
I recommend taking photos and/or videos to remember what each property looks like when you are comparing each one at the end of the day.
Ask estate agents for details of new properties not yet online
A top tip when house hunting in London is to make use of the knowledge the estate agents have. Often they will have additional properties available for viewing that have not yet been put up online. By asking to see more properties than just the one you have seen online, you can get access to more properties before anyone else.
When booking a viewing, always ask if they have anything else you can see at the same time as this is a more time efficient way to get in more viewings as well as seeing these new properties before anyone else.
Unfortunately sometimes estate agents will ring up and cancel on you last minute. This is a frustrating part of house viewings , especially when you have prepared a whole day to find the best property. If an agent does this, e.g. because the property is no longer on the market, ask them if there is anything else that they can show you instead.
Be Decisive! Make a decision quickly
If you are interested in a property – do not wait around. I would advise making an offer by the next day, at the latest. I have been known to make an offer while viewing a property for the first time. Especially when I know what I am looking for and have seen many options already.
When making the offer, discuss with the estate agent what the landlord will be willing to accept and whether there is anything you can negotiate on e.g. the contact length, rental price and furnishings.
In general, landlords will be willing to lower the rental price if you offer a longer contact length or if you are seen as a “desirable tennant”. This can mean different things but in general, landlords prefer couples to groups of friends as they assume couples will take better care of the property.
Not all landlords will be willing to negotiate on these things, but it’s worth discussing as you could get yourself a better deal or a better contract for your needs.
Even after making an offer, you are not tied into anything until you pay the deposit and sign the papers so until then, there is always the option of pulling out if you change your mind.
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Final Thoughts
House hunting in London is rarely a fun experience but good organisation and planning can make the process much smoother and easier to follow. Good luck with your future house hunting, let me know your top tips for staying sane while viewing properties.
Once you’ve found your ideal property, make sure you take the appropriate steps to protect your rental deposit. I highly recommend reading my detailed guide for how to get your deposit back. In this post I share my top tips from many years of experience fighting with landlords and my learning from going through formal deposit disputes.
