How to Find the Best Property in London

Start with your life, not just a postcode

Before you fall in love with a particular property, think about how you will actually live there.

I would look at the real door-to-door commute rather than simply the nearest Underground station. Walk from the property to the station. Check whether you need to change lines. Look at alternative routes. Think about where you buy groceries, where you exercise, where you meet friends and what you like doing at weekends.

A property that looks slightly further away on a map can sometimes give you a much easier daily journey because it has a direct connection.

If you are seriously considering an area, visit it more than once.

A quiet road on Sunday morning may feel completely different at 8am on Monday. Equally, somewhere that appears very busy on a map may have a surprisingly peaceful residential street just around the corner.

London can change from one street to the next

This is one of the things I love about London, but it also makes buying here more complicated.

Cross one road and you can enter a different neighbourhood, different borough or completely different type of housing. The outlook can change. Transport connections can change. Council Tax can change. Even the atmosphere can change.

Council Tax is a good example of a cost that is easy to forget while property hunting. London boroughs set their own Council Tax charges, so two homes a short distance apart can have noticeably different annual bills.

I would not choose my home based purely on Council Tax, but when you are calculating the real annual cost of ownership, it deserves to be included.

Do not confuse an asking price with a property’s value

When I assess a property, one of the first things I want to understand is what genuinely comparable properties have actually sold for.

Start with completed sales in the same building where possible, then look at the street and surrounding area.

But this is where buyers need to be careful.

Imagine a beautifully refurbished top-floor apartment overlooking a park has recently sold for £750,000.

Now imagine another flat in the same building is on a lower floor, needs refurbishment and looks directly towards another building.

The fact that they have the same number of bedrooms and share the same postcode does not make them directly comparable.

I would consider the floor, view, natural light, condition, size, layout, outside space, lease length, service charge and whether either property has parking.

Never underestimate the value of parking in London

Parking can make a surprisingly large difference. In some parts of Central and Prime London, a secure parking space can be extremely valuable – in some cases worth more than a small property in another part of the UK.

So if the comparable sale included underground parking and the property you are considering does not, that needs to be taken into account.

The purchase price is not your total budget

This is something I would work out before getting too deep into the search.

Your available money needs to cover more than the deposit and purchase price. Depending on your circumstances, you may also have Stamp Duty Land Tax, conveyancing costs, mortgage or broker fees, surveys and specialist inspections.

Then there is the money you may need immediately after completion.

This is where I think buyers sometimes underestimate the numbers.

This is why I take surveys seriously

I would much rather discover an expensive problem before exchange than after completion.

The appropriate survey will depend on the property. An older, unusual, altered or visibly neglected building may justify a more detailed investigation than a straightforward modern home.

A survey may also recommend specialist investigations. Depending on what is found, that could mean looking more closely at electrics, asbestos, damp, drainage, roofing or structural concerns.

The survey costs money, of course. But compare that cost with discovering a £10,000 or £20,000 problem after you already own the property.

The lights turning on does not tell you everything

I know of another case where a property required a complete electrical rewire after purchase. The electrical work itself was around £8,000.

And that was not necessarily the end of the cost.

Rewiring can mean opening walls and ceilings, replacing sockets and then repairing and redecorating everything afterwards.

The frustrating part is that the electricity may appear completely normal during a viewing. The lights work. The sockets work. Nothing immediately tells an ordinary buyer that a major expense may be waiting behind the walls.

For an appropriate property, particularly an older home or where there are concerns about the installation, I would consider whether a specialist electrical inspection is sensible before exchange.

Then there is the boiler…

A boiler can work perfectly during your viewing and still be approaching the end of its life.

Depending on the property, system and work required, replacing heating equipment can become another several-thousand-pound expense. A practical allowance of around £3,000 to £5,000 for some boiler replacement scenarios is not difficult to imagine, although every property and quotation will be different.

Now combine a boiler with rewiring, old windows and another significant repair.

Suddenly the property that appeared to need “a little modernisation” is a very different financial proposition.

Sometimes the ugly property is actually the opportunity

This is the other side of the story, and it is one of my favourite parts of property searching.

Buyers can be put off by terrible paint colours, old carpets, dated furniture or a kitchen that photographs badly.

But those things can often be changed.

You cannot easily change a poor outlook, lack of natural light, the position of the building or a fundamentally bad layout.

Buying a flat? Do not stop your inspection at the front door

You can walk into a beautifully refurbished London apartment and immediately fall in love with it.

But you are not only buying what is inside the flat.

Look at the building.

What condition are the communal areas in? How old are the lifts? Does the exterior look maintained? Are there signs of major works? What is happening with the roof, windows, balconies or communal heating?

Your solicitor should investigate the relevant legal and management documentation, including matters such as the lease, service charges and available information about planned works.

I also like to look at the service-charge history rather than seeing one year’s number in isolation.

And remember: a very low service charge is not automatically good news. Sometimes it can mean that maintenance has been postponed rather than properly funded.

Pay for the things you cannot easily change

Kitchens can be replaced. Walls can be painted. Flooring can be changed.

Moving a flat three floors higher is considerably more difficult.

That is why I pay particular attention to natural light, outlook, floor level, noise and the position of the property within the building.

A bright upper-floor apartment overlooking a park should not automatically be valued in the same way as a dark lower-floor apartment facing another building – even when both are in the same development.

The second viewing should feel different from the first

On the first viewing you are usually asking:

On the second viewing, I want you to ask:

Look at the windows and ceilings. Check underneath sinks. Look at the boiler. Walk through the communal areas. Think about where the bins are. Listen for noise. Measure the rooms. Look at the neighbouring buildings.

Then walk to the station.

You are potentially spending hundreds of thousands – or millions – of pounds. Taking another hour to understand the property properly is completely reasonable.

If you plan to refurbish, work backwards

When buyers see a property requiring renovation, it is easy to imagine how beautiful it could become.

I would also ask a much less glamorous question:

Compare that figure with the purchase price and realistic refurbishment cost.

Remember that refurbishment is not only a kitchen, bathroom and paint. Depending on the property, there may also be demolition, waste removal, electrics, plumbing, plastering, flooring, windows, heating, scaffolding, specialist contractors, professional fees and making good.

And keep a contingency.

Once walls and ceilings are opened, properties have an unfortunate habit of revealing things nobody expected.

Finding the right property should be a process, not a race

London can be competitive, but speed should not mean abandoning common sense.

A good search starts by understanding what you really need, identifying suitable areas, monitoring the market, viewing the strongest options, comparing them properly and then investigating the chosen property before you become committed to the purchase.

You do not have to search London alone

Finding the right property can quickly become a second job.

You are checking portals, speaking with different agents, trying to arrange viewings before somebody else gets there, researching buildings and wondering whether the asking price is actually reasonable.

It is even harder if you are relocating to London, living overseas, unfamiliar with the different neighbourhoods or simply too busy to spend every day monitoring the market.

This is why I offer a Professional London Property Search Service for Buyers.

The objective is not simply to send you property links.

I want to understand what you are genuinely trying to find, help identify suitable areas, search the market, communicate with selling agents, organise viewings, compare opportunities and look at relevant comparable sales.

Most importantly, I want to help you ask the right questions before you become emotionally committed to the wrong property.

Before I would feel comfortable proceeding

Every purchase is different, but these are some of the questions I would want answered:

The best property is not necessarily the cheapest one

A £700,000 property requiring £100,000 of immediate work is not automatically a better purchase than a £775,000 property in excellent condition.

Equally, paying more for the right floor, better view, longer lease, better natural light or valuable parking may make sense if those features matter to you and are properly reflected in the market value.

The aim is not to find the cheapest property.

It is to find the property that makes sense for your lifestyle, your finances and your future plans.

Research the area. Look at genuine comparable sales. Inspect the building as well as the property. Commission appropriate professional advice and investigations.

And if something does not look right, investigate it before exchange rather than hoping it will somehow be fine.

From my own experience, spending money investigating a property properly before buying can be far cheaper than discovering the problem once the keys are already in your hand.