Get the pricing right, have your paperwork in order and proceed with caution if you want to sell in this unusual market by Jayne Dowle

Talk of a house price boom is tricky for sellers. Do you price high to take advantage of the improving forecast? Or go lower to entice a buyer while the going is good? “In this unusual market, pricing becomes a nightmare for selling agents and vendors alike,” says Edward Heaton of the property consultancy Heaton & Partners. “There has been a tendency in certain quarters to price high in order to win instructions. Sadly, this can often kill marketing dead in the water. As a seller, be aware of this and be wary of what appear to be inflated prices. Greedy vendors and bullish agents do the market no favours.”

Proceed with caution seems to be the professional consensus. So what else can experts tell us about getting the best price for your home right now?

1. Do your research before you meet estate agents by checking prices of comparable properties online through portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. That way, you can hold an informed discussion before you agree what to put your own home on the market for. Don’t be misled, though. “Make sure you look at sold prices as they can be massively different to ‘for sale’ prices,” says Alastair Hart, the divisional director at Hunters estate agency. See landregistry.gov.ukfor official sold prices, but bear in mind the time lag for properties to be registered.

2. Don’t be afraid to put agents on the spot. Invite three to price your property. “Ask them to justify the figure they put forward with evidence of what else has sold recently and what else is currently available,” says Douglas Sleaper, the sales director at the Townends estate agency. “Any good estate agent will be able to show you exactly how they have arrived at their figure.” Don’t be arrogant, though, adds Alexander Leon, sales manager at Henry & James estate agency. “Asking more than the agent recommends is foolhardy and typically results in the house sticking on the market and becoming stale, before the price is eventually dropped, by which time buyers have lost interest.”

3. “When choosing an estate agent, don’t always choose the one who claims they can secure the highest price for you,” says Alexander Gosling, director at housesimple.co.uk, an online estate agency. “It’s a common tactic by agents to out price their rivals just to get clients signed up. Once your property has been on the market for a week or two with no interest, then comes the call from the agent recommending you drop the price.” If you find yourself with no choice but to do just that, Graham Lock, co-founder of the online estate agency House Network, advises a subtle approach: “Gentle price reductions always seem to work better than huge, sudden drops. Sometimes this can spook potential buyers into thinking, ‘What’s wrong with this property if there is such a large reduction?’

4. Getting the best price may be of paramount importance, but it’s not all about the figure. How long a property is on the market and how much attention it receives contributes to how much buyers think it is worth. “Look at the websites of all the agents in the area and watch how long it takes for similar properties in the same price range to go under offer,” says Karelia Scott- Daniels, managing director of Manse & Garret, a property search agency. Edward Heaton adds: “It takes a couple of months if the property is priced optimistically but close to the real value. Properties that go under offer in a few days or a few weeks could probably have been marketed for a little more, particularly if they sell for their asking price or close to. Too long before an offer and the damage has been done. The buying public see the house as compromised. The eventual selling price is often significantly less than if the right price had been asked in the first place.”

5. “Getting the right asking price requires focus, directional hearing and real guts,” says Ed Mead, a director at the Douglas & Gordon estate agency in London. “You’ll achieve the best results by ignoring what you want to hear and focusing on what you need. Incentivise the agent with a middle-of-the-range asking price and a fee designed to get more than the guide price. Estate agents are sales-driven, so offering a fee structure where they receive a hefty additional percentage for everything they get above a guide price has to be win-win for both agent and seller.”

6. As Ed Mead identifies, it is common for prime properties to be marketed with a “guide price” or at “offers around”. Be wary of doing this if your home is more modest, advises Miles Shipside, a director at Rightmove, as you might deter potential buyers from making an offer at all. “Post-credit-crunch, buyers are extra-choosy about value,” he says. “They can be put off by ‘guide price’ and ‘offers around’ as they fear that the sale might end up going to sealed bids, and they will end up paying more than anyone else.”

7. “Under pricing has historically been a good way of generating interest with a view to pushing the price higher through competing bids,” says Edward Heaton. “This often still works, but such are the vagaries of the market this is in no way guaranteed. It becomes a gamble for the seller. If you quote approximately 10 per cent below the average value but only get one interested party, what do you do? Hold out in the hope of someone else with a higher offer? In this market, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

8. Your estate agent will advise you on the price you should put your property on for, but the price at which you are prepared to sell is a different matter. “Decide in advance what is the lowest price you are prepared to take and keep this to yourself,” says Samantha Ashdown of the selling advice service Home Truths. “Take the emotion out of it. It is important that you are in control of the process if the agent starts suggesting you lower the asking price in order to achieve a sale. Having a bottom line is crucial.”

9. Watch out for the crafty tricks agents pull and ask questions if your instincts tell your something isn’t right. “It’s vital your property is priced competitively otherwise it will become a ‘lever’ flat for the selling agents,” says Caspar Harvard-Walls, partner at the Black Brick property search agency. “A lever flat is where your property is shown to prove to an incoming buyer that another flat is actually really good value. This is to be avoided at all costs.”

And finally, check all your paperwork is in place. If a good offer at or around the asking price comes in, you must be able to move quickly before your potential buyer has chance to change their mind. “It is so important,” says Rupert Sweeting, a partner at the Knight Frank estate agency. “Make sure your lawyer has the contract ready and that all the documentation is in order, such as the local authority searches and details of disputes with neighbours.”

Homebuyers fed up with gazumping in an increasingly competitive market may find buying property at auction an attractive alternative. Auction deals are concluded much more quickly, with contracts exchanged immediately; buyers also have peace of mind, knowing that they cannot be outbid after the auction.

Auctions are also becoming more popular. Essential Information Group, which tracks the results of UK property auctions, says that 6,481 lots were sold between July and September, a 3.3 per cent increase on the same period last year. And it is not just decrepit properties that are sold this way — John Lennon’s childhood home in Wavertree, Liverpool, will go on sale on October 29 through Countrywide Property Auctions, with a guide price of more than £150,000.

Here we explain how to get the best deal at auction, and the pitfalls to avoid.

1. Do not rely on the catalogue: visit the property yourself and do your research. Jo Eccles, director of Sourcing Property, a property search and relocation company, says: “One recent auction buyer completed on a property having only seen it from the outside, only to find it piled 5ft deep in tonnes of stinking rubbish. This added significant delays and cost to his intended refurbishment.” Take a look around the neighbourhood. Are the transport links good? Would you live in the area yourself? All of these factors can affect the value of the property.

2. “Get a surveyor to look at the property to help ascertain what the likely cost of improving the property is and to spot any major defects,” says Camilla Dell of property-finding agency Black Brick. A survey of the property will cost about £500 and is a worthwhile investment, even though you could be outbid and lose the money — the cost to you if you end up with a house that is falling apart at the seams would be substantially higher. “Talking to the auctioneer well in advance of the auction is vital. If they are aware of issues relating to the property, they are duty-bound to tell you about them,” says Andrew Brown, managing director of Countrywide Property Auctions.

3. If this is your first time, do a trial run so you can familiarise yourself with the process. You could easily be up against hundreds of bidders and you’ll be more comfortable if you understand how the system works. Chris Baguley, director of Auction Finance, a lender, says: “This will give you a valuable insight into the way the auction works and the tactics other bidders use.”

4. The fall of gavel is when the sale is made and it is legally binding. Contracts are exchanged immediately, so you’ve got to be happy with everything before you start bidding. Have a solicitor inspect any legal packs before the day of the auction. These packs list the terms of the sale and you will be bound by them if your bid wins.

5. As soon as the gavel falls, you have to pay a 10 per cent deposit, and the rest is usually payable within 28 days. “If you’re facing a situation where you need to complete on your purchase before selling your existing home, a bridging loan can help you through,” says Brian Murphy of the Mortgage Advice Bureau. Bear in mind, though, that bridging loans are meant to be short-term solutions and are more expensive than standard mortgages.

Banks could make you mortgage offers subject to retention — for example, they will only give you the mortgage once you’ve installed a kitchen, says David Sandeman of Essential Information Group. It becomes a catch-22 because “you can’t get the money until you’ve got the kitchen, but can’t get the kitchen until you’ve got the money”. The bank could withhold the entire loan until its conditions are met, so it is best to seek a mortgage that doesn’t come with conditions attached, or have another form of finance available if needed.

6. Bring a debit card or chequebook, as well as two forms of identification and proof of residence, to pay the deposit. Cash and credit cards are not accepted, and the penalty for a bounced cheque is substantial — the vendor may sell the property to another buyer as well as sue you for the deposit. Let your bank know that there could be a huge cheque or card transaction being made so they don’t block it.

7. Know the difference between guide price and reserve price. “The guide price is not what property will sell for, it is only a good indication as to where the reserve is going to be and the property could sell. It is not the price at which auctioneer expects property to sell at,” Sandeman says. The reserve price, however, is the lowest price that the vendor will accept. If the reserve price is not met, the property will not be sold.

8. During bidding, the auctioneer is legally permitted to raise false bids while the offers are below the reserve by pretending to accept a bid from a phantom buyer. This is known as “chandelier”, “rafter” or “off-the-wall” bidding and standing in a position that gives a view of the whole room may help you spot this.

9. Decide how much you want to spend and stay calm if the bidding starts to get competitive. Don’t allow yourself to go over budget, do not bid if you have any doubts and always remember that the auctioneer is there to get the highest possible price for the property.

10. Don’t despair if your bid doesn’t win. If the winning bid falls through at a later stage, or if the reserve price was not met, it might be possible to buy the property after the auction. Leave your details with the auction house and you might get your hands on the property after all.

Forget Mayfair, Park Lane and Piccadilly. A new wave of investors is redrawing London’s real-life Monopoly map. Christopher Middleton learns how to load the dice in your favour.

The London Monopoly board is as fixed in our minds as Nelson’s Column or Tower Bridge. From the gritty brown Whitechapel and Old Kent Roads to the green glamour of Oxford and Bond Streets, we know exactly where we stand.

Except, of course, that a century after the much-loved board game was introduced, all that is changing. Where it was once simple to work out where to place your bets on an investment, now it is much more complicated. Parts of London that were distinctly downmarket have suddenly become dynamic and desirable. Never have there been so many simultaneously up-and-coming areas. Brixton is buzzing; Hackney is happening. Even Stratford, once a transport-less desert, has been embraced thanks to two Tube lines, a frequent National Rail, Javelin trains to King’s Cross and even the Eurostar to Paris. Mayfair, Park Lane and Piccadilly no longer top property buyers’ wish lists.

Amid all this, how can the average homebuyer find a vantage point from which to survey this fast-changing metropolitan scene? Where on the revolving board should investors place their houses? How to win an imaginary new Monopoly (and avoid going to jail)?

Of course, as in the game, there is no one answer. Property professionals say we shouldn’t torture ourselves trying to identify when the market has reached its peak or is scraping along the bottom. Instead, we should be guided by our own concrete requirements.

“Trying to time the market is impossible,” says Camilla Dell of buying agents Black Brick Property Solutions. “Many people who sit back and wait end up never getting anything, and then watch in regret as the market rises.”

“The problem is, in London the crash never really happened,” adds buying agent Robert Bailey. “In the wake of Lehman Brothers closing down, prices dipped by 15.9 per cent. But they have since appreciated by 62 per cent.

“Those who were predicting a crash saw their gains eroded by rent, agents’ fees and other costs. It cost them more to get back into the market than they saved by leaving it.”

Prices might be subject to the occasional wobble. But it seems the rock-solid foundation on which purchasers base their calculations is London’s continuing appeal – and not just to British buyers either.

The capital has been on the radar of Asian investors for the past two decades. But it has also become an increasingly safe property haven for Middle Eastern buyers, in the light of the turmoil in Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt.

In total, it is reported that anything between 65 and 85 per cent of all prime central London properties are being snapped up by purchasers from abroad. No surprise, then, that according to a report by Knight Frank estate agents, London is the only city in Europe where prices have gone up in the past year.

The upshot is that demand has never been stronger for the new London hot spots. The banker-rich territory such as Mayfair and Park Lane has performed strongly, but is being outstripped by uppity newcomers.

According to property finders Garrington, house prices in Hackney (11 per cent), Camden (10.6 per cent) and Merton (10 per cent) have all increased more in the past year than traditionally well-heeled areas such as Westminster (6.9 per cent).

A report from Savills predicts that this “priming” will be at its most pronounced in more outlying parts of London. Prices are predicted to rise by 26.2 per cent between now and the end of 2017, as against just 18.1 per cent in more mainstream districts of the capital.

“If you want to spot where the next prime areas are likely to be, look for places that are new, novel or next door to already prosperous areas,” says Yolande Barnes, director of residential research at Savills. “Good examples at present are Shoreditch, Dalston and Brixton.”

The indicator of an area’s rising prosperity used to be the opening of a Waitrose store. But today’s would-be buyers are advised to look for news of incoming investment.

In recent months the highest-profile up-and-coming area has been Battersea. As well as a new Tube station, more than 20 different residential developments are either being built or are about to be built. Not forgetting the new American Embassy and, it is rumoured, the Chinese and Dutch embassies, too.

“If I were 20, Battersea is where I would buy,” says David Adams, managing director of John Taylor estate agents. “Most people don’t want to live in an area until it is deemed up-and-coming, by which time prices have already jumped.”

If you want to get ahead of the crowds, the Church Commissioners are putting a large amount of money into converting and smartening up their Bayswater and Hyde Park properties.

All of which will serve to improve the surroundings – and thereby house prices. None of these places were on the original Monopoly board, but all could help an investor now pick up a high-performing bargain.

Nor does the list end there. The hot tip these days is to keep an ear out for news of a Westfield shopping centre. Both Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush have one, and Croydon is to follow suit. It’s good news for residents of the 756-home Saffron Square tower being built nearby.

Meanwhile, the once down-at-heel south London area of Elephant and Castle is also getting a long-awaited facelift. Money is pouring into not just jobs and businesses, but New Trafalgar Place, a shopping and housing development.

Don’t forget, either, the new lease of life that the arrival of Crossrail will bring to stops along its route. It may be five years until the line is ready, but already it has kick-started residential property developments in places such as Aldgate, Tottenham Court Road and Bloomsbury. Not to mention Custom House in east London. Once a desolate, uninhabited spot, this will soon (with Crossrail’s help) be just a 17-minute train ride from Bond Street. For the price of a small flat in the centre, then, you could get a roomy town house a little further out.

No question about it: the whole London market is transforming before us. Formerly low-price, low-rent parts of town are being linked to the capital’s transport network and the mainstream property market.

Ever since the announcement that the Olympics were to take place in east London, house prices have risen by nearly £1,000 per month in the 14 postcodes closest to the Olympic Stadium.

Not that we should all rush out and start paying over the odds for properties in these hot spots. The key is to buy not just a place that you like, but in an area that has a proven track record, over not just months, but years.

“Opt for the worst house in the best street, rather than the best house in the worst street,” says Ben Podesta, sales manager at Domus Nova estate agents in Notting Hill.

Don’t expect to make a quick killing, either. At the top end of the market, rich buyers can do up a £10-£15 million mansion, and sell it on for £18 million. But the rest of us are advised to work on a five to 10-year plan to make a profit.

Above all, says Alan Loveday, sales director of Countryside Properties, we should buy a property because we like it, not because we think it will make us money. “There aren’t many people who are happy to live somewhere just because, in a few years’ time, it might appreciate in value more quickly,” he says.

But if your heart is set on making money, the capital’s traditional advantages are as attractive as ever. “London is culturally rich, a major financial centre, and it has an international feel that anyone will feel comfortable in,” explains Mark Parkinson of home finders Middleton Advisors.

“This has resulted in a huge influx of buyers from Europe and beyond. For the foreseeable future, the London market is set fair.”

From all the reams of advice and expertise, from international agents and local specialists, the message about London boils down to one thing: buy now. Perhaps the property game is not so difficult after all.

On the scent of a secret hideaway home

Secret homes with lush gardens lurk in city centres, says Lauren Thompson.

If you walked down the busting Kings Road in London, you would unlikely to notice the doorway at No. 183. Behind the unassuming façade lie four spectacular townhouses and three apartments, each with its own courtyard garden and underground parking. This new development, Chelsea Galleries, is one of several in the capital that are hidden from street view but open out on to something quite unexpected. Such “hidden homes” are being snapped up by buyers looking for privacy and security amid the hustle and bustle of London.

“Secluded homes in the heart of London are unusual and provide an oasis of calm for residents,” says Ed Lewis, the head of London residential development sales at Savills estate agency, which is marketing Chelsea Galleries, where prices start at £4.9million. “There is something magical about stepping into a home that is utterly concealed and that no one knows is there.”

Many new hidden homes sit in plots between or at the back of existing house, where an architect has spotted the potential to make the most of an unused space. Chelsea Cottage, also near the Kings Road, is a two-storey house but only the front door is visible from the Fernshaw Road. You enter into a long, narrow picture gallery that leads into the house itself, which was built to nestle in a plot surrounded by 14 neighbouring gardens.

John Walters of the Chelsea office of Knight Frank estate agency says “Chelsea Cottage is truly unique. It’s surrounded by other people gardens but you are still a distance from their houses, so it feels very private.” The two-bedroom cottage with garage and two terraces is on the market with Knight Frank for £4.35million.

Over the river in Wands worth lies another house hidden from the road in Lebanon Gardens, currently let to tenants. Built in 2008, residents go through a doorway on the street and walk down a passageway before coming to the two-bedroom mews-style house.

Mathew Dabell, director of lettings at agency Aspire, explains the building provenance: “The end-terrace house originally belonged to a builder in the 1890’s, and there was a plot of land to the rear used as his storage yard, complete with original cobbles. In 2008 the owner of the end-terrace obtained planning permission to build a contemporary house there, and it is now a really surprising and very secluded home.”

With London bursting at the seams, many developers turn to conversions of disused commercial building to create new and private homes. The Mill House near Shepherds Bush Common was lying derelict for many years while the regeneration of the surrounding Brook Green neighbourhood took place. Now its conversion into nine apartments is almost complete, with a discreet entrance at the end of a gated no-through road. Prices start from £499,950 with Marsh & Parsons.

A row of former artist’s studios in Chelsea has also been snapped up recently by developers, creating a new wing of one and two bedroom apartments called Bolton Studios. Onlookers would have no idea the development was there apart from a small entrance on Gilston Road, just off Fulham Road. Prices start at £1.265million with Savills.

Lewis says that the Bolton Studio apartments are being bought by those wanting a pied-a-terre or somewhere for their children, as well as buyers searching for unusual “trophy” homes that offer something different to friends’ bolt holes.

Hidden homes also appeal to those who travel often or leave their homes empty for long periods. Homes impossible to spot from the street are less obvious targets for burglars, even if there are no lights on during the winter months. Former religious buildings can be good hunting ground for private homes in London. One such new development is Carmel Gate, a former monastery in Temple Fortune, Northwest London, which is hidden from the street. The gated development is off Havianna Drive, off Bridge Lane, and is a combination of converted and new-build homes around a courtyard. Prices start at £575,000 for a two bedroom apartment through Glentree New Homes.

If you’re thinking of buying hidden homes, expect to be in the company of celebrities and other movers and shakers looking for a secret hideaway. Camilla Dell, the managing partner at Black Brick buying agency says “We recently acquired an off-market house on Earls Terrace in Kensington for a high profile Asian businessman. The road is popular because it’s concealed from Kensington High Street by a high hedgerow and it is also gated with 24/7 security. Even better, you can drive into and out of the car park underneath the houses to avoid being photographer by paparazzi.

Most of us are untroubled by the attentions of paparazzi or autograph-hunters, but the allure of somewhere utterly hidden from other people may still prove hard to resist.