How to do a deal before no deal
The only option, according to the experts, is to play hardball — for the gutsy customer, that means going in with a low offer. “Try 20% to 30% below the developer’s asking price,” says Sara Ransom, London director of Stacks Property Search, another agency that represents prospective purchasers. “This approach will only work if you have funds in place and can complete fast. But those reductions are possible if you bargain hard.” Ransom says you should expect smaller discounts on schemes with less than 150 units, which are in higher demand. For example, she has just negotiated 12% off the price of a flat at Gasholders, a 145-home scheme by Argent in King’s Cross, central London. But the gloves are off when it comes to what she calls “glass boxes” — those big blocks of identikit flats. “These have the big deals because there are thousands available at the same time.”
Then there are “nearly new” homes, bought from the developer, but then sold on. These are available at some of London’s largest development sites, including Nine Elms, in Battersea, and Earls Court, as well as some schemes outside the capital. In a rising market such properties make money, but that’s not the case when prices start falling. It pays to check whether any local estate agencies are marketing failed flips at a price lower than those being offered by the developer.
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