Our 11 Rules to Buying a Twickenham Property

Finding your next Twickenham property, be that for yourself to live in or as a Twickenham buy-to-let landlord, can sometimes be a scary task. You are possibly making one of the biggest purchases of your life, and you want to ensure you make the right choice.

Buying your next property is all about finding a Twickenham property with the features that match your requirements. However, what might be important to you as a homebuyer, might not be as important to other Twickenham homebuyers.
 
Some features will be red line must haves, whilst other features might be more negotiable, yet understanding what your requirements need to be, will make it easier to find the Twickenham home of your dreams.

Let’s look at our top 11 rules you need to consider when buying a property in Twickenham.

1. Location, Location, Location in Twickenham

You can change many things within a property, but location isn’t one. They say you should buy a property for the things you can change. Go and visit the different neighbourhoods of Twickenham.

Don’t just drive through them, walk through them at different times of the day. Look at weekdays as well as weekends. Think about transport links with access to bus routes, tube stations, arterial roads.

If you have children (or your tenants may have), think about school catchment areas for primary/secondary schools.

2. Twickenham Bedrooms

Did you know there are 62,869 bedrooms in Twickenham?
 
Well, you do now! Anyway, the number of bedrooms is a very significant consideration when buying your new Twickenham home. If you need bedrooms for your children, the location of the bedrooms could be an issue. Depending on the age of any children, you might not want them to be a long way from the master bedroom, or if the children are teenagers, the opposite could be true. Bedroom size is also important. Is there enough space for children to study or have wardrobes? Do you need bedrooms for an office? If office space is required, you might want to consider a property with one less bedroom and one more reception room – and it will probably be a little cheaper. All things to consider.

3. Potential Future House Price Growth in Twickenham

The type of Twickenham house you buy will determine how it increases in value in the future. Now this shouldn’t be the main consideration, yet it’s important to consider.

Since 2001, the different types of property in Twickenham have risen by different percentages:

• Twickenham detached properties have risen by 187.0%
• Twickenham semi-detached properties have risen by 173.9%
• Twickenham town houses/terraced properties have risen by 168.3%
• Twickenham apartments/flats have risen by 156.6%

On a standalone point for Twickenham landlords, the level of rent and yield are important considerations for your Return on Investment (ROI). There tends to be an inverse relationship between capital growth and yield (i.e. Twickenham properties with higher capital growth tend to have lower rental yields).

If you are a Twickenham landlord and have any questions on this (or any point), drop us a call.

4. The Overall Interior Size Of Your Future Twickenham Property

On average a person only views five houses before they buy a house and only spends around 20 minutes in each on a viewing. Therefore, I would advise that you have a good idea about the size of Twickenham home you require before you start your search. If you have a big family you are going to need a bigger house obviously, yet you still need the budget to afford to buy the bigger Twickenham home. A top tip for you, the general rule of thumb is the older the house, the more you get for your money.

One great idea to calculate the square meterage of your potential Twickenham home. Ask to view the full copy of the Energy Performance Certificate, as it has the size of the property in square metres.

Bigger Twickenham houses tend to cost more money to run with utility bills and council tax.

A final thought on size is the question of whether your family is likely to grow in the next decade, will you have more children or is a parent coming to live with you?

5. The Price You Will Have To Pay For Your Next Twickenham Home

In the last 12 months, the Twickenham property market has remained buoyant as Twickenham people were forced to spend more time at home. Therefore they looked for more space, but what did they have to pay for that privilege?
 

• 28 Twickenham detached properties have sold for an average £1,686,500
• 167 Twickenham semi-detached properties have sold for an average £868,900
• 219 Twickenham town house/terraced properties have sold for an average £794,900
• 177 Twickenham apartments/flats have sold for an average £496,400

Look at the property portals (e.g. Rightmove, Boomin, Zoopla and OnTheMarket) and search for Twickenham property that is both available and sold subject to contract. Get a feel for asking prices of the Twickenham properties that are sold subject to contract as these will give you a good idea what they roughly sold for.

Again, if you are not sure, pick up the phone or drop us a line.

6. Bathroom(s)

Check the bathroom for water leaks. Do the toilets flush OK, do the taps drip? Is there any mould? And do you need more than one?

7. The Lounge/Living Room

You will undoubtedly be spending a lot of time in the lounge/living room, so it needs to meet your requirements. Do you need a dining area? Does the design and arrangement of the room suit your lifestyle (or your tenants). Will you need new furniture? Are there enough electrical sockets? What are the carpets like? That goes for all rooms.

8. Central Heating For Your Twickenham Property

What type of central heating system is present, and does it meet the requirements of you and the home? The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will tell you how energy efficient the property is and how much it will cost to run. You would be amazed how few buyers ask to see the full copy of the EPC – yet you have the right to view it – always ask the estate agent for a copy or download it for free from the Government website.

9. The Outside

The outside space of your future Twickenham home is also something you need to reflect on before you start your search. What sort of back garden do you want? Do you want low maintenance? Do you want a bigger garden?  You also need to ensure the outside of your next Twickenham home is in great condition. Yet, if it’s a ‘do’er-upper’, does the price allow for those works to be done?

10. The Loft And Cellar

Another aspect to consider when buying a Twickenham property is the loft (or even the cellar/basement if it has one). In both, look for water damage that could mean problems in the future whilst in the cellar/basement, a musty smell could be poor ventilation meaning dry damp could be an issue. Also check for insulation in the loft (the Energy Performance Certificate will tell you if it’s up to standard).  
 
11. Garage/Off Road Parking Space

How many cars do you have in your family? Can you park them all on your drive? Visit the property during the day, the evening, and weekends to see how the parking provision changes. If the property has a garage, can it be used for something else?

These our are top 11 rules, yet do you have others we haven’t considered? 

The 7 Things Twickenham Home Sellers Should (and Shouldn’t) Do in 2022

Did you know 3,185 Twickenham homeowners are considering selling their Twickenham home between now and the summer of 2023?

Reports in the press suggest 1 in 5 homeowners are considering moving home in the next 18 months.

This will change the dynamics of selling your home in Twickenham, meaning there are certain matters that you, as a Twickenham homeowner, should do before placing your property on the market to ensure you get the best price, reduce the hassle and even more importantly, when you do sell, ensure the move actually takes place. Why is this important?

1 in 3 Twickenham house sales fall through between sale agreed and the keys being handed over

Also, nationally, the average length of time a property is taking from sale agreed to key hand-over is 19 weeks ... and the longer the sale takes, the greater the propensity for the sale to fall through.

So, if you are thinking of selling your Twickenham home, here are 7 things you should consider (plus some tips for those Twickenham homeowners currently on the market) …

1. Get your ducks in a row

Although it may seem apparent, having everything in place for the time you come onto the Twickenham housing market can really take weeks off the time between sale agreed and key handover and even avert the house sale collapsing.
 
For example, if you have had any building works done on your house, ensure you have the relevant paperwork now. That could be ensuring you have the Completion Certificate from the local authority for that extension you had a few years ago. Yes, you had planning permission, but are you aware you need a Completion Certificate from Richmond London Borough Council as well?

If you haven’t got the required building regulations or planning consent for any work (including changing your windows), that can really harm the price you achieve for your Twickenham home, or it could even finish the deal altogether.

Also, if your Twickenham home is old (say 150 years plus) or even listed, you should think about spending a few hundred pounds and get a survey done on your own house, especially if you have been in the house for more than 10 years.

This will highlight any issues that need to be rectified (and be shown to potential buyers) in case they start to nit-pick. If you need recommendation of a good Twickenham Chartered Surveyors, look no further, drop us a line.

2. Carpet ‘photo’ bombing

First impressions are everything, and you only get to make a first impression twice.

Yes, I said twice, once with the photographs and the second time when the potential buyers view your Twickenham home.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so ensure your agent photographs the best rooms from the best angles. The most important photograph is the front shot of your Twickenham home, so always ask to see the photographs before your property goes live on to the market to make sure they show your property in the best light possible.

The second ‘first impression’ is when viewers view your home. Often the thing that lets the side down here is your carpets. If your carpets are more than 10 years old, then seriously consider replacing them with something inexpensive with some decent underlay or give them a good professional clean.

In this Facebook world, your Twickenham home needs to look as good as it can to appeal to as many Twickenham buyers as possible.

3. Make it a potential home for your buyer, not a shrine to you

There was a house in the East Midlands called “Disaldu” (as in “This will Do”) that had been on the market for four years with six estate agents. As soon as it changed its name, it sold in a week. Be careful about over personalising your Twickenham property as that could be off-putting to possible home buyers.
 
Try not to be too daring with styles and colour schemes in your bathroom and kitchens, as your buyer won’t want to spend another £25,000 changing your neon pink kitchen units to something a bit more mainstream.

Twickenham home buyers often hate to change something which has just been finished but is not to their personal taste. Now I am not talking about magnolia everywhere as there is room for some flare yet be aware it’s a fine balance between your personal tastes and making your home attractive and selling it in the largest mainstream market possible.

Finally in this section, is your Twickenham home cluttered or untidy? Many people won’t be able to see past the jumbled house and overflowing bookcases. If you are unsure, drop us a message and we can pop round your Twickenham home when we are passing for 5 minutes if you want an impartial opinion.

4. Highlight the potential of your Twickenham home – but not too much

If you were considering extending your Twickenham home with a garden room, loft conversion or extension, then getting a local architect technician to draw you up some outline plans to demonstrate the development potential of your Twickenham property could be worth spending a few hundred pounds on.

Yet at the same time, be careful not to extend to make your Twickenham house more sellable. We have seen a handful of Twickenham homes be over-developed (i.e., almost over extended), making the house too big for its plot. It’s all about balancing the house with the size of the plot. Again, if you are uncertain in any way, drop us a line and we can give you some impartial advice (even if you aren’t moving for another 12/18 months).

5. Don’t let your garden grow on you

Since the lockdown began in spring 2020, our gardens have become one of our most cherished features. Twickenham homes with decent sized gardens have attracted a premium. However, over-fussy and poorly planned gardens can also be detrimental to the value of your Twickenham home, rather than add value to it.

6. Offices, offices, offices

Working from home could be here to stay for a few years. With this new age of home-working, even if you don’t work from home, maybe set up a study area. It might even be worth investing in one of those office pods for your garden.

7. Make sure the price is right

The bottom line is, if a Twickenham property isn’t selling it probably means the asking price is too high. Yes, even in a market such as this….

40.6% of Twickenham properties have been on the market more than 3 months

Putting your Twickenham home up for sale at too high an asking price is one of the most harmful things you can do as a seller. This approach regularly costs homeowners between 3% and 5% of their potential price agreed.

If you decrease your asking price at a later date in order to achieve a sale on your Twickenham house, you probably won’t get what you might have done if it had been realistically priced from the beginning.

I am aware of a bay-fronted 4-bed terraced property in Twickenham which, in the summer just gone, began with an asking price of £825,000 yet ended up selling for only £715,000. It should have achieved £750,000 with a £775,000 initial asking price (even worse, they missed out on the property of their dreams because that one, being realistically priced, sold before they dropped their own price).

The sturdiest and most important property market response is always in the first couple of weeks of exposure. Many Twickenham homeowners waste this optimum sales time by being too hopeful on their asking price.

If you are on the market in Twickenham and believe you should reduce your asking price, be courageous with your reduction. Make one substantial change of at least 5%, not a series of salami price changes of a 1% here or 2% there.

So, if you are currently on the market and feel you aren’t getting anywhere and think it could be your asking price, then again, drop us a line.

What Will Happen to Twickenham House Prices in 2022?

Traditionally, if you had not sold your Twickenham home by the first week in November, you would normally have to wait for the house sellers to return in the famous Boxing Day rush on the portals (Rightmove, Zoopla etc) to get potential buyers interested.

Yet matters have been different this year as the various lockdowns have caused a surge in house buying right up until when the Christmas edition of the Radio Times goes on sale.

So, the question is, how will 2022 look regarding the Twickenham property market?

The last couple of years in the Twickenham property market have been different in many ways. So much so, many Twickenham homeowners are presently deliberating whether they should put their Twickenham home on the market in January or wait until later in the summer.

Speaking to many Twickenham buyers and sellers, (and in fact Twickenham buy-to-let landlords) in the last couple of weeks in the run-up to Christmas, many were asking the very same question.

What is going to happen to Twickenham house prices in 2022?

Some people asking this question are Twickenham buyers troubling themselves that they are about to buy their Twickenham home just before a potential property crash, yet others are Twickenham homeowners wanting to know where the top of the market is before they sell. Even a handful of Twickenham landlords unable to either start buying or start selling some of their rental portfolio.

Therefore, let’s see what has happened in 2021 to make a better judgement of what should happen in 2022.

Nobody has a crystal ball that can tell what 2022 holds, however most property experts are not forecasting doom and gloom for the British property market.

Whilst the final numbers won’t be known until Easter 2022, it is estimated that in 2021 one in fifteen privately owned homes in the UK are expected to have changed hands, being the busiest year in the last 14 years.

Locally, 591 properties have changed hands in the last year in Twickenham

Although that is only up to October 2021, so numbers will be much higher once all the final counts are in by March/April.

The pandemic made many Twickenham families re-evaluate what they wanted from their Twickenham home, with many wanting bigger rooms (and more of them). Many in the press dubbed this ‘the race for space’, meaning the property market was flooded with home buyers, most bringing forward the home move they had planned between now and 2025.

The issue was, there weren’t enough Twickenham properties on the market to satisfy every Twickenham buyer, meaning Twickenham house prices have unsurprisingly been driven up.

The average price of a home today in Twickenham is £796,100

Although it is still premature to say what will happen in 2022, most property commentators seem assured that we are not heading towards a house price crash, mainly due to one reason.

There aren’t enough properties on the market in Twickenham. Simply supply and demand economics!

The property crash in 2008 was caused by everyone dumping their property on the market.

In January 2007, there were 673 properties for sale in Twickenham, one year later in January 2008, that had risen to 1,025 properties, whilst today, that stands at 332, I can’t see that changing for 2022

In 2007, mortgage interest rates were 6.5% to 7.5%, so when the economy started to falter, everyone looked to sell their homes to reduce their outgoings as unemployment rose by over 60% in just a couple of years. This time round most people have mortgage rates of around 2% to 2.5% and unemployment is dropping, meaning they don’t need to sell their Twickenham home.

Now of course the stamp duty tax holiday came to an end months ago, and Bank of England base interest rates are expected to rise moderately in the coming year, yet not to the level they were in 2007 (5.75%).

Nonetheless, demand for Twickenham homes will still be there. I have even read some reports suggesting that more than 20% of British households are seriously thinking of moving between now and the summer of 2023, and this will support Twickenham house prices whilst demand continues to exceed supply.

Twickenham house prices will be 2.0% higher by the end of 2022

Another reason why I believe that will be the case is the return to home working. If, as a country, we will need to work from home each winter for the foreseeable future because of new variants, then this will cement the need for people wanting to move home for remote working.
 
It might be that Twickenham buyers are looking for a dedicated office at home or that they feel they now no longer need to be in large built-up areas that are near to their work.

This increase in Twickenham house prices is expected to entice even more Twickenham house sellers onto the market, which will steady Twickenham house prices slightly (as supply increases), yet I still believe there won’t be enough properties coming onto the market to satisfy the colossal demand.

What about the Twickenham rental market?

Rents tend to grow in line with tenants’ wages. So, with many people getting decent pay rises and not enough properties being built, many economists are suggesting rents will be 14% to 19% higher by 2027, even with the house price growth, the numbers for rental investments still look rosy.

Is it the right time to buy your first property in Twickenham?

This rise in Twickenham house prices has had many people asking whether 2022 is the right time to buy their first home? Should they buy now before Twickenham prices rocket even further or delay in the hope that house prices come back down?
 
As with any important decision in life, this will mainly depend on your own personal life and your motives for wanting to move.

If the Twickenham home that you want to buy is on the market, available and you can afford the mortgage, then delaying could be detrimental. It’s like holding off for the ‘next generation TV’, it then coming out; then just as you are about to buy the TV, the next ‘next generation TV’ gets announced for six months’ time ... and the cycle is constantly in motion – so you end up never buying a TV … just like you will never buy your own home!

Buying property is a long-term game

Sometimes you just have to make your decision, get something bought and start the journey of the next 25 to 35 years of living in your family home whilst paying off your mortgage.

The present low interest rates for first-time buyers means that there are some very low mortgage deals available for those with a decent deposit, making it a good time to buy a Twickenham property, especially if you fix the interest rate.

If your deposit is humbler, the Government’s 5% deposit mortgage guarantee scheme will still enable you to buy a property, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.

Looking at the bigger picture, these are only my opinions. If inflation doesn’t get too out of hand and interest rates don’t go above 2% to 3%, it looks like Twickenham house prices will, for 2022 and a few years beyond, continue upwards albeit with a slower trajectory than 2020/21 and probably with a few short, sharp up and down spikes on the way.

The bottom line is, ensure that any Twickenham house move that you intend to make is something that you can afford, allow for future rises in interest rates and make plans for as many eventualities as possible.

Do that, and you should be just fine.