Recent Case Studies 

Marty's Yard, Hampstead Village, NW3 1QW

Retiree looking for a smaller, but more central London home

The Brief

Downsizing from a larger family home in zone 4, our client, had recently retired and wanted to be closer into central London, ideally in Hampstead, Belsize Park or Primrose Hill. A small house or large apartment would be ideal.

Our Approach

Having viewed over thirty properties, of which twelve we showed to our client, we saw Marty’s Yard, a rarely seen three bedroom house in prime Hampstead. We initially saw the property before it reached the internet but at the time, with an asking price of £2.4m, it was beyond our client’s budget and the sellers were aiming for the asking price.

The Solution

We kept in touch with the agent in case of a price reduction. Four weeks later the property was reduced to £2.15m, at which point we managed negotiated a purchase price of £2m, a difference of 6.8%, and 17% from the original asking price.

Belsize Park, NW3 4DU

French family with little time to spare needed somewhere with charm, space and location

The Brief

Relocating from Paris with their three children our clients did not have the time to make multiple trips back and forth to London.

Our Approach

Starting broad we conducted an orientation tour across several areas in west and north west London. Further to the tour we honed our focus to St Johns Wood, Maida Vale and Belsize Park.

The Solution

We sourced this unique four-bedroom 2400sft duplex apartment in prime Belsize Park.
We accessed the property before the details were published live by the agent. As our clients were not in London at this time we filmed the property for our clients to see remotely. We secured the property in their absence and they came over the following day to confirm their decision.

"London Property Scout really helped us find the exact place to live. Very reactive and able to help securing the transaction especially at distance with no knowledge of the UK market. I would highly recommend them either for renting or buying a property."

Ashley Gardens, Emery Hill Street, Victoria, SW1P 1PD

Doctor Relocating to London and needing somewhere with charm and space

The Brief

Our client was living in Manchester and had some knowledge of London, but needed some guidance on where would be a good area to buy in. As a healthcare professional she needed to be as close to central London as possible, with a minimum of 850 square feet of internal floor space.

The Approach

We started our search by conducting an orientation tour of several areas including St Johns Wood, Maida Vale, Hampstead, Westminster, Earls Court and Notting Hill, viewing

Our client finally decided she liked the Westminster and Victoria areas due to their central locality.

The Solution

Within two weeks of deciding on the area we sourced a two-bedroom 901sq/ft apartment in Emery Hill Street, Victoria, one of zone 1’s most in demand locations.

As the property was on the top floor of a period Mansion Block in an excellent location with huge potential for improvement, it attracted a lot of interest from competing buyers and consequently went to ‘sealed bids’.

We won the bidding for our client against six other parties at £1,050,000. This worked out at £1165.37 per square foot, which is highly competitive for the area where nearby similar properties sell for £1600 to £1700 per square foot.

After completion we introduced our client to two building contractors that had conducted work for previous clients.

Parliament View, 1 Albert Embankment, SE1 7XQ

Overseas investor looking for a low maintenance portfolio starter

The Brief

Our client from the US was looking to start to a portfolio of investments in London and wanted to start with an apartment that would let quickly with low-maintenance costs. One of the main requirements for our client was a yield above 4.0%.

Due to work constraints our client wanted to conduct the search remotely.

The Approach

We previewed properties in Clerkenwell, Waterloo, Vauxhall and Bloomsbury – all areas that have strong rental demand. We filmed each property as well as sending over a strengths and weaknesses report.

The Solution

Three weeks into the search we accessed the apartment in Parliament View before it hit the open market. Our client knew the building from a previous visit and liked the location and feel of the area.

The development is known for being popular with corporate tenants and government employees due to its proximity to Whitehall and Houses of Parliament.

As we were bidding against another buying agent, we offered the full asking price and secured the property. Within two months, another similar apartment in the same building sold for £60,000 more. The apartment produced a generous yield of 4.3%. 

Queens Gardens, W2 3BA

Finance professional with intense schedule needed space and central location

The Brief 

Our client from Canada had been living in London for several years but had never managed to find the time to buy a property due to work commitments. As his tenancy was coming to end, time was of the essence.

Our client’s main priority was finding somewhere with a generous amount of space and was not concerned which floor the apartment would be on.

The approach

We started the search by looking in Bayswater, Baker Street Pimlico and St John’s Wood as these areas offered better opportunities at the time.

We started by showing our client three properties in Pimlico, which were pre-market, as well as a selection in Bayswater and St John’s Wood.

The Solution

Four weeks into the search, we found the property in Queens Gardens, an excellent location and one of London’s prime growth hotspots. Although the apartment was lower ground floor, it had a generous ceiling height,  well proportion rooms, a good amount of light and a private courtyard.

We finally agreed price of £882,000, a cost of £777.00 per square foot, tremendous value for the area.

Clerkenwell Road, EC1M 5PS

Global product manager based in Asia and Europe short on time needed London base

The Brief

Based in Hong Kong and London, our client, originally from France, wanted a London base for himself and his family. As most of his meetings in London were in the Shoreditch and City area, it made sense to look for an apartment within walking distance of these areas.

In late 2014, the market in the area has slowed down after the first half of the year and properties were becoming more negotiable.

The Approach

As our client knew the area very well already, our focus was on getting access to the best properties before they hit the market. We previewed several properties for our client, and as he was travelling across Europe during the search, we filmed the properties and sent over to our client for his feedback.

The Solution

After showing our client several properties via video and giving our review he came to see three of the filmed properties. Farringdon Road ticked a lot of boxes for him and his family, with high ceilings, large warehouse style windows and well proportioned rooms. Listed for £1,500,000 we secured for £1,425,000.

Gloucester Terrace, London W2 3HH

Hong Kong based expats wanted long-term investment that all the family could use

The Brief

Based in Hong Kong, our clients, who were British expatriates, were looking for a long term investment that they and their son and daughter, who were coming to study in London, could use also.

Having previously lived in London some years before, they knew areas like Kensington and Chelsea, but were not familiar with how many parts of London had dramatically changed over the past fifteen years. With a budget of £1.2m they required two bedrooms and more than 803sq feet of living space.

The Approach

We suggested that rather than buying an average apartment in Kensington, that we should look in slightly less developed locations for something excellent.

We came to the conclusion that Bayswater and Bloomsbury, as well as slightly less central favourites such as St John’s Wood and Maida Vale would suit our clients’ needs best.

We previewed in excess of twenty properties prior to our clients’ arrival. We shortlisted eight properties across the four areas.

The Solution

Our clients loved the street and layout of Gloucester Terrace, with high ceilings, fantastic light in all rooms and classic period features.  With a marketing price of £1,150,000, we secured the property at £1,105,000 bidding against two other buyers.