{"id":408,"date":"2014-08-18T11:02:02","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T03:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/?p=408"},"modified":"2015-01-29T20:52:27","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T12:52:27","slug":"i-regret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/?p=408","title":{"rendered":"OP-ED: I regret . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

Please Note:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0I, personally, am not bound by a non-disclosure or gag clause. \u00a0As such, I am at complete liberty to write about my opinions, my views and my experiences<\/strong> <\/em>as they relate to a particular event.<\/p>\n

Opinions, viewpoints and experiences are by definition ‘personal’. \u00a0As such, \u00a0@ZombifiedPixie asserts that her specific personal<\/em> experience outlined in this blog \u00a0\u00a0may \u00a0or \u00a0may \u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0be applicable to others.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, whilst every effort is made to be honest and accurate, @ZombifiedPixie makes no claim that all details here are factual, representative or complete. \u00a0Therefore, anyone researching any of the named parties are strongly advised to continue with his\/her own research to form a more robust finding. \u00a0To be blunt, this is an honest but opinionated diary<\/strong> and therefore should not be used in isolation when forming an opinion about any of the named parties.<\/p>\n

For the avoidance of doubt, be advised that @ZombifiedPixie recounts the events below from the viewpoint\u00a0of an observer and as an advisor\u00a0<\/strong>to her husband. \u00a0Succinctly, @ZombifiedPixie has NOT\u00a0engaged in any contractual relationship with any of the named parties. \u00a0<\/em>In short and in the interest of clarity, @ZombifiedPixie has an outsider’s perspective<\/em>. \u00a0It is therefore up to the reader to make his\/her own mind about the merits of this opinionated blog.<\/p>\n

By continuing to read this post, you accept the terms of this website and you accept that you are reading an opinionated blog. @ZombifiedPixie accepts no liability if the reader mis-translates an opinion as\u00a0a fact. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Feedback, correction and\/or alternative viewpoints, please contact feedback@zombifiedpixie.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

+ \u00a0+ \u00a0+ \u00a0+ \u00a0+ \u00a0+ \u00a0+ \u00a0+ \u00a0+<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a><\/p>\n

Not wanting to be one-of-those-idiotic-overseas-buyers-who-buy-offplan-and-ends-up-buying-a-dump, I was very careful in selecting potential properties. \u00a0 An advantage that I have is that I know London very well after having lived there for 9+ years and could therefore quickly discount the\u00a0bullshit\u00a0in the glossy marketing materials. \u00a0 For example, “25 minutes from central London” is quite attractive on paper but is actually quite meaningless in reality. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Well, “central London” is not well defined and as such, it could mean 25 minutes from the the furthest point in Zone1 . . . \u00a0and Zone1 is quite massive. \u00a0Furthermore, the ’25 minutes’ claim is also ambiguous. \u00a0A real Londoner would use the travel time published by Transport for London (TfL) to get a more accurate ‘guestimates’\u00a0rather than rely on the travel time published in the posh marketing. \u00a0(That said, TfL times are actually ‘guestimates’ at best because the Underground is consistently<\/em> unreliable.)<\/p>\n

I also used Google to de-select \u00a0and whittle down potential properties from my search list. \u00a0Whilst extremely helpful, Google is no substitute for first-hand research. \u00a0As such, a trip to London was mandatory before any serious money is exchanged.<\/p>\n

As the property that we were interested in is a new-build and as the construction has not started yet, my goals in visiting London to assess this potential property at 325 Borough High Street (SE1) were:<\/p>\n

(1) walk around the neighbourhood at multiple times during the day to assess the quality-of-life — \u00a0i.e.,\u00a0\u00a0traffic volume during the morning and evening rush hours; \u00a0clubs\/pubs\/social places in the vicinity that could cause nuisance issues; \u00a0volume of litter (if any) on the street; the personality of the neighbourhood, etc.<\/p>\n

(2) view the vacant lot and “size” up the property. \u00a0Floor plans are great but walking around the actual perimeter is a priceless assessment opportunity.<\/p>\n

(3) view the developer’s past (completed) projects to assess the quality of the build and the quality of the fixtures and fittings. \u00a0In addition, I wanted to interview nearby residents of the completed projects to get feedback on the construction crew. \u00a0It is my opinion that a good developer hires a good construction crew. \u00a0And,\u00a0as such, this feedback would be a very valuable barometer in assessing the overall merit of this property\u00a0purchase.<\/p>\n

[ Reminder – please note\u00a0#ZPDisclaimer<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/a>. ]<\/p>\n

Once the agent emailed me that the offer was accepted (subject to contract and with the reservation fee paid), I hopped onto a plane bound to London in Feb 2014 to conduct my own assessment.<\/p>\n

In short, I recommended to my husband that this was a ‘good purchase’ based on the following factors: \u00a0I assessed the neighbourhood and liked the area very much; \u00a0the feedback from nearby businesses and tenants about the construction crew (from a recently completed project) was positive; the build quality of this completed\u00a0project seemed to be of a high standard; I had personally met with the Heenal Lakhani, one of the directors of the property development company (‘Life Less Ordinary London Property Developers<\/strong>‘), and had a positive first impression; and finally, I did a Google-search on the company, the company directors, and their past credit histories — with no significant red flags raised. \u00a0 In short, I concluded that everything about this property appeared to be\u00a0positive.<\/p>\n

I was wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many months later and based on everything that I have observed (and in perfect hindsight), I look back at this trip with serious\u00a0regrets. \u00a0 I regret wasting my<\/em><\/strong> time and my<\/em><\/strong> energy in assessing this property. \u00a0More importantly, I regret advising my husband that based on my<\/em><\/strong> opinion he should pursue the purchase of this new-build apartment. \u00a0And, I regret that we wasted many months of our time and our\u00a0solicitor’s time reading thru countless documents and search-conveyancing results.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, I’m not sure what more due diligence I could have done. \u00a0The ‘curve ball’ that was thrown was completely unforeseen and in my opinion, more research would not have been helpful in uncovering it. \u00a0Furthermore, our solicitor has advised that in his 20+\u00a0years of experience, he has never encountered this type of ‘curve ball’ before.<\/p>\n

If there is a silver lining in this unpleasant event, then it is that we have purchased a better<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0apartment elsewhere (but in the same neighbourhood). \u00a0It is also a new-build and of the same quality specifications. \u00a0More importantly, it is with a more established (and \u00a0in \u00a0my \u00a0opinion<\/em>, a more reputable) developer. \u00a0Unfortunately, the replacement flat is more expensive (because the London property market dramatically increased during the many months we wasted with the original property and as a consequence, we were out-of-pocket financially<\/em> with respect to the opportunity costs associated with a rising market).<\/p>\n

Would I recommend ‘Life Less Ordinary London Property Developers<\/strong>‘ (www.l-l-o.com<\/span>) to my family and friends? \u00a0 Based on my specific personal experience<\/em> and based on what I have observed<\/em> — \u00a0No, absolutely not<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"disclaimer2\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please Note:\u00a0 \u00a0I, personally, am not bound by a non-disclosure or gag clause. \u00a0As such, I am at complete liberty to write about my opinions, my views and my experiences as they relate to a particular event. Opinions, viewpoints and experiences are by definition ‘personal’. \u00a0As such, \u00a0@ZombifiedPixie asserts that her specific personal experience outlined … Continue reading OP-ED: I regret . . .<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinionated-pixie","tag-london-property-market"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":879,"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions\/879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zombifiedpixie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}