How to Find the Right Property in London — Beyond Rightmove

If you’re looking for a property to buy in London, the obvious place to start is online.

You set your budget, choose an area, add the number of bedrooms you need and start scrolling. At first, it can be exciting. There are hundreds of properties to look at and it feels as though everything available in London is sitting there on your screen.

Then, quite often, the search starts to become frustrating.

The same properties keep appearing. The ones you like are already under offer. You arrange viewings only to discover that a property looks very different in reality. You start widening the search, changing the filters and checking several times a day — but still aren't finding the right home.

The problem may not be that the right property doesn't exist.

It may be the way you're searching.

Property portals are a starting point

Rightmove and the other major property portals are extremely useful. They give buyers an immediate overview of what is openly being marketed and provide an excellent starting point for understanding prices.

But a property portal is a database of listings. It isn't conducting a property search for you.

It doesn't know that you'd sacrifice a second bedroom for extraordinary ceiling height, that you'd consider a tired property if the proportions were beautiful, or that one particular street works for you while another five minutes away doesn't.

And it can only show you the properties that have been listed there.

Finding the right London property often requires a much more human search.

Start with the life, not the property

One of the most useful things you can do before looking at hundreds of properties is work out what you're actually trying to achieve.

Bedrooms, square footage and budget matter, of course. But they rarely tell the whole story.

Perhaps natural light matters more than an extra bedroom. Maybe you need to walk to a particular station. Perhaps outside space is essential, but it doesn't need to be a conventional garden. You may want period architecture but contemporary interiors, or something completely unmodernised that you can make your own.

There are usually things you think you want and things you genuinely can't live without.

Knowing the difference can completely change a search.

London is a collection of micro-markets

Searching for property in London is particularly difficult because prices and character can change remarkably quickly from one street to another.

Two properties less than half a mile apart can offer very different surroundings, architecture, transport, outlook and value.

That's why searching only by postcode or drawing a large circle on a property portal can produce a huge amount of irrelevant stock.

Sometimes the right answer isn't to increase the budget. It's to understand where else the qualities you want can be found.

A good property search should continually question the relationship between area, property, condition and price.

Don't dismiss the badly presented property

Some of the most interesting buying opportunities are not necessarily the properties with the best photographs.

A beautifully styled home is easy to understand online. A badly photographed, dated or poorly configured property requires more imagination.

Try to look beyond furniture, paint colours and somebody else's taste.

Look instead at ceiling height, natural light, proportions, windows, orientation and layout. Ask whether a wall could move, whether an awkward room could work differently or whether apparently wasted space could be made useful.

The property you're looking for may not currently look like the property you want.

Sometimes the opportunity is in recognising what it could become.

Build relationships with estate agents

Estate agents are an important part of a London property search, but it helps to understand their role.

The selling agent acts for the seller. They are employed to sell the properties they have been instructed on.

So don't simply register once and assume you'll automatically hear about everything suitable.

Speak to agents. Be specific about what you're looking for. Follow up. Make sure they understand that you're a serious buyer and that you're ready to view when something appropriate becomes available.

A good relationship can also mean hearing about a property before you've spotted it online.

Look beyond properties already advertised

Not every property opportunity begins with a listing appearing on a portal.

Some properties are sold before widespread marketing. Others may be quietly available, about to come to market or owned by somebody who could consider selling if approached.

This doesn't mean there is a secret second London property market containing endless perfect homes.

But it does mean that a thorough search can extend beyond refreshing the same online listings every morning.

We look at this in more detail in How to Find Off-Market Property in London.

If the search isn't working, change the search

One of the easiest traps is to repeat exactly the same search for months while hoping a different result will appear.

If you've been looking for some time and nothing is working, stop and ask why.

Is the budget realistic for the area?

Is the geographical search too narrow?

Are you rejecting properties because of their current condition rather than their potential?

Is there another neighbourhood that offers what you actually like about your preferred area?

Or is the property you're waiting for simply extremely rare?

A search should evolve as you learn more about the market.

That's very different from compromising on everything you wanted.

And if searching is becoming a second job…

Finding a home can take an extraordinary amount of time.

There are new listings to monitor, agents to speak to, properties to investigate, viewings to arrange and comparable sales to understand — often while you're trying to do an actual job and live your life.

And if you're buying from overseas, the problem becomes even greater.

This is where a property search service or buying agent can be useful.

At SCOUTT, we search from the buyer's side.

We start by understanding what you're really looking for, search the open market, speak to agents and explore opportunities beyond the obvious listings. We view critically, look at potential as well as presentation, and help you decide what is — and isn't — worth pursuing.

Because the objective isn't to show you more property.

It's to find the right one.

If you'd like some help finding the right property, start a conversation with SCOUTT.