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MIGRANTWOMAN.COM
How did you buy your first flat and how do you remember this experience? We were at the end of our first year when the 2008 recession hit the UK and the rest of Europe. Chile was in the middle of an economic boom, so selling our assets in Chile and buying in London looked like a good option. We started looking for a place to buy to stop paying rent. I was looking for a place close to where we lived, as we loved the area and the children where very happy at school. But I was finding it very difficult. Everything sold so quickly, each time I found something, it was too late. I had never experienced anything like this before. The property market was suffering from a huge recession, and around the areas where I was looking, the stock was almost zero. No one was selling waiting for the prices to recover. What motivated you to invest in properties? We were invited to a new year’s cheese and wine party at our next door neighbour, where I was introduced to many of our neighbours. I thought that could be a good opportunity to find out if they knew about anything that would come on to the market. During my conversations I asked them to let me know in the event of something becoming available. A few weeks later I was informed of an elderly lady that had lived across the road who had died. A neighbour learned from her visiting children that the house was to be sold and gave the name of the estate agent in Hampstead. The house would go on sale the following Monday and I called first thing and was there visiting the property before midday. The place had been neglected for years, the garden was a jungle, but it had the most amazing views to Hampstead Heath. It had huge potential. I made an offer on the spot and left. The following day the estate agent called me and told me that there were another four people interested and that the owners had decided to go for the option of last and final offer on top of the asking price, which would be received by 10am the following Monday. I struggled to find the adequate price. In my experience, I had never offered more than the asking price and the idea of not having a limit was too vague and uncertain. I finally went for a figure that looked very random but for me it was a lucky charm, I had in-
cluded my year of birth into the figure. The following day the estate agent called me and told me that out of the five offers, I was the second highest but the owners had chosen to sell it to me because they knew I was local and very serious about taking the deal forward. They had heard this from my neighbour. The rest were all property developers. I was about to become one too. Wow, that is amazing. How did you start this venture of becoming a property developer? The process of buying was very straightforward with a lot less bureaucracy than what I was
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used to in my country. There was a new concept that I had never come across before and this was freehold. The flat had a lease and if I wanted to make important changes to the flat I needed the freeholders consent. The importance of the neighbour’s comments and all the planning permission process was also new to me and a very difficult hurdle. At some points it can be very frustrating because although I was doing things correctly and following the legal procedures to develop my flat, there was always something that would delay the whole project that didn’t have to do with the actual building works.