Yahoo Finance How one first-time buyer couple bought their dream Green Lanes home — even after offers went to sealed bids
Lydia Weigel and Ayo Fagbemi met at Nottingham university six years ago. After graduating and a stint travelling, the couple, who both have family living in London, made the decision to go back and live with them while they saved for a deposit.
Weigel, now 26, returned to live with her parents in Enfield while Fagbemi, 25, went back to his family in Tottenham.
Weigel now works in publishing and Fagbemi in marketing and advertising and living with their families meant the couple could save, even at the start of their careers.
Finally, last spring, with a nest egg of around £70,000 between them, they were ready to start looking at properties. “Before the pandemic we weren’t that concerned about having a garden but by then we really wanted some outside space,” Weigel said. “We wanted a two-bedroom garden flat and at first we wanted to live in Tottenham.”
To their alarm the couple found that the market for garden flats was very, very brisk. “Everything was going on the market and going within 24 hours,” she said. “For us as first-time buyers it was a bit overwhelming.”
Then a Winkworth estate agent suggested they widen their search area slightly and look at a two-bedroom period flat slightly further west, in Green Lanes. It ticked all the boxes: a well-tended garden, an open-plan living space, and a spare room for when they work from home.
“It had also got lovely original features like cornices and sash windows,” said Weigel. “It was everything we wanted.”
We had two days to view the flat, over a weekend, and then we had to put in sealed bids
Lydia Weigel
The flat had been competitively priced in order to encourage multiple bids and they found themselves in a bidding war. “We had two days to view the flat, over a weekend, and then we had to put in sealed bids,” said Weigel.
Happily, their just-over-asking-price bid of £462,000 came out on top and they moved in just before Christmas. Their monthly mortgage comes in at circa £1,300pcm.
Weigel says the move still hasn’t quite sunk in. “It feels a bit like we’re in an Airbnb, and we’re not going to be able to stay forever,” she said.
For Fagbemi, dealing with the practicalities of a sale, a move, and furnishing the new flat has been a bit of a shock to the system. “You’re making so many decisions all at once, but because we both lived at home for such a long time it has been very, very nice to spend quality time together after being apart.”
The couple are now documenting the journey to making their flat a home on Instagram @theyardnotes.
