Symphony for the Devil

Well the house position continues to be less than desirable, so i have taken the decision to move agents again, and have effectively sold my soul to the estate agent that is Foxtons.
Foxtons have a reputation for hard selling, and hard drinking, so lets hope the first will lead to celebrations involving the second. They have also suffered from bad press associated with some of their selling tactics, and were in dispute with one of the ex-Blue peter presenters over management fees for a flat she rented out.

All I know is that they are reputed to get the highest price possible for the properties they handle, and will hopefully tap into a market which has so far eluded Haarts and Hamptons ( Too many aitches there shurely....ed).

In the meantime we have started to view a few flats as we monitor whether the prices of these is falling. Chiswick Village is an area which has an abundance of property for sale. of its four 1930s red brick blocks, three border either the underground or overground, so we are favouring the fourth block which does not. There are 280 flats in all, so I am wary of substandard communal heating, higher than average service charges and the overall internal decor. I am currently canvasing on the local Chiswick web site to see if I can gain any intelligence.

Another of the blocks we were considering has just been identified with asbestos infestation, and each tenant has been handed a one-off bill for £25,000 for decontamination. i think we will give that one a miss for the moment.

So the search goes on, but first and foremost we need a buyer for SC. That said, it is a double rollover tomorrow!!

....and its good night from him

I am reminded of a sketch by the Two Ronnies, when i saw them live at the palladium in the '70s. it was based on the 6 O'Clock news on a day when nothing happened.......Ronnie Barker as only he could, put the right inflection on the delivery when saying 'the worlds oldest man, Cecil Braithwaite' pause 'is still alive'. You had to be there!

Well today seems a bit like that as far as I am concerned. The only thing of interest was a press cutting i received from the Estate Agent, showing my house as listed in the London Evening Standard. They must be getting a bit frustrated with me at the moment, as usually they expect to sell houses almost as soon as they get to market. They then accept the commission fee and do diddly squat for the money.

I am a great believer of the theory that if the property sells on day 1, its too cheap, and one can always drop the price, but it's difficult to put the price up. So far my agents have printed and photocopied the brochures, then they had to print the glossy version, then put the ad in the local Chiswick paper and now the Standard.

We are still getting viewings so I am happy to sit and wait at the moment until the right offer comes along. For those who know the street, the bigger houses on the other side of the road have started to go for over £1m. Time will tell what mine will end up doing.