The Philanderer
Monday, February 2, 2009
Snow snow thick thick snow
Today it snowed with great vigor in the London conurbation, and sure enough the whole thing stopped. I don't have a problem with that as I had planned to work in London all week and not travel to Edinburgh.
With my surname I kind of have a feel for this sort of thing occurring.
I also have some pictures of Chiswick Business Park I did manage to recover. I will post them later too. It will probably thaw later which is always the down side of the beauty which snow can bring to a grey city landscape.
With my surname I kind of have a feel for this sort of thing occurring.
It was interesting as I walked down the High Road to see that some house owners and shops had cleared the snow, and others had not. As I understand it, if you clear the snow and the postman slips and damages himself then you are liable for the injury, if you leave the snow to its own devices and he falls over its 'an act of God' and just tough! I always leave my snow untouched...
Turnham Green was like a scene from a Lowry painting, and I would post my photos but my phone has packed up, humbug. So if I find they are on my memory stick when I get a new phone I will post them later.I also have some pictures of Chiswick Business Park I did manage to recover. I will post them later too. It will probably thaw later which is always the down side of the beauty which snow can bring to a grey city landscape.
Labels: chiswick, london, lowry, snow, Turnham Green
¶ 6:43 PM 0 Comments
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wherever I hang my hat......
My alter ego, Scoop, aka Dick, has written an interesting article on the housing market, on his blog, here. I feel I am a prime example of the blinkered house seller who thinks the whole price crash will pass him by. Yes I put it on at a lumpy price, but I expected people to be willing to haggle, but in London that does not seem to be the case.
I started the blog 18 months ago as a chronicle of my house move, and unfortunately the whole experience has been blighted by the worldwide economic disaster which commenced with the collapse of the US subprime housing market, embraced the failure of Northern Rock and well, the rest is history.
I can relate to the fact offers are few and far between, and yes, I turned down an offer which I would jump at accepting now, but, hindsight, and all that....... so I still have a house to sell, and await the chance to negotiate a price with somebody willing to at least make an offer.
I am currently in Chicago, and it is interesting to get the natives view of the world. First they don't see a housing problem, and second, they don't see the world economic challenges as anything they have contributed to, but then the man on Main Street USA has always had a narrow view of the world.
I was surprised, however, that the rescue package put together by the smoking gun, George Bush, was initially rejected by the Senate and has only today been passed by the House of Representatives. I suspect they are afraid that they may become a third world country themselves if they are not careful. Their reluctance to protect the rank and file American citizens though was something I thought they would jump at the chance to do.
Still its all sorted now, lets just hope our Gordon has made sure we get a fair percentage of the $700bn to regenerate some interest in Chiswick real estate. Fingers crossed.
I started the blog 18 months ago as a chronicle of my house move, and unfortunately the whole experience has been blighted by the worldwide economic disaster which commenced with the collapse of the US subprime housing market, embraced the failure of Northern Rock and well, the rest is history.
I can relate to the fact offers are few and far between, and yes, I turned down an offer which I would jump at accepting now, but, hindsight, and all that....... so I still have a house to sell, and await the chance to negotiate a price with somebody willing to at least make an offer.
I am currently in Chicago, and it is interesting to get the natives view of the world. First they don't see a housing problem, and second, they don't see the world economic challenges as anything they have contributed to, but then the man on Main Street USA has always had a narrow view of the world.
I was surprised, however, that the rescue package put together by the smoking gun, George Bush, was initially rejected by the Senate and has only today been passed by the House of Representatives. I suspect they are afraid that they may become a third world country themselves if they are not careful. Their reluctance to protect the rank and file American citizens though was something I thought they would jump at the chance to do.
Still its all sorted now, lets just hope our Gordon has made sure we get a fair percentage of the $700bn to regenerate some interest in Chiswick real estate. Fingers crossed.
Labels: chicago, chiswick, house of representatives, main street usa, mortgages, Northern Rock
¶ 10:19 PM 0 Comments
Monday, May 12, 2008
You want how much?
I have got the hump, and it has been caused by an e-mail which I have just received from Oxfam, concerning their charity shop pricing.
Oxfam have just announced plans to open a 'designer' outlet in Chiswick, West London, a well to do suburb whos' residents can probably manage without second hand clobber. This is really the thrust of my gripe.
Their existing shop sells designer gear donated by well meaning residents like Ant and Dec, and the nearly new shop owner who gives them his can't shift stock. They price it fairly high.
I have been in a few times and tried to haggle and negotiate for items only to be told that the price is the price, so I always walk out empty handed.
So I thought I would e-mail Oxfam and explain to them that they get most of their goods for free and that they are after all, a second hand shop, why will the staff not allow price reductions?
What did they say? Well, they have an obligation to the people who donate the items, and the people the charity supports to get the best price for the items, and so the price you see is the price they want. Furthermore, it would stress the 'old dears' who man the shops as volunteers if they were under pressure to negotiate.
Well as far as the first point is concerned I am sure any price they get is better than junking the stuff, or selling it on e-bay, and the people who donate have no expectation on price, and with regard the second point, the battle axes in the Chiswick branch are more than capable of holding their own when faced with people looking for a bargain.
They then go on to say that if it does not sell they reduce the price, but move the items to a different outlet, Hounslow, Feltham or Bedfont no doubt.
Wake up Oxfam, you are a glorified car boot sale punter, start acting like one!!!
Oxfam have just announced plans to open a 'designer' outlet in Chiswick, West London, a well to do suburb whos' residents can probably manage without second hand clobber. This is really the thrust of my gripe.
Their existing shop sells designer gear donated by well meaning residents like Ant and Dec, and the nearly new shop owner who gives them his can't shift stock. They price it fairly high.
I have been in a few times and tried to haggle and negotiate for items only to be told that the price is the price, so I always walk out empty handed.
So I thought I would e-mail Oxfam and explain to them that they get most of their goods for free and that they are after all, a second hand shop, why will the staff not allow price reductions?
What did they say? Well, they have an obligation to the people who donate the items, and the people the charity supports to get the best price for the items, and so the price you see is the price they want. Furthermore, it would stress the 'old dears' who man the shops as volunteers if they were under pressure to negotiate.
Well as far as the first point is concerned I am sure any price they get is better than junking the stuff, or selling it on e-bay, and the people who donate have no expectation on price, and with regard the second point, the battle axes in the Chiswick branch are more than capable of holding their own when faced with people looking for a bargain.
They then go on to say that if it does not sell they reduce the price, but move the items to a different outlet, Hounslow, Feltham or Bedfont no doubt.
Wake up Oxfam, you are a glorified car boot sale punter, start acting like one!!!
Labels: Ant and Dec, car boot sale, chiswick, Oxfam
¶ 1:45 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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!!
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!!
Labels: asbestos, chiswick, Chiswick Village, haarts, hamptons
¶ 9:55 AM 0 Comments
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tom Toms
I have never got round to embracing the sat nav culture. I guess its part of the macho 'I know where I am going' philosophy which the family would be delighted for me to ditch. Together we have discovered more back doubles, dead ends and dodgy areas than a sat nav could ever get me to drive through.
The Scouse House is not on some sat nav systems, which means we are often talking delivery or visiting drivers in, but I had to laugh last night, when, at about midnight it sounded like the Tardis had landed in Chis.
As I pulled back the curtains, there reversing down the road was a juggernaut, a huge juggernaut if that is not tautology. Silver Cres is just that, a crescent, and when combined with Thorneyhedge Road it will allow you to turn back on yourself along Chiswick High Road. If, therefore, that is what the lorry wanted to do, the sat nav was accurate in its directions. What it clearly did not take into account was the fact the hairpin bend at the top of the road is impossible to navigate in a lorry when a full compliment of residents vehicles are parked up.
How the trucker reversed all that way without damaging a car was a great testament to his driving skills. No sign of Billy Piper though.
The Scouse House is not on some sat nav systems, which means we are often talking delivery or visiting drivers in, but I had to laugh last night, when, at about midnight it sounded like the Tardis had landed in Chis.
As I pulled back the curtains, there reversing down the road was a juggernaut, a huge juggernaut if that is not tautology. Silver Cres is just that, a crescent, and when combined with Thorneyhedge Road it will allow you to turn back on yourself along Chiswick High Road. If, therefore, that is what the lorry wanted to do, the sat nav was accurate in its directions. What it clearly did not take into account was the fact the hairpin bend at the top of the road is impossible to navigate in a lorry when a full compliment of residents vehicles are parked up.
How the trucker reversed all that way without damaging a car was a great testament to his driving skills. No sign of Billy Piper though.
Labels: Billy Piper, chiswick, juggernaut, satnav, scouse, tardis
¶ 3:04 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Prosha
I am feeling very self righteous today, following a trip to my local Tesco. On this occasion I purchased all my fruit and veg loose and declined the use of the small plastic bags which the supermarkets place close to these items for separation.
The lady at the checkout seemed totally at ease with the approach and weighed and priced each selection as if I was in a street market. It saved me using eight or ten bags which I would have immediately thrown in the plastic recycling box, and herein lies the problem.
Hounslow Council have a plastic recycling facility in the car park of the local Sainsburys in Chiswick. As of 1st November, Sainsburys are going to manage this facility themselves. As a result, only plastic bottles will be able to be disposed of at this site. Packaging and plastic bags, film and food trays will have to go elsewhere or be thrown in with the landfill rubbish. The reason?
Plastic bottles have a resale value in the recycling value chain, plastic film and bags have a much smaller market and are consequently harder to dispose of. Sainsbury, therefore, are maximising their revenue from this new venture at the expense of the local residents and the Council.
I have talked about recycling before here and to their credit Hounslow are looking for an alternative site to place their wider plastics disposal facility, but it does make you wonder, as supermarkets create 90% of the plastic packaging, why they should be allowed to restrict the amount they collect for recycling.
Getting back to Tesco, I quite enjoy shopping in the store in Isleworth (pronounced 'i-sell-worth', rather than Tiger Woods home course with is pronounced 'i-el-worth') .As it serves the nearby Asian community it stocks loads of food from the Indian sub-continent and even food from further East, and it stocks it in bulk. Some great smells come from the curry section to which I am regularly drawn. The Sainsburys in Chiswick, by comparison, is much more Anglo-Saxon and is only just starting to stock selected Polish brands to satisfy the increase in demand from our Eastern European neighbours.
There has always been a close tie with the Poles in West London, particularly in Hammersmith where there is a large Polish cultural centre. Their strong catholic ethos also blends well with the high percentage of Irish residents in the area. I long had a Polish cleaner, well before they became de rigor. She was sourced from a work colleague who seemed to act as a gang boss for them. The girls would come to England for a year or so, doss with friends, and earn enough to go back and pay for their University or other higher education courses. These days my Crescent is more likely to play to the tune of au pairs, and builders, all working at a rate cheaper than their more traditional European competitors. Plus ca change.
The lady at the checkout seemed totally at ease with the approach and weighed and priced each selection as if I was in a street market. It saved me using eight or ten bags which I would have immediately thrown in the plastic recycling box, and herein lies the problem.
Hounslow Council have a plastic recycling facility in the car park of the local Sainsburys in Chiswick. As of 1st November, Sainsburys are going to manage this facility themselves. As a result, only plastic bottles will be able to be disposed of at this site. Packaging and plastic bags, film and food trays will have to go elsewhere or be thrown in with the landfill rubbish. The reason?
Plastic bottles have a resale value in the recycling value chain, plastic film and bags have a much smaller market and are consequently harder to dispose of. Sainsbury, therefore, are maximising their revenue from this new venture at the expense of the local residents and the Council.
I have talked about recycling before here and to their credit Hounslow are looking for an alternative site to place their wider plastics disposal facility, but it does make you wonder, as supermarkets create 90% of the plastic packaging, why they should be allowed to restrict the amount they collect for recycling.
Getting back to Tesco, I quite enjoy shopping in the store in Isleworth (pronounced 'i-sell-worth', rather than Tiger Woods home course with is pronounced 'i-el-worth') .As it serves the nearby Asian community it stocks loads of food from the Indian sub-continent and even food from further East, and it stocks it in bulk. Some great smells come from the curry section to which I am regularly drawn. The Sainsburys in Chiswick, by comparison, is much more Anglo-Saxon and is only just starting to stock selected Polish brands to satisfy the increase in demand from our Eastern European neighbours.
There has always been a close tie with the Poles in West London, particularly in Hammersmith where there is a large Polish cultural centre. Their strong catholic ethos also blends well with the high percentage of Irish residents in the area. I long had a Polish cleaner, well before they became de rigor. She was sourced from a work colleague who seemed to act as a gang boss for them. The girls would come to England for a year or so, doss with friends, and earn enough to go back and pay for their University or other higher education courses. These days my Crescent is more likely to play to the tune of au pairs, and builders, all working at a rate cheaper than their more traditional European competitors. Plus ca change.
Labels: au-pairs, chiswick, London Polish RFC, poles, recycling, sainsburys, Tesco
¶ 9:52 AM 1 Comments
Sunday, June 3, 2007
....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.
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.
Labels: chiswick, evening standard, haarts, ronnie barker, the chiswick, two ronnies
¶ 1:20 PM 0 Comments
Monday, May 21, 2007
Cash in the Attic
My e-Bay rating has now tipped over the 300 mark.......my next star rating kicks in at 500 so I still have a way to go. Given though, that one in four people leave feedback I have shifted quite a bit of stuff. "Its to declutter", I tell everyone at home. "Why does the house still look cluttered then" they reply, cheeky gits.
I have sold an eclectic portfolio on e-Bay. The fire-escape from the Scouse House has to take pride of place, closely followed by a brand new hot water storage tank. Most of my sporting memorabilia has gone, together with many clothes I have grown out of ( or have they shrunk in the wash!). LP's, books, old electrical appliances, cartoons, and general bric-a-brac have all found new homes in the UK and beyond.
I have a very simple philosophy, it goes on e-Bay twice and if unsuccessful both times it is consigned to the car boot sale box. This weekend saw the first attempt to empty said box, and Chester Rugby Club was the preferred venue.
Our last attempt at car bootie was at Chiswick Community School, at which you would expect a high class of punter, but no, the Eastern European community from Hammersmith, and the Asian population of Hounslow seemed to make up the vast majority of 'bargain hunters', and boy did they want bargains. If you dare to ask more that 50p for a designer jacket retailing at £80 they looked at you as if you had two heads. Needless to say we did not have the greatest of days.
Sunday, however, restored my faith in this tremendously effective recycling process. We sold broken computers, unheard of LP's, dogeared paperbacks, magazines, bags, shoes, bangles, golf stuff, stamps, just about everything we took. The joy, however, was that people were prepared to accept the real value of the items and battle hard to negotiate a good price......that's the real attraction of the day.
Job done, we repaired to Bistro Jacques in Hope Street, Liverpool and got nicely mellow over Sunday lunch, paid for by a bunch of strangers.
I have sold an eclectic portfolio on e-Bay. The fire-escape from the Scouse House has to take pride of place, closely followed by a brand new hot water storage tank. Most of my sporting memorabilia has gone, together with many clothes I have grown out of ( or have they shrunk in the wash!). LP's, books, old electrical appliances, cartoons, and general bric-a-brac have all found new homes in the UK and beyond.
I have a very simple philosophy, it goes on e-Bay twice and if unsuccessful both times it is consigned to the car boot sale box. This weekend saw the first attempt to empty said box, and Chester Rugby Club was the preferred venue.
Our last attempt at car bootie was at Chiswick Community School, at which you would expect a high class of punter, but no, the Eastern European community from Hammersmith, and the Asian population of Hounslow seemed to make up the vast majority of 'bargain hunters', and boy did they want bargains. If you dare to ask more that 50p for a designer jacket retailing at £80 they looked at you as if you had two heads. Needless to say we did not have the greatest of days.
Sunday, however, restored my faith in this tremendously effective recycling process. We sold broken computers, unheard of LP's, dogeared paperbacks, magazines, bags, shoes, bangles, golf stuff, stamps, just about everything we took. The joy, however, was that people were prepared to accept the real value of the items and battle hard to negotiate a good price......that's the real attraction of the day.
Job done, we repaired to Bistro Jacques in Hope Street, Liverpool and got nicely mellow over Sunday lunch, paid for by a bunch of strangers.
Labels: Bistro Jacques, chester RFC, chiswick, e-Bay, Eastern European, fire escape, Hammersmith, Hope Street, Hounslow
¶ 4:14 PM 0 Comments
Monday, May 14, 2007
Think I'll go and eat worms.....
Estate agents have an interesting reputation, don't they? Unloved, unpopular and unable to live up to their promises. I am reminded of a newspaper report from some years ago.......'a man walked into a high street outlet and shot dead the estate agent. The police are looking for a motive.' ......yeah right......
Well I interviewed five organisations in Chiswick. they all promised the world and the spread of prices which they quoted as reasonable was more than £100k apart. They work, of course, on comparibles, but this is what happens when there are none. So I set my own price, and appointed the outfit who sent the lady round. Well a philanderer would, wouldn't they?
So whats happened so far?
Nice glossy brochure, several promises of viewings which have not materialised, me hanging around for no reason, little communication unless I instigated it, and finally a few people have been shown round.
No offers yet but it looks like one of my viewers has offered on the house next door, which will be good, as it takes the opposition out of the frame, and it is a snip.
Well I interviewed five organisations in Chiswick. they all promised the world and the spread of prices which they quoted as reasonable was more than £100k apart. They work, of course, on comparibles, but this is what happens when there are none. So I set my own price, and appointed the outfit who sent the lady round. Well a philanderer would, wouldn't they?
So whats happened so far?
Nice glossy brochure, several promises of viewings which have not materialised, me hanging around for no reason, little communication unless I instigated it, and finally a few people have been shown round.
No offers yet but it looks like one of my viewers has offered on the house next door, which will be good, as it takes the opposition out of the frame, and it is a snip.
Labels: chiswick, estate agents
¶ 2:57 PM 0 Comments
