Quit everything , and start again over 50?

gallygirl

Smodlet wrote: »

Hey, Betty, thank you so much. I'll take any amount of owls, screeching or otherwise, over human screeching any day. While all avoidable noise is annoying, angry, violent, hate-filled noise is in a category of its own, imo. It is threatening, intimidating. Really, what is an owl going to do to a human?

For some reason, I have little problem with most natural sounds, the wind being the exception: When it howls and screams like a soul in torment, that does disturb me but mostly because I am concerned about the roof tiles. Man-made noise is largely avoidable and therefore, I find, far more difficult to tolerate.

I apologise to one and all, especially to you, AC. From now on, I will keep my sshh to myself. I know this is not Twinterpest.

LL will have a better idea but, from what I read elsewhere on here, it is very much a lottery. In some areas, prices continue to rise, in others they are falling. London and Poole seem both to be extremely expensive areas so perhaps, if prices go in the same direction in both, AC, you will find room to negotiate. I don't suppose you might reconsider where you might move to? If you did, I still think you could make a killing but it's your call.

Thanks for the support, guys, it is very much appreciated. S xx

I've had neighbours screaming at each other for an hour now Smodlet but at least it's 12hrs later than yours . Hope you got some peace last night.

AC - hope for good news soon x

Smodlet

Thank you, LL, but don't think your suggestions relate to these two particular charmers. Whatever her other faults, she vacuums every day. Three kids, slob of a bf, she probably needs to. He does absolutely nothing, from what I can gather from her screamed abuse. I think this is a major cause of the rows.

He absolutely redefines useless. He can get three children on his demented harpy of a gf, but he can neither put up a curtain track nor plumb in a washing machine. With the number of different places they have lived, this is at least the fourth from what she says, you would think he might just have picked up a slight clue by now. OH had to put the curtain track up for them, after reading the instructions as it was not a brand he had met before. I wonder if the oaf can even read? They are just typical of the worst kind of useless oik Channel 5 seems so fond of portraying in what it calls "documentaries". Some find those amusing, clearly, but only because they don't have to live next door to one.

Bettyboo, I am so sorry for you; you know I feel your pain! What is wrong with these morons? The one other "good" thing about "ours" is, she has never heard of dignity, any more than she has of self-control. She does not just scream at him inside the house, she does it in their front garden so it is out in the street. Our neighbours the other side have seen and heard her, the guy opposite, who is friends with OH, came across to ask him what was going on. The other day a bloke walking his dog down the street in the early evening looked at them with a shocked expression on his face as he went past. I nearly ran after him and asked him to be a witness. So at least it is not just their word against ours. And it has just this second kicked off again. After she apologised to OH at 5.30 this morning, apparently! Bettyboo, what are we gonna do?

lessonlearned

My son had neighbours like this, about 4 doors up, the rows often ended up with them brawling in the street.

In the end some of the other neighbours started calling the police, EVERY time it happened, They were usually either drunk or off their faces with drugs.

They were arrested a couple of times for breaching the peace and were eventually evicted. The property is owned by a housing association. The new tenants are much better. The street is lovely and peaceful now.

AC. I have been googling Chase Buchanan and then had a shifty on Right Move, putting in parameters of £375k to £425k.

I am afraid you have some very stiff competition.

I Viewed two cottages this afternoon. Fantastic location but oh dear they are terribly overpriced, both need gutting. Both with the same agent and they have been languishing for some time. Both were reduced last week but even so they still represent poor value for money, given how much needs to be spent.

I was very cross with the EA - she really tried to rush me, kept looking at her watch......Rude.;) very little attempt to engage in conversation, answered questions grudgingly - even tried to tell me there was no damp when the damage was visible to the naked eye.......:rotfl:

She knew nothing......

Hope your EA is better than that.

Smodlet

Hey, LL, would you think there any point in complaining to the EA's boss? She patently lied about the damp and behaved unprofessionally. I, too, have met EAs like that, back in the day before they had to declare issues of concern to prospective buyers. There is even less excuse, now that they are supposed to... how many adhere to this, I wonder? How many other professions can you think of where such would just be brushed off as insignificant? Did you ever conduct yourself thus? Would you put up with that in a restaurant? A pub? A corner shop? On the phone to insurance/utility companies? I would not, and I have worked in customer service, in one guise or another, for most of my life.

If no-one complains, nothing improves...

lessonlearned

Well I don't know if she was the actual boss/owner of the business but I think she's quite senior......so no probably not a lot of point complaining. :rotfl:

But yes I take your point - dreadful customer service. Although I was a bit exasperated I wasn't unduly surprised. Her phone manner wasn't up to much either. Just trying to make an appt to view was bad enough......so I wasn't expecting a charm offensive. Had to wait a week.

Generally most weekend viewings are done by casual staff rather than the negotiators or valuers, especially the larger city centre agents. Their function is just to let you in so you can have a look round. They rarely know anything about the property and so wouldn't normally be able to discuss its condition etc.

Today's viewings were in a small market town by a very small outfit so they had to do the viewings themselves rather than get extra staff for viewings.

It just seemed that Madam felt that doing viewings was beneath her........:rotfl:

Smodlet

I would have thought that viewings were the lifeblood of any estate agency. How, with the competition there must be, they can possibly think anything less than a professional service is acceptable, is beyond me. I wonder how long they will stay in business...

Have a great night, all.

lessonlearned

Yes you would think so wouldn't you.

Why allow casual/temporary staff to do viewings. More often than not, they are retirees or mums just doing a few hours at the weekend, to fit round childcare arrangements.

They just call into the office, pick up all the relevant keys, a few sets of printed details to give to the viewer and off they go. No preparation time, nothing. Sometimes the poor devils struggle with the doors or are not given a full set of keys so they can't open the back door/gates/garages or outbuildings. This happened yesterday, the poor girl couldn't open the patio doors or rear doors.....

To be fair most of them are very pleasant and do their best.

But the problem is they generally know very little about the property so their hands are tied. They often cannot answer the most basic questions, not because they are lazy or stupid but because they just haven't been given any information.

Since retiring I have been offered the chance to do viewings by several EAs. There is no way I would even consider working on those terms. Half the time you would be working blind.

When selling I would never allow any EA to do the viewings on my behalf. I Insist on doing them myself.

I believe that most vendors are far better than most EAs at doing viewings. I also stand by my assertion that in general terms most EAs are basically just "introducers". They are just "go betweens" in the offer process. They have no autonomy whatsoever.

Once the sale is underway then the case usually gets transferred to a designated team member who will then "progress the sale" through to legal completion. That's where the real work starts.

I think the days of the typical high street EA are numbered. I see the market splitting.

I think most of the business will go online. The vendors will do their own viewings and the progressing will also be probably be done by the same online agents for an additional fee.

The top end of the market might see a more bespoke service, using a US style "Realtor" the way they do in a lot places round the world. Would be purchasers of high end properties will probably also make more use of Housefinder services than they do at present.

The last time I sold I used a High street agent and ended up doing most of the work myself, including most of the sales progress chasing.

I still got charged the full fees though - cheeky beggars. :rotfl:

another_casualty

While having a txt conversation with my friend , maybe there is something I've overlooked that could be holding things up..my ceiling fans !
I have one in my master bedroom , and one in the living room.
I have low celings btw. The type I have are flush fitting .

I wonder if it's worth getting these removed .( more expense)
I have downlighters in front room, kitchen and 2 bedrooms .

Because I hate the heat , I love them , but maybe the fans are preventing viewers from seeing the bigger picture??

More advice please

harz99

another_casualty wrote: »

While having a txt conversation with my friend , maybe there is something I've overlooked that could be holding things up..my ceiling fans !
I have one in my master bedroom , and one in the living room.
I have low celings btw. The type I have are flush fitting .

I wonder if it's worth getting these removed .( more expense)
I have downlighters in front room, kitchen and 2 bedrooms .

Because I hate the heat , I love them , but maybe the fans are preventing viewers from seeing the bigger picture??

More advice please

A quick pic of the fans would be useful.

another_casualty

Thanks harz;) May do later .
Just got a 2nd viewing booked for Friday .
I wasn't told it was a 2nd viewing, but recognised the name .

Looking at her comments , she really likes it but can't make an offer until someone makes an offer on her property .
Still waiting for confirmation of tomorrows appointment .
We shall see.