Property Sparrow works at an estate agents on Saturdays and Sundays. She is not really an estate agent but she would do viewings if there were any to do. If the phone rang she would answer it.
She knows she is very lucky to have her job. She is the only employee left. To steady their nerves the joint franchisees like to have a day off at the weekend and, as the appointments have almost dried up completely, Property Sparrow is there on her own most of the time. She has plenty of time to read PropertyHawk and the work is fun.
Last Friday a local builder/landlord should have exchanged on a two bed Victorian terrace. He already has two other houses in the same street and apparently these were let very easily. It needs a bit of work but it’s got two parking spaces and a garden and it’s a 20 minute walk to the station with mainline services to London. This seemed like a dead cert sale and even a small sign that builders are starting to buy houses again.
Not so, he is a cautious man. At 11.00AM he changed his mind.
At the estate agency, we are experts in not counting your chickens before they are hatched. We lost £4000 in anticipated fees as the vendor was due to buy another house on our books, a vacant house repossessed back in May.
The Victorian terrace is now advertised at £120,000. In July it was £144,995. The builder who was going to buy it would have paid £110,000. These sorts of fluctuations give Property Sparrow a headache.
The vendor was tearful first thing on Saturday morning and hadn’t had any sleep. She is left surrounded by cardboard boxes and with no hope of selling her house. The other local developers and landlords know about this house but they remain silent.
Property Sparrow could only make tea and soothing noises.
She knows she is very lucky to have her job. She is the only employee left. To steady their nerves the joint franchisees like to have a day off at the weekend and, as the appointments have almost dried up completely, Property Sparrow is there on her own most of the time. She has plenty of time to read PropertyHawk and the work is fun.
Last Friday a local builder/landlord should have exchanged on a two bed Victorian terrace. He already has two other houses in the same street and apparently these were let very easily. It needs a bit of work but it’s got two parking spaces and a garden and it’s a 20 minute walk to the station with mainline services to London. This seemed like a dead cert sale and even a small sign that builders are starting to buy houses again.
Not so, he is a cautious man. At 11.00AM he changed his mind.
At the estate agency, we are experts in not counting your chickens before they are hatched. We lost £4000 in anticipated fees as the vendor was due to buy another house on our books, a vacant house repossessed back in May.
The Victorian terrace is now advertised at £120,000. In July it was £144,995. The builder who was going to buy it would have paid £110,000. These sorts of fluctuations give Property Sparrow a headache.
The vendor was tearful first thing on Saturday morning and hadn’t had any sleep. She is left surrounded by cardboard boxes and with no hope of selling her house. The other local developers and landlords know about this house but they remain silent.
Property Sparrow could only make tea and soothing noises.
Interesting post - reflecting that property prices have some way to fall still. Any predictions - 10, 20, 30 or maybe 40% ?
ReplyDeleteLandlords should sit on their hands.