Today, I made the two-hour trek by public transport to Finchley, to view two flats. One looked very nice in the online photos. When I got there, I found it was even nicer than the pics, which must be a first! The garden was gorgeous, and south-facing, too. Just three quibbles.
First, the house next door was covered in scaffolding and the agent didn't know why, or how long the work was going to take. (Shouldn't agents arm themselves with this kind of info? I can't be the only potential buyer who wanted to know.)
Second, the agent didn't know who lived upstairs, or how many, or what room was above the bedroom of the downstairs flat. (Again, I would have thought agents would make a point of finding out, anticipating viewers' queries.)
Third, outside the bedroom door were two steps leading down to the kitchen and, more importantly, the loo. I could see myself waking up at 3 am, breaking my neck for a wee - and then breaking my neck literally!
But it's in the running, even though it would mean a mortgage. It had share of the freehold, a big plus.
The next flat was in East Finchley's 'Old Village', which may have been a village 150 years ago but is nothing like one now. A horse and cart to take one down to the Tube, a 20 minute walk away, would be a good idea. Someone I know lives downstairs, which is a big plus. But the flat itself was just horrid, with damp in the bedroom, musty-smelling cupboards and some worrying cracks over the landing, which the agent said were 'purely superficial'. Hmmm.
The windows all needed replacing as they were single-glazed and the surrounds were rotten. A chat with Mr Downstairs revealed that the damp was the result of a blocked gutter which he had asked the managing agents repeatedly to clear, with no response. Said agents claim around £1700 pa from the leaseholders for doing sod-all. In the eleven years Mr Downstairs had lived there, they had done nothing and any problems had to sorted and paid for by the leaseholders. He also told me that there was a new ceiling in the upstairs flat because the old one had collapsed!
This flat was £30,000 cheaper than the other, but, for me, the potential problems and the awkward location outweighed the saving. Mr Downstairs took cabs everywhere and did his shopping online, but I like to pop out and and come back at least twice a day. Today, I walked from Ballards Lane to East Finchley High Road and back to Long Lane. I am a trifle knackered!
So the second flat is a definite No, and the first is a Maybe, if the agent can answer my questions. Meanwhile, it's back to perusing Rightmove and Prime Location. As I scanned the latter, my hopes were raised when I saw a flat in central London advertised at just under £400k. Then I read the details. It wasn't a flat at all, but a garage for two cars. Were the walls gold-plated and diamond-studded? Or is that just the luxury vehicle that will inhabit it, while 5,000 people are sleeping rough on the streets of London. It's a bloody disgrace. Think I'll sneak in and pitch a tent.
