It's two months since my last post and in all those weeks, I have achieved sweet FA. But there are green shoots of hope on the horizon in the form of a good friend of 40 - yes, incredible, isn't it? - years standing, who has come into an inheritance and wants to invest in a property with me, so I can get back into the still overheated London property market.
Nationwide Building Society reports that London property is still increasing, but I have noticed a certain stalling... properties first listed in March that are still unsold... the 'reduced'[ word appearing on listings. All to the good as far as I am concerned!
Today, in 30 degrees F heat, my good and loyal friend trekked a long way (the bus had been diverted owing to roadworks) to view two flats for me in East Finchley. One was a big upper maisonette with a nice garden, but had a vertiginous staircase leading to a loft room, and my bete noir, kiddiwinkies, living downstairs. So that is out. How can I write the Great Novel when ankle biters are screaming on the climbing frame and trampoline in their garden, which borders mine?
The other was a ground floor flat, much smaller, with a succession of tenants upstairs and a tiny garden that backs onto garages. No, and again no.
Perhaps my check list is too long. Perhaps I have been spoiled. But really, at the age of 72, I deserve peace and quiet, a nice garden and proximity to transport, as I don't drive. After all, at my age, it might be the last home I ever buy!
