Finding number four
Finding number four was a very long process indeed. We have lived in East Dulwich for six years and my quest for renovation houses has brought me into contact with many of the Dulwich agents - some are undoubtedly better than others by the way.
When we bought Matham Grove I do not believe a single offer had been received before ours as the house was truly dreadful ( at which point of course my heart started beating faster and when I saw the graffiti, drawn by the owners of course, I knew it was mine) but we went ahead and bought the place. The agent was a nightmare - rude, aggressive and thoroughly unpleasant to deal with although since he still got his commission what does he care?
On the day of completion, the owner did not move out though - slight problem for us as we were outside in a van with nowhere else to go. Eventually she crept out, leaving all her belongings behind, lunch in the oven and allof herkids stuff as well. Odd. In fact about a week later her teenage son knocked at the door saying he did not know his mother was moving and could he have his stuff please…
Renovating Matham Grove was a joy - only one dodgy workman who painted the windows shut and put his rice and peas on my tab - but overall a positive experience. I knew then that we would stay in the area and begun to make connections with local agents for the next house.
I met some interesting characters along the way and also some thoroughly decent and honest agents who clearly knew their stuff. It would be fair to say others did not - you know who you are - including a young man who told me in all seriousness that a large cellar built in a house in the 1870's was in fact a bomb shelterincorporated by the original builder for just that purpose. Another told me that an unmodernisedVictorian house may well be covered by an NHBC certificate - bless.
At one stage in the quest for number four we were approached by Wallace Jaffrey of Hamptons International who had a natty idea to secure a property for us. He pitched a retained client scenario to us whereby he would write directly to the owers of house we were interested in but were not on the market. This would be on the basis that if one of our target houses were to respond and result in a sale to us then we would pay a fee of 1% of the sale price to Hamptons but no commission would be be payable by the vendor. Win win for all. This was very attractive as the market locally was a classic London situation with demand far exceeding supply. Moreover, the houses we were interested in were unlikely to come onto the market unprompted as the “season” was ending. Many owners replied tempted by no fees, no mass viewing's and in fact by what was a very relaxed way to potentially sell their property. Sadly, none proved quite right for us but I would definitely consider this route in future.
And then there was the endless traipsing around properties that were coming onto the market in the conventional way. Ugh- very frustrating. Despite specific requirements being sent to all agents we were directed to properties that had been recently developed or had no gardens or only half the required square footage blah blah blah. Very annoying.
I viewed lots of properties in Dulwich Village - much sought after but for reasons beyond me. Unless you have serious money to spend - 2-3 million++ you do not get a lot for your cash. A very ordinary 1500 sq foot house, small garden and probably a bit of pebbledash for good measure will be about 900k++++++. I viewed one such monster, with a large garden on one of the most popular roads. Completely basic in every way and in fact rather run down - if I had not known I would have thought pensioner poverty is alive and well - what a disgrace in 2006. However, this squalid little number was on at 1.2 million, had, I am told, 27 viewing's on the first day and went for over the asking price. No accounting for taste. The cachet of a village address must do something to the good sense gene.
By the way there is a fantastic blog called poshmum which exposes the Dulwich scene beautifully - a lot of laughs to be had, even though my own daughter attends one of the schools she lampoons. I am definitely not a posh mum and would be more likely to be removed from the school gates for looking unsightly than embroiled in a debate about this seasons Jimmy's.
When all hope was lost we got a call shortly before Christmas from a local agent we had bought and sold through before - Winkworths. The very lovely (in fact far too beautiful for her own good - do not risk a viewing with her if you are feeling a little jaded and past your best) Aiysha told us they had been invited to value a large house, unmodernised, requiring some imagination etc etc. The house would not come onto the market until spring but the owners had no objections to us having a peek now.
We went immediately, were delighted by what we saw - even though two main rooms were impenetrable because of floor to ceiling piles of toot..
Many weeks of negotiating later it was ours and now all we have to do is limp to the finishing line on the 27th April when the games will begin.