I seem to have "blogger-rhoea" at the moment - I can't stop blogging! (must be busy ... ah yes!). Anyway appropos nothing & not connected to the previous "Spreadsheet" blog post, I had an email from a very very old acquaintance recently, someone I lived near to over 15 years ago. They had got in touch to reconnect & to say hi but it had been prompted by them seeing a for sale board outside the property I once used to call home. Lethal. Awful news for such a nosey parker as myself.
Naturally I immediately Googled my old address to find a slickly done des res that bore little resemblance to the lovely, homely but frankly very 1990's little cottage I had left behind. The original parquet that had been in tip top condition when I moved out is now covered by Wickes (well it looks like) shiny oak flooring and the lights are in the floor. They have removed the whole of the front of the little house & replaced it with smart bi-fold doors. Thanks to TV 'property p*rn' shows they have painted every room white. They have stretched the tiny cottage garden & made it look amazing & slick & it's all architectural plants & decking but they have lost a parking space. And they are asking (wait for it) ~170% more than I sold it for!!! OK - I'll give you 15 years and a shortage of detatched 2 bed houses for that.
But once you start you can't stop. I then Googled the next address, the one I went to after that. To find THAT up for sale too (something in the air?) for also 170% more than I had paid - again 170% increase clearly a London thing - for yes a very big but only 2 bed essentially basement flat (in polite circles we call it a patio flat) with shockingly bad sound proofing & an eye watering service charge! At least the first place was freehold & detached. But again the same thing.
Again thanks to a certain genre of TV show, they have followed all the rules - white walls, all character removed... But interestingly unlike the old cottage place which had clearly been stripped back & started again, the old flat which is being offered for a kings ransome still has my (now 12 years old) developers kitchen & my Debenhams patio furniture! They haven't even put a new kitchen in! How can they justify a 170% price rise?? Location Location Location. Said basement is in W2. Walking distance to Notting Hill, Marble Arch, Kensington, Westbourne Grove ..... need I go on? And of course I ponder - should I have stayed - in either - & been rich?!
But it doesn't do to dwell. Money isn't everything. I was ready to leave both des res's at the time of moving. If the chain of events set off by my first move had not happned as it did I would not be sitting here now happy as larry, married to the worlds best man, owner of the worlds snootiest cat, able to earn a decent living by logging on from the comfort of my home office for 2 1/2 whole days a week & pop over to my neighbours swimming pool when the sun shines! You see it does all work out for the best in the end. To quote the Beatles - Can't buy me love.
I seem to have "blogger-rhoea" at the moment - I can't stop blogging! (must be busy ... ah yes!). Anyway appropos nothing & not connected to the previous "Spreadsheet" blog post, I had an email from a very very old acquaintance recently, someone I lived near to over 15 years ago. They had got in touch to reconnect & to say hi but it had been prompted by them seeing a for sale board outside the property I once used to call home. Lethal. Awful news for such a nosey parker as myself.
Naturally I immediately Googled my old address to find a slickly done des res that bore little resemblance to the lovely, homely but frankly very 1990's little cottage I had left behind. The original parquet that had been in tip top condition when I moved out is now covered by Wickes (well it looks like) shiny oak flooring and the lights are in the floor. They have removed the whole of the front of the little house & replaced it with smart bi-fold doors. Thanks to TV 'property p*rn' shows they have painted every room white. They have stretched the tiny cottage garden & made it look amazing & slick & it's all architectural plants & decking but they have lost a parking space. And they are asking (wait for it) ~170% more than I sold it for!!! OK - I'll give you 15 years and a shortage of detatched 2 bed houses for that. 
But once you start you can't stop. I then Googled the next address, the one I went to after that. To find THAT up for sale too (something in the air?) for also 170% more than I had paid - again 170% increase clearly a London thing - for yes a very big but only 2 bed essentially basement flat (in polite circles we call it a patio flat) with shockingly bad sound proofing & an eye watering service charge! At least the first place was freehold & detached. But again the same thing. 
Again thanks to a certain genre of TV show, they have followed all the rules - white walls, all character removed... But interestingly unlike the old cottage place which had clearly been stripped back & started again, the old flat which is being offered for a kings ransome still has my (now 12 years old) developers kitchen & my Debenhams patio furniture! They haven't even put a new kitchen in! How can they justify a 170% price rise?? Location Location Location. Said basement is in W2. Walking distance to Notting Hill, Marble Arch, Kensington, Westbourne Grove ..... need I go on? And of course I ponder - should I have stayed - in either - & been rich?!
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