peckhamboy

Quote: "I could have bought my 4 bed flat in Elephant for ?15,000 in 2000, but I didn't because I felt like that would be theft. It is now valued at ?300,000" ?300k for a flat in Elephant? Now, that is theft...

Posted by: Keef Today, 08:36AM Keef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- I also know plenty of lawyers who are in it completely for the money That's me!

I can see the merit in some of what Jingles said (although it was maybe a little over-generalised), in that estate agents are effectively unregulated which leaves ample scope for abuse, although the worst of them no doubt rarely get very far. On the other hand, regulation doesn't necessarily equate to a good job or a trustworthy person, or the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal would be somewhat redundant. As with any profession, there are good estate agents and bad ones - HP comes across as one of the better examples - but the number of bad (or borderline) ones seems higher than in most professions, possibly because of an absence of training/qualifications, but more likely because it attracts a certain type of wideboy, and because most of the pay is made up of commission which encourages an attitude of forcing sales at any cost. For the record, I'm a lawyer as well. And I was very happy with the agent through whom we bought our house.

Each of the cars has a name based on one of their offices as well - Balham Boy for example. I haven't yet seen a Dulwich one (not East Dulwich, I note - presumably didn't sound upmarket enough to own up to on the website), maybe we could have a competition to name a Foxtons mini? Dulwich D________ Any ideas? I've got one or two in mind...

I'm not that bothered by them, but I have noticed a huge number recently in the garden, and much bigger than usual. There's one friendly little fellow the size of a small dog who spins the most enormous web that I keep walking into (the size of the spider may be exaggerated but it is a big one!)

And publicly flogged. We should start a campaign to have stocks and a ducking pond on Goose Green, for anyone who is (or is suspected to be) an estate agent.

How do you know it was foxtons, and not just some kids messing about? did they announce themselves?

Here you go georgina... cats in nappies

But something that gets you back from work quicker, now there's a thought...

Or even a legless lizard...

Nero said "Two things: The council can come and spray yellow signs that say 'Bag it and bin it' if you ask them. Contact 7525 2000 and explain the problem and ask for some signs to be sprayed." There are already both bins and yellow signs on all the streets round me, and people still refuse to pick up after their dogs. The problem is not the absence of signs, but the irresponsible and antisocial behaviour of a small number of dog owners.

Totally agree with Curmudgeon. The dog mess is totally inexcusable - I frequently see dog eggs left within 10m of the dog mess bins, so it's certainly not that there's nowhere to dispose of it. And I object to having to clean up after other peoples' cats in my own garden. It's frankly antisocial to have a cat if your garden is so small it has to go into your neighbours' gardens. And before everyone starts going on about deterrents - why should I have to spend ?50 on ultrasonic deterrents? Why can't the owners put deterrents round the perimeter of their gardens so the cats don't stray? It would have the added benefit of reducing the number of "Lost Cat" posters on every street...

Not very environmentally friendly either. I'm surprised there hasn't been picketing of Foxtons for bringing so much extra traffic to LL. And the speed they drive those minis at - must guzzle fuel...

That Foxtons brochure made me laugh though. Anyone want to buy a house in Ivanhoe Road, Camden? And the info on "your area" started off by talking about how residents of south-west london were so close to the west end. It listed two places to go out in ED, one of which was... Jerk Rock! Good work.

Agree that there are not enough trains before 9am (and in particular, the gap after the 7.29 is far too long for what is a peak journey time). And the fact that trains only run twice an hour from ten to eight in the evening is a constant source of irritation. I frequently work past 7.30, and have lost count of the number of times I've just missed a train and had to wait nearly half an hour for the next. Even upping it to 3 an hour would be a significant improvement. And don't get me started on the rail replacement service when they're working on the line. Buses every half hour instead of trains every ten minutes, followed by a 45 minute journey to LB. I could walk it quicker.

It's happened to me a couple of times - does seem to happen after a thread has been relocated. But also, any chance of a "Reset all new posts" button, so you don't have to reset each section individually? Or is there one already that I've never noticed?

I've been several times and have never been let down by the food. The service does vary between chatty and "French" (ie surly and slow) but I guess that makes it authentic! It's not as cheap as I'd like it to be, but it's not horribly expensive either. To be honest, it's one of my favourites on LL, but I love French food.

Not if you feed them pesticide they're not...

Good point. Although I'm quite sure Pepys would have said it if he'd thought of it!

DaveR said "LL may well now be far less welcoming place for the childless (or indeed the elderly or those with low incomes) than it was say 10 years ago." I don't have any children and love LL. And to be honest, with a few exceptions, I generally love seeing lots of kids around the place and hopefully will add one or two of my own in time. I'm saving up for the bugaboo already... Seriously though, I'm not sure the above is specific to ED. London generally is probably not a great place to be if you are elderly or on a low income. And I think ED is one of the better parts of London, whoever you are. He who is tired of ED is tired of life, as Pepys would have said if he'd lived here.

The one good thing about Foxtons is their website - the amount of information and photos on each property puts other agents to shame (and you don't have to register with them just to search - ludlow thompson take note!). On the other hand, they have a very aggressive volume-based approach to everything which is going to put a lot of people's noses out of joint. I was fairly ambivalent about them coming to ED, but the office is an eyesore (if the sofas weren't so garish it might be just about passable but it is horribly out of place on LL), the minis are a nuisance and take up a lot of parking spaces on and near LL, and I found myself hating them for their marketing approach which included walking up and down LL handing out Foxtons balloons to every small child they could find. Edited: Having looked at the website more closely, it would help if they got simple things right. I think the postcode issue has been picked up before (Camberwell - SE9, Denmark Hill - SE3, Dulwich Village - SW21), but apparently on one flat off grove vale "The nearest station is East Dulwich (BR) which provides links into Victoria mainline station". Which of course it does. Via the bus to Denmark Hill from just outside ED station, for example.

But to make things more tricky, Brendan, it must be a station with public conveniences as well.

David, I didn't want to have to do this to you but you leave me no choice. Alperton

Cunning. Not many people know that the only option available after Miromesnil has been played is to go straight to Barbes-Rochechouart

I'll kick off with Place Monge, applying the inverse Napoleon manoeuvre