Cyclemonkey

What things? Food, clothes, going out? I use the Lidl in Peckham a lot as well as Sainsburys (who have the same prices where ever their stores are) and some of the shops in Rye Lane like Khans for cheap vegetables and spices. It is true there are a lot of chichi clothes and home ware places that are expensive but that's not really an issue as we are very near central London where you c as n get cheaper clothes and home ware from chain stores. Going out is expensive in most areas of London it is true and East Dulwich is no exception. There are however a fair few free events locally, some reasonably priced places to eat (Franco Manca is cheaper than Pizza Express), also for a cheap pub night out there are several Wetherspoons nearby (Peckham, Denmark Hill and Forest Hill)

Having done a LOT of house hunting over the last year I would say the price should be more like ?425,000 to ?450,000. Also get the details on the nature of the lease. Will the buyer be buying the freehold of the whole building in the price or is it a shared freehold with the downstairs flat. These thing matter.

Desmond I looked at your place. It's nice but frankly overpriced. Over half a million for a conversion flat with one of the rooms as an attic conversion will not appeal. You can get a house for that in Forest Hill and Honor Oak. Also if it is a freehold maisonette that will actively put buyers off as many mortgage lenders will not lend on them. To the person despairing of finding a flat for under ?400,000 look wider than East Dulwich and forget Period conversions (they are often pretty crap anyway) Our budget was ?300,000 to ?350,000 and we saw loads of acceptable places.

Re: security at the Dolls place they should use the local firm whose staff wear red ties - i think Franks and other Peckham based venues use them. The guys that work for them are always very professional and friendly in my experience.

Do you have to be a member to go there as well? It's a little off the beaten track and i'm not sure i would want to have to remember a membership card on the off chance i would want to go for a drink in a pub in Hanover Park of an evening. The location is a little strange for that type of venture it's true.

Ha Ha. Our survey identifed "limied areas of penetrating damp" in one room and suggested strongly we get the vendor to do remedial work. This held up things for a while until we decided to jsut go and meet the vendor and talk it out. Turned out it was a small area of mildew on the paintwork at the top of a window frame due to winter condensation. (the vendor didn't have the trickle vents for the double glazing open)

Ahh that has solved the mystery of the smoke and horrible burning smell on Saturday morning that we got in our flat over on Taymount Rise. It was driving me mad for about an hour as i couldn't see any obvious source.

When we sold last year we didn't go with Foxtons despite the incentives because they were pushy and awful to deal with - we decided it waasn't worth the extra ?5000 they were promising to get us. In terms of the internet makign estate agents extincy i found that the couple of places we viewed that were marketed through online agents were problematic. The vendor had to be around to do viewings meaning that viewing times were very constrained. Also one vendor was very evasive about some of the questions we had. I think the very fraught and personal process of selling your home is sometimes best handled by someone with a bit of distance.

Well they don't always. I assume the promise high valuations to get the seller to sign up and then try loads of pushy tactics to try and scare buyers in to offering at the asked for price. Last time i viewed something with Foxtons it was a flat that was advertised as needing "a little cosmetic updating" in reality it was a disaster zone that would need significant work. The agent was very pushy when i commented it was priced in the high side for something that needed a lot of work. They kept on with scare tactics like prices will be higher soon, loads of better off people from East London are interested in Peckham now, this could be your only chance etc... I decided if Shoreditch hipsters were willing to pay ?350,000 for a rubbish ex council flat in need of a complete overhaul they were welcome to it.

Ha Ha - Tw*t Palace was our phrase.

That's true Jeremy When i was renting i never registered with Foxtons as i always assumed the flats they let were not for the likes of me. However when i started renting in South East London 15 years ago Foxtons wouldn't have touched most of this area!

That is very true worldwiser. I was reminding myself that despite the fits of the vapours over Foxtons moving in there have been KFH and Acorn offices in Peckham for many many years. I think the impression is that Foxtons are only interested in the upper end of the market so them moving in is seen as an indication of house prices going stratospheric. Having said that when i was looking last year Foxtons had the same parade of poorly treated ex council places that everyone else had.

I think a lot of buyers avoid them if they can as they have a reputation for being pushy and pricing very high.

Try freecycle maybe?

I thought that was odd. When we were house hunting any SE15/SE5 properties Foxtons were marketing came out of the Lordship Lane branch and they didn't seem overly busy to be honest. Although the fact it was being marketed by Foxtons often put me off as their properties were always priced at the top end and their sales agents were almost always aggressive bellends.

Well the location of the firework throwers certainly explains why i was woken up feeling like the bangs were actually inside my flat - it was very disorientating! They dance on the roofs of parked cars? why does no one tell them to get the f*ck down and grow up?

I doubt it John - if it was organised and a lot of money was spent to celebrate a specific event i imagine the organisers wouldn't have chosen 1am on a Tuesday morning when it was about -3 degrees outside.

We heard them as well. In fact we were woken up by them as we are very near Peckham Rye. It took me another 2 hours to get back to sleep. I was not best pleased. I think fireworks in built up areas are not allowed after 11pm so it was more than just inconsiderate.

We did indeed!

John - try putting in an offer below the asking price - we routinely knocked 10% off the asking price when putting in an offer. Some vendors were of course outraged and rejected us out right but you know what - some of thoese are still hanging round on RightMove a good few months since they first went on to the market.

It is my experience that prices have fallen as well - we got an offer accepted that was ?14,000 below the asking price that had already been reduced. However i don't think prices have fallen as such more that prices were artifically inflated and agwnts were encouraging vendors to put things on at unachievable prices. Buyers have now experienced a collective reality check and are not desperately offering over the odds for ordinary flats and houses in ordinary London suburbs.

I think at the moment things are cooling off and settling back to normal prices for the area rather than falling. We started looking for a place in January this year and quickly gave up as it was madness - queues out the door, places under off the moment they went on Rightmove, people offering tens of thousands over the asking price. Fast forward to October and we started looking again in the same area with the same budget. Things have changed - plenty of reductions, properties hanging around, buyers actually chasing us. I would say it is a combination of lack of buyers - MMR rules kickigng in/people worried about rising interest rates, properties stillvalued as it is was earlier this year, a glut of properties comming on to the marlet as people saw an opportunity to cash in on rising house prices.

Absolutely Penguin - that's my experience as a Union official at my workplace. In the main we work very well with management and i think for the msot time they appreciate our involvement.

Unison are actually supporting carers to take action over the unpaid travelling time issue - arguing that it is being used as a loophole by employers to get out of paying minimum wage. Carers should also be paid decently but that doesn't diminish my support for the Ritzy strikers. One of the reasons i have been so supportive is that union membership is declining in the private sector and the accusation from the Right is often that collective action is a luxury only available to those in the public sector. The Ritzy strikers have shown people that employees in the private sector can take action and get a better deal for themselves. It takes a lot of strike and put your head above the parapet when you are on a zero hours contract and working for an employer that is not very receptive to unions. Also don't forget workers do not get paid when they are on strike so people have been willing to sacrifice days and days of pay in order to try and get a better deal for all their colleagues.

Jeremy - you are a bit behind the times - in London most first time buyers ARE in their thirties!