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jadesfireDear Estate Agent,
House hunting is hard. Being first time buyers is hard. Trawling through property websites and estate agents' lists for something suitable is boring and hard.
You are not helping.
No love,
Me
~~~~
The reason for this letter? I was doing one of my regular hunts for property websites that aren't Rightmove and stumbled across some interesting things. There were the usual houses in terrible areas, and terrible houses in good areas. All fine and dandy, you might think.
Under the cut is what one agent is selling for £120,000 as a bungalow.
I KID YOU NOT. Click the picture for the full details.
SRSLY. IDEK.
House hunting is hard. Being first time buyers is hard. Trawling through property websites and estate agents' lists for something suitable is boring and hard.
You are not helping.
No love,
Me
~~~~
The reason for this letter? I was doing one of my regular hunts for property websites that aren't Rightmove and stumbled across some interesting things. There were the usual houses in terrible areas, and terrible houses in good areas. All fine and dandy, you might think.
Under the cut is what one agent is selling for £120,000 as a bungalow.
I KID YOU NOT. Click the picture for the full details.
SRSLY. IDEK.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:47 pm (UTC)HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *wheeze*
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?????????????
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:49 pm (UTC)Oh, it gets better. Someone else lists it as a "detached" property.
Which...yes, okay, it's hard to argue with the literal accuracy, but still.
Just when you think estate agents have reached the limits of dodgy descriptions, they take it to a whole new level...
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:53 pm (UTC)*wipes tears*
gives new meaning to the word detached.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:55 pm (UTC)TRUFAX.
*g*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:59 pm (UTC)Or maybe it's taking the "sunken house" idea to a whole new level...
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 08:28 pm (UTC)Do they mention it has an interesting water feature in the garden?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:54 pm (UTC)But no, not a bungalow. Hee.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:56 pm (UTC)I like the agent who describes it as "detached" best. Because...well, it's only one storey and it's not actually attached to anything, so clearly it must be a detached bungalow.
...it's possible I'm spending too much time on this if I can figure out estate agent logic ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:10 pm (UTC)I suppose there are all kinds of jokes and pointed comments one could make about becoming unmoored ...
;-D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:23 pm (UTC)*grin* I wouldn't mind a holiday on a boat, but I get the feeling living there might get real old, real fast...
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 04:57 pm (UTC)A "detached" (yup, that's actually used on another website), one storey (and therefore obviously a bungalow) dwelling.
The fact that it happens to float is obviously a minor detail...
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:04 pm (UTC)*laughs and laughs*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-24 08:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:20 pm (UTC)Personally, I think they just did it to make me laugh. But that's just me... ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:20 pm (UTC)*g*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:19 pm (UTC)I know! There's lots of canal boats in Oxford, and this is one of the prettiest I've seen!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:18 pm (UTC)I've just realized I don't know exactly what a bungalow is. As far as I know we don't use the term in this part of the U.S., and the only other time I ran across it was in the title of a Nancy Drew mystery.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:21 pm (UTC)And no.
Um.
Technically yes, everything that is a one storey dwelling (usually on land!) is a bungalow. But over the years, various bungalow owners have converted their attics. So they do have an upstairs bedroom, but it's still a bungalow.
...like the boat, I think they do it on purpose to confuse us!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:28 pm (UTC)The boat is hilarious. I really hope the agent who listed it at least chuckled at him- or herself.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:37 pm (UTC)Especially in the South and West, by my observation. (Basements are less common in those places as well. Which is unfortunate since half of the South is in Tornado Alley!) Up north and out east, two-story houses seem more common. Maybe they're easier to heat as well as taking up less land? Whereas down here what we're more concerned about is getting a breeze through those windows. :)
So do you think the commonness of the one-story dwelling is related to the decrease in the use of the term "bungalow"?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:41 pm (UTC)I hadn't thought of it like that, but yes, a 'two up, two down' (British generic term for a small house - two rooms down stairs, two up and the loo at the end of the garden ;)) would be cheaper to heat, definitely. Which is a good thing over here!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 05:49 pm (UTC)Hmm, that would explain why people in the UK might not want to use the term (though it seems it's still used there often), but where I live, it's not particularly unfashionable to live in a one-story house. They're just so common. A lot of very nice, decent middle-class houses are one-story, yet we don't use the term "bungalow" at all as far as I've seen. There must be more to this regional language mystery! (We don't have to track down the answer, I just get curious about these things. *g*)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 06:09 pm (UTC)*tilts head* I'm not sure if I helped or hindered there... *butts back out*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 07:20 pm (UTC)Thank you!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 07:34 pm (UTC)This.
Also with the connotation of "holiday retreat". Not somewhere you'd actually live.
A one-story house is...a house. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 06:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 07:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 07:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 08:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 08:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 09:02 pm (UTC)So I'd believe every word you told me! We're incredibly lucky for various reasons (not all of them good), but if you don't have a decent deposit, you just can't get on the market here at all.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 10:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 08:30 pm (UTC)I know it's no fun for you... but oh wow... sitting here with tears in my eyes from laughing...
I think Estate Agents pronounce it Sploe... comes to mind
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 09:03 pm (UTC)Ah, we're doing okay - I just have a tendency to swamp myself with information and feel overwhelmed. Once I get some perspective again, I'll be fine :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 09:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-23 11:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-24 05:14 am (UTC)