16 February - Estate Agents lie

What was I thinking? Of course. I happen to be looking after the affairs of a friend who's away for work. I check the website where the agents have uploaded photos of his property and the floor plan. Let's just say that I know the flat intimately so it's glaringly obvious that two rooms that are the same length when I walk in them and are now on the floorplan one foot short than the other stand out. And that the overall size seems larger than my own property which I sort of know extremely well.

So I dig out the floorplan of when he bought the flat many years ago, probably before laser measurements bouncing off walls and there it is. The room sizes are different. There's one extra thing to do ie. take the tape measure out and be scientific about it myself. Yep, all in all Foxtons, for this is them, have made the flat they're sellling much larger, not a room larger but a bathroom larger at least. I point it out to my friend saying it benefits him as the seller but a buyer would be mortified and get his ok to contact Foxtons and get them to alter accordingly. BLOODY CHEEK. And to think I bought something recently and never thought of actually countermeasuring it all for myself, believing in the bullshit about accurate readings of the laser gizmo. Idjot!

I mention to a friend in the property trade ie. has small portfolio and he can't stop ranting about Foxtons, didn't realise they do what mr Tesco's and Mr Sainsbury's do in squeezing out anyone else in order to have a lovely little cartel of One that makes all the prices in an area and controls their levels because with no competition left, that's what happens right? All I knew was that they overprice wildly. Probably to then give buyer the stupid psychologic feel good factor of offering much less and getting offer accepted. I can't believe 2 of us are contributing to this company's profit. I can get him to drop them but must read the small print first.