I think that I could fill a whole blog with adverts for flat shares from Gumtree, but I'll start with this post:
Advertising the spare room in your flat share is your chance to find exactly the kind of housemate you want. Don't stop at vague requests for your new housemate to be male/female/gay/bi/mid 20s/student/professional, this is your chance to get specific. No need to be shy now...
Their nationality:
"I'm open to Filipina ladies only."
"irish housemate wanted female "
"Large Single Room for Indian Professional "
"Zone 1 (French Females Preferred)"
"it would be a great advantage if I had a French speaking housemate to help me to learn the language"
"Free room share for qualified or professional native Latin American Spanish speaker "
"looking for Asian girl to share with another asian channese girl. "
Posting in the language of the nationality you are looking for will help a lot:
"Duza dwojka do wynajecia dla dziewczyny lub dwoch dziewczyn w domu z ogrodem"
"Turkce konusan bayan oda arkadasi ariyorum."
"Ragazzi ho trovato un 3 bedroom flat fantastico (high standard at affordable prices) u have to see it to believe it, appartamento davvero bello "
Their religion:
"Muslium Female wanted to share room with other pakistsni female "
"cheap room sharing for muslim girl"
"This is a christian home for people with a passion for Jesus Christ and people. "
Their personality:
"looking for a girly-girl"
"looking for a friendly and sociable flatmate who loves dogs,"
" Friendly young clean guys wanted for triple room share" but also "This is NOT a party house. "
"Would be cool if you were artistic/architecture-y but not fussed."
"Vegetarian, friendly, clean and tidy, mature person wanted"
"Responsible,Friendly, considerate, appreciative of other Cultural Backgrounds, only these type of persons need apply."
Their hobbies:
"If you like organic food, jogging, cooking and a nice chat around a glass of wine with friends - this is your type of flat. "
"Small double room available in 3 bed flat .... Must like wine! "
If you're not sure who you're looking for then go for a range of people:
"Double Room in Southall for Couple/Children or Females."
Also there's the small matter of persuading them they want to live with you...
"inclusive of fresh flowers, weekly cleaning, laundry and ironing, gas, electricity, water, telephone rental and wireless broadband"
"One small catch is that we must rarely walk through one corner of your room to get to the separate kitchen,"
"two old dears either side of us who don't appear to care how loud we go."
" Superb House Shared By Europeans."
Anything else you have to offer?
"For 15£ per week I can arrange the rental of a bicycle "
Once your prospective flatmate has been identified you've got to check them out:
"please drop a few lines about you along a link to FB or Linkedin page."
"DEPOSIT AND PROOF OF EMPLOYMENT , AND IMMIGRATION STATUS REQUIRED......"
Gumtree you provide me with hours of entertainment. If only I could say I'd found a place to live too.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
18 buyers for every home in Central London
According to the Evening Standard there are 18 buyers for every home in Central London at the moment.
This is bad new for renters as more and more people who would have been buyers in previous years are now being forced to rent.
www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24035366-record-18-buyers-chasing-every-central-london-home.do
This is bad new for renters as more and more people who would have been buyers in previous years are now being forced to rent.
www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24035366-record-18-buyers-chasing-every-central-london-home.do
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Flat wars
Two people I know have experienced the situation where more than one group of people have been desperate to rent the same flat.
In my old housemate Rob's case, back in August 2011, several couples were eying each other suspiciously as they looked round the property during a joint viewing. Finally, one couple cracked and before the viewing had even finished they sprinted out of the house, onto waiting bicycles and pedaled furiously to the agency to pay the deposit before anyone else could get the chance.
Also in August 2011 I got a call from an agency at about 12.00 about a 3 bedroom flat on a council block. When I tried calling back at 13.00 the agent didn't pick up his phone When he did pick up at 14.00 the flat had already gone.
In a more recent example (this month) my friend Mark had heard about a 2 bed flat that had previously been up for rent at £1000 a month. The landlord increased the rent to £1200, but when two couples viewed the flat at the same time a furious bidding war broke out and the final rent agreed ended up being £1600 a month.
It's dog eat dog out there!
In my old housemate Rob's case, back in August 2011, several couples were eying each other suspiciously as they looked round the property during a joint viewing. Finally, one couple cracked and before the viewing had even finished they sprinted out of the house, onto waiting bicycles and pedaled furiously to the agency to pay the deposit before anyone else could get the chance.
Also in August 2011 I got a call from an agency at about 12.00 about a 3 bedroom flat on a council block. When I tried calling back at 13.00 the agent didn't pick up his phone When he did pick up at 14.00 the flat had already gone.
In a more recent example (this month) my friend Mark had heard about a 2 bed flat that had previously been up for rent at £1000 a month. The landlord increased the rent to £1200, but when two couples viewed the flat at the same time a furious bidding war broke out and the final rent agreed ended up being £1600 a month.
It's dog eat dog out there!
Marco's House
My friends and I figured that the misadventures of Marco's housemates could fill a whole blog of their own, so I thought I would give them some airtime here.
The theories of Manos
Manos is a man of many theories, one of which is a tactic to become more successful with the ladies. Essentially, it involves owning a Nintendo Wii. By owning the Wii, you can approach girls and ask them if they want to come back to your flat to play it and then encourage them to come into your bedroom where you keep the Wii, which is a good starting point for any further pulling I suppose. Not sure if it has produced any results yet though.
The theories of Manos
Manos is a man of many theories, one of which is a tactic to become more successful with the ladies. Essentially, it involves owning a Nintendo Wii. By owning the Wii, you can approach girls and ask them if they want to come back to your flat to play it and then encourage them to come into your bedroom where you keep the Wii, which is a good starting point for any further pulling I suppose. Not sure if it has produced any results yet though.
I'm your ideal housemate because:
I've lived in London flat shares for 2 years now and I have learned a lot about what makes a good or bad housemate. Specifically I can promise:
- I will not move my boyfriend into your flat without asking.
- If I were to move my boyfriend into the flat (which I won't), I would suggest he pays more that 4 % of the rent.
- If I had moved my boyfriend in and he was paying 4 % of the rent, I would not let hm rack up a phone bill which worked out to be more than the 4% of rent he was paying.
- If my moved-in boyfriend had spent so much money on a phone bill I would not then categorically refuse to pay it.
-I will not tell my moved-in boyfriend he can use our living room as storage space for 4 weeks and then be furious at you if you ask me how long he will be using our living room as a storage space.
- I will not complain about you walking on the squeaking floorboards at 8.50 am and yet carry on at full volume during the night, such as have a blazing screaming row complete with door slamming at 2am and then pretend it didn't happen.
- If I were to have such a row, I will not leave the front door open at 2am whilst I continue the row down the street.
- I will not insist that we keep the ground floor window open whilst we are all out of the flat so that the cat can come and go as he pleases.
- If I were to insist that the window stays open so that cat doesn't end up going to the toilet in the flat, I will try to make sure that the dog doesn't poo and wee round the living room.
- I will not pretend you are not there when you are knocking on my bedroom door until you go away.
- I will not get annoyed if you suggest I haven't done any cleaning for weeks whilst at the same time leaving cups around for so long that mould starts to grow in them.
- If we all have our own food and I've helped myself to a bunch of your stuff without asking, I'll let you know.
- If you rearrange any kitchen utensils, bathroom items in such a way that I get really mad, I promise that I'll tell you I'm not happy with what you've done, rather than shouting about how annoyed I am from my own bedroom and then being really nice to your face.
- I will not call any of your colleagues c*nts
- I will never tell any of your friends that their mother should have had an abortion.
- My friends won't come into your room during the night trying to find the toilet.
- If I were to take drugs (which I don't) I will try to do it quietly.
- I will not leave knuckledusters lying around in the hallway.
- I'll try to make sure that my friends don't come over to use one of the rooms in the flat for sex, or that if they do, they wait until you've finished in the room before they start.
- I will not play loud dance music between the hours of 1am and 6.30 am.
- I will not do any DIY at 5.30 am.
- I will not move my boyfriend into your flat without asking.
- If I were to move my boyfriend into the flat (which I won't), I would suggest he pays more that 4 % of the rent.
- If I had moved my boyfriend in and he was paying 4 % of the rent, I would not let hm rack up a phone bill which worked out to be more than the 4% of rent he was paying.
- If my moved-in boyfriend had spent so much money on a phone bill I would not then categorically refuse to pay it.
-I will not tell my moved-in boyfriend he can use our living room as storage space for 4 weeks and then be furious at you if you ask me how long he will be using our living room as a storage space.
- I will not complain about you walking on the squeaking floorboards at 8.50 am and yet carry on at full volume during the night, such as have a blazing screaming row complete with door slamming at 2am and then pretend it didn't happen.
- If I were to have such a row, I will not leave the front door open at 2am whilst I continue the row down the street.
- I will not insist that we keep the ground floor window open whilst we are all out of the flat so that the cat can come and go as he pleases.
- If I were to insist that the window stays open so that cat doesn't end up going to the toilet in the flat, I will try to make sure that the dog doesn't poo and wee round the living room.
- I will not pretend you are not there when you are knocking on my bedroom door until you go away.
- I will not get annoyed if you suggest I haven't done any cleaning for weeks whilst at the same time leaving cups around for so long that mould starts to grow in them.
- If we all have our own food and I've helped myself to a bunch of your stuff without asking, I'll let you know.
- If you rearrange any kitchen utensils, bathroom items in such a way that I get really mad, I promise that I'll tell you I'm not happy with what you've done, rather than shouting about how annoyed I am from my own bedroom and then being really nice to your face.
- I will not call any of your colleagues c*nts
- I will never tell any of your friends that their mother should have had an abortion.
- My friends won't come into your room during the night trying to find the toilet.
- If I were to take drugs (which I don't) I will try to do it quietly.
- I will not leave knuckledusters lying around in the hallway.
- I'll try to make sure that my friends don't come over to use one of the rooms in the flat for sex, or that if they do, they wait until you've finished in the room before they start.
- I will not play loud dance music between the hours of 1am and 6.30 am.
- I will not do any DIY at 5.30 am.
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