Kent property search

We had 3 property viewings organized with Ward and Partners that seem to be the up and coming agents in this area at the moment. When I first rang Ross from Ward he had the 3 viewings arranged within the 3 or 4 minutes it took to register with them; probably the most efficient I have ever experienced. It’s a shame that the others weren’t of his calibre. This awful block is right outside our hotel and we have to look at it every time we come in and out; you just have to look at the sea view and try and ignore it but it is difficult as it is quite imposing. We tried quite hard to view in areas we like and it is very important to Claire that she likes the outside and has a good feel about the area it is in. As we weren’t viewing until 2pm we headed off in our own tour to see the areas that we like the look of.

We started off by driving around Clifton where we had a couple of viewings that is attached to Margate. Not really much different to Margate except a little newer which I’m not sure if is a good or bad thing. Then we were off to Broardstairs where I had camped with an old girlfriend when I was 18 and remembered as the best place in the area. But we couldn’t park easily and ended up driving to Ramsgate first. Same trouble with parking but we persevered and found the sea front where there was ample of free parking. Ramsgate seemed better that I had remembered, especially around the sea front area and surrounding front houses and town but it does get worse the further out you go. Claire spotted a big ferry coming into the harbour where there is a lift down to the sea front, but unfortunately it only runs at weekends.

Back to Broadstairs where we managed to park quite near the sea front and Bleak house where Dickens lived or something, can’t quite remember. Broadstairs, to us, still seems the best place in the area along the coast. Lovely beach and restaurants along the coast, but more Italian than I would prefer. It’s strange, but I think that Italian restaurants are quite posy and make a good area but are not really my taste to eat regularly. We stopped off at the Albion Hotel for lunch where Claire has a smoked haddock and broccoli tartlet and I tried the mackerel pate with French bread. We both had the pork and apple in mustard cream sauce with mash. Best meal so far and all for less than a tenner.
It was then a quick dash back to start our viewings where we got there a little early so we could get a feel for the area. The sea was only down the road but unfortunately you couldn’t see the sea unless you hung right out of the window. A massive property with 5 bedrooms, a very large kitchen breakfast room, two large reception rooms, a toilet downstairs, bathroom wit toilet and separate toilet upstairs, a cellar with two rooms. Incredible really for £130000, especially as all 5 bedrooms had a sink fitted and all but one were large enough to support an en-suite. When I first took the phone call Ross was very efficient but unfortunately he had a couple of days leave and Nicky showed us around. Not saying she wasn’t any good, we both liked her, but she wasn’t from the area and wasn’t much use for advice as she had to use her satnav between properties. This first house seemed to have been used for some type of homeless hostel and has quite a bad feeling about it. We were just about to move onto the second when there was a knock at the door. Two fat ladies were there to view at the same time as us and were told that they could come around the others with us. Nicky had no idea and phoned to confirm. It was all becoming a bit of a circus.

We eventually went on to the second property which was a reposition and on first impressions was much worse. The street was a dead end with crap houses around and broken walls and rubbish everywhere. The first room we looked in still had a double bed in with the wallpaper peeling off the wall and all over this bed. A serious damp problem and the electric was turned off so some rooms were quite dark, especially with the metal shields over every window and door to stop the squatters getting in. It reminded me of being back in the kebab flat. This property was even bigger than the first and I counted beds in 10 rooms. It was described as having 5 bedrooms and 5 reception rooms but there must have been another room because there was also a lounge with a kitchen from it. The first room where the damp was is directly below the shower and I guess it would be quite easy to solve the damp problem by refitting another properly. On closer inspection, most the ceilings and walls seemed to have been recently re-plastered and decorated but all the rubbish and dirty beds made it seem awful. I don’t think this place is as bad as it looks. If you changed one room into two bathrooms you would still have 9 rooms that you could let out and 3 bathrooms for people to use which is much more practical than 10 bedrooms with one bathroom. No wonder there is leaks into the room below; it must get as much use as the David Lloyds showers.

The third property was in a much better area but further from the sea and was so small compared to the others having only 2 bedrooms but was almost finished. The kitchen had been refitted and the walls tiled but not grouted, most walls and ceilings had been re-plastered but not painted. There was even a newly fitted double glazed conservatory fitted on the back. It wouldn’t take much time to sort this one out. On the down side, it seemed so small compared to the first two and a similar price. If we liked Margate more, my money would be on the second one but I don’t think Claire would agree. Really, none of today’s viewings were suitable for us but I could see someone making money on all of them. Maybe we would buy here if we came back and viewed in the Broadstairs area but the parking and traffic is a nightmare.

We returned home via Tesco’s to get some more wine for another night by the tv with more cuddles. We did pop out for a quick drink at Wetherspoons (The Mechanical Elephant) where Claire had the Thursday special of premier chicken tika massala and a glass of wine for less than £6 and I settled for a pint and Claire’s popedams with the mango chutney that she doesn’t like. Wow, I’m going to get thin. We walked back by the beach which was almost empty by then and Claire couldn’t resist looking for one of those chunky lifeguards, but unfortunately, there was only one, very cool looking one around.