Thursday, October 11, 2007

Landlords

Simon;

Here's the latest news from the quest.

We saw a shop on the High Road yesterday which looked great. Now the rentals of shops on th High Road are huge, as i've mentioned on more than one occasion before, but this property was vacant, and so there was no premium to pay, which could save anywhere between £15000, and £150000. So we checked it out and the rent was, indeed, huge (£45k a year). The thing is, the site was so spot on that that rental value was well below what we thought, and it was within our budget. So, Tim made a call to the estate agents. What follows is a precised version of the conversation

Tim 'Hello, we're interested in the property xxx on the High Road'

Estate Agent 'What do you intend to use the property for?'

Tim 'A bookshop'

Estate Agent 'Is this an established business'

Tim 'No. It's a new business'

Estate Agent. ' The Landlord won't talk to you, 'cos you'll probably go out of business'

Tim 'what?!'

Estate Agent 'there's no point even talking to him'

Tim '.....right... that's a bit short sighted..does he even'

Estate Agent 'that's all there is to it'

Once Tim had recovered from this, he contacted me to let me know what had just happened. We aren't giving up there. There's a couple of MPs and a newspaper that might be able to help the influencing process.

As well as the marvellous Bob Dylan


Dear landlord,Please don't dismiss my case.
I'm not about to argue,I'm not about to move to no other place.
Now, each of us has his own special gift, and you know this was meant to be true,
And if you don't underestimate me, I won't underestimate you.

I understand that landlords can make the rules, but it does seem a little strange as the property isn't making any money at the moment, and he doesn't even know who we are.

the case continues...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a bit rum - especially considering you two were the managers of the previously established bookshop that received over 700 signatures of support on the petition!

I wouldn't be surprised if it was the estate agent messing you around as my recent experiences have led me to believe they will try to do whatever they damn well please.

Anonymous said...

How ridiculous! I hope that things start looking up for you guys - you've certainly got lots of support.

Further to your Dylan reference - this fantastic site might cheer you up - you can send a message to the landlord... http://www.dylanmessaging.com/home

Emma

Simon Key said...

Mr Gutcher,
I think you may be right. We think we may be able to persuade the landlord. It depends on getting past the Estate Agents.
I assume by the second sentence of your message, you and George are having a fun time moving.

Emma,
we're far from down-hearted. And it's messages of support like yours that keep us as buoyant as we are.
Thanks for the Dylan site it looks great (although when I sent a message to myself, my hotmail refused to let me read it!)

Anonymous said...

Simon & Tim,

you're right, go straight to the landlord. Estate Agents always play games. As the others have said you've got the support of the people. You shall succeed

Chris said...

I cannot believe that a landlord would say no to rental income... especially when the shop, at present, is empty thus generating no income!

Who is that estate agent - Sprockett, Smythe & Sylvester? The mind boggles!

Vanessa said...

Our agent was a nightmare and I think he was trying to get the deal called off for his own ends. When trying to put pressure on us he said that there was another potential purchaser ready to proceed and I can't help but think that that was a mate with a brown envelope... But I'm a cynical old whatsit!

Is there a way you can find out who the owner is?

Simon Key said...

hey Chris,
I know it 's hard to beleive. It doesn't seem to make any financial sense does it.

Vanessa,
We think (hope) the person we spoke to originally wasn't sure what he was talking about, so i'm going to talk to the Head Honcho from the Agents this afternoon. I think if we can get past the Agents the landlord may be a lot more flexible.
We also have some support from the council, who are on stand-by should we need them.