The RBS gets squatters and Project Pizza gets tenants

As an ex-customer, I was never particularly enamoured with my local RBS, always very slow plus quite rude employees, but I have to say I didn’t consider protesting quite as vehemently as this weekend’s new inhabitants of the residential flat above the branch in West Didsbury, Manchester. I’d also never found squatters remotely amusing before I saw these sheets draped across the building, though I’ll warrant that the owner of the occupied flat isn’t quite so entertained. They do have a point about the bank though, don’t they……

However for me, this weekend has been a positive one in many ways, after a few very stressful and unhappy months. Life is a buggar sometimes and has indeed been, but when you’re self employed there’s no time off and no-one to take over the reins. You just get on with it. Increasingly slowly!

So what positive things? Well, the sun shone for one and it feels like spring might be around the corner after a long winter. A great dinner with friends from Didsbury Life was had on Saturday, invoving copious amounts of wine and lengthy games of Buzz. And all three flats on the market to be let have been snapped up. One is a small studio which has been on for a couple of weeks, it’s always harder to let as it has very little storage and space, a home for someone travelling extra-lite. If a flat doesn’t rent in less than a week, it’s a #fail in my book, so this one always irks me.

Also Project Payne, which was fully refurbished six months ago but I didn’t have chance to photograph *must do that before this new tenant moves in* was snapped up. The existing tenant is loathe to leave but has to flat share with her new-to-Manchester sister, so I listed it last week and the first single girl to view fell in love with it. When tenants say a flat is exactly how they’d want their own home to be, you know they like it 🙂

And best of all Project Pizza, which has moved on from last week’s post but still looks like this and has no flooring, lighting or bathroom yet….

…. had three viewings and we had #tenantwars! Girl 1 viewed on Friday and said she’d have a think overnight, even though I didn’t think that was a good idea as we’d bookings the next morning. The agents then lunchtime double booked Couple 1 and Girl 2 so I did one and Mr M the other. Major problem when both like it and it all got a bit tense as they eyed each other over the dividing wall. Couple 1 left deep in discussion and Girl 2 said she wanted it, but her other half was playing rugby and could she come back later? She left then ten minutes later the letting agents rang, Couples 2 and 3 were both on the phone to say they wanted it, did I have a preference? How do you decide? First to put the holding fee down was the fairest way I thought and gave that option. Within 5 mins Couple 1 were back at the door with their holding fee. Completely delighted – them and me. It seems that in the competitive world of rentals at the moment, you snooze, you lose! As Girl 1 found out at 5pm on Sat when she called me to say she’d thought about it and she’d have the flat.

So all in all, this weekend turned out better for Moregeous than it did for our local RBS, and if we keep renting flats this fast, squatters won’t even get the chance to move in 🙂