Cheese biscuits and the Met police...

A while ago we ran a My Dream Home art competition with a local school and we've blogged about local schools in case it is helpful to people moving to the area. Now we've done something a little different.

Some of what schools do as they educate chiildren can be very earnest. For example, some people might view maths or science as unexciting (though pretty much anything, taught well, can be fun). However, some things are very interesting to children and as any parent knows, food - and cookery lessons - are popular.

We are, then, pleased to be able to share a recipe for cheese biscuits, by the kind courtesy of the Cookery Club at Worsley Bridge Junior School in Beckenham. Do try the recipe and enjoy it (and feel free to bring a sample round to one of our offices!).

Cheese Twigs/biscuits recipe

Ingredients

130g plain flour
50g margarine or butter
80g coarsely grated cheese (strength according to taste)
1 egg yolk
1-2 teaspoons of water

Method

1. put on apron
2. tie back long hair
3. wash hands thoroughly with soap
4. put flour and marg into bowl and mix together with a fork
5. add cheese and stir
6. mix together with egg and add enough water to bind mixture together
7. put mix onto floured board and roll out thinly
8. cut into strips or shapes using a cutter
9. makes approx 30 – 40 twigs or 20 – 30 biscuits, depending how thin you roll them and what size cutter you use
10. place in oven until golden approx 8 – 10 mins

On a slightly less tasty note, our Tulse Hill office recently sponsored a police talk in Hitherfield Primary School in Streatham. Pupils need to know things that are good for their future safety and good citizenship and we were glad to help with that too.

Please view our Index blog post here to read earlier our blog posts.

Our Blog A-Z Index

If you're viewing our latest blog post, we think it's nice to have an easy way to browse our earlier posts. 

So, this is an A-Z Index of our blog posts. Probably the most important post we've published is the one talking about our Values and our Testimonials post - which between them show why we're worth choosing. You may also find our recommendations on reliable property related services handy too. Onto the Index:

A

A baptism of fire for my first lettings agreement (2015) A successful first year of Edward Ashdale estate agents (2013)

B

C

Calling Tulse Hill Businesses! (2014)

D

E

Estate Agent on the radio (2015)

F

Fifty posts, Cake, and a Manifesto for an Estate Agent (2014)
Football that means something (2014)
Front page news (2012)

G

Great estate agents blend the old and the new (2012)

H
  
Happy days for Bromley (2013)
Historic posts 1 - Ashdale's first newsletter before the merger that created Edward Ashdale Estate Agent (2008) 
Historic Posts 2 - Testimonials (2008)
House price reports (2012)

 I

In the news again (2012) 
It's a Selhurst Thing (August 2014)

J

K

Kevin's Property Blog (December 2015)
Kevin's Property Blog (February 2016)

L

Lambeth Country Show-n off at its best (2015)
Landlord and letting agents advice 1 -  Gas Safety FAQ (2012)
Local and national events calendar 2013 (2012)
Location! Location! Location! and the headlines (2013)

M

Market reflections 1 - house sale reasons and lettings cowboys (2013)
Moving in... with the Queen of Clean (2015)
My Dream Home art competition (2012)

N

New partnership, new newsletter for Edward Ashdale Estate Agents (2012)
Nostalgia Corner - posts from pre-Edward Ashdale days (2012)
New landlord? Don't be nervous (2016)

O

On The Market.com is on the market (2015)
Our community - St Christopher's Hospice (2012) 
Our new eBook and a hat-trick for landlords (2016)
Our team - John Campolini (2012) 
Our team - Derrick Boyce (2012)
Our team - Sam Samuel (2012)
Our team - Hayley Mortimer (2012)

P

Professional photography - an essential part of our service (2012)

Q

QR Codes and you (2012)

R

Rising Prices and Signs of the Times - thank you, Bromley Times (2015)
Rolling Stone says it will be a great 2015... so do we (2015)

S

Sam's Word 1 - Beware inflated expectations and valuations (2013) 
Sam's Word 2 - Don't always go with the big dogs (2013)
Sam's Word 3 - Current issues concerning the London residential property market (2013)
Sam's Word 4 - The look of Estate Agents and working in different areas and markets (2013)
Sam's Word 5 - Barnstorming (2013)
Sam's Word 6: Going nuclear and keeping calm and carrying on (2013)
Sam's Word 7: Over the hill (2014)
Sam's Word 8: Trick or Treat? (2014)
Sam's Word 9: OTM and the Estate Agents Markets (2015)
Sam's Word 10: Doing anything for a sale (2015)
Sam's Word 11: In the news again: and why shouldn't you be? (2016)
Schools In Focus 1 - Highfield Junior School, Beckenham (2012)
Schools In Focus 2 - Valley Primary School, Bromley (2012)
Schools In Focus 3 - St Marks Church of England Primary School (2012) 
Schools In Focus 4 - Clare House Primary School (2012) 
Schools In Focus 5 - Highfields Infants School, BR2 (2012)
Schools In Focus 6 - Worsley Bridge Junior School, Beckenham (2012)
#Sharethelove (2014)
Some property related services to consider (2012) 
Spring News 2013 (2013)
Stripes and Strypes (2015) 
St Matthews Project gains an outstanding award (2014)

T

Take comfort in accompanied viewings (2012)
The Great British Bake-On (2015)
Tips for landlords 1 - new energy regulation is coming (2015)
Tulse Hill Ladies Market (2013)
Tulse Hill Community Market Takes Off! (2014)

U

Useful post - South London local online (2012)

V

W

Ways to make housing affordable (2014)
Welcome to the new Edward Ashdale blog - 21st century estate agents with traditional values (2012)
We value being friendly (2012)
What gets an estate agent out of the bed in the morning (2012)
Whisky Galore (2015)

X

Y

Your moving people are moving - a bit (2013)

Z

Your moving people are moving... a bit

We're a 21st century estate agents with traditional values, not a removals company. That said, we are employing some removals skills of our own at the moment as our Bromley office is moving to larger premises.This is a great development, as we've been doing very well and growing mainly on the basis of being recommended to new people by happy clients.

 
Our move is a little one, in fact, not requiring the services of a fleet of vehicles or indeed any vehicles, as our new home in Bromley is a few feet away from the current office! It has been interesting working on sorting out billing for utilities and packing and inventory and fitting out for ourselves, but we're nearly there and the new office should open in September. A cake or two is likely to be involved. 

What has also been involved are the pictures created by local children from Valley Primary School, as part of our My Dream Home art competition. Having those pictures in the windows is so much better than plain whitewash or adverts. We'll be sad when they are retired, to be replaced by homes for sale or for let. In the meantime, mothers and children are drawn to our windows and we're delighted to have the display up.

Once we've "moved", come and say hello. If you pass by before then, take a look at the pictures, and we're still nearby if you want to say that "hello".

Location! Location! Location! and the headlines

In a recent post we talked about the areas of Bromley and Tulse Hill and the expectations of estate agents in each location. They are certainly very different areas, and two of the things they obviously have in common are being in London Boroughs - Bromley is one itself - and each having an Edward Ashdale office.

Don't believe an area is a wash-out till you speak with us

One of the things that has happened in Bromley recently is focused on Orpington. Orpington got into the national press when journalists picked up on the high number of charity shops in the high street there (12) and the relatively high proportion to the shops in general this represented.  The arguments and facts about the rumoured death of the high street are complex, and this local blog for one took a step back and talked about some of the positives in Orpington.

Certainly, seeing a Daily Telegraph headline of "Austerity Street" citing Orpington provides one of those rare rub-your-eyes-and-look-again-moments. Yet you can see where they're coming from. A loss of independent retail shops in favour of, for instance, charity shops isn't perhaps ideal.Yet Orpington is a long way off having tumbleweed rolling down the high street past ranks of boarded up shops. There is a lot to praise in Orpington and the initiative "Orpington1st" appears to be gearing itself  up ready to showcase it.

From an estate agents point of view, we see currently that pretty much all types of property, rented or for purchase, are gaining higher values and rental charges in the current market. In what is something of a scrum to compete for a good quality, good value home in a suitable location a superficial view of an area is unhelpful. So while we reflected on the different sights and behaviours in Bromley and Tulse Hill, our local knowledge reaches beyond the headlines. Thus, we can say to people who ask us about moving to Orpington - "No, that austerity street label is unfair. It's not all gloom and doom and austerity. There's a lot of plusses too."

What are they? Here are just a few examples. 

Orpington has a 7 screen cinema pencilled in for the town centre and a redevelopment of the old library by Bromley Museum due to revive that asset in what are the lovely Priory Gardens. We can point out that the transport links for central London and the South East are great - just as they are in Tulse Hill. We can mention one of the country's few grammar schools in Newstead Wood, that is always very high in national educational league tables, and there other top local schools, primary and senior, in and around Orpington. We can talk about The Walnuts Leisure Centre. We can mention a recently award-winning bakery and an award-winning tea room, and the latest excellent Cray Festival. We can mention the Nugent shopping centre, the Foodbank that was set up in Orpington and that now serves Bromley; we can mention how green a place it is and that there are numerous sporting facilities including the Bromley Tennis Centre. We could talk about the great number of local social, faith, and community groups and charities. Then there are the new hardware store, the new guitar makers and the new American diner all in "Austerity Street".

If asked, we could talk about Tulse Hill in a similar way.  People need to read beyond the headlines. That is an area in which a good estate agent (like us!) can help people gain valuable insights that make for better decisions on where to make the location of their future homes.

Don't believe all you read. Unless we write it.

 

Sam's Word 5: Barnstorming

I have addressed a couple of interesting themes in my blog posts recently, most recently The look of estate agents and working in different areas and markets, and before that Current issues concerning the London property market.

For this blog post, a property is the star. We recently took on something uniquely big, which is rather nice for an independent, non-chain estate agents. This was the valuation of a very big barn, perhaps the biggest in the United Kingdom, as this photo shows. The property is very atmospheric in this picture, looking like a picture taken (via i-phone) for an on location shoot for the Hound Of The Baskervilles, but it us a very impressive property.

I can't, therefore, resist the pun that if you're good enough, you're big enough. As the Edward Ashdale Estate Agent success story (and it is) continues, we are dealing with more and more high value properties. This is despite being in a very competitive and brisk market with longer established "high marque" players. However, we know success is about delivering an outstanding service that people appreciate and tell others about, and that is what we do. That is probably exactly how many of the high marque players started to succeed and grow as well, and they earned it. Whether they all managed to keep those levels of service once they're big is another question, but we aim to keep delivering to the same high standards we cherish - or better - however much bigger we grow.

Talking of the market, as I've said before, a number of factors affecting the residential market in an upward direction throughout London from Prime Central London to suburbs; foreign investment, mortgage lending constraints, a general shortage of property and in the suburbs the costs of moving e.g., stamp duty. This shows no sign of abating, and while the remarkably low levels of interest rates we are experiencing cannot be relived on indefinitely, those pressures are continuing to mean a bouyant market.

We look forward to more barnstorming successes in 2013-14. On a final note, congratulations to the Royal couple on the birth of their son, perhaps by my next blog post we'll know his name.


Sam Samuel, MNAEA CRLM,  July 2013

Sam's Word 4: The look of Estate Agents and working in different areas and markets

I’ve felt the need to do a short piece about estate agents working in different areas and markets. There is a noticeable difference in working environment and approach between our two branches, one in a busy South London street (Tulse Hill) and the other in a leafy suburb of Kent (Bromley).

The view from the respective branch windows reflects the change in local population type and makes for an interesting experience. The view from the window in Tulse Hill has a typically London, cosmopolitan feel. There is never a dull moment all year round. Characters appear with Lucozade bottles disguising alcoholic concoctions inside; men or women have been seen dancing a jig in the centre of the road; the occasional beggar passes by; and men choose to urinate in the alley opposite, all under the watchful eye of our colleagues in Tulse Hill. Ostensibly, it’s frequently the same characters, which I believe will captivate any curious soul and could make for an ideal documentary series. You can see a couple of examples below.

Footfall in Tulse Hill is much greater, whilst in Bromley the view and footfall are more sedate. Periodically in Bromley there are shoplifter’s that can be seen escaping the town centre, avoiding the larger Bromley South Station to get to the quiet Shortlands Station. There are the pesky school kids at school finish time impressing noses on the window and using the signs outside to swing on or play tag around. We should say we don’t regard all schoolchildren as pesky! We’re parents ourselves and help out local schools regularly with donations and prizes. Perhaps some of the nose-pressers know us already from this!

There are also the image-conscious who make up their faces or hair in the reflection from the window, not realising there are teams of agents inside, and we see the random road rage incident or car bump. Sometimes it can be distracting when you’re trying to negotiate a sale for a client, but otherwise during the course of doing paperwork it can offer respite to a hectic day!
There is also a difference in the presentation and image of estate agents between firms based in Tulse Hill and those based in Bromley. In the Tulse Hill area, there is a less formal approach by agents. There is a trend to wear shirts with open collars, excluding ties, and the customer expectations of estate agents to appear in formal attire seem less demanding. This is in stark contrast to the estate agents of Bromley. Here, the predominantly mature agents are fully suited, and wear ties and shiny shoes. Customer expectations are higher and more demanding. The older money, for which Bromley is reputed, is usually drawn towards the more established agencies. 

 

The images of estate agents probably change throughout all areas. Take, for instance, the Prime London’s agent image of pin stripe suits, shiny shoes, tans and quiffs or the rural country agent in his Tweed jacket, cords, and brown brogues. This is generalising of course, but evident nevertheless.  Our business, like most, is all about image. Sure, you want the people selling your property to be smart, equivalent to the marketing of your property, but really, can we drop the pretension? It’s the knowledge, values and experience that are paramount in delivering a service in the estate agents industry. So, whenever you see an Edward Ashdale estate agent, you can be sure that however we look, as regards those qualities, we’re Sharp Dressed Men (and women).
 
Sam Samuel, MNAEA CRLM,  June 2013

Sam's Word 3: Current issues concerning the London residential property market

Working in South East London and the suburbs of Kent, the thread of rising demand for property is a common one throughout the regions. The biggest thing we have found since certainly the turn of the year is the growing demand for property of all types and sizes. Ostensibly when there are no properties of a certain type or size within an area, premium prices can be asked and more often than not achieved if the specification is good enough.

There are a number of factors affecting the residential market in an upward direction throughout London from Prime Central London to suburbs; foreign investment, mortgage lending constraints, a general shortage of property and in the suburbs the costs of moving eg stamp duty. All of these factors contribute to an inevitable price rise, but most importantly, or the root cause is the inexplicable rise in population and overseas investment against the shortage of property. London as a City continues to expand outwards and as the square mile grows and foreigners invest, it ripples to areas that surround it. So price increases are an issue and the need of low paid workers to find affordable accommodation nearby to the City Centre is a desperate one. I’m fortunate enough to live in a leafy suburb near to the M25, where there is still room for planning authorities to consider new residential buildings. Although when driving through Central London the number of residential buildings squeezed and crammed in to the most ludicrous of places in an attempt to facilitate access to central areas and feed demand is quite staggering. Interestingly the same is now beginning to occur in the suburbs, which can be seen as a result of the ‘ripple effect’. Some prices are inflated by Estate Agents as a result because of this demand or unrealistic vendors use it as an opportunity to command ridiculous asking prices. I have referred to this in an earlier post here.

Compared to other Cities London is an attraction for many foreign investors, Russian, Middle Eastern and European given the weak £1. Although growth in prime Central London property has a correlation with other major cities globally such as New York, Beijing, Hong Kong etc, so it’s not as though the rest of the worlds major cities in business are immune to similar property price rise levels. The outlook for the economy is steady and there will always be stable levels of employment bar another financial crash of gigantic proportions, which in my opinion is unlikely to happen given the damage the last banking crisis caused. The City is now well on the road to recovery and foreign investors recognise that. There are solid investment opportunities to be had with healthy year on year yields, plus a handy place to enjoy a short visit when the property is vacant.

I’ve been predicting this since before the financial market crash of February 2008, which was the only blip in a fast rising property market over the preceding 10 years.

Sam Samuel, MNAEA CRLM,  June 2013