I’ve been accused in the comments of being a bit of a grouch on here.

Fair point. You have to be moved to write anything at all. While in Vietnam and Nicaragua it was all so new and so different and I had a story to tell. There was an obvious narrative.

Here my life seems more private. Talking about my day to day life would be likely to offend someone – it’d also make for dull reading. My life now is probably pretty similar to yours.

But point taken. Look out for much more cheery stuff soon - and stick with this post for news of fluffy bunnies. Really.

But first this (sorry):

There is no way of being nice when you’re talking about estate agents.

To put this in context, we recently made the decision to move to a more summer friendly flat. We want some outside area - be it a balcony, small garden or even a nice yard.

We’ve been searching less than a week and…Oh God. Estate agents make their money too easy.

They don’t return your emails at all. Their websites don’t work. Their pictures of properties include only outside shots – these are terraced homes. They all look the same from the outside dummies. Show me the insides.

Despite all this we found a new flat on Saturday.

Patio doors led to a decked out yard - perfect for evening drinks when it gets warmer.

It was around the corner from a pool – great for my fitness kick.

It was on the Metro line - which would make me just two minutes from work.

We rang Sunday. We knew the office would be closed but we wanted to leave a message to say yes yes yes, we loved it…we’ll take it.

I followed that up with an email. We’d pay the cash they asked, we’d pay the horrific admin fees, the rent in advance, the deposit. It was worth it to secure this lovely spot.

I rang at 9am on the dot on when they opened on Monday.

We want it – I told them.

Great, they said.

We got your phone message and your email. It’s yours. Just drop off the cash. What time would suit you?

I suggested at 12.30 – in my lunch hour.

That’s just fine they said.

Two hours later – they called me. Our lovely flat was gone.

But, but, but…you said it was ours. I was coming in to pay the cash.

Apparently someone came into their office and dropped their cash off first.

They didn’t tell me we were in a race situation. They told me it was mine. We even set a time. Surely this other person would be told that it was already promised to me. I could have been there in five minutes flat if only they had told me the clock was ticking.

I wrote a pissed off email. They wrote back a seemingly polite letter that essentially said: “tough shit”.

They said they had other properties they could show me.

I told them to shove it.

And now we’re back to the beginning again. We still haven’t found our summer flat.

But, now I’ve got that whinge out of my system, I promise there will be more positivity around here. Soon. Very soon.

First though I just have to write – in the hope that this will eventually show up when potential customers/victims Google them:

IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO LET OR FIND A PROPERTY IN THE JESMOND AREA OF NEWCASTLE THEN DON’T USE BOWSON LETTINGS - THEY WILL ONLY WASTE YOUR TIME.

There. I feel more positive already.

About those bunnies. Did you know that there are rabbits on the grassy areas right in the middle of Newcastle city centre?

Expect Eastertastic fluffy bunny shots soon.

UPDATE: ILuvNUFC has offered to link this post on his photoblog to push it higher up the Google search list. If anyone else would like to do the same then that would be fantastic. Make sure the link text is Bowson Lettings .Think of it as vicarious payback for Estate Agents as a whole.