The property details of a non descript red brick bungalow in Hertfordshire was viewed thousands of times in just a few hours after it was tweeted by dedicated Alan Partridge fans who recognised it from the comedy series.

The house, in Brooke Drive, Radlett, is famous for being the fictional home of obsessed Partridge fan Jed Maxwell. It was featured in the episode To Kill a Mocking Alan of the first series of BBC sitcom I’m Alan Partridge, starring Steve Coogan.

A link to the home’s property details was retweeted hundreds of times last night after a retweet by Armando Iannucci http://twitter.com/aiannucci), one of the writers of the show, who’s also famous for penning The Think Of It.

We're guessing the Alan Partridge room is no longer a feature

In the show, Partridge pretends he lives with Maxwell to try to impress two Irish TV executives who are considering giving him a show. But while at the home, Partridge is horrified to discover a room that’s a shrine to himself. He says to the frightened executives: “Two things: one, presumably you think I’m a bit odd and you’d like to leave immediately; and two, can I come with you?” The episode ends with Partridge fleeing the crazed fan across nearby fields.

The home, a two bedroom bungalow,  is listed for sale for £575,000, but Alan Partridge fans hoping to view it or make an offer on the detached house will be disappointed – it recently sold.

My juggling act to sell and buy a home is now in full throw, although working with two estate agents on two separate transactions is proving quite challenging .

Agent 1 who is looking after the sale of our flat told me this week that our solicitor was holding up the sale and hadn’t sent the buyers’ solicitor anything. After a rushed phone call to my solicitor, I found that the buyers solicitor had acknowledged receipt of paperwork last week and even thanked them for a quick response. Agent 1 then confirmed that he had made a small mistake by not looking at the date of the email.

Agent 2 is dealing with the flat we are buying. We had a survey last week and they and the bank’s survey asked for a more rigorous damp test, which I subsequently arranged. On visiting the property, agent 2 couldn’t get in because he had the wrong keys and so the damp man has to come back next week.

It’s all a bit frustrating, but I know I shouldn’t complain too much as we are only a month on from the offer confirmation and I’m well aware that it takes some people a lot longer than us to get to this stage.

You could almost see Die Hard’s John McClane escaping to this secluded Idaho home to recover from a heavy session of battling villains. 

The house that Bruce Willis renovated is now for sale. John McClane would love it.

But in fact, this lakeside property in Aspen Lakes Hailey is owned by Hollywood star Bruce Willis who bought it in 2003, three years after his divorce from Demi Moore and is rumoured to have spent a small fortune doing it up. It’s on the market for $15 million (£9.7 million) through Sothebys International Realty.

What's on the mantlepiece? Is that Bruce Willis' trophy collection taking pride of place in the sitting room

It seems likely that Willis and second wife Emma Heming have outgrown the six bedroom, six bathroom home, after it was reported late last year that she is expecting the couple’s first child in April. Willis already has three daughters with first wife Moore.

As you’d expect from Willis –a fan of recreational fishing – the home has multiple ponds, flowing streams and a custom pool with waterfalls.  There’s also the opportunity to ski, hike and bike close by.

 And being the home of one of the world’s most bankable stars, this estate delivers on the privacy front – it’s set on a thickly wooded 20 acre site – which, along with an extensive security system, has no doubt helped to keep the paparazzi at bay.

Fit for an A-lister: the master closet

 
The proprety also has its own heated balconies and pavers from the road to the house. The large master bathroom comes with a “jetted soaking tub”, granite shower and one of the largest (and most impressive) purpose-built master closets we’ve ever seen.

Perfect for those seeking an A-list lifestyle.

Fans of Led Zeppelin take note: the Berkshire home were Jimmy Page formed his famous rock group is now up for sale for £1 million.

The house where Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin is for sale credit: Rex

Page bought the The Thames Boathouse, a three-storey riverside property in the village of Pangbourne, in1967 when he was 23 and playing guitar in the Yardbirds. He lived there until 1973.

And that’s not all. The home played a key role in the formation of Led Zeppelin after Page met Robert Plant in 1968 and invited him to stay at the home so the two could discuss forming a new band. The group they formed, which was to become Led Zeppelin and include John Paul Jones and John Bonham, regularly stayed with Page at The Thames Boathouse to prepare for gigs and jam.

The home is now owned by Graham Gore who bought it in 1984 from the property developer who had purchased it from Page. Gore has made extensive improvements to the home – including installing a fittingly rock’n’roll indoor pool in the basement.

While Gore admits he’s not a big Led Zeppelin fan, he says he’s most definitely got a whole lotta love for this Berkshire  property.

“It’s a lovely spot, with stunning views,” Gore says. “And Pangbourne is a lovely place to live. We’ve been very happy here.

“It’s a shame to leave, but we’ve got another property in the village.”

The home, which was a wet dock and boating company offices until 1959, is set over three storeys, and also includes 40ft of mooring, a wet room, open plan living room, three bedrooms, family room and a full width riverside patio.

Everything an aspiring rocker could ask for, really.

The Thames Boathouse is for sale through Hamptons International.

See more photos of the boathouse here.

Meet Granny. She’s the latest member of the FindaProperty.com Rapping Family and she’s getting lyrical about finding a new home.

See Granny rap now.

Granny is part of our new £5 million advertising campaign. She follows in the footsteps of our rapping expectant parents who premiered on ITV at the weekend.

Granny isn’t going to be on the telly until next month, but you can see her spitting some rhymes about her property likes (it’s got to be nice and cosy, local and close to the postie) now.

Sign up to our campaign site and see our Rapping Family ads before they go live. You’ll also be among the first to hear about our new competition and how you can win some exciting prizes.

Check it!

Since my last blog I was a little concerned that things would come to a total standstill with our buyer over the festive season. How wrong was I? The surveyor for our buyer turned up, we received a huge bundle of paperwork from our solicitor two days later, our mortgage (for our new home) was approved the following week and the bank’s surveyor is visiting the property we are buying today. It seems that for people that were still working  over the festive period (including myself) there was nothing to do and so everything got moving.

 At the moment we are looking at a moving in date at the end of February so long as everything goes to plan.

I’m certainly feeling that our quest to sell our home and buy a new home is moving quickly, which is just as well as we are expecting a baby in May! This has added a little bit of urgency to the project, although we had planned to move already.

The one thing I’ve learned is that December actually is a good time to find a home. Although stock is lower, I think sellers like to tie up loose ends before the end of the year, plus there were hardly any buyers looking. Come the new year, the market is flooded with new buyers and new property and it can feel like everyone is fighting for the same thing.

So my advice for this week is to take control of your sale or purchase. Get a good solicitor, phone your estate agent until they are totally sick of you;  and finally,  always go with your gut feeling.

Meet our house hunting expectant parents. They’re two of the rapping stars of FindaProperty.com’s latest advertising campaign and from today they’ve taken over our main site.

They’re the first part of our fun new £5 million advertising campaign aimed at spreading the news that FindaProperty.com is the UK’s most helpful property website - whether you’re renting, selling, or buying.

For the time being, our expectant parents are confined to your computer screens, but come Sunday January 8, you’ll see them on TV  rapping about the need to find a bigger home before their new babies arrive. If you can’t wait until then, we’d like to give you a sneaky peek of the first TV ad (before everyone sees it on Sunday). Scroll down to see the ad now.

And if you’ve noticed the strong family resemblance between our expectant parent rappers then you’d be right on the money. Both characters are played by RADA-trained actor Ross Green who stars in our campaign (he plays nine different characters across three separate TV ads). Excited? You bet we are.

We’ll soon be launching a new competition to go along with the campaign and we think you’ll dig the prizes (they’re pretty outrageous!). Keep in touch by leaving us your details here.

In the meantime, our expectant parents are pleased to meet you too.

I feel like the last month has been a total whirlwind. Our second offer was accepted on Friday afternoon at 4pm so we are now well on our way.

 Monday morning was spent on the phone to my current mortgage lender to persuade them to lend us 8% more than we currently borrow so we can buy a home. After an hour and a half the answer was no. Their reason was that we wouldn’t be able to afford the repayments. These huge repayments were roughly 50% of the money you would pay to rent a one bedroom flat where we currently live and only £100ish more than we currently pay each month.

The second bank I contacted were able to lend us the money although their underwriter has final sign off so fingers crossed for that. It seems that being a second time buyer with a huge deposit does not make it any easier to secure funds. With the new FSA rulings looking to prevent more “risky lending” I feel that I would have been getting no’s from everywhere and not just my current lender. Also watch out for banks not accepting e-payslips or e-statements. They did finally accept these but only after another morning on the phone and in and out of the bank.

 We are exhausted and in need of a rest but I received an email today showing a property we love that has come back on the market. We are both mad but may take a peek…..just to be sure it isn’t THE dream house!

Our new blogger Verity Good is blogging about home moving plans. This week: What to do when he wants to move but I don’t.

As we gear up for a flurry of new properties coming on to the market in the new year I am an estate agent’s worse nightmare. I really don’t want to move – ever. I adore our current house which we have lovingly restored over the years. I know it’s not perfect, it’s a townhouse and could be bigger but the central location and our wonderful neighbours (on both sides) more than compensate for the fact that we could use more space (who doesn’t?).

As a couple we have always agreed on every property move up the ladder and both knew intuitively where we did or didn’t want to live – up until now.  While searching for property online my husband has found his dream property – his not mine. Architect designed it is brand new – sleek and shiny with every mod con available plus all of the eco features he has always wanted. Reluctantly I went on a viewing – I suspected that once I stepped through the door I would be entranced, but I still need to be persuaded.

By moving we would be upsizing and down spending so it is the sensible thing to do but the thought of relocating a couple of miles north to a new area fills me with dread. I know I am totally irrational about this but having spent the last ten years in our current home seems to have made me paralysed by the thought of change, is this normal?

Sometimes watching Phil and Kirstie referee bickering house buying couples you do wonder what it is these people have in common? How could they possibly differ so much on where it is they want to live? But now I can sympathize, it is all to do with coping with change. In this current climate the temptation is to draw the curtains and hunker down. But maybe a new year and a new home has its appeal? Our kids would go to the same schools and friends and family will still be reasonably close by so what am I worried about? One step at a time and let’s see if we can sell first. Time to call some estate agents?

My parents came for lunch at the weekend and we were discussing the family home. They said the first property they bought over 35 years ago, cost them £10,000 and that they moved three  further times in 10 years before they settled where they are now. It seemed to me, from what they explained, that the process back then was a lot simpler and as there was not hundreds of thousands of pounds at stake, it seemed a lot less ‘grabby’.

Which brings me to where we are with our search for a home.

After making an offer on a flat we loved and then upping the offer last week, the vendor has decided to sell the property to a buyer that he has had waiting in the wings since February. Initially, because of issues with the property, the buyer couldn’t get a mortgage back in February. The vendor fixed the issues with the flat and then put the property back on the market (at a higher price), just in case another buyer (such as us) would be happy to bid higher! In the end, he rejected our offer and went back to the orginal buyer (a first-timer).

To say we were shocked and disappointed about how this sale was put together is a massive understatement – it just doesn’t seem right that both buyers can be strung along like that.

 But, after an horrific 10 days of debating and frustration,  we finally decided to continue our search for a new house to buy. Luckily, the first property we viewed two weeks ago is still on the market and so yesterday we made an offer … fingers crossed this experience is less ridiculous.