Weymouth To Buy or Not to Buy

-KNOCK AT DOOR

-Mr Irwin?

I'm the tiger!

Mr Irwin, breakfast finishes in ten minutes.

Eh?

Jonnie, you're late! Come on!

Two secs. Two secs!

Welcome to "To B&B or not to B&B".

You are aware, Jonnie, that check-out is 9.00am?

-Anyone would think you were on holiday!

-We are in Weymouth, seaside town

and home of the sailing competition, 2012 Olympics.

We've got to find three B&Bs for today's buyers!

One of which they get to try before they buy.

You've got ten minutes or there's a surcharge.

Hang on!

When you've finished your cereal, Jonnie, it's time to get on with THIS serial and meet our buyers,

Carole Leatherhead and her son, Jay.

OK. They are currently living in landlocked Hertfordshire

but Carole has always cherished a dream of moving to the south coast.

Her dad loved messing about in boats and she feels an affinity with the sea, too.

The plan is to find and run a small B&B in Weymouth.

Jay currently works as a restaurant manager, so cooking a full English breakfast is no problem for him.

There you go, always thinking about your stomach. Let's get down to business.

The dream of running a B&B at the seaside.

Where did this come from?

Firstly, I've always wanted to live near the coast.

Then you think to yourself, what would I do if I moved down there?

Rather than just live there,

you've got to earn a living. He has a lot of experience in catering.

I've run a pub.

So this seemed a logical way to go.

How many rooms are you thinking of? A massive affair or a cosy affair?

-It's down to budget.

-More cosy.

-Five to six rooms

would be probably what's within reach.

And also manageable. Although you've got experience, Jay,

-you don't want to dive in the deep end with 15 rooms and sink before you swim.

-No.

Take it gradually.

Although I do like modern properties,

I realise that's not going to happen in this type of business or what we're aiming for

because it's going to be a period property.

But as long as the inside is clean and fairly modern, especially the kitchen.

Anything else? Any other requirements that spring to mind

that you would really be keen on?

I want to wake up in the morning and see the sea.

Hang on a minute! No, no. That's your guest rooms!

Well, I had thought of that. I might be stuck at the back!

In the off season you can pile into an unused room.

-I can still go out the front door and look.

-Yeah.

To be honest with you, the businesses that we've all seen,

the owners live in pretty much the worst part of the building.

You have to be prepared for that. This is a good location to look for a business.

There's the Olympics coming in a couple of years' time.

A lot of demand here.

What's our maximum budget?

-Well, 300. I know it's not an awful lot, but...

-300.

We do have a bit of leeway if we can look at leasehold properties.

£300,000 isn't a great budget in a fantastic location like this for freehold.

But if we look at leasehold, we can show you a variety. How's that?

-Yes.

-We have thought about the leasehold.

It's going to obviously depend on the lease, how long it is.

If it's a lease that needs renewing in two years, and involves a lot of technicalities and expense, no.

We'll only show you properties that fall within the Landlord and Tenants' Act 1954,

which gives you security of tenure.

-Eh? OK.

-What happened there?

-Jonnie's got the wind in his sails. Shall we go?

-I'll get my coat.

-Here we go. See you later!

Hang on a minute. The Landlords' Act of 1950-what?

-Just a little fact.

-There's something you're not telling me.

You know more about this game than you're letting on.

-Not really.

-Come on.

-I used to sell businesses.

This will work out perfectly! I've never been to Weymouth before. I fancy a stroll.

-See you later.

-That's why I didn't say! Get us a stick of rock, at least!

Estate agent for me.

No chance of that rock! Weymouth, desirable seaside town

and favourite bathing spot of George III, is undergoing a makeover.

It's always been popular bucket and spade territory with the British.

But since the announcement of the Olympics coming here in 2012,

the eyes of the world are now upon it.

The Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy is where events will be based.

One course in Portland Harbour, the other four in Weymouth Bay.

There are plans to rejuvenate the Art Deco pier bandstand

and provide Victorian shelters along the esplanade.

And they've given the statue of George III a facelift.

All this, along with the fact that Weymouth is situated halfway along

the fabulous Jurassic coast and has one of the sunniest and warmest micro-climates in the UK,

means that Carole and Jay have picked a great place to enter B&B land.

What other B&B businesses can you buy around the UK for their budget of £300,000?

In Blackpool, you can get off to a great start

with 11 letting rooms all en-suite,

a freehold tenure and a thriving existing business for 300 grand.

On the east coast in Scarborough, another freehold B&B

with six letting bedrooms for 310 grand.

If you fancy starting from scratch,

this ten-bed, four reception-roomed house

on the North Wales coast.

But back to finding a B&B in sunny Weymouth.

-The Olympics are coming to Weymouth. Has that pushed up property prices?

-Not really. Not at the moment.

You look like a well-established business.

Seasons. Let's talk seasons.

I've got a mother and son looking to open a B&B.

How busy are they going to be, and when?

In summer, Weymouth has an amazing atmosphere. So many people come.

-They've got 300 grand.

-Yes.

What does that mean for us?

It means you can probably buy something here.

It doesn't necessarily mean you'd get sea views or harbour views.

Are you looking forward to the Olympics coming?

No!

-Why not?

-I'm not sport-minded.

No, but it's really nice for Weymouth to be picked of all the places in the country.

It'll do us good.

-Do you get a lot of holidaymakers thinking they can make a go of a business?

-Of course.

They come from up north for their holidays.

They see everything's busy. They want to do that.

-They think they can do it themselves.

-It's not that simple!

I've had a lovely day out here at the National Sailing Centre.

Along Chesil Beach, Portland Bill, Weymouth Harbour. Gorgeous.

-Hello! Been busy?

-All right? Yes, I have been busy, not like you!

-What have you found?

-I've been busy finding properties.

-Property One is a bit of a stunner.

-Put your sunglasses on!

Mellow yellow, I think, for this one.

Now, the beauty of this, even with our limited budget,

it's only freehold! Oh, yeah, baby.

-Impressive.

-Plus, you know Carole likes modern.

-Yes.

-She's got modern.

Inside it's a different story. It's modern decor, contemporary fittings.

-Outside, a nice Victorian facade.

-Gorgeous. That's Property One.

I'd normally be very worried about that property.

But the reason I'm so relaxed and having a nice day

because Carole said she either wanted a sea view

-or if you can't get that, it would be a view of the harbour.

-Yes.

So which did I go for with my property?

I went for both! It's absolutely gorgeous.

It's a Georgian property. It is beautiful.

Impressive. But don't get too confident.

-You know what I've got?

-The Wild Card.

-Very wild card, this one.

Very wild indeed.

What we've got, in the words of one of the secret property hunting team,

it's got accommodation a-go-go.

I don't know what that means,

but looking at the details, it's got a separate annexe, 11 rentable letting bedrooms...

We don't have time to talk about that. Shall we start the tour?

Let's start staring at the sun with my property number one.

I reckon I'm setting a high standard today with the first property.

My choice is the right size, it's in the right place,

needs the right amount of work doing to it - none -

and it's a popular and well-established business.

-And sea views, Jonnie?

-Well, almost.

..No.

Now, Property One is, I like to think, mellow yellow.

-What do we think?

-Bright!

-Makes you smile, that colour!

-I like the leaded light windows, though.

-Sunshine.

-Jay, you think sunshine?

-Yes.

-There you go.

-Sunshine.

Now, we're a stone's throw from the beach.

There are no sea views with this property.

But I think a real positive is you are in a B&B district.

People will drive up and down looking at vacancy signs.

So you have good footfall as well as pre-booked business.

-What do you think of this location?

-Yes.

-Quite good, yes.

-Not bad.

Carole, I know you like modern.

Modern she ain't, but I think she's nicely proportioned, character features.

I love a well-proportioned pier and a beautifully vermiculated pediment.

Bless you! Would you like to divulge what you were talking about?

The piers are these bay windows with the solid stone structures.

And there's your vermiculation, that delicate touch above the doorway.

It has a grandeur about it, don't you think?

It looks very solid and clean. Yes, it's a nice front, yes.

Through that door you'll find contemporary living

and no work to be done whatsoever, so you can concentrate on cooking up your signature dishes.

-If you like.

-Hopefully, yeah.

-OK?

-Ready to look in?

-Let's go.

-Get in and enjoy. Off you go.

-Thank you.

In we go.

Nice big hallway,

which is nice.

-Mr Irwin, you requested fresh headphones.

-Are they over easy?

-They are.

-A notice board here with some cards on it from happy customers.

-Beautiful.

It's good to see the cards cos it means people have enjoyed their stay.

Little "thank yous".

-So it's a happy house at the moment.

-Happy house, happy business.

That sounds like potential repeat business.

This is the dining area. Oh, I quite like this.

Breakfast lounge.

-Quite nice. Not too cluttered or anything.

-All clean and modern.

Nice. 14 people you can sit in here.

It's quite a nice number, really.

-If you needed to put another one in, you could move those.

-You could move the chairs.

But obviously that's enough for the guests you can have here.

There's no residents' lounge with this place.

So you wouldn't mind sitting there for ten minutes waiting for a taxi to turn up.

You need that public space here.

Nice.

This must be the private living room.

Interesting why they've got two TVs in here.

One mounted on the wall. I guess that one's a CCTV camera.

Nice little area.

It's quite... Quite cute, really.

-I think that's a little bit...

-Bit on the small side. But quite cute.

-Ah, right. Yeah.

-Looks like the private first bedroom.

-Or the master bedroom.

-So this would probably be my bedroom.

Yeah, I would have thought so.

-It's nice. Light.

-An en-suite there.

-Yeah.

-Looks nice.

-Good.

I thought this was pretty good-sized owners' accommodation.

-They're normally tucked into a hovel.

-I wouldn't know.

-I've never seen the other side of the door.

-Really?

-I'm the public.

Behind the manager's door is a mystery to me.

Right.

Let's have a look what else we have here round the corner.

A little utility room here.

Washing machine, tumble drier.

Into a room which is...

..quite small again, but it's got another en-suite which seems OK.

-Does the job.

-Yeah. Wonder where the kitchen is.

I presume this is the kitchen, the only room we haven't found.

-Oh, yes.

-Nice kitchen.

-This is nice and clean and light. I like that.

I really want to see the guest rooms.

-I think we need to see them.

-That's the important thing, really.

It does feel like a commercial kitchen. They've got all the white goods out of the way.

-That's the business end.

-You've got plenty of prep space.

And lots of natural light coming in.

This looks nice.

-Nice light window.

-Looks like one of the doubles.

Yeah. That's good.

-En-suite.

-I quite like the decor.

The colour scheme is nice in here.

Shower en-suite. That's good.

Nice. Nice.

-No, that's good.

-Definitely a room I'd sort of stay in.

It's quite nice. Jonnie's taken that into consideration with this choice.

Yeah, but personally, I think this is one of the weaker bedrooms.

It's a good-sized double.

A double bedroom needs to have space either side of a double bed for a bedside cabinet.

That's officially a double in a guest house.

Now, this is better.

-This is a good room.

-I like this room.

-I get a good feeling about this one. It's good.

-It's big.

-See the difference a little bit of colour makes on the wall?

-It's good.

-I like this room.

I do like this room. It's clean and light.

-OK?

-I agree with you, actually.

Another room in here. Let's have a look.

-Oh, right.

-This is quite small.

-This is obviously for people with a family.

I'd imagine that because that door is an outer door,

that these two are a family let.

-This is for the children.

-So you'd have to let them both out together

-because I haven't seen a bathroom in the corridor.

-No.

-It's not for those situations.

-No, this is a family set-up.

Right, this is the last one.

-Yeah, the last one.

-Good bay window.

-And a toilet, which is good.

I think Jonnie's done a good job with these

cos the bedrooms for this size of place

I think are pretty good.

Right, Jonnie, you've given them three different style bedrooms there.

-All very clean, contemporary and en-suite.

-Uh-huh.

And the floor above has rooms that mirror exactly what's below.

So you've got six really good bedrooms

of which two are family-size rooms.

-Like this one, for example.

-What more do you want?

-Absolutely lovely.

-Do you want to have a word with them?

-I'll go and have some high-fives.

Here we are, Basil Fawlty and Rocco Forte!

-Thank you!

-Which one's which?

Listening in to you, it sounded like either you were impressed but didn't say much

or your business minds were racing and you were thinking about how you'd operate.

Which one?

For me, it was more the latter.

-Right.

-I was very much thinking from the point of view of a customer.

What about the living space? The private living space?

Private accommodation, the room that would presumably be mine

absolutely fine.

OK. We'll see!

His room's the kitchen, basically!

-Are you happy with that?

-Absolutely.

Put a bed in there, I'll be all right.

I always recommend people put up pretty much with not squalid,

but fairly conservative proportioned rooms

-and give the best rooms to the customers.

-Right.

-Possibilities?

-Definitely.

-Definitely possibilities.

-Great start. Jonnie's got a good find for you here.

But of course, that could all change. It's guess the price time.

More pressure.

Your budget, around £300,000, depending what you have to do on the place,

-if it's a freehold or leasehold.

-Exactly.

I guess you need that question answering first.

This is freehold.

-Really?

-Yep.

-Who's going to go first?

-OK. Bite the bullet. 310.

-OK.

-Jay?

-My guess would be

290.

Right. Well.

Ladies went first and ladies won.

It's on the market for offers around £325,000.

OK.

That's a freehold. The good thing in your favour is

it's been on the market for some ten months now.

At the moment, it's not on the market with an agent.

-OK?

-Really?

-There's not a lot of people coming to look at it.

So we personally think a very good find from the property buying team on To Buy Or Not To Buy.

-Yeah? Great start.

-Excellent start.

Would you like to see some more?

-Very much so.

-Would you?

Tell you what. I know a place that has rooms to view.

Property Two. My choice. Out the front door! Let's go!

Now, when they said "sea view", Jonnie,

this is what they meant.

A sea view out of every window except for the ones which have a harbour view!

All right, all right. But...

is it freehold, Simon? Is it?

Maybe not. Let's just enjoy the view, shall we?

As nice as it is here, Simon, I have to ask, what are we doing here?

-We're enjoying the view, Jonnie.

-It's lovely.

If only your place of work had that view!

-Oh!

-Every day, eh?

-It would be lovely.

-Gorgeous.

Now, Jonnie, I think, found a real gem with that gorgeous freehold property.

Just off the beach. But for Property Two, I'm selling you the dream that you sold me.

There it is.

Second building in. What do you think of that?

-I'm thinking "Excellent!"

-Double whammy.

-Brilliant view.

-Yep.

-Georgian. Do you love Georgian properties?

-It's different.

I like the round windows. Love the view, obviously, which is to die for.

The owners of these guest houses along here,

I think confidently and rightly so,

claim that they have the best views in town.

If you were to look for a bed and breakfast, you'd go to the place with the best views in town.

-Absolutely.

-This is prime real estate. A hospitality centre.

I can imagine. It's spectacular, really.

I know what you're thinking. "Can it be this good? This is too good to be true."

In some respects, it is.

You really are going to have to do some work, particularly with the living accommodation in this place.

I'll tell you that much. That's all I'll tell you

because as we've suggested, as you will find out,

with views like that from more or less every room, we can't go far wrong!

-No.

-Get in there and enjoy. See you in a moment.

OK.

Shall we go and listen in or shall we just... Let's enjoy the view.

This should be interesting, Mr O'Brien.

Can you not read?

Oh, wow!

This is very pleasant.

I like this!

This is a big room!

-Big room.

-You've got the view for the visitors.

-Guests can sit by the window.

-Seven tables in here.

-Look at the beach.

-This is good. There's enough for 18 people.

-18, is it?

-18 people for breakfast.

What better way to start the day than sit having a full English breakfast

looking across Weymouth Bay.

It's a nice wide stair here.

Some nice pictures on the wall.

There's a corridor, bathroom there.

There's a nice little shower room here.

Right.

It's a fair size for a shower.

-And another one here.

-All fully tiled.

-Nicely decorated.

Easy to clean.

The row of bathrooms and toilets there remind me of my backpacking days.

It's almost like a youth hostel.

It is a bit. That does need updating or kind of, I don't know...

..re-appointing?

Oh, yeah, this is a good room.

-Wow!

-This room is huge.

-It's a good room, this.

-A very good room.

Again, there's really not a lot you'd change. Maybe the curtains.

A bit flowery, but that's only my personal taste.

-That view is stunning, of the harbour.

-Great.

-Imagine it in two years' time. Full of Olympic yachts.

-All the light in here.

Imagine it on a sunny day.

Another very good sized room.

It is.

-Nice twin.

-What more can you say about the view?

That view is definitely to die for.

Especially in the summer, on a nice hot day. An ice cream on the beach.

That's your website room. Right there.

Take a picture of that room, the view from that window, and people would book from that website page.

-Another room here.

-This is a double.

-They're all similar style, decor.

-Very similar.

-Neutral but with a touch of...

-This one's a bit smaller,

-but still quite a good size.

-They're roughly the same size.

I think it's great, I really do.

The one thing you can do when you have slightly smaller rooms is have incremental pricing structure.

So that amazing room of yours, if you have it so people can request that particular room,

you can put a premium on it and it'll help you sell your cheaper rooms

-because you're giving people a discount.

-Ah!

Right. We've seen all the guest accommodation.

This is going to be the domestic domain.

Oh!

-This is a great kitchen.

-This is awesome.

I can't help it. I just feel like... I can't believe...

that this is so much what we wanted!

-This is what you had in mind?

-It's like we've hit the jackpot.

I think Carole's crying!

Yeah, but they're good tears.

This is exactly what she asked for.

-It's bringing out all her emotions.

-I hope so.

I won't say anything else, or else I'll cry again!

-Simon, I love you.

-Come here.

No, it's brilliant.

I just hope we've not got her hopes up too much.

The reason why we can show her something like this

is the fact that there are massive compromises.

-But hopefully not a compromise too far.

-Hopefully.

Oh, wow!

This is good.

This is...

huge.

-There's your office space.

-Proper office space.

Don't have the view down here, but that's not a problem when you're upstairs all day!

This is like a little conservatory.

The utility room.

Washing machine, tumble drier.

A pathway out the back. I guess that leads out onto the marina.

What's happened here is, fantastically,

they've done up the main bedrooms, the working part of the business.

There's plenty of opportunity to now look at the ground floor

and lower ground floor and think, "How can this work for us?"

-OK.

-This is a nice little area here.

-Yes, you could...

It's a small area, but you could do quite a lot with this.

You could have herbs growing in pots.

-I'm quite impressed with this one.

-I think he's cracked it.

-You like it, don't you?

-I'm really pleased with this.

I'm really pleased with this.

Hmm.

Jay and Carole, particularly you, Carole,

-that got quite emotional.

-It did.

-Yes.

-Do you know the phrase,

"Too good to be true"?

Why do you think that is?

Well, first of all, it's got to be leasehold.

-Right.

-Not freehold.

-You've hit the nail on the head.

It comes at a compromise, as you know.

This ticks all of your boxes,

but the lease isn't the worst lease in the world. It's a council lease.

Council leases, in my experience, are some of the better leases.

Councils never want to take over the property back themselves.

Now, as it stands,

it's a rolling ten-year lease

with six years unexpired, or in layman's terms, six years remaining.

Now, the rent you pay at the moment

is quite a beneficial £15,000 a year.

You surprise me. I thought it'd be more than that.

Exactly. And the other bonus is it's an internal repairing and insuring lease.

Normally, it's a full repairing and insuring lease

and you have to look after everything.

The council, as landlords, look after the externals of this property.

-So 15 grand...

-That's not bad at all, actually.

I'm quite surprised.

And you should have what they call security of tenure.

You should have a protected lease,

which means at the end of this ten years, you get another ten-year lease.

-It should be in and around the £15,000.

-Under the original...

Protected by law.

So the asking price of this lease takes into account that it's got a low rent,

takes into account all the fixtures and fittings,

and it takes into account not only its position,

but a great amount of goodwill.

This has a very strong turnover and that's reflected in the asking price.

Right. OK.

All the facts and figures Jonnie's given us, take them all on board.

And try and work out how much this place is on the market for.

Who's going first? Jay, let's put you on the spot.

OK. I'd have a rough guess, probably about 340, I would say.

Carole?

Let's go slap bang down the middle. 300.

Jay, you were very conservative on the last one

and this one, you've got a measure of all this now. You're closest.

-Right.

-Well done.

-It's actually on the market for £330,000.

Right.

So bearing in mind you'd need a lot of cash to secure this place,

what do you think about that?

Definitely let's investigate the financial side of it further.

We will have a good cash deposit.

-There's an awful lot to think about there.

-Yes.

Tell you what, you've got time to think about that before we confuse you even more

-with, Jonnie...

-The Wild Card!

-This way! Come on!

OK, if I used the word "rambling",

it wouldn't be referring to me on a Friday night. No,

it'd be referring to the size of today's Wild Card.

And what a beauty. There's 11 letting rooms

and more space than you can shake a stick at. There's a garden,

parking, no less, and a strong commercial set-up.

With gorgeous architecture, it's a serious contender. Price? Say no more.

Goodness gracious me, Carole and Jay. If it is not

an old vicarage. How wild is this?

-I'm gobsmacked.

-This is stunning.

What we've got is an up-and-running business.

It's got more letting rooms than you can shake a stick at.

It's got loads of car parking here. And we're only five minutes' walk to the beach.

That is half the reason it's the Wild Card.

-We know you had your heart set on sea views.

-Right.

Spoilt you with Property Two. But look at this building. Look at the details.

On top of those beautiful pieces holding up the windows. It's just gorgeous.

The big question is, can you see yourselves running such a big operation?

-The size does worry me, but...

-Size isn't everything - so I hear!

-We shall see.

-Yes, you will see. We haven't got time for this chat

because you're right, Jay. The size may worry you.

It's going to take you for ever to look round this place.

Get in and enjoy. Give us your thoughts. See you in a minute.

-Look at this lovely tiled floor.

-Beautiful.

It's a real entrance hall, isn't it?

It is a beautiful, beautiful Minton tiled floor.

Original, irreplaceable.

We'd better look upstairs first. See the guest accommodation.

-Yeah, that's the most important.

-Dive up here first, cos that's important, isn't it?

Good idea.

The thing about this business,

it doesn't have the harbour and sea views to rival your property,

but the size of these rooms is fantastic.

Grandeur, it has. Grandeur.

I say, a four-poster bed!

-Yeah. Wow.

-Look at this.

Two singles and a big double.

-Four-poster.

-Fireplace, look.

Original, I'd imagine.

-It's amazing they haven't been ripped out over the years.

-Incredible.

That is mainly because until 1940, this property was in the hands of one family.

Yes. And now it's been in the hands of an institutional landlord

so you can't make changes to the property without the landlord's consent,

so preserving this glorious building.

Right, what have... Ooh.

Similar to the other one but obviously a smaller room.

-Nice size en-suite in there.

-A bigger en-suite, yes.

Nicely decorated.

Yeah.

Put up a guest in here quite comfortably.

It's intriguing cos it's all kind of split level.

Three properties. Potential, character features and views.

I think it'll be a battle between head and heart.

-I know which one I'd go with.

-Go on.

-Heart?

-Yes.

-That's why you're not in business.

-That's true.

Ooh, a whole corridor of rooms. My goodness!

Go round here.

-Nice room.

-This is a twin room.

This is not en-suite, this one. Just a washbasin.

This is a double.

Quite a large double, as well.

And this one's en-suite.

-A WC and a shower room.

-That's good.

Got another room here.

Again,

good size.

It's a partial en-suite. Just got a shower and a sink.

If there's one area in which this place falls down, it's that half the bedrooms aren't en-suite.

I'm quite impressed with the rooms.

-Yes.

-They're a very good size.

This is a huge hall.

OK. Ah, we have a proper lounge area.

-Lounge, meeting area.

-Excellent.

That fireplace is beautiful.

-Look at the ceiling.

-The ceilings in here.

-Proper Artex ceiling.

Fantastic, isn't it?

-And here we have the dining room.

-Again, look at the ceiling.

These ceilings are just amazing.

In both the front lounge and the dining room,

you have the original ceiling roses.

-Yep.

-Absolutely beautiful.

What was their practical function, Jonnie?

Ceiling roses? I don't know.

There you go. If you look closely,

you'll see black gaps amongst the patterns.

-Yes.

-They were ventilation shafts to vent all the gas

from the old oil lamps out into the floor space and out of the building.

-I didn't know that.

-There you go.

You could actually see... If you had somewhere like this,

you could do corporate entertainment.

You could quite easily. Small businesses.

-Here we are. Good Lord.

-A big kitchen.

-A big kitchen with stainless steel worktops.

-Which is what you want.

-It's a bonus.

-This is the bain marie, to keep food warm.

-Again it's high ceilings.

-High ceilings.

-Big room.

This is like Upstairs Downstairs, isn't it?

All the pans along the sill. A bell for each room. Ding!

-11 bedrooms, did we say?

-11 bedrooms.

-Fabulous lounge, enormous dining room.

-Agreed.

-Amazing kitchen.

-Correct.

-We haven't finished yet.

Let's look at the owners' accommodation.

It must be in here cos it's got "Private" on the door.

-So we have... Oh, right.

-A little greeting hall.

We have a large bedroom.

It's a huge double room. They have their office space in here as well.

I think... I mean, I...

-I wouldn't rule out...

-I'm still a bit doubtful about this,

because I can't see it's going to be within our budget

without one humungous fly in the ointment somewhere.

Or even an eagle in the ointment.

So you think you've seen it all,

then suddenly, we get a self-contained apartment.

Right!

Come right in and have a good look at it.

Heavens above to Murgatroyd!

-This is a... A flat on its own, isn't it?

-Yes.

It's completely self-contained

and the owners rent this out on a long-term basis

-for £150 a week.

-Right.

-But that's not all.

Because the opposite side of the building is another self-contained apartment but with two bedrooms

-and they get £200 a week.

-Right.

I was thinking, to make this your dream business proposition,

you could maybe have this small apartment to yourself for one of you guys

and the other has the existing owners' accommodation

so there's still an apartment to let.

You've got enough space to have your own identity and your own home,

and you've still got an 11-bedroomed guest house.

-Yeah, definitely!

-That's what you call multiple options.

Here's the architect! Enjoy yourself?

Are you talking money again? I've been enjoying the beauty and history of this place.

-Christopher Wren!

-Listen,

a bit of history which is always nice to have with a hotel or B&B,

once upon a time, the architects of this place employed a certain young fellow called Thomas Hardy.

-Ring any bells?

-Slightly.

-Far from the Madding Crowd.

-Indeed.

There's potential all around here.

-Hmm.

-Absolutely.

-Yeah. How much is this place, then?

-Ooh, how much indeed!

-Don't even...

-Come here.

-Come on, come on.

-It's not fair!

Stay with us. Yes, it is.

-Your budget is £300,000. I'll give you one clue about this place.

-Yeah.

It's leasehold. OK? I think that's worth bearing in mind at this point.

OK?

-I'm going to put you on the spot, Carole.

-Oh, thanks(!)

-She looks defeated!

-I am defeated. Just for once, I'm lost for words.

I'll say 350, then.

350. OK, Jay?

-380.

-380!

Well...

Got some bad news, really.

You've lost, at 380.

But the good news is... it's 150 grand.

No! Get out!

It's 150. You get out! It's 150 grand.

So the lease is six weeks and it's renewable every ten minutes and it's...

We've looked into the lease. The lease is a rolling ten-year lease,

just like the last one in Property Two. It's a private landlord.

The rent is just over 14 grand a year.

And there's eight-and-a-half years remaining on this rolling lease.

So it's a similar situation as Property Two,

yet it's less than half the price and loads more bedrooms

and two extra flats.

We've shown you three very different propositions.

You now have the unenviable task

of working out which one you'd like to spend more time in.

Go off and put your heads together and come up with a decision. Off you go.

Or bang our heads together! Taxi!

-I don't know which one I'd choose.

-Neither do I.

Whilst they make that incredibly difficult decision...

..here is an example of a re-run that was today's three bed and breakfasts.

Will the mellow yellow Property One entice them back?

It has six letting rooms, is beautifully decorated and it's freehold.

Or will number two, the gorgeous Georgian do it?

Sea and harbour views to die for, nine letting rooms, leasehold, but what a proposition.

Or can the Victorian splendour of the Wild Card draw them in?

Acres of space, 11 letting rooms and with plenty of potential.

Goodness gracious me! The Wild Card clearly wins again.

What made you choose it?

I think because it's the sort of place where we can put into play

a lot of the ideas we had.

It's got a lot of potential.

And it's so versatile.

-There's so many different ways you can play this machine.

-Flexibility.

That's right. I could just see what we could potentially do with each room as we went round.

It's a great opportunity for you guys,

to test drive this, to try before you buy.

Before you do that, Mr O'Brien has some wise words to impart.

Indeed. Some wise words imparted on us from our eagle-eyed surveyor.

He's given this place the once-over. It's not legally binding. If you go ahead with any property,

always get all your full searches and surveys done.

Let's take an example. All the windows at the rear of this property are shot to bits.

There's pointing needing doing.

The roof needs a bit of upkeep. Bits and pieces all over the place.

If you buy a hotel, normally 6% of your turnover

will be spent on repairs and renewals.

You can double that, probably put another ten per cent on top

because this property needs TLC.

The difference between buying this freehold or leasehold

is quite dramatic.

There's a schedule of dilapidations.

There's a list, and the owner of this property, the freeholder, wants this property back

in exactly the same condition as when they leased it.

So if they come round and say they want those windows done now,

you do those windows now.

-Bear it in mind. So go into this with your eyes open.

-OK?

We don't often say this to people who help us in this programme, but get lost!

Get lost in that gorgeous property and we'll see you in a while. Enjoy!

-We will!

-What?

-He's a chef. They're test driving.

-Yeah.

Why doesn't he see what the kitchen's like by cooking us a big fry-up?

I know what you're thinking! Get in there!

Look at that! All laid out ready. I'm starving!

Where's Carole?

Is she doing some marketing?

Oh, there she is! Lending support with the beans.

-Where did you get the cup of tea from?

-If you didn't order one!

Look, I'm starving.

Relax.

SAVOURS HIS TEA Don't milk it!

Eating breakfast with you has got to be one of the worst...

SLURPS TEA Can you not?

Hello! Stand by your beds!

-Morning!

-This looks very nice.

-Look at that!

-Enjoy!

Um... I'm veggie.

-You're veggie?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

That's that sorted out, then. But listen,

how did it feel? You've come back, had a look round this enormous place. Daunting or comfortable?

Bit of both, really.

-Hmm.

-But more the latter, I would say. More comfortable.

Really?

-Could you see yourself running such a huge operation?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-I think so. It's kind of comfortable. Yes, it is kind of comfortable.

It sort of almost feels like home.

Does it really? It's got to be a home. We've focused so much on businesses today.

But really, you've got to feel at home here

and of all three properties, this gives you space to have a proper home.

-Indeed, yes.

-Exactly.

OK, then, let's ask the question before you put another scoop of food inside!

-Do you want to buy...

-Or not to buy?

I think we do. We will obviously have to go into a lot of the financial details

-and other aspects...

-Of course!

-But essentially...

-..before making a major decision. But yes.

-Yes! Fantastic!

-So this is a very, very exciting time, then, Jay?

Absolutely. Definitely.

You've got a lot of work to do, a lot of preparation, a lot of due diligence.

But I'm so glad you've found somewhere you want to pursue.

If you carry on serving food as good as this for your next 20,000 breakfasts,

you'll be onto a winner, because it's all word of mouth in this trade.

And so many people book guest houses like this on the fare you serve at breakfast.

-I would. I love it. Well done.

-We'd better get going. Come on.

-And it's thanks to you guys, as well.

-My pleasure.

-No problem.

-Can I bring this with me? You won't miss a plate.

-No.

-Go for it!

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd