Henley-on-Thames To Buy or Not to Buy

Rani, there's nothing like a stroll along the Thames.

This part in particular, I find it rather spectacular, Simon.

-With this being Henley-on-Thames, the pearl of the Thames?

-Mmm-hmm.

But today we are here for To Buy Or Not To Buy, the pearl of the property shows.

Today we're in South Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

It's very well-to-do round here, don't you know?

And with Henley being in the centre,

which is a haven for the rich and famous...

Are we doing a celebrity To Buy Or Not To Buy?

No, Simon, but the folks we're showing a property to today, let's hope they really have a bob or two.

-We'll show them a house or three, one of which they get to try before they buy?

-Perfect.

So give a warm welcome to Karen and Jeremy Hampton.

According to them, he is laid-back, opinionated and decisive.

And she is fun, outgoing and feisty.

They've been renting for two years since selling their home, and are ready to settle down again.

Their daughter Jessica is currently living with them but works in London

and has very set views on where her parents should live.

The perfect home would be somewhere...

in the countryside,

but close to a town.

I reckon about four beds,

definitely a huge room for myself when I come and stay.

Well, that's what Jessica wants, but what about her parents?

-OK, you two, are you ready for the responsibility that is owning your own house?

-Just about.

It's taken about two years now, but we just about thinking we should go back into the market now

and maybe go into DIY a little bit and all that sort of stuff.

You are saying DIY, are we looking for a project today?

I think it would be good to get a project, it would

be nice to add some value to our house, that would be really good.

Is that just Jeremy's thoughts, Karen, or would you like a project?

Actually, I'd really like a project.

I'd like something that basically just had four walls

and then we could just knock it out and make it exactly as we want it.

Are you also, then, averse to moving into a place

where you can just move straight in and settle down, if we find something that ticks every box?

I think we are pretty open-minded about that.

The bit about the project is exciting, but if something came in

and we saw it and it was fantastic, then who knows, who knows?

So give us some kind of idea what we are looking for today, really, then?

Big kitchen, big living kitchen,

three bedrooms minimum, a couple of en suites.

I'd quite like to be in a town

-so I can walk to the pub and to restaurants and that type of stuff.

-Any town in particular?

Henley-on-Thames would be particularly nice.

-Right.

-That would be particularly nice.

-That's what you want - Karen, what would you like?

-I have this vision

of being in the country with some land and chickens and pigs and things like that.

We need a garden because of Betty the tortoise.

Oh, lovely.

-How old is Betty?

-About 80.

-80? How long do tortoises live for?

-We haven't had her since new.

-LAUGHTER

-"I had her since I was a child."

-"You look so young!"

-I'm guessing that your daughter's commute is...

-She's commuting.

And that's quite important with regards to location?

Yeah, it would be good to be near a station, preferably one that gets her to Paddington.

-What about style?

-I would like...

if we're going to live in the town, just something, I think...

Well, Henley, Victorian is what you will generally find.

For our budget, I doubt we'd find anything detached.

Am I guessing, it's period properties,

places with character, or, again, you seem to be open-minded, you two?

No, no, we definitely are. We've looked...

In fact, over two years, we haven't looked at that many houses,

and we've only liked two, both of which have gone to sealed bids.

If we don't find somewhere in Henley, are there any other areas that you've been through

and sort of thought, "We could see ourselves settling down here"?

Well, Karen's parents live in Woking and my mum lives in Twyford,

so it would be quite useful to be near them.

Not too close, but near them would be good.

That's my idea of Wales out!

So round about the sort of South Oxfordshire, Berkshire sort of areas would be good.

What's our budget? What have we got to play with?

I think up to sort of 700, 750

would be sort of the top end,

and that would include the project money as well.

-So that's the total spend?

-I think so, yeah.

Could maybe stretch a little bit if need be,

but that would be a figure we would like to achieve.

OK. That's put pressure on. I'm ready to go. Are you?

I'm ready to find Betty a new home.

-We'll see you later, guys.

-Bye.

Right, Rani, a fabulous budget, £750,000, but I'm a little bit perturbed.

These two are so laissez-faire, we don't know what they want.

Where they want to be, what period of house...

Simon, Simon, I'm just concentrating on finding Betty a garden.

We have three-quarters of a million pounds of

someone else's money to spend, and you're worried about the tortoise?

Betty is 80! You've got to learn to respect your elders.

So Henley-on-Thames, the good points.

It's a picturesque market town on the edge of the Chilterns.

Famous for its annual Royal Regatta,

attracting the upper classes of English society since 1839.

The town was founded in the 12th century as a river crossing

and port for the supply of timber and grain to London.

And it's developed into a thriving and incredibly beautiful town,

with fantastic and very popular commuter links to the capital.

The bad points - all this does make it an expensive place to live.

In fact, in 2008 it was the 11th most expensive place to live in the UK.

With an average home costing around 560 grand.

So it's a good job we've got a good budget to play with,

but if you don't have quite as much money to spend, then how about these little beauties?

In more affordable towns across the country you could buy

this five-bedroom detached house in Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent, for...

Or in Ushaw Moor in Durham

this beautiful three-bedroom barn conversion would set you back...

In Pontypridd, South Wales, a three-bedroom detached bungalow like this one would cost you...

But for now, let's work out just how much we can get for a budget of 750 grand around Henley-on-Thames.

Three quarters of a million - now I've been having a look around

and it seems that Henley-on-Thames hasn't noticed there's been a downturn in the market?

I think that's probably a good observation.

12 months ago I wouldn't have agreed with you, but it's come back

very, very quickly and, yes, you will struggle to find much to choose from.

-Do you live in the local area?

-I do.

OK, do you know anything about how much properties cost round here?

-Yes, too much!

-Too much? That's not a good sign.

In the town itself, it's going to get you perhaps a Georgian town house

or maybe a very large apartment.

If you start going up the hill and beyond a comfortable walk out of the town

there's a wide range of Victorian and 1960s and 1980s stock

where you can get a house that's ready to move into

or something that needs updating, that's not been touched for 20 years.

I'm trying to help someone find a house here.

Now they've got a lot of money, I think it's a lot of money, £750,000.

It's a lot of money but it is Henley-on-Thames.

This is the problem! I didn't want you to say that!

I wanted you to say, "I happen to be selling a three-bedroom house with a huge garden."

I am selling a house that's got a huge garden... No, I'm not!

As we've been looking around, we've noticed that

-we've seen places that we go, "That's ideal, there's a project," and it's gone.

-Yes. It will do.

Almost the more work it needs doing, the more quickly it's going to go,

and there's an almost inverse premium to be paid for that, because there aren't many of them left.

Henley's really expensive.

Yes. But there are places round about that you can get slightly cheaper.

Tell me of these places, please.

Well, we moved out!

You don't live on this boat, do you? I don't think it's that spacious.

-No. Villages round about are much cheaper.

-Like where?

Give me some names, I've gotta look at these places.

-Peppard and Sonning Common.

-Right.

-Well, Sonning's quite expensive.

Are they as nice? Are they going to have a nice community feel?

-Yes.

-I think Sonning has.

-Yeah? And how far away is that?

Oh, about maybe five miles up the river.

It's just not peaceful at all round here, is it? It's so noisy on this river!

-Anything else?

-That's our limited stock.

By saying that, you kind of hit the nail on the head, don't you?

They are few and far between.

-That's right.

-I shall take these, and thank you for your time, sir.

-It's my pleasure.

-Cheers.

-Nice to see you, thanks for coming in.

-Isn't this a gorgeous place, Rani? It is.

-It really is.

I've been having a chat to folks round here and I think we're going to struggle with price.

Ah, well, you see, I think I've overcome that.

Jeremy and Karen said they wanted a big place.

For their budget, even though it's a three quarters of a million pounds, that's not that easy.

So I have decided to take them slightly further afield, away from Henley-on-Thames.

And they also said they didn't mind a project.

I'm going to take them at their word. That's my choice, property one.

Well, you've given them a project,

whereas I have given them the perfect home in a very beautiful location.

It doesn't get much better than this. Take a look at this, Simon.

There is a perfect place for Betty to walk around. I think they're going to love it.

OK. You think they're going to love that.

Well, listen, wait till you see the wild card - it is absolutely beautiful.

-Take a look at that, that is the per...

-No, we're going with this one.

No, this is the perfect wild card.

-This is the problem...

-This has got all the charm they want, Simon.

This is the problem when people don't tell us what they want.

-Look at this!

-That is perfect.

-This is perfect.

-I know Karen and Jeremy, this is perfect.

-We'll leave it for now.

-Let's leave that, shall we get on with things?

-Yeah, OK.

-My choice, property one.

-My choice.

-I got property one.

As we found out, a project doesn't linger on the market for long around here, but I always aim to deliver.

So I've moved away from the Thames and found them a lovely house

with P for potential in a very desirable village.

Right, then, Jeremy and Karen.

Property one today is my choice.

The mystery property hunting team and my good self have brought us

to Woodcote - this was Village of the Year 2008 in Oxfordshire.

It's got a really lovely community feel about it, there are local pubs, there are local shops.

Property, what's your first thoughts?

It looks very nice.

Karen, you're being reticent.

You're a bit quiet.

No, it's nice. It's nice.

Give us more than nice, Karen. What are you thinking?

Style-wise, anything?

Honestly, be frank with me.

-No, I'd like to look inside.

-Do you think...

does it look a bit small, do you think, perhaps?

It's probably a TARDIS.

But it's got a great driveway, super, lots of parking.

-Very green area.

-But not too far from Reading, as well, for Jessica.

-Jeremy, what are you thinking?

-I think along the same lines. I think it's going to be...

I think it's going to extend back, is my thought.

I will tell you this much, it almost feels like a bungalow, doesn't it?

-It does.

-And it started life as a bungalow.

But you guessed right, it is not a small bungalow any more.

This place could be absolutely gorgeous, and I think you two

have the imagination to a kind of rework this place and throw yourself into it. So do that right now.

Fantastic, thank you very much.

Let's go into the study. Is that the study? Looks like a study.

Wow, that's nice.

They work from home, obviously. And a gym.

Good size.

Fantastic. Nice views.

-That could be an office, library, anything you want, really.

-Anything you want.

This is nice and bright.

It is nice and bright, yes.

Is that a real fireplace over there? Let's go and have a look.

That's the first thing I know they definitely like, a fireplace.

-The windows aren't great, but that could...

-They are not beautiful, are they?

-That could be changed.

-But it does let a lot of light in.

-Absolutely.

-There's so many doors!

-Ah, it's another sitting room.

-A snug.

-Another living room. That's very quiet.

-But that's great, same floor...

-Music room.

-Oh, no, this would be great.

-Huge garden out there.

-Oh, my goodness, that's fantastic.

Nice pond and all sorts of things growing.

-I really like it.

-Got green fingers, the people who own this.

They'd be right to think the person who lives here has green fingers -

won best beetroot in the local flower show.

Really? I didn't know that.

OK.

I don't like the stairs in the dining room.

But then I don't really want a dining room anyway, but what else would you do with this room?

Well, I guess what we're talking about is that beyond there is that room that we've just been in,

-so open this up, it would be a huge room.

-It would.

-Lots of light.

-Yeah.

-But you'd still have the stairs.

-I guess you could block that off.

That's the first sign that this could be a project for them. That wall's going.

Do you know, that's not a bad idea, there are kind of...

-How would you call them, almost spare rooms in this house.

-Yeah.

OK.

Small.

But you could knock it.

-I'm getting into knocking through.

-Into knocking all the way through.

-Nice range.

-Yeah.

But just not an entertaining kitchen.

-That would be a great room, wouldn't it? All the way through.

-Yeah, it would be one great kitchen.

All the way through, lots of light coming in. And a conservatory...

-Like the back door, that's so sweet.

-Stable door.

-And then the conservatory, which is...

I don't like conservatories very much.

Flower beds, raised vegetable beds.

-Just the job.

-Fab.

-For my new country lifestyle.

-We could become self-sufficient.

I could be Richard Briers and you could be... What's her name, she always used to win Bum of the Year?

-What was her name?

-Felicity Kendal.

-Felicity Kendal!

Perfect.

-You look a bit like Felicity Kendal.

-WOLF WHISTLE

I guess this would have been the eaves?

The roof, yeah. Built into this.

Because it was... I think it was a bungalow, wasn't it?

They built into the roof, made it a chalet.

Wow, that's a big bed.

-Nice and light.

-That's a great room.

-It is a nice room.

-Super view of the garden.

-Urgh...

-Oh that's...

I was going to say that's fabulous, and then I spotted that corner bit.

But it's mostly fabulous. Good shower. Power shower - look.

Oh, is it? I don't know.

-It doesn't work for me, the bathroom, but...

-Why?

It's just a bit dated.

But it wouldn't take much to change it.

Oh, it's fab.

The dormer works really well.

I like it, it makes it really light.

With the right money spent on it,

it's in a fabulous location, it could be a brilliant house.

-Oh. Wow.

-Oh, dear.

That's small.

That is very small, isn't it?

I suppose it's not ideal to have a bed with your head on the radiator.

That doesn't work. And you couldn't have it in any other configuration.

Simon, they could probably move the radiator.

-Oh, what's this?

-Blimey.

It's a corridor.

I've never been on one, but it must be like being on a submarine.

I'll have to walk down here sideways, I think.

You have to press your nose against the wall and slide along.

My goodness. Yeah, this is not for claustrophobic people.

That's just the strangest thing I've ever seen.

-Nice bedroom.

-It's a proper bedroom.

It's a guest bedroom, isn't it?

-I can't get my head round that corridor area.

-No.

I think you've got to move the ridge of the roof

and bring the whole thing towards the front of the house and create a much bigger area there.

Upstairs bathroom.

Good bathroom, it's a bathroom.

You couldn't get a shower in here. There's nowhere to get a shower.

A separate one, no. But then there's a shower in the...

There's a shower head, but a shower cubicle you couldn't get here.

What's wrong, Simon? You look all down.

I was feeling up about the downstairs, but I'm feeling down about the upstairs.

Come on.

Right, Jeremy and Karen,

I kind of got confused this morning when we were chatting,

because you two are so relaxed about what you want,

I'm not sure I've got it right.

I hope, though, I did get it right with this space.

Garden's great, absolutely brilliant. I think, just what we wanted.

Space for Betty?

-Betty could be a problem. So much vegetation.

-Swimming pool for her.

-Can she swim?

-I think she could, yeah.

We'll never find her, though, that's the thing.

-It's a great garden, really pretty.

-What are your impressions of the house?

The location may be a little bit too far out,

but as far as the house goes it's a bit of a mish-mash.

There's lots of good things about it but they are outweighed by the bad, particularly the upstairs.

If this was a project,

I think it would cost too much money to get it in the condition we want it in

and the pain wouldn't be worth the gain, I don't think.

-OK. Karen, would you agree?

-Absolutely.

Which brings us on to... guess the price.

OK, so you said your maximum budget was £750,000

-including the work that needed to be done.

-Yeah.

OK. So who's good at this game, who would like to go first?

He'll be good at it.

Do you know what, I haven't got a clue. I'll have a guess...

525.

-525,000, OK.

-Karen?

I think it's a bit more than Jeremy said,

I think it's probably about 560.

560? OK, so around the same area.

Well, you're both not bad at it at all.

However, you were wrong to say that he was better,

because you are very close indeed.

-It's on the market for £550,000.

-Is it?

Well, lucky for you there are two more properties,

and the next one is my one.

-Are you ready to see it?

-Absolutely.

-That way.

-Fantastic.

Who really wants to spend months living in a pile of rubble?

Well, Jeremy and Karen, apparently.

Although I don't think it would be too hard to sway them

with this delightful cottage on the outskirts of Henley.

Right, then, welcome to property number two.

Now, I've brought you to Lower Assendon,

just a mile or so outside of Henley.

Now, I know you did say you wanted to be in Henley

-but realistically, you said as well, it's quite expensive there.

-It is.

Yeah. And so that's why we've brought you just outside.

This place, has got a great cottagey feel,

so what is your first impression?

-Even though we've got a hedge in the way you can see most of it.

-Really pretty, very nice.

-Love it.

Do you know this area at all?

A friend of mine lives down the road in Middle Assendon,

but I don't know this area up here, this is lovely.

Well, as you can see on the floor, there's lots of horsey poo.

You get a lot of horsies up here, not so many cars.

The other good news is five minutes down the road, apparently,

-there's a brilliant gastropub.

-Oh, great.

-Karen, you've brightened here.

-I really like it.

I hope the location is perfect and you go in and it melts your hearts.

-It does look very pretty.

-It looks fab.

-Do you want to go in?

Go on, see how you get on.

Oh, wow.

Oh, what a great kitchen.

Wow, it's like a TARDIS.

-Oh, fab.

-That's lovely.

-I don't know where to look first.

-It's so nice, yeah.

How cosy is that? Nice Sunday lunches round here.

Fire going through the winter.

This looks like a very posh kitchen.

-It's fab.

-It's great, isn't it?

I'm overwhelmed. It's just gorgeous.

Yeah, really just fabulous.

I'd like to say, this is MY property.

Well, if you can dissuade Jeremy and Karen from buying it,

maybe you can put an offer in.

Oh, I can just imagine myself sitting on a chair with a cup of coffee.

That's a proper log burner.

-It's super.

-You don't often have books... Maybe.

And into the living room.

Very pretty. A little bit small, maybe?

Yeah, it is small.

-But really cosy.

-Lovely floor.

Really nice floor.

-And the doors are fair.

-Leading out to the patio.

-I don't see there's anything to do here.

-Well, there isn't.

It's all done. It's move in.

-I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

-Go on?

Well, they can just move in, but do they want that?

You want to, obviously.

I think I want to as well. Who wouldn't want to just move in here?

Very small garden.

There might be some more.

No, what you see is what you get.

I love it.

-But it's dinky, it's really dinky.

-It is very small.

It's made for smaller people than us.

They're not that big, these folk!

You're going to think Karen and Jeremy are giants walking through my house, but they're not.

They're just normal-sized people.

-Ah!

-Another room.

-Another room.

-This is fabulous.

-Cosy.

-Another log burner.

-Again, it's small, but it's...

-Yeah.

-It's so cute and sweet.

She's made best use of the space here as well.

-Definitely, yeah.

-It's very nice.

Even though it's a cottage, it has those nice high ceilings.

-So Jeremy can walk on his tiptoes.

-So it doesn't feel claustrophobic.

-I guess this is the master bedroom.

-Look at that view.

-Oh, that's really pretty. My goodness, that's lovely.

-It's a lovely view.

Look at that valley, stunning.

Oh! This is great.

That's the world's biggest key hole.

Through the keyhole...

Now I don't know which is the master.

I guess the other one is, because this hasn't got the big wardrobes.

It's beautifully done.

-It is, it's lovely.

-Would you want to live here?

-I love the wall. Look at the wall, Jeremy.

-Yeah.

Very, very nice.

Oh, that's a surprise.

Cool.

Small...

-but beautifully...

-Perfectly-formed.

-..Yes.

It couldn't be a bedroom, could it?

It has to be a study.

I could work in here quite happily, and stare out at that.

Whilst Jessica is still living here,

-I'm guessing that's the guest room, isn't it?

-Mm-hm.

Then when Jessica finally moves out,

her bedroom becomes the guest room and that goes back to being an office.

Oh!

-Cute bathroom. I thought it was a bedroom.

-Look at the toilet cistern.

-Oh that's lovely.

-My goodness.

-This is...

-There's only two bedrooms.

It's only two bedrooms, yeah.

Jeremy can't count. There are three bedrooms.

This property is sold as a three-bedroom cottage.

It is very beautiful.

It's like one of those Cape Cod houses,

with all the boards and the wood and everything.

Simon, I thought I had them.

But do you know what? I still the think you'll have to big up your small house.

Now, you two, when you first walked in it was,

"Wow, this is beautiful, it's amazing."

Then suddenly, it all turned.

"It's so small!"

How big are you, please?

Well, he's quite big.

No, the house - absolutely beautiful.

I mean, just exquisite. Beautifully refurbished.

-Couldn't fault anything.

-No.

Apart from the fact, maybe half the size again would have been perfect.

The kitchen is absolutely perfect.

It is absolutely beautiful, the area is lovely as well.

The other thing I've discovered is you can't get your mobile phone here!

Is that a bad thing?

She wouldn't move here!

It would save you a fortune though, in the long run.

-We've just mentioned money there.

-But it is beautiful.

It is, it's absolutely gorgeous. It's guess the price time again.

-It's 1-0 to you.

-Yes.

The maximum budget is £750,000.

Who's going to go first this time?

Karen, you've got to go first.

-You've GOT to!

-I haven't got a clue.

-I think it's 725.

-OK.

Erm...

675.

-675?

-Yes.

725. All right then.

Karen, congratulations. You've won guess the price.

You are the closest.

It's not just 2-0, you've actually won, because it's only out of three.

It's two out of three, Jeremy, sorry!

The price of this property is £745,000.

Wow. Yeah, it's beautiful.

It is a beautiful property. It's the location, you know. It's great.

We've shown you two properties.

-Now, then.

-OK, this is a problem.

-Here's a tricky one.

-We just can't agree.

So, I've picked a wild card that I think is ideal for you guys... and Simon's picked another one.

THEY LAUGH

So, what we thought is, would you guys like to pick the wild card?

-I'd like that.

-Bet we don't agree!

-Let's see.

-We'd like to do that.

We won't tell you where they are, but they are in a very similar location.

Here's my choice.

-Quite a modern, but absolutely fabulous place, I believe.

-Yeah.

-OK?

-Mine is very different.

-That again is beautiful.

Big deep breath in...

Which one's up for this one?

-Go on.

-I think...

-Oh!

-Oh, no!

Just because that looks a lot bigger.

Who wears the trousers in this family? Hands up for my one.

So, which one's it going to be?

-We'll have to have a decision off you guys, cos we can't decide.

-Jeremy can choose.

Oh, that's a tough one.

-As long as he chooses that one!

-Jeremy?

Is that going to be the wild card?

That's far more interesting.

-OK, we'll go and see that one.

-Oooh!

-You had no choice, did you?

-My wild card is this way, come along!

I knew they'd go for my wild card. It's got Jeremy and Karen written all over it - well, not literally.

I reckon I've built up a pretty good picture

of what I think they want

and it's all here in this big house in Twyford.

You decided to choose the wild card of my choice, and here it is.

We've brought you to Twyford,

just along the river from Henley-on-Thames.

Do you know this area?

Very well. I was brought up here.

Oh, bringing you back to the family manor.

But what about the house, what are you thinking?

It looks great. It looks fab.

Nice clean lines.

-I like the symmetry, with the two ends matching.

-OK.

And that's extraordinary really,

because if you look along the house from that end to that end,

this end is 100 years old, and that end is two years old.

-I'd never have known.

-It's very, very well done.

-Really well.

Jeremy, when we showed you the wild cards, you liked the look of my one,

-so what do you think of this place?

-It looks nice, it does look nice.

They've done a lot of work to it

and I'll be interested to look around it. It looks good.

I bet you'll be interested to look around.

-You spotted something when you were just looking at the pictures, didn't you?

-Yeah.

When you showed me the brochure, it had a wild red kitchen.

You think you're going to find something very contemporary?

-Why don't you go and find out? Get in there.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

-Wow.

-Wow. Very modern.

-This is really funky.

-Yep.

Oh, great.

-Wow.

-The kitchen.

Fabulous.

Oh, I like this.

This is so cool.

-You wouldn't need to change this at all.

-That's our fridge.

-Look, a beer fridge.

-That's OUR fridge.

-Oh, this is super. I love it.

-Great kitchen.

I think I've finally worked them out.

-You have?

-I hope so.

I think you have, actually.

This is so cool.

It's a radiator...

This is fab.

I'm not sure I like that, though.

That would have to come down.

And out to the garden.

Which is small.

Is this a small garden, Rani? Am I sitting in the same place?

-Oh! I like this.

-How about that?

This is so cool.

Of course, they'd have to leave all the furniture.

And all these funky things that they have.

Oh, this is lovely.

It's very light, isn't it?

Oh, look at that. Oh, that's fab.

-It's really minimalist and lovely.

-Lie there and stare up through to the sky.

-Do you know what they've done well here, Rani?

-What, Simon?

They've extended out from this living room, the original living room from the 1907 house,

but they've put on a fantastic lantern glass roof,

therefore they haven't created the cave, which people often do, at the back of the living room.

-And another door.

-OK.

-Fab. I keep saying that.

-Very nice.

-There's this thing about this house that I keep saying fab.

Good size for an office.

Fab. I've said it again.

-Another great radiator. I really like this.

-There's glass blocks behind there.

-I don't know what they do.

-Is there a light there?

-The radiators are a statement, aren't they?

-Yeah.

They're trying to almost make it look like art.

Oh, this is so nice.

This has very recently been done.

-Do you like this gallery-type landing?

-It is really nice.

-Very nice.

-A little bedroom.

-This is where you see the old part of the house again. Beams coming through.

Good idea. There's no red wine up here!

It's not huge but it's really nicely done.

-It's a decent sized room.

-I like the doors.

-So the first bedroom you come to...

-Mm-hm?

..decent size, just about a double bedroom.

But we've only just started.

So this would be... Is that an en suite in there?

-Yeah.

-So this would be the master maybe, or a guest?

Maybe there are two en suites?

Great. Lovely and light.

Oh, I've never seen...

-Is that wooden?

-A wooden sink.

That is fantastic.

They asked for en suites. You give them how many in the first property?

-One.

-I gave them?

-None.

-So far in this property we've had one.

-Yeah.

-Will there be any more?

Oh!

I thought it was a bedroom.

It's not, but it's a very nice bathroom.

The usual suspects.

-That's a Jacuzzi.

-Oh, is it?

-Yeah.

Great sink.

-Nice granite.

-Granite surfaces.

-Good floor.

-Again, everything is done nicely, isn't it?

With a house like this, you've got to have the Jacuzzi bath, haven't you?

When we were kids we didn't have a Jacuzzi. If we wanted bubbles...

OK.

Again, that's quite small.

But it's got a double bed.

I think you'd struggle to get a wardrobe in here.

-Could you not have one built in to make that shape?

-It's not very deep. It's very shallow there.

-OK.

-But...

But, yeah, it's a small bedroom.

-I would have thought they would have a cupboard in here, actually.

-Where?

Behind here?

-Is it?

-There we go.

-How clever is that?

-There we go.

-They found it.

-The mirror's a wardrobe?

-Isn't that clever?

-I would never have guessed it.

Oh, oh, oh.

This is lovely.

-Now, there's a wardrobe.

-That is a heck of a wardrobe.

It's even big enough for you, I think.

Oh, that's lovely.

Great shape off the roof... ceiling there. It's certainly got the wow factor.

The master bedroom is a statement, isn't it?

Floor-to-ceiling wardrobe space, massive double bed. Just around the corner...

-This is a super bathroom.

-Oh, yeah.

A wet room, it's a wet room.

-I really don't like wet rooms.

-No?

If you had a wet room, surely you would have to be wiping down the loo all the time?

Cos it would be wet!

-Are they sprays?

-Looks like a cheese grater.

I'm sure it's not.

Right, Simon, this place, it's definitely got the wow factor.

Can they afford it?

What, you mean the designer element of this place?

The quality of finish? The space? The brightness?

-Can they afford it?

-Come on - I'll tell you.

Not really what you expected from a house built in 1907, was it?

No. Very contemporary, really nicely done.

A real surprise. Beautifully finished.

-Great attention to detail.

-It is.

Real good quality stuff in there as well, all the fixtures and fittings

were hand-picked by the owners.

Yeah, particularly the kitchen and the hallway. They were real wow factors.

You had a lot of wows when you were going round.

Sorry about that!

This is fab. You were loving it.

I think it's sort of 80, 90%.

It's, um... The finish, as we said, is great. I'm not sure about the location.

It's neither here nor there. It's neither in a town or in the country.

It's just on the outskirts of Twyford,

-so it's not really walking distance to the station, for example.

-Right.

A bit worried about that, and the garage is not really a garage.

It's very small. So, little things like that.

OK, all right, then. Well, why don't we find out how much this place costs?

-That might change your mind on it.

-Right.

-Jeremy, you've lost Guess The Price.

-I have.

You could redeem yourself, if you like.

OK. I'll be scratching my head.

I'm going to go for...

-725.

-725.

-Your maximum budget is £750,000.

-Yes.

Karen, what do you think this place is? You're so good at this.

-Why don't you tell Jeremy the right price.

-I don't think I'm going to guess this one. I think 735.

735. A little bit higher than Jeremy's there.

-All right, then.

-It's a whitewash.

-3-0!

-Did I?!

-3-0!

I'm afraid so. This place is actually on the market, you know,

bearing in mind the quality of the finish and the living space in there, at £750,000 exactly.

Yeah, they've spent a lot of money on it. I can see that.

Anyway, we've now shown you three very different houses.

-Very different today.

-Yeah, I think they are.

-So which one do you like most...

-We'll find out.

-..and want to test-drive?

Why don't you go and take yourselves off, make that decision? Off you go.

-We'll see you in a moment.

-Yeah.

-And while they're off...

-A recap for you at home.

This picky pair are very hard to please,

and as quirky as it is,

I don't think we will be heading back to my property,

despite the fantastic garden,

in a village location.

It was way under budget at...

I thought I was on to a winner.

My property had wows from the minute they walked through the door,

but unfortunately they found the negatives

and I'm not sure they'll even want to head back there.

It was under budget at...

..which only leaves my wild card.

Yes, that's MY wild card.

Huge amounts of space, the desired number of en suites,

and despite what they said, a very good sized garden.

They've got to go for this one. Bang on the money too at...

This is a turn-up for the books.

They didn't want to test-drive yours or mine, or the wild card.

They asked to see the fourth property, wild card number two.

Right then, you two. Normally now I should be saying to you,

"Oh, you've decided to test-drive this property." But you haven't even seen this one!

This is what I offered as a wild card, and Karen, you were adamant

-that you wanted Simon's. Jeremy, you did quite like this one.

-I did.

So we finally got you here and you decided to test-drive this one?

-Yeah.

-You have completely thrown us...

We've shown you three fantastic properties, very different, and none of them were good enough.

So now you want to test drive this one. I'm nervous.

-They were all lovely properties, none of them I don't think was exactly perfect.

-Right.

They all had great features, and there were things about each of them

that were fabulous, but we thought this one was so cute that we'd just have to come and see this one too.

Well, actually we're quite glad you're seeing a fourth property

because we don't know what you want. We really don't. Hopefully we'll get a clue from this place.

We've already pre-empted you a little bit

because we had our mystery To Buy Or Not To Buy Surveyor on hand,

as we always do, and he's given this place the quick once-over.

-OK.

-He's come up with some pretty interesting stuff.

He really has. Got to say first, it's not legally binding so if you love this property and buy,

you will have to get your own survey done.

OK. You haven't even been in there yet and I'm going to tell you the bad points. The windows.

An old property, they've rotted away,

so if you were going to buy this property, you would have to get them replaced -

they're not double glazed, you could swap them for double glazed but keep it within the old style.

So, it's maybe not the biggest problem, but it is something you're going to have to consider.

-The other thing to bear in mind, if you look up, little bits of greenery growing out of the gutter.

-Yeah.

In this corner there's a problem, with ivy intruding into the gutter,

and that has caused a bit of damp problem.

You'd need to get your gutters cleared out.

Whilst you're up there, get the valleys checked and this flat roof.

-Better safe than sorry.

-Yeah. Have we completely put you off? No. Have we?

-It looks really pretty.

-Beautiful. Amazing.

-Well, tell you what, then.

-Didn't know it was here.

You wouldn't. It's tucked away beautifully. Get in there

and enjoy it, and maybe we'll get some idea about what they like.

-So off you go.

-OK.

Oh, my... This is... Look at the floor.

-I wonder if that fire is...

-That's a real one.

It is?

Oh, that's lovely.

Oh, cute kitchen.

Oh, a study. HE LAUGHS

-Oh.

-Oh, that's lovely.

Isn't it?

Now I've just gone past a staircase, so this is another staircase upstairs.

-Sit here and warm your hands.

-We could sit here and toast marshmallows.

Oh, this is huge.

A huge, huge bathroom.

Huge!

-Absolutely lovely.

-Isn't it nice to feel the bare essence?

Sit up here.

It's great.

-Wow!

-Oh, this bathroom's super.

-It's another enormous room in here.

-I love this.

Oh, back into the hallway.

Oh, and a cute room here.

Time for daughter Jess to give her verdict.

- Hello, you. - Hi.

Hello. Come on in.

-It's huge.

-It's huge, isn't it?

Absolutely massive.

-Lots of cupboard space.

-Loads.

We finally test drove wild card number two.

Now I'm going to ask Jess, Jess, how was it?

-I really liked it.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, I did.

-Any idea what your folks want in a home? We haven't got a clue!

-We've given up.

I think the hard thing is they both want different things.

Thank you for saying that!

I think Dad would be looking for something

that would be in a town, perhaps, and Mum maybe more countryside.

But this has got elements, you know, of period property as well.

I don't know. This might be one they liked.

One piece of information they might not have given you or your dad won't have given you,

it was 3-0 on Guess The Price to your mum.

He was no good at all. We're going to give you one last chance here, mate, to redeem yourself.

A late consolation goal, it's definitely 750.

Definitely 750. Very confident.

-745.

-745.

-Jess, go on, how much do you think this property's on the market for?

-I think 760.

I love this game so much!

Did I win?

Jess won.

-After all that, she came in and stole your thunder.

-At least I beat Karen.

You get nothing for second, mate.

This property's on the market at £775,000.

Now, it is over your budget, but we wanted to show you something with the charm we thought you'd like.

Did it do it for you?

It's definitely got the charm. It's a beautiful property.

It's quirky. It's got character, I know the area very well.

It's very close to the station, good supermarkets and stuff like that.

-I can hear a but coming.

-I know.

So should we ask the question then? Should we ask the question?

We've done a lot of spying, but we want to know about buying. To buy or not to buy?

I'm sorry, you've worked so hard, and it's been great,

and I'm so sorry for you, but, no, we didn't see anything.

We even threw an extra property in!

I know, but... yes, we didn't see anything that we just loved.

Are you any closer? Have you thought, "I definitely do not want that

"and I know what I do want now?" Have we helped in any way?

-You have. You've been absolutely...

-Without a doubt.

-We have. We've ticked four houses off the list.

And listen, whilst you were in here test-driving the place,

we decided to put more leg work in,

we still don't know what you want, but any way we got you them, you may as well go to them.

Jess, find something you like.

-It's been an pleasure to meet you all.

-Thank you very much.

-Good luck, I really do hope you find your perfect property.

-Cheers, guys.

-Come on then, take care. Bye.

-Bye.

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