Coventry To Buy or Not to Buy

It's back to school today. We're going to start with a lesson in property finding.

-Jonnie, furnish the viewers with the three Rs.

-What, reading, writing and arithmetic?

No, I'm not talking about those. I'm talking about price.

-Ah!

-There's the first R. I'm talking about location.

-Ah!

-The second. And I'm talking about getting us to do all the work for you.

-Ahh!

-And that is the three Rs in property finding. Jonnie, gold star for you.

-Thank you very much!

-Today, we're in Coventry.

-The world's first ever twinned city.

-Did you know that?

-I didn't.

-And the furthest city from the coast

-in the entire UK!

-I did know that.

It's also the place today's house-hunter wants to call home.

She's already done the big relocation from down south

-so we better get moving ourselves.

-We should.

'Food technology teacher Angie has said goodbye to Bristol

'and is back in her old stomping ground of Coventry.'

'She's currently living with her parents, but is desperate to find her own place

'and has enlisted the help of her friend and fellow food teacher Sadeem.'

'Angie's job means a daily commute to Rugby involving her trusty bicycle and the train.'

'And all that travel and all that marking means Angie has no time to find that dream property.

'So lucky we're here.'

-What's that like, moving back with your mum and dad?

-It's actually a lot better! A bit too easy.

-Getting all your meals cooked?

-Yeah, more than I should.

I do my own washing and I empty my own bins.

Now, Sadeem, what is your role in all of this?

-I'm Angie's friend. I've known her since I was 14.

-Oh, wow!

So hardly any time.

-Yeah, cos we're both very, very young.

-Very young.

-And what sort of house are you looking for now?

-A two to three bedroom house

in the area that my mum and my sister live.

-What is the area?

-It's Coundon that they live.

OK, style of property within that area. What styles of property?

Ideally, I'd like a period property.

If we don't find you the ideal property,

are you prepared to make it your ideal property? How much DIY can you do?

I can do a fair bit of that. I'd be all right. My mum's quite handy, so I'll just drag her in!

A lot of people that do something at work every day

don't like to do anything to do with that at night.

Now, you're around food and cooking every day. Do you bring that to your personal life?

Yeah, I'm obsessed with food. It is important for me to have a really big kitchen.

Ideally, I'd like a dining table in the kitchen.

Space. Are you indoor space people, outdoor space people?

-Do you want a big back garden?

-I think you'd like a really big garden.

-Yeah, ideally.

-The bigger the better.

-How much have you got to spend?

-140 is the absolute maximum.

-Sadeem, is that realistic?

-I think it is, for Coventry.

-OK.

-I really do.

-Would you be disappointed if we failed?

-Very disappointed.

-As teachers, what would our punishment be?

-Oh, detention?

-Saturday detention.

-Get them excluded.

Excluded? This is terrible!

All right, we're off under the fear of that.

-Giggling away at your own punishment. We'll see you later on.

-Thank you for the exclusion.

Well, Ed, let's pick a theme.

I'm thinking food. I'm thinking cooking.

There's a lot of fun with that. Or we could go down the building route.

Let's pick one each and let's do different tasks each.

-I'm going to do estate agents.

-I'll go and talk to the people of Coventry. Wish me luck.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

'Coventry lost a good deal of its ancient heart amidst the Blitz of World War II.'

'It was in the spirit of reconciliation that the city was twinned first with Stalingrad

-'and then later with Dresden.'

-'It's very much a city looking up,

'with development money pouring into the centre and the shopping arcades full of people.'

'With some cracking houses for your money, Coventry compares favourably to nearby Birmingham.'

'But what, I hear you cry, will £140,000 buy you elsewhere in the UK?'

'This fishing lodge may not look much, but it's the lake and acres of beautiful parkland near Exeter

'that make this property so appealing.

'It has a guide price of £140,000.'

'How about this two-bed cottage near Devizes?

'It's been lovingly updated but retains an oldy-worldy charm.

'On the market for 140 grand.'

'Fancy a luxury log cabin in Shropshire?

'Ideal as a holiday let or a second home, lucky for you, it's got electricity and running water,

'but it also has very tranquil surroundings. Also 140 grand.'

'Whilst Jonnie talks to estate agents,

'I'm off to find out why Coventry has a seemingly negative reputation.'

What I'm trying to do today is bring out the positives of Coventry.

What is the greatest thing about living in Coventry?

Erm...

-Coventry gets a bit of a hard press, doesn't it, sometimes?

-Yes.

-What are the good areas of Coventry?

-We're in it now.

Tell the good people at home what is great about Coventry.

-I'm actually from Birmingham.

-You're in Coventry now.

-What do you enjoy about Coventry?

-Er, not much, really.

Not much? You're part of the problem!

South side, south west. Trying to put some names on that,

we're talking Earlsdon, where we are now,

Styvechale, Finham and then round to Coundon area, very popular.

-This seems a nice area. Do you like this?

-Yeah, it's all right.

-What about the local Coventry folk. Are they friendly?

-Yeah.

-You see?

Yeah, there is a few good points.

When you scratch the surface, it's got a lovely, warm underbelly.

So with £140,000,

what can we look at around the Coundon area?

-She should find herself either a very nicely presented two-bedroom property.

-Right.

Or perhaps a three-bedroom that requires a little bit of updating.

-I've been living in Coventry since the early 90s. I think it's a great city.

-What's your favourite part?

Well, it's an ancient city.

She's prepared to do a bit of work. She's got a very handy mother.

-OK, good, good.

-Anything that springs to mind that we could maybe show her?

Yeah, there are properties within... If she's specifically looking at Coundon,

there are properties which are a renovation project.

The location in relation to the rest of the country is brilliant.

-You can get to anywhere from here.

-Apart from distance from sea.

-Distance from sea is fair enough, but you are in the centre of the country.

-Good argument.

Well then, Ed, how did you get on?

I had a genuinely lovely time with the people of Coventry. How did you get on?

I found out lots about Coventry and the property market therein.

-I'll impart more later.

-With £140,000, are we looking rosy?

Oh, it's possible. I wouldn't say a piece of cake.

Right, the thrust of this for Angie is about moving back to Coventry to be near her family and friends.

The first one is on the borders of where her mum lives.

It's everything she wants and it's in the location she wants. I'm confident.

Now, as you know, you watch this programme all the time, it's all about themes.

She likes to cook. I've gone for kitchen. This place has got a lovely kitchen.

Everything else might be a bit of a compromise, but if she's happy baking, she'll be happy living.

Everyone loves the wildcard. And remember, she wants to be living near her mum.

It's so close to her mum's, she might even have seen it before. That's a worry, but it's wild.

-And there it is.

-Property number one first?

-Yes.

'Well, Angie asked for a place in Coundon. Property one should make her go all warm and gooey inside,

'like a hot chocolate pudding. Surely we've progressed straight to dessert with this one.'

Angie and Sadeem, we are in Coundon.

-Well, on the cusp of Coundon.

-Yeah.

-Do you know this area?

-Yeah, I do.

The properties are of a nice era. What do you think about the style?

I like the fact it's got a double bay.

I like that you can see some brickwork and I like the porch

-and I like the fact it's got a front garden.

-Excellent.

-There's a lot of liking going on.

-OK, what are your thoughts?

-I don't like it.

-What?

THEY LAUGH

-Really?

-I don't like it, but I'm sure...

-Explain why you don't like it.

-I don't like the windows.

-But I think that's all I don't really like.

-If you are feeling strongly against it, tone it down.

-OK.

-Three, two, one, enter the house that you like, Angie.

-The less said about what you think, the better. Go.

-OK.

-Let's see what she thinks.

-Oh, it's nicely done out.

-It looks like it's been recently done out. It's bright.

Do not judge a book by its cover. Admittedly, we do ask on a daily basis,

"What do you think of the outside?" But you've got to be positive.

What I liked is the fact that the viewers at home might be thinking, "This is very honest.

-"What's going to happen inside?"

-She loves it.

-She loves it.

-Ah. I like this.

-This is lovely.

-It's quite small, though. Let's have a look at the fireplace.

-Ah.

-It's a modern fireplace.

-Yeah, I'd get that ripped out.

These girls watch a lot of property programmes. They love the cornicing, the dado rail,

the picture rail and a fireplace. This fireplace, they don't love. What can they do?

-Rip it out, put another one in?

-Or get Angie's mum to do it, she's handy.

-It's bigger than I thought. Patio doors.

-Yeah, which I like.

-It's got a pond.

-It's still quite small, isn't it?

I think the back of this house works, especially for Angie.

She wanted open-plan, kitchen-diner, spilling out onto the garden.

-It's amazing for her.

-With a pond.

-Whoa. Look at the size. It's a nice kitchen but it's small.

-They've made good use of the space.

-It's not a huge kitchen but because it's open-plan...

-A kitchen-diner.

-It rocks, doesn't it?

-That wouldn't fit all my stuff in there.

-You wouldn't have to do much to it, though.

-No.

Every positive is being introduced to the table by Sadeem at the moment.

Which I'm taking as a positive, because she was slightly negative at the start.

Ooh. A random cupboard there.

Well, they've found the little cupboard.

Ohh.

-Oh!

-Oh, that's good. You've got all your bathroom stuff in there. That's good cos it's quite small.

-I like the colour.

-Yeah, the colour's good.

-OK.

This is a very small bathroom.

-Small sink, isn't it?

-It's a good use of space, though.

-Yeah. There's a shower, as well.

-I like the big mirror, actually.

-Yeah, that's a good feature.

It makes the bathroom seem just that bit bigger.

That's the power of a mirror. Almost twices the size of it.

-This is a big bedroom.

-Rear bedroom. Ooh, it is big.

-It's lovely.

-I like this. It's nice and airy.

What a lovely use of the term "nice and airy" to come out so early in the day.

-They've certainly seen some property programmes.

-They have.

-They haven't used "deceptively spacious" yet.

-Wait till the third bedroom.

This is a different bedroom.

-This looks bigger still.

-I think this is bigger. I like the way that they've done it.

-Sadeem is surprised she's liking this more than she thought.

-Complete turnaround.

Going from "I don't like this" to "not so bad" is enough of a journey, but she's gone the whole way!

-This would be the box room.

-It is really small.

-But it's good for a study.

-I do like upstairs more than downstairs.

-Yeah, it looks much bigger upstairs than downstairs.

Well, Sadeem, that was a rollercoaster of emotions. Outside, "Hm, not really liking it."

Inside, you got on board. And then we suddenly fell off a cliff again.

-We did, yes.

-Well, at least you were positive at a certain point.

I was trying to be positive, but I think, on the outside,

I just instantly didn't like it. But when I got inside, I could see a lot of features that I would like.

Luckily, the beauty of this programme is that we're not buying a property for you. Angie.

-What do you think about it?

-I like it.

I like how well finished it is.

But I think the downstairs is too small for what I need.

-Shall we just go through the motions of guess the price?

-OK.

-And enjoy ourselves?

And maybe the price might be exciting and we might think...

-Come on.

-All right, then, come on.

-Who wants to go first?

Probably 135, given that they've finished it so well.

OK, 135. Sadeem?

-THEY LAUGH

-132.

-OK.

-Strange.

-I don't know.

-Where did you get that from?

The actual price of this property,

-139,950.

-Ooh!

-What?

-Stop it!

-OK, the price hasn't helped me out.

-It hasn't!

That's the bar which I have to try and jump over

-or limbo underneath with property number two. Want to have a look?

-Yes.

-Follow me.

'We descend upon the neighbouring area of Radford for property two.

'Angie asked for a big kitchen and this massive space should be just to her taste.

'Let's just hope the change in weather doesn't cloud her judgement.'

You won't believe this, but we're only a couple of minutes from the first house.

-Your own little micro-climate!

-Are you sure we're not in Norway?

-What do you think of Radford?

-Erm, it's a bit further out than I was hoping for.

But, because it's a bit further out, maybe we get a bit better property.

So, as you can see, off-street parking, could even build a lean-to garage.

-That's good.

-Obviously, Angie's going to be a bit softer with her opinions.

Let's go to the real news. What do we honestly think about this?

-I'm reserving judgement. I'll wait till the end.

-THEY LAUGH

-Doesn't it look really nice?

-I'm loving the pebble-dash.

-Go in.

-Take these.

-Yeah, I need this. Come on.

-Listen, Ed, I've got a cunning plan.

-What's that?

-Headphones inside.

-Yeah. I don't know.

-I'm not too keen.

-It's not...

Is that Sadeem? That's Sadeem. See? Do you know how I felt?

-Oh, it's OK.

-Big.

-Yeah, it's bigger.

-Much bigger.

-A lot of seating. That's good.

-Square.

Yeah, very square!

-This is where it gets better.

-Cos, let's be honest,

if they don't like this, we might as well go home.

I'm stuffed. I'll have to sit in the snow as punishment.

Ooh! Kitchen. And dining room.

-I really like that fireplace.

-Oh, I love that.

-That's lovely.

We can hear them. We are sat, geographically,

in a kind of lean-to/conservatory off the back of there, which is very nice, very warm.

This is her study, where she'll be doing all her marking. Very nice.

Yeah, it's a lot bigger. I like the fact that it's all one area.

-You've got this breakfast table. It's lovely.

-Yeah.

-Loads of storage.

Oh, you've got a utility room, as well.

-You've got a utility off it. This is one nice big dining-kitchen.

-Mm-hm.

-And downstairs loo.

-Happy days.

Oh, that's quite handy. Downstairs loo.

-Big kitchen, tick.

-Likeable front room, hmm.

-Quite narrow.

-Yeah.

I'm expecting to hear them say the reverse of yours.

-It feels smaller upstairs than it does downstairs.

-Mm.

-First bedroom.

-This must be the box room.

It's not too bad.

You could have storage here, put a wardrobe there, and then you've got this other little alcove here.

Oh, I didn't see that. That's all right for a box room.

Right then, so...

Is this... This is a peculiarly shaped room.

Is it another box room or a study?

So you could probably fit a double bed there.

You could fit a double bed in, then you'd have all this space free.

It's like a double box room.

-It's just the shape of it.

-It's an unusual shape, isn't it?

-You don't really know how big it is.

-Yeah.

What they need to do is get Mrs Angie in here with her wrecking ball

and reorder some of that upstairs.

Here's my idea. You've got this nice conservatory for work space.

-Make two of the small bedrooms into one, like the Spice Girls song.

-Two become one.

OK. Ooh, interesting. What's that, cream?

-Oh.

-Cream bathroom suite.

-You've got a separate shower and bath.

-Yeah, that's good.

This bathroom provides them with that separate shower. People love that.

Mine would've done. They had to build it, but it would've done it.

OK. There's plenty of room for... That's the highest bed I've ever seen!

-Yeah!

-Wow!

-Very big windows.

-Yeah. You can see the garden.

-It's all right.

-It's a nice shape, again. You've got a shed.

Angie, we're trying to find you a house,

but the focus is starting to go on the pendulum swing of your moods, isn't it, Sadeem?

We need to know. Outside, you weren't prepared to say.

You had to look round the house. You've looked round. The verdict is...?

-I don't like it.

-Ohh.

-Look, you said, Angie, it was all about the kitchen and the cookery.

-Look at this!

-It's a big kitchen. I like that. But I'd have to rip the kitchen out and start again.

Shall we play guess the price? Sometimes with the price,

-it can swing us round.

-At least someone will get to win this contest. That's a positive.

-At the moment, Angie, you are in the lead of guess the price.

-Yep.

We have a maximum budget of £140,000.

-Do you want to go first?

-Yes, please.

-Go on.

-129.

-129.

-Ooh, straight out the box.

-Right.

I would go 125.

-You're both way out. You win this time.

-Yay!

-It's on the market, though,

big shocks, £138,950.

-Really?

-I'm surprised.

-OK. Me, too.

-There is always the wildcard.

-It's people's favourite part of the programme. Are you excited?

-Yeah, I think so.

'The equivalent of Heston Blumenthal's snail porridge,

'the wildcard is designed to cause a stir.'

'Plus, there's a little cherry on the top that could leave Angie very contented.'

Now, Angie, where do you live with your mum currently?

-Erm, there.

-There, right. Do you want to know where the wildcard is?

-Go on, then.

-Just there.

-Hm! That is perfect!

It is, because you wanted to move here to be near to your mum.

-You can't get much better than that.

-Perfect.

-We like to test people

when they say they don't mind doing some work.

And also your mum is very good at work, she's got a quite easy commute to her new building site.

-So it does need some work. Does that put you off?

-No. I can handle that.

-I've got this read.

-Go on.

-You know the pendulum that is the emotion of Sadeem?

-Oh, no.

There's been arms folded throughout that entire conversation.

-Oh, they're open! No, they're back.

-Shall we even bother asking Sadeem?

-It's Pandora's box but I'm going in there. What do you think about this location?

-I love it.

-It's perfect for Angie.

-I don't believe you.

-It can't be.

-So, at the moment, you're positive.

-Really positive. I've got a good feeling.

-Fantastic. I'm going to ask you no more questions. The wildcard awaits. Go.

-OK.

Snowball fight.

This is the hallway. Erm, it need decorating.

-Right.

-Decorating? A little bit more than that, I'd say.

We were a bit cruel by not explaining the extent to which this property needs renovations.

-Let's have a look in the front room. OK.

-It's really big.

-Yeah, that's good.

-Good size. Nice archway.

-Yeah.

What I want is tapping. I want them knocking on walls, working things out.

She can create what she wants in that room quite easily.

-SHE KNOCKS ON WALL

-Yeah, we can pull it all out and just have a big, open space.

OK, there we go. That's the first sign of investment into the property.

-OK, yeah, it's good. It's a decent enough size, isn't it?

-Look at this, Angie.

-Yeah, that's really 70s!

-It's really 70s.

-70s and 60s.

-It hasn't been touched for 30 years.

-What would you do?

I'd pull all that out, I'd pull all that out,

I'd get a kitchen that was massive

and have a big table there and then have my sitting room there with a big wood-burning stove there.

Yeah, I'd do all that. It'd be really good. I'd like that.

Listen how animated Angie is! She's going for it here!

This is what we wanted to hear two properties ago.

-You'd have to modernise it massively.

-It's a blank canvas.

-You could rip these out, though.

-Yeah.

-A partition here. You could take this out.

Yeah. That'll all come out.

-KNOCKS ON WALL

-Yeah, it's only wood.

-Yeah. It's not supporting.

-It's a decent size.

-It's spot on!

They're finding positives in the negatives here. It's amazing!

What I hope they don't think is, when they see that lean-to, or nearly-leaning-over,

I don't want them to even think about it staying.

-OK, what's this?

-This is a dodgy lean-to.

-Ooh!

-Oh, you can hear the rain.

-It looks like someone's made this themselves.

Nothing wrong with making it yourself, but I would rip it out.

She's done it. She's said it. She's in the zone. She didn't accept that it was going to stay.

-There is quite a bit of work to be done.

-Mm-hm.

-Right, then.

Lots of flowery wallpaper. Let's have a look in the bathroom.

-Ooh, green!

-Very green.

-Lime green! That's going to get ripped out, too!

-Oh, more floral.

-Interesting ceiling.

I know. It's quite nice, actually.

-I'd never keep it.

-No.

-Yep, it's an all right sized room.

-Would I get a double bed in?

-Yeah, you'd get a double bed in easy.

-A little wardrobe there. It'd just be like a little spare room.

-Guest room.

-For me.

-Yeah!

-THEY LAUGH

Spare bedroom. Sadeem should be sizing that up.

Yeah. A nice size spare bedroom.

-OK. Well, it's big.

-Yeah, it's a big room.

-Loads of wardrobe space.

-That's an amazing view.

-Oh, the park.

And you can see when my parents are leaving the house, bringing me my food.

I'm hoping Angie's mum's retired. Basically, she's working on this house full time,

-yet she's cooking all of her meals and bringing them over!

-She is her mum. That's what mums are for.

Huge room, beautiful view.

I like it. It's shed loads of work, but I do really like it.

Right, then. You'd just have to rip everything out and start again.

-But it's a fresh canvas for you.

-Yeah.

Now, Sadeem and Angie. Let's go to you first, Sadeem.

-This is a first for today. The viewers will be over the moon. You like this.

-I really liked it.

-A lot.

-Yeah, I can really see Angie in this property.

-OK.

-Well, Angie.

-Is she telling the truth?

-Yeah. Not in its current state,

but yeah, it's a perfect area,

it's got a massive garden which I love,

it's got all the scope for me to be able to rip bits out and get it exactly how I want.

-Let's play guess the price. I believe it's 1-1.

-It is. We don't often get this neck and neck scenario.

Who's going to go first?

Look at you! You look like one of your pupils.

-I don't want to go!

-I don't know, miss.

-Grumpy Sadeem to go first, I say.

-OK. Sadeem, how much is this place?

Grumpy Sadeem thinks it's 135.

I think it's 130.

130, correct. It is you, Angie. It is £130,000.

We've looked at all the properties today, we've seen what the price is,

-I reckon you could probably get that down a little bit.

-I think I could.

Been on the market for a little while. Not that I'm saying buy it now.

-I don't want to put in jeopardy, "which one will you pick, one, two or three?"

-But it's not the end.

-We've got to make a decision.

-The biggest decision of your adult lives. You ready?

-I think so.

Maybe go to your mum's house. We'll see you later on.

Well, if I was a betting man, I know what I'd be placing my money on.

-My one.

-Yeah, kind of! Listen, here's a recap for you guys at home

-of not only the three properties but today's three different types of weather in Coventry.

-Yes.

'I'm still hopeful that property one may yet take the spoils.

'Angie asked for Coundon and she could move straight into this delightful house.

'It's on the market for £139,950.'

'Property two had the benefit of a very big kitchen.

'I compromised with other aspects, but there's no denying

'this place offered a lot for £138,950.'

'The wildcard today is all about location

'and it couldn't be much closer to her parents.

'But, will the work be too much even for Angie and her mum?

'On the market for 130 grand.'

'Well, it wasn't really a surprise, was it?

'The wildcard was the winner from the very moment we showed it to Angie.

'But where are the girls?

'They're not upstairs. Nor are they in the lounge.'

'They're foodies! Of course! There's only one place they could be.'

'Yep, it's baking time. Looks like we're in for a treat.'

'They're making the most of it, but that kitchen needs a complete renovation.'

Once it's done, you'd have a massive dining table there and do all your stuff on the table.

You wouldn't have to bother with the kitchen surfaces.

-'Mm, chocolate. And lots of it.'

-'All right, steady on, Ed!'

What about upstairs? How would you have upstairs?

Just less wallpaper.

-And less funny ceiling tiles.

-Yeah.

Possibly a loft conversion, cos then you can have a whole extra bedroom.

-'You know what this house-hunting lark is, don't you, Jonnie?'

-'A piece of cake?'

-That was amazing.

-You are the only person who's eaten it, you big...

-Look, I'm a growing lad!

-That's not a slice, that's half of it!

Very nice, though. We need more of that on our programme.

Now, ladies, cake lovely. House lovely? That is the question.

Why did we pick the wildcard to test drive?

Because it will be lovely.

Because, once you rip out a few walls and get it all looking a bit spangly,

-it's going to be exactly what I wanted.

-You've spent a bit of time here now.

Are you daunted by all this work ahead of you?

Yes, hugely, and that bit is a little bit scary,

but it's worth it, because it's in the right location, it's got a nice big garden.

-Yeah, it's definitely worth doing.

-Here it comes. The nation are hanging on your every words.

To buy or not to buy? That is the question.

-To buy. To buy.

-Fantastic news!

-I'll be honest,

outside property two, we thought we would fail today.

It needs to be a better price than it currently is.

It needs to, I'd say, be about 120.

So, yeah, if I get it for the right price, yeah, to buy.

Well, that is amazing news. You've obviously got a bit of work to do now in this negotiation,

-so we wish you the very best of luck with that.

-We've got to help the rest of the nation.

-Wish us luck with that and thank you very much, it's been lovely.

-Thank you.

-See you soon.

-Bye-bye.

That was a to buy, which is great news, but you seem incredibly happy.

Look, neither of our properties won the day,

but that in there is genuinely a happy ending.

And that's all I care about because, it's not about the profile, it's about the people.

That is a motto that's worthy of translating into Latin and forming a crest out of.

If you're struggling to find the property of your dreams,

please don't hesitate to get in contact

and maybe we can replicate that kind of smile on his face.

-Otherwise, see you next time.

-Bye-bye.

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