Brighton To Buy or Not to Buy

We pride ourselves as being the fifth emergency service.

Yes, over the years, we have helped house some of the people you rely on in your time of need.

-Fire fighters.

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-Ambulance workers, doctors and nurses.

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-And roadside breakdown recovery people.

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And today, pets of Brighton, relax, we are hoping to house a vet for you.

Today's house hunter is almost as active as me.

Later on in the year, she is hoping to ride her push bike

from Land's End to John O'Groats.

Yes, she's a go-getter and she wants to go get some of the good life here

in London upon Sea, or as the locals prefer to call it, Brighton.

Now, when she's not mending dogs, spaying cats or healing budgerigars,

she needs a place to relax and recharge her batteries.

And that's where we come in to help.

What? We're going to have to spay a cat with her?

No, you fool, find a house.

That's a relief, isn't it?

Coming up on today's To Buy Or Not To Buy, the most unusual request we've ever had.

I think you're dancing round what I think is the most ludicrous thing

that anyone has ever said on this programme, and I've read this about you.

I know what you are going to say.

Nikki doesn't mince her words.

Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, on a hill. What are you moaning about?

-Um...

-And the compliments come in thick and fast.

Wow, this is lovely.

-I think this feels quite homely.

-Yeah, quite impressed, actually.

Yeah, I am. It is a proper wild card, it's not what I was expecting.

So let's meet today's buyer, the lovely Rebecca East.

Being a vet, she loves all creatures great and small.

Rebecca has lived in Brighton for around about six years and absolutely loves it.

So she wants to stay in the area.

In fact, she's not moving out, rather moving up the property ladder.

Now, as you know, on this programme we don't let you house hunt on your own.

So she's dragged mate Tony along to help her make the biggest decision of her adult life.

-Now, Rebecca, I believe that we are moving up the property ladder.

-Yes.

I've decided it's time to move on.

At the moment, I live in an area called Hollingdean but I've decided that I want to be somewhere a little

bit closer to the pubs that I like going to, where my friends live, and which is generally closer to town.

Staggering distance is what you want us to do.

You could phrase it that way, I suppose so.

It would be nice to be able to walk home in an evening rather than get a taxi.

-Tony.

-Yeah.

-You're not called Tony, are you?

-No.

-You're called Mitch.

-My friends call me Mitch.

So are you a bit of a property expert. What do you...?

-Absolutely not whatsoever.

-OK.

My role in this is to make sure that Becca stays quite positive about things.

OK. Has she got the temptation to sometimes drift off?

Has it been hard looking for the house?

-Yes. She's quite negative and quite...

-Well...

-She sees the bad things in stuff.

-I've seen a lot of properties that I really like and then, yeah,

I will see a lot of the bad things and panic about making the final move.

And what sort of thing are you looking for? Are you looking for a house, an apartment?

Well, I traditionally would like to be in a house, I think.

-I'd like there to be two bedrooms.

-OK.

That gives me the option of having people to stay or potentially,

you know, potentially letting a room out if I needed the extra income.

OK, so two bedrooms most definitely. What about the actual living space, any requirements there?

At the moment, I've got a kitchen and a dining room and they are separate.

-Mmm-hmm.

-But I'd quite like to have an open plan kitchen diner.

-Ah.

-Because I like having people over.

It's got to have enough storage room for me to put all my stuff in

and I've got lots of equipment to do with all the sports that I do.

I think you are dancing round what I think is

the most ludicrous thing that anyone has ever said on this programme, and I've read this about you.

-I know what you are going to say.

-What is it?

I would like to live on a slope, I wouldn't want to live at the bottom of a hill.

Right. Mitch, can you explain to the viewers why Rebecca would like to live at the top of a hill.

-Rising sea levels, basically.

-No.

-That's... I'm not completely afraid of living at sea level but...

-But...

I do think it makes sense to have good drainage from the property.

So where should we be looking? Are there areas that you particularly want?

Sort of London Road Station area.

-Mmm-hmm.

-Going up to...

-Hanover.

-Yeah, Hanover. Seven Dials.

-All right then.

What are the good things about Brighton in your mind?

You've got the sea on your doorstep, the South downs.

-We like to head up there with the bikes every now and again.

-Fly your kite.

-So, yeah...

-Well, that's obviously front...

Do you know how big her kites are?

That's a very personal question.

Well, it is rather, isn't it? Would you like to explain to Ed how big your kites are?

I've got two kites and one of them is seven metres and the other...

But seven metres is probably the wingspan of a small light aircraft.

-Yes, it...

-Have you ever taken off slightly whilst flying it?

-Actually I have, yeah.

-But how high...?

-A couple of times.

How high do you go up by accident?

You go up as little as possible before you realise that you need to take some evasive action and...

-Does that mean let go?

-Yeah, it did for me, when it happened to me.

Now, you are about to do something ridiculous on a bike.

A friend and myself are going to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats in about six weeks' time.

-I actually don't have a bike to do the Land's End John O'Groats bid at the moment...

-Ah.

-But I will be getting one.

-OK. And how many bikes have you currently got before this other one turns up?

Well, I've got a very, very ancient road bike and I've got a mountain bike.

So you're going to have three bikes at the end of this then?

-I do need somewhere safe and secure to store them.

-How much money have you got to spend on the dream?

I have managed to get a mortgage agreed up to 300,000.

-I think I'd feel a bit uncomfortable going up to 300,000.

-Tell you what, let's have that as our haggle zone.

I'd be looking more about sort of 250, 270.

-OK.

-All right, well, wish us luck and we'll see you later.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

-You're lighter than you look, Ed.

-Tell you what, that surprises me, because if you look at my six pack,

Nikki, they normally say that muscle is heavier than fat, so I'll take that as a compliment.

Anyway, when I'm not doing exercise to achieve this physique,

I'm always thinking about property. What Rebecca said about being negative when she sees properties,

I'm not going to worry about that today because I am only going to listen

to some of the things she said. I'm going to be bold.

Well, when I'm not lifting wimps like you out of the sea,

I like to give our house hunters what they want.

-Really?

-Which is two bedrooms on a hill, storage and a garden.

All right, Nikki, can you lift me to the estate agent so I can start the hunt now, please?

I can and I can run in slow motion, too.

Brighton sits on the south east coast of England,

with its magnificent pier proudly protruding into the sea.

It was opened in 1899 and is 1,722 feet long,

Grade II listed and has been acknowledged

as one of the finest piers ever built.

Brighton only became a city ten years ago after it received

its city status from the Queen as part of the millennium celebrations.

And with a population of nearly a quarter of a million, so it should be.

And on the subject of millions, around eight million people a year visit Brighton.

That's not surprising considering it's been voted as the coolest city in the UK,

with Edinburgh and Cardiff hot on its heels.

Which is why this cosmopolitan metropolis continues to be a popular destination for property buyers.

Making the average house price here £250,000.

But for now, it's that time in the show where we take a look

at what else is available to buy across the rest of the country.

And if you fancy living by the seaside, then take a look at these three beauties.

Our first gem today is in Blackpool.

It's a three bed traditional detached property

that's beautifully decorated throughout

and I have it on good authority that there's even a sea view.

On the market for £249,999.

This semi-detached property in Scarborough doesn't have a sea view but it does have four bedrooms,

three reception rooms, a conservatory and a hot tub in the garden.

All for 280 grand.

Finally, in Western Super Mare, there's this cottage-style detached house.

Neutrally decorated throughout with three double bedrooms and walking distance to the beach.

On the market for £254,950.

But for now it's back to Brighton to continue with today's search. Hello, pleased to meet you. My name is Ed.

So, are you a Brightonian? Is that the right word?

I'm a Brightonian in the sense that I moved down here 18 months ago, so now I'm a Brightonian.

So you are new to the area, really?

-I am.

-What brought you here?

The ambience, the sea, just the way of life, it's just fantastic.

I am looking for a property for a girl called Rebecca and she is looking for two bedrooms,

she's got £300,000 maximum to spend but she doesn't really want to spend that much beyond 250.

-Is that achievable here?

-Absolutely.

Did you get more bang for your buck than you would, say, in London?

We moved from London so obviously, you know, we ended up with a surplus.

-But, you know, property down here is still expensive.

-Yeah.

But the property is just nicer.

So, Scott, Rebecca has a strange thing and this is one of her main points.

She believes that one day, because of global warming,

that the seas around Brighton will rise. She wants to live on a hill.

What are the hilly parts of Brighton?

So I mean, you've got Hanover, you've got Elm Grove, this area, and then a little bit further up,

towards the race course, you couldn't get much higher in Brighton while living on a hill.

So tell me a little bit about the Brighton you know.

Right, well the Brighton I know is very vibrant, very cultural,

great diversity amongst everything, between the shops,

the characteristics of the different lanes.

-She also has a seven foot, or seven metre, kite that she flies.

-OK.

For her money, where are the areas where she's going get more space?

Just down the road you've got Kemp Town, which is a nice desirable area.

I'm going to go away, meet up with the mysterious property hunting team,

look at these, and could we arrange some viewings later?

-Absolutely.

-Scott, there's the hand. Pleasure to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-See you soon.

-Bye-bye.

Now, the mysterious property hunting team and myself have ignored

Rebecca's number one criteria about living on a hill, it's ridiculous.

If you live in Brighton, deal with it.

This sea, I hope I'm not ever proved wrong, is not going to rise up and wash away her house.

I've gone for the property nearest the sea.

If you live in Brighton, you want to be by the sea. That is the property.

It is lovely, it is perfect, it's gorgeous, it is what she wants, even though, technically,

because it's not on a hill, it isn't what she wants.

I'm going to prove her wrong.

Well, mine is actually closer to Brighton, which is what she asked for, Ed.

Not only that, mine is on a little hill.

Two bedrooms, double bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a garden.

Nikki, you are a fool to be confident, though, because we have the wild card.

Now, everyone loves the wild card. It is beautiful.

It is on a gigantic hill, so if she doesn't like my one

that isn't on a hill or yours which is half on a hill,

the wild card really is on a hill.

It's brilliant, it's really nice.

There is no reason for her, and I'm going to say it,

to not buy any one of these. They are all lovely.

I am going to enjoy today's house hunting, but where shall we start it?

-Um, mine.

-No, mine!

-SHE LAUGHS

Stupendous, spectacular, amazing and a real eye catcher

are all words you could use to describe my property today.

Go on, pick any one, I dare you. Now, Rebecca and Mitch,

we are stood outside property number one. Now, right, look at the door furniture on that.

-Doesn't that just say, "Buy me"?

-They have done it up very nicely.

That quality is carried throughout the house.

I want to know a first impression from you please, Rebecca.

It does look very nice from the outside. I like it. It's on a nice street.

-Now, Mitch, I took a gamble because, um, we're not on a hill here.

-You're not on a hill, no.

Is this a...? Because you said that Rebecca can go downhill and quite, you know...

-Yeah. You're taking a gamble.

-Really?

-Yeah. I think you are.

No, I think it will be OK.

Because yeah, from that road, at the end of that road,

it does go downhill to get to the sea so this is on enough of a slope.

-Are you excited?

-Yeah. I can't wait to have a look, actually.

My goodness gracious me. Look, Nikki's looking very nervous.

I have to admit I am, because this is stunning. Did I say that out loud?

-Yes, you did. Right, three, two, one, don't be scared.

-OK.

-Brilliant.

-Thank you.

Wow, it's very nicely done.

-It is really nice.

-First word?

-They're loving it.

-Wow.

What are you thinking?

-It's my sort of style, actually.

-Yeah.

I wonder if they're selling the furniture as well.

It's quite open, which you wanted.

Yeah. Yeah, that's true. You can see right through to the kitchen.

-Now, what did she want? She wanted a nice airy, open living space.

-Mmm.

Have a look at that, right? If you flick to that in a dictionary...

Firstly, why, would you have that in a dictionary?

But if they did, it would be a picture of that.

-It would.

-Looks like an original fire place.

-Yeah, it's very attractive.

You think it still works? It probably does, yeah.

I don't know.

-Yeah, it looks like it does, actually.

-Brilliant.

-We could check that out.

-They're testing to see whether the fire works

and what Rebecca did was just shove her hand up it and went, "I think that'll work."

-It's a nice area as well, isn't it?

-It's really nice and...

-Have...

-Brilliant table.

-That's about the same size as my table.

-Yeah.

-That will fit in here.

-Are you going to fit all your friends round there for dinner parties?

-Yeah.

It's actually bigger than my dining room at the moment. What's this?

This is quite cool, isn't it?

That is your log burner.

-Wow.

-That'll be good for the winter.

-That is lovely.

-I've been informed that that does work.

-It does, indeed.

-I wonder whether Rebecca will put her magical

fire testing hand into it and, um, just say, "Yes, that's fine."

OK, garden's nice.

-Yeah. I don't know where I'd put my bikes.

-Yeah.

-I don't think it...

You would have to bring your bikes through that door, through here.

-Yeah.

-Through the whole place.

-Which I wouldn't mind doing, but where am I going to put them out there?

There is room, surely, if she can have permission to have a shed there.

-Or pop a bike shed there.

-That's what I mean, yeah, three bikes.

-There we go, singing from the same hymn sheet then.

-Yeah.

Imagine cooking in here?

-It's quite small.

-Yeah.

-It's about half the size of my kitchen at the moment but I think it's workable.

-Yeah.

-There's enough space in here to do a dinner party.

-Absolutely.

Or to cook for me, which is what it generally would be most of the time, so.

Yeah, obviously doing dinner parties, do you think you would be

-if you were in here?

-Yes, you're pretty much in the same room, aren't you?

-Yes.

OK. Now, it isn't an entire kitchen dinery thing but good old Mitch, as ever, is selling this property

very well for me and he's saying, it's kind of like it, isn't it?

OK.

-OK, so is it the main bedroom?

-Do you think it's the main one?

I think it's probably the second bedroom.

If it's the second bedroom then that's fine.

-If it's the main bedroom would you want to...

-Well...

-I mean for Brighton I think you do have to accept some compromises on space don't you?

-Yeah, absolutely.

-So the C word, Ed.

-It has come out.

-Compromise.

Well, do you know what, in life when you are moving from where Rebecca is moving to here, it costs a lot more

to live here so a compromise is going to have to be factored in.

-So bathroom here.

-Oh, this is very nice.

-Very tidy.

-Yeah.

-Oh, it's got one of those nice plush walk-in showers.

-Yeah. I like that.

-Yeah, I've always fancied one of those.

-Don't need a bath?

I never have a bath anyway.

-No?

-I'm not a woman who likes to have a bath actually.

-I like to have a shower... I knew you'd do that.

-But not very often.

On a Wednesday. Isn't it once a week you have a shower?

Honestly, viewers, if smellavision is ever invented, speed through the bits where Nikki is on screen.

All I'm saying is, for a bathroom like that I can live without a bath.

Big mirrors.

-Yeah, they've done a lot with a small space haven't they?

-Yeah.

Yeah, it's got everything you need.

Cosy but yet it still feels quiet spacious.

-Cosy but it does what it's meant to.

-Yeah.

Dare I say it?

Sexy bathroom that, isn't it?

I think that's a good description.

So, final bedroom.

OK, is this smaller than the other room?

I think it's a little bit smaller but it feels,

-I think I like the way that it looks over the street.

-Yeah?

-Yeah. I think I'd...

-Would this be your room then?

-I think it probably would be.

-Yeah.

Would I fit all my stuff in?

With difficulty I think.

You'd need some help bringing your kites upstairs.

-Where would I keep them?

-Yeah. Where would you keep all that stuff?

We have a size issue, Ed.

Now, I thought this was going to happen and I have this covered, right?

Property, lovely, beautiful, kissable even.

Bedrooms, need to be seen as only bedrooms and places where you store your clothes,

not as a place where you would store a gigantic seven-metre kite and ridiculous collection of bikes.

Do you reckon Nikki's going to be able to up the ante a bit?

-Well, I hope so.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

If she's found a better house than this one, I can't wait to see it.

-Yeah.

-But this is... Yeah, this is a nice house.

-Ed has set the bar quite high.

-Yeah.

Now, Rebecca and Mitch, I think you liked that,

but obviously the buzz word, cosy, and maybe it being a bit...

It's quite a bit smaller than where I live at the moment.

That's probably going to be a compromise you might have...

-Yeah.

-Because it's Brighton.

Yeah. And if I'm going to move closer into town then the properties do get smaller for your money.

-Yeah. And you are, what, seven, ten minutes away from Brighton.

-So you are really close.

And I do live on my own

and I think I could fit all my stuff into this house living on my own.

-Yeah?

-But I possibly couldn't have a tenant here.

There are things you own that don't necessarily need to be indoors, right?

And that's probably the majority of your clutter, because your bikes and your kites.

Have a look at that space there. Now, have you seen those fancy mini bike sheds things?

You could lock everything away, in the back of the house. You are in a terrace.

There's another garden, safety-wise, insurance-wise,

you would be absolutely fine,

therefore freeing up an extra bedroom.

So you could have a lodger I would say.

Look what the neighbours have done. They've got an extension.

-So the house can grow with you.

-Yeah.

Yeah, that's quite a workable shed-type space isn't it?

Now, can you see your seven-foot kites there too? Could you...

Oh, yeah, they deflate and they pack down to this.

Oh, OK, right, sorry forgive my ignorance.

-Yeah, you fold them all up.

-Can you see yourself living here?

-Yeah, I can.

-I could see you living here.

Come on, do you want to play guess the price?

-OK.

-Who's going first?

-Ladies first.

-Very gallant of you.

I have to say I have no idea because I haven't been looking at properties in this area.

I think,

I think it will probably be around about 250.

OK.

I'm going to go more than that.

I'm going for 258.

OK. The intriguingly priced 258.

Now, you say you haven't been in this area.

Evidently not.

The price of this property,

-Mitch is closest.

-Is it a lot more?

-But not that close.

-You're not that close. £295,000.

-Wow.

-Now, your maximum budget was £300,000

and you said that you obviously didn't want to go that high.

This is a house all singing, all dancing, done up.

Perfect, lovely, it's in a great location.

-Yeah.

-So this is what you could get for the finished article and what the finished article might be worth.

-Yeah.

-Right at the top of your budget.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

That's only property number one. You've still got two more to see.

-Shall we go to mine now?

-Yes, let's do that.

-Come on.

-Let's go.

Well, Ed's property might have been top of the class

when it comes to presentation but my house has more bang for your buck, I can tell you.

Oh, can you feel what this is? Oh.

-It is definitely a slope.

-What do you mean it's a slope? It's a hill!

You prided yourself on a hill.

-Yeah, we are on a hill.

-This is, Becca and Mitch, a hill.

-Yeah.

-Which brings us to property number two, my property.

What do you think of this from the outside? First impressions.

-It's not as pretty as the last place but it looks a lot bigger.

-Mmm?

-It looks like,

it looks like it's fairly well decorated inside.

-It's got new, newish windows.

-Right.

And it's got some original features as well and it's nice solid brick house, which I like.

-It is.

-What a thorough description.

-Yes. You will find in there that I've given you every single thing that you've asked for.

-OK.

Just one thing might need a little bit of love, that's all. One thing.

Am I going to have to find that out for myself?

-Yeah, you will find.

-A little bit of love.

-A little bit of love,

but I'm really quite confident.

-OK, all right then, go.

-OK.

OK, what do you think?

It's quite nice on the inside.

Yeah. So your front room.

-Oh, it's got a nice-looking open fire again.

-Yeah.

-It would be nice to have one of those.

-Yeah.

-I would like that.

Well, it feels smaller but I think that's because it's not open plan

because the actual space I think, the downstairs space

-is going to be the same, if not possibly bigger.

-Yeah.

-I don't know how easily you could knock through some of these walls but I'm sure it could be done.

-Yeah.

What they'll see when they move into the kitchen and dining area

they have all the open plan they could possibly want.

OK, so, kitchen dining room.

-Oh, yeah.

-So you've got your kitchen dining room in one.

-Yeah, this...

-What you wanted.

-This feels much, a much easier space to work in.

-The kitchen's... I don't know if it's got more stuff in it but it feels bigger.

-Yeah.

And I like this space here, yeah.

Again, you could potentially knock that through to have it open plan if you needed it but...

I don't think I'd want to, actually.

I'm going to speak a quietly because I know that they can hear me inside,

but they are liking the kitchen dining area.

(Loving it, aren't they? This is what she asked for.)

-(It's on her plan.)

-(It's exactly what she asked for.)

It looks out onto your garden.

-Let's take a peek.

-Yeah.

-Oh, there's a bit of grass as well.

So do you reckon Nikki is doing better then at this point?

Oh... It's a close call. Mmm.

Do you think Nikki's doing better than Ed at the moment,

was a question I just heard posed by Mitch.

The time it took her to answer that question, right, she's just being polite, OK?

She doesn't want to offend me or you.

She really does think mine is better.

Downstairs toilet by the looks of it.

-And...

-Yeah.

-Oh, it's another walk-in shower.

These are all the rage at the moment aren't they?

It's a really big walk-in shower. That's nice.

Ah you see that wouldn't work for me.

-Why not?

-Because it hasn't got a detachable hose.

-I see.

I think a man has put that shower in

because girl's don't always want to wash their hair every time.

-So...

-I'm glad you explained.

-Hah.

-What?

-Isn't this weird, right?

Gift horse in the mouth. You have given her a downstairs bathroom, a,

dare I say it, sexy downstairs bathroom, all the bathrooms seem

to be sexy here. Rebecca's looking at it and went, "This is no good, detachable hose, where's that?"

Unbelievable. This country.

Main bedroom I think.

Looks like it.

-Yeah, that's a good size.

-Feels quite spacious.

Room for a triple wardrobe.

Yes, so that's your storage sorted out.

Very important!

-So...

-That's not a bad view.

-It's OK.

You could almost see the sea I think.

Quite a nice view over Brighton.

They are liking the first bedroom. Spacious. They are liking the view.

-Oh, this is a good size as well.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-This will be the second room, won't it?

-Yes. So a decent second bedroom.

Even if you didn't put a bed in it. You could just put a futon

or something along there and then have guests and stuff.

Even with...

The garden's nice, the garden is cute.

Even with all this space, though...

-Yeah.

-I think I still preferred the last place.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Did you hear that?

-Yes, of course I heard it.

But she just said such lovely things about my place.

Doesn't matter, Nikki, doesn't matter.

In life, right, winners are winners and losers...

-Oh.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-So you do have a second bathroom, which is a bit squeaky.

Squeaky.

It looks lie it's half way through being done.

Yes. Thinking outside the box then, you could knock something through, have it as en suite.

Have an en suite. Ah, could do.

-I like your thinking, Mitch.

-Yeah.

Right, shall we go back downstairs?

We should. Let's find Ed and Nikki.

Becca, Mitch, property number two.

Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, on a hill. What are you moaning about?

Well, when you put it like that it does tick all the boxes but...

I think I like the property at sea level, actually.

Yes, you see. Shows we are all a little bit different.

But I think that Mitch is probably in a different camp and Mitch...

-Mitch likes this one, yeah.

-This house is I think better than the last one.

-Now, what makes it better?

-It's bigger for a start.

You are always on about your clutter.

So you won't have to de-clutter as much, if you lived here.

Yeah. More room to store stuff in.

-Yeah.

-Also you've got two bathrooms as opposed to one.

-Yeah.

I suppose that could be beneficial, if I did get a tenant at any time.

But this one does need, you know, a bit of decoration here, a bit of work there.

-Yeah.

-Whereas the other one didn't. What we need then

is play everyone's favourite part of the programme, guessing the price.

-OK.

-Now...

-Mitch is going to go first.

Just because Mitch did so well last time.

I know. I went first last time so that's only fair.

OK, we were working around a maximum, maximum, maximum

of £300,000 but we didn't want to spend all of that, you know.

So, Mitch?

I'll reel off 265.

OK. Nudging slightly up.

-OK.

-Um, I think...250.

-You are sticking with 250.

-Yeah.

-I like 250 best.

-You may be right at some point, you never know.

-So 250, 265.

-OK, this is very interesting to me

because this area is a better area in terms of location to Brighton

and proximity to Brighton, you are much closer, and it's much bigger,

-and yet you have brought your price so low.

-Yeah.

-I'm guessing it might be a little bit more than 250.

-Good.

-The price is...

-Yeah?

299,950.

-You are £50 short of your maximum budget.

-The same as the last house?

-This is more expensive.

-More expensive than the last house?

-Yeah.

-Four and a half grand more than the last house.

Which is I think is perfectly reasonable for the...

-I do agree with you.

-You get much more bang for the buck here.

-Yeah.

-Anyway, you were closer yet again.

-So I win.

-And you've ruined guess the price. That's it, it's over.

-You are the winner.

-Guess the price competition ceases to exist.

-However, we continue to play.

-I might make it three nil.

Maybe you'll be winning 50 grand of getting it right.

Right, we do have the wild card.

Are you pinning your hopes on the wild card?

Possibly. Price-wise if nothing else.

OK. Shall we?

Let's go.

We have taken a gamble on Rebecca's love of outdoor pursuits

today with the wild card.

It borders the South Downs rather than the city centre

so staggering home from the pub won't be an option.

Mountain biking and long walks would be.

Fingers crossed she's going to like it.

Now, Mitch and Rebecca, the wild card, the wild card,

everyone loves the wild card. We are at the wild card and what on earth has happened to the weather?

-It does that here.

-This is ridiculous.

Now, we are high up, obviously we're not like kind of Alps-style high but it feels like that doesn't it?

We are in the clouds. Now, I've been given a guarantee

by Scott, the estate agent, that this will never flood.

-That is very unlikely up here.

-So...

We are up in the Downs, essentially.

-Your concerns about global warming are allayed here.

-I'll be fine.

Not a problem.

So what do you think about this. I mean, we're livid because you can't

see the views but there are fantastic views from up here.

Yeah, I have been up here before

and I think there are fantastic views if I remember rightly.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-And you have a front garden here.

-OK.

-As well as a back one.

-Brilliant.

-So double whammy for you.

-Sounds good.

-Definitely feels more like you.

What do you think of the house then?

It looks nice and neat and tidy from the outside.

It looks quite well looked after, in good condition as far as I can see.

-OK. Are you excited to go in?

-I am.

-All right, three, two, one, enjoy.

-Thank you.

Good.

-Shall we take our shoes off?

-Yeah, I think we should.

-Oh, dignity. They've not said that in any of the other houses.

-The other houses have wooden floors, Ed.

OK, but nevertheless, I think it shows a sense of Japanese-style respect for a property.

-That's very true. And Indian, by the way.

-OK. Well, they're doing both then.

So into what's a dining room type thing.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-Wow, this is lovely.

It is very nice.

-It's all open plan.

-OK. Now, what was on her list?

Open plan living downstairs.

The wild card, the wild card. Tout le monde aime the wild card.

-I noticed this as well.

-This is a decent size kitchen, modern.

Yeah. So got a lounge area here,

with a proper fire again. Brilliant.

Oh, I think they've done well here.

I get in that house the biggest sense of space.

Really high ceilings. So much room for storage,

and when you walk in that whole living area is gorgeous.

I think this feels quite homely.

-You look quite impressed actually.

-Yeah. I am.

-It's... It is a proper wild card, it's not what I was expecting.

-Yeah.

Or the location anyway.

I wouldn't have considered this.

Location is quite weird. I think this is a location that either you'll love or hate.

So you've got the dining room, which leads out onto a...

You've got the garden out the back there.

So you've got space for bikes.

-You've got a shed there.

-I'd have to take them through the house, though.

-Yes.

-Because you can't... It doesn't look like there's side access.

Or you could put a shed in the garden, the front garden.

-Out the front.

-Yeah.

-Hmm, yeah it's an idea.

-So the kitchen.

-This is a better sort of size, I think.

Oh, I'm going to be a little bit critical. There isn't any gas.

I like to cook on gas.

Well, perhaps you could ask about putting gas in here.

See if there is gas. Yeah.

And it's got storage heaters by the looks of it as well.

I understand Rebecca's concern about there being no gas

-because it is lovely to cook on gas.

-Mmm-hmm.

But it's just an attitude adjustment she needs.

-OK.

-Lots of people cook on electricity.

-That's true.

This has been done really nicely. Look at the bath.

-Oh, brilliant bath, yeah. Class.

-It's got feet.

That's a really nice bathroom isn't it?

-And a stand up shower.

-With a head that you can take off.

Yes, with an adjustable nose.

-Mitch has picked up on that.

-Thank goodness for that.

-I was worried about that adjustable hose business.

-Were you really?

Well, when I went in there did you see me kiss the adjustable hose?

-No.

-Well, I did because I knew, thank goodness, it's got one.

-So let's have a look at the first bedroom.

-OK.

-What do you think?

-Well, it's a single room, isn't it?

You wouldn't fit a double bed in here at all but it's a good spare room.

It's a spare room. Yeah.

-It's got a nice original fire place.

-Yeah.

-So they've only got a single bed in there right now but you could fit a double bed in there.

-Yes.

-Or a three quarter, if you wanted, couldn't you?

-Yes, you could.

Oh, the main room.

-Yeah, main bedroom.

-This is a really good size room.

-Yeah.

-My furniture would fit into this room quite easily.

-Yeah.

-Mmm, I just wonder about how warm it's going to be...

-Yeah.

-In this house in the middle of winter,

and ah...

The trouble with storage heaters is

-that they are either too hot...

-Yeah.

-And you can't turn them off, or they're not very warm and then they take forever to heat up.

-Yeah.

So the lack of gas up here and central heating is a it

of a concern. There is always something, though.

Electric isn't that bad.

It isn't that bad.

You see she's assuming, like so many people would that it is inefficient.

-It's not.

-It's always got to be a compromise.

But what boxes does it tick for you though?

-Top of a hill...

-I like the location.

-Yes.

-I like the feeling of being on the edge of the town, on the edge of the city, really.

Yeah, it does tick more boxes than possibly the other two houses.

-I don't want to say we're the house hunting experts but we

-ARE.

There, I said it.

-And I suppose it depends how much it's going to cost.

-Yeah.

-Shall we go and find out?

-Let's find out.

Becca, Mitch, what do you think?

I'm really impressed.

I think you've done well.

Mitch, earlier on in the chat that we did, did point out that it was tendency that you could

see the negative within things and the negative that you have, that's probably

become the biggest thing are these things on the walls aren't they?

-The storage heaters.

-Yeah, I'm not a fan of storage heaters.

A lot of people think they're not fans of storage heaters until perhaps they've lived with them.

What is it that you are afraid of or that you don't think you like?

Well, what I don't like about them, when you want them to kick out

more heat they take forever to actually heat up and then if they are

already kicking out a load of heat and they get too hot you can't really easily turn them off either.

Well, both of those are common mistakes.

First of all you need to know how to control them, because you've got output and input on storage heaters.

Secondly, have you felt how warm this room feels? And we only just put that on to kick it in.

-It has heated up.

-It has.

-So...

-So, Becca, has that in any way allayed your fears, or your prejudice, about storage heaters?

Perhaps they're not as bad as I thought. I would need to look into it a little bit, though.

Now, guess the price as a competition

is effectively over because, Mitch, you got the last one.

We should play this for fun. How much do you think this is on the market for?

-Oh, it's really hard to know.

-Yes, you've proved that.

I have proved that.

I've been really bad at it. I'm going to go with 280.

-Right.

-Mitch?

Exactly what I was going to go with as well.

Really? You're good at this, Mitch. Come on, focus.

-I wouldn't say good but I'm better than Becca.

-Yes.

I'm going at 284.

-It's not a hat trick. You are closer.

-Oh.

But wait for this.

It is actually bang on your budget

-of £250,000.

-Oh, no way.

-It is.

-I should have gone with that.

-If you'd gone with that, stuck with what you've got every time.

So, your mortgage is potentially up to £300,000 but you didn't really

want to spend up to that. £250,000, and that's without you even haggling.

-So it's very affordable then.

-Isn't it?

Very affordable, OK? Think how many storage heaters you could buy

-with the extra money.

-Puts a whole new complexion on it there, doesn't it?

-If you wanted to go into the loft...

-I could actually build up into the loft as well.

-You could.

So now you've got to wander off and make the biggest decision

about which one you want to test drive. Good luck and we'll see you later.

-Choose wisely.

-OK.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Here's a quick recap for all of you at home.

First up was the immaculate one, my one,

which Becca loved despite not being on a hill.

Two double bedrooms, open plan living

and an ever-so-groomed garden for 295 grand.

Positioned on a small hill was my property.

It also has two double bedrooms and open plan living

but with the bonus of an extra bathroom,

perfect if Becca wants to rent a room out.

A cracking house for 299,995.

And finally, right on top of a hill was the wild card.

It's positioned further out of Brighton than requested

but will the larger rooms and the price tag of 250 grand

sway her towards the South Downs?

-Now, who would have thought it? Would you have thought it, Nikki?

-Never.

You have chosen the wild card.

You join a long legion of people that have picked the wild card.

Can we first ask, why did you go for the wild card?

I think, on reflection, it does suit my lifestyle more to be on the edge of town.

And although I initially thought I wanted to move into town,

I just really like the feel up here.

Well, this is exactly why we give you a wild card, to challenge

those preconceptions of where you want to be and what you want.

-Mitch, was it the right decision, do you think?

-I think so, yeah.

On reflection I think Becca has learned a little bit more

about what she actually does want.

I want to point out a couple of things. You don't get the house for free

so you do seem to have planned quite a lot of luggage for the test drive.

-Yeah, we're moving in now.

-Yeah.

It's not yours, just so you know. I can't stress that enough.

We had our surveyor come round and look at the house.

It's not legally binding. If you wish to purchase the property you've got to get your own survey

but it's a good heads-up as to what you are getting into.

Nikki has the first point.

One of the things that he mentioned was that there are

very, very different windows so some are timber, some are plastic.

-OK.

-And a couple of the rooms don't have ventilation,

so modern windows would have a little ventilating slide thing.

-OK.

-Some of these don't so you might have to put in a ventilation block

in the master bedroom. These are all very small things.

And the other issue was that there could be some damp.

-OK.

-Which is why you need to do a proper survey.

Right, the house is now yours to test drive but, again, please do not try and move in, right?

We've never had this issue before.

-Good luck.

-Thanks very much.

-Enjoy.

-Thanks a lot...

I still don't think she's convinced about those storage heaters, Nikki.

I'm telling you, Ed,

they'll be cranking out the heat in no time.

-Ah, I know what's in the rucksacks, Ed.

-Thank you.

-Can you manage both?

-Yeah.

-Clothes, Nikki.

Not clothes - kites, Ed.

Surely she's not getting the seven-foot monster kite out now.

-What I thought was maybe keeping the kites in here.

-Yeah, OK, will it fit?

Keep them out of the way.

Hoping to get the board in as well.

No, you fool.

She's all about the storage, remember?

-For now it could live there.

-It does that in my house anyway.

It lives out of the cupboard.

-Cool.

-OK.

-Shall we go out on the bikes?

-Let's do it, yeah.

All right, a quick change and off to check out the South Downs.

And here they are, our biking superheroes.

You can't say Becca's got all the gear and no idea, can you, Ed?

I would never do such a thing. She's like the Victoria Pendleton of Brighton.

There they go, riding off into the sunset.

Well, you can dream, can't you.

Becca, Mitch, was it warm enough for you?

-Yes, it was.

-It was.

Yeah, the storage heaters did heat up pretty quickly. You are right.

So this isn't... When you started out when we met you the plan was to be nearer

the city within staggering distance, my words probably not yours, but now

we've found ourselves, we're still nearer the city than where you are

but we are also in the countryside.

Yeah, it's about the same distance

as where I am currently,

but I think it's been a bit of a learning experience

and I've realised I quite like being

-on the edge of the countryside.

-Ah.

Maybe I'm more suited to living out here than closer into town,

and for the money that I would save on my mortgage if I went

for a slightly cheaper property, I would be able to get taxis in and out of town whenever I wanted to.

So we moved on from some of your initial stipulations but you are

-still on a hill, so that's good.

-Yeah.

You've got a garden space back and front here.

Does your equipment fit into this house?

-Yes, there is enough room for me.

-There you go.

Mitch, you've been here, what do you think?

Do you know what Becca's going to answer?

-Have you got any ideas?

-I don't know what she's going to answer at all.

-What do YOU think she should say?

-I think she should say yes.

-Do you think she will?

-No.

-I don't think she will say yes.

-She's quiet.

So, here we go.

To buy or not to buy,

that is the question, Rebecca?

I do really like the house. I would need to check out a few things first

such as what this street was like to live on.

I would need to just ask around

and see if people know what it's like up here.

And also there's a muddy driveway

so presumably that's going to be shared responsibility

so just find out how that works... But essentially I think

it would be a to buy if all those things turned out to be OK.

-Well, that's a great result for the day.

-Do you know what?

It's the price that you wanted to spend as well and I think as we have probably discovered

over today's programme,

the prices are kind of going up here.

-Yeah.

-And I mean I don't want to panic you into buying but £250,000 at the moment,

this is probably quite a good price and a good amount of house for that.

-And depending on the survey, there might be wiggle room for you too.

-Yeah, some negotiation.

And so that would place you kind

of right, Mitch, with your guestimations there.

I think so, yeah. So this is another part of the competition you've won as well in a way.

-I've done quite well, haven't I?

-You have.

-You have been very helpful.

Have you had a lovely time on the programme?

-Yeah, it's been great, thanks.

-Yes.

-Thank you both.

We're going to disappear into the ether now and go somewhere else in the country.

All over again.

Yes. Thank you very much. We'll see you soon.

-Thanks again.

-See you soon.

-Bye.

-Bye.

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