Sheffield To Buy or Not to Buy

A quiz as to where today's To Buy Or Not To Buy is from.

-It's built on seven hills.

-It has an airport named after Robin Hood.

-Ooh, what's it called?

-Robin Hood Airport.

Ah. Now it's the only city in England whose boundaries fall within a national park.

And it has the oldest football team playing Association Rules.

Ladies and gentlemen, today's show comes from one place, and that...

-..is Sheffield.

-Welcome to the show.

So, you're telling me, then,

Robin Hood Airport is nowhere near Nottingham?

-Technically, it's not even near Sheffield. It's more Doncaster way.

-Slightly misleading!

It is a bit, but all the national park stuff is true.

Over half the population of Sheffield live within 15 minutes of lovely green countryside.

Really? What a great place to bring up kids, then.

-Well, that's what today's buyers, Andrew and Michelle Faulks, think.

-Is it?

-Yes.

Indeed, Rani, it is.

Andrew and Michelle are youth workers, though Michelle is

currently taking time out to look after their son Jacob.

Ed, I've also got Paul and Cath Faulks down here as buyers.

-Who are they?

-They're Andrew's parents.

-So, who's buying the house then?

-They both are.

-What? All four of them?

-Yep.

-They're all gonna live together?

-Correct.

-In one house?

-I believe so.

-Well, whose idea is that then?

-On that, I've absolutely no idea.

Good job we're about to catch up with the younger contingent.

Well, hopefully they'll be able to shed some light on the situation.

Andrew and Michelle, we're going for the Continental style of living, moving in with the parents.

How has this whole idea come about? Because it's quite popular

in other countries, and it's quite a lovely idea.

How have you ended up doing this?

I think I was watching The One Show over the summer

and I saw a feature about a family that had all moved in together.

-So there was four generations - a great-grandma, grandparents, the parents, and a daughter.

-OK.

-And they all lived together and it just seemed to work really well.

-All right.

And you persuaded your folks - they didn't want to live with you guys...

There was no persuasion necessary - I told Michelle, she was up for it,

-I mentioned it to my parents, they were up for it.

-Really?

-It works out really well.

-That's amazing, cos there's quite a huge leap,

isn't it, to kind of do that, and also quite radical, dare I say.

-They're bottling it now.

-Really?

Like, "Maybe we could move next door...

-"Maybe a little granny flat or something."

-Yeah...

-So there's gonna be your folks - Mum and Dad, you guys and a little one as well.

-Yes.

So what exactly are you looking for? What do you all need?

I think we need a minimum of five bedrooms to make it work,

-sort of a bedroom each, one for Jacob, and then possibly another kid at some point.

-All right, nice.

And then, you know, a spare bedroom.

Andrew's mum has got a few mobility issues

so we can't have lots of steps up to the house or down to the garden.

Are you singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to style of property?

-I think we're certainly quite open to just about anything, really.

-Right.

-Um...

-I think they're just coming along for the ride, a little bit.

SHE LAUGHS

I want to meet THEM, now! So, realistically, if you find it, you can sell any property to them.

-If you love it, they'll go along with it.

-I think so.

Yeah. I think we definitely need two living spaces to make it work

because we don't want to sit down every night with our parents.

Does one like Coronation Street, one like EastEnders?

My mum is addicted to Coronation Street...

-Right.

-..and EastEnders.

Will you always eat together, do you want your own sides of the kitchen?

I think a communal...kitchen, sort of diner would be fine.

-I don't think we would always eat together but I'd hope that we'd eat together most of the time.

-Mm-hm.

But we all sort of work random times and stuff so, I guess...

What did they do on The One Show, did they eat together?

It looked like they did, and that was part of the appeal, being able to eat together.

That would mean my mum could cook, obviously, for all of us, which is her role, really...(!)

I don't think they're getting anything out of this deal at all!

They've got a great deal. They get to cook, baby-sit...

-So how's this going to be funded, is it going to be half and half?

-No.

-No.

-No.

-No. Come on then, Michelle, explain it.

OK. I think our house is probably worth about £100,000 and their house is worth about 160.

-OK.

-So they'll be funding more of it, but that's fine by us.

Are you in a good position to go, or are you...? Is this just an initial foray?

Good question. It's a bit of both.

It's an initial foray but we believe that our house would sell.

A house literally three doors from ours has sold recently.

Houses do seem to be moving in our area so we hope that could sell.

With my parents' house as well, it's in quite a...in-demand area.

I know the property market's struggling but I think both houses could sell.

-OK.

-Right then, we've kind of got an idea of what your properties are worth,

but how much are you willing to put into your new big communal family home?

Well, we figure that actually the houses together come to 260,000, and we think with quarter of a million,

we'd like to think you could get something substantial,

even recognising that property values have been going up for a long time,

-even though they're coming back down.

-Yeah.

Between 240 and 280, with 280 being...

-Absolute.

-Yeah, and we don't need to put a toilet in downstairs or anything like that.

OK. Well, maybe call Paul and Cath, and get them to make up the spare bedroom,

because we are feeling quite lucky today. OK? We'll see you later.

-See you in a bit.

-See you later.

Well, I've heard of parents buying properties for their children.

I've heard of parents acting as guarantors on their children's mortgages.

Mm-hm. I've also heard of parents selling their property for half the market value to their kids.

Yeah, I've heard that. But I've never, never ever heard of parents going halvsies

with their kids with the intention of moving in with them! Never heard of that.

-Especially in Sheffield.

-Especially in Sheffield.

-Pfft.

Actually, Ed, it seems that we might be a bit out of touch, because in the north of England, 3G families -

that's short for three generations in the same house - actually occur in 8% of all households.

-That's the highest percentage in the UK.

-And I thought 3G was just a fancy phone!

-Anything else that these Sheffield-ers excel at?

-Well, over 7% of the working population here

is apparently employed in creative industries, well above the national average of 4%.

-Now you mention it, Rani, Sheffield is renowned for its bands.

-Really? Like who?

Well, there's the Human League, Heaven 17, ABC, the Thompson Twins, Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, I could go on.

-Any heavy metal?

-Well, the steel industry is now less noticeable

-as it's become highly automated and employs far fewer staff than in the past.

-Very funny, Ed.

Anyway, folks, Sheffield's not the only place in the country

-where heavy metal has had a big impact on the local area.

-Quite true.

Sadly closed in 1992, the Ravenscraig Steelworks in Scotland

once employed around 5,000 people.

Now redeveloped, a five-bed property like this in nearby Motherwell

would set you back £249,500.

Well, there's been a steelworks in Port Talbot, South Wales, since 1901.

It's still going strong and, should you be looking for a property there,

a five-bed house like this one is on the market for 280 grand.

The Corby Steelworks in Northamptonshire closed in the early '80s, but again,

the area has since undergone extensive regeneration

and you can now pick up a lovely five-bed detached such as this

for £259,950.

But what will your hard-earned brass buy you back in Sheffield?

Hi there, my name's Ed. Pleased to meet you.

We're talking about 3G families.

It's all this new modern thing, like, when people live with their kids and their grandkids.

-Oh, oh, yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah.

-Do you like that idea?

No, not really.

Are there certain parts of Sheffield that have the bigger five-bed property

that's got the space you might need?

Yes, there are, but they tend to be the pricey areas.

-Would you consider buying a house with your folks?

-Yes.

Yeah, you would do it? Why would you do it?

-Because I live with my Gran. My Gran basically raised me.

-Aaah!

The things I learned from my Gran, I couldn't have learned from my parents.

That's a lovely way of putting it.

If they see something they like, even if it's a bit above their budget,

they could probably get an offer accepted that's lower.

-3D family?

-3G!

-Oh! No...

-Are you hiding?

-No.

THEY LAUGH

Are you the best estate agent in Sheffield?

Without a doubt, number one estate agent.

If he said to you, "Nan, I'd like to move in with you," and his parents said that as well,

-how would you feel, all buying a house together?

-All right, because he does live with me.

-Oh, does he?

-Yeah.

-And what's it like living with your Nan?

-It's great.

-Is it? Why's it so good?

-Because I like living with her cos she's got some fish.

Ed, Sheffield is all about the 3G family.

Is it really? Have you met any 3G-ers?

-Potential 3G families...

-I like it.

-..for the future.

-What have you found?

This great property, property number one, loads of character,

Cath and Paul will like it, plus Andrew and Michelle - something for them as well.

Oh, good, good. What I found, talking to the estate agent,

is trying to get properties without steps, and a lot of steps,

-can be very tricky because Sheffield - very hilly.

-I got steps.

Yeah, I've got steps as well, this is the excuse I'm using.

Look at this cracker - this is the biggest house their money can buy in Sheffield, in a lovely area.

It is gigantic, I cannot emphasise that enough.

I've gone space. And I think it's got character, and I think it's got a nice back garden.

-So that's what I'm banking for. What about the wild card?

-Wild card, OK...

-Joint choice here, this is beautiful.

-We're not going to show it you because it's almost too beautiful.

It's very contemporary and Cath and Paul are gonna love it.

OK, those are the properties. Imagine them as famed bands from Sheffield -

which one will be the Human League, which one will be Pulp, and which one will be Def Leppard?

-Now, Rani, what's commonly regarded as one of the most stressful things you can do in life?

-Hmm...

Well, as we're on a property show, Ed,

I feel duty-bound to say that moving house is pretty high up on the list.

-So would you let a TV crew in whilst you were undergoing such an ordeal?

-Good point, Ed.

Well, I've had a quiet word with the vendors and they, very much like their excellent property,

seem remarkably well-composed.

OK, then, Michelle and Andrew, welcome to property number one.

This is my choice and I'm bringing you to Nether Edge.

Now, your property, it's pretty busy in here today, I've got to tell you,

-because the family are actually moving back to New Zealand so they want to sell this pretty quickly.

-Ah.

That would put you in a fantastic position.

Since the house has been on the market, it has come down, but - I can't give any more away!

SHOUTING

They're having a great old time in there. 'Tis a happy area, isn't it?!

What do you think, Andrew?

First impression's good, although I've noticed the steps.

We're not talking about Claire and H hanging out by the door!

Well, you don't know the price of the property, this is something that might be within your budget,

if you loved it, a little ramp in there for your mum, if that's what she needed.

-Yeah.

-Good idea, good save.

OK, what do you think, lovely lady?

Yeah, I like it. I like having the school close by.

I really like the windows, nice big windows.

-Yeah, I think overall it looks nice.

-Tell you what, in terms of judging a book by its cover, very good!

What I want you do is go in there and enjoy this place, and if you like it,

we are prepared to call Cath and Paul up and end the show right there.

-OK, in three-two-one, beat that house!

-Right.

-OK.

-Go.

-More stained glass.

-Yeah, that's really nice.

-And more stained glass.

-Oh, yeah.

-Plenty of stained glass.

-They went to town on that.

-BOTH: And MORE stained glass...

-And there's more in the kitchen!

-Lots of room.

-Yeah.

Be nice to have a hall... And nice features, the arch with this decoration at the bottom.

All I can hear is the boxes being packed. Sounds like an elves' workshop at Christmas time.

Again nice features, I like the ceiling rose with the colour.

Yeah, they've kept traditional parts in, haven't they?

-And you like the windows.

-Yeah.

-Nice big bay windows.

Let's have a look at the fireplace.

The fireplace is very nice.

We've obviously got two separate rooms, there's doors through to the next room.

Through to the EastEnders room.

OK, so, this is the other room, it's a little bit smaller, isn't it?

Nice features again, the fireplace and ceiling rose.

-It's more than big enough to fit our furniture in here and your mum and dad's in there, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So this is the kitchen.

It's a good size kitchen.

Yeah, it's maybe smaller than I thought it would be.

There wouldn't be room for us to have...like, dining in this room.

Now there is one little problem, they kind of want a kitchen-diner.

I'm not giving them that here but you have got two separate spaces.

OK, so like a utility room, but again, not a dining space.

Yes, I know I haven't given you a dining space but I have given you two living rooms.

And you could fold a table away, or do what most people do, is eat off their laps.

Wow, there's lots of room.

Now they've spotted there's a cellar, great storage space there.

We had to go in the cellar earlier, and what a cellar it is.

Doesn't even smell of damp, and a lot of cellars do.

-This is a useful space.

-It is.

-Could be our dining room, have the dining room down here!

Cook in the kitchen and have a dumb waiter that comes down the wall!

-Shall we go back upstairs then?

-Yeah.

-OK.

OK. Well, these stairs aren't as steep as ours at home, which is what Mum struggles with,

-but I think she'd be OK with these.

-Yeah, I reckon.

-Now that's a good sign.

-Excellent news!

Stairs aren't too steep, they can make their way up there.

-The bathroom.

-Oh, OK.

-Look at that.

-Wow, look at that bath!

The removers haven't taken the bath away so they have

been able to spot the bathroom. It is, I believe, original to this house, that bath.

That's fantastic.

-It's quite a big step up to the shower.

-I suppose so, yeah.

-Mmm.

-It's a big house for one toilet, Rani.

-Well, they haven't got one, they've got two!

-Separate toilet.

-OK.

-Excellent. Not much more to say on the toilet, really.

-No.

Step here.

-So bedroom...one.

-Yeah.

-It's a nice size, isn't it?

-It is, it's really nice.

We could easily fit our bed or your mum and dad's bed in here, no problem.

-Yeah, nice traditional fireplace again.

-There's loads, isn't there?

Every room has a feature with which to work with, and in most rooms it's a fireplace.

You've got another staircase.

-Ah, here we go.

-Ah, OK.

-This is the master bedroom. Nice feature wall.

-Yeah, this is great.

Again, I love the window.

Nice fireplace again. It's a bit of a theme in the house.

You know what, I'm a bit weird in the sense that I would stand here

and just look out the window, I like doing that.

Why does Andrew say he likes to stand at windows looking out of them?

Maybe he's a bit nosy.

Oh, OK. So I guess a study, maybe?

Yeah, it's a small room but small rooms have their uses.

It's obviously their office and we need an office space.

This doesn't have to be their office, the office could be upstairs.

-Again quite a useful hall space, to say we're on the second floor.

-Yeah.

-More space than on our ground floor!

-Yeah. The halls are huge.

They've got another level upstairs.

This would be their level, I'm thinking.

-Hey.

-Ooh.

-This is a good size room, isn't it?

-It is,

-it's quite...quirky. It's a bit different, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I guess you'd have this as a bedroom, wouldn't you?

-Could do.

-It feels like a playroom, probably just cos it's empty.

-Yeah...

You could imagine kids playing in here on computers.

-It's got a feature wall so it's...

-You could have a bed here or bed there.

-Yeah.

All the floors are really like... It's so much more interesting having wooden floors than carpets.

So much easier to clean.

My ex-girlfriend, she always said, "Have you cleaned the house today?"

and what I would do was spray a bit of polish on the wooden floor just where she walked in.

So she went, "Whoa, this is... Wow! You've cleaned here."

-OK, so.

-Nice beams.

-Yeah.

So... Set up as the nursery.

Again a really useful size, isn't it, actually for either a child's room or a playroom?

Yeah. I guess this couldn't be a bedroom for me and you or your mum and dad...

-I've got a plan for all those upstairs rooms to solve it.

-All right then.

-The room with the cot in it - that stays a baby's room.

-Oh! Good idea(!)

-The room without the cot in it, that's their room.

-Nice.

And the room with all the junk in, that's too small for a bed - the study.

OK, so shall we have a look what's in here?

-Yep... Whoa!

-Bit of a storeroom!

What I was thinking was, the spare room, the little room, have your wardrobe in there.

-Like a walk-in wardrobe.

-Yeah.

-It's a useful space though.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-OK, well shall we go and find Ed and Rani and tell them what we think?

-Yeah, definitely.

-Here they come!

-Hello!

Welcome to your potential garden, enough space for a climbing frame, as you can see.

-Yes.

-Not a bad size, so what do you think of the place?

Yeah, overall I liked it, really nice features.

-I love the fireplaces...

-Good.

-..and the floorboards.

But was there something you didn't like? I got the impression you were going to say something then.

Yeah, we're a bit worried about where we'd put a dining table

if we had both of those reception rooms as living space.

Rani claimed that you just made it all up about the dining and you just ate off your laps while watching TV.

I didn't say that, but we said maybe in the back living room you could have a fold-away table...

-Right, OK.

-If you wanted to do something like that.

-We do eat round the table...

-They do eat round the table, Rani.

-He's the one who said it! Forget it. I'm not even going there.

-I can't believe it.

-You believe me, I know.

-OK. It is a lovely property.

There's not gonna be much left of it if these people are still packing stuff up!

The price - it's guess the price.

Rani hinted that the price has come down, a lot of prices have.

The question is, has it come down enough to hit your maximum budget of £280,000?

-You probably don't want it to be £280,000, do you?

-No, not really.

-OK, who'd like to go first?

-Ladies first.

-Michelle?

-265...

-Ooh... Sounds like a bad guess.

I was thinking it's not at the top end of our budget,

but it's nearer the bottom end of the budget, and our budget is 250 to 280, so I was going to say 260.

-Right, OK.

-So 260, 265 - so not too far apart.

-No.

OK, guys, the actual price of this property is...

-249,950!

-Oh, wow!

There you go, and also with that... Negotiation! Let's be honest, they're moving out,

-no-one is moving in at the moment... deal to be done.

-OK!

I've got a plan. Property two's just down the road, but if we go in there, stand still,

-get wrapped up by the removals, we might get taken to it. Shall we try?

-Absolutely.

Right, in my property details it says,

"Highly worthy of internal inspection in order to appreciate the size of accommodation on offer."

-Good job we're here then.

-Yes, whilst many agents will wax lyrical about places being deceptively spacious,

they don't even bother here. It's massive, or in estate-agent-speak, is that deceptively un-small?

-Well, the proof is always in the pudding. Shall we internally investigate?

-Yes, let's.

Andrew and Michelle, Michelle and Andrew, we are in Meersbrook,

-which is near Woodseats, which I think is on your hit list.

-Yes.

This is the beauty that the mystery property-hunting-team and I have gone for.

Built in 1907, this was the house of the coal mine manager,

so really probably the most important person in 1907 lived here.

It was... It was two flats and then it was converted in 1987, I believe, back to one big chunk of a house.

I want to know your first impressions. You did well with your first impressions before.

-Second property, I'm going to go with you first, Michelle.

-I'd say, "wow".

-Wow!

-Yeah? That's good.

-Absolutely wow.

-You like it.

-Yeah.

-Can you expand on the wow?

-It's huge.

-It is huge.

-I can't believe how big it is.

I tell you what, it's because you can't afford it. No, it's not.

Yeah, fantastic. Great first impressions.

-I like it.

-Andrew?

-Yeah, it's big, it's very big.

-Sort of...not intimidating, but imposing, is the right word.

-Yes, that's what the coal manager wanted!

-Any problems you can foresee on the outside?

-I can't really see.

-It looks like there might be steps again.

We could do Rani's solution, hire a local builder and build a ramp.

Or, if you go up there, up the hill, next door they have a flat access, a stairless access.

If you're friends with your neighbours, it's a big enough path,

you could say, "Hang on a minute, couldn't we just..."

and they'll say, "Brilliant idea, course you can."

Obviously I haven't squared it with the neighbours. I don't think it'll be a problem.

There it is, it's a beauty.

Will you be the next coal miner owner of this house?

-There's only one way to find out - get in there.

-OK.

-OK.

-There's a big hall!

-Yeah.

-I quite like the stone here, actually. It's quite nice.

-Yeah, it is.

-Lots of space again.

-Yeah, it's a nice sort of entrance, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Sort of welcomes you to the house.

This is good. Ah, a dining table over there in the bay.

-That's interesting, isn't it?

-That could work well.

-Yeah.

Still, it's a big enough space to have it as a lounge and relaxing area in the evening but also to eat.

-Yeah.

-You wouldn't need to fold the table away or anything.

Nice high ceilings, it's nice.

-And the roses again, two roses this time.

-Yeah, nice, aren't they?

Architecturally, this house has got the things that I think they like.

-Like what?

-Well, here we go, Andrew's just mentioned it there,

two ceiling roses I think implying that yours only had one,

which is, in the ceiling rose department, one... Two-one to me.

Kitchen.

-Aah, OK!

-OK!

We both walked into the kitchen -

having been in before Rani - walked in and went, "This is a bit rubbish, this kitchen,"

and she walked round the corner and went, "Aah!" Which is exactly what they said.

-So I thought initially, small but...

-This is unexpected.

-Yeah.

So you've got the kitchen, which is a dedicated kitchen, but then we've got a dining room in here,

-so forget what I said about the dining room in the other room.

-Mmm.

-It's not particularly necessary.

-I thought it was light and airy. I wonder if they'll spot that.

-Really?! Do you think they'll say that?

-This is a nice space.

-Yeah.

-And again quite light and airy.

-Nice views out onto the garden.

Yeah, looks like there's a little sort of area to go out there.

-Yeah, I like it.

-It's good, and this one's got the dining space.

-Now...

-Oh, this is brilliant.

This is the extension they're in. This is above the garage, geography fans.

-So this is, I suppose, the second lounge really.

-Yeah.

-Which is what it looks like they use it for, with the TV and the stereo system.

-Really nice lighting.

Nice windows looking out over the garden.

-Look at the windows there.

-Interesting.

-I don't know what kind of windows they'd be classified as.

-So two lounges and the dining room.

-Yeah.

-So far so good. Shall we go and see the rest?

-Absolutely.

-Ah, downstairs bathroom and utility room.

-OK. Oh, wow.

Excellent, this is what we need. We've got a shower down here and a toilet in the corner

and space for washing machine, dishwashers and dryers and stuff.

-It's all really quite modern.

-It's nicely done, it's all quite new.

-Yeah.

-Ah cellar.

-OK.

-Excellent. Shall we go down and have a look?

-Yeah, definitely.

Wow...another good size cellar.

In fact the window looks like it's quite new, like they've been thinking about

doing something to it, using it as a room.

Maybe we could just continue that work really.

Andrew in the cellar is a man who's come alive.

-Oh, my goodness.

-It is huge.

-It goes on, we've got another huge room...

-Oh, my word.

-Through here.

Just loads of storage.

And it goes on and on, and we're through to the garage.

-Oh, OK.

-So we're now below that second lounge.

-Yeah.

-This is a good size garage.

This is a double garage so plenty of room for a couple of cars in here.

Do you think there'll be people that didn't see The One Show episode that inspired them,

but have watched this episode, that then will be inspired to move in with their parents?

They feel like quite big stairs actually,

but they're not particularly steep so Mum should be OK.

-Lots of rooms up here.

-OK, this is quite big, isn't it?

-Yeah.

And on this floor, I think we have got three double bedrooms

so they could all live on the same floor if they wish.

-This could be our room. We could be in here.

-Yeah, have our bed...

-Or my parents could be.

-Yeah... It is a double.

There's plenty of space. This looks a bit more like the master room.

Now, they've found the master bedroom.

Each bedroom they've suggested could be theirs,

now they know this is the master bedroom will they try and steal it?

Yeah, quite a bit more space in here.

-Yep.

-It's a nicely decorated room.

-I can see your mum and dad in here.

-Mmm, nice built-in wardrobes.

-Yeah, again there's plenty of space.

-Family bathroom.

-Got a bathroom in here, yeah,

-it's a good size, isn't it?

-Yeah, and with the one downstairs as well.

-They've not got a shower unit, they've got the shower on the taps.

-Yeah...

-That's a bit of a shame.

-It'd be nice to have a shower here.

-We can fit one there.

-Upstairs is a little bit smaller.

-Right.

-But it would work well as a nice playroom.

OK, this is interesting.

-OK, so another bedroom, study?

-An office?

-Yeah.

It'd be a small bedroom, wouldn't it? I mean, it could work as a nursery

but it seems to work quite well as an office

and it looks like there's a bit of a study area out here as well.

-Yeah, so bedroom number five.

-Nice door. We should keep that if we come here!

Wow, this is bigger than I thought.

-It's got a nice little shape to the room, it feels like a teenage room.

-It is.

Quite quirky with the bed hidden under there.

Yeah, and look at that space under there, that's great.

-Excellent room.

-It'd be a great child's room.

-Wow, great views.

-Fantastic views out the window.

-Yeah.

-Excellent. We need to find Ed and Rani, don't we?

-Yeah.

-And tell them what we think.

-OK.

-Shall we go?

Michelle and Andrew, I don't want to talk out of school but I think you liked that a lot. A lot.

We were listening in, we heard everything. You like it a lot.

-Yes, definitely.

-Is it big enough?

That's my only concern, I just don't think it's big enough(!)

-I think it's probably just about(!)

-Yeah, just about(!)

Definitely, it's fantastic. Just loads of space

and enough places for us to hide away from each other but all be together as a family, so yeah.

Now, you've got that gigantic underneath cellar area.

Your next-door neighbours have converted their cellar into a fully-functioning flat.

You would have, effectively, four floors of living

and you've got that whopping great big garage beast as well, so that is something you could do.

-So you can't, in theory, ever outgrow this house.

-No.

That's gonna cost some money, so it's time to guess the price.

-Andrew, you were closest last time.

-Mmm.

-But you did go first.

-I did.

-Michelle, would you like to go first again?

-No, I'll pass that privilege over.

-Argh.

-Is that all right with you, Andrew?

-That's fine.

It's got to be worth more,

but maybe the area will impact it, so I'm going to say 255,999.

The working of Andrew's brain!

-Well, OK.

-You, Michelle.

I'm gonna go higher, so I'm gonna go...279,950.

-The closest is you, Michelle.

-Yes-s.

-Yay!

-The actual price is £275,000.

-It's lovely, it's probably the biggest property we may see today.

-OK.

-Or is it?

Ooh, we've got the wild card of course.

-OK.

-Do you want to see the wild card?

-Absolutely.

-Yeah.

-Shall we go?

Let's go. Come on, then.

Well, wild cards are sometimes windmills, sometimes castles, but today's...

-..Is simply a new build!

-Yes.

It's got all the bits and pieces Andrew and Michelle are after

but essentially we're looking at another five-bed house built much more recently than the last two.

-Ooh, Ed, you do know how to sell them.

-Don't I just?

Well, here we go, guys, this is the wild card, the third property.

This is the joint choice. We're in Bradway. Do you know this area at all?

-Not really, actually, know of the area but don't know it at all.

-OK.

We thought we'd bring you out here, a little bit more countryside-y.

-Take a look at those views.

-Fantastic, great.

-Do you fancy living in the country?

-I do.

-Yeah, maybe.

OK. This is the beast we're playing with today, today's wild card.

It is of a period, the '50s and '60s, and also,

-another reason why it's a wild card, no stained glass windows.

-Ahh! Ohh!

-So really I know that's a bit of a negative point(!)

-Yeah.

But we can introduce the stained glass window if everything's going well.

-So maybe imagine there's a stained glass window.

-Yep.

It's your third go. You've done great at describing the book by the cover, or, the house by its face.

I'm gonna go with you, Andrew. There's the property, what do you think?

-It's plain, isn't it?

-Mmm.

-Ooh.

-I'm sorry, it sounds mean.

There's nothing particularly wrong with it but it's not quite as...

-appealing from the outside as the other properties.

-OK.

-OK.

-But I'll give it a chance internally.

-Oh, nice, nice. OK.

-Michelle?

-Yeah, it's just a house, isn't it? It's just sort of neat and tidy.

-Just a house?!

You've got worse at this! I thought by now you'd be brilliant. This is awful.

You've not even mentioned there's hardly any steps. This is the best one to get into.

-It is.

-Got a cat flap, do you have a cat?

-We do.

-We do have a cat.

-There you go, that could be handy.

I'm thinking stained-glass cat flap actually(!)

-Ohh!

-Now... Now we're rocking and at that point let's talk no more.

-Go into that plain-faced house and give it a kiss.

-OK.

-OK.

-Plain!

-Well, I think it's lovely. It's like the girl in Neighbours, Jane, when she took her glasses off.

HE WOLF-WHISTLES

Shall we go?

-OK, so it's very different to the others.

-Still, nice hallway.

-Now this is a garden, and look, built-in climbing frame.

-I like it.

-I can't get up. Here we go, oh.

-I can hear my knees creaking.

Let's go into the lounge.

Nice bay window, a slightly different layout.

-That's different.

-This is the most modern of all houses.

-I would say probably the most contemp-ury inside, possibly?

-"Contemp-ury"?!

-I wasn't expecting the door over there.

-No, that's odd, isn't it?

-No, that's nice. No ceiling roses.

-No, but it's...

-Much cleaner, I think. Crisper.

It is crisp. You go in, the colours, the lightness.

-Good on them.

-Crisp.

Ah, a downstairs...toilet.

For Jacob. Downstairs toilet, hard to...time it with kids.

Yes, so good for all the family, really.

-It's good for Mum, good for all of us.

-Yeah.

-This is really nice, actually.

-Nice shelf there and the tiles, it's nicely done.

-Yeah.

Very clean and crisp, and... Actually, I really like that.

-Ahh. Kitchen and...dining area.

-What a great kitchen, though.

-Yeah, very nice. Look at that.

Really modern, lots of space, lots of units, and it's also a kitchen-diner.

-For the 3G family to eat together.

-It really is, cos in your property, if we think back all that way,

they would've had to have a trestle table, folded up and then stuck in the corner

like an ironing board they bring out to eat round. My one, it was all catered for.

Fantastic, another utility room.

-Oh, yeah.

-Lots of room for your washer, your dryer, your dishwasher...

Lots of cupboard space.

Let's have a look...and a garage! Well, a half-garage.

Yes, it is only half a garage, because they've used the other half to make the utility room.

It's a good space actually. I mean it's full at the moment,

you wouldn't get a car in, but certainly a useable space.

-Place for the coats.

-Yep.

-Got nowhere to put our coats at the moment.

OK, so this would be... This appears to be the separate lounge...

-Yes.

-the other lounge. It's a bit small.

-They still have the separation there.

-Yeah.

-So really the lounge isn't a problem.

-Very small, isn't it?

-It is, but it's probably the same sort of size

-as our lounge at the moment.

-Do you think?

-Well, it's close.

-Yeah, I think it's quite a bit smaller.

-My concern, Rani, with the wild card...

-What's your concern?

My concern with the wild card is this. Is it big enough?

-It could be our lounge.

-Yeah.

There's a TV point here so it could work.

Yeah, I suppose it could.

-Well, shall we go and have a look upstairs?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Easy stairs.

Yeah. It's got a handrail all the way up, which is good for Mum.

So we go this way over the garage,

-the extension... This is brilliant.

-Yeah.

-This is a really good size room,

-isn't it?

-Yeah, and it's all... good nick.

-It's nicely decorated.

-It is, yeah.

-Actually, this works for a young man by the looks of things.

Normally young men give that away by a Chelsea or Liverpool poster on the wall...

This has got like a spacey kind of... Hasn't it? A blue duvet cover.

-That gives it away as well, doesn't it? A blue duvet.

-Yeah.

Well, it could be our bedroom, it's more than big enough.

Could. Got built-in wardrobe. Yeah there's plenty of space here, you'd get a double bed in.

-Nice carpets as well.

-It's a good room.

We go through this stair gate here, we know what we're doing there. Hey!

-Ah, this is lovely.

-This is like a little nursery but it's got its own little sink.

They mentioned the views might be good.

-They are fantastic.

-Not bad, are they?

-OK.

-That's a strong point for me, I've got to say, being able to look out at that.

Right, let's have a look.

-Lovely bathroom.

-Very nice.

-What's your favourite part of the bathroom?

-I like the shower,

-I love the massive showerhead.

-Oh, yes!

-I love all the tiles.

-This is the nicest bathroom we've seen, I think.

-Yes, I think so.

-I'd say it's fairly new.

-Yeah.

But I'm no expert.

The whole house looks like it's been done up inside to a high standard.

-I'd like to see the other bedrooms.

-Let's go and have a look.

-OK.

This is the other reason why we picked the property, and they're picking up on it.

Doesn't require any money to be spent on this, move in straightaway.

Well, I was gonna say this is the master bedroom but maybe it's not.

-It's a similar size to the bedroom over the garage, isn't it, I think.

-Yeah.

-It's a double size.

They're all decorated enough for us to move in straight away and the carpets are great.

New fitted carpets and they've picked up on those.

Very clean, good little tip that - selling a house? Make sure your carpets are clean.

-Yeah, this is all right, isn't it?

-Mmm.

-And you get the same great views again.

-Yeah, absolutely.

-Which is brilliant.

-Box room.

-Yeah, which isn't... bad for a box room, is it?

-They've set it up as a study and that's fine, isn't it?

-We need a study, don't we?

Good to have a front office,

-you get to see some good views whilst you're typing away on the computer.

-Inspiring.

-That's useful storage space. You could put shelves or a cupboard in there.

-Yeah.

-Or just keep it like that. That's helpful as well.

-Yeah, it would look good with shelves.

I quite like the glass in the door actually. Again, you could stain that...!

Well, we need to get the stained glass in somewhere!

-Yeah.

-I feel like we're whizzing through this house quite quickly.

This must be the master bedroom, nice bay window.

-Still get some good views over there.

-Yeah, you can still see the hills out of this room,

which is really good, isn't it?

People would associate Sheffield as an industrial town.

Oh, no, my friends, Sheffield is a beautiful town.

-Wow, look at the view.

-Wow, that is pretty amazing.

This decking is unbelievable.

-Jacob would love it, wouldn't he.

-Yeah, absolutely.

It's really safe, it's all enclosed, isn't it.

-Well, shall we go down and see them?

-Absolutely.

-Did you hear that? They're gonna come and find us.

-We're on a hat trick.

We have not had to go and meet them once, they keep coming to us.

It's the greatest day of my life.

Right, right, three completely different properties. We think you quite like it.

You started positive, that's for sure, but you whizzed through it.

-We did.

-Did we? I thought we did.

-I've got to be honest, I really liked it.

-Oooh.

-OK, Michelle?

-He's honest!

I did, I really liked it. I was slightly worried about the size of the second living space.

-OK.

-But maybe something that I could live with.

At the front of the property there is the extension, there's a flat roof.

I don't know if it bothers you, but flat roofs

do require a bit more upkeep than your normal pitched roof,

ten to fifteen years, you've go to replace the felt on that.

-But you could... For how much, was it, did we work out?

-7.5 grand.

..7.5 grand, give yourself a pitch, in which case you would get better insulation,

and if Al Gore's watching he'd be over the moon about that. And also storage up there as well.

-Always helpful.

-It's a win-win situation.

-Yeah.

What isn't a win-win situation... See what I did there?

-..is guess the price because we're neck and neck at the moment.

-I'm gonna say 275.

-275. Andrew, what are you thinking?

-I think we're in a nice area, the house is done to a high standard.

It's not quite as big as the others but I'm going to go 279.

This beautiful property, this great garden is on the market at...

-2...85.

-Oooh.

-It is over your budget by five grand, so on that one, Andrew, you were the closest.

-Get in.

-Yeah.

-That's a victory, and they can't take that away from you.

You have now seen all three properties, you've got to go away and make...

the biggest decision of your adult lives about which one you wish to test drive.

It's a lonely journey but a happy one at the end, hopefully.

-We'll see you later.

-All right.

-Good luck.

-See you in a while.

-OK, whilst they do that...

-..here is a quick recap for you at home.

By the time they have made their choice, property number one

may be entirely encased in brown paper and halfway round the world to New Zealand,

either which way it won't hang around for long so get your offers in quick, 249,950.

Well, all the brown paper in the world would struggle to cover the 3G monster that was my offering.

Still under budget though, this gloriously gargantuan dwelling is fantastic value at £275,000.

Now, I wasn't sure that property three would be sufficiently different

to challenge our most avid wild card fans

but it seems that its pristine interior and wonderful location, location, location

have once again wielded their wild card power. 285, on the nose.

Andrew, Michelle and Jacob, here we are at your chosen test drive property, which is the wild card!

Now, no-one would have gone for that, I didn't think you were going for that.

-I thought my one was in the bag. Why did you pick this one?

-I think I went with my heart,

and my heart, yeah, my heart's here, I think.

-You've got a wild card heart, I like it.

-Yeah.

-Is your heart here, Michelle, for today?

-Partly. For today, yes, absolutely.

-But realistically it's my one, you like the most.

-It's my one!

Good, I like it. OK, now, we have had the mystery To Buy Or Not To Buy surveyor come here

to the wild card, give it a thorough once-over. There's two things he mentioned.

At the back, the exhaust pipe from your boiler, it's up high, it's next to the rear bedroom window.

On a windy day, if one of the side bedroom windows was open,

you might get some back draught of that going into the room.

Shut that window and use the other one.

Now the other one actually concerns Jacob a little bit,

cos a few of the doors in there have got glass in them.

The ones leading into the front living room and the kitchen are fine,

they've got the kite mark, they're safety glass.

-However, the one between the two living rooms hasn't got safety glass on it.

-Right.

They've actually put a coating of vinyl on it to help it along,

but it'd really be worth just changing that.

Realistically, it's a lovely property. You thought it was a belter, so, good news.

-The thing is it's not just you lot, is it?

-No.

-No.

-Where's Mum and Dad, where's Cath and Paul?

They're at their house.

-Do you think you need to get them to test drive this baby?

-I think I probably do, yeah.

All right. Well, fingers crossed they like it. Let's make the deal happen! We'll see you later.

Well, at the start of proceedings,

Andrew clearly stated that if we found a place, he'd be able to sell it to his parents. Let's see.

There's your living room round the corner over there.

Great views over the hills.

Mmm, short but sweet, Andrew, not bad. Now let's see how he divvies up those bedrooms.

Our room. This is where we're gonna stay, OK!

So this is the extension bit.

This is over the garage. So I think this is your bedroom.

I'm not sure Jacob's won over, maybe some time in our playroom downstairs will help.

Certainly seems happier in there and it gives Gran and Granddad a chance for a quiet five minutes next door.

Hmm, how do you think it's all gone, Ed?

Quite hard to tell, Rani, but I know one person who's definitely having fun.

Yeah, it's a shame it won't be Jacob making the decisions.

OK, guys, we're missing one. Where's Jacob gone?

-He's inside playing with Nana and Gramps.

-Ah, with Nana and Gramps.

-Now, how do they find the house?

-The key question.

I think they really liked it but I think they both feel that it's just a bit too small for two families.

I think they were excited when they saw it and they appreciate the quality,

-but just think the space is on the short side.

-Yeah.

And actually being in there with them, with Jacob, how did you feel about it?

Yeah, I think it's great and it's brilliant for Jacob

having his grandparents around, and just having a big family is fantastic.

-Let's get to the big question, and I want to ask a supplementary question.

-Oooh!

-All right.

-OK.

To Buy Or Not To Buy this house? That is the question, Andrew and Michelle.

-No.

-Ah. Supplementary question, as I thought that might be the answer.

To Buy Or Not To Buy my house, number two, Andrew and Michelle?

-Maybe.

-Yes!

-Whoa! That is good.

So will you be willing to go back and have another look, maybe take the folks?

-Absolutely.

-I like it, and very cleverly played the show today,

by looking at this one, thinking he liked it, just sussing it out, checking it out.

Didn't work, using the back-up. I like it.

Well, good luck with property two then, guys.

But for the last time, I think you've got to take in the views from the wild card

-and whilst they do that, Ed?

-Mm-hm?

-Let's get out of here.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd