Episode 1 Wreck or Ready?

In today's uncertain market, choosing the right property is more important than ever before.

So, where does the smart money go?

Do you renovate a wreck?

Or do you find a ready made home?

As a surveyor I've seen countless properties

that are right for transformation.

I'm on a mission to hunt down the best wrecks on the market and

convince our couples that renovation is the way forward.

Renovations are great, but I also know they can be a recipe

for heartache, so I'm going to try and prove to our house hunters that pristine pads are the way to go.

Will they be adventurous and choose one of my wrecks?

Or will they take it nice and easy and pick one of my readies? Let the battle commence.

Today we're searching in and around the picturesque city of Lichfield,

which is less than 20 miles north of Birmingham.

The property market here is extremely competitive

and average house prices can be up to 100 grand more expensive

than the neighbouring areas.

We're searching for Tony and Pauline

who have recently sold their five-bedroomed Victorian town house

and are torn between whether to replace it with a wreck or a ready-made home.

Despite searching for four months, they've only been to see eight houses

and if they don't get a move on they're going to end up homeless.

They want to downsize the house itself,

but get a garden that's up to ten times bigger than their current patch.

All of this within a commutable distance to Lichfield.

Tony is passionate about this extra land and he's a keen beekeeper as well as a fanatical gardener.

He's even got a coop of chickens.

Pauline on the other hand is all about having a large kitchen and

not being too far away from her work in central Lichfield.

This is a truly tricky combination for us and finding a house with a large chunk of land

within a commutable distance of Lichfield is a big ask.

If that wasn't bad enough, the renovation market has been well and truly sewn up around here.

Finding some decent wrecks is going to be a real struggle.

No wonder they've called us in to help them with their search.

Before we can start looking for a new dream home, we need to find out what their criteria is.

And see who's up for a wreck and who wants a ready.

Tony and Pauline.

We've been in this house 13 years.

We've done a lot of work ourselves over the time we've lived here.

-He's handy, then.

-Very handy. Good for me.

I would live in a mess for possibly two years.

I do like someone who has done it before.

Then I can show them real wrecks. Get his hands dirty.

Also, she looks like she's living in a bit of a mess whilst it's being done as well.

But it would be nice to have a house that we can move into straight away.

Where we live at the moment we've got a great garden.

We'd like to have more land because we grow quite a selection of fruit and vegetables.

We'd like to grow more and to do that you need the space, you need the land to do it on.

Can I just say this is looking very good for you?

She's quite up for a bit of work and they need lots of outdoor space.

She's willing to compromise.

Canal side would be nice.

Canal side? A canal side farm.

We can do that.

The main thing that I need is to be able to travel to work every day.

I work in Lichfield and I don't want to be spending hours on the road.

To sum up...

That includes any renovations needed.

They've got this dream list, but they haven't had someone

to sit them down and say, what are the most important things?

But I think in here are the ingredients to a dream house for them.

It may well have the ingredients for a dream home, but with their tough

list of requirements it could also become a nightmare search for us.

I really think I've got my work cut out on this one.

The house, I think I can get them what they want.

But it's that outdoor space.

A gardening plot is one thing, but where are the bees going to go?

It's lucky I like a challenge.

It's all to play for today as I reckon they seem quite open-minded.

I'm worried because even though 350,000 seems like a big pot of cash,

it's still just under 12,000 less than the average price of a detached house in Lichfield.

Land is in short supply and therefore high demand in these parts.

Prices are reported to have risen by 30% in the past three years.

Lucky for me they'll be getting more land for their money with a renovation project.

Our hunt today starts just outside the bustling market town of Eccleshall.

This three-bedroomed detached farmhouse is all about the land.

It gives Tony and Pauline just under a quarter of an acre for their many agricultural aspirations.

It's bursting with potential

and could offer them everything they need.

Whilst Tony will be chuffed with the land,

Pauline might not be so happy that the biggest compromise is the distance to her work,

which is 40 minutes away.

But the only reason we can get them everything they want

is because we're outside their search area.

It leaves them £115,000 to renovate and stay within their budget.

Whilst Jonnie tries to convince Tony and Pauline that his wreck

is the one for them, I've come along to keep an eye on the competition.

Don't worry, it's the wreck.

What you think?

I like it.

I think it's brilliant.

-Very positive.

-I'm positive we must remember an umbrella the next time.

Sorry, Tony. Let's get inside.

Unfortunately for me they seem to like it and they aren't put off by the shabby exterior at all,

but I'm hoping they'll change their tune when they see the rising damp inside.

I admit it's a big job and to sort out the damp, completely update three bedrooms and refit a new kitchen

and bathroom would take at least eight to 10 weeks.

On top of that it could cost around £60,000,

which means they have a contingency fund of £55,000.

Right, then.

Come right in.

Here we are.

It needs a lot of work.

-Are you daunted at all at the moment?

-Not at all. It's almost better when it's as bad as this because

you'd strip it out and start afresh.

Whereas if it's half-decent, sometimes you're almost thinking shall we leave it?

Don't forget it'll be me who's doing most of the work.

That's why you're quite positive.

Absolutely. I do the design, the shopping and Tony does all the work.

I think you might have drawn the short straw on this one, Jane,

because these two don't seem fazed at all.

I'm really impressed by their reaction.

They seem to have taken all of this on board.

This is looking very good for Johnny. I'm not very happy.

Nervous already, Jane?

Tony and Pauline can easily see the potential to add value to this place

and a local estate agent has said it could be worth around 400 grand once all the work is done.

Next up is that all important plot of land for growing their vegetables and beekeeping.

If I've got this right it could be curtains for Jane's ready properties here.

Around a quarter of an acre.

Is the plot big enough?

Is it too big? Is it just right?

It's certainly not too big.

Ideally I'd like a little bit more.

But trying to marry up a property with a lot more land I know is going to be difficult.

It's like pushing string uphill, mate.

You almost get laughed out the estate agents at this moment in this market.

We've managed to find a detached house with some land, but it's quite a way from Lichfield, isn't it?

-You work there every day.

-I do.

You will be for the foreseeable future. Is that going to work?

Personally I think it's too far to travel.

It's not a distance I'd want to do every day.

It's perfect in every other way. To me, the size of the plot is perfect as well.

The whole feeling is nice but if we could move this so much closer to Pauline's work, it would be great.

This is really positive for you.

They are not afraid of that at all.

It's just the distance.

How far from Lichfield is your place?

Is it closer?

-Yes.

-Talk me through these shoes. You did know you were going to some wrecks, didn't you?

I'm going to have to get some wellies.

You expect me to carry you around?

I wouldn't mind having a go at it as a project,

-but I just can't travel this distance to work every day.

-It's too far away.

I think we've established these two definitely aren't fazed by a project,

but I'm hoping that once they see the classy ready I've found them

here in the picture-perfect village of Abbot's Bromley,

Johnny's last project will be a grim and distant memory.

I'm also hoping to rack up some serious brownie points

by getting Pauline more than twice as close to work as Johnny managed

with a distance of just 12 miles.

The property itself is an old police station and dates back to 1830.

It's packed with beautiful beams and period features

and has three double bedrooms, a spacious dining room and a cosy sitting room.

It's so ready they'll be able to move straight in and enjoy

a glass of wine in the conservatory,

which looks out on to the mature and manicured three-tiered garden.

It looks a bit small for what they need.

Typical man, always talking about size.

It's what you do with it that counts.

The vendors have already got their next house lined up,

so there's some room for manoeuvre.

What are your first impressions?

Smallish garden.

A terraced property wouldn't necessarily be our first choice.

Do you want to go back to mine?

It's too far away, Johnny.

How much is this place?

-This is on the market for just over your budget.

-It's not detached, it's got a small garden, it's over budget.

Can we have a look inside?

You're going to love the inside and you're going to eat those words.

What does that mean, Jane? Shall we go inside?

It's so nice to have your support, Jonnie, but you'll be eating those words once they see inside.

Basically, you could just move your stuff straight in.

What's going on here?

So, Tony, the garden isn't working for you. What about the inside?

It's beautifully decorated, there's no getting away from it. They're lovely beams.

Certainly in this part of the room you're very close to them.

-Pauline, you're not feeling this, are you?

-Not at all.

There are some really nice features which I like and we really wanted like the wood-burning stove.

I can't cope with the low ceiling.

Oh, dear, Jane, I don't think that was quite what you were looking for.

Not really, but the alarm bells should be ringing for you too.

We're running out of time and we've not got a sniff of a compromise from these two.

I think it's right on the location.

I think it's a lovely house but in a way

it's very close to what we've got already and it would almost make the move...

Pointless. Absolutely.

We need to have an emergency meeting.

-That went well.

-Yeah, I'm a bit deflated.

I'm amazed, I thought they would go for the character of the property.

I think Pauline is the one we've both got to please. She wears the trousers here.

She's the one who has to commute to Lichfield every day.

That's what put her off property number one.

I'm going to concentrate on proximity to Lichfield.

I'm going to find something with more land.

I think you need to. Shall we split up? Yes.

So, at the halfway stage it's neck and neck, but sadly for us not in a good way.

At least I can take some comfort from the fact that they're definitely not put off by a renovation project.

But we need to get these guys to be more realistic or they're not going to have a house to move into at all.

My last project of the day is just outside the village of Barton-under-Needwood.

I think I might have finally found a house that solves our land and location conundrum.

It's only 10.5 miles to Pauline's work and has a ramshackle garden that's deceptively large.

I've really lucked out on this one because if they want more space there's the possibility of renting

some adjacent farmland which has already got some playmates for Tony's animals.

The house may currently be a modest, two-bedroom semi-detached cottage, but it's crying out for

Tony and Pauline to help realise its potential, especially in the tiny rooms it's got upstairs.

And if it wasn't perfect enough already,

just wait till they hear the price.

It's half their budget

and if they wanted to get the wrecking ball out to knock down this 70s extension,

then they could rebuild a two-storey one in its place for around £60,000.

This is us.

-What do we get?

-You get half of what you see.

It's a semi. If you let Jane get away with showing you a terrace,

I thought at least I could show you something with a connection on just one side.

That's fine.

-Jonnie, this is your last chance, so no pressure.

-I'm not going to tell you what to do.

I want to hear what you'd like to do and I'll tell you whether it's possible or not.

We'd probably just demolish this completely

and build up two storeys.

Absolutely, Pauline, and that's exactly what the neighbours next door have done.

It all costs money.

It's the price now.

How much?

How much would you like it

-to be?

-275.

-265, something like that.

You're way out, it's 175 grand.

Is it really?

Ooh, I'm liking it a whole lot more now.

The reason I was quite excited to show you this place is I know it

doesn't work for you particularly well at the moment,

but that's the whole beauty of a wreck.

You get the chance to make something your own, but, at £175,000 asking price,

-you've got the opportunity to build yourself something fantastic.

-Yeah.

Close to where you want to be.

I like that.

That's the best reaction we've had yet and they haven't even seen the garden.

I hope you're taking notes Jane, after your last disaster.

Now, the garden is not your average garden, mind your head,

-you've got a little bit of seating area.

-Yeah.

-You've got a pond.

It's busy, it's really green.

Which is, which is fine, it needs quite a lot of thinning, thinning out.

-Which again is fine.

-What are you thinking, Pauline?

Erm, I'm just thinking you really can't see the wood for the trees really.

It's a fantastic project for them, OK, there's the planning process to go through,

but it could have something that even I didn't think I'd be able to find them.

The pressure's off me now.

I think it's on Jane, though.

And I've still got an ace up my sleeve.

This shed at the end of the garden has got Tony's name written all over it.

Oh, wow! Hey, there's room for my toys in here.

Oh, my goodness.

The trouble is you'd never, you'd just be down here all the time you'd never do anything else.

-Well, we'll have to get a phone installed or something so you can summon me.

-And a bed.

-Anyway, come on house is more important, come on.

-Who says?

Me!

This is all going rather well. I think I might give Jane a call.

-Hello!

-Hello, well this is the sound of a relieved man.

-Oh, yeah, what's happened?

-They really like it.

-Do they?

It's going to be a worry to get Tony out of there,

I'm going to have to prise him back into the car to send him to you.

Well done, Jonnie!

-Thank you very much, well, you know, good luck on yours and I'll see you in a bit.

-Thank you. Bye, bye.

Well, let's hope my next property wipes that smile of Jonnie's face.

Well, to me there's loads of possibilities here.

Yes, but you're more looking at the garden.

No, I' m looking at the house as well. I think the house, you know, we can extend, we can have...

-I know what you're saying...

-..What we want...

And for the price of the house,

for what you could afford to spend on it,

you could really strip it back and not just concentrate on the garden

because you see the big plot and your eyes light up.

Hm, well, I think that's you being told, Tony.

So as we near the end of the day, I've definitely got my work cut out,

lucky for me my next ready, situated just outside Lichfield in Longdon,

is a cracking three-bedroomed coach house built in 1780.

Pauline will be pleased that it's only three miles from work and Tony will be tickled by the garden,

which at two-thirds of an acre, is the biggest of the day.

And whilst I remember, Jonnie,

I'll see your shed and raise you two sheds, a double garage and a caravan.

The biggest compromise here is the road noise at the front of the house,

but once they see how much space there is around the back,

they'll feel like all their Christmases have come at once.

It's 15,000 over budget at 365,000,

but it's been on the market on and off for two years

so I think there's a deal to be done.

Well, well, well, not so fast, Farnham, I see your game it's not a 100% ready, is it?

Well, it might need a little updating, but it's certainly not a wreck so you couldn't have shown it.

Now this is the closest to your work.

-OK.

-And it's got the most land.

-Oh, right.

-OK, the only thing is the road.

It's worth seeing how noisy the road is from the inside really.

We're talking to hear and voice levels have to be raised a little bit.

Uh-huh. You have just shocked me all day today, I just can't read you at all, so come on, let's go inside.

-OK.

-This is what I really wanted to show you, the space, look at this for a grand living room.

The carpet would have to go.

-Easily done, that's no problem at all.

-Absolutely.

I actually quite like it.

Um, I was a bit unsure sort of from the outside, but...

You're almost wanting not to like it aren't you? And then...

After the last property in a way yeah I was.

I think it's intriguing and needs to be looked round a bit more,

and I'm surprised how you cannot hear the road from in here.

Hey, that's good, yeah.

Mm, this place seems to be growing on them

and once they see outside it could be game over for you, Mr Irwin.

Wow, look at those cows.

Aren't they brilliant?

Fabulous.

Yes, I'm loving it more all the time.

I mean, it's a fantastic place.

Smallholding is the thing that comes to mind

and we've thought about other livestock, other poultry.

-I want to keep pigs.

-Pauline fancies a couple of pigs.

I'd love to keep pigs and down there is absolutely ideal for a couple of pigs,

just buy them as weenies, fatten them up and get a bit of crackling. Yeah.

Pauline, when we first walked into this house you were just a little bit subdued,

you weren't very excited and now you look like a different woman.

It's because I've seen the outside space and it's the out...

-We are outdoor people really.

-OK.

-We love to spend our time together outside.

-Yeah.

And it just makes the house a bit more likeable because it's expanding now outside.

I'm going to leave you rather excited pair to have a little look over here, OK.

-OK.

-And I'll meet you back up there.

All right.

I think it's got so much potential, don't you?

-Well, it has...

-I think it's amazing.

We could do everything that we want to do in a place like this.

This is everything you've ever wanted.

You know what, this place is amazing.

You heard Jonnie on the phone earlier, he was all confident that they were going to go for the wreck,

but I think this could be a potential winner.

I can't wait to share the good news with Jonnie.

Go on then, Jane, tell all. How'd you get on?

Er, well, you should have seen Pauline's face light up

when I took her down to the end of the plot of land

and she seemed very, very in love with it all.

OK, so you reckon you did OK here?

I think so, but then you were really confident on the last wreck.

Hold your horses, Jane. They haven't seen upstairs yet.

I don't dislike the position, I can't do with the colour.

-OK, we'll change that.

-Yep.

-Right.

Oh, it's horrendous.

Oh, dear, right. You know what this reminds me of?

That cottage we stayed in France.

Oh, no, actually, I was thinking a caravan.

It's got a bit of that feel about it which...

I'm almost disappointed actually because the potential from outside,

you start to get really excited and downstairs,

I was starting to make that work, but I'm struggling with the upstairs.

Hm, the upstairs is the compromise with this place,

but with all that outside space on offer it should be worth it.

We've been trying all day to get Tony and Pauline

to make the tough decisions that have been slowing this search down.

Hoping now that we have shown them our four properties

they'll have a better idea of what they really want.

We started this morning with Jonnie's rural wreck

that was ruled out for being too far away.

And then we went over to Jane's place, over budget, not enough land

and obviously, it was deemed wrong in pretty much every way.

Easy, Jonnie. At least we both had a more successful afternoon.

Yep, my semi-detached cottage could be almost doubled in size and still

be under budget and let's not forget there's extra land available as well.

Ah, but my final ready.

Well, it's actually almost ready, isn't it, Jane?

Well, that's still ready.

My ready is already got all the land they need

and is the closest house they've seen to Pauline's work.

However, it does need some money spent on it and it's right at the top

of their budget, so, technically it's an almost ready, I'd say.

Oh, whatever you say, Mr Irwin.

So which one will Tony and Pauline want to take a second look at?

Will it be the Wreck or the Ready?

-Here they are, looking at the view.

-Hello.

It's a great view, isn't it?

Probably taking a well earned rest, aren't you?

-We've looked at a lot of properties today, four in total. How's it been?

-It's been great. I've loved it.

Um, two of them were definitely not for us,

-but there are two that possibly are and now we've got a dilemma.

-Yeah, we are confused.

Distance-wise, this isn't an issue, it works brilliantly and, of course,

-you've got that fantastic potential of that plot over there.

-Yes.

Downstairs, we could live with.

Upstairs in our view,

to get it to our taste, it's going to need quite a bit of work doing to it.

What about Jonnie's wreck?

The house, it's not suitable as it stands,

it will need completely gutting inside and rebuilding basically,

which on the money, you could do and you would do it to your taste

and you would end up with a beautiful house,

um, it's just if we are prepared to go down that line and do it.

-It's a huge decision.

-Absolutely.

So you know as it's so big and as you're so torn by the sounds of it, why don't you have a sleep on it?

-Yes.

-I think that's a good idea.

-Give us a ring tomorrow.

-We will do.

-OK. Well, look, Jane, expect a call if it's a ready then.

-Yes.

-And I will keep my phone on if it's a wreck.

OK.

-Just turn yours off.

-You reckon?

With our two properties neck-and-neck,

Tony and Pauline have got a huge decision to make overnight.

All Jonnie and I can do is wait with baited breath till

they call us in the morning to find out who is victorious.

-Hi, are you both there?

-We are!

Do you want to know who won?

Yes, please!

-It was you, Jane.

-Yes.

-Oh!

-So thank you very much for all your help.

-Oh, no you're more than welcome.

We're going to get a builder to go round and have a look at it

and help you, give you an idea of the price of the work that you may want to do immediately.

-A builder!

-Yes, a builder, one of those people that help you decorate homes.

We're going to go now, um, this might be the last time you hear from Jane.

Builder...

Builder!

Oh, gosh, such a sore loser.

Yeah, well, maybe I was a little cheeky,

but I think you're just going to have to take this one on the chin, Jonnie.

So Tony and Pauline are back with daughter Karen in tow for a second opinion.

First stop is the major sticking point, the upstairs.

Well, it's really not your style or your colour it's, um...

-It's just not me.

-Yeah, it's a bit too fancy.

And whilst the girls talk bathrooms, we've got a builder in for a chat

with Tony to see if it's possible for them to make all the changes that they need.

I hope they'll put an offer in, it's you know a nice house and they could be happy here

and hopefully they will, because, you know, otherwise, they'll be moving in with me.

So are they going to put an offer in on my almost ready dream home?

Hm, no, sadly not.

-Well, that's what you get for showing them a house that's not actually ready.

-Fair enough.

One thing I do know for sure is that we've turned it around

for these guys and breathed new life into their search.

Now, having spent time with Jane and Jonnie, it has given us renewed vigour and we will

go out there and we'll go round the estate agents tomorrow and start picking up some new details.

The thing that it is going to help us with is, you know, is really

not to become despondent, there's more properties out there

that we can go for and we really need to get out there and have a look for them.

We move out in three weeks' time and we are moving into my daughter's house.

We're going to take all the chickens, the bees,

the greenhouse, the shed, the plants,

everything out of Tony's cellar and I'm hoping that she only charges us

the same rent that we used to charge her.

So it seems Tony and Pauline are still open-minded as to whether they choose a ready or a project.

I like to think that we've perhaps broadened their horizons to look in new areas,

-so hopefully, they'll find a home soon.

-Join us next time.

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