Episode 8 Wreck or Ready?

Searching for that ideal home in today's market is tougher that ever.

So, how to make the right move? Should you find a wreck to renovate or somewhere ready to move into?

I'm determined to find properties that hit the spot,

without having to get your hands dirty.

Because I think fully finished and gorgeous is the way forward.

But I reckon one of the best ways to get value for money is to renovate,

so I'm flying the flag for doer-uppers,

to show our house hunters that Wrecks are the best bet.

So, which of the options will they go for? One of my Wrecks?

Or one of my Readys?

Today we're searching along some prime London commuter belt, the southern home counties.

From desirable Surrey, to irresistible West Sussex.

Property prices here are ferocious!

An average detached house sells

at nearly £623,000.

A terrifying £278,000 above the UK average.

It's an expensive area, but today's house hunters have a healthy budget.

Simon and Nicola are only two months away from their planned wedding.

They want to climb the property ladder and get some

extra space because they also want to start a family.

The chemistry is great with this pair as they both work in the highly lucrative pharmaceutical industry.

Simon's work is in Surrey and Nicola works in West Sussex, so they need to be commutable to both counties.

They have a buyer for their current property who's willing to wait,

but they won't wait forever, so we need to get cracking

and find out what Simon and Nicola are looking for.

We also need to find out who's going to be tempted by one of my Wrecks.

And who wants one of my lovely Readys.

-Right, fire it up.

-To work.

-I'm Simon.

-I'm Nicola. I'm really for a Ready House

because of the circumstances that we're getting married quite soon and

we'll be looking to start a family quite soon after that, so I'm not really up for a really big project.

I think I'd probably be more interested in a Wreck that we could add value to. This is our garden.

We've had to tier it because of the gradient it's on.

Ideally, in the next property, this is something that we'd like to have - a flat, flat plot.

-Fair enough.

-This is the summer house that I built with my Dad.

It's currently being used as sort of a lads games room.

If he can build a summer house that size, maybe he's quite handy.

He's obviously handy. I think it's going to be timescales that's the issue today.

This is our master bedroom. I love this space, it definitely works for us

in terms of the size and we've got a fantastic en-suite bathroom as well.

And the only down side is unfortunately our bedroom

is on the front of the property and it overlooks the main road.

We're still yet to find our ideal property and

that's after viewing eight or nine different properties.

The property we already have, we really like.

I think it's finished to quite a high standard.

For us, we're looking at the next step up and sometimes, I see them as a step across rather than a step up.

I'm struggling with this.

Why are they moving?

I know. It does seem they've got almost the right house but by the looks of it, it's not

-a house they've bought together and there's a few issues with it, so...

-The road.

-Yeah, and the garden.

-Garden.

So we'd really like four bedrooms, all of which hopefully could be doubles.

A nice open plan kitchen.

And also an additional sort of living area that, you know, we can close

the kids off in the future, let them have that as a crash room.

-The main challenge today is this looming wedding.

-Mmm!

-But don't worry, I've got a plan.

-Have you?

Yeah. I'm going to call the wedding off, get the date pushed back.

Not if I can help it.

We won't delay their nuptials just for you to find them a project, Irwin, that's for sure.

I've got no worries at all about finding a Wreck with enough land.

My major concern here is finding a Wreck

that can be done up in time for the wedding. Now, that's a big ask.

So I'm looking for a minor renovation rather than a full on wrecking ball project.

These guys are in a great position cos they've already got a buyer for their home,

but I'm not, because I've got to find them something bigger and better than what they've got already.

And with a big budget comes and even bigger wish list.

Simon and Nicola are looking for a large family home.

A quiet street.

A big open plan kitchen.

And space for further growth.

All this for a maximum budget of, get this, £750,000.

That's a massive budget but still, it doesn't go far in this part of the world.

Well, we're not here for the easy house hunts, Jane. Let's get to work.

It's all about moving up for this pair and I reckon I can find them

more space in a quieter, less developed part of Surrey.

Average house prices here are over half a million pounds, so my Wreck radar has brought me to Hersham,

just nine miles up the road from where currently live and Simon works in Leatherhead.

But nearly an hour's commute for Nicola to work in Horsham.

Ouch. Sorry, Nicola.

This Hersham Wreck is a five bedroom detached Edwardian house

on the market for £725,000,

so pretty close to Simon

and Nicola's ceiling of £750,000.

We're looking at a modernisation rather than a total renovation here,

so potentially the project can be finished before the wedding.

OK, then, my first offering

is this little beauty here. Now, I want your first impressions here.

-It's...

-I really like it.

Yeah, it's got real character, erm it's nice that it's double fronted

and I like the bay window downstairs and certainly the bay window upstairs as well.

We're a little bit further out of your search area.

On a bad day, you might be travelling anything up to maybe an hour to work.

Well, that's OK cos Simon works quite close to here, so it's only 15 minutes maybe for Si, so...

-Yes, so I gain from this.

-There's a bonus.

-I can see why you're getting married now!

Aw, isn't that lovely?

Well, look, these are good first impressions. Erm...let's get inside.

So far, so good. This detached Edwardian house has five bedrooms

and there's a good stretch of garden at the back,

but also, there's a potential deal-breaker on the side.

Half the garden has been annexed to sell separately for a new build.

Not an ideal prospect, even for a Wreck option.

So, living room. I'm not going to say anything yet,

-I'm going to wait for you to say things.

-OK.

Good or bad, I don't mind.

-I like it, I like the double aspect which is quite nice.

-Right.

And that you've got the view out to the garden. I quite like that.

Yeah, it feels a little bit small but that's probably cos of what we're used to.

-You're used to a bigger house.

-Yes.

-You asked for a bigger house, didn't you?

-Yes.

-OK.

So let's talk about potential extensions.

You've got garage space behind here, OK,

-which means you may well have to get rid of this chimney.

-Yes.

-But, you can have a gable end extension going this way.

-Yeah.

Two storey.

Or - and I think cheaper and easier,

bearing in mind you've got a whole lot of stuff going on in your lives - going out that way.

So, two choices of extension here.

Option one, extending sideways, will cost at least £150,000.

But my favourite, option two - to extend out the back -

they'll need to budget around 100 grand minimum,

but the market price is at the top of Simon and Nicola's budget, so they'll need some leverage.

We're obviously talking about doing quite a bit of work to this property,

so it's good to know the price right at the top, isn't it?

It's on the market for offers around 725,

but the owner is trying to sell off some associated land.

And so, they tell us - the owners themselves -

that they're prepared to settle around 640-ish, maybe even less.

So, you've got plenty of money left in your budget, haven't you?

Yes, very much so, yeah.

What do you think about what you've seen?

Oh, certainly. With having that amount of money left in the budget,

that gives us a massive amount of scope to extend, you know, at the back, to the side.

As long as it's considered acceptable on this plot.

-Nicola?

-Yeah, I'm really positive.

I'm surprised that they're willing to come down so far on the asking price.

So that's very positive.

So that's all positives. Now, how about a nice juicy negative to add to my challenge here.

Remember I mentioned some associated land being sold off?

Well, here it is.

The vendor is hoping to sell that bit of land off

for someone to put a house on it, a small three-bedroomed house.

Now, you've got the option of spending say, negotiation wise,

there or thereabouts maybe another 180 grand and having that land yourself.

Or leaving it be,

but I want you to know that if it did get planning consent,

then you'd be living next door to a building site.

We couldn't afford to buy that land.

So I am a little bit concerned about a property being so close.

I think without that screen, you can see what a great plot this was.

Separating it to me, it's difficult to sort of visualise

how that would work, reducing the garden to the plot that it is.

Erm, certainly the extension here,

I can see that adding great value to the downstairs living space.

So there's an assumption there, that upstairs would be acceptable to us.

Jonnie, you've found yourself a really tough sell here

but your silver-tongued pitch does seem to be working.

Yeah, I know, I'm surprising myself here to be honest.

-This is the study.

-A study at the moment.

Yeah, it's quite small, isn't it? That first one's a double.

-Oh, yeah.

-It's quite nice over the back.

-There's no en suite to the master, is there?

Well, the garden's not put them off but the bedrooms don't seem to be working for this pair.

Would you fit a double bed in?

-No, not in here.

-No.

-I think we'd struggle.

Well, that's got me thinking, we need to find Simon and Nicola more space inside and out.

They're looking at children's bedrooms already.

-Hi there.

-Hello.

-Hello there.

-Seen enough?

-I think so, yes.

-Right then.

-Let's go.

More space, more land and somewhere great for a young family.

Tough call for a Ready,

so I'm taking the party 34 miles away from Hersham into deepest mid-Sussex.

Crawley Down is more rural

and there's more space to be had,

plus average detached prices here are a good £200 grand or more below Surrey.

This Crawley Down Ready is a...

..so it's right at the top of Simon and Nicola's budget.

Simon, Nicola, welcome to Crawley Down.

We start at the back of the property because, with this property

-I'm giving you all of this, it's almost three acres.

-Wow.

Now, it is amazing.

What are your thoughts? I mean cos this is just quite something.

-Yeah, got it.

-It's beautiful.

This is a wonderful feature without a doubt, with established woods and it's really pleasant.

But obviously there's a compromise, one of the main things you said to us in the DVD

was that road was an issue.

Now can you live with that, before we go any further?

I think it's a good question. It would be interesting to see what it's like when we're in the house.

-Mm-hm.

-We're in the garden at the moment, we can hear it.

We're also aware that Gatwick is close by, so interesting to see if there's any plane noise as well

but, first impressions, potentially that we could overcome that, I think.

-If we fell in love with the house, I'd make that compromise.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Oh, that's good!

OK, OK, there are compromises here.

Firstly there's some noise, we've got a main road out the front and a flight path to Gatwick overhead.

Plus the house is smaller, it's only got three bedrooms, one less than they wanted,

but I'm not convinced they need as much space as they're asking for.

Well, they might just love it anyway, Jane, let's hope the kitchen's got a wow.

So, straight off the garden into what I think

is a beautiful country kitchen with a really lovely feel to it.

Your first reactions would be really good.

It's a bit dark for me...

-Uhh!

-..I must admit, maybe it's cos it's not a sunny day at the moment.

Ouch! Not quite the wow we were hoping for, Jane, maybe Simon will come to the rescue.

-There's a good family space near the kitchen.

-Thank you!

-I love the range cooker.

That's a great feature, at the side of the kitchen, very country feel to it.

My first impressions of here are good.

You wanted four or even more bedrooms.

Yes, ideally four.

-OK, you're getting three here...

-OK.

..two of which are en suite

and what I really want to get to the bottom of, we all want the dream, the big house,

But the question I put to you now is, why do you need it,

right now, before the wedding, before the kids have come along?

We're now looking for the forever home, so once we move, we don't want to move again

until the kids have gone and we're ready to downsize so that's why we want so many.

'Hat's off, Jane, it's a tricky subject to broach and I'm glad I'm not the one doing it. Good luck.'

It's just going to be the two of you moving in here, and say in the next three years, you have children,

you double in size, you still only need three bedrooms.

And then in the long term, if this works for you now,

maybe in the next three, four, five years, you could add to it.

-There's scope for extension here on this property.

-That's fine,

in the short term, we can live with three bedrooms, if we have the potential to add to it.

Phew, I'm relieved.

-It's quite a nice staircase.

-Yeah, I like the way it turns.

Jane's winning the battle but the bedrooms were a let-down on my last Wreck,

so will hers be big enough?

-Ah this is a nice bedroom.

-It's quite pleasant.

-Yeah.

Have you noticed that, though?

-Yeah, just need to check how often they go over.

-Yeah.

Yes, not that hard to notice - that overhead flight path to Gatwick above your chimneypot.

Is it worth having nearly three acres of land if you can't get any peace and quiet? Probably not.

-Well, what do you think about the property overall, though?

-There's a couple of compromises.

You've got the road noise which being in the property isn't as apparent as I thought it would be.

But there's the plane noise as well.

Yeah, I think it's a little bit too much and it's probably noisier

than the property we've currently got.

Those pesky flying machines and it's not only the noise they don't like, there's just not enough space here.

One thing they haven't seen is a house they can have a big family in, have relatives over to stay.

I want to find a house where they think, "It's massive, we want this."

Yeah, I'm definitely going to look for something of a much bigger size.

-Cool, all right, well, good luck.

-Yes, thank you.

-After you, after you.

-I think I'm going to need it.

'So, two properties down and I'm not sure either of us have got it right yet.

'We need to split up and cover more ground.'

What I want to find them is something a little bit big bigger than my last property

but maybe something they CAN extend, over time.

Good things come to those who wait, apparently,

so I need to push the idea of having less now and more later.

This house-hunt needs a power surge to get the guys a massive renovation project.

So I'm taking Simon and Nicola 22 miles further down the road

to Billingshurst,

on the Surrey/Sussex border,

where I've found a doer-upper of epic proportions.

Even with the hard sell that Jane gave in her last property,

I don't think Nicola and Simon are prepared to compromise on bedrooms,

in fact, I think they maybe ever want more than four.

So I'm going big and in here, I'm gone very big.

This Billingshurst Wreck is a five- possibly six-bedroomed detached house, requiring a full restoration,

but with all the space Simon and Nicola have asked for.

It's on the market for over 120 grand below their budget ceiling.

Jane, can you hear that?

No, nor can I, cos there's no flight path, no A road, just lovely peace and quiet.

Well done, Jonnie, you're an excellent house-hunter and so modest too(!)

Well, if you've got it...

-Quiet, isn't it?

-Very quiet.

-That's a private road, OK, so this is where I'm hoping you might think is,

in your words, not mine, "a forever house".

-OK.

-What do you think?

-I like it.

-You do?

-I do.

Yes, yeah, definitely.

-It looks big.

-It's a whopper.

-It's large, the tranquillity's here, it'd be interesting to see what's inside.

-Great!

A very good start, Jonnie, although this is quite an odd house, it's very quirky, to say the least.

Well, you say quirky, I say inspiring,

they could get really excited here and create their dream home.

-You wanted big.

-Wow.

-It's huge!

-I kind of laughed when I came in here as well, it's kind of comical,

you've kind of got the sort of 1960s, '70s B movie in this, in this place, can't you?

-It's the split level, the wood, is it big enough?

-Definitely.

-Oh, yes, definitely, without a doubt.

Could land a plane in here! Looking around the place, there's money to be spent,

now do you want to talk about how much it's going to cost here or see a little bit more of it?

I think I'd like to see it as a whole so we can envisage what we'd like to do

and then how much that would cost.

There's so much potential here, it's a very adaptable, if slightly peculiar, space.

Oh, it reminds me of being in a sauna actually.

Just need to find the coals!!

And I reckon they could get the renovation work completed within their budget.

This could be exciting. It's going to cost a lot of money but it could be an amazing home.

-My goodness, another room!

-Wow! It's like a TARDIS, isn't it?

TARDIS?! To be honest, Jonnie, I reckon they would need a time machine to get this place ready

before the big day, it's only two months away.

-A lot of work, though.

-Yes.

-Don't you think?

-Without a doubt.

-Jonnie!

-Farnham! How are you?

-All right, thanks. How are you getting on there?

Erm, good, I'm kind of halfway through, so I don't know whether they really like it or not.

-It could be quite daunting to them but I just thought I'd give you a bit of a tip off.

-OK.

The big is beautiful campaign is the one to go with cos I've shown them a massive room and they love it.

You've got every right to be confident Jonnie, but will they go for it?

This leads into the garage.

Well, it depends on how much work Simon and Nicola are prepared to take on.

The house is on the market at 625 grand and I've got a quote for modernisation works.

New windows cost around £30,000.

A new kitchen -

put around £20,000 in the funds.

And new bathrooms each at three grand a pop.

I really like the house. One part I'm struggling with, it seems quite disconnected in areas.

It seems to me it's like two houses than one house, it'd be good to try and discuss

how we could make it feel like one house.

It's been built at different times, you can tell that annexe, was definitely an afterthought.

Any building you do, you want to connect it on the ground floor.

And I think that connection would be made via the back of the kitchen.

-Yeah.

-There's a lot of work to be done but by professionals, OK?

Now, the house itself, the builder reckons he could get your house

-ready to move into in ten weeks.

-Wow.

-OK.

-OK? It's going to cost you at least £100,000.

-But if you consider that every room will be how you want it.

-Mm-hm.

-Yeah and that's very appealing.

-Yeah.

I thought it could take months rather than weeks,

-so it's nice to hear that it wouldn't take as long.

-Yeah.

So the work could be completed in time for their return from honeymoon.

Well, Jane, I wouldn't say my Wreck is a tough act to follow,

but no, actually, yeah I would say that - my Wreck is a very tough act to follow.

Hands up, I'm struggling here. I've been up and down the southern home counties

and big Ready properties just cost an absolute fortune.

This is amongst the most expensive areas in the whole country

and even Simon and Nicola's generous 750 grand budget just doesn't go as far as I want it to.

So I'm playing my last hand and taking our soon-to-be-married couple nine miles down the road

to the pretty village of Storrington.

Property here is more expensive

than Billingshurst

but I've managed to find a beauty.

Right, my first property, I showed you, come on up, don't be shy.

You weren't so keen because of the road, the planes...

-Yeah.

-..the size.

-I was sweating, erm, we've got a quiet road here, so no through road.

-Yeah.

-No planes.

-No planes.

-House!

-It looks beautiful.

-Very appealing house.

-Absolutely beautiful.

-Yeah, it's got a lot of curb appeal.

-I love it.

-Brilliant!

My final Storrington Ready is a very, very attractive four-bedroomed detached house

on a quiet road with the all important flat garden.

It's on the market at...

leaving 100 grand spare

in Simon and Nicola's budget for a possible additional development project.

-As it stands, it's only four bedrooms.

-Right.

-OK.

-But there's scope for a huge extension which would double the size of the property...

-Wow.

..to here and these are the plans for them.

What are you thinking now?

-I'm intrigued.

-Yes, very much so, knowing there's the potential to extend it further,

that's a bonus. It's the first I'm excited about.

Sorry, Jonnie, as you said, big is beautiful today,

so I'm being a bit cheeky and sneaking in the possibility of an extension.

I cannot believe you've turned traitor to the Ready cause just to beat me,

but I actually like your style, Jane, well done.

Do you get a feel for the place?

I've got a really good feel for the place and we've only just walked in and I really like it.

And I definitely think we could live with four bedrooms

and extend as and when we need to, so it's nice we've that flexibility to be able to do that.

-But the whole grounds and the house itself?

-It's just beautiful.

-Yes, the proportions for the plot are excellent.

-So it's on at 645.

It's under your budget, that leaves you over £100,000 to play with,

should you wish to go up to your budget.

You might decide that you don't need to extend quite so much.

This is all music to my ears and I think, possibly,

finally I've found the right property for the happy couple.

-Ah, this is nice.

-Master bedroom, is it? Yeah.

It's a lovely size, isn't it?

-Double aspect windows, which is really pleasant.

-Yeah.

It's nice overlooking... the front garden here.

This is going very well, Jane,

it looks like it could be curtains for my big Billingshurst Wreck after all.

-So how do you feel about this then?

-Having seen the plans, I think there's so much potential.

My favourite of the day.

This looks very nice.

-It's a beauty, isn't it!

-Really does look quite pretty.

-They're in love.

-Are they?

-Mmm. Not just with each other!

-Oh, right.

With the house too. It's not quite as big as they need forever,

but it's got lots of potential to extend in the long term.

"Potential" and "extend", normally words you'd associate

with maybe a project or something I would show them, Jane.

Yes, erm, you may feel I'm standing on your toes ever so slightly, but it's ready to move into.

Unbelievable.

-You love it!

-I don't actually!

Well it's been a thoroughly exciting day, we've learnt a lot about Simon and Nicola's plans for the future.

My first renovation project of the day had half its garden missing,

but had great potential for development.

Then my Crawley Down Ready had curb appeal

but a lot of noise from planes and traffic.

So I found some peace and quiet with a massive,

if slightly confusing Wreck in Billingshurst,

but it was just too odd.

I saved the best till last with, to be fair, a cheat.

This property is ready to move into but has potential

for lots more space, sometime after the wedding.

Unbelievable, so which house

-will they go for?

-You have to ask?

-Which is your favourite?

-This, definitely.

-So you'd like to come back and see this?

-Very much so, and talk about the plans in more detail and...

-Mm-hm.

-..and how we achieve that.

-I'm sure I can arrange that for you.

-Here's your stinking plans!

-Thank you for your help.

-I admit defeat.

-It's been a pleasure.

Have a great second viewing, you going to arrange it now?

-Mmm, yes, of course, we'll arrange it for you for tomorrow.

-Lovely.

Well, well, well, it seems they want to re-visit one of our properties, which one was it again, Jonnie?

-I don't know.

-Sorry! Oh, yes, it was mine, my lovely Storrington Ready.

Time to go for a second view in a new light.

Any issues with light around this sort of balcony?

We sent along a local builder to lend a hand and discuss plans

for a potentially huge extension, to happen sooner rather than later.

An extension sooner, doesn't sound very Ready, does it, Jane? No.

I definitely think I could see us with children here.

There's a huge gorgeous garden our kids could potentially run around in.

It's really quiet, it's not overlooked,

I think we would feel at ease with the children running about and having fun

and hopefully we'd join in with them.

Well, Simon and Nicola, played it safe with getting all the plans drawn up

but are still willing to take on a pretty big project, right on the eve of their wedding.

There's a lot to consider before you put in an offer on a property you like the look of.

When you return to view, make sure you take someone else with you,

preferably someone with a different taste so you can spot the things that you haven't.

Try to view at different times of day to get a new perspective on the property and its area.

And finally, just as Simon and Nicola have done,

don't feel pressured into making a quick offer

before you've thought it all through.

As this goes to print, Simon and Nicola, placed an offer of £640,000,

just 5,000 below the asking price and it was accepted.

I bet they did, it was only five grand underneath.

They're also hoping to get building plans re-instated to create a huge double fronted extension.

Simon and Nicola have postponed moving from their current house

until all the building work is finished.

So, fingers crossed, Nicola and Simon can create their dream forever home in time for their family plans.

-Create?

-Mm-hm.

-Doesn't sound very Ready to me! Anyway, I'm not bitter, I'll move on.

Join us next time when I, for certain, will be showing people around a genuine Wreck.

-And I'll be showing them around genuine Readys.

-Will you? Probably won't.

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