05/11/2012 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

In the next half an hour: Cheap at half the price - we hear from the

northern homeowners who say the promise of a dream quick sale

turned into a very long nightmare. They were just saying, it is worth

nothing. They made me feel like I was worthless. We head off on a

date with a serial mistress from Richmond who claims wives only have

themselves to blame when their husbands stray. A lot of women will

settle into being at the wife and forget they used to be a woman.

we stray off the beaten track with a Northumberland farmer, as she

heads off to cross the Indian continent in a rickshaw called

Bertha. If you decide to do something, you can do it. Stories

from the heart of the North East & In a recession, selling your home

is tough - in fact, the market in the North has been in the doldrums

for years. So what could be better than a company promising to buy

your home quickly? Turns out, if you're desperate to sell you could

be a sitting target for someone to make shaky promises and big bucks,

These are tough times for the North's estate agents. But the

slump in house prices has created new opportunities for property

firms to make a quick buck from desperate homeowners wanting to

sell. But we've discovered that Gateway Homes and a sister company

are delivering long delays and swingeing last minute price cuts.

feel violated, used, abused, cheated. It made not only myself,

but my whole family, including my grandmother, ill. This sounds like

an abuse. That is a very good reason to have more regulation and

I think they should. Tonight we're going show the secrets they don't

want you to see. I'll be shining a light into the workings of one of

the North's biggest house-buying companies, and show you just how

they manage to make money out of vulnerable and desperate homeowners.

Times are good for Nick Statman. He's director of Gateway Homes UK

and eight other property companies. On one of his websites he boasts he

owns almost 200 properties. He's also a keen amateur boxer. From his

headquarters in Leeds he runs a network of agents who bring in the

customers. Malcolm Haywood wanted to sell his house quickly. What

attracted me to Gateway Homes was that they offered a service that

was going to be quick. Gateway agreed a price of �120,000. But

just before the deal was done, Gateway knocked 30% off the price.

He refused to sell. I was very angry - very angry indeed. I

thought this would be a quick method of doing a deal. Gateway

Homes leave a very nasty taste in the mouth. Every time I open the

paper and see their ad it really makes my blood boil. He's not the

only one. Pat Hardy from Broughton on Teesside signed the same

contract with one of Nick Statman's other companies, Tom Craven

Property. The day before the removal men were due to arrive, I

got a phone call - and this gentleman said, "We have a problem,

Mrs Hardy". I had agreed to sell the property at �75,000 - they

offered �40,000. I said no and put the phone down. Yes, you heard

right - Tom Craven had slashed its offer almost in half. The next day

the price was upped to �50,000, but the deal still collapsed, leaving

Pat high and dry. They made me feel like I was worthless. What we had

worked years for to put into the property, they were saying it was

worth nothing. Pat found another buyer - and sold for �75,000. And

we've unearthed many other stories just like Pat's. Aggressive price

drops and long delays. This Trading Standards office has received 40

complaints - mostly from the North - which it's yet to investigate.

Probably the most common complaint we have had is in relation to the

agreed a price for the property, and then right at the last minute

the company has substantially reduced the purchase price, and in

many cases that has left the vendor in a difficult financial position.

I've spoken to a number of people who've told me that Gateway reduced

their offer by anything between 16 and more than 50%. And remember

those adverts promising up to 80% of market value? Well, we've seen a

company document handed to their agents which says: A case of not

playing by the book? Maybe you could stomach the price drop for a

quick sale, but with Gateway even that is far from guaranteed,

despite the advertising. The whole process went really smoothly.

took a matter of weeks to complete from start to finish. The gentleman

that first came, he led us to believe that everything would be

plain sailing and sorted out in a matter of weeks, where in fact it

was strung out over a long time. would recommend Gateway Homes to

was so worrying for months - month in, month out, every single day.

"It will be there Monday" - but it wasn't there. I was so worried that

we had lost everything. Natalie was selling the house for her

grandmother - she'd expected a quick sale, but instead she was

forced to wait six months before just one of a number we came across.

Remember, these people are vulnerable. They are desperate to

sell -they want the money and they want it now, and the longer it goes

on, the worse their situation will be. They need the money to pay off

creditors, perhaps they have lost their job, perhaps they think they

will be repossessed. Perhaps they are facing divorce. They need it

now, so the longer it goes on the greater the bargaining position

will be in favour for the company and not the individual. So it is

almost an incentive to the company to drag it out because the seller

will be desperate to accept their much lower offer. So why didn't

Natalie just walk away? Like all Gateway's vendors, Natalie had

signed a contract lasting 12 months. She believed she had no choice but

to sell to Gateway. And this is the contract. There is a helpful

warning at the bottom - "This is a binding contract and should only be

signed if only if you understand the contents." The point is no one

would have signed if they had A contract which last seven, 10 or 14

days would seem quite reasonable. contract that ties the homeowner

for a year isn't in keeping with the speedy transaction that was

offered. It is a really badly drafted document. Whoever wrote it

had no intention of being fair between the seller and buyer. There

is no balance whatsoever. It is entirely in favour of the buyer. I

think it is so badly written that it is probably unenforceable.

contract allows Gateway to walk away for any reason it likes -

literally any reason. And it doesn't have to stick to the price

it quotes at the top. For some, it's time for Government

intervention. RICS would like to see regulation in this sector. It

would provide a point of reference and a code of conduct for

homeowners to refer to. Now, remember that rather flimsy

contract - the one that gives all the wriggle room? Well, there's one

clause we haven't mentioned yet. It allows Gateway the right to market

the property for sale to a third party before it's even bought it.

That's exactly what happened to Carol McFarlane. I lost my business.

We were in a bad way at the time - it seemed an easy solution. After

long delays, a price drop and feeling trapped by her contract,

Carol was shocked to find that her house was being advertised for sale

on the internet for �50,000 more than she was being offered. I was

amazed! It is just terrible. I have lived six months of a nightmare, I

have. Unbelievable! Carol did eventually sell her house to

Gateway, but it was anything other than quick - nine months of waiting.

We wanted to put the concerns we have heard to Gateway Homes. Nick

Statman declined our invitation for interview, but did issue a

statement. It says Gateway has helped "thousands of satisfied

homeowners", and the actual number of complaints is "well below 1%".

It says Trading Standards have "never investigated Gateway and

have no plans to", and none of the enquires to the watchdog have been

"formal complaints". Many are simply "pre-shopping enquiries".

What about that contract and the advice to its sales agents? Well,

Gateway Homes says it offers "full transparency from day one" - and

the initial contract is "jargon- free and easy for a customer to

understand without the need for legal advice"/ It is separate to a

"formal sale contract". And then there's those last minute price

drops of up to 50%. Well, Gateway says that's because "on occasion a

revised offer is necessary" after a valuation from a surveyor, and the

customer is "free to walk away". Finally, the delays of up to nine

months on the promised Quick Sales: Gateway says that involves just a

"minority of cases" with" unforeseeable delays during the

conveyancing process", and that their service is "greatly

appreciated by many customers". So what is the advice to anyone

considering selling their house this way? Take independent advice

before they get into any discussion to sell a property. The very first

thing I would say to them is, are you absolutely sure you have to do

this? Have you explored every other avenue? This is a nuclear strategy.

Once you have sold the house it is gone. My advice is, please don't

get anywhere near Gateway Homes. These companies do not do what it

The latest figures show that more than 40% of marriages end in

divorce. So you'd think the last thing to keep a couple together

would be having an affair. But that's what Karen Marley from North

Yorkshire advises, and she practises what she preaches. Karen

is a "Serial Mistress" who says she "borrows" married men. Single

journalist, Richard Peppiatt, went My wife has lost all interest in

sex. I haven't had sex in five years.

There, I've said it. I'm married, and looking for a gentleman in a

similar position. Affairs. More people appear to be looking online

for them. But few admit to having them. Except one woman. Karen

Marley has three affairs on the go, all with married men. She says

she's doing nothing wrong, and is strengthening failing marriages.

I'm about to meet Karen to find out. It's Thursday night. Karen's

getting ready to go out. Who's the lucky man? He is single. I don't

normally go out with a single man. Married guys have had the rough

edges knocked off. I've heard you have been with 100 married men?

not at all. Thanks for having a chat with me. Good luck with your

date. Karen is in North Yorkshire. Would others consider affairs out

their marriages have lost their fears? There are other things far

more important. Karen is about to meet her new fellow. Who happens to

be, the! -- near! What better way of discovering what makes Karen

take? Karen claims her affairs allow men to stay in their

marriages. But isn't she encouraging infidelity? If it

wasn't me, it would be somebody else. Have men fallen for you? If I

wanted that, I'd be dating single men. One turned up and said he was

leaving his wife. I sent him away. Karen uses a dating site that has

hundreds of thousands of married people looking for affairs. Men pay

more than a hundred pounds a month to use it. Isn't this pimping?

I don't think so. Women are looking for the same thing as men. People

tend to find us. Aren't you exploiting marriage woes, and

making a bit of money off the back of it? Affairs don't necessarily

lead to marital breakdown. 40-60% of people have had some kind of

extra-marital dalliance, from a kiss in a bar to a four-year affair.

Karen was once married her cell. Why do men not have dinner with her

whites? -- waves? They forget to be a woman. Lots of men say to me, she

does not wear stockings in the bedroom any more, does not make any

effort. How do you tell a wife and that you love that she has let

herself go? They must this is not unrealistic when it comes to looks.

They will pay the attention that the men is looking for. I spoke to

an expert from Relate. It can have such an impact. It takes such a

time to rebuild trust. After they can load their problems on to

somebody else and get an E, Czaja, -- ego massage, then they will be

easier to live with. We just wish they would come in rather than go

off and have an affair with someone else. Karen's media appearances

caused a storm. I have had death threats. Betfred? -- death for its?

What I do, people are very vitriolic about. Women are held as

the gatekeepers of sexuality. Men are naturally more likely to seek

out lots of partners in their lifetime. Women are naturally - and

I say that in inverted commas - will seek one partner. Back at the

restaurant, we are on to the pudding. How would you feel if you

found out that somebody was cheating on you with a woman like

you? I would be mortified. Disappointed that the effort I

meet... I would hope he would not be to look elsewhere. -- not need.

Is that but hypocritical? To an extent. But what a certain

lifestyle you see it and another perspective. Is that not selfish?

admit I am selfish. One our website has 62,000 members from the North

East alone. They have control about how they portray themselves. It

enables women to instigate an affair. The coffee is here. What

happens now? Usually the guy pays because he is on an expense account.

Is it not a bit like paint or sex? -- paying for. Well he is not going

to get at. But men pay for sex all the time. Is that not a cynical

view? All men are capable of having an affair. It is just whether or

not they go through with it. Back to yours? Of course not. A few more

Well that was an interesting night. The morality is not for me to judge.

But the Internet certainly enables people to seek out a fails in a way

that they could not have done in the past. Right or wrong? I will

let you judge. You can add a What would be your dream job and

the? Luxury cruise? Trip around the world? For one person from

Northumberland it is driving the world's most dangerous roads in a

ramshackle rickshaw. No high- temperature as? So fraught?

Temperature? Meet Fiona Lees Millais, a mother-of-two and

Northumberland farmer. She is taking part in a charity run

organised by a coup called The Adventurists. She will drive a

motorised rickshaw 2,500 miles from the south-west to north-east of

India. No back-up, no recovery, no spares. She does not pay much

attention to my views. On this there is no stopping her.

thought it would never actually happen. They will be fine? It will

be great! The one that is doing it for a charity who put clean water

in Indian villages. -- fee one that is doing it. -- Fiona. We all have

to take ourselves out of other comfort zone. It could make a

difference for few children living or dying. Cochin, south-west India.

The team trying a vehicle called Big Bertha. -- the team are in the

vehicle. It is not actually a race. But many of the 69 teams want to be

the fastest. Big Bertha is off to a flying start. 2Posh2Push have

teamed up with competitors from New Zealand and Australia. But within

one a day, Big Bertha runs into trouble. Some impromptu impressions

as an -- of an elephant from locals? And elegant with

constipation! Traffic entering from the left has right of way. And the

right. And the middle! This is a motorway with a tractor going in

the wrong direction! It is morning and we're waiting for the mechanic

to come. As Dawn goes to collect petrol the other teams have left.

Soon they are making progress. morning at about 5:00am I felt sick.

I thought, she is flying home any minute now. I have never had highs

like it, but the laws - I have never had laws like it. -- lows.

But 2Posh2Push still managed to catch up with the other teams. The

Adventurists say that the trips set people free from the health and

safety culture and raise money for In fact, they are up very lost.

ended up, literally, in a cabbage patch. There were frayed tempers.

Had lunch, smoked lots of cigarette, went shopping. And there Hotel? At

a brothel. It is so hot! Oh good morning! During today's break down,

they over to the pushing. -- overdo. I just crashed into the mechanicals

what he is not very happy. -- I just crashed into the mechanic.

This is our lunch. We're getting a bit of peace from the morning

Australians. -- moaning. We had a horrible to rider last night with

no lights. Trying to avoid potholes, it was horrible. The whole engine

is broken. Determined to fall into as many pieces as possible. Hello,

deals. Gibb -- gears. Six hours later they are off again and stuck

by the welcome they are receiving on the road. He everybody honks

their Hong. -- horn. It is rather I have got some meet here. Finally,

they end is in safe. 11, access to go off. -- 11 kilometres to go off.

Very exciting. Go right. Yes! only women only team in that run

finished fast. It was so exciting. Yet nobody else was there! So what

have 2Posh2Push learned about India? Event in the middle of

nowhere, if you ask for help, everybody helps. It is amazing.

Eventually, they raised �17,500 which will provide clean drinking

water and save lives in Indian villages. What have they learned