Property guru Sarah Beeny joins us for live webchat on Tuesday 6th July between 1 - 2pm

[RachelMumsnet]

We're delighted to announce that property guru Sarah Beeny is joining us on Tuesday (6th July) between 1 and 2pm for a live webchat. Sarah is launching Cancer Research UK's new 'Charity Begins at Home' campaign, which urges people to delcutter their homes and donate good quality, unwanted items to the charity's shops. With one bag of items being worth as much as £30, the campaign aims to raise significant funds for the charity's life-saving work to beat cancer. The campaign will run throughout July 2010. For more information on Cancer Research UK's shops, including restrictions on what they can accept, visit www.cancerresearchuk.org/shopping

Sarah started her career at the age of 24, setting up her own property development company. She then went on to become a household name in programmes such as Property Ladder. After the success of www.mysinglefriend.com, Sarah has just launched a new website, www.tepilo.com, which aims to bring a change to the way we buy, sell and let houses.

So make a date in your diaries to join us next Tuesday at 1pm and if you've got a burning question to ask Sarah but can?t make it at that time, post your advance questions to this thread.

[LoveBeingAsleep]

Hi Sarah dh and I love watching your programme and I ahve always wanted to ask you if you get fed up of the people that completly ignore your advice and then it turns out you were right all along (everytime!)?

[GrendelsMum]

Wow, it's the BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENY!

[minipie]

Ms Beeny: what do you think is going to happen to property prices (specifically, Zone 2 London) over the next 6-12 months?

Many thanks

[expatinscotland]

Ms Beeny, have you ever had participants in your show whom you've had to stop filming with because they are such numbskulls and rude?

[Confuzled]

Why are the participants so reluctant to accept free advice from a range of professionals when they presumably signed up in the first place to access it?

Which participant/s do you most shudder to recall? (The sister who spent thousands on tiles for the downstairs loo in pursuit of her Barbie brothel look? The woman with the corner bath, vinyl floor tiles and horrific "feature" where the fireplace should have been? "Healthy House" woman with the crystals under the floorboards... and poured concrete floor? Make Your Own Luck family?)

Did you ever imagine at the start that it would be so very successful?

I love your show. I spent many happy hours when the baby was tiny lying on the sofa, feeding and shouting at the idiots. It's far less fun when they're reasonable and skilled. I imagine the production company screen for that. :D

[Confuzled]

Oops. First question only then, sorry.

[UnquietDad]

Can I just mention that she always has utterly lovely boots? That's all really.

Oh, okay then, I'll ask a proper question...Sarah, do you ever feel like losing your temper with the idiots who think they know better than you with all your years of experience? I mean, FGS, if you were giving me some free advice I'd be hanging on every word! Some of these people seem determined to lose money!

[HarijukuLover]

Love the Beeny. My DH does, too .

I echo Confuzled!

What's up with the participants who won't be told? I personally love it when Beeny says 'It would be much more sensible to convert this space in to a well proportioned one bedroom flat, rather than an oddball 4 bedroom funfair house of fun with the kitchen next to the master bedroom and the bathroom three storeys up yadda yadda...', then they don't listen to her, go ahead with their cockamamie plans, and have to front it out with the forced smiles when Beeny comes in and grimaces at their monumental fuck up. Brilliant Maybe it's all part of the Producer's master plan...

[Enormarse]

Oooh, I love Property Ladder! Especially the episodes where you are smiling through gritted teeth whilst they ignore your advice/flush their money down the drain.

My question is, how accurate do you think Zoopla is? Is it really a useful tool to value your house? We've just done a big extension on our house and I'd like to have it re-valued but don't really want to ask an estate agent as we have no intention of moving! Thanks

[aristocat]

we love you too

is there a new series/show that we can look forward to?

[jonicomelately]

Hi Sarah,

I've just spent the past eighteen months trying to see our house, which finally we've managed to do

It has been one of the toughest things I've ever done. I've sold a house in the past and I know the economic climate is tough but jeez was it stressful.

My question is in relation to estate agents. How can some of them justify their fees when they do so little? I'm not a complainer by nature but I was astonished at how unprofessional and undynamic some of them are. They know the market's tough yet they thing to try to alter the way they operate. We had our house on the market with one agent for over a year, switched and sold within a few weeks.

I now know I should've switched earlier but you invest a lot of faith in these people.

How do you cope with agents who haven't adjusted to the new financial situation?

[jonicomelately]

Oops, typos...'fail' not 'thing to try.'

[squeaver]

Did those two moronic girlies on the south coast with their art-deco explosion in a paint shop ever sell that house?

And what about the bloke with the penthouse with no lift in Brighton?

Also, are you a Mumsnetter?

[midnightexpress]

Hi Sarah. I'm away next week so probably can't join in on Tuesday. We're considering buying a grade 2 listed house in need of a complete refurb inside. Do you know if it's possible to get someone from a planning department to discuss whether/what structural changes are likely to be considered favourably before you commit to buying, or would you have to take your chances?

[LadyBee]

Wow, I adore your programmes, such fantastic comfort viewing

People on your show often seem to grossly underestimate the costs and have too small budgets. I found recently that you get quotes from builders but it's hard sometimes to know about the extra costs that can crop up - do you have any tips for getting a more accurate budget together? How do we find out what things cost more easily?

[SpeedyGonzalez]

Sarah, I am actually an intellectual genius (ahem) but am going to ask a terribly frivolous question. Saw you on TV in some ad the other day...you look fab! And yet you're a mother too. Do you have a coterie of 'people' to make you look so good? Actually, just say yes and we'll leave it there.



Seriously, though. If you were to leave the property industry, what killer career would you take up instead?

[Confuzled]

"Did those two moronic girlies on the south coast with their art-deco explosion in a paint shop ever sell that house?"

Yes! I want to know that - the Barbie brothel. The only nice bit was the roof terrace extension, because they ran out of dough to f*ck it up. And the sane sister was watching the "artistic" one with such horror, unable to escape from the partnership. Though WTF she was doing in the first place, trusting a woman who thought class was a fluffy pink feather tipped biro, I don't pretend to know.

[expatinscotland]

Those two gals should be used as a public service announcement about the dangers of drugs, because you'd have to be whacked out of your mind on LSD to even come up with half the crap they did!

That downstairs loo alone would have sent a Greatful Dead fan straight to a loony bin.

[sailorsgal]

"Healthy House Woman" is a friend of mine. She rents the house out and has spent the last couple of years travelling the world.

[OrientCalf]

oh god I have massive girl-crush on her

will have to stop jibbering and think of sensible grownup question

[flyingwellundertheradar]

We have had no viewings whatsoever of the lovely McCarthy and Stone one-bed retirement flat which belonged to my mother-in-law, now sadly deceased. It is in a brand new development in a great location (near London) and we have cleared and cleaned it. We will presumably need to drop the price. Any tips, please?

[foureleven]

Oh Sarah! This is soooo off topic it is very naughty but thank you for your wonderful website where I met the love of my life who has absolutely completed me and my daughters lives in every way I could have dreamed

[pepperonipizza]

Oooh, I was just about to post the same sort of thing as foureleven! I met my gorgeous DP 3 years ago on mysinglefriend, and we have just had a beautiful baby boy. We hold you entirley responsible

A massive THANKS Sarah - we think you're fab (property stuff as well as MSF!!). Will be checking out your new website as we're looking to sell our house towards the end of the year.

[saltyseadog]

Hurrah - La Beeny!!!

OK - boring grown up property question coming up.

We recently moved into what we believe to be a late 50s/ early 60s detached house complete with Crittall windows. My question is what to do with the Crittall windows - keep or replace?

We were planning to replace them with timber frames (not a cheap exercise as there are 32 windows!), but we then spoke to an architect friend who said keep them as they are a period feature of the house and that we would regret it as removing them would make the house look pretty bog standard.

I'm really interested to know what you'd do if you were developing such a house (please don't say that you'd never buy a 1950s house to develop )?

[SpeedyGonzalez]

Can I ask another question?

We are considering getting people to invest with us in purchasing our next family home. In essence, they'd offer an amount of cash and then we'd all be listed on the deeds (I think you can have up to 4 names on deeds?). Ideally if we have enough of an investment to make a cash purchase, my husband and I will be able to save what we currently pay in rent so that we have a lump sum at the end of the 10 year period. Then we'd have an agreement to review the house value in 10 years and decide whether to sell, buy out any investors, or get replacement investors.

We'd get a solicitor to draw up contracts to make the whole thing as water-tight as possible so that everyone benefits. Do you know people who've done this or something similar? Are there any potential pitfalls you could advise against?