Has anybody ever done up a property to sell on a la Sarah Beany

[Twiglett]

and how do you raise the finances to do it or do you need the money to start with?

My friend was actually on that show with her development project. She gave up her job etc and still does it - she's made quite a success out of it. She started by remprortgaging their house to release some of the equity and put it together with the money she's already saved. Her husband earnt a lot of money so she didn't have to release a salary or anything to herself. She did a lot of the physical work on the 1st couple of projects and then took a step back. She has also found a couple of investors to help fund it as well.