The Great House Giveaway Channel 4

[LadyEloise]

Anyone watching.
I've enjoyed the 2 episodes I've seen.

I usually work in the evenings and haven't been able to watch until this week when I've been on holiday, so I've just caught the last 3 episodes. All 3 have been massively disappointing and I don't think the participants could be blamed. The subsidence episode with the tiny budget was shocking and last night was also gutting. They were just waiting for the plumber why couldn't they have had longer? Watched the rotten joists bit with an open mouth. I thought the woman last night came across as very impressive and I would love to hear her take on it. I'm giving it one last chance tonight. Hoping it's better. I'm really taking against Simon

Simon sounds like every boss I've ever had that has been a twat.

Patronising, basically.

Like the type of person to tell someone with serve depression to 'exercise or go for a walk'

The fact they're using auction finance for this means it's harder for the couples doing the work to make a profit - those fees are sky high.

There was one episode where they didn't get any of the three houses at auction and the production team bought a house in Prescot which eventually sold at a loss. It was marketed in something like May this year and they got no viewings. No mention was made of the pandemic at all. That was the whole reason it didn't sell in the timescales set.

He mentions council tax as a fee in one episode.

You can get 6 months exemption for refurb if no one is living there. In fact, I thought this was the reason for the 6 month time limit.

The whole thing seems off.

Fees though...The auctions near me charge a 4.5% reservation fee. That doesn't go towards the purchase price.

The conveyancing with surveys about 2-2.5k

Estate agents 1.5%.

For a £150,000 house that's over 10k before you look at insurance, electricity, water, gas, etc.

Percentage means the more expensive the house the higher they are and if you end up selling back at auction instead of through estate agents that's another massive fee.

This series throws up a load of behind the scenes questions, yeah these shows are always edited for jeopardy and conflict but this one is a shocker. The first house that was vandalised I'm convinced was an insider or revenge job and the producers knew more than the programme showed. Fees are mad as is the timescale and the totally unfair and lopsided pairings and rules changing for different participants. Goes against my sense of FairPlay and I have completely gone off Simon. And why no mention of Covid which must have had an impact.

Pretty sure council tax exemption varies from council to council - you used to be able to claim an exemption for up to 6 months if a place was unoccupied, but that was stopped years ago.

I've just finished watching the series and agree with every criticism made. At the same time though, I wan to see more! What else can I watch where you get to see how a property is renovated? I used to love the Great Interior Design Challenge too, but that hasn't been done for a few years.

I'm beginning to think this is just a vehicle to get his mates paid employment?

Hat's off to today's Kate for grit and determination and general loveliness. Ridiculous figures again, she drew a real short straw all round and was basically shafted by an impossible task.

Massive fees again tonight. I was fuming for her. She was fantastic.

How many times is someone going to disappear from the project mid-way? What are they doing to them?!

Some of the scripting annoyed me today. After one ad break it was ‘They’ve already blown a third of the budget on the roof’... then in the final round-up Simon agreed it was ‘absolutely vital’. If it’s vital, they didn’t blow it, did they?!

I wonder how much extra they could have spent if Kate had redirected her hair dye budget into the project

Yes Kate was absolutely lovely! She should have taken the videos and sold them for herself, at least she'd have got herself something for six months hard work. She was obviously too sweet and honest.

It makes me so mad when you see them bringing in their family to help, only to make a massive loss.

I wonder if there will be a second series. I doubt they would find anyone to put themselves through the hard work and humiliation.

You will always find people who want to go on telly! The big question is, have the viewing figures justified the budget?

The chapel episode was just mad. That needed an experienced developer and a 6 figure budget to make the best of it.

Yes some of the participants have been useless and far too many have bailed, but recently it's obvious they've had no chance to make a profit. Maybe that's why they bailed. Even those who have been well organised and hard working have made a loss.The initial purchase price plus the reno budget has been more than the sale price. This insistence on the 6 month deadline is setting up for failure especially with issues like subsidence coming up.

I'm strangely addicted but increasingly want to shout at the telly every 5 minutes.

Kate was great, getting stuck in. The partner waltzing off and leaving her high and dry got off lightly.
She should have got some money for all her efforts.
I don't know why the renovators can't hold out for a while, finish the job and then sell it. Why the rush by Simon ?
Why is there such a disparity between what the auctioneers say the houses should sell for and the price they achieve ( usually much lower )
Here in Dublin it's usually the other way around. A house is on for X but sells for
X +€€€.

A profit at last!!!

I do like that Harry splashed out on a wavy blow for the final reveal

I do think they need to change 'the rules' if they have another series. Maybe give them six months to renovate and 2 months to sell.

The problem is that in a second series anyone who is a buyer and knows the house is owned by the tv company will know they can put in a ridiculously low price and it'll be accepted because they've got limited time to sell. If the selling period was two months or something like that they could maybe hold out for better offers.

They did do well today but that was really down to Harry's hard work. I did laugh when Kaylum has said he'd do it again and even been looking at potential properties. He's in for a shock because he'll find out what hard work it is when he doesn't have Harry doing all the work. Interestingly Harry didn't seem quite as keen to do it again .

I think Harry was going to a fancy dress party afterwards, and was going as Barry Gibb

All credit to him. He did an amazing job. The bathrooms were perfect. Did anyone notice they didn't show the kitchen? They obviously did the kitchen because they showed them building the units.

It was a very special house though. Special enough for people to see past the things that still needed doing. They were right to make the best of the kerb appeal, which a lot of the other couples didn't do.

Ot's been fun ... but frustrating! Roll on series 2

The one yesterday Johnny said he'd do it again too but he was the one who left after a bit

I think what’s missing is a point of comparison. Houses in this condition are a bit of a rarity on property shows; plus, the likes of LLL are very Home Counties/big city/naice countryside focused. Most of us watching won’t have a clue if £80k for a semi just outside Middlesbrough is expensive or a bargain. If they took two minutes to show you an immaculate property of a similar size on for £50k more than the purchase price, for example, you’d know if there was at least a chance of a profit with a £12k spend - and whether an offer was a good one or a low one.

Finally a decent profit In today’s. Considering the guys grew to dislike each other they did well to keep the end goal in sight and stay on track. The house looked beautiful. I agree that Harry seemed to do the lions share of the work that would have cost a fortune to get contractors for. But credit to them they deserved their £40,000.

I think series 2 needs a rethink. Choosing properties that aren’t ridiculous for novice renovators to tackle. The chapel was a bloody ridiculous project. Not sharing any profit equally if one person has jumped ship and left their partner to sort it all out. Giving a longer period of time depending on the scale of the work involved.

I didn't see the kitchen in Harry's house, did anyone notice it ?
Did they do anything with the cellar ?
I really hate cellars. Scary damp places.

I’m baffled why they didn’t show the kitchen. They were fitting it.