The Great House Giveaway Series 3

[Playplayaway]

Love this! Any watchers?

It's so hard for them to make a profit with the interest they end up paying for the loan. It just goes to show how difficult it is to make money flipping houses unless you have your own cold hard cash, contacts and a decent level of skill.

Last week there were some great pairs and some half decent profits, but yesterday's pair, although they looked excellent on paper and started off so well with getting a lot of freebies, spent a ridiculous amount of money and ran out of time - incurring more fees!

I do think six months isn't enough though. They have to do the whole renovation AND sell within that time. These people have full time jobs and lives. Just getting trades organised can take weeks. Nine months would be more realistic and give the extra time for finishing off properly, staging etc.

Sorry @loislovesstewie , don’t mean to offend , just generally think they should keep to neutral colours.
I see the navy kitchen as more of a “ trend “ for first time buyers / flats etc

I wasn't offended ! I was just thinking that I liked the colour and was I terribly out of step! Today's episode was interesting in any case.

I’m starting to think that in a lot of cases they get sold a pup. They should be told not only the price of the property but the fees etc at the beginning. Sometimes they say at the beginning that there ought to be a profit margin of £30k, but by the time you’ve knocked off £10k of improvements plus £15k of taxes/fees etc, then the contestants are left with a pittance. If Simon/Tayo had to pay a team of workmen to do up those properties they’d be paying a heck of a lot more than £5k apiece for 6 months of labour! And don’t get me started on making no allowances for people with full time jobs…

Yes there's just not enough profit when fees get added, especially if there are structural issues, walls needing replastering, all woodwork redoing, doors replaced, major garden work etc. It's really time consuming work and it needs to be really high spec to get buyers willing to pay anywhere near asking price. In reality they only get 4/5 months as it needs to sell within the 6 months.

These auction houses are great for buyers who aim to move in and slowly renovate. Not so great for a quick flip.

I'm a bit behind on this but on the one with the young lad and lass from Newcastle,did anyone else notice that the plumber they used was in a previous episode (same series) as a 'contestant.'He quit after a few weeks when the E A said there wasn't alot of profit_but he finished putting in the bathroom before he left.

I’ve watched a few. I think the problem is now there are not many bargain houses.
investors are buying anything that’s a low price to do up and rent.
A few years ago we did this with an inheritance.
we paid £48k for a little house, spent £10 and we now rent it out.
The same houses are nearly £100k now.
We live in a large northern city and when we were viewing it was mostly agents and people from the south looking at the property with us.

I keep reading about how mental house prices are just now and people are offering silly money over the asking price - all I can say is that you wouldn't know that by watching this programme!

Yes you'd think they'd command a decent price as most have had a lot of work done on them so are good value for money. The ones that have been 'staged' seem to sell better so I think that final bit of effort is really worth it but often they just don't have enough time.

I simply cannot believe how much today's house sold for. Simon blamed it all on the bathroom but he paid too much at the auction to begin with. For me, the pub/shared access would be far more off putting than a downstairs bathroom. In hindsight, yes, they should have squeezed in a loo upstairs, but still to sell it for LESS than the original price is shocking. Those poor lads 😞

TBH, I thought as soon as the bathroom was left downstairs, 'this will not end well' . Most people like an upstairs bathroom these days, no matter how good the downstairs one might be. I did feel sorry for the 2 of them, though, as they did work hard.

I like this program but its such a hard watch at times. We call it 'simon obrien ruins lives' because sometimes he is really irresponsible. Pays too much, doesn't help when some unforseen issue threatens to damage things, doesn't seem to mediate when a pair is struggling, i could go on.
Id expect him to help younger contestants especially. Some are clueless and sledgehammer happy. They need more guidance.
Still watch it but it raises my blood pressure more often than not

Yup the episode of house next to pub was such a shame
Also WTF re: the huge taxes and Charges , circa 20 k for each property recently …
zero scope for any realistic profit.
The series is becoming depressing

I fully agree.
I've deleted the rest of the series of programmes I had recorded and not seen. It was too depressing :
Unrealistic budget for refurbishment work.
Taxes and fees so high that the sale price needed to reflect that and didn't.
Not enough time for a house to sell.

The contestants were really up against it.
Almost primed to fail.

Life at the moment is depressing enough without watching peoples dreams go up in smoke, therefore I'm out.

I got to the end of the series but I agree it's a depressing show. Who wants to see al those hard working people fail?

If CH4 do another series they need to stump up the cash themselves so there are no loan fees so the contestants get a chance at an actual profit. Otherwise who on earth would be daft enough to apply to go on it?

Yes me too.......I'd recorded each episode and I have four to go, but like everyone else, I don't know if it's worth watching to the end. The amount of time and effort each couple puts in, or sometimes just half the couple when one pulls out and by the time interest, fees etc are added in they're left with peanuts. Thoroughly depressing and all in all the majority have not made much.

I used to watch BBC's Homes under the Hammer which never went into detail about the various amounts that would need to come out of their projected profit when valued by an estate agent at the end of the programme.

Anyway, this has been a really interesting thread, glad I found it!

I've been catching up as only realised it was on again after the second series. Been enjoying more these last episodes but still banging my head at some of the people's decisions...

Btw, does anyone know how some of them get even full kitchens with appliancies for nearly nothing?! Last episode I've watched in Bangor, they got a Howdens kitchen with everything included for £400, and noticed wren kitchens before...

I've been catching up as only realised it was on again after the second series. Been enjoying more these last episodes but still banging my head at some of the people's decisions...

Btw, does anyone know how some of them get even full kitchens with appliancies for nearly nothing?!
Last episode I've watched in Bangor, they got a Howdens kitchen with everything included for £400, and noticed wren kitchens before...

Yes fully agree
the loan and tax thing spoils it and makes it unacheivable , I don’t think anyone will apply for the next series , too many losses or hard graft for like a 5k profit .
Talented joiners / landscapers / electrician etc could make that in a few weeks of their own work , why slog away on a show …

I just love this programme. But I think it's wrong they put a tradesman with someone who has never done anything like this before. Am just watching a model working with a plumber. He is doing most of the work and I know she can take wallpaper off etc., but I just don't think it's fair that they get 50/50 at the end of it.

I've still got one programme to watch from the series I recorded many weeks ago and in all honesty if it's anything like the rest of the series, it won't be a feel good feeling at the end.........just a long list of fees, loans, utility bills, auction fees etc etc etc deducting any decent profit they make. Not worth all the blood sweat and tears the couples put into the venture.