Altrincham | Phil Spencer: Secret Agent | BBC Documentary

the property boom's well and truly over and some might say the smartest move would be to stay put and enjoy the homes we've got but what happens when that's just not an option we're either going to sell it or i guess my mortgage provider will come and take it from me we've got a little oliver here and we've got another one on the way so basically we're running out of space with record levels of unsold properties sitting in agents windows right across the country something has to be done to get the market moving every day i'll be making it my mission to get an offer on a house that's not selling even though we know we need to sell it we've just given up so we've just lost hope and to make sure i know exactly what's been going wrong i'm going undercover if they don't know i'm their secret agent [Music] hello fox exposing unsold houses dirty little secrets it's scarcely presented well though is it with pants on display secretly rewriting the property particulars is what i like to call the brutal truth and confronting some very unsuspecting owners with the hard fact it feels student when you're selling your house it's just not good enough don't look horrified it's just knackered it is so huge today's task is a 200 year old house that's less cozy cottage more dowdy and confused is it a gym is it a nightclub and after four years on the market this is no easy assignment am i gonna help sell this to try and get things moving i'll be lining up potential buyers got your name's written all over and i reckon and checking out the competition would you like to be our agent i just hope this battle with bricks and mortar doesn't send me crackers the house is falling down quick get out [Music] today i'm undercover in the suburbs south of manchester the leafy hot spots to the city's south are a prime location for families but you pay a premium as the average house price is 230 000 pounds that's nearly 90 grand more than the rest of greater manchester but despite its appeal prices here have still fallen by around 14 in the past year alone the market is far from buoyant the vast majority of the properties in this agent's window have got three or four bedrooms and it's the sheer number of them that's causing the problem whilst typical first-time buyer properties are few and far between the market for family homes is in a rut in fact it's not uncommon for these larger properties to be up for sale for over a year 12 months may sound like a long time to sell a house but it's nothing compared with the one that i've been called here to help with this three bed detached house in timperley is for sale at 000 pounds and it's been on the market for four yes four years it was meant to be the perfect forever family home for bernie caroline and her brood we moved in more than a decade ago but since then bernie's circumstances have dramatically changed eight years ago my husband died and my daughter who's now 28 she has moved out and i'm left with me myself and sophie understandably with all that bernie's feelings towards the house have changed too as much as we love it it's just too big for us and pluso holds a lot of memories for us and it's time for us to downsize now but despite multiple viewings including 18 in the last year bernie's no closer to selling and moving on frustration is setting in my motivation has dropped when you don't get that offer you do get disheartened no wonder even in this tough market four years is a hugely long time to be up for sale something must be a miss and as i've had a helping hand in buying and selling hundreds of properties over the years i reckon i could be just the man to figure out what so unknown to bernie i am about to become her secret agent and to kick things off while she's out with best friend patsy i'm going to investigate her home to see what needs to change if i'm going to find her a buyer what strikes me straight away coming to the house is that it's unexpected i'm not where i expect it to be this is an 18th century old cottage and it's surrounded by really very modern properties so it's a strange one this house was originally a few cottages that have been knocked into one over the years according to the agent's brochure i'm expecting to find a charming and characterful three-bedroom property right well this is clearly an extension a hallway quite a generous extension although the paint works absolutely filthy this i'm led to believe is the living room which is very small and dark like the hallway it's also looking a bit tired not the best first impression and again cosmetically quite poor cosmetics are the easy part what's more worrying is the strange layout and this is obviously another living room how did somebody use two living rooms next to each other i'm not sure none of them are particularly inviting again this room needs some attention but i'm beginning to realize if i'm to help sell it's the definition of these spaces i need to work on well i i know from the floor plan this is the dining room but a dining room with no dining table it's not a clever piece of marketing when selling your home you need to help prospective buyers visualize how they will live in it that means spelling out how every room will be used the purpose of this room is not exactly singing out at me karaoke anyone at least i suppose someone could sing for their supper but that's about it oh maybe one pun too many next as well as the three reception rooms there's also a study of sorts and at the back of the house the room which as well i know often makes or breaks for sale the kitchen is a big bright room it's just shabby buyers know that refitting a kitchen this size would cost them thousands so setting a positive first impression here is vital it's just not really inviting families looking for houses around here want to move straight in they don't want to feel they've got to come in and decorate every single room it does need to be clean and bright and show a bit of enthusiasm which this doesn't how am i gonna help sell this seems it's not just me who's feeling down but through the kitchen window i've spotted hope well it looks like it's got a decent size garden but these trees are taking it over they need cutting back mine the dog do potential at least i'm seeing potential out here i'm slightly struggling to see enough potential inside but that's what we've got to work at [Music] and i've still got to see the upstairs i'm hoping there's no further horrors but i'm not holding my breath quite a bit of damp coming in there and in bedroom number three i love the mural actually real personality in this room but a potential nightmare lies ahead one which could be the sign of a very serious problem that's a nasty crack goodness knows what's causing that but i can tell you they just stood here i can really notice that the floor is not the way it should be my worries just got structurally serious being a secret agent is no easy task in just under a fortnight i plan to open this house to potential buyers but if i'm to seal a deal first i have to help bernie and sophie transform this house to its full period property potential on a budget the house is not sellable like that the house isn't falling down but it's not pretty and it's going to trouble any purchaser and it's definitely going to trouble any surveyor could be serious it might not be serious but whatever we need to explore it we need to find out what's causing it and what can be done about it timperley is prime commuter country with its excellent motorway and tram links to the city centre of manchester but almost as important the borough of trafford in which templey lies has one of the best schooling systems in north west england that makes this area a magnet for young families eager to give their kids the best start in life one such family are the inghams sally and will have their mortgage and deposit in place and have been looking for six months they've got young twins so i know they'll want an area with good schools but what else is on a typical buyer tick list what about the nuts and bolts of the rooms uh we need three bedrooms minimum preferably four really yeah um and downstairs wise we would prefer to have sort of an eating living kitchen rather than having closed off rooms everywhere um although that said it is quite nice to have a bit of mummy and daddy quiet time yes to watch the telly and you know have a have a room it's an adult space yeah but also we need quite a lot of character certainly my experience of searching these areas it's not as though they're stacked full of character properties this is the problem we've had okay so i'm getting the picture an adult space child space and a all together family space would work well that'd be great as much character as you can yeah exactly in an area that doesn't have it oh i'll work with that so i now know the wish list for a typical family buyer in this area my mission as a secret agent is becoming clearer i've got to transform this shabby unloved space into a charming cozy cottage fit for a growing family like sally and wills but when my identity is revealed so i am your secret agent and i deliver the harsh reality to bernie leave that with you i'm going to be brutally honest making it what you will will she be able to handle the truth [Music] i'm taking on a mission to get britain's property market back on its feet deposits are high mortgage approvals are low and the average uk agent has a huge amount of unsold properties sitting on their shelves britain's property market is in danger of coming to an abrupt hold so to get things moving i'm going undercover across the country working as a secret agent i'm determined to shift some hard to sell homes she doesn't yet know it but this time my task is to sell bernie caroline's three-bedroom cottage in timperley south of manchester it's a case i'm determined to crack if the house is not sellable like that we need an explanation bernie and her husband robert bought this cottage 14 years ago and transformed it into a family home for them and their two daughters we moved from a three bed semi we liked all the features of it all the characters of it really but family life changed dramatically when she lost her partner to cancer [Music] that was eight years ago now bernie and daughter sophie are ready to leave the house and its memories behind but selling is no easy task the eight years of losing my husband haven't touched the property it's now got to the point that i feel as though i need to do something to make it more appealing unfortunately bernie's not wrong there dowdy decor is not desirable i don't know my smile after four years of marketing countless viewings and no sale in sight bernie's desperate for some help so far neither she daughter sophie nor best friend patsy who's along for moral support know that it's me who's the secret agent fascinating spying on them on them in their conversation wondering who i am i just hope they're ready to hear my diagnosis hi i'm phil hi i'm phil you must meet bernie sophie it must be hi patsy very nice to meet you hi so i am your secret agent right and i'm here to try and help yes please i know it's been a fairly torrid time it's four years on the market a long time what do you think has been going well i don't really know i mean obviously the house isn't to everybody's taste i haven't done anything to it for eight years and i do think it probably needs fresh pain and tarting up a little bit a bit i'd say this dodgy diy and dowdy decoration is a complete disaster when you're trying to sell your home you've had a lot of people through the house to look at it over over that period of time have you had feedback okay some people don't like that you have to go from room to room some people then once they get here they don't actually like the road some people think that it's probably too much to take on even if it is mostly cosmetic with its cracks gaps and peeling paper i'm surprised bernie doesn't realize this looks like a massive renovation job to potential buyers and that's going to put them off after such a long time trying to sell it i imagine motivation isn't as high as it might have been yeah absolutely drop you lose the enthusiasm so really you've got to stay positive are you up for for getting things done oh absolutely so the time is right to time is absolutely right yeah well that at least is positive now for the hard bit telling the detailed truth about her home starting with the kitchen it's a lovely big kitchen it's really bright it's the brightest room in the house but is it selling the house at the moment no i'm sure we can make it look a lot better but what do we do without costing a lot of money okay i think it needs a really good clean and i think it needs a good freshen up and a paint um and really not much more than that it's a nice it's a let's celebrate this one because it's a great room and there could be a lot more to celebrate if bernie works with me to sort the house layout it's no good telling buyers what each room could be used for i want her to show them we're asking potential purchasers to walk through the door to use their imagination that this is the dining room and i walked in here and thought i've just seen two living rooms yeah what's this is it a gym is it a nightclub it's a gym during the day in a nightclub at night and on my mission to give each space of purpose i've got a cunning plan to wow family buyers in the living room the first of the two living rooms that is i'm going to suggest if this was a playroom family room and perhaps with the karaoke machine in here and we lost one of these sofas and we've basically dressed it as a playroom somebody's going to walk through and think oh i've got i've got a playroom i've got a living room i've got a dining room i've got gravy kitchen different uses of space and it makes it feel better value for money right i'm not sure bernie's convinced and i've not yet mentioned my plans for the complete redecoration to get rid of the scrappy dull decor and introduce some period character this is a beautiful 200 year old cottage but it lacks character now and anything that we could do to replace reinstate the feeling of history i think we should do because that's what people are hoping for all right okay bye this house desperately needs tlc throughout if it's to attract viewers and that applies to the outside too you have a wonderful garden out here it's a really strong asset of the house and yet it's kind of being overwhelmed when was the last time somebody was on those swings oh probably about nine years ago it's not selling the lifestyle no no i can help right brilliant he says confidently wearing his best suit let's have a look upstairs okay afraid the mission continues [Music] and what a mission it is now for the frightening bit well lovely sophie's room such a nice room tears but you know what i'm going to talk about in here don't you oh do ya to change it no all right i'm gonna ask you what's that oh the crack um well i don't know really i say it's been there a few couple of years but i don't think it's anything structural or anything like that oh dear i don't think is not good enough for me or for buyers i'm shocked bernie's looked at this for such a long time in a 200 year old property this could be a massive problem not to mention a massive put off young person young family looking around the house liking lots of things they come in here and they see that what's going to go through their mind i'll tell you what's going to go through their mind is oh my god the house is falling down quick get out i am worried about that i'll tell you for now leave that with me okay i'll come back to you on that all right okay that crack needs sorting as does the layout and the deck or two i hope bernie's ready to invest some serious time and effort into the sale of this house otherwise she may well be living here for another four years i want to leave her under no illusions as to what needs to be done to get an offer on this cottage so i've put together my own property particulars to deliver the brutal truth [Music] i am absolutely here to help and i'm firmly on your side i'm going to be brutally honest this is what i think too many people are walking through the door and thinking but i'm going to leave that with you make it what you will um they're all things that we can change okay okay with less than a fortnight to find potential buyers for this home i need to have a look at the competition and bernie has to face up to what's required if i'm to close a deal her estate agent details described a charming and attractive cottage i reckon charming and attractive on the outside but cold and unloved on the inside and what do you think about that not convinced patsy i think his bit of being a bit cheeky about saying it's cold and unloved and you've lived here yeah you have been scared to live here yeah you've lived here and that's what houses are for yeah absolutely that's the problem with friends they never tell you the harsh truths room leads off to the kitchen however you'll be left to eat a few months i'll be singing for you supper but that's what the karaoke machine is there for yeah bernie's agent said the property has good sized gardens the only problem is we won't be able to do anything with them as you can't get access to the garden shed [Music] ladies these are meant to be harsh truths harsh but fair especially considering this popular neck of the woods has other vendors with more to offer bernie's marketing her house at 330 000 pounds but within one mile there were over 90 similar properties up for sale just over half a mile away in timperley this extended semi-detached four bedder is on the market for 325 grand that's five grand less than bernie's like bernie's house it offers a spacious living area but unlike it they're all clearly laid out making it easy for prospective purchasers to see how they could use the space the vendors have made the most of their home ensuring it's the kind of place people aspire to live in fact it's so desirable they've already received two offers but there's just enough time for will and sally who i met earlier to have a look around [Music] it's a lot bigger upstairs than i expected it to be isn't it yeah could you fit a pair of twins in here you could do shoes you could wow look at this fantastic brilliant kitchen isn't it yeah all the storage space you could ever need the garden's big yeah yeah it's a good garden space isn't all it so this is the sitting room a stylish property like this emphasizes how much work bernie has to do if she's to receive the same positive reaction to her house oh it certainly doesn't need anything doing to it it's very nice nicely done it really is essential to grab your buyers attention and have them leave with a memorable impression then they come back now i have a better idea of what bernie's competing against it's time to see if she'll do what's needed to get her cottage sold she's asking 330 000 pounds for it but after four years on the market and in its current condition has she got ahead in the cash clouds i know you've reduced the price in the past how are you feeling about where the price is today at 3 30. i think it's a good price at 3 30. i think i've reduced it enough yeah fine um i actually agree with you however there is quite a lot of other things that are out in the market so your house needs to stand up and be counted and really mark its place and that's what it's going to do absolutely if it comes to offering negotiating can you be flexible would you be flexible i would be flexible but obviously i want you know a realistic price i don't want silly offers the market's the market yeah it's only worth what someone will pay for absolutely yeah how are you feeling about spending money in order to make money good idea it's a sensible idea and obviously we'll have to see what the costings are going to be you might not want to might not want to [Laughter] not if i can help it so bernie is realistic about the price and she and pal patsy are signed up to make over the cottage just what's needed if i'm gonna deliver on my promise of clinching a sale time to get cracking although we need to keep the cost down with less than two weeks to go and a lot of peeling walls to transform they've called in a decorator to cast his expert eye over the job all right mike have you had a chance to look about see that's just gonna be quick this is not a good first impression because that's the door that people are coming in this is it's uh it's quite tight isn't it yeah he's a good freshen up i'm worried about trying to patch things when you do patch up something on the ceiling or it shows up the wall next to it or it shows up the woodwork or it's it's always safer and the best bet you just do a lot okay fine the entire house bedrooms study and all will be given a thorough clear out and clean up and the ladies are kicking off in the kitchen in the dining room the karaoke and treadmill will make way for a dining table and the main living room will be given a glam up while the smaller room will be styled to suit the kids [Music] and with the plan of action firmly in place i want to catch up with bernie's estate agent to double check my instincts are right on why the buyers aren't biting [Music] here we go tom brought you a coffee thank you what's been going on do you think the one standout issue has been the layout okay there's nothing we can do about the layout of the house do you think it would help if we designed and presented the living rooms differently very much what we're seeing now is buyers want a lifestyle and where they can see children's room they can see a room for them they can see formal dining room they can start to envisage dinner parties that has a big factor and certainly sets properties apart from each other i can certainly help with that with some far better designation of space i've always said buyers are after a lifestyle as well as a home so my mission to get this house off the market is underway but there is still one cracking problem in need of expert advice and the diagnosis does not sound good the raptors have started to move and you've got a cracking in the brickwork and it's just shoving the brickwork across when you're selling it sometimes feels more hassle than it's worth [Music] bernie carolyn knows the feeling only too well she's been trying to sell this three-bedroom cottage for the last four years i've stepped in as her secret agent to find out what's going wrong the house is falling down quick get out now she's enlisted family and friends to get her cottage and spam starting with the tired and grubby kitchen clean now you can actually see out of them in the rest of the house we're adding definition to these downstairs rooms and bringing back as much cottage character as possible bernie's saying goodbye to the karaoke machine to make space for a dining table and a top to bottom clean up operations taking place that study certainly needs it i'm getting on top of things that i really have been leaving give me that push it seems sophie's relishing getting rid of her baby stuff even murphy the dogs getting in on the action [Music] but there are some things better left to the professionals so i've called in some green fingers to attack the jungle of a garden hi steve hi phil it doesn't look like there's been a lot of gardening going on out here not for a while we need to give this a good cut back yeah we can only go back about 12 inches here because it will look a right mess if we go too far with it and then it wouldn't grow back okay well 12 inches is 12 inches as i always say it's time to make the most of this potentially gorgeous space and as steve sets to work i want to take a look at some of this house's competition just down the road also in timperley this spacious detached three bedder sits in a generous plot and it has great potential to extend it's light bright it would make a great family home but i'm curious to find out about its 350 000 pound price tag which hasn't changed during its four years on the market i'm beginning to think four years is a trend round here so i'm going to meet owners pam and tony to talk about why they too haven't been able to sell your agent is better positioned than i am to advise you on local market conditions um it feels like a quite a long way off the 350. if you say well i'll i'll cut the price down then people come along and because of the recession they want another 10 off that you can certainly find that you've given away 50 60 70 000 pounds of your property it's a difficult decision to take to cut the price can i make one suggestion if you were able to secure yourself planning permission for an extension and then lodge that with the estate agent you you're not going to go and do the work now why should you but it would perhaps show with planning permissions sold with planning permission approved something needs to change we either need to offer more which that would be or you need to reduce the price that's right would you like to be our agent you're right enough you're not at 350. [Laughter] well at least we're all still friends so hopefully that means they'll take my advice and back at bernie's i'm doing all i can to help them as well all right team here we go with so many rooms to spruce up in so little time bernie's also called in a professional painter to help out and he's cracking on too [Music] but there is one room which she hopes can be left untouched sophie's and there's a very special reason [Music] we asked sophie at the start did you want this room painting and she said no because her dad wanted it do it so even though she's now 11 and we had it painted when she was first born you know she she loves this room of course with the giant crack in the corner no one is yet sure if sophie's mural will survive it's time for a specialist and i hope structural engineer chris can tell us what's happening with the ceiling and the roof above it [Music] it's like a pack of cards if you imagine you've got two cards side by side if they're not held at the bottom they can over the years start to spread out and that's what's harmed in this corner the rafters have started to move and you've got a cracking in the brickwork and it's just shoving the brickwork across well i don't see it as a major job to actually remedy the problem probably it's going to take a good quality builder a couple of days to actually do the whole works so you'd be looking maybe in the region of somewhere between 500 600 pounds what a relief when a structure of surveyor comes around you always expect the worst and i feel as though it's good news today really and it's something that we can rectify put right and that'll be the end of it bernie's not the only one with renewed focus it's time to find serious buyers as well as persuade previous viewers to take a look at my open house just wondering if you're still thinking about popping over to milton cottage tomorrow morning tom the agent's hitting the phones okay we'll look forward to seeing it cheers bye-bye and in my bid to get the market moving again i've decided to take will and sally to the timberly property i saw earlier little detached number for you this house does need updating and with young twins i'm not convinced will and sally have time to do that but they may well be tempted by the opportunity to extend and add value first impressions first thoughts of where we're at um i don't know what to think it's not something we'd go for immediately it wouldn't uh jump off the page at us but yeah you never know i can tell from out here that it needs work yes there's work that you would do yeah and on value that you would add great um it's in good condition it's just a bit dated okay all right let's have a look yep now this place has been on the market a very long time on the market at 350 grand right so reading between the lines i'm sure there is a deal that could be done it'll be a practical house once you look sally's expression is not saying dream house right now but maybe my grand extension plan will wow them in the kitchen you could decide to open it up that way have a big kitchen diner dressing god you could extend into the garage you could put another level on it i can see there's plenty of potential i reckon will and sally do like the idea of putting their stamp on a property but the reality of a busy life with small children is another matter how did you get on um yeah we've got some reservations certainly i think yeah um i'm not inspired i don't think okay could you be inspired with the work done remind you of all that i can see that that would really improve the house and make it a great family house but i think i don't like the house enough okay to spend that much in money and energy really yeah yeah fine i understand hearing you loud and clear we'll find something different okay lots of buyers like will and sally relish the prospect of adding value but the reality of such a project combined with a 350 grand price tag can be too much to bear in this market at 330 000 i think bernie's house could tick will and sally's boxes but she's certainly going to have to give it the walk-in wow factor and with just a day to go before i bring my buyers round the facelift is really taking shape the roof beams have been tied making them secure and the crack that adorned sophie's wall has been filled in the mural has thankfully been saved the finishing touches courtesy of bernie's unsuspecting visiting niece she even said you've not brought your clothes around for cleaning and painting up yourself this has been a real friends and family affair and the last tidy will finish off the transformation but has enough been done well if this all this hard work doesn't sell the house now then i don't know what i'm going to do well done so it's been over a week since i began my assessment of bernie's cottage back then it was cold and characterless now with freshly painted walls throughout it's clean warm and atmospheric perfect for a family to move into and surely a good investment of the seventeen hundred pounds it cost to paint the original layout was confusing but simply by using rugs cushions and throws to style both living rooms each now has a firm identity [Music] a family room and a more formal living room [Music] bernie's gym and karaoke equipment has been banished and the room transformed into a sophisticated dining space with the addition of a borrowed table dressed to suggest a posh dinner party [Music] the office and kitchen have also been dressed to impress and one peek out those doors to the garden reveals a landscape lawn to be proud of finally the troublesome bedroom the roof and crack have been mended and the mural that reminds sophie of her dad has been saved perfect [Music] all in just over 3 800 pounds was spent on this transformation but the cottage looks stunning it's safe it's sound so that makes the money a sound investment but when i bring buyers to view on open day can i deliver on my promise to sell don't take too long though i might sell it beforehand in my latest secret agent mission i let myself into bernie caroline's home where i discovered a shabby and unloved property i asked her to transform it into a cozy cottage with character now it's viewing day and the pressure's on i've managed to line up some serious buyers to come and have a look today but there was a lot to do to the house so i'm just hoping that bernie's got enough of it done i need to check there are no hidden horrors before i bring buyers to view right oh well this is now an entrance hallway a lovely bright clean smart well-lit entrance hallway with flowers and everything lovely first coat of paint still see the rock clean fresh bright uncluttered by removing a sofa and using bold coloured accessories this room is now defined as a more casual family space that gives the larger living room with its grand fireplace the more formal room role and as for the former karaoke room i had no need to worry oh cool fantastic just as it should be i knew this dining room had brilliant potential and dressed like this it hasn't disappointed perfect really grown-up adult room nice pieces of furniture sets it off beautifully now to check the work on the giant crack on the wall of worry in sophie's room what crack what crack where completely fixed not disguised fixed sorted problem gone away and rather cleverly it's been blended in bernie's worked her magic here but what has she been up to in the garden massively massively impressed with bernie the garden it just looks a different place for a start it's about eight foot wider bernie has worked so incredibly hard the whole place is transformed and i'll be perfectly honest when i arrived here this morning i was a little bit on the back foot thinking this is going to be tough this is going to be tough but this is a different house to sell today and we're going to do it feeling up for it i think it's time to congratulate bernie on all her hard work i tell you bernie you have absolutely nailed it it looks brilliant it does you wouldn't have thought this could have happened in two weeks no it's been tiring but it's paid off you know it looks great and that's what it needed i just love it i bet you love it i do love it and there isn't anything else i could possibly do for anyone not to come in and think oh yes i could live here yeah and patrick you've seen the house go through the transformation what do you make of it now i think it's lovely now i think each room has got a purpose now whereas before it was all a little bit higgledy-biggledy pads have been useful not really where have you been turn up today looking all glamorous taking some credit i've been here with the wine and the takeaway let's hope patsy is here with the champagne if i manage to sell first to arrive are will and sally who i met earlier so here we are character full cottage yeah definitely three characters your name's written all over it i reckon yeah so this one's a bit different uh from the other things you've seen hopefully first impressions very pretty beautiful house yeah absolutely good cool um let's see if it matches up inside to entrance hallway you've got an office the other side you've got a kind of reception room here yeah very good so living room kind of an adult room nice fireplace all decorated freshly wonderful yeah as well as will and sally i've got some other buyers looking around too dining room with this lovely fireplace yeah look at that sophisticated evening soirees here yeah definitely you can see ourselves in here lots of period features these guys have viewed before that looks good good condition now yeah nice to see they're noticing the improvements and a highlight i think the kitchen massive kitchen oh that's brilliant yeah proper dining kitchen isn't it hub of the home kids running around here in and out of the garden you can see everything going on from the hot stove keep an eye on everything that's right the whole thing's just looking much cleaner lighter it's a much stronger feel to it yeah well everyone seems very impressed at the moment [Music] there's not a huge amount um changed in this room what i was trying to um help the lady with was some designation of spanish yeah this makes a huge difference yes oh my god it is like nice it is narnia last time you were here why didn't you go ahead with it when we saw the house we thought it was wonderful um but then there is it sort of felt when you came through here everything was everything's connected there's no corridor but yeah everything seemed very similar to have this changed it seems a lot seems a lot nicer yeah that's really weird isn't it but good great interest but is anybody biting i think it's extremely positive yeah good very impressive excellent excellent i'm delighted well don't take too long though i might sell it beforehand great i'm tough to piss chuffed a bit might i have two interested parties so there you have it um thought-provoking for you yeah very interesting that one good it was uh certainly like nothing we'd seen before and loads of interesting features and loads of space which is exactly what we're after 330 is the price that that we're asking okay so i appreciate quite a lot of a lot of things to model through but i'm great that you're um even if i'm remotely interested you've been positive about it and you're going to give it some serious definitely it was a really good viewing yeah so not bad for a day's work i can't wait to tell bernie the positive news i've had a couple of people around and hopefully more coming but i'll tell you the first two viewings have gone extremely well oh good first cup that came around saw it a month ago liked it but didn't do anything they've come back today they've understood how to each to use each room and they've really appreciated that if they bought it they wouldn't need to spend any money on it and that was one of the things that well that was why they didn't go for it before they liked it before they loved it today haven't said yet but they've definitely gone away to think about it and there was good good signals there second couple lots of positivity they're looking for a character cottage in this area they love the downstairs it worked for them well they've got two small twins again lots of positivity how does today's feedback make you feel in comparison to yeah oh a lot more positive it's um definitely a better feedback than i have had in the past reason to be cheerful at this point yeah it's probably going well yeah and one of our couples returned for a second viewing just days later but in the end they decided the location wasn't for them if i could pick up bernie's house and physically move it to the other location i would but you know what after all that work she's put in i really don't think she's going to be without an offer for very [Music] long [Music] so

Channel: BBC Documentary

Views: 20,669

Rating: 4.7695475 out of 5

Keywords: BBC, BBC Documentary, UK Documentary, Phil Spencer, UK Real Estate, Real Estate, Housing Market, How to sell a house, DIY SOS, Phil spencer Secret Agent, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Orpington, Balham, Bristol, Brighton, Moving house

Id: 1xWQboSF9LY

Length: 46min 30sec (2790 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 30 2020