tonight's developers made a small fortune buying and selling property over the last 10 years but now they're going to risk it all as they embark on a mammoth new project which they hope will be the start of a new life for them there's two new business holiday let's and party development oh you've bitten off a lot when people walk in here they are gonna be stunned but just as their dream starts to take shape the UK plunges into recession and Britain stopped spending for the first time in 20 years you have massive competition the last two weeks have been pretty tough definitely thought we've plowed into it so the bookings are essential to our survival [Music] in Tavistock Devon X carpenter Colin Rogers and wife Jenny have done very well out of the rising property market in the last nine years they've built up a portfolio of eight by two let's across the UK but now the housing market has turned and they're risking it all for this a grade 2 listed Victorian railway station which has been left to crumble back into the edges of Dartmoor for the past 40 years its derelict it's listed we don't know what the hidden costs are going to be you could end up that we have to sell everything we've got it's a romantic relic from a bygone era 70 years ago this whole area was a crisscross of hundreds of miles of track with a hundred and sixty-eight stations most have now closed and like Tavistock been left to wrack and ruin for Colin and Jenny this enormous restoration project also marks the start of a whole new chapter tired of the daily grind they're hoping that once converted the old railway will provide them with a brand-new business they can do together running a top-end holiday rentals business the fact that they've never done it before and don't know the area isn't going to take the edge off their aspiration what our holiday legs will aspire to is two people who will buy a first-class air ticket and they're people that expect luxury command luxury and by coming to us they will get luxury this is a bit daunting starting out three holiday let's besides developing the station and we are going in blind and we can only draw on our own experiences from holidays and non timeshares I'm not sure this is the most comprehensive research especially when it's good value family let that are in demand in Tavistock and not top end luxury amazing building 1890 1890 was actually built by the London and South Western Railway I found it on the internet I thought I've got a buyer Victorianism floats my boat so it didn't you took sound convincing to buy it yes I always do though they know me winds me round as you can see but this is the largest project we've ever tonnes how much you expecting to gets them that the three bed peak season is two thousand pound a week and and the two birds we round about 1700 a week two thousand pounds a week you can rent a seven-bedroom farmhouse in France for that so why would you rent a terrace surprising how many people are interested in railway train spotters it's what we're really saying out we're here how many weeks the year do you expect to be renting this out the people that we've actually spoken to in and around here they are actually renting them out for 40 weeks of the year not a problem most people who have holiday let's expect them to be left for about 20 weeks of the year it's about half of the year we always take a winter holiday and lots of our friends do and I don't think it would be a problem I slightly worried that Colin and Jenny think managing a few by two let's is the same as running and launching a brand new holiday business in a very competitive part of the UK this is a completely different ballgame they bought the railway station for 325 thousand pounds and have a budget of 290 thousand though I'd be amazed if it doesn't cost more they're estimating an annual revenue of a stratospheric hundred and forty thousand pounds a year which would make them a twenty two percent return on their investment over three times the industry average I think I'm quite optimistic in in a the figure and B how much time it's going to be let you're expecting to get double the amount of weeks left that normal holder Costas gets for double the amount of money I think Colin and Jenny have just fallen in love with the old railway station and not thought through how it stacks up a new business venture with a hundred and fifty thousand holiday let's in the UK and eight thousand in Devon alone competition is rife the station needs to be first-class to demand top prices and with it's tricky rooms and being overlooked by housing at the back it's less than ideal this would have been the platform here and this is the ticket office yes this is where they sell the tickets I can really see why you bought this and I can also see why you feel lovely just gonna pick appeal to that upper end and so that people will come away and be pampered so their dressing gown hung on the back of the bathroom that we will provide so you really are going for the absolute top end luxury consumer market the sort of people who would normally go to a luxury hotel with room service exactly yes but you're gonna have to do it yourself I think Colin has himself in mind when he thinks about who's gonna stay in his old station and not the average Tavistock holidaymaker of the 38,000 holidaymakers visiting Tavistock each year most to either families are retired and they'll spend on average nine hundred and fifty four pounds a week on a holiday less but at least their conversion plan makes sense they're going to split the building into three separate units one with three bedrooms and two with two bedrooms so far so good but there's a problem with all three properties especially in the middle property the lack of any decent living space upstairs is okay we're a mezzanine floor we'll have a good-sized bedroom and bathroom but Dan says is a real squeeze with a second bedroom and bathroom a tiny kitchen and cramped living room to the rear under the platform canopy all three let's we'll have an area with no real use overlooked by the estate next door and without a single view this week in terms of holiday let's people are spending time hanging out in the living space it did the cast mail I mean it is a bit of a funny space at the back it doesn't only have a purpose or a point my just one is whether it wouldn't be worth reapply for planning and and dividing the section the canopy into three sections and making that a great big kitchen living space with a great big vaulted ceilings would be an incredible space that you'd use all the time rather than just have a sort of funny cupboards garden with our unpredictable weather internal living space is vital for UK holiday accommodation and I think with a council on side the sole platform would provide a fantastic kitchen diner for each unit as well as leaving room to get an extra bedroom in the two two-bedroom units to solve the problem of outside space art go to the front of the station and give each let its own private garden where guests can enjoy the views it would be a better use of the space and it would make it much more exciting it's a valid point the extra always creating as much living space as possible I think perhaps our imaginations and things have run away with us and we're not really focusing as much as we should on what is actually going to be what people want and on holiday I do think it'll be worth going back to the conservation officer and seeing how he'd feel about making the platform into internal dwelling space so he was asking the questions along with good living space its bedrooms that generate income in holiday let's the three bed layout works but I think Colin and jenni are missing another trick with the two beds they could easily fit another bedroom on the mezzanine floor giving the accommodation a much more profitable layout even with all these ideas together it's not gonna generate Colin and Jenny's fantasy 1,700 pounds a week but I think it will nudge them nearer the 1,300 pounds a week average how I feel in general but most property developers shoehorn too much into any one space and we don't tend to do that there's a balance of practicality and especially for holiday let's I think having two bedrooms upstairs with the bathroom rather than one motor upstairs of the bathroom may well mean it's lack more yes yeah worth looking at there's too many businesses holiday lights and property development only at the same time yes picking off a lot what's more the layout of the station is just one of the problems I'm not sure they've got their target market right either if they don't get this spot on their business could fold before it's even begun there's always a risk to everything that you do and the risk in this is that we lose everything in Tavistock Devon its August 2007 and there's no going back for Colin and Jenny Rogers they have seven short months to transform this derelict railway station into luxury holiday let's before the crucial Easter season but that's an extremely optimistic schedule right noticed in here Ian is that the larva plasters already gone so that would make it easier we can just kick that down it's not just an ambitious conversion schedule that's at stake Colin and Jenny are hoping the old railway station will become a brand new business they can run together our market research into holiday let's it's been quite extensive with the right marketing and with the right touches and the website that we're building I really do think we're going to succeed at it the key to a successful holiday business is having the right property in the right location at the right price twenty-eight percent of people who choose to holiday in the UK pack them in costumes and head to the coast where they can enjoy a day of lying on the beach ice creams on the promenade and javelina see Colin and Jenny's holiday letter in Tavistock an old market town which does boast Dartmoor on its doorstep but it's far from a devon hotspot they need to develop the accommodation in such a way that it becomes an attraction in its own right converting the platform into more internal living space is crucial for UK holiday accommodation they'll need to go back to planning but collins unsure it's not a good idea because when you come on holiday you don't actually need the same amount of space as you do at home and I don't think planning will accept it anyway well after doing it how are you alright it's nice to see you know in thanks well it's always worth asking because we will consider most things at least give the first fall and in this instance I think it's something that we certainly can pursue I'm really shocked ed I thought you'd have more chance at meeting Jesus Christ on the 925 to Plymouth certainly it's an idea it's an interesting idea and I think it does make good use of this outside space hi Jen yeah I'm fine thanks we just just finished the meeting and well I'm absolutely gobsmacked because the idea that Sarah had they actually think that that's a good idea in principle no no it's always worth talking through your ideas with your local conservation of a certain although their primary role is to preserve historic features that doesn't always mean they won't buy into your plans to save the building please tell you're gonna do this probably not but why on earth would you not do it we don't think that the aesthetics we actually think it'd be detrimental to the station the platform and the budget and yes it's gonna cost a bit more money but say you spend another fifty thousand it's gonna be fantastic living space you're making tremendous amounts more square footage and making them into completely different houses but you also pointed out before that there wasn't a lot of outside space so if we go and fill in the platform we've only then got the front where's it at the back the Sun sets down along there we can put dividers between the houses the thing is that maybe outside space but you can't actually see the outside from it you can't see the sky I can see what you mean from there we're not saying no completely what we're saying is no at this moment in time the realities you'll probably never do it if you don't do it now but if you're not going to do it you're not exerting I can't make you do it but I'd do it if I was you do you have a very strong picture in your head as to how the skin around up yes yes without absolute clear yes and am I in it I'm not so like [Music] the layout is only part of the issue with Colin and Jenny's plans Colin is fixed on filling the old station with expensive high spec designer comforts music systems in the bathroom to control lighting in the bathroom to control three different light systems in the house to create an ambience of whatever your mood is lighting on to the platform where you'll be able to have a barbecue 365 days of the year regardless of the weather it's not just the expense but to me it seems way off track for the average to have a stop holidaymaker who might want to holiday in an old railway station really will be worth it because I'm not killing you I can't I got the vision to see this finished and I know that other people haven't got the benefit of that but I'm not kidding but when people walk in here they are gonna be stunned if Colin's vision is for holidaymakers who can afford to spend seventeen hundred pounds a week I think it's time for a spot of ad hoc market research we're on one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world and people can come here and can afford to buy designer clothes and shoes and and jewelry surely they can also afford 1700 pounds a week to come and stay in your holiday let's would you agree absolutely so this is a kind of clientele you're looking for absolutely let's chatter them why not with the battle lines drawn how much are their potential clients prepared to pay an old railway station motocross tears really tough friend spec new gun with a little Terrace area outside in depth and a fantastic year with a fantastic more maybe seven hundred to a thousand pounds for a week I probably would actually I still think some 200 is slightly speed 750 we yeah keep it get it whoah [Music] we were going to put really high spec electrics in before the fancy gizmos the lights the blinds I think we just have to totally squash that idea actually exactly the conclusion that I would I would say that you need to have reach Vanessa you can get a fantastic top and finish but you don't have to have it goal baited ceiling so Cullen has today convinced you that you need to lower your spending in order to get the kind of return you should do on your investments yes and Jenny's the yes part on the no but with consultation it will probably end up as a unanimous yes any success of that issue the word on the street is that no amount of gadgets are going to convince people to pay seventeen hundred pounds a week for a three bedroom cottage in Tavistock and that's not surprising when you see what else you can get for your money in Devon for two hundred pounds a week less than Colin and Jenny want you can get this four bedroom manor house that has double their square footage for just a bit more at two thousand pounds a week you can stay at a five bedroom barn conversion set within 150 acres of land complete with its own swimming pool and this mid Terrace three beds holiday let near totnes is a similar size as Colin and Jenny's and it's let out for just under sometimes a week in reality this is the competition they will be up against the good news is with so much left to do before opening for Easter colin has ditched the gadgets and gizmos the bad news is they haven't agreed what to charge for letting them out I've had to compromise with Sarah and Jenny and so we're looking to lower the price and seventeen to fifteen we do need to bring it down to between 750 and a thousand depending on on the season when it's school holidays and things then in the second year we've got a client ow you can then push the price off Colin is the ultimate optimist in everything and anything any being an accountant will always have a pessimistic view on things I never really hope to get 1700 and it's not just the conflict about the rates Colin and Jenny also seem to be taking their eye off just how much work there is to do on the renovation I meant to be project manager in the job barber involved in everyday things and there's certain carpentry things I like to do myself it's a complicated restoration and need some serious project management especially as they face one problem after another I don't figure away with as little as what you thought you were assuming this is just falling away I think you can end up doing the majority of building I think so absolutely setbacks like this and uncommon on old buildings but as Jenny is trying to balance the budget it's the last thing she wants to hear and we're just talking about the plastering and we think that probably 80% of it is going to come off and it could well impact upon the budget for how much in about six or seven grand that's all figure I think we just have to bite the bullet yeah I'll be rattling soon all these bullets are so though that bits rotten today and that bits rotten and so I think if we just declare the whole buildings rotten and then we'll go from there and it's not just the old building itself that's causing problems today the joists for the mezzanine floors have arrived and this is the first major structural jump in the build alright John how's it going also good not so good coming to a granule alt cold really to be honest view we don't have the joist hangers for that point there there or there you know we've just been sent a jigsaw puzzle without a picture right with half the pieces missing by the looks stand down yeah so we can do a good day wasted it could have an effect on the plumber electrician was due to come tomorrow it'll end up becoming critical we'll end up wasting time after time Colin and Joanie are starting to realize the enormity of the task they've taken on their just 14 weeks until the Easter deadline and this development is gobbling up the cash at high speeds it's another 5 weeks before the mezzanine is in place but at least it gives Colin and Jenny the chance to see just how more space they have that's still big enough for a double bed in each room and the necessary furniture yeah and so and the door in there into the bedroom another door into the bathroom yeah yeah sweet Colin and jenni can finally see just how simple it is to fit two bedrooms in here but for some reason now opting for one with Swedes that means guests in the second bedroom will have to run downstairs through the living area to use the bathroom and I'd like to show them why that's a mistake would you be happy to take all your clothes off for me now and put this on right at this moment yeah you can go somewhere else and go for homes behind the wall there if it was a bit warmer I would but not today I thought I might get all your clothes off it right okay so stick this on and if you could go up the stairs for me I'm going to put a towel on right okay so if we were upstairs in the second bedroom yes to go to the bathroom you have to come down the stairs here round here say hello to all the people sitting in the sitting room oh yeah and then through here and into the bathroom and then have to go all the way back feeling a little embarrassed about the fact you've got practically nothing on and then back up the stairs to bed which quite honestly in a perfect world is an ideal is it I'm already quite embarrassed about the fact that I've had to walk through this sitting room Jenny are you would you be happy with people trapped since Ruth had any clothes on if there's a B&B yes I would be but as it's family or friends now I don't see a problem we've only just been away this weekend with five of us and the we were sat in the lounge in our dressing gowns and underwear reading the Sunday papers so I totally know whatever in an ideal world it isn't a good situation however what else could you do well I have got one possible solution it's so incredibly easy it would be crazy not to do it they simply need to change the position of the doors bathroom so that it can be used by both bedrooms I personally think that someone who's staying in holiday let would rather all the bedrooms had a bathroom on the same floor than one bedroom had to go downstairs to a bathroom and the other bedroom had an ensuite I think in the scheme of inconvenience that's a lesser one perhaps we should look at it again it's not a drastic change as I don't know it's not know haha I certainly yeah sit down and consider though I think we should the practicalities of doing it aren't totally minimal this time I'm hoping common sense will prevail bathroom the bedroom and ensuite stain as they are the second bedroom will use the bathroom downstairs and it's really not an issue if it's in conflict with Sarah well you know it's in conflict for Sarah Colin and jenni motors have done very well after the rising property market in the last few years but now they're gambling everything on creating a new life for themselves in Devon they have given up the day jobs to run a new holiday business by converting a derelict old railway station it needs to be open in time for the crucial Easter season but it's January 2008 economic growth has stalled and holidays are fast becoming a casualty of people's financial uncertainty it can be daunting when you think I've only got a thousand left here and 500 left there and you can't just suddenly start and say well that's it we can't finish the film with so much money riding on this build Colin and jenni need to make sure they spend it in the right places so it's good news that Colin's ditched his plans for a designer finish but it's bad news that he's still furnishing the cottages as though it was his own home and not thinking how practical and hard-wearing these rentals really need to be work table with free straw and starting building 50 pounds 55 at 130 pounds if you're also at 130 so how much are you planning on spending on the furniture for these units we're anticipating on all three 30,000 30,000 pounds on just the furniture yes now I've got a funny feeling that this is a bit of a flight of fancy because you like buying antiques and absolutely I wouldn't argue with that and I look at that and I just think one big person resting their bottom on that and it's going to break survived a hundred and seventeen years amazing it hasn't been in the holiday lap though I have to admit though my Holzer coasters that have a clean contemporary look which is probably what people will expect with the odd lovely antique thrown in but I suspect I'm not going to shift you on this well am I you're a long way down your path how is your budget at the moment are you on budget we're going to remove it our own house just in case I don't want to get a little bit near the end and find we've got a bit of a hole we've got a lot of stake here this isn't spare cash she had floating around and you can be a bit of a laugh with it this is all your money isn't it definitely what they should be doing is exploiting the unique aspects of the railway to make it an attraction in its own light this B&B in West Sussex is also a converted station and the whole design is a celebration of the building's heritage the owners have worked hard to let the original features shine through and the bedrooms are full of their own charm this is a great example of what Colin and Jenny should be aiming to achieve and it could save them a fortune [Music] back in Tavistock the crucial Easter deadline comes and goes and with critical potential revenue down the drain and a budget that shut to pieces things are starting to cut them daily we've decided to sell the house in South Hampton that we've been in for nearly 13 years now because we do need to get as much as possible out of it as the budget here has really gone out the window and to finish it the only way to do it is to sell the house it is a bit of a shock and I don't think it's fully dawned on me yet what we've done and what we've left behind with the shed gel and budget totally out of control it's now a race to finish in time for the summer season the injection of cash from the sale of the house allows Colin to double his work force and get the build moving full steam ahead new blood on board and I'm sure that we're gonna pick things up rather rapidly how's it going not too bad just cut out the wrong beach on the end you've got everything that you need whilst Colin is busy trying to meet their new deadline Jenny is getting to grips with launching their holiday business I think we just went into it thought that would be a good idea and then once you've committed yourself you've got to go the full mile haven't you so it's not just all buying all the the goods to go inside it's the advertising it's getting your website right it's talking to the tourist boards there's just so much involved and you've got Health and Safety you've got the fire regulations to think of so it just does go on Colin and Jenny now have no family home and a massive six hundred thousand pounds debt they've done their sums based on a wildly ambitious dream of full occupancy as soon as they open but their marketing consists of a small amount of local advertising and a website it's not what you would call a contemporary no it's colorful and it's balanced because you've got the logos down site or the headings down the side pictures down the right-hand side they are restricted because they have no finished building to photograph but their website also feels both dated and difficult and navigates and so it proves a whole month passes before they hear a peep really did a book online yeah not like the price its 900-pound that week philippe neck but we'd agreed the prices i know but nothing was moving so i dropped them and sarah proved it we really wouldn't be able to get there such high prices and when it's full up then you'll say well you were right Jen yeah it's just over half the 1700 colin originally wanted but as another three weeks passed and there are no more bookings i think they need a big review of how they're marketing the old railway station and I know that you designed and built your own website but I felt there's quite a lot of room for improvement with that website it's got to be absolutely cutting edge and draw people in so if we click on your site for accommodation there's a lot of text and a lot of information that that on first glance you think crack you've got to read all that to find out what exactly is going on and now over to my mock up above all a good website should be striking to look at and easy to navigate so I've gone for a much bolder design and a lot less text accommodation on this new site you immediately have a graphic obviously it costs having a graphic but it's worth investing in it but you've also got the downside at the fact that you don't have any photographs of what they're likely to come and staying so so a 3d graphic is the very best way that you can help them envisage what they're likely to be staying in what do you think of it it's very different that's very contemporary anything deliberately avoided I didn't think it was go with the style of the station the age of the station and I would have thought that the age group and the type of people you're to appeal to with the holiday cottages would be much more likely to like a contemporary website than than one that's a little bit sort of behind the times now obviously a website like this does cost it cost to get the graphics and to get the website designed and built you're talking probably about three or four thousand pounds but four thousand pounds very well spent the budgets gone out the window anyway so I don't think we've got a choice worth we know with that looking out put the prices back up Oh blimey what I meant getting the website right is only half the battle I still think they're shooting themselves in the foot by not getting in holiday letting agents to help during the first couple of years so you've got one booking you have massive competition 8,000 holiday cottages in Devon and 20,000 in the southwest of England I think you really need to get an agent though charged anything between 23 and 27 percent plus there's setup fees it's not a cheap thing to go down surely you're better off with 75 percent of a whole load than 0% of nothing we thought if we couldn't let it ourselves in the summer then we shouldn't be doing it this is a complete false economy Conlon Jenny don't know the area have never run a holiday business before and the UK is on the brink of a recession agents would give them access to a huge database and more marketing muscle with no proper marketing they'll be lucky to get any bookings and struggle to service the four grand a month and mortgage payments there's just six weeks until the summer holidays are here but there's a huge amount left to do all the fixtures and fittings six bathrooms three kitchens and then there's decorating and furnishing all three units the pressure of starting this new business is starting to show I would think probably the last two weeks have been pretty tough and to overcome certain issues from the budget to staff in getting things done and it's really stressful it's stressful it's just relentless and thought you can't leave it we can't say Oh blow this I've had enough as much as we might like to do it we couldn't dream you just couldn't leave it with mounting debts Colin and jenni have no choice but to pull together to try to get it finished I'm here doing the painting to keep the cost down and plus I'm enjoying being here with all the melee of men and getting into it with the enthusiasm I hope you think careful with that Ben you were warned weren't you that I might I was warned I might cut your manhood off with a rusty rusty knife whilst the rest of the bill begins to take off there's one major area that seems to have been forgotten about outside space common and Joanie didn't go for the idea of converting the old platform to create more inside living space instead they say it as a special outside feature the problem is it's covered and overlooked by houses I've always found that what each of these holiday let's needs is its own private garden area directly at the front of the station where guests can enjoy the amazing views that could make this development stand out but Colin and Jenny have other ideas see the existing viewing area what I wish to do is extend that this way to that tree by means of timber decking I agree they need to take advantage of the headland views but a large decks area runs the risk of looking like a pub garden and have no privacy I think there's a solution to get the best of both worlds by creating separate areas for each holiday left at the front of the station I do believe you've got some valid points and of how many don't in my big picture yeah I can't see it yet but if someone can showing it then by all means okay each units got its own little private area so there's a garden there the separate gun here and this is a separate garden so the great advantage with the way they've done it here is you don't have that sense of barricading each unit up they've used railway sleepers and they kind of stepped down all the way so that you've got this view in this direction yeah and I like the low maintenance I think that's very good as you look at the barn you still have the sense that it's a barn but when you're sitting here you don't feel you have to speak to the neighbors on either side that's what matters is you want to have a sense of privacy one way and not the other way I don't think people are going to use the back areas very much if it's a sunny day you don't get any of the benefit of the Sun if it's a cold day and it's raining you're going to want to be inside and this climate in this country you don't get very many hot rainy days yes you're probably right at the top end of the market you can get a holiday let that does have a private garden and so that is one area that somebody may choose not to go to your holiday units you can imagine right your SAP they're having a gin and tonic she's sitting there nicely and someone comes right up close to you and sits down unravels the paper and then starts making a comment how would you feel an orator oh yeah that's summed it up I think private gardens are one shape that Colin and Jenny really can't afford to miss at this stage in their development [Music] it's the summer of 2008 and 5,000,000 holidaymakers are about to invade devon and 44,000 making it to Tavistock but Colin and Jenny are starting to run out of steam we're now less than a fortnight to be finished and at this stage I expected to be full of jubilation elated about things going in really enjoying it but quite honestly I can't wait for it to end this house should have been finished it was cleaned last week and it's filthy again because people that carpets have been laid which is great but the plumber is now testing the central heating system and so everyone's days just trying to work around each other it is getting really really tiresome and just really stressful because we are up against it timewise and getting ready for the main season is only half the problem it's pretty scary because everything we've got was plowed into it so we haven't got very much to fall back on so the bookings are essential to our survival actually it's 16 months since Colin and Jenny Rogers first dreamt of creating a new business together in Tavistock since they started the economy has stalled blending is starting to dry up and small businesses are feeling it hardest their dream rested on restoring a grade two derelict listed railway station that had hit the buffers more than 30 years ago but my is it back on track [Music] it's transformation into three holiday cottages it's complete they did miss a trick not exploiting the potential of the old platform but the once dark waiting rooms and offices are now bright and light the antiques are perhaps an unnecessary expense in a holiday let but the warm colors and attention to detail make it a wonderfully comfortable place to stay all this has come at a price though with a hundred and sixty thousand pound overspend they now have a mortgage of over four thousand pounds a month to contend with they need to get paying guests in fast the summer season is here it's just much harder than I anticipated [Music] two three digits please and we're really enjoying our stay here the kids think it's fantastic it's excellent because you don't feel you're hemmed in but you could sit outside the front of your property enjoy the fantastic view two young children as - that's that's fine but if those two called stony I think it'd be a bit too cramped if the toilet was just a standalone tour not rather than on three it would have been a lot better [Music] the months passed by and it's October 2008 : and Jenny's railway station has been open for three months through the summer season but now the guests have gone and it's time to look at the figures and find out if it's all been worth it you originally hoping to get 1,700 pounds a week for each of the two beds and 2,000 pounds a week for the three beds how many of you had of those slices for the highest rental and we've received this year with a thousand pound per week for their first year Colin and Jenny had hoped to average eighteen hundred pounds a week over the peak period for each of the three holiday cottages that would be a total of 36 weeks which will give them a potential income of 64 thousand eight hundred pounds but in reality they achieved an average of only a thousand pounds a week over just 14 weeks between the three properties bringing them an income of just fourteen thousand that's less than a quarter of what they hoped for so sincere Auckland have been down on occupancy evening down on money do you think that it's it's the whole concept of staying in a railway station and and how these units have ended out that that puts people off and do you think they've enjoyed that I don't think it's the railway station but because of the the credit crunch and the weather and we've had to drop our prices like everybody else has we talked about you using an agent to let this and and you've always stuck to your guns and said they you didn't want to use an agent to let it do you think in hindsight now that you wish you had used an agent definitely no although I really admire their determination I think it has been a mistake Colin and Jenny managed 14,000 pounds for the peak season but successful holiday let agents do know their markets back to front and will earn a return well this really is a little disappointing I'm afraid it was overlooked it's dark and I think they should use the space in the front more to cover for nicer sitting out area on the whole they are beautiful cottages beautifully presented but I do think they've overspent this is lovely they've kept the original arched beams which gives a lovely feeling of space makes it lighter I would say that these properties are of a very good standard and would look very well for high season and we would achieve some of approximately 23,000 pounds after Commission I am really quite confident that we could market these properties successfully a hundred percent in the high season weeks and that should bring in an income of up to twenty four thousand for the owners if Colin and Jenny had used an agent they could have made next to ten thousand pounds in their first year when cashflow is at a premium it's now May 2009 and Collin and Jenny have been open for 10 months they've risked everything including selling their family home to create a new venture that they could run together as a father you're looking for so the 31st of July and the work is relentless okay take care bye yes okay so in ten months we've achieved 40 bookings which at the beginning that would have seemed really minor but now we've sort of done the 10 months we're really pleased we've done that so if we can increase that another 10 20 percent next year would be really pleased I realized I was totally over optimistic and what would the economic climate as well that has not been in our favor however next year will be total saturation we can you know we can see it the economy's moving so the prices will be able to be adjusted back up to my level at a later date but for Colin and Jenny it was always about more than just making a profit it's been a really big move for us but we fell in love with the station house and now Tavistock is our home and our life and I couldn't envisage ever going back to Hampshire you know that's the economy gross so our business will grow so we're really pleased and got no regrets at all next week's amateur developers get caught right in the eye of the storm when the property market collapses looking at 5,000 pound loss at best it's gonna be hard to find any main contractor when you're halfway through a job [Music] you you
