The Beeney is back!

[MM]

Another one of Sarah Beeney's makeover shows on Channel 4 and it is exactly the same formula as before. We sit through 10 minutes of Sarah advising the punter on what not do do, how it's all going to go over budget, and why, basically, the whole idea is crap. We are seduced by clever computer graphics that show cutaway views of the awful downstairs loo or the equally awful lean-to. Then we are further reminded throughout the programme with little digs here and nudges there. Meanwhile, said punter, in this case, a knowitall from the East End backed by some geezer with more money than sense, wouldn't listen, didn't do a budget (she 'guesstimated'), went totally over budget, exactly as Sarah had predicted, and ended up flogging the house to her son for no profit at all.

So, what on earth is the point of this programme and ones like it any more, now that the housing market is on the slide? Builders, plumbers, electricians still want their pound of flesh, so doing up a property is going to cost just as much, irrespesective of the market. But the difference is that now you can no longer just wait a few months for the market to chuck another few thou on the asking price and dig you out of your financial black hole that way. In fact, in the current climate I don't see how anyone can make any money doing up properties purely as a business. I have properties on my RightMove shortlist (I keep them there so that I can monitor the market) and some of them have been there, the price *still* the same, since last September!

If only we could see Sarah Beeney do up an identical house on her terms so that we could see how she would end up making a profit, but we don't. The programme has become tedious and pointless and is less about renovating property than exposing the idiocy of the average man, or woman, on the street.

MM

[TonyK]

Ahh.. but she isn't. Th older I get the more I come to appreciate her wisdom(s) ;-)

[[news]]

I think it's formulaic because property developing is formulaic and the porg conveys that quite well. it hits the 1st time dreamer right between the eyes (ahem) with obvious solutions to basic standard housing which can be applied countrywide.

after a fist time, 5 month project with a spend of £195k I'd be happy with a break even, given what I'd learned, the team I'd gathered, suppliers I'd got a fledgeling track record with and a benefactor that hadn't bolted.

my glass is half full, sarah beeny presenting tops it off nicely.

RT

[:::Jerry::::]

Non, other than it's cheap to make and doesn't need more than half a brain cell to understand what the presenter is talking about with the sound turned down... Oh, and by the looks of things, some men like to perve' over the female presenter !

[mark b]

So are you suggesting we are supposed to watch it in order to learn how to become rich? And there was me watching for um....titillation (in generous helpings)

mark b

[:::Jerry::::]

oops, sorry for the misplaced reply and attributions.

[dIMM]

sarah beeny does have the nicest pair of bristols....... must be conveniant for her when she is working up a ladder though......good place to store a hammer while using something a different tool........

[chris French]

In message , MM writes

Did you really expect anything different?

Depends on your location, I don't think it's on the slide round here, though it is slower. But the present the property right, and price it right and you will sell - we sold ours in 12 days in Jan for the asking price, and had another potential buyer interested as well. That said there is a house down the road

I'm sure it is more difficult, but there is always someone who will make money. A house up the road was sold that needs some pretty serious refurbishment ( a bit like ours did...) going on what we spent on ours I reckon doing it up and selling it on at profit is a reasonable proposition.

Yep we had lot of those, including the house we eventually bought for about 7-8% below the original asking price. I think the problem people have had is that up until say last summer, prices (in the area we were looking) were still rising, and as house came on the market they would crank up the price accordingly, but come the Autumn, the market seems to have ground to a halt pretty much, and these prices weren't sustainable, prices for the sort of property we were buying probably are roughly at what they were last spring say - a lot of sellers seem to find this hard to accept though. (though prices in our area have risen on those of this time last year)

Who forced you to watch it?

I quite enjoy the program really, but if you don't like it don't watch it.

[Andy Hall]

Some men have no taste.

Now, where were those paper bags?

[s--p--o--n--i--x]

Buy a structurally sound property with poor decor that needs simple remodernisation. Choose a property that has been on the market some time and knock the price down.

Keep the redecorating/modernising simple, bland and clean. Above all, don't waste money on irrelevant things, eg if a cheap white bathroom suite will suffice, why buy an expensive one?

sponix

[MM]

Oh, I agree. But why don't the punters ever listen? Can you remember one project where the project leader has thrown all his or her daft ideas into the skip and gone over to The Beeney's recommendations? I don't think it has ever happened, and on the rare occasions where reluctantly the punters have had to compromise, they do it through gritted teeth. What's the point of wisdom if no one takes it on board?

MM

[MM]

Well, that is the proposal which the programme makers entice us with. It is called "Property Ladder" for a reason, you know!

Sadly, the thick jersey hid most of that. Never mind. Amanda Lamb is on later this week...

MM

[MM]

Just because I watched it doesn't invalidate my right to complain about the content! Without complaining nothing be improved, and I do at least go to the bother of watching it before complaining. Or would you like me to complain without having watched it?

I enjoy the overall premise, but there is so much wrong with it, it's almost a parody. I keep expecting Keith Barrett or Matt Lucas to pop out from behind a curtain.

MM

[[news]]

I think it would be more effecive if you passed your complaints on to C4 rather than spouting off in a newsgroup.

RT

[Martin Evans]

She (together with her brother and her husband) have been doing precisely that for around 15 years and it would seem making quite a bit of dosh. I was chatting with an estate agent the other week and found out that Beeny and her husband bought a 93 (yes ninety three) room place that was on their books a while ago.

[MM]

Exactly! But the programme never shows that! The punters never come to the properties with any modicum of common sense. The producers seem to go out of their way to find the dumbest and most stubborn participants they can, purely in order to make yet another hour of Confrontation TV, where there is continual tension between the punter, the builder, and The Beeney.

I cannot believe that it is impossible to make a useful and enjoyable programme that actually does inform would-be property developers, but all Property Ladder achieves is to frighten people off even starting. At some point during last night's show I had this strange, fleeting idea that maybe it's all got up by a number of professional developers working in conspiracy to keep out the amateurs and thus ensure continued profits in a shrinking market.

But then I said, oh, don't be so cynical you daft geezer!

MM

[s--p--o--n--i--x]

The programme wouldn't be 'good television' if the punter walked in, did it up and sold it for a vast profit. What'd Beenie do?

Far better for the punter to make a huge financial c*ck-up and for Beenie to say "Told you so.." at the end.

sponix

[Andy Dingley]

Schadenfreude TV.

"Beeny's sage advice makes money for people" isn't a show people would watch.

[Mary Hinge]

93 Rooms?

Presumably for bra storage ;o)

[Owain]

"Knocking through the billiard room and royal tennis court to make a dining room where everyone in the house can eat together will appeal to families with older children or couples who like entertaining. In this case it makes sense to lose one of the smaller bedrooms to make an additional bathroom."

Owain