Our first set of house hunters in Windsor are IT manager Paul Lawrence and his stateside bride Alissa, a recruitment consultant.
After a whirlwind transatlantic romance, Allisa moved to Windsor to be with Paul, but their three month search for the fairytale first home hasn’t been easy.
They've looked at 25 properties and haven’t seen anything... probably because, as Alissa admits, she's looking for a bigger house than England probably has to offer. Across the pond, you get twice the square footage for your money, but £300,000 is unlikely to buy them an American style ranch round here.
These guys are after a lot for their £300,000 budget. They want a three bedroom house with enough space to start a family. It’s got to be in a decent neighbourhood, within commuting distance of Windsor. A tall order in this neck of the woods.
Click here to see a photo gallery of the properties that Phil picked out for Alissa and Paul >>
Alissa and Paul would prefer a newer house, so Phil shows them three properties, including one on a new development that isn't even completed yet. But none of them fit the bill.
Alissa has said that she'd prefer a bigger kitchen than any they've seen so far, and that separate dining space is important to her, so Phil shows them a large townhouse in Warfield. It's the biggest property he's shown them so far, but this is reflected in the price, which is ten grand over their budget at £309,950.
They'd like to put an offer in, so Phil does some research and comes back with some good and some bad news. The good news is that two other, identical, houses have sold in the estate within the last six months, leading him to believe that the house they're interested in is worth £295,000 to £300,000, just about within their budget. The bad news is... that figure is still some distance from what the vendor is looking for.
An opening offer of £295,000 is 'firmly rejected', so rather than go in higher and pay more than the property is worth - and that the couple can afford - Phil suggests they leave the offer on the table for a short while. But before they're even given the option of negotiating further, they're informed that the vendor has withdrawn their property from the market.
The only thing to do is go straight back to the drawing board, so Phil shows them a three bed in Binfield, Bracknell. It hadn't made the original shortlist because Phil and Kirstie thought it would be too small for Alissa – but it seems you can’t spend a week with our dynamic duo without learning to compromise.
Despite its size, they loved the house, submitted an offer and, two weeks later, it was theirs. For just under £287,000, Allysa and Paul have bought themselves a garden, that oh-so-important separate dining space, and three bedrooms.
Tell us about where you live, & see if your area makes the top (or bottom) 20
Compare current rates on loans, savings accounts, credit cards & mortgages with this handy tool.jpg){kind=small}
Our presenter could be popping round to your house for a consultation and a cuppa
.jpg)
Your Comments
Post your comment
Please note: In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in to Channel 4:
Sign In Here or Register Here
Comments closed
Comments are closed at the present time
Comments
Thank you for your comment!
Your message will be reviewed and the best ones will be published below.
If you intended to make an official comment to Channel 4 please contact us.
Comments