Why Do People Appear On Property Ladder?
Written by The Landlord on 05 Dec 2007I think i’m a little confused, care to help me out?
I watch Sarah Beeny’s Property Ladder religiously. I think it’s a great show, even though I spend most of the time with my mouth open, eyes covered and my skin crawling. Let’s face it, the show is about stupid people developing property, for the most part. Believe me when I say that witnessing stupidity isn’t as glamourous as it may seem. Then again, Property ladder wouldn’t be worth watching if it had normal people wanting to develop. We also can’t diminish the fine moments when Beeny drops her golden tips.
My question is, why do people appear on Property Ladder? One thing is for sure, it sure as hell isn’t to benefit from the free, professional advice that La Beeny has to offer. If anyone knows how to squeeze and maximize profits out of a shed, it’s her. So why do the majority of people on the show completely ignore her advice as if they know better? I don’t get it. Do you get it? I want to get it. Do you want to get it?
Granted, at times Beeny doesn’t appreciate the restrictions of finances, consequently suggests pulling an extra 20k out of an asshole to finance a 50ft extension. Putting those moments of insanity aside (forgive me, Beeny), the majority brush away the logical and realistic suggestions that are made. What fizzles my mind is that the people that appear on Property Ladder obviously watch the show themselves, so they must have countlessly witnessed moments when the developers get their evaluations at the end. You know, that’s when the agent always says the property would have been more valuble if they had done this or that. “This or that” usually being something that Beeny suggested during the development. Yet when the viewers go on the show themselves, they ignore the advice. It’s mind boggling and frustrating.
So, we’ve established it’s rarely about the free advice. So what’s it about? Is it to satisfy those that thrive from publicity; those that simply want to get their face on TV? I used to think so until last week. For those that aren’t regulars on my site, I run a Property Ladder forum discussion where everyone has the opportunity to get their claws out and discuss the week’s development(s). I must admit, I do enjoy the cattiness. At times I think the producers intentionally hand pick the most inadequate ‘victims’ just to boost the entertainment value, whilst throwing the names of the sane applicants straight into the bin; not that I mind or anything.
On the 20th of November a couple (Richard & Isabel) developed a property in Chiswick. You may remember them (they were kind of hard to forget- the episode was a corker).
Richard & Isabel got a bit of a slating in the forums, not only in terms of their poor development skills (they ignored a lot of Beeny’s fundamental advice), but also as humans. Isabel got the majority of the negative criticism, I think it’s fair to say that her development style wasn’t exactly orthodox and her personality was, well, you know….not great. Am I being harsh? Well, these guys on the Channel 4 seem to agree with me, so perhaps I’m just a realist. I quote:
La Beeny again demonstrating the patience of a saint – I dont think I would tire of slapping that stupid woman in a month of Sundays. The sheer arragance of her (Isabel) when Sarah pointed out at the start that they could guarentee a nice profit from 2 flats but oh no it had to be an over personalised mish-mash house!
I guess that’s what happens when you throw yourself into the spotlight- you start getting judged on every possible level, even if it has nothing to do with the subject matter. You’ll find poor Richard in that thread defending his partner and his development.
To my surprise, Richard stumbled upon the Property ladder Chiswick thread on my site and made it clear that they were human (good thing he cleared that up) and he didn’t appreciate the comments people made about Isabel. While I did sympathise with him (kinda’) and understood why he was protecting his spouse, it was apparent that he didn’t like the attention the media had bought them. On a side note, I find it intriguing that someone that appeared on Property Ladder went onto various forums defending their development and their g/f after receiving blows. He must be tired after all that online combat.
So, like many, he didn’t take advantage from Beeny’s advice and didn’t appear to be craving from the attention of the media, which brings me back to my initial question- why do people appear on Property Ladder if it’s not for the advice and it’s not for the media coverage?
Perhaps it’s purely because anyone that appears on property ladder can potentionally save money on the build because they get cheap supplies. People will do anything for a buck. If that’s the case, the majority of people aren’t utilising their biggest tool- knowledge of The Beeny. I know many people will agree on how excruciatingly frustrating it is to watch a tool so useful to be pushed aside like a sack of shit.
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19 Comments - join the conversation...
I know they get cheap supplies. But I don't think they get the builders, because that would mean they were responsible for those builders that didn't use proper building supports during Richard and Isabel's development.
So perhaps it is just for the supplies.
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So apparently thats why people always seem to blow there budget. They might have done .. but not as much as the show makes out .
And property ladder also has a staging team .
Which is just stupid really .
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They also don't take into consideration the capital gains tax (CGT), so the overall profit is extremely misleading.
Oh well, we still love The Been :)
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It has been said for a long time now that the show is staged to make it glam, this is why alot of pro development comps have comented in the past that, These kinds of shows glam up the situ to what it really is, Hard work and alot of stress.
Then this is telly eh !
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And your article cracked me up, I was like EXCATLY! If I was ever to be on the show and I told Sarah I wanted to add an extention to the side and she told me no I think it would be better if you put a toilet right in the middle of your kitchen, I WOULD, cause its SARAH B!
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I saw a repeat the other day, the amount of times they show the train which they had to film either close up or from the roof of a near by flat, not from the garden which we felt was a little deceptive.
If you're in it for film money then a property will earn more when signed up with an agency, a Nintendo Wii ad netted us a good few thousand for much less disruption!!
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There is a private un-overlooked decked area with skylights looking into the bathroom and bedrooms, as the potential owner of the ground floor flat could you face the prospect of the upstairs flat owners peering at you over the balcony into the no longer private area and looking down into your beddroom and bathroom ?
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Good luck, Richard :)
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I applaude Sarah on her great patience as i'd beaten a 2 X 4 over their head to get them to come back down to reality.
I am happy to here that Richard & Isabella took a blood bath on their
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entertainment, 80 hours of film was edited into 45 mins. Enjoy the programme but realise it's entertainment not a factual documentary.
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As for the flats issue, the obscure glass doesn't help the top flat learing over the balcony as you are sunbathing in the what was a private patio area
Currently enjoying life down under and again,treat the programme as entertainment and less of the judging
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In other programmes planning permission for suggestions had actually been made but turned down and in some cases, I suspect at the point of film closure that the project hadn't yet been finished as it was with us, but this was never shown only that the people never took PL advice. The programme comes across as black and white and makes it easy to pass judgment but there's plenty of grey as other PL developers will attest to.
There are two programmes in Aus, The Block and The Renovators, the Block was a hit and the Renovators never really achieved the figures they were loooking for, the Block concentrated on the people and the Renovators more on the skills and project.
It's still being shown in Aus too so we're still getting stick down under (sounds painful !) too, anyway we will put it down to experience
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I initially started this website because I wanted to document my every step from property idiot to property landlord,
in hope that people would find my site and help me along the way. I literally didn't have a clue about being a landlord
when I started this website.
Saving the people who are developing alot of money .
Also , arent they paid for being of the show ? ... I know you have to apply to be on the show . But I do think you get some money for appearing on the show .
I might be wrong .
We should ask Richard , would be interesting to know .
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