I was going to start with another list of names, but there are rather a lot of you. Thank-you - many, many thank-yous - for all the "welcome back" emails. Little stars the lot of you : )
Let's get going.
To here - Combe Martin on Devon's gorgeously lumpy bumpy coastline. This six-bedroom house is on the pricey side for a Wreck pick (more of that later), and rather surrounded by its brasher new neighbours.
But there's something rather stately and lovely about the house with its big rooms, shapely windows, and that stunning 0.66 acre garden. Took something for its former owners to hang onto a plot that size in the middle of one of Devon's prettiest seaside towns. Although the silver mine shaft beneath may have been a factor...
Inside we're talking rather more than "updating" and I'd put money on that ceiling trim being the better type of asbestos. But old houses are always a balance between potential and risk, it's what draws us to them; we're here to save. Or least to dream about saving.
As I said, on the pricier side compared to my usual picks but not a ridiculous price give the area and the land. But can I just say - what on earth has happened to the property market while I've been away?!! Even the very wrecky wrecks that had been kicking around my "maybe" list for a couple of years have now sold. Everything is being snapped up in what must have been a boom year for the building trades.
I came across this HMO in my trawl around auction sites today.
Lovely building, in a lovely area of Clevedon, and up for just under £1m at auction on May 19th as an 16-rooms multi-occupancy pulling in over £98k a year in rent.
That's £500 a month rent to have spent lockdown working from here:
Have a look at some of the other rooms from that link. It's not a dump; it's got a gorgeous garden for a start. It's not one of those multi-occupancy horror stories we're getting used to, but it is a reminder of just how completely out of whack the property market is with our property needs. Particularly, the property needs of our children.
To reinforce my point, Hollis Morgan has another property up for auction (April 21st), this one in even more popular Bristol. Definitely has potential, and with a guide price of just £40k for a building in Brislington, it's likely to attract a lot of interest.
But it's a garage. A big garage, fair enough. And one with a mezzanine floor, a front door, a back yard, and some architect drawings. But a garage with a residential planning application turned down (2016).
Bet you a reclaimed brick it'll sell for double it's guide price... Details and more pictures here.
