What does Kirstie Allsopp think of Scotland's offers-over system?

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

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COME on, we've all been tempted. It's that moment at the end of Location when Kirstie asks if you would like help finding your next home. Like it? I'd bite your hand off, mate.
Imagine: Kirstie and Phil, Allsopp and Spencer, swooping in like the fourth emergency service, putting in the hard yards and sourcing that dream home no one else has found. All you have to do is choose one, then rock up to the pub for the big phone call.
Then again, what do southerners Kirstie and Phil know of the Scottish property market's mysterious ways? Rather a lot, as it goes. IWC Media, which makes the show (and Scotland's Home of the Year), has had offices in Glasgow for donkey's years. Plus Kirstie has a well-known pash for Victorian stone, some of which turned up in their search of Stirling and East Dunbartonshire.
'By UK standards, house prices are reasonable,' said Phil, quoting an average of £260,075 for places on the outskirts of Glasgow - 7% less than the UK average of £281,000.
Phil was searching on behalf of Lorraine and Emma, a mother and her law student daughter, looking to downsize. Kirstie's duo were going the other way, hoping to swap their small flat for a family home. All life is there in Location, and it is always surprising - and central to the show's success - how much a home search reveals.
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Lorraine acknowledged she might need a shove to get herself over the line between looking and buying. She hadn't found downsizing easy, then. The sales and marketing director also wanted Phil to find her "a mansion for the price of a tin shack." Don't we all?
Kirstie's couple, business banking manager James and nurse Gwyneth, had been househunting for a year and made just two offers, both of which were second-to-last in the queue.
'That's where we need your help,' said Gwyneth, 'knowing how much to offer over.'
Kirstie sympathised. 'It's a nightmare.'
Phil's first pick was a three-bed terrace in the 'charming village' of Cambusbarron, offers over £234,000 with a home report valuation of £250,000. Nice but too small.
Kirstie's Kirkintilloch choice was in an extended bungalow in turn-key condition. James liked it, Gwyneth wasn't feeling the love.
James and Gwyneth check out an extended bungalow in Kirkintilloch (Image: IWC Media/C4)
On they went: a period maisonette flat Kirstie thought 'beautiful' but was too much of a project for Lorraine and Emma; James and Gwyneth felt the same about a semi-detached in Lenzie. Kirkintilloch, Torbrex, Milton of Campsie - the hour and the properties flew by.
Kirstie must have been feeling the pressure, and the effects of the Scottish sun, because she had taken her scarf off. Phil was worried. 'Are you okay?' he asked, only half-joking.
Closing dates arrived. Not everyone got what they wanted at first, but things worked out in the end. Would the househunters have found the properties anyway? Perhaps, but the crash-course in househunting from Kirstie and Phil, 25 years-plus in the business, helped things along enormously. The pair had arrived in Stirling arm in arm like the old non-couple they are, and they had offered the same support to their househunters.
The credits rolled. 'If you'd like help …' began Kirstie. Oh, I was tempted.