I Spent £200,000 Doing Up My House Just To Make My Neighbours Jealous

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2336624/Would-spend-200-000-doing-house-just-make-neighbours-jealous-DEBBI-MARCO-did-Here-explains-.html

Debbi Marco bought her house in a run-down, near derelict state

Today, it's worth £350,000 more than they paid for it

Improvements include side extension, 300sq ft kitchen and loft conversion

Watching the neighbours stroll past my house always makes me smile. Why? Because I can tell how jealous they are.

For I know they will be observing the latest costly improvements to our four-bedroom, three-storey property and furiously calculating how much it would take to do the same to their far more inferior homes. The answer? Not far off £200,000.

My husband Matt, 32, a sports sponsorship manager, and I have spent the past four years pouring all of our savings into making sure ours is the best house on our street — because I wanted ours to be one that people stopped, stared and pointed at, for all the right reasons.

..

Even when we bought our home for £305,000 in 2009, I made sure we invested in the shabby corner plot because I knew that it had the most potential.

..

Plus we’ve increased our house price by £350,000.

So they've spent nearly £0.5m in total on the property.

Anyone verify if they have increased the property value by £350k or is that somewhat wishful thinking?

[spord]

This woman is either mentally ill, or the Daily Mail is making her appear to be mentally ill.

[The Knimbies who say No]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2336624/Would-spend-200-000-doing-house-just-make-neighbours-jealous-DEBBI-MARCO-did-Here-explains-.html

So they've spent nearly £0.5m in total on the property.

Anyone verify if they have increased the property value by £350k or is that somewhat wishful thinking?

*If accurate*, the lady seems to have some serious mental issues.

[TheCountOfNowhere]

More housing propoganda.

The message: You can only make money if you spend money on housing. Sadly, as we know...this is too good to be true.

[doomed]

Propaganda at its worst. If you try to imagine how this story could end up in a national newspaper it is definitely not through some sort of great investigative journalism. The paper have an obvious agenda and must sit round thinking of ways to push their agenda by making up stories that suit.

[deflation]

Since the neighbour's house looks tatty in comparison, I doubt it's 'worth' anywhere near what she thinks.

And who in their right mind admits in the national press how much you want to annoy your neighbour? Crackers.

[easy2012]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2336624/Would-spend-200-000-doing-house-just-make-neighbours-jealous-DEBBI-MARCO-did-Here-explains-.html

So they've spent nearly £0.5m in total on the property.

Anyone verify if they have increased the property value by £350k or is that somewhat wishful thinking?

2009 was the low point so most places it would have been up nominally by 10% - 20% or so (thanks to F4L).

Then there is normally a ceiling price on the street so she might struggle to get £500k back (£305k + £200k)...

[Executive Sadman]

Since the neighbour's house looks tatty in comparison, I doubt it's 'worth' anywhere near what she thinks.

And who in their right mind admits in the national press how much you want to annoy your neighbour? Crackers.

The neighbours house at least has a little character. Her windows are vile and the front garden is barren.

[snowflux]

I had to double check that this was the Daily Mail and not the Daily Mash! Honestly, it reads like a parody of a Daily Mail story, and it's not even April 1st. The editors must have decided that their efforts to induce middle-class outrage had become a little too subtle for the ever declining IQ of their readers and have gone for the in-your-face approach. The reading age can't be far off Sun level these days.

[LiveinHope]

Since the neighbour's house looks tatty in comparison, I doubt it's 'worth' anywhere near what she thinks.

And who in their right mind admits in the national press how much you want to annoy your neighbour? Crackers.

The journalists are really having the last laugh. This could be any 'person' focused story. Like most articles, it is a totally circular p1ss take.

Gullible interviewee, in this case a home owner, is flattered at the interest and putting across 'their' story 'Ooh, I'll be in the newspapers, they want to do a piece about me - nice journalist man"

Journalist knows full well that he will get plenty of canon fodder in the interview by asking the right questions and being chatty.

Interviewee is naive and doesn't realise to establish what is 'on' and 'off' record.

Flattered interviewee thinks it went very well and smiles for the camera

Journalist writes the piece he wants that plays to many audiences

Interviewee rushes to the newsagent to see the wonderful article to be horrified how they were stitched up.

We waste time talking about it.

Journalist laughs.

[pjw]

It's done up inside, but the house is still what it was - an older semi not worth the price.

[HouseDog]

A story about Debbi Marco written by Debbi Marco - it's not news.

http://www.debbidoesjournalism.co.uk/

[LiveinHope]

A story about Debbi Marco written by Debbi Marco - it's not news.

http://www.debbidoesjournalism.co.uk/

She does exactly what it says on the tin. She is good at her job.

[snowflux]

She does exactly what it says on the tin. She is good at her job.

She must have a thick skin, but I guess it's worth it for her. Most of her work has been for the Express up till now; I imagine that writing for the DM probably pays better.

[PinkyPonk]

This is the housing equivalent of that DM article while back by that woman going on about how incredibly attractive she was, how men fall at her feet, and how every woman in the world is jealous of her - but she was actually an old aged munter. But this article really is entry level click-bait.

"You’ll need a lot of paint to make that look nice,' nodded one neighbour as he strolled past to collect his morning paper. But I knew I’d prove him wrong. I hadn’t spent the last year watching back-to-back episodes of Property Ladder and Grand Designs for nothing."

Fnar! They're as transparent as panto villains. Must try harder.

[billybong]

It's just a keeping up with the Joneses article hoping it'll inspire readers to do their bit of the same. They do the same with everything from houses to cars to clothes and holidays ............etc.

A culture from America to support corporate interests.

Likely there's a little bit of it in most everyone anyway but the newspapers and so on like to encourage the extreme.

Their advertisers would be rubbing their hands with that type of article which is little better than advertising fodder.

Whether they'll ever get all their money back on sale is another question - seems very doubtful.

Edited June 6, 2013 by billybong

[Executive Sadman]

Article has over 3100 comments on it

[assetrichcashpoor]

I doubt anyone will ever buy it for the price the owner thinks it is worth. The old adage of buying the worst house on the best street springs to mind.

[Harry Monk]

Must be a slow news day at the Wail if "Woman lives in council house" is their lead story.

[bristolhunter]

I think the only possible response is to remember the reality of getting involved with the Heil.

[CentrinoDuo]

Location location location? You can build a palace in a dive, it's still a dive.

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

I had to double check that this was the Daily Mail and not the Daily Mash! Honestly, it reads like a parody of a Daily Mail story, and it's not even April 1st. The editors must have decided that their efforts to induce middle-class outrage had become a little too subtle for the ever declining IQ of their readers and have gone for the in-your-face approach. The reading age can't be far off Sun level these days.

I was thinking the same !

Classic tactic that worked well for Tory Blair and New Liebour. Move into your competitions ground and leave them nowhere to go.

Edit : I think there is starting to be a divergence between on line version and papers, which are read mainly by OAPs. So papers you get might get stories like "How we won the war" and "potatos - the miracle food" whereas the on line stuff seems to be aimed at a much younger audience.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Gigantic Purple Slug

[shrike]

The author is the latest in a run of Daily Wail "click-bait" - Shona Sibley, Samatha Brick, Katie Hopkins and Liz Jones. Judging that the article has got over 3,000 replies I'd say she's done spectacularly well

[worried1]

So they've spent nearly £0.5m in total on the property.

Anyone verify if they have increased the property value by £350k or is that somewhat wishful thinking?

By the look of that house it is in North Sheen which is the council area between Richmond and Kew. It is the cheapest part of a very expensive area.

I took the article to mean that they paid £300k for the house, spent £200k on it and it is now worth £650k instead of the £500k they have spent on it. In today's mad market it might just about get that with a following wind, unless it is on one of the really rough streets.

The thing is that it is not their refurb that has increased value. If they paid £300k for it in 2009, it would be 'worth' £450k or more now anyway so their extra money has not added any extra value on top of what they have put in.

[richc]

By the look of that house it is in North Sheen which is the council area between Richmond and Kew. It is the cheapest part of a very expensive area.

I took the article to mean that they paid £300k for the house, spent £200k on it and it is now worth £650k instead of the £500k they have spent on it. In today's mad market it might just about get that with a following wind, unless it is on one of the really rough streets.

The thing is that it is not their refurb that has increased value. If they paid £300k for it in 2009, it would be 'worth' £450k or more now anyway so their extra money has not added any extra value on top of what they have put in.

OK, sure, this whole article is a windup, but the numbers behind this have reached absurd proportions. I just bought a chateau in the south of France for less than what they paid for this house. OK, it's a small chateau (only 10,000 sq feet and only a couple acres of garden) but it's in good condition and in a nice location. When they're trying to sell on this house to a skint 52-year-old FTB in London, I'm going to be sitting by the pool in the sunshine.