ehB Residential property stars on TV’s Location, Location, Location

Sat 01 Sep 2018

The team at Leamington estate agency ehB Residential were glued to their TV screens this week – because one of their properties was starring in Location, Location, Location.

Senior sales negotiator Juliana Volpe became a household name overnight when Kirstie Allsopp phoned her several times to negotiate a deal on the house she was selling in Leamington’s Wathen Road.

The programme, aired on Channel 4 on Thursday evening (August 30), covered the hunt by young couple Matt and Claire for a three-bedroom period property in which to bring up their family.

The extra challenge for Kirstie and Phil was that the pair had already turned down 35 potential purchases before asking Location, Location, Location to help!

Presented with the usual format of three choices, the couple liked but rejected a Victorian terrace in Cubbington and a 30s semi in Lillington in favour of a rundown 1930s semi in Wathen Road which hadn’t been updated for decades and was on the market with ehB.

The house, subject to probate and stuffed to the gunwales with the previous owner’s belongings, was what is described by Phil and Kirstie as a ‘doer upper’. Walls needed removing, kitchen and bathroom replacing and a tumbledown shed removing from the garden.

But Claire and Matt were thrilled with what estate agents call its ‘potential’ – and after, a bit of toing and froing over the phone between Kirstie and the very helpful Juliana Volpe, a deal was struck, enabling the pair to buy the house before an open day which would have seen it snapped up within hours.

Juliana had phone calls from friends the moment the programme came off air – and her son has been running around the house saying: “mummy’s famous.”

She said: “Apart from enjoying my 15 minutes – or perhaps seconds – of fame, the programme was really fun. It was great to make and the final result was very interesting. It showed what a fantastic place Leamington is to live – and pointed out that prices have risen here by nearly six per cent over the past year – the second highest rise in England.

“This makes the average house price around £321,000. Phil also pointed out that a lack properties for sale makes it effectively a sellers’ market, with houses snapped up as soon as they become available.”