Gloria Cust and Paul Chapman were unable to sell their Yeronga home after the Brisbane floods. Picture: Jono Searle
IS YOUR house a TV star just waiting to be discovered?
The LifeStyle Channel’s Logie-winning series Selling Houses Australia is looking for homes to feature on its next series.
Executive producer Sonia Harding said the homes must be owner-occupied and must be on the market and can’t sell.
“I do sometimes look at houses that have been listed on the market for a long, long time and the owners have just pulled it off to look at what they are going to do,” she said,
“But saying you’ll put the house on the market if it is on the show doesn’t cut it.”
She said the program was looking for properties where they could make a difference.
“Sometimes you get properties that are beautifully presented but they are overpriced in a slow market – we can’t help those properties,” she said.
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“We are looking for the properties where we can make an improvement – either it has a bad location or it has a problem.”
Those problems in the past have included being built almost on a railway line, a power pylon in the front yard or have been inundated with water, such as Paul Chapman and Gloria Cust’s flood-ravaged home in Brisbane’s riverside suburb of Yeronga.
She said the series would put some cash into the makeover, but owners had to commit to contribute up to 2 per cent of the advertised price.
“We also have contra-deal partners so we get discounted goods and free goods to put towards the renovation so it is a very good deal,” Ms Harding said.
“You get a very good makeover.”
She said just as important as the home were the owner’s story and why they were selling.
So far they have covered owners selling because they were getting a divorce, or in another Queensland example – sons who had inherited the house.
“The owners are just as important if not more important than the house,” Harding said.
The series is filmed over two weeks. In the first week, the owners are involved in the filming for two to three days.
The makeover happens in the second week. “We want them to roll their sleeves up and get in there and help transform their property,” Ms Harding said.
And it could be very good news for owners weary of open houses.
The series success rate is about seven out of every 10 although in one series Ms Harding said all the houses sold.
She also said she would consider an apartment: “There just has to be some sort of outdoor area the show’s resident landscaper Charlie Albone can work on.”
People have until mid-October to register. To register your home go to lifestyle.com.au/be-on-sellinghouses/
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