“It is, but it has the benefit of an acre or so of land. It’s an old equestrian property that’s been split up over time, and it comes with barns and stables that have already gotten planning permission for conversion. I think you could get two one-bedroom studio cottages and three two-bed cottages out of them, based on the planning that’s been submitted.”
“How have you seen the planning?”
“I might know the auctioneer personally.”
“These aren’t public yet, are they?”
“Have you seen the other one?” he said, quickly swiping his finger over the trackpad. “It’s much bigger and was an old boarding house. I’m not sure if it’s too big, though.”
“I’ll take that as a yes to my question, then,” I mused, obliging him by looking through the photos. “I don’t know. Do you want to make a chain of hotels, or do you want to diversify a bit?”
“I’d like to stick to smaller properties, I think.”
“Okay, so the one with the barns.” I retook the trackpad from his wayward fingers and went back to the other property. “They all look like they’re quite far apart. Enough for privacy, either way. The main building doesn’t look too run down, either, not compared to the others. Open the bed and breakfast and start work on the conversions.”
“I should have spoken to you about this before we did that contract. I’d have locked you in for at least ten years,” he muttered.
I laughed, nudging my knee against his. “Shut up. It just makes sense, plus it looks like a great location.”
“It is.” He leaned in. “You know, I can call tomorrow and see if there’s space to take a look at it. It’s not that far from Saint Dwynwen’s church. If you come with me, we could head down there after.”
Baxter wandered in with a high-pitched yawn, circled the coffee table three times, and dropped himself down on my feet.
See? Big bloody dog, thinking he’s a lapdog.
Or a footdog, in this case.
“Really? You want me to come, too?”
Matthew nodded. “You know this industry, Eva. Besides, working with you isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
“Oh, gee, thank you. I’m flattered.” I handed the laptop back to him, and he closed it down with a laugh. “Luckily for you, I am exceptionally nosy, and I really want to see this church and hear her story, so I suppose I can join you.”
His lips slowly curved into a smile. “You can get the picnic together.”
“Let’s see if we can look at the property tomorrow first, hm? Then you can make your food demands, sir. Until then, you’re going to have to wait.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EVA
The auctioneer was annoyingly efficient.
As it turned out, the guy doubled as the estate agent who was in charge of moving on most of these run-down properties. He insisted it made things easier, whereas I thought it just meant he got double the fees for whatever property he managed to sell.
Not that I was against that.
It was quite clever, actually.
Commission on the sale, commission on the auction. It wasn’t bad work if one could get it.
It didn’t really matter, in the end. As I’d suspected last night, the bed and breakfast sized property with the barns was everything I’d hoped it would be. The house itself was in extremely good condition, and the auctioneer himself thought it would only need basic work to bring it up to standard.
With a solid team, it sounded like it could be open within three months.
The barns were a good size, even if they would all need considerable work. Turning what was essentially an old horse’s house into suitable living conditions for human beings was never going to be easy or cheap, but that was why the price was as low as it was.
“What do you think?” Matthew asked me after the estate agent took a step outside the barns to take a call.
“The house just needs a little work, and these barns have solid foundations on the surface,” I replied, looking around. “The smaller ones might need a little extension, but I don’t know what’s on the planning permission.”
“No extensions, but they might grant it if it means not knocking any walls down.”
I shook my head. “Only small ones, and probably for bathrooms for the one-bed cottages. The only thing is they all look like they need re-roofing.”
Matthew put his hands in his pockets and nodded slowly. “I was thinking the same. One of them has a corrugated roof, and that’s never going to pass regulations.”
“I agree. I don’t know how much you’re looking at for it, but probably something like a hundred grand just on the roofs alone, and that’s before plumbing and wiring and all the other stuff. Ironically, the house is in better condition than it looked in the pictures, but these are in worse.”
“I agree completely.” He looked up at the ceiling where a bit of insulation was hanging down. “So I suppose the question is this: is it worth buying just to open the main house as a bed and breakfast?”