You paid what? For that?
When Sarah came across an old Bedford bus for sale, she thought it could be a fun project, and promptly snapped it up for $6000.
Unfortunately, her husband Tom didn’t quite agree.
As well as being full of rust, the lights on the bus didn’t work and it didn’t have any brakes. Overwhelmed by the scale of what needed to be done, Sarah soon gave up on the idea of restoring it.
Struggling with interest rate rises, the couple wanted to at least recoup the money they had spent, so they tried to sell it.
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That’s better.
But while around half a dozen people came to inspect it, none of them were interested in buying it.
That’s when the Selling Houses Australia team stepped in to help.
Fortunately, Tumby Bay on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula is an increasingly popular tourist destination, and host and real estate expert Andrew Winton had an idea it could be transformed into accommodation that someone could be interested in buying to rent out as a weekender. After looking looked at a tiny house for inspiration, his hunch was confirmed.
The couple, who have three sons, only had a budget of $7000 for the project, and while it was a small space it was clear it needed a lot more than that to be spent to bring it up to make it saleable. With generous help from local tradies and the show’s suppliers and sponsors, the team was able to give the bus a dramatic overhaul.
‘I bought a bus.’
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The lime green bus, which was once driven around Australia selling soap, was repainted aqua with a white roof to create a coastal feel. Landscaper Dennis Scott and his team also added a deck with a small barbecue and an outdoor bath for a bit of romance, with a fire pit beside it.
Interior designer Wendy Moore decided to paint the ceiling white to create a sense of more space, installed vertical panels on the walls to give the illusion of height and painted them charcoal for a contemporary and cosy feel. She also added a fold down table and strip lighting.
The plumbing and electricals were also replaced.
Selling Houses/Buses Australia’s Dennis Scott hard at it.
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While Sarah and Tom were originally hoping to get $15,000 for the bus, which they named Bubbles of Bedford, they ended up selling it for $30,000.
Selling Houses Australia host and real estate expert Andrew Winter was blown away by the result.
“We always have a couple per season that we think might not sell,” he said.
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With the show called Selling Houses Australia, Winter said some people on social media “got a bit cross” about the team revamping a bus.
“I found that quite annoying,” he said.
Before.
“
After.
Generally the concept of Selling Houses is that people have got an asset and they need to sell it because they’re in trouble. We all make mistakes, and this couple just didn’t know what to do. Because there’s this whole tiny house movement and people are converting vehicles into homes you can argue it’s going to be somebody’s part-time home and because we have been going for so many seasons we thought ‘why not?’. We did a houseboat years ago.”
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Before.
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After.
But Winter warned people should be careful before taking on such a project or buying a bus to rent out in their backyard.
“It’s not all sweetness and light,” he said.
“Even with the granny annexe you have to check with councils that you can do it. There’s certainly costs involved. It’s a very tricky little market sector.”
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Watch Selling Houses Australia on Foxtel and stream on LifeStyle available on Hubbl.
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