Winter is coming:

Property expert Andrew Winter (above right, pictured with Neale Whitaker) talks about the pros and cons of moving house and his surprise television success. Kerry Harvey reports.

Property expert Andrew Winter talks home makeovers.

An Irish nurse once kicked Andrew Winter when he insulted her Brisbane investment property. Another time – in the UK – he feared for his safety after he told a woman her house was dirty.

“The place was filthy and I said, ‘Look the trouble is that’. She burst into tears and walked out,” the property expert-turned-television presenter says.

“Unfortunately, her husband was in the navy and about nine foot six and three times as wide as me.

“The crew and I all thought, ‘Uh oh, Andrew’s about to get absolutely flattened’. But he just stood there and went, ‘What do we do now?’ and I was like, ‘That’s not quite how I was expecting you to react’.”

For the past 20 years or so, the plain-speaking Englishman has built a career fronting television property shows starting with the British series Selling Houses and, after moving his family to Australia in 2005, the juggernaut Selling Houses Australia. More recently, he has partnered with The Block Australia’s Neale Whitaker for Love It Or List It Australia. Is he surprised at his success? “Obviously, I’m very good so I was never surprised,” he says, tongue firmly in his cheek – because the real-life Winter is just as entertaining off screen. “Of course I’m surprised, for goodness sake.”

It was the climate, not the prospect of a television career, that drew Winter Down Under where he and his family set up home on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

“My whole family don’t do cold. We

never have liked cold so we embrace a warmer climate,” he says, and, when Selling Houses Australia came along in 2008, Australians embraced him. Twelve seasons on, the show – and Winter – are still going strong.

“It’s very interesting because you get to about season three or four with any show and quite often that’s about its life span.

“I always remember when we got to season five or six, one of our exec producers, who’s been in television forever and a day, said, ‘I think we’re going to be good for a lot longer’.

“I remember saying, ‘Why is that?’ and he said, ‘If we’re still gaining viewers at season five and six, we’re all good’.

“I thought, ‘Thank goodness for that because you know, I can’t do anything else any more’. I’m past the age of even wanting to. It’s a joy.”

Meanwhile, in 2017, Winter and interior designer Whitaker joined forces to make Love It Or List It Australia, a southern hemisphere version of a Canadian series that has also been made in the UK with Location, Location, Location’s Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp.

Now filming its fourth season, it follows the pair as they try to help homeowners around Australia decide whether to renovate the house they are in and stay put or to find a dream home elsewhere.

While designer Whitaker makes over the existing house, Winter tries to tempt them to buy something new. However, although the property expert might give his all on screen to persuade homeowners to sell, he admits that packing up and moving is not necessarily always the best option.

“The cost of moving from house A to house B can be quite prohibitive and it probably isn’t worth doing,” Winter says.

“When I started out in real estate in the late 80s and 90s, the stamp duty and the cost of moving was almost negligible, whereas today it’s a massive chunk of money, so it really does have to be reviewed as an overall option.

“Normally, if Neale has improved the house and solved a lot of their problems, I’m on a real losing streak because for them to move is an expensive process. It’s always more of a challenge for Team List It than Team Love It.”

Meanwhile, Winter warns fans may have a bit of a wait ahead of them for new episodes of either show as Covid-19 has severely affected production of each.

“We’re currently filming, with great difficulty, the fourth season (of Love It Or List It). The first episode we started filming in March was in Perth. We did one day’s filming and we have not been back since,” he says.

“The house has been fully renovated, (the family) moved back in three-and-a-half months ago and we still haven’t been back. It’s such a challenge. Some industries are booming through all of this, but there are some industries where everything is completely impossible or has totally changed. The production side of things, if there’s travel involved, is very difficult.”

“The cost of moving from house A to house B can be quite prohibitive and it probably isn’t worth doing.” – Andrew Winter