Episode 27 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show. Now, there's a pretty good chance

that the most money you will ever spend will be on property.

Unless you're thinking of buying a football club, of course.

Ha-ha, yeah! There can always be a lot at stake, so why not pop

down to your local auction house and try and bag yourselves a bargain?

People have all kinds of plans when they buy a property at auction

but those plans can quickly change.

You could say that, yes.

So what did our buyers on today's show have lined up

for their properties?

Well, let's take a look and see what they've bought.

Coming up, this developer in Derbyshire

has already found her dream team.

My partner's a builder and I'm hoping that between us we can do it.

Or, if not, there's always my mum.

In Greater London, I found a bit of a mystery.

For some reason, we have a suspended floor.

What could this be covering up?

And in Scotland, I find my silver lining.

It's boarded up for obvious reasons

but when you stand at the top here, you have got the most cracking view.

All of these properties have been sold at auction.

We'll find out who bought them and what they paid for them

when they went under the hammer.

Welcome to the county town of Matlock in Derbyshire.

For hundreds of years, the local well-to-do have been coming here

to relax after thermal springs were discovered in the 17th century

and a spa was created.

MUSIC: Steam by Peter Gabriel

Although I don't have time for a relaxing steam spa, I've found

a place where people used to come for comfort of a more spiritual kind.

So, only a five-minute drive from Matlock, the property

I'm here to see is a converted 16th-century detached chapel.

Now, it's got a guide price of £95,000

and I want to see how much history you get for that money.

MUSIC: Steam by Peter Gabriel

This chapel's already been turned into a house

and it doesn't look very big,

so I'm intrigued to see what's been done to it.

Look at this.

This is a bit of history and I've only just come in the door.

You've got your little cloakroom area there, a couple of hooks

and you could put your dirty wellies down there after your long walks.

A toilet and sink in there.

Through into this little area here,

kitchen to my right with a Belfast sink,

very trendy at the moment, in the corner there.

There's a small dining area, I would think, dining table there maybe,

or a little breakfast bar.

I do like this, a staircase in the middle of this property

up into the lounge area.

You can see there's a little bit of damp and stuff,

a slight bit of leaking as well, coming through the amazing beams.

This here, the wood burner, seems to be the only source of heating so far,

from what I've found.

But you can imagine this being a chapel, the beams are amazing.

It's pretty, very pretty.

For anyone who wants some peace and quiet,

this would be the perfect getaway.

It does need some heating to make it cosier and maybe drier

because the one thing I keep coming back to are those damp patches.

Anyway, let's have a look upstairs.

I am loving this spiral staircase and the use of the space

is just perfect, really, for a building so small.

You get the sense of how long this building must have been here,

these beams, hundreds and hundreds of years they've been here.

Anyway, it's a small bedroom

but, again, it's perfectly laid out.

In here you've got the bathroom,

which isn't in bad condition at all, actually.

A bit of a touch up, a bit of TLC there.

I like it.

Like I said, great use of space.

With those beautiful wooden beams and the open-plan layouts,

this has a feel of a holiday cottage, which is exactly what it is.

Indeed, the terms of the lease, as stipulated by the

planning department, says it can only be used as a holiday let.

But with original features like these,

I don't think you'd have too much trouble enticing holiday-makers.

MUSIC: I Need A Holiday by Scouting for Girls

So, outside at the front of the property, you do get a

parking space, albeit very small.

You've got a public footpath down there. But if you do come to

somewhere as pretty as this, you're here for the walks and the scenery.

I might book myself in.

As much as I'd love to take a long walk in that Peak District

countryside, before having a snooze by a roaring fireplace,

apparently I have a job to do.

It's a hard life.

We've asked along an agent from the auctioneers who sold this lot.

It's guided at £95,000 but what does he think could improve the place?

The main negative factor is the lack of heating.

I would suggest they perhaps fit some electric plant panel heaters.

There is slight damp issues that need to be resolved

and general cosmetic improvement throughout.

Yeah, there's no doubt that would help, especially in autumn

and winter months. What about the good points?

I certainly like the exposed original truss,

the location is superb for countryside walks

and there's nearby towns, Matlock and Crich.

So if the buyer was to let this out to holiday-makers,

what sort of rental income could they expect?

In my opinion, the holiday let cottage is likely to

achieve £400 per week in high peak.

Off-season, £200 per week.

And if they didn't want to manage a holiday let full-time,

what could the potential resale value be?

In my opinion, I would feel it's likely to achieve

in the region of £125,000 once renovated.

What a pretty little property and a great use of the space as well.

I do like that spiral staircase bang in the middle of the property.

Now, it's only got planning to be a holiday let, so all those

city dwellers, this is the place to come to have a bit of a chill-out.

Let's see who agreed and wanted it when it went to auction.

Lot 49, it's a stone-built detached dwelling, former chapel property.

Start me where you'd like. Who's got 90 to put it into the bidding?

£90,000. 90, thank you.

90 I have as a starting bid.

91, 91 is bid.

At 91,000.

92. At 93, 94...

After a slow start it soon became clear that this unique

property was in demand and the bids came thick and fast.

We rejoin the bidding at £107,000.

£107,000, we're going to sell.

500, 108, 500.

Final answer? Not sure.

£108,000, once.

£108,000, twice.

Third chance. All done at £108,500.

109.

109, is that the final answer?

£109,000, going once, going twice, third time.

The hammer's down. It's yours, so thank you, 109,000.

The bidding was won by Stephen on behalf of Mary who was elsewhere

in the room when that bid of £109,000

brought the auctioneer's hammer down.

I caught up with the enigmatic Mary back at the chapel.

MUSIC: Who Are You? by The Who

-Mary, nice to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you.

-And congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-What a place.

-Thank you.

Tell us about the auction experience, how was it?

Very daunting but I didn't do the bidding myself,

so that was less stressful.

So who did you go with?

I took my partner and my mum and my partner's brother,

who did the bidding for me.

-Oh, so he's the one who's putting his hand up and...?

-Yes.

-So you let him loose?

-Let him do the bidding, yes.

-And he did well?

-Yes, he did, yes.

-Are you happy?

-Yes, very pleased now, yeah, it's all over, thank you.

Tell us why this particular property,

why did you go to auction for this one?

Well, it's the location because we live next door

and we own the land surrounding it, which, really,

was only beneficial to us.

Mary and her partner Stuart live in a cottage on the farm next door.

She owns seven acres of land around this lot.

Also, she runs a mobile catering company,

so she certainly knows a bit about the hospitality industry.

I think this house seems like a real good fit.

But what does Mary plan to do to make it more holiday friendly?

We were going to do just the inside to start with

and we knew the roof wanted doing eventually.

But we're looking at it now,

we're seeing the damp that's coming through on the upper beams

and we're thinking that we'll have to do the new slates and things

on the roof first and then come and do the inside.

What is your budget going to be?

Well, we're looking at about 5-7,000 to spend on it.

The main thing obviously is the roof and the guttering, which hasn't

been done yet, and then it's all the internal...

It wants new carpeting, furnishings,

we're going to put in a new kitchen and hopefully...

The bathroom's not too bad,

I'm hoping that we might be able to spruce that up.

-Exciting.

-I'm excited, yeah.

MUSIC: I'm Into Something Good by Herman's Hermits

And rightly so.

I think this is a beautiful property with real potential

to make some income and, although there's work to be done on the roof,

Mary has a little ace up her sleeve to help with that.

-My partner's a builder...

-Perfect, tick box.

Stuart will be... He'll be doing the roof and the major fittings

with the kitchen, et cetera.

We'll get an electrician in to check all the wiring

-and everything as well.

-OK.

Who's in charge when it comes to this whole project?

-I want to say me, don't I, really?

-Yes, while he's not here.

We're both in charge because he'll obviously be in charge...

I've no idea with the building side of things, he'll be in charge with that.

Whereas, I'll tend to do the interior side of things.

How long do you hope it's going to take for you to turn it around

-to where you want to be?

-I was hoping pretty sharp, really,

to get it so that we can get it rented out.

With the delay with the roof, it's obviously going to take a bit longer now.

We wanted to just do the inside and, obviously, with doing the roof,

it's going to take slightly longer now.

But we're looking at two or three months, four months

-at the most, probably, trying to get it...

-That's a quick turnaround.

Well, we're hoping to. If not, it'll be another season

before we can get it onto the holiday let market.

As the estate agent said, peak season can generate up to double the

weekly income and so it's important Mary completes the work in time.

Once that peak season comes along, will it be all hands on deck?

Tell us, who's going to do the day-to-day running of your new

-venture because you've got your food business as well?

-Yes.

Who's going to change the bedding, who's going to do the cleaning, the hoovering?

Well, I'm hoping that between us we can do it and, if not,

there's always my mum that can be called on or friends

to do the day-to-day cleaning work, and that, I can call on people.

But I'm hoping to be able to do a lot of it myself.

-Just mucking in.

-Yeah, hopefully.

-And I wish you all the best.

-Well, thank you very much.

-I hope it works out, I'm sure it will.

-All right, thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

So Mary has finally got her hands on this property

and she's going to venture into the holiday letting business now.

She will have to sort out that leaky roof

and will she be ready for spring/summer?

You can find out later on in the programme.

Welcome to Whetstone in North London.

Some people believe Whetstone gets its name from the type of stone

used to sharpen weapons, knives and tools

and they also believe this is a chunk of it

outside a local hostelry.

Though others disagree and say this was a step for mounting horses.

Thankfully, the area has more modern transport facilities nowadays

in the form of an underground line that'll get you

to King's Cross in 26 minutes.

MUSIC: Look Sharp! by Joe Jackson

Well, you've got the main road through the area

at the end of the street and, yet, this is a relatively

quiet, nice residential side street,

which is good news because

this is where the property that was up for auction is located.

It is a first-floor, two-bedroom flat

and a guide price of 210,000 to 220,000 quid - sounds all right.

With Whetstone being on the outskirts of London,

it does mean you'll get a little more for your money

and already I like the classic '30s style of the exterior.

So far, so good.

Oh, dear.

That's not a very welcoming entrance.

Yeah sort of stone steps there and a very echoey, cold entrance.

Let's hope the flat itself is a little bit more welcoming.

Well, first glance, yes, maybe it is.

Erm, what have we got?

A nice little entrance area here, which immediately gives

the flat a bit of an open feel, which is always good.

A good-sized kitchen, it sort of wiggles round the corner a bit

but lots of light coming in through the window.

You wouldn't say it was modern units

but you could live with that, I think.

One bedroom there, you've got a loo, not a bad size.

Second bedroom there, that's fairly small and then through into your main living area.

I love the fact that you've got this bay window there.

The old fireplace is probably dating back to when

this property was built. A few other features.

You know, it does what it's supposed to do

and I like it.

MUSIC: Something About You by Dave Edmunds

This flat might not be flashy but sometimes the layout just works.

This place is light and it has plenty of period features.

OK, there is work to be done - there's no central heating

and I would be looking to replace the bathroom and the kitchen,

but those are relatively straightforward modernisation jobs.

So renovating this place should be a piece of cake, then.

Well...not so fast,

I think I've found something.

So here's the second bedroom at the front here and it's not massive.

That's not the issue. It's got some interesting coloured

paintwork on the walls, that's not the issue.

A very, very bouncy floor is the issue and,

I'm afraid, it gets worse as you get to this edge here.

And if you notice...

HE LAUGHS

..for some reason

we have a suspended floor above the height of the rest of the floor

in the property.

Now, what could have caused this? What could this be covering up?

Why has somebody done this and gone to a lot of trouble?

It could be the floorboards underneath were all shot,

it could be the joists were shot

and the easiest solution was just to lay something else on the top.

The reality is, I don't know

and whoever bought this place

really needs to check it out first because it could be a problem.

Well, it's obviously a problem but it could be a big problem.

MUSIC: I Feel the Earth Move by Martika

That floor needs to be sorted.

At best, it's a trip hazard

and, at worst, it could be hiding structural problems.

On a more positive note, although the communal area is a bit tired,

it's clean and the communal garden is very well maintained.

What does a local estate agent make of this two-bedroom flat?

The flat itself, being 1930s, has many features including fireplaces,

two of which, one in the lounge, one in the bedroom, superb.

The exterior of the building as well has features

that indicate that sort of age.

What I would do first is modernise the kitchen, put a new boiler in.

The bathroom certainly needs attention.

That said, I would certainly try

and keep the main 1930s' features that are in here.

So the guide price of between

£210,000 and £220,000 -

do the figures stack-up?

Once renovated, with a new kitchen, bathroom and completely decorated,

this flat should be able to achieve

£250,000-£255,000.

With a guide of 220,000, the time you pay

for renovation, plus taxes and fees,

there's not a lot of wiggle room to make a profit,

so you'd have to be careful what you pay at auction.

What about rental?

The rental value of this property, once renovated, would be

between £1,000 and £1,100 per calendar month.

Well, apart from that unquantified problem with the floor in the

smaller bedroom, I actually think there's a lot going for this flat.

It's not too much money for London, good transport links.

Yeah, interesting one to go for.

Let's see who agreed when it went under the hammer.

London N20, nice part of the world.

It looks like a nice block, doesn't it?

Start me at 190, please.

On the hour 190. 195 anywhere? Nice area.

195 there, saw you there.

195 there. 200.

205.

And 5 and 10?

210 and 15.

OK, 12.5, I'll take, why not?

215, then, from you?

215 I'm bid. 17.5?

No. OK, I've got 215, gentleman on the aisle. It's going to sell.

First time at 215,

second time at 215,

third and last time at 215.

Well done, sir, 215.

In from start to finish was the successful bidder,

estate agent Adnan.

MUSIC: He's On The Phone by St Etienne

Having bought the property for 215,000,

I met up with him to find out his plans.

Adnan, good to meet you.

-Good to meet you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this flat.

Well, it's a first project for myself.

I wanted to start a small portfolio of buying and selling.

So I know you're an estate agent, I'm sure that helps.

That helps to an extent and I've managed property before,

so all being well, this should not be such a hard move.

So how did you choose your first property,

what attracted you to this flat?

The area and, basically, it's small enough for me to purchase.

I thought there was quite a good potential to turn it around.

A little bit of work needed doing on it,

not too much, as far as I can tell.

I'm not sure that I agree there's not too much work to do

but the other thing I never agree with is not viewing before you buy

and Adnan didn't.

We had access outside, obviously, and pictures.

So having not seen it inside before you bought it then,

what was it like when you walked through the door?

Not too much of a shock, it could have been worse.

We knew that it was an old flat

and hadn't been renovated in some years and so we did know

that there was going to be a complete strip down of everything.

-The only thing is, in the other room there's a raised floor...

-Yes, I saw it.

..and so I'll have to get below that and see what the problem is

and rectify that.

MUSIC: Over And Over by Hot Chip

Well, Adnan's not fazed at all, even by that bouncy floor.

He's very laid-back about it all so far,

so is he equally laid back about the finances?

I want to spend between £7-£10,000.

There is a contingency to go over

but I don't want to go much over that, in order to keep a profit.

A budget of seven to ten, including the central heating

and the kitchen and bathroom...

-That's going to be tight, isn't it?

-It is, kind of.

-What do you mean?

-The central heating has cost me, roughly,

as per the quote, about 3,000 for the central heating.

Right.

The kitchen and bathroom will cost me about three or four grand.

But then, I expect to go over by a couple of grand but not much.

-I do want to keep it as close to ten as I can.

-Yeah, yeah.

-So fingers crossed that's what we do.

-And what's the timescale?

-A month.

-A month, all right, OK, wow.

A month, or two maximum.

I want to get the builders in straight away

and get the major work done and then I'll step in

and start renovating and painting and doing what I can as well.

Oh, great, so you're going to be hands on?

Yes, I've got a few friends available and so, you know,

it'll be a joint effort but it'll be fun.

Adnan's an estate agent so he knows the top price for this property

and what buyers expect for it.

But I do worry about that tight budget.

-Was he happy with what he paid?

-Yeah, pretty much, definitely.

You know, if I can get 240/250 for the flat,

hopefully that should, you know, be quite a tidy profit.

Yeah, brilliant. Well, listen, congratulations, good luck with it.

-I look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Excellent, thank you very much.

Well, an interesting little property for Adnan's first purchase,

although I am a little bit worried about that budget.

What horrors might there be lurking underneath that floor?

You can find out later in the show.

Still to come, it's time for me

to get strict with this developer in Wishaw.

How long do you think it's going to take you to renovate?

Don't be giving me, "I don't know."

And in Whetstone, London, has Adnan learned a few lessons?

Try and do as much homework as you can before buying.

Time now to return to Matlock in Derbyshire,

where I was looking at this converted 16th-century chapel,

guided at £95,000.

It may have been a little bit nippy inside, with just a wood burner

for heating, but it made great use of limited space.

And if you wanted a real treat, all you had to do was look up.

MUSIC: You're Living Above Your Head by Jay and the Americans

And something was wrong,

there were patches of damp throughout the building.

I just hoped it wasn't symptomatic of a bigger problem.

However, buyer Mary's spirits weren't dampened

and buying the property for £109,000 made a lot of sense,

since she owns some surrounding land

and lives next door with her partner Stuart, a builder.

The only thing about this conversion was planning restrictions meant

it could only be a holiday let,

which meant Mary was a lady in a hurry.

We wanted to just do the inside and then, obviously, doing

the roof is going to take slightly longer now.

But we're looking at two to three months. If not, it'll be another

season before we can get it onto the holiday let market.

Mary had a very reasonable budget of £5-£7000,

especially as partner Stuart was doing the building work.

But she would have to work quickly

if she wanted to catch that key peak-rate period.

Would Mary and Stuart get finished in time?

MUSIC: Time To Pretend by MGMT

Well, just over four months later we've returned to find out.

MUSIC: Time to Pretend by MGMT

What was already a beautiful building has been given a new lease of life.

The new kitchen looks great,

as does the new furniture throughout the house...

..whilst the bathroom has been tiled and painted.

The whole building has new carpets and all the woodwork's

been stripped back, treated for woodworm and refinished.

But that's not the only thing that's happened to the roof.

We were hoping to leave the roof till later

but when we came inside and we saw

that one of the main beams was leaking, we decided that,

in the scheme of things, it would be better to get the roof done.

Well, we had to take the old stone roof off,

which had to be cut off because when they went to take it off, it had

been sprayed with a foam filler, which had to then be cut off.

So he, literally, had to cut all the tiles off.

As well as the new roof tiles,

Mary's partner Stuart fitted modern insulation

and new roof beams, but fitted them above the original ceiling.

This allowed him to keep the original beams in place and gives the chapel

all the advantages of a modern roof but retains its period features.

Those old roof stones didn't go to waste.

Yes, some of the old tiles have actually gone

into the new patio area at the front and then we're going to,

hopefully, build another patio area at the side,

which obviously hasn't happened yet.

But some of them will be used there as well, so that we'll keep

the character of the whole building, hopefully.

MUSIC: Don't Throw It All Away by Gary Benson

I think it's brilliant that Mary's remembered to keep one eye

on retaining the building's character throughout this

whole project, as that's what makes it so special.

These things can be easy to forget, especially

when other problems are springing up.

We did have an electrician out and we've had a new box and

everything in and it's all been rewired, new lighting.

We didn't know until we went into it

but I fully understand it's got to be done, it needs to be right.

Mary's spot on there, electrics have to be checked

and certified by professionals and it doesn't matter

if you're renting for a long period or for holiday lets,

it has to be a case of safety first.

So, with all these unexpected jobs,

what happened to the £5-£7,000 budget?

In total, we've spent about £17,000

doing the whole of the building, inside and out.

The roof was the problem, obviously.

We spent about £6,000 on the roof.

The electricals and the furnishings, obviously,

were all added on to what we originally budgeted for.

Ouch. That's significantly more than they'd prepared for.

But Mary and partner Stuart could start making some of that money back

if they finished in time to start taking bookings for the high season.

Have they made it?

Yeah, we've just slightly over run

but mainly because of the roof, which we weren't planning on doing.

But it's fine, we've got it ready for the, sort of, late spring/summer

which is when we were hoping to be ready anyway.

MUSIC: All in Good Time by Ron Sexsmith

Yes, it's taken Mary four-and-a-half months and £17,000,

but finally the old chapel is ready to start taking bookings.

But with all those problems, are Stuart and his team of builders

still glad they took it on?

I'll answer that without swearing, shall I?

Yeah, no, he's been very good. They've all been very good.

Obviously, it's been a lot of work,

a lot more than we thought it would be. But, yeah, we've enjoyed it

and hopefully we'll soon be able to see the benefits from it.

Well, let's see if two local estate agents agree.

Mary bought the property for £109,000

and spent £17,000 on renovation.

Are they as impressed with the old chapel as I am?

From my initial visit, it seems to me a bit more light and airy,

tastefully decorated, nice quality fitted kitchen

and, overall, very pleasing.

The property is a beautiful cottage,

very nicely refurbished, outstanding views,

lovely idyllic country spot.

Both agents gave the property a resale valuation of £140,000,

which would give Mary a profit of 14 grand,

minus the usual taxes and expenses.

However, this property has to be used as a holiday let

and that's what Mary plans to do.

So what about those rates?

In the low season, I would feel, it would probably achieve in the region

of £250 per week.

In the high season it would probably get in the region of £450 per week.

The weekly rental value for the property on low season would be

in the region of £325 per week,

high season up to £450, possibly £475 per week.

Yeah, we've not actually gone into the prices of it yet, so...

It's all new to me anyway, but, yeah, it sounds good.

Well, it may all be new to Mary but I reckon she's done well here.

So calculator at the ready, let's take the summer months

of June, July and August, that could mean an income of...

erm...

£5,700, just for that period.

And that's before you add in other high season spells like Easter,

the October break, Christmas.

It's also worth bearing in mind that holiday lets have tax advantages.

For instance, if a furnished holiday let is occupied for at least

70 days with a few other provisos, it may attract capital gains breaks.

I think this is a great property and a very smart development.

But what does Mary think of the finished project?

I think now it's all completed, I've seen it

and obviously as each room's gone on, you can see it progressing

but now that it's all done, you can walk in and think,

"Yeah, that's nice." Yes.

We're heading off to Scotland now, a town 15 miles from Glasgow.

What do you look for when choosing where to live?

Wishaw in North Lanarkshire ticks a lot of boxes.

If you're looking for a train station, Wishaw has got one.

Shops? Yep, they're here too.

Beautiful countryside, well, look, it's right on your doorstep

and it's even got its own hospital, leisure facilities

and easy access to the motorway.

MUSIC: Wishing Well by Terence Trent D'Arby

The towns of Wishaw and nearby Motherwell

used to flank Ravenscraig steelworks,

which, at its peak, was the biggest steel producer in Scotland.

Will the house I'm going to look at today be a steal

or will I be wishing I'd never set eyes on it?

So what did a town that can offer so much offer up at auction?

Well, a three-bedroom semidetached with a guide price of £40,000.

Sounds tempting, right? But wait.

That is because there's one other thing,

it comes with a caution that says in the catalogue,

"This property is classified as unsafe

"and uninhabitable in its current condition and it's sold as seen."

That's a bit worrying.

Wish me luck.

COUGHING

Yes, I can totally agree.

This house is uninhabitable as it currently stands,

there's wiring hanging out, the ceiling's caved in,

it really does smell.

I'm certainly not going in there today.

Who's going to be brave enough to want to buy this sold as seen?

Good luck to that person.

I'm going to explore round the back.

So this is the side of the property.

Now, I'm saying going round the back

but I mean, actually, going round the front

because everybody who lives here has told me they use that as the front

but this is actually the front.

What I do like is all this space, look, lots of storage

to the side here and, wow!

This is so much more impressive than what I first thought.

So this officially is the front,

although everybody else uses the back.

I mean, look at this, you've got quite a grand little staircase here.

I mean, it's boarded up for obvious reasons.

It's such a shame because I would have loved to have got inside.

It's got a really nice front garden.

But the best bit, when you stand at the top here, you have got

the most cracking view of beautiful green parkland over there, amazing.

Well, this really is a great location for an urban property

and it's certainly a much-needed boost, given the state

of the house, which does look as though it's been sorely neglected.

Whoever buys this, let's hope they chop this hedge back

because what it's doing is hindering this fabulous view.

I know I keep going on about it, but check it out, look at this!

And for the guide price, it seems like you might be getting

a bit of a bargain.

Although, there's something really playing on my mind with this house.

You know, when something seems too good to be true,

well, it usually is.

There are two issues with this house.

First, fairly obviously, the dangerous state of it inside

and that's due to a flow of water that's been leaking

through the house towards the front door for some time now.

MUSIC: Cry Me A River

And the second issue...

This house, well, it just isn't what it seems.

It's a house of non-standard construction,

which means you may struggle to get a mortgage here.

With thousands of people coming back after the Second World War,

these houses, they needed to be built and built fast.

These "Homes for Heroes" were constructed with whatever material

the country could get its hands on.

They were only supposed to have a lifespan of 30-40 years,

but many, like this one

and the rest on the estate in Wishaw, have lasted way beyond that.

Now, despite its steel frame and a steel roof,

they are sturdy houses and people are really happy living here.

You can see the one next door is in such good condition.

And they are very much in demand, especially in the rental market.

So this house might be a challenge, it could become a money-pit.

On the other hand, it's got great views and it could rent easily.

Then again, it's non-standard construction,

so you might have trouble finding a buyer

if you were looking to sell on.

I think it's time we asked a local estate agent to help us.

MUSIC: Both Sides of The Story by Phil Collins

This would be a very popular rental property.

Wishaw's quite a vibrant town, good commuting links

to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The hospital is one of the biggest employers in the area and,

obviously, a lot of the employees at the hospital want to live in Wishaw.

So would that high rental demand in the area

translate into a good yield?

Once renovated, this property would achieve £475 per calendar month.

So if you could buy the property for anything close to that

guide price, there's a real potential for profit.

But what about the sale price?

When this property's been refurbished,

it could achieve £55,000.

That's not such good news.

If you want profit, that valuation doesn't give a potential buyer

much budget to make improvements and this property needs improving.

So, why so low?

The property itself is a non-standard construction.

Therefore, that will have an effect on raising a mortgage against it

and that will affect the future sale of the property.

Well, internally this house certainly is in a sorry old state

and I hope the person who buys this knows that.

But if this does go for anything around the £40,000 guide price,

the rental returns could really pay off.

Let's not forget, that wonderful parkland it's surrounded by.

Let's see who wanted this when it went under the hammer.

Plot number 12.1,

rarely available three-bedroom semidetached villa.

Developer opportunity.

At £40,000, am I bid? 30 then?

I'll move on, 30 here. At 30 I'm bid now.

At 31 here, 32, 33.

With you at 32. At £32,000, cheap house, first time.

32, second time.

Are we finished? New bidder at 33.

34, 35, 36, 37.

37, 38, 39, 40.

One, two, three, four, five.

You're out.

At £44,000 then, with you, against you and against you.

First time, second time, third and final time.

If you're all done and out.

Well done, sir.

Can I have your panel number, please?

The house was sold for just £44,000 to 21-year-old Chris.

I went along to meet him to find out

what his plans were for this ailing property.

-Chris, congratulations.

-Cheers.

-You must be really pleased.

-Yeah.

So what's the story behind you wanting to buy this?

Is this a family effort or is this solely your own property?

No, it's a family effort, just trying to diversify.

So is this a new venture for you?

Is this something you've been thinking about doing

and this is your first opportunity?

We've got a few properties but we've only decided to do this

over the past year,

probably should have done it earlier.

So, Chris, tell me, what was it like for you on auction day

because I know you really wanted this house because all of your sums

and your figures worked out.

Were you desperate to get this?

It's one of those things, if I don't get it, I don't get it.

Well, that's a very relaxed attitude.

So how does Chris feel about paying 44 grand for a house that's

non-standard construction.

It doesn't matter how it's built for us.

I know how much it's going to cost per month,

how much it's going to bring in to ourselves.

It's a three bedroom house and we got it for £44,000

so we can't really argue with that.

-You've obviously purely bought this as a rental exercise.

-Yep.

So, come on then, tell me roughly,

what can you get per month for something like this?

-We're looking at £450 per month.

-So that is quite an incredible yield.

Now have you worked out the sums?

I mean, how long is it going to take you to pay off this house?

About ten years, depending on how much repair we need to do it.

It's not in the best of conditions but it'll make its money eventually.

No, no, no, right, let's go back.

It's not in the best of conditions, we can't even go in there today.

It's in a right old state.

-Now, did you view the property prior to auction?

-Unfortunately not...

What?!

..before I saw the auction, the dates to go

and look at the house were gone.

But a three-bedroom house for this price,

you can't argue with it really.

OK, it's £44,000 but you're going to need to spend some money on it

to get it up to your next-door neighbour's standard.

I mean, how much are you going to need to spend in there to get it habitable?

Not really sure, we'll need to assess how much damage is caused inside.

We're going to have to spend what we need to spend.

MUSIC: That's Just The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby And The Range

Well, Chris is probably right, it is what it is.

And while Chris may seem very laid-back,

I reckon that since his family run a company

that act as a European distributor for Japanese foundry machinery,

they clearly know a good business proposition when they see one.

But in saying he'll spend what he needs to, well, what does he mean?

So, what, have you just got an endless flow of money to

support this house project?

No, it's not an endless flow

but I need to spend what I need to spend in order to

get that right to rent.

-Do you think you'll rent this quite quickly?

-Aye.

I spoke to a few of the neighbours and they all said...

They're really nice, all the neighbours are really nice.

It's just a shame about how this is dragging down the area.

Yeah, it is a shame but now you've come along

and it's fallen into the lap of Chris, hooray,

who's going to turn it around.

So what are you most excited about with this project?

Just seeing what it's going to be like when it's finished.

I'd like it to be the same as the house next door.

So it might have to be a new roughcast job

-but we'll see how much it would cost.

-You could always paint it...

-A nicer colour...

-..and have a really nice, soft, muted tone...

Aye, subtle colours.

..I think would look better than the mustard yellow and the brown.

Aye, it looks like a bit of toast.

Property development's quite a change from the usual

family business in engineering equipment, where Chris, his dad

and his brothers are directors.

And, although he'll continue his day job, he's taking

charge of this renovation, so it will mean a lot of work after hours.

I've got a feeling that that won't faze him.

So how long does he think it's going to take?

Don't be giving me, "I don't know."

Because I've got no budget to go on and now I don't know

how long it's going to take you.

-A couple of months?

-Yeah, a couple of months, we'll go for that, aye.

-A couple of months?

-Go for a couple of months.

Chris, good luck. Good luck with this project.

It's been so interesting meeting you and it's going to be interesting to

find out how much you spend and how long it takes you.

-Good luck, mate. Thank you.

-Thank you.

I have never met anybody as laid back as Chris, no budget,

no timescale, no worries.

But he has done his maths here.

I'm just hoping the damage inside, well,

it doesn't set-back his healthy return.

You can join me later in the programme to

find out how Chris gets on.

So we've seen how one of our purchasers got on buying at auction.

Yeah, it's time to see what happened to the others.

Looking forward to this, let's find out.

Welcome back to Whetstone in North London,

where I looked at this two-bed first floor flat.

There was a lot of work needing to be done

to drag this house up to modern-day standards

but, on the plus side, there were really nice period features,

a good layout and nice proportions.

And then, there was this.

For some reason, we have a suspended floor

above the height of the rest of the floor in the property.

MUSIC: Smile by The Supernaturals

Yes, nothing's ever simple.

So what was that floor hiding and would it prove problematic?

Well, buyer Adnan didn't even know it was there

when he bought the property for £215,000

as there hadn't been any viewings

and all he wanted to do was to get stuck in.

I want to get the builders in straight away, get the major

work done and then I'll step in and start renovating and painting

-and doing what I can as well.

-Oh, great,

-so you're going to be hands on.

-Yeah, it'll be fun.

What concerned me was that Adnan had given himself

a budget of just £7-£10,000

and a timescale of one to two months to completely refurbish the flat,

including skimming walls, fitting a new kitchen and bathroom

and new central heating.

MUSIC: Money's Too Tight (To Mention) by Simply Red

That's a lot of work.

Would he be able to complete it on time and on budget?

Well, four months later, we've returned to find out.

What a transformation.

This flat has been revitalised.

Adnan doesn't seem to have skimped on anything, fitting a new bathroom,

laying new carpets and having the whole flat replastered.

But I've put it off long enough.

What happened to the floor in that small bedroom?

When we first bought the place,

we realised that there was an elevated floor

and they used it to soundproof whatever they were doing in here

and a heck load of files and cabinets

and stuff, which were actually bolted into the wall.

So we had to reskim the wall, get the flooring taken out -

I didn't do that myself -

and redecorate, repaint and replaster the whole room.

Now, sorting that out would still have been a lot of work.

But honestly, the realisation that the false floor was being

used as sound insulation,

rather than to hide structural problems

must have been a huge relief.

But as ever with developments,

there are always unforeseen obstacles and delays.

In the kitchen, which was in serious disrepair when we got the place,

that was a whole rework.

We had to install a boiler because there was no central heating

in there before.

So that took the best part of two weeks, instead of one week.

One of the windows in the kitchen just wasn't very nice,

so we had to get it replaced.

We found a local supplier and fitter who managed to do it

in a good timescale

and not too expensive as well.

MUSIC: Smooth by Santana ft Rob Thomas

I think replacing that window is yet another example of what

a thorough job Adnan's done.

He's an estate agent by profession,

but this is the first development he's taken on himself

and while he employed professionals to fit the kitchen,

bathroom and central heating, he did much of the other work himself.

So how did he find it all?

Weekends were always, you know, spent here,

nine o'clock in the morning till whatever time in the evening.

I had a hand from a couple of friends, here and there,

so that did help, obviously, there were people on hand.

But it was a good experience.

It did run pretty smoothly

and we got the work done within two/two-and-a-half months.

MUSIC: Smooth by Santana ft Rob Thomas

So it took Adnan a little longer than he'd hoped

but it was the finances I'd be more concerned about.

Did he manage to keep to that £7-£10,000 budget?

Ten grand was the most I wanted to spend

and I ended up a couple of hundred pounds short of £10,000.

So, yeah, we've managed to keep in budget for the property.

I have to say, I'm impressed, he's done a lot for the money.

We asked along two local estate agents to tell us

what they thought of Adnan's first solo project.

It's been finished to a good standard, you can

see the builders have come in and done some good work on the property.

It's nice, bright, airy. It's a good size flat.

This particular property would appeal to a wide range of buyers.

From first-time buyers, investors and people looking to downsize.

It's a well presented flat with pleasing layout and a

house-like quality which appeals and gives the place a nice vibe.

So having bought the flat for 215,000 at auction

and spent just under 10,000 on the development,

can Adnan expect to make a profit

on this, his first solo development?

I think in the current market,

you could sell this property for approximately £265,000.

I'd bring this property to the market at £275,000.

For the rental market, I believe you'd be

looking in the region of £1,250 per calendar month.

For the rental market, I'd recommend an asking price of £1,350

per calendar month.

I'm really happy with those figures.

It's been a lot of hard work but it's been worth it.

Adnan's already had an offer of £270,000, which he's considering.

And having spent a total of £224,800, that would give him

a pre-tax profit of just over 45 grand.

So, having got some terrific takings on his rookie development,

what advice would he share?

Try and do as much homework as you can before buying.

You can only take an educated guess on these kind of things

and hopefully you don't fall into any kind of big traps.

Talking of potential traps, it's time now to return to

a three-bed semi in Wishaw that had

an attractive guide price of £40,000.

But less attractive was the outside appearance

and, as for the inside, well...

COUGHING

Yes, this house is uninhabitable as it currently stands, there's

wiring hanging out, the ceiling's caved in, it really does smell.

# Cos I'm never going home Until the pain inside is gone. #

And the pain didn't stop here

because on top of everything else, this house was of non-standard

construction, so not so easy to get a mortgage on.

None of that was a worry for 21-year-old Chris, who, on behalf

of his family business, was taking charge of their move into property.

He paid 44 grand at auction and he certainly had taken on a challenge.

But Chris seemed, well, a little relaxed.

I've not really got a budget, to be honest.

We're going to have to spend what we need to spend.

How long do you think it's going to take you to renovate?

Don't be giving me, "I don't know," because I've got no budget to go on

and now I don't know how long it's going to take you.

-A couple of months?

-Yeah, a couple of months.

OK, so I did push him a bit to say two months,

but no budget, no timescale, that's why I'm here.

Anyway, I thought it was best to leave him in peace,

he'll give us a shout when he's ready, I'm sure.

Seven months later we've returned and what a transformation.

MUSIC: The Changingman by Paul Weller

Chris and his family have done a terrific job,

taking this from damp and derelict to warm and welcoming.

Even the outside's been transformed with new windows, new doors

and a new coat of paint.

Where did he even begin tackling this?

First we had to see how bad the damage was.

We noticed that the boiler had been stolen, so the pipes had not been

capped, the water poured through the ceiling into the downstairs and

it had been left vacant for months. The dampness was everywhere.

We had to replace every wall in the house,

take it back to the brick, we've pretty much changed everything.

It's pretty much a brand-new house with an old shell outside.

We weren't really expecting it to be this difficult,

but that's what happens when you buy a house without viewing it first.

MUSIC: Hate To Say I Told You So by The Hives

Sorry, Chris, I couldn't resist that.

But what are our three golden rules?

Do your homework, view the property beforehand and read the legal pack.

Anyway, back to the great job that's been done here.

Upstairs the three bedrooms have all been redecorated

and are just waiting to be carpeted.

But downstairs, well, he didn't just redecorate.

Well, as you can see, we've got a new kitchen here.

When we first bought the house, this was two separate rooms.

Where I'm stood here was the door between the two rooms.

We decided to take that down and

modernise the house and make it open-plan

and it's worked out nicely.

As well as the new kitchen, Chris fitted the bathroom with

a new suite and completely retiled and repainted.

He also installed a new boiler in the kitchen

and replaced all the radiators throughout the house.

And I think he's done a cracking job

because this house was in a right old state.

Chris, his father and his brother bought this property

as a diversification in the family business

and Chris wasn't just in charge of the project

and organising family and friends to help, he got stuck in too.

I lent a helping hand in anything that I was told to do.

Obviously, my cousin's a joiner,

I'd help him with things that he told me to do.

Painting was straightforward, I was just told what to do and I'd do it.

I also helped refloor and I also helped plaster the walls.

We probably did more than we needed to do but, at the end of the day,

this has got to be our asset.

You've got to do it to a high standard

because that means it'll last longer and it will future-proof it.

Well, I think that's a very smart way to look at things, especially as

the family are looking to let this and begin building their portfolio.

But how much has been spent from Chris's notoriously vague budget?

MUSIC: Notorious by Duran Duran

We spent 11,000 on doing this house up.

We sourced the materials locally from builders' merchants -

it's always good to give back to the local community.

Getting all that work done for 11 grand is good going and, OK,

it took just over seven months but that was because Chris had to

wait for the damp beams to dry before he could begin renovation

and all his family and friends were working in their spare time.

Well, it's time now to see what two local estate agents

think of this Wishaw wonder.

Particularly, I like the kitchen, I like the fact it is open-plan,

you know, that will suit a lot of families that like

that open-plan living where you can be in cooking

and the living room's open to it.

I like the fact that the bathroom has the bath

and there's a separate shower,

I think they're two really good aspects.

It's been done to a good standard,

you can see there's quite a lot of money been spent, obviously,

nice new windows.

The negative about the property is that, you can see,

it's a non-standard roof that's on it, that pulls down the sales value

but it shouldn't affect the rental value.

Well, renting is exactly what Chris wants to do.

So having spent £44,000 on the property at auction

and £11,000 renovating, it's time now to get some valuations.

In its current condition we would be looking at £70-£80,000.

In this area, I believe this property could achieve £60,000.

Rental wise, because of the high specification of it, we're going

to get a premium and I'd estimate between £495-£550 per calendar month.

Rental wise, I believe this property would achieve between

£475 and £525 per calendar month.

I'm quite happy with that.

The amount of money I've spent on this house

and the price I got it for, I'm still making money.

Very different valuations by the agents there.

The agent giving the higher figure is basing the resale price on nearby

sales values and the fact that this house changed hands

in 2009 for £75,000.

While, the other agent felt that Chris might have overspent and the

£60,000 valuation better reflected the value in the home report.

However, that potential profit of between £5-£25,000 could

change due to the vagaries of the offers-over system in Scotland.

That's all academic though, as this is for the rental market.

That top rental figure would give him a yield of 12%.

Suddenly, all that hard work seems worth it

and after having to live next door to a derelict building

for months, I bet the neighbour appreciates Chris's work too.

Oh, she's over the moon with the fact that the house is looking

a lot nicer, it's tidier and she might have a neighbour now.

Well, as you can see, there is a lot to learn in the world of property.

Yeah, but stay with us and we'll make sure we'll do our best

to give you some tips.

Join us next time when more plucky people buy their

Homes Under The Hammer.

-Cheerio.

-Bye-bye.

-Goodbye.