Episode 75 Homes Under the Hammer

At auction, the nod of a head can buy you a property.

And once you've bought it,

are you going to live in it, turn it for a profit

or are you going to hold onto it as long-term investment?

Quite a few options there, so let's see what today's buyers chose to do.

Buying a home under the hammer can be a quick way to make a property purchase.

But remember to do your homework otherwise it could be a case of "act in haste, repent at leisure".

So let's see what properties today's bidders went for?

This bungalow in Nottingham might get you a little hot under the collar.

The major point in any lounge of course is the fireplace, and...

Ta-da!... There it is.

In south London, the details for this flat say that it's got an en-suite...

I don't really think I'd call it that!

And this delightful cottage in Devon is full of character, but could prove a headache.

If you are tall, it does have slight practical issues.

All these properties went to auction.

We'll find out who bought them and what they paid when they went under the hammer.

Well, seven miles from Nottingham, I'm in Mansfield.

Now, this is the birthplace of Rebecca Adlington.

You remember she famously swam herself into the record books, winning two gold medals at

the Beijing Olympics, so will the property I'm here to see be winning medals or will it fail to qualify?

Mansfield certainly scores highly.

The town is one of 64 urban areas in the UK regarded by the Government

as being city size so it's set for a transformation in the near future.

According to the auction catalogue, I'm here to see a property that occupies a premier position

in one of the most sought-after parts of Mansfield, so it must have an astronomical price tag, then.

Nope, just 80,000 quid.

Hang on, that sounds extremely cheap for a bungalow that looks

in surprisingly good order from the outside.

I hate to sound pessimistic but it always makes me think there could be something unpleasant lurking inside.

So a little entrance porch there which is good...

keeps the noise and draughts out, which is brill because this is your lounge.

A major point in any lounge is the fireplace, and...

Ta-da!... There it is.

Slightly disappointing!

I think you'd want to do something alternative there. That's obviously just been put in temporarily.

But it's not a bad-sized space and that little window with

a feature there throwing a bit of light into the place.

Then this is the kind of central point of the bungalow, and off this go the bedrooms and the loo.

Well, it depends if you like butterscotch or not.

I'd probably stick a white suite in there, if I was you.

And then through to the kitchen.

Now, this is a room that definitely needs some effort.

It's not I suppose, too out of proportion in terms of size.

However, what is kind of weird is this bit out here.

It's a conservatory that's been put on.

It's almost like a lean-to, but it's an odd use of space.

I mean, what I'd contemplate doing, is taking out this wall,

sticking in an RSJ, taking out the window and creating

a kitchen/living area here, family room, maybe some doors out onto the garden.

Now we're talking.

I reckon, if you did all that, this bungalow wouldn't just be talking, it would be singing and dancing.

You'd want to modernise the kitchen and bathroom and decorate the living room.

But the two bedrooms are a decent size and only need a splash of paint.

And the plus points continue outside.

Well, out the back here, a really nice thing to have...

a good-sized garden.

That's great if you're thinking of a family home but,

in addition, it gives you space perhaps to extend the bungalow.

Now, that's what a couple of properties around about

have done, so it would increase the size of the bungalow,

and you wouldn't have to necessarily have too many problems with the planners.

So let's see what a local estate agent makes of this bungalow that was guided at £80,000.

What plan of action would he recommend here?

Firstly, I would attack the kitchen and the bathroom.

They seem to be the main parts that let the property down, but they are

clean so you could come in and use them straight away if you wanted to live on the job and work it.

Next thing would be the gardens.

They do need maintaining heavily and are a great selling point

that is usually neglected these days.

Yes, and it's a big plus here, so let's talk figures.

How much could someone make on this?

When renovated, I believe it'll fetch about £140,000. Rental...

with it being a two-bedroom bungalow, we would look around the £500 to £550 per month.

At a guide price of £80,000, there looks to be a potential profit judging by that £140,000 valuation.

Well, this is definitely one where it pays to know your local area or do your research, cos I reckon this

is a bit of a hidden gem, judging by what similar properties in the area have sold for.

Let's find out who spotted it when it went under the hammer.

Lot number 16 is 19, Black Scotch Lane

in Mansfield, a double-fronted, detached, two-bedroom bungalow.

Start me on this one at 85.

85? 80,000 for a two-bed detached bungalow? 80? 75?

£75,000 opening bid.

At £75,000, 76 somewhere?

76... 76 is bid. At 76, 77, 78...

78, 79...

79, 80,000? 80,000.

At £80,000... 81 is bid.

At 81, try another one. 82?

82, 83?

£82,000, you're out on the left.

At £82,000, all finished and done with Black Scotch Lane?

At £82,000...

83, got you. 83,000, thank you.

83, 84, 84, 5, 85, 86? 86?

85 on this side. 86 against you?

£85,000, we're going to sell it.

At 85,000 for the first time, second time, third time...

Sold at 85,000, thank you.

That final bid of £85,000 was made by Greg, who bought the bungalow with his wife, Sally.

As well as their own home, they own two rental investment properties.

I met up with them at the bungalow to find out their plans.

Greg, Sally, lovely to meet you both. Congratulations. Why did you want to buy the bungalow?

Basically, we bought it to try and make some money, really.

We got gazumped on a house in Mansfield... Our dream house, really, wasn't it?

and so we bought this to try and make a bit of money to be able to afford what we want, really.

-You got gazumped at the moment?

-In the last week, wasn't it?

Yeah, the week before completion.

So you'd gone down the whole route and then lost it at the last minute?

-I mean, the English way of buying property is annoying at times?

-Yeah, definitely.

So what was the house you were about to buy like?

It was a bungalow again, but a lot bigger on a big plot of land.

Yeah, five bedrooms, big plot, next to a good school.

-Dream house really.

-Yeah.

-Sorry, I keep bringing it up.

I'll stop talking about the last house now!

-Another bungalow.

-Yes.

-You're probably not the average bungalow-purchasing types, are you?

No, but there's more potential to change the bungalows and make them bigger.

You can go into the roof and do stuff like that.

Not that we're going to do that with this property, are we?

We're going to keep it simple but if it was one for us

to live in, then, yeah, you can go up into the roof,

en-suite, another bedroom?

But that's not going to happen here.

The couple have set a strict £10,000 budget so there's no extension planned for this one.

Once completed, what do Greg and Sally plan to do with the place?

Renovate it, sell it, and if we can't sell then we'll rent it.

-But, fingers crossed, sell it.

-Right.

-Make a bit of money to be able to afford the one that we want.

-Yeah.

-So it's a stepping stone to what you're actually after?

-Yeah.

-What do you think about the price you paid?

-Brilliant.

What we bought it for, if we can stick to the budget, just great, if it all goes to plan.

It'll have been meant to be.

-Yes.

-It's funny the way things work sometimes.

You can be disappointed but when you look back, you go, "Oh, thank goodness that happened."

Everybody said it happened for a reason.

So we're going to get something bigger and better now, hopefully.

The couple have been together for five years and married for two.

They're both very busy holding down full-time jobs.

Sally works for the local newspaper and Greg's a mechanic for the family HGV business.

So what did you think when you first saw it?

We came on the Wednesday and had a look round it from the outside, and the auction was on the Thursday,

-so we came the day before.

-Looked through the windows.

Looked through the windows, thought, "Yeah, it looks all right."

-But you didn't come inside?

-No.

-Why?

-We didn't get time.

But luckily, when we came back and saw it, we were pleased because

we thought it'd probably be worse than it actually is.

So, you're not going to live here, what are you going to do?

We're going to go down the route of keeping it simple, I think.

We're going to do the bathroom, the kitchen, take the wall down

so we'll make a bigger kitchen, more of a feature,

possibly some patio doors onto the rear garden, and then just decorate, really.

-New carpets.

-New carpets, doors... Oh, and a drive. We're going to put a driveway in, aren't we?

-And who's going to be doing the work, Sally?

-Greg!

No, I want to get stuck in as well, so I'll probably do more of the painting and a lot of

the cosmetic work and you can do the knocking of walls down and fitting the kitchen and bathroom.

Is it something that you've done before?

-No.

-OK...

We'll be fine.

If I had a pound for everyone who says that on Homes Under The Hammer, I'd be a rich man indeed.

It makes me worry when I hear that.

In my experience, many people underestimate the amount of work necessary to refurbish a property.

I hope it won't be the case with these two, but hold on...

Greg does have some experience.

I've fitted a bathroom suite before in my old house, but um... Yeah, I'll give it a go.

Are you going to get some advice or...?

-Yeah, we've got your uncle.

-He's really excited, isn't he?

-Yeah, he's going to come and give us a hand.

-What does he do?

He's just started on his own business,

He's hopefully going to get a company sorted out.

He's hopefully going to knock this wall down.

Oh, is he? Cos that is a big job.

-Yeah.

-Do that wrong and it's bye-bye, bungalow.

-That's right.

# Bye-bye, baby Baby, goodbye... #

Let's hope that, when we return, the bungalow's still standing, but one thing's for sure,

it's definitely bye-bye, bathroom and bye-bye to that kitchen layout.

Great news, and I think that will transform the place.

-How long do they expect the work to take?

-Ten weeks.

I'm hoping sooner.

I'm hoping sooner but I don't want to er...

We just want to turn it round quick and hopefully sell it,

and onto the next one if we can do a good job on this.

Just get stuck in. Hopefully friends and family will help.

-They

-will

-help.

-They

-will

-help.

Great. Well, listen, good luck with it all and we'll see how you get on.

Thank you. # Bye-bye, baby Baby, goodbye... #

Well, they lost out on their dream house, but maybe this little

bungalow is a stepping stone to a dream house in the future.

I'm a bit concerned about the lack of experience they've got in doing DIY, and there's some major work

that needs to be done, but thankfully we've got Sally's uncle on hand to help out.

You can see how they get on later in the show.

Our next property that went under the hammer, I went to Tooting in south-west London.

It's a suburb close to Clapham and Brixton with some character properties in pleasant leafy streets.

So what I am I going to see today?

Well, here it is.

It's a three-bedroom ground-floor flat with a guide price of £160,000.

It's in this tree-lined road and it's just a stone's throw

from Tooting Broadway station, and it looks great from the outside.

It appears promising so far. The brickwork and pointing

are sound and the sash windows seem to be in good order.

Look at these original tiles by the front door. They're still intact,

just like the period mouldings around the brickwork. Very promising.

Let's hope the inside is as good.

Do you know what?

That is a lovely front door. Look at it.

Not sure about the colour but this lovely original stained glass...

you could take these out and put some frosted or etched glass in and it would look fantastic.

But, boy, a bit of a throwback to the '70s in terms of decor once you walk inside.

You've got woodchip everywhere, egg-yolk sort of yellow paintwork...

not looking great.

Now here we are inside the front room.

A really good space, I have to say.

Lovely high ceilings, you've got beautiful cornicing.

Sadly, you don't have an original fireplace here.

Some sort of mosaic contraption.

I think that's got to go.

Dartboard as well if you fancy a little bit of fun.

But what I love, and I always go on on this programme, original windows.

Look at these beautiful windows.

Now, they are only single-glazed so you do probably get a bit of road noise, but they look

fantastic, and the good news is, they're in really good condition.

So, so far, it's a really good start.

Down the hall and behind the living room is the main bedroom

with a window overlooking the side of the flat,

but continue on further towards the back and the layout gets really weird.

Now, in the auction catalogue, this room is down as being a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom.

I don't really think I'd call it that!

There are definitely some layout issues with this property.

I need to investigate further.

What a terrible

-thing to lose...

-Yes, it's got to go, but with two

bedrooms and one shower, what other surprises will this flat reveal?

So, at the back of the property, we have this sort of back sitting room.

It needs complete and utter modernisation.

You've got polystyrene tiles, strip lighting, an old gas fire.

You really do need to think about bringing this up to scratch,

but you've got a beautiful old sash window.

Through this bi-fold sort of '70s contraption...

Isn't that fantastic, by the way?

The kitchen, situated right at the back of the property with the toilet next door.

As I said earlier, I just think you need to think about the layout

in this flat, because currently it's just not working for me.

I would put this kitchen into this area here and have a lovely open-plan

sort of kitchen-diner, I would leave the bedroom as it is and take away

that shower and put the bathroom at the back of this property.

Have a really nice, large bathroom and toilet situated at the back here.

Then you've got yourself a really comfortable two-bedroom flat.

You also get your own section of the back garden.

It's small but it is yours all the same...

quite rare for this part of London.

Let's see what a local estate agent has to say about the flat.

To me, it sounds a good investment for that 160,000 guide price.

Does he agree?

I think this flat is fantastic.

I think it's just what first-time buyers would like, especially if

they don't mind doing a little bit of work to the property,

has lots of scope to improve, and extension potential as well,

and being close to amenities and everything, I think it's fantastic.

What about extending at the back?

-Is that viable or advisable?

-The extension potential is really good.

What we would do is, from the back of the property, you would actually extend to the rear and to the side,

which would create a little room, and that would allow this to be a three-bedroom property and so

you'd be going from the back of the property to create that extension.

The extension could wait. I'm sure a first-time buyer wouldn't want to tackle that.

But, as I said, I'd definitely rearrange the layout, convert

that shower room into a second bedroom and create a kitchen-diner.

Then these two rooms could become a lounge and a bedroom.

But what's the potential?

How much could the flat be worth?

If I was marketing this property in good order, I'd be looking to put this property

on the market for about £265,000, but looking to get somewhere around the stamp-duty level of £250,000.

How much income could a buy-to-let investor generate?

If we were renting this property,

I would say put it on the market for £1,000 to £1,050 per calendar month.

It's a property with a bit of modernisation to do and there's the bathroom issue that won't go away,

so a few decisions to make, but a decent-sized place all the same.

Time to find out who decided to bid for the property when it went under the hammer.

Lot 2, ground-floor flat.

They're good flats, purpose-built flats, ground-floor flat.

In the old days, we'd have thought of 240 on improved ones but, anyway, 150?

150 anywhere?

I'm not going to go below 150.

150, 155?

155 down here. 160? 160, yeah?

160. 165.

165, 170.

Do you want to come forward? I can't... 170. That's OK. 180?

170 with you. 180 anywhere else?

180, 185,

190, 195?

190 might be lucky. Anyone else?

195, 200?

It's a first bid. 196, 197, 198,

199, 200?

199 with you. Anyone else?

199 first time, second time, third and last time if you're all done...

Sold, 199. Well done.

So, for 199,000, the new owners are Nigel and his girlfriend Rebecca.

Nigel used to work as a chef and restaurant owner and Rebecca's doing interior design at the moment.

I met up with them at the flat to find out what they plan to rustle up here.

-Nigel and Rebecca, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-You've got the property you wanted. Well done.

-Thank you.

-So have you bought it to live in yourselves?

-We haven't, actually.

We've decided where we really want to be is, we want to sort of move overseas a little bit so we're using

it as a sort of stepping stone in order to take that next step. We'd ideally like to go to Brazil.

But it's quite a new venture for both of us.

I was involved in the restaurant trade before, but unfortunately had quite a bad motorbike accident

and I was left unable to work for about six years, so we're now looking at this as hopefully a

way of going forward without the stresses of working 70, 80 hours a week in a restaurant any more.

So, after six very traumatic years, the successful refurbishment of this flat is the key

to a life-changing opportunity in Brazil for Nigel and Rebecca.

Although the sand, samba and sunshine is beckoning,

there's plenty of work to be done before they board that plane.

They intend to renovate and return it to a more habitable condition. So, Rebecca, what is the plan, then?

-How are you going to go about doing that?

-We'll start off by getting all the trades in

to rewire, replumb, have a jig around of layouts. The bathroom's in quite a strange position.

Hopefully spend about 10,000 on renovating.

I think it's quite nice that we've got the original features in the front room.

We've still got a little bit of the cornicing and possibly we'll

look around for a fireplace, like a Victorian fireplace that we can put

back in place which will give the house a bit more of a heart.

And the shower, that's in what will be our second bedroom...

I think it looks like a Dalek has landed in there so...

-Rebecca, your parents have invested money in this, haven't they?

-Yeah.

So you really have got a bit of pressure on your shoulders here.

I think they've got quite a lot of confidence in me. They've seen what

we did in the last property so I think they have confidence that we'll succeed and come out.

Both Nigel and Rebecca have an eye for style

and have previously renovated the house they share in Brighton.

-Now, Rebecca, what is it going to look like?

-We'll keep it very contemporary, very modern inside,

use light colours, light floorings, probably go for a white kitchen unit to keep it really clean.

They've set aside a budget of £10,000 but an extremely short time-scale of just six to eight weeks to do it all.

-So, guys, you've got a £10,000 budget and you want to do this in eight weeks.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-So there's no chance of you two doing this place up, loving it so much and thinking

it's fantastic, that you'd want to stay here and live here yourselves?

No, I think Brazil's far more appealing.

They plan to chill out in the sun

and set up a meditation and relaxation centre there.

Brazil is certainly beckoning for these guys, but there's a lot of hard work to do here in Tooting first.

Let's hope they meet their deadlines and they sell up in time

to sample that samba lifestyle they are so looking forward to.

Join us later in the programme to see if it all works out for them.

Coming up... Looking for value?

Well, you get loads of wall for your money with this Devon cottage.

I mean, it's literally that thick.

In London, noisy neighbours can be a problem, but not on this refurbishment.

Really happy with the way it's turned out. The neighbours are really nice as well.

-They've been bringing us down lots of chocolate and tea.

-But first,

we return to that bungalow that needed everything done.

When we come back now and open the door and walk in, it's like, "Wow, we've done that!".

It's back to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire now, where

Greg and his wife Sally bought this property for £85,000.

They'd recently been gazumped on a larger bungalow costing £250,000,

which was to be a dream home,

so they decided to buy this one at auction to renovate and then sell.

Just over two months later and the refurbishment's complete.

The first thing you can't miss is the off-street parking that this new drive has provided.

Round the back, they waved goodbye to the weeds and installed a patio door in the old conservatory.

In fact, the conservatory is no more because the wall to the kitchen has

been removed and a fabulous enlarged kitchen has been created...

wonderfully light and beautifully kitted out.

What a transformation, and what hard work in just seven weeks.

That kitchen looks brilliant!

Yeah, the kitchen's been a big job, but I thought the driveway

was the hardest part, like hard work, hard graft.

Yeah, it took a lot of our friends to do that.

Yeah, we've got to say a big thank-you to all our friends

and family cos they chipped in, didn't they?

No, they couldn't have done it without all that help.

Every room provided different challenges.

Previously, there was a very small fireplace here with an old-fashioned hearth.

We decided to change it to make a modern fireplace.

We think it makes a great focal point.

And I think Sally's right.

Remember, they paid £85,000 for the bungalow at auction,

but how much has this super-fast refurbishment cost?

We actually did it in seven weeks and we came in just under the budget of 10,000.

We came in at 9,980, so we're really pleased with that, aren't we?

Yes, good going, and no doubt economies were made, thanks to all that help.

So where has the money been spent?

Half the money has gone the kitchen...

taking the wall down, fitting a decent kitchen in.

The driveway was quite expensive cos we had to pay £620

for the council to drop the kerb.

Those sort of costs are a nasty surprise that many people forget to factor in.

While Sally's uncle Eamonn worked on the kitchen, Greg was busy in the

front garden, clearing a tree and laying the Tarmac for the drive.

I was going to do the bathroom but then Eamonn came and started

doing things and I thought, "No, it makes much better sense for Eamonn to do all the work,"

-so Eamonn did the bathroom.

-Oh, it's great working for family.

You know you're doing a good job for family.

You want to help them up the ladder.

Oh, he's been a huge help, hasn't he? Got really stuck in with the kitchen.

Brilliant. He's one of the most important parts of it.

He's been there in the day when we've been at work, just to do things when people have been coming.

Couldn't have done it without him.

Working for them's been great. I've really enjoyed doing the work,

and they intend to get more houses, so hopefully I'm going to be working with them again.

That's what families are all about.

And Eamonn unearthed eight very useful things in the garden.

Decided to move the door from the side and put the French doors in, leading out onto a patio.

Eammon found these slabs up in the nettles at the end of the garden, so

we gave them a good clean up and my dad came down and we laid the patio.

Basically, I think it looks...

it's a nice feature off the kitchen so, yeah, we're really happy with it.

Greg and Sally have kept this refurbishment relatively simple.

Their secret has been to make the most of that wasted space in the old conservatory.

If they wish, any future owner can still extend out or convert the loft.

Now the work's finished, are they pleased they took on the project?

Yes, definitely do it again. If you'd've asked me this question six weeks ago, I'd have said no!

But now, definitely. I've loved it, loved it. It's been really hard.

At the start, it was really bad.

I didn't like it at all. I thought, "What have we done?" But now,

looking at it to what we've got it to, it's been worth every minute.

Time for expert valuations from two local estate agents.

I think it's absolutely fabulous.

The work that's been carried out is amazing. Transformed it.

I think it's a really nice property. I think the kitchen's a great room.

You've got a lot of light in there, it's a good finish for

the flooring and the units, and the views onto the back garden I think are brilliant as well.

The parking issue's been improved drastically with the introduction of off-road parking.

Again, a great benefit to the property.

If they can't find a buyer and decide to rent it out,

how much income could it generate?

I would recommend that this property would rent out for £500 to £525 per calendar month.

Rental on the property would be in the region of £500 to £550 per calendar month.

-If we couldn't sell it, we'd definitely look into it.

-Yeah, yeah.

-I'd like to think, because of the area and what we've done, we can hopefully sell it.

-Yeah.

Let's find out how much the experts would advertise the property for.

Remember, Sally and Greg paid £85,000 at the auction and have spend £10,000 on the refurbishment,

so they need a figure of over 95 grand to see any profit.

I'd put the property on the market for £130,000.

I would comfortably market the property at £140,000 due to the

standard of the work that's been carried out.

-Wow!

-140!

-That's amazing.

-Brilliant.

To have that kind of valuation at this time of year is amazing, isn't it?

Wow! Yeah, brilliant.

That would mean a gross profit of around £45,000.

Even allowing for other expenses, that would leave them a very tidy

profit to put towards buying their dream home.

Well, we're a lot nearer to it now.

If we can sell it and make that kind of profit, we're a lot nearer.

We'll start looking, and if we see something, then we'll get it.

If we don't, then we'll buy another one and do another one.

Yeah.

Well, today I'm in Devon in the beautiful cob and thatched village

of Gittisham.

This has been occupied since Saxon times and, yeah, it's a very desirable place to own property.

Well, what a beautiful spot.

This really is a very picturesque village.

The only thing missing is a pub.

And in case village life doesn't immediately appeal,

Exeter is just 15 miles away, and Sidmouth beach just eight.

The nearby town of Honiton

has a mainline station with links to London.

Gittisham was described by none other than Prince Charles himself

as "the ideal English village",

so I'm doubly excited to see the property that's on offer.

It's a two-bedroom, Grade II listed semi-detached cottage at a guide price of 140,000 quid.

Mind your heads.

Let's take a look inside.

Low ceiling height is one of those things that makes cottages like this so charming.

However, if you are tall, it does have slight practical issues.

That would drive you mad, actually, after a while! But what have we got here?

One basic big room downstairs here which is quite nice to see...

but, I mean, that! The cottage doesn't need any more.

This fireplace... forget what's on the front here.

That's hollow.

I reckon, behind there, judging by the width...

Oh, my goodness me, yes, that is an inglenook fireplace.

That kind of thing just hidden here, waiting to be discovered...

the cottage needs nothing more for me, but we will explore anyway.

I mean, look at the size of this wall.

I mean, it's literally that thick.

About five feet. That's another indication of basically why I'm

absolutely convinced that there's an inglenook fireplace behind there.

But through that little corridor, you've got this quite unusual sort of anteroom.

I guess this could be a dining room perhaps, but I think it would make better use to use this

as, say, maybe an extra bedroom, but I need to check upstairs to see what there is there first.

This room is in a single-storey extension to the side.

Small cottages are pretty, but squeezing everything in can be a challenge. So where's the bathroom?

Maybe it's up on the first floor.

Well, upstairs, a very, very odd layout.

What you've basically got, I think originally, was just one big room cos this is a stud partition wall.

They've created a separate room there which I suppose is your second bedroom.

I'd want to think about trying to do something

better here, maybe even an en-suite, but the thing that distracts me more than anything else is this floor.

Can you see that I'm actually going up?

The floor slopes like no floor I've ever seen.

I don't think it's a problem...

it's been like this for years...

but, trust me, getting your furniture to balance is going to be a bit of an issue.

That's not all, because there are some wobbly floors and very interesting cracks up here.

With this layout, the most you could squeeze in on the first floor is an en-suite, so where IS the bathroom?

The bathroom must be downstairs and, yes, there it is, off the kitchen.

Now, that really is not ideal at all.

However, moving it is going to be quite an issue, not only in terms of getting the planning permission

you would most definitely need, but also just the cost, so you may well be left with it there.

The kitchen here...

probably one room that lets the property down, but put some really nice, old-fashioned units in here

to make it a bit more in keeping with the cottage and it could be a nice enough little space.

The cottage was previously part of the estate in Gittisham, though,

more recently, they have started to sell some of their properties.

At the back, you get quite a bit of land which could make a beautiful garden.

I invited the auctioneer who sold this cottage to tell me more about

the area, and just how much it could be worth once renovated.

Gittisham is known for being an archetypal, really pretty,

good-looking village with a spread of quality, character houses

that are going to be basically

to a great extent untouched because of what it looks like.

It's generally insulated from the machinations of the market

because it's not totally immune, but it just does OK on the grand scheme of things because it is so pretty.

Sounds like the location makes it a good prospect as a secure investment

with a healthy return, but is it feasible to extend here to maximise its potential?

Physically there is scope for extension, to build above the single storey to the left here,

but it's a Grade II listed building and this is very precious, and the listed-building officer would

probably take a lot of persuading to think about letting you actually change the silhouette of the cottage.

Of course, the listing is there to protect the appearance for

everybody to enjoy, so I think you'd really have to rule that one out?

Is there anything else here that's not ideal?

The only thing I really dislike about the property is that the bathroom's straight off the kitchen.

Apart from that... Yeah, it's a bit sort of tired and tatty but there's

an enormous amount of potential here, really shed-loads of it.

As I said earlier, properties in the village don't come up for sale that

often, so it's a bit tricky to gauge a price for it but, if renovated, how much could it be worth?

Assuming that you bring the bathroom up here

and have your single-storey extension as a second bedroom-cum-second reception room,

the cottage would probably make £210,000, £220,000.

Well, what a beautiful cottage in a picture-postcard perfect village this is.

Fantastic. Somebody will definitely fall in love with it.

I hope they don't miss out on the fact that you are going to have to get that all-important

listed-building and planning approval before you do any work but, hey, what a project to take on.

Let's see who fell in love with it when it went under the hammer.

The iconic village of Gittisham, pretty cottage, semi, garden to the side and to the rear.

Nice cottage in a nice village. It ought to be 160 of anybody's money.

I'll ask 150, then. 150?

Not going less than the guide price, so unless anybody's here who doesn't want it... 140?

No? 140, thank you. 140, 142? 145?

145, 148, 148, 150, thank you.

150, 152, 154, 154, 156, 156... The bid's on the left.

Work to be done but what a fantastic cottage it will be.

At 156 on the left once, at 156 on the left twice, at 156...

8 or not? Are you sure and done? It will be sold.

At 156, the gentleman's bid on the left, at 156. Yours, sir.

The new owners are husband and wife Andy and Kerry who paid 156,000,

just £16,000 over the guide price.

They've run a painting and decorating business for the last 24 years, so they're no strangers

to the work needed on houses, but this is their first investment property.

To hear about what they plan to do with it, I went to the cottage to meet them.

-Kerry, Andy, lovely to meet you both.

-Hi.

-Nice to meet you.

-Great little village, isn't it?

It's very pretty.

Now, tell me, apart from the obvious, why you wanted to buy this place.

To do up, really.

-Invest and do up and sell.

-We've always wanted to do somewhere, so...

this came along and seemed ideal.

Great little village. What do you know about the village?

-Quite a bit, really. We've obviously decorated a lot of the houses over the years...

-Have you?

Yeah, and the houses were sold off a few years ago from the estate,

and they've been rented and now they're coming back up.

We've looked around other towns, but this is...

-Quite saleable here, I think.

-People might want to live here.

So what are you planning to do with it?

Just a basic refurb, really.

-There's not a lot we can do...

-Cos it's listed.

We can't move anything. We can't move any walls or change the windows or anything like that.

We are hoping to put a bathroom upstairs

-but we're waiting for planning to come back for that.

-What, in place of one of the bedrooms?

-Yes.

-So just a bedroom, bathroom en-suite up there.

-I think that's exactly what I'd do.

Andy and Kerry also plan to turn the reception room in the extension into a second bedroom.

They're going to leave the bathroom where it is, but what about the potential of that fireplace?

That's really exciting.

-What do you think? That doesn't seem quite right, does it?

-No.

-It's not, but we still need planning to take it out.

-What do you hope is behind there?

An inglenook I guess. I mean, the depth of it, there's got to be something in there.

-But that would just transform this room, wouldn't it?

-Absolutely, yeah.

Yes, I think it'll look really beautiful, yeah.

Well, that's going to be the most exciting bit of the whole restoration, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Can't wait, can you?

-Yeah.

Now, it's thatched obviously, which throws up a few issues, although

I have to say the thatch looks to be in reasonable condition, doesn't it?

It's four years old, so that should be fine.

And insurance... An issue again with thatched houses, isn't it?

It's not as bad as you think, though.

I think it was something like £600 for the year.

-Not a lot different than normal.

-No. Not everybody does the insurance.

It was tricky finding the right people to do the insurance.

A good point to bear in mind. If you are considering a thatched property,

remember it does have a limited life and will need maintenance work.

Finding skilled thatchers can be expensive and difficult.

So how much are you planning on spending doing it up?

We're hoping to spend 20, but we will go to 30.

We've got a contingency fund.

-Which apparently you need!

-Yes, absolutely, cos never know what

you're going to find, especially in an old property like this.

Since so few properties in this village ever come to market, it's very difficult to value them,

so it should be really interesting to see how much it's worth when they work is finally completed.

-So what kind of timescales have you got?

-Eight to ten weeks.

-And who will be doing the work?

I will be and a couple of guys that I know... Plumbers and a carpenter.

So you don't want to use your own staff?

Well, possibly they might come in at weekends and help, but there's not a great deal of decorating to do,

really. Once it's all stripped out, it'll be quite easy.

Great. Well, congratulations and good luck with it all, and we look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you.

-Thanks a lot.

So Andy and Kerry clearly have got the experience necessary

to sort this place out, and what a beautiful project to take on.

However, the fact that it is Grade II listed and it is in this

gorgeous little village means that they are going to have to jump through hoops

when it comes to getting the listed-building and planning approval that they're

going to need to do any work on the property, including sorting out this fireplace.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what this turns out like.

Later in the show, we'll have the answer.

It's time to find out how our purchasers have progressed.

Has it been an uphill struggle or a walk in the park?

I can't wait to find out. Let's take a look.

Back to Tooting in south London.

This ground-floor flat was bought for £199,000 by former chef Nigel

and his interior designer girlfriend Rebecca,

with some financial help from her parents.

Six years ago, Nigel had a serious bike accident but he's now fully recovered.

The couple plan to refurbish this property, then sell it and emigrate to Brazil.

Well, it's taken just six weeks, and the flat IS finished.

If the front garden's anything to go by, we're in for a treat.

Inside, Rebecca's design expertise has rejuvenated the place.

The front living room now has wonderful stained-wood floors and an original Edwardian fireplace.

You may remember the layout was a bit unusual to say the least, but now a utility room replaces the loo.

That has been moved into the new bathroom they've created,

where the original kitchen was.

It's a simple and classic design

with quality white fittings and porcelain tiles.

The flat's been replumbed, rewired and transformed in record time.

It's been incredibly hectic.

To try and renovate a property to this standard, where we've literally

done everything in sort of five or six weeks, is quite a mammoth task.

Remember, there was no bathroom before, just a shower plonked in one of the bedrooms.

Thank goodness that's gone!

The room's been restored to its former glory, as Rebecca explains.

The two bedrooms... One of them was the bathroom before, so we've moved

the bathroom to the back of the house to create a small bedroom, and this was an existing bedroom.

We've removed the cupboards and redecorated.

So there are now two bedrooms with a bathroom at the rear.

That meant the former dining room had to be converted into a kitchen.

As you can see, we've made quite a lot of changes. We've moved the doorway over

to the end there to create more of a useable space, range cooker,

fitted kitchen, which is a hand-made kitchen, ceramic sink.

I'm really pleased with the way it's all turned out. It's probably my favourite room in the house.

It's the heart of a house, the kitchen, and I hope other people appreciate it too.

What we've done in the lounge here is, we've taken off the existing wallpaper.

There was three layers of wallpaper which was quite difficult to get off, and there was a rather large,

'60s melamine gas fireplace here which we removed and put in an original fireplace

of the same period. We've reskimmed all the walls.

We've kept the original cornice throughout and we've

finished the room off with some nice hand-made blinds across the window.

The flat shares half the rear garden with the top-floor flat and it's been transformed.

With new fences and turf, it just looks great.

The sash windows were in quite bad condition.

They've been completely refurbished and repainted.

We kept the original front door.

We kept the original glass that was at the top, and we've redone the larger panels.

The furniture that we've used throughout the flat is

a collection of antiques and things that I've collected over the years

and I've used a lot of my soft furnishings which I use in my design work as well.

I think Rebecca's been absolutely amazing. She's really pulled everything together.

The role that I played during this renovation has mainly

been managerial, though I have done some of the work myself.

She was up until early hours of the morning making all the blinds throughout.

I've made the headboard in the master bedroom and all the cushions throughout, and I've tried to stick

to using natural and organic fabrics

and a few antique fabrics

here and there.

Rebecca designed the kitchen.

We came up with a kit company that we wanted to use, but Rebecca basically

decided how it was going to all look and how things were going to work.

Working with Nigel... yeah, I think we do make a good team.

We both add different aspects to the project.

How much have they spent on this refurbishment?

The original budget was 10000.

We've ended up spending about 13700, so near on 14000.

We've gone for really nice, high-end finishes which

I think will hopefully make or break the sale of the property.

Well, you can see where the money's gone. The quality is clearly visible.

So, with the new range cooker,

has this former chef cooked up something special for Rebecca yet?

No, Nigel hasn't cooked me any more meals whilst we've been doing the renovation.

We're hoping to have a little bit of a celebratory drinks and nibbles

-tonight, so I've dedicated him to cook the nibbles.

-We've made some

very good friends along the way with the trades and

hence having a bit of a party to say thank you to everyone this evening.

Now the flat's finished, is the plan

still to emigrate and open a yoga and relaxation centre in South America?

Brazil's definitely on the cards.

I think, if we can manage to achieve the £250,000 then that would give us

a nice profit to really sort of help set up a little thing over there.

Time to hear from two local estate agents.

What will they think of the refurbishment?

Could the flat generate the money Nigel and Rebecca need for their new life in Brazil?

I think the standard of finish is very high.

What I think works particularly well with this flat is the way the kitchen's been done with the cooker

in the chimney breast, and another feature is the wooden flooring which is immaculate.

Having looked at the changes today, I think they're absolutely fantastic.

It's a real good before and after, and they've really enhanced it.

They've kept a lot of the period of the property but they've made it very contemporary and modern

along the same line, so it's really going to appeal to that first-time buyer market.

Well, like me, they seem to love the place,

but how much could it be worth?

Remember, Nigel and Rebecca paid £199,000 at the auction and spent 14,000 on the refurbishment,

so will there be any profit for them to take to Brazil?

The current resale value of this property, in my opinion,

would be £279,950.

I would put this property on the market for £259,000 and I would expect to achieve £250,000.

Wow!

That could mean a profit of between 46,000 and 66,000!

Maybe their Brazilian dream is getting closer after all.

That's fantastic.

-Astonishing.

-We were hoping to get 250, so anything above that we would be really happy with.

I think that would give us a really nice fund for our Brazilian project.

Sounds like the estate agents from Tooting might have made

some boys from Brazil very happy, especially if they manufacture tents.

Yeah, we've seen some wigwams, which we'd like to get a little bit of land and sort of put up these

wigwams and have them as treatment rooms so, yeah, there's quite a lot

of exciting plans for the future.

And the great news is that Nigel and Rebecca sold the flat

the very next day for £275,000, so they've got about

62,000 gross profit to put towards setting themselves up in Brazil.

Earlier, in the beautiful Devon village of Gittisham, Andy and his wife Kerry

paid £165,000 for this classic Grade II listed thatched cottage.

The couple run their own painting and decorating business, so are used to long hours holding a paintbrush.

Just as well.

Well, now, only two months later, the paint is dry, so let's see what's been achieved.

I'm so pleased my suspicions were justified because, behind that

bricked-up fireplace, they discovered an original inglenook fireplace...

a stunning focal point for this beautiful living room.

And down the corridor behind that fireplace, a bedroom has been created.

Kerry and Andy have really made a huge difference to this cottage.

The kitchen remains where it was but, now, high-quality units have been installed.

The bathroom is in the same place behind the kitchen but now it looks fantastic,

but it must've been a real headache working on such a historic building.

Well, the property's Grade II listed, which we knew when we bought it.

-The inglenook fireplace was the main one that we wanted to uncover.

-Yeah, that was totally hidden, really.

On the stairs, we took out an airing cupboard which exposed another nice beam and a nice shelf.

Yes, and we moved a cupboard back and

exposed the chimney breast, the curves of a chimney breast which was really nice.

And the doors, the doors were covered with hardboard so they looked like just modern

flush doors, but now they've got the tongue and groove bead which are original doors.

More of a restoration project than a conventional refurbishment,

and that fireplace is every developer's dream.

What we did here to expose this inglenook, because when we bought the house

it had a big brick fireplace coming up to about here and then hardboard, and it covered the whole thing.

On the day we exposed it, we found that somebody had

filled it up with stones, tons and tons of stones in there.

We got all that out, exposed this.

We put a piece in here cos it was all charred and burnt,

which nearly probably burnt the cottage down at one time.

But it was good to find it, but hard work, really, to get rid of all the rubble.

Exciting, though, to unearth the history of this lovely cottage

with its many great features.

The traditional staircase now takes you up to the first floor which,

like downstairs, combines a contemporary feel with the original character.

When we bought the cottage, this was a room just off the main bedroom.

We got the planning permission for a bathroom but then they suggested

that a shower would be better because of the weight of the bath.

There's a step up because of the level of the floor. It makes it nice and quirky.

The ceiling's the original ceiling so it's very bumpy but it's really lovely.

I'm really pleased the way it's turned out.

So who's been busy doing all the work?

We've been here every single evening, every weekend and quite a few days as well, just...

except for a couple of guys, especially one guy that's a plumber,

but he fitted the kitchen and tiled it.

Apart from that, we did all the labouring, all the decorating, all the garden ourselves.

At the back, the overgrown garden has been cleared,

but the front of the cottage opens right onto the road.

We couldn't really do a lot with the outside.

We just basically painted it the same colours as the rest of the village.

Apart from that, really, we just put decking down, gravel...

There was a shed in front of the kitchen window. We took that down - the light made a big difference.

All natural light was gratefully received because the original windows had to stay

in order to retain the character of the cottage and the village.

They paid £156,000 at the auction for this cottage. How much did they spend doing the work?

It was about 24,500.

Which is between what we had and the contingency, so...

Yeah, it just makes it a quality cottage, really, rather than just an ordinary cottage.

Well, time to see what two local property experts

will make of the refurbishment of this wonderful old cottage.

First impressions are that I've come back to the wrong house.

It is absolutely unbelievable.

This is how development, in my book, should be done.

Very impressive. It's been done to an exceptional standard

and certainly looks what the buyer will be looking for.

They've gone for quality in that they've got a lovely bedroom here with a cracking en-suite...

the biggest shower I've ever seen in my life.

It must've been a difficult decision for them to lose the third bedroom

to turn it into an en-suite but I think it was essential.

In this day and age, you do need an en-suite bathroom for the master bedroom.

Remember, they paid £156,000 at the auction and spent about £24,000 doing it up.

That's a total of £180,000, and they're hoping to sell, so how much can it now be worth?

If I put it on the open market,

I'd put it on at £239,950

and hope to get 230 on a decent day.

Current pricing in today's market would be £235,000.

That sounds promising to me, but you do the sums, Andy.

How much gross profit would that leave you?

That would leave us, if we got 235,

we'd get between 45 and 50, wouldn't we?

-Yes. That's a very good profit.

-So, yeah... That's good, very good.

Don't forget, that would be a GROSS profit, so they'd have to deduct the usual taxes and other expenses.

It's pretty rare for a cottage to become available in this village

which is why Andy and Kerry were so keen to buy.

A lot of the properties are rented here,

so how much could they achieve if they decided to go down that route?

What is a typical income for a property like this?

Rental figure per calendar month, probably about 650 or 700.

If the cottage was let out on a monthly basis, I'd expect it to achieve £650 a calendar month.

Oh! That's really good. That's more than I thought.

-Yeah.

-Worth thinking about if we don't sell.

If we can't sell it, we will rent it, yeah.

I reckon people will be queuing up, whichever decision they make.

They must be delighted.

-Yeah, great.

-Yeah, we're pleased we took it on.

And it's turned what was a bit of a wreck into something decent, really.

The standard of the work is...

I wish it was this nice in my own house. It's right on the nail.

It's nice to have that feedback when we did work hard on it.

Yes, it makes it worthwhile.

Well, we hope that our hints have been helpful and our ideas inspiring in these uncertain economic times.

-See you soon for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Bye-bye.

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