Episode 32 Homes Under the Hammer

It's easy to fall in love with a house, we've both done it.

Yes, but it's not such a good idea if you're buying an investment

rather than a home.

But that's all part and parcel of buying Homes Under The Hammer.

From Manchester to Cardiff, Devon to Kent, you're never far away from the sound of an auctioneer's gavel.

Thousands of places are sold at property auctions every year.

So let's take a look at the three that went under the hammer today.

'I'll be getting into a spin about the best use for this old mill in Derby.'

Any ideas?

'I find something rather vital missing from this terraced house in Middlesex.'

And as far as kitchens go, there isn't one!

'And in Clydebank, this two-storey maisonette ticks all the right boxes for me.'

All in all...pretty good.

'All these properties have been sold at auction.

'We'll find out who bought them, and for how much, when they went under the hammer.'

Sold.

I'm in Derby, in the fashionable Cathedral Quarter.

The bus station and train station are just over there, two minutes away you have the

city centre, and the property I'm here to see is about a mile away.

'Derby makes a perfect base to explore surrounding areas like

'the Peak District and the Derbyshire Dales.

'But there is no time today, as I'm hot on the trail of an auction lot.'

The property I'm here to see isn't a house, it's a former mill.

It is this building here. The great news is you get all three floors.

4,000 square feet plus in total, and the guide price was just £115,000.

Whoa!

'Outside, this converted former mill still has some lovely features.

'I can't wait to see what it's got to offer inside.'

A real sense of wonder as you walk into a building like this.

What's going to be in store behind the door?

Well, entrance hall here, then through into what I imagine was the reception lobby.

You've got loos, store room and boiler through there,

and immediately it's not a derelict warehouse, that's for sure.

It's obviously been reasonably recently refurbished.

Through here into the main room downstairs, and you have to say,

it's a good size.

I'm immediately thinking, lots of different options for this building, but actually,

a lot of the hard work has been done.

Great, let's see if it carries on upstairs.

'Currently, there's planning consent to convert the building into office suites.

'Might the planners consider a change of use to residential?

'I doubt it, but stranger things have happened.

'After all, this is right in the middle of a residential area.'

Up here you get a real sense of the former use of the building.

It was a mill, and you can see these arched windows, the glass,

things like these great big pillars are absolutely superb.

When you think about its potential commercial use, what you're really after is lots of space,

and boy, oh boy, does this building score in that instance. Come here.

A fantastic big room through here as well.

It's just terrific. The uses for this place really are a multitude.

I mean, any ideas?

It's great.

# Purple rain, purple rain... #

'Not sure about the choice of colour of carpets though.

'Another bonus is that there are toilets and kitchens on each floor.

'This increases the potential to rent out each level to different companies.'

Up here on the top floor, a real surprise in store,

because it has been kitted out perfectly as a set of offices.

Things like all these dividers have been put in place. To do this is going to cost you a fortune.

It just goes on, there's this nice sort of communal area here,

you've got a sink, a fridge, things like a large industrial photocopier.

Again, if you were looking to set up a business in this building it's all here for you.

Not only that, all the electrics are done, the lighting, it's basically ready to move into.

Here's a boardroom.

Lots of light flooding in, you've got nice carpet, soundproofing.

All in all it's perfect and I tell you what, if I was having a board meeting in here and it was

my company deciding whether or not to buy this place, I'd say unanimously,

"Oh yes, we're going to buy it!"

'Well, there was a great deal on offer here at the guide price of £115,000. The only negative,

'if I'm being really picky, is that it's a fair old way up to the top floor and currently there's no lift.

'That's something any prospective business here would have to bear in mind.

'Time to find out what the auctioneer who will

'sell the property thinks are the likely uses for this former mill.'

I think there's a strong chance that one of its future

uses could be residential, either in part or in whole.

We're in a residential area, there is a fairly strong demand

here for rented accommodation.

I think it's possible that somebody might try and divide it into smaller

units to make it into shared accommodation, say, for students, that's a possibility.

'What about the bricks and mortar?

'The place looks in pretty good nick to me, and there's parking at the back which is welcome news.'

The fabric of the building actually is quite good.

It had a total renovation programme when it was first converted, and it has been maintained in

fairly good order since, so there actually is not a lot to do here in terms of making any alterations,

but of course it's all down to what you want to use it for.

'Let's talk money.

'What could a ballpark rental figure for the whole building be?'

If was rented out as it is now, that's to say a single office block on three floors,

my view would be that it would rent for somewhere probably in the region of £20-22,000 a year.

If you buy it at somewhere around £120-125,000, that actually gives you a fantastic return on paper,

assuming you can rent it, and that's the big if.

'It appears to be a place that's all ready to go for any investor planning to rent it out,

'but I doubt it would appeal to a speculator hoping to add value by refurbishing it and selling it on,

'because there's not really that much you can do here.'

Before we go to the auction to see who bought this place,

let's talk through the economics of this building.

It is over 4,000 square feet.

Let's assume you could rent it out for between £5 and £7 a square foot,

that's well over £20,000 per year potential income.

For an investment guide price of £115,000?

The numbers definitely stack up.

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

Lot 35, this is the mill building

converted into extensive office accommodation.

Potential for a variety of uses, ladies and gentlemen.

How much for this? The guide is 115 plus, do you want to start me at 120?

120? 115?

Put it in at 110, there's a lot of building for the money.

110, thank you. 112 somewhere?

112 in the corner. 114.

116 is bid. 118. 119. 120.

121? 121.

122. 123. 124.

125. 126. 127. 128. 129.

130. 131. 132.

133.

134.

135. 136. 137. 138.

139. 140.

141.

141.5.

142. And a half.

143. And a half. 144. And a half.

145.

145,000. 145,500.

146. 146,500.

147. 147,500.

148. 148? No.

£148,000, anywhere else?

Once, twice, third time,

sold at 148.

'That successful bid of 148,000 came from Subhi.

'He was bidding on behalf of his friends, Clifton and Caroline.

'I met up with the couple at their new property to find out their plans.'

Clifton, Caroline, great to meet you both. I can't believe you got this place for 148,000.

Yeah, it was a steal, I think.

Amazing, tell me why you wanted to buy it, what's it for?

We've got a couple of businesses that we wanted to combine together, and we wanted to put them in one

building, but instead of at the moment they're all in separate buildings.

So tell me exactly what you plan to use it for.

The top floor, we're going to put our

security company on it, and the bottom two floors is going to be for a boxing gym.

-A boxing gym?

-Yeah.

-Why a boxing gym?

-Because boxing's my passion, my love.

-Are you a boxer?

-Ex-boxer, I don't box any more.

-Right. Were you good?

-Well, all right.

-What do you call all right?

-20 professional fights, won 18, lost two.

-You won 18 out of 20 professional fights?

-Yeah.

-Won them well?

-Yeah, well, 16 knockouts, two on points.

-A knockout, right, that's where you go smack and the guy goes...

-Do you want me to show you?

No, thank you, but I can just imagine.

I really want to put something back into the community and something back into the kids.

There's not a lot of stability in a lot of kids' lives,

and we don't really get no council help or help from the Government.

This is virtually... We started it out of my own pocket,

so now if I can keep it going and produce some champions

and give Derby a boost and get some champions coming out of Derby.

Clifton's obviously got a social conscience, which is a great reason to invest money in a property.

It sounds like there could be a win-win situation here.

So talk me through exactly what you're going to do to the place then, floor by floor.

Well, on the ground floor I'm going to rip it all out,

put the boxing rings downstairs, maybe some machinery.

Second floor will be punch bags, a fitness studio,

some bits and bobs - exercise mats, bikes, runners, bits and bobs like that.

Then the top floor we're going to move our security business into the top floor and set that up.

We were quite happy to get the top floor cos we had a bit of an argument about it at first, didn't we?

-Yes, because I wanted to rip it all out.

-He wanted to rip all this out, because there are posts downstairs,

and a boxing ring wouldn't fit in the posts, so I came to look at it the first time,

cos I wasn't at the auction, and I got all excited, saw the upstairs,

"Yeah, I'm going to move the office here, it'll look really nice and smart,"

and he said, "No, you're going downstairs." So since then, we've had architects in.

They've given the go-ahead that the posts can be moved,

so the gym can be put downstairs.

Well, Caroline's obviously punching well above her weight

if she can pick a fight with Clifton and still win.

But they've both got a fight on their hands to get the place ready for those kids.

It's a big job, and I wonder if it is going to take the sort of money you would win

at a World-Title fight in Las Vegas to do up this heavy-weight property.

What kind of budget have you got set aside for sorting the whole building out?

About £20,000.

Not much then, given the size.

Well, to be honest, it's cosmetic upstairs, a lot of it's cosmetic,

and it's not going to take a lot.

But downstairs is where the work's going to have to be done.

So what about a timescale for getting it all sorted?

Three to four months.

-For the offices and the gym?

-Yeah.

-Oh.

Surprisingly, a lot of people like to get involved with boxing,

especially if you're doing something for kids, people want to help.

As you say, it is a good cause, putting something back, it's a perfect result.

-Fantastic, congratulations. Good luck with it.

-Thank you.

We look forward to seeing how you get on.

Well, what a fantastic story, and I bet you didn't think it was going to end up like that.

A boxing ring and an office complex, it's great.

Lots of work for Clifton and Caroline to get this place sorted out,

and I'm a little bit concerned as to whether their budget of £20,000 will be enough.

But at the end of the day, let's hope the project is a knockout and it doesn't end up on the ropes.

I'm sure it won't. You can find out later in the show.

Today I'm in the West-London suburb of Southall.

It's one of the most vibrant, multicultural areas of the UK,

as you can see from the number of colourful Asian shops, mosques and temples.

Southall has excellent transport links to and from the city.

Today I've come to see a Victorian mid-terrace house with a rear garden and three bedrooms.

It came with a guide price of £150,000 plus, which sounds like an good buy on paper,

however it comes with a warning that it needs modernisation.

How much? We'll have to find out once we're inside.

Do you know what? It's not actually that bad.

I've seen a lot worse on this programme, I can tell you.

The wall covering is not to everybody's taste, it definitely needs upgrading.

Some lovely cornicing though, and a good-sized reception room.

Nice high ceilings, some beautiful architraving, but do you know what?

It's really cold in here, and that's because so far

I have not seen one radiator,

so I think there's no central heating in this place.

It's not packed with beautiful features, as you can see.

You may need to work on that, it needs the wallpaper stripping off,

it needs new carpets, and as far as kitchens go, there isn't one.

Just a little old butler sink in the corner.

'Not only would you struggle to get all your dishes done in that sink,

'you'd also be hard pushed it to find anywhere to let them dry.'

# I've got to get these dishes dry...

'This kitchen needs a complete overhaul.

'There are no work surfaces and the cupboards are old and battered.

'Luckily, there's a good bit of space in here to fit appliances

'and new units, but it's only going to add to the cost.

'Time now to check out the upstairs.'

So upstairs, we've got what looks like three decent-sized bedrooms.

That is a good selling point for a mid-terrace,

and it branches out into the family market.

In this bedroom in particular,

you've got a really nice cast-iron fireplace down here.

It's always lovely to see hidden features like that.

However, I still feel like there's something missing

apart from the radiators.

Those fireplaces are lovely, but a house this size is going to need

to have central heating throughout, especially for those long winters.

The renovation budget needed here is rising every minute,

and it's about to climb even higher.

It doesn't take long to work out what is wrong with this property.

There's no bathroom at all in the house.

In fact, the only facility we do have is this.

Gosh! Imagine, are we all spoiled these days?

An outside toilet, and in this weather!

It's not looking very appealing.

I think you're going to have to sacrifice a bedroom upstairs

to make a decent family bathroom inside.

And of course, add to the costs,

you've got a whole new suite plus you've got to factor in

paying for sewerage, plumbing and electrical work upstairs.

That will all add to the renovation budget, but it will make this house

so much more appealing and comfortable.

On top of all that, the garden could do with some money spent on it too.

All is not lost on the budget front, though.

There's the opportunity to recoup some costs

if the buyer was willing to rent the property to a housing association.

They might even get up to a 50% grant for the renovation,

so this could still be a great investment at that guide price of 150,000,

even thought it needs a lot of work.

I asked a local estate agent along to hear his opinion.

I didn't expect it to be this good in terms of the outside.

It's quite deceptive, it's quite spacious.

Also, some of the original features have been kept.

Whether the new owners would like to retain them is another story.

It's got two receptions, which are coming back into fashion.

There's still scope to improve,

like a single-story rear extension, and three really good-sized bedrooms.

It's quite unusual, as most properties are now accommodated by a downstairs bathroom,

but you can accommodate that upstairs,

because the third bedroom can be partitioned off into a shower and toilet

to accommodate the extra bathroom you need.

And maybe have one downstairs, good for rental.

What could this place be rented out for once renovated?

The rental figures for this property after renovation would be £1,100 per calendar month.

That's a healthy return, but what if the buyer decided to sell?

The re-sale value after renovations would be in the region of £210,000 to £230,000.

It was a shock to find out there was no bathroom at all in this house,

not even an awful one.

That would at least have been something to work with.

However, there are plus points with this property -

the house is a decent size, it's got scope for an extension at the back,

and it would make a great family home or rented house when all the work is done.

So let's find out who wasn't afraid to bring

this old Southall house into the 21st century at the auction.

Next property is Lea Road, Southall.

Over to you, who wants to start?

150.

150 on my left. Anyone else?

155. 160.

Is that it?

155 standing up. Anyone else?

At £155,000, first time.

Second time. 160, beat you.

160. 165.

170.

175.

180?

176?

Going down now. 176.

175, standing up.

176. You've got to be dynamic.

175, standing up at the back.

Anyone else? 175. First time.

Second time. 176. 177, sir?

178. 177, first time. Second time.

Third and last time. Are you all done? Sold, 177. Well bid.

That winning bid of 177,000 was from Jaspal, right at the back there.

He's a local businessman who runs a courier company and is also a part-time property developer,

so what does he plan to do with his latest purchase?

I asked him to deliver up his ideas back at the house.

-Jaspal, congratulations. Lovely to meet you.

-Thank you very much.

So, tell me the story behind you wanting to buy this at auction.

I didn't really want to buy his property

but I had seen the property prior to viewing another property which I was interested by in the auction.

So this wasn't the house you really wanted on auction day?

-It wasn't really, no.

-But lucky for you, you did view it?

-I did view it.

I had a quick look around it and, mind you, a very quick look.

And had that sort of idea about the house and the bedroom,

and considering we had another property we were working on just around the corner...

Did you set yourself a limit for this property?

I think the limit would have been around about 185.

OK, because you didn't go to the auction intending to buy this.

-Do you think you may have got slightly carried away?

-We probably might have,

considering there were only two people bidding on the day, myself and somebody else.

When the bidding actually did start, I was surprised that there weren't many hands...

I think the auctioneer just had a job getting people to start on the bidding,

which really enticed me to the actual lot.

Did that excite you? "Ooh, might be able to get a bargain here?"

Definitely, I think, yeah, we're in with a chance,

considering it was my first purchase of a property at auction.

He certainly got caught up in the moment at the auction,

paying 27,000 over the guide price for a house that doesn't even have an inside toilet!

And that's a detail that almost flushed away his chances of a mortgage.

We did come up with a problem with the mortgage on it.

They actually refused the mortgage because it didn't have the bathroom,

so we went to plan B and within three, four days,

my solicitor actually pulled off our second plan, which was really handy because we completed just on time.

Plan B was for Jaspal to remortgage one of his other houses to release some funds,

and then be able to pay for this one in cash.

And what are you going to do with this place?

It's interesting because there's quite a few things which we could do,

so we probably will take the best option because the plan is to put this property on rent,

because I know the prices at the moment are not what we would like to fetch on the market,

so I think the long term would probably put it on a rental.

-Put it on rent.

-Now, you can get around £1,100 a month for something like this.

That works out to be quite a good yield, I think about seven per cent, doesn't it?

That's right, yes, quite good turnaround for a three-bedroom, two-reception room property.

-So you'll rent it out as a family property?

-Yes.

-As a house?

-As a house.

So you need to put that bathroom back in.

-Yeah.

-Now, where is that going to go?

-OK, there's two ideas.

We're either going to put an extension on the back,

so we can start straightaway.

It saves time.

The other option is upstairs, either convert one of the bedrooms into a bathroom,

and put the additional room in the loft.

So I have had a quick look and there is some scope, there are ways we can overcome those issues.

-So that's an extension and a loft extension?

-Yeah.

-So that's quite a bit of work to be getting on with, isn't it?

-That's right, yeah.

-What budget are you looking at for this work?

-Overall I would say we're looking at around 10,000 to 15,000.

£15,000 seems like a tight budget for all the work Jaspal's planning,

but it sounds like he has a trump card up his sleeve.

I've done research with the local borough and they actually offer a grant

to bring up properties which have been in this sort of condition,

and they pay up to 50 per cent of the actual cost of bringing it up to a nice standard.

Wow - that is fantastic news!

And is that because the local borough want to bring the houses in the area

up to a really good standard?

Yeah, up to a nice standard, and they want to convert property which has been derelict or sitting around idle

for a minimum of six months, which I believe this one has been.

One snag is that you have to rent it for a three-year period,

and you have to go through their allocated housing association recommendations.

-So have you decided to take that on board?

-I'm actually going to be inviting...

A couple of housing agents are coming to the property, viewing it

and giving me a figure on what they would be prepared to offer me on a rental basis.

So on that basis, I'll do my homework and then decide on that.

I think that's a really, really nice option for you to have here.

That's right, considering that all the things I need doing will be included in this grant.

-So, yeah, that's going to be a little bonus.

-So that's put a smile on your face, hasn't it?

-Definitely, yes.

Jaspal is working on another development with his business partner, Salinder,

but he has taken on this house by himself so that grant money could come in very handy.

Meanwhile, there's another issue here that I'm personally most concerned about.

Now, Jaspal, something I need to ask you.

The beauty of this house, for me, is the original features that are left.

-That's right.

-Now, why are you laughing?

-Are you going to be ripping them out?

-I'm trying to...

-I want to keep the fireplaces and chimneys.

-But do you really?

Er, I might have to because if we need to put a bathroom upstairs,

we'll have to eat into the space of, say, two of the bedrooms. So we might need that space, I'm afraid.

-We might have to rip them out.

-So you know you're a naughty boy!

-That's right, yes.

That's a nervous laugh you've got there!

Jaspal has certainly chosen a project and a half.

Thank goodness he viewed this before he bought it, so the lack of bathroom wasn't a total surprise.

Although I'm quite intrigued where he's going to put it.

He's going to have to spend a substantial amount of money to get this place up to standard,

and I'm not sure 10,000 to 15,000 is going to be sufficient,

although I'm really happy he's agreed to keep the cornicing in the lounge.

Will he stick to his promise, though? You can find out how he gets on later in the programme.

Coming up, there are surprises in store at this maisonette-style flat in Clydebank.

And actually, you know what? This is pretty good.

We'll return to Southall, to see how Jaspal coped with managing two separate projects.

It was like juggling the builders from that site to this site.

But first, how's that renovation been going in Derby?

Not really my cup of tea. Ask me about boxing gloves and security, I could help you.

We're back in Derby, where this old mill building sold at auction for 148,000.

It had three floors of space and plenty of potential.

It was bought by Clifton and his partner, Caroline,

who wanted to house their two businesses under one roof.

Their security company was to be on the top floor and Clifton's latest venture, a boxing club and gym,

on the bottom one.

If I can keep it going and produce some champions

and give Derby a boost and get some champions coming out of Derby...

So, has this been the first step on the way to a championship belt?

Three months later, we caught up with them back at the mill and the results are a real knockout.

The first floor has been opened right up and now boasts an exercise room

with training machines, punchbags and kit stores.

The most action has been on the ground floor, which now houses a boxing ring.

But it wasn't Clifton's original plan to put it down here, as he had those pillars to contend with.

There's pillars all the way through this, but we had to take two pillars out and put two RSJs in,

to enable us to get the boxing ring in.

I was going to put two rings in here originally but it ain't going to be big enough.

When I first put the RSJs in, they were probably about that low.

So I was spitting my dummy out a little bit, and got the building regs man in

and he said we could actually chop out some of the wood and raise it to the ceiling.

Because, to be honest, my other boxing ring was probably about so high off the floor.

So I had to get another ring that sat on the floor, so we'd be able to get the ring in here,

otherwise anybody that's about 6ft 7 ain't going to be boxing in this ring

because they'd be hitting their head on something.

He may not have been able to fit another ring down here

but he has found room for the gym reception and shop.

But turning both floors into gym space has meant Clifton had to take a few more knocks than he expected.

Because it's going to be a public building, there's loads of different legislation to it

than it not being a public building.

I've had to put all new fire doors in.

I've had to put a new lighting system.

Things like that I wasn't expecting.

Putting the showers in.

And then all the things that come with that, like extractor fans,

which I'm a little bit oblivious to.

It's not my cup of tea. Ask me about boxing gloves and security, I can help you.

-But when it comes to...

-DIY.

DIY is not really my cup of tea, love.

Well, it may not be his cup of tea but he's done a great job of getting

all the work done within his target of three months.

The gym is fully up and running but this hasn't been the only change at the old mill.

On the top floor, Caroline has now moved into her new office.

There weren't any serious problems sorting this place out.

Everything now looks refreshed and Caroline has created a great working environment.

So, everything's running smoothly up here as well, although there

was one bit of the move that she'd rather not go through again.

It's building up to moving the stuff.

I think that's the hardest thing, is filing paperwork, boxing it up, getting it all ready.

Lucky for us, a lot of the desks were already here, so we didn't have to move the desks and stuff.

We just had to reorganise the files and everything.

Obviously, everyone would like new toilets and new facilities

and have a brand new office, but you have limited funds and obviously in

years to come, if you're still here, there's a lot more that you could do upstairs. It's all ongoing, isn't it?

It's a bit like moving into a new house.

You can actually be in there but everything's not in the right places yet, so...

We're getting there with it. We are getting there.

They went over their original £20,000 budget by £5,000

but managed to get a lot done for that outlay.

Most of the manual work we did ourselves.

Me, her brother, and a couple of others.

So...a lot of it was done by...

-Family, wasn't it?

-Family, so...

Yeah. The business is run by family members, so...

And some of the fighters came in and gave us a hand as well, so that helps.

Because it's their building as well. This is for the community as well, so... The boxing side of it.

Has all the work so far paid off?

We asked along the auctioneer who sold the property

to assess the value of Clifton and Caroline's efforts.

I think for the new owners' purpose it suits them extremely well.

It gives them the floor space they need.

They've got another company which runs from the same premises,

confined to the top floor.

It's in the right location, it's easy to get to.

So it ticks a lot of boxes for them, I think.

I would say one of the drawbacks to the building is the lack of parking facility.

I know there are one or two parking slots that go with it,

but I mean management would use that for visitor parking.

It's on street and it's restricted, so that's possibly a drawback for either present use or future uses.

When I first came and saw this, I think I suggested that the rental

value would be somewhere around £5 to £7 a square foot, which equates to about £20,000 to £22,000 a year.

He did a good job in refurbing it, but because the commercial market really hasn't changed

in the intervening time, I don't think I would vary that estimate.

So that's £20,000 to £22,000 rental per year.

Remember, Clifton and Caroline paid £148,000 for it and have spent £25,000 on the renovation.

So that's a fantastic potential yield of between 11% and possibly 13%.

Absolutely brilliant. I wasn't expecting that.

If it was a long-term agreement and we could get that over a five-year period...

It's nice to know that, because even though we've got no plans to move as such, that there is the opportunity

-in the future to do that, and it is going to cover the cost of everything in here anyway, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It gives us the opportunity to be able to do something else.

-Yeah.

# Saturday night's all right for fighting

# Get a little action in... #

The auctioneer thinks the property could resell for £200,000, which would give Clifton and Caroline

a healthy £28,000 pre-tax profit, but they're more than happy to stay put for now.

To me it feels homely here, a lot more, with our offices as well.

It just feels homely. I think the staff and obviously the people that work with. You just feel happy here.

I'm in Clydebank on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Clydebank's heritage is steeped in shipbuilding, so I hope it will be plain sailing at this

property I'm here to see today, with no signs of choppy waters.

This is Singer Street, but until 1907, it was known as Second Street.

The council at that time decided to rename it after a famous local factory,

the Clydebank Singer sewing-machine factory, which incredibly produced 34 million sewing-machines.

So the big question is, will the property I'm here to see have threadbare carpets?

Will it stitch somebody up?

Will it NEEDLE lot of sorting out?

Will it be all that it SEAMS?

Maybe I should just BOBBIN and see what it's like.

# If you sing, sing... #

On this damp, grey day, the outside of the building is not very inspiring.

But up on that second floor, there is a three-bedroom,

split-level maisonette with a guide price of just £25,000-£30,000.

The landing and backyard area are clean and well-maintained but what is it like inside?

So, what is in store? Well, entrance hall here. Not too bad. Does not smell of damp.

Through to the kitchen.

You know what, this is pretty good.

It is reasonably new units, nice bit of tiling, a good-sized space.

Bit of a surprise, I suppose I should not say that, but not bad.

Downstairs, kind of unusual, that is where the bedrooms are.

But look at this. Through to a really fantastic-sized lounge.

It has got a fireplace as a bit of a feature, nice big windows.

All in all, pretty good.

Down those stairs you will find not only three good-sized, fresh

bedrooms but there is also a fantastic bathroom that looks almost brand new.

The property has three bedrooms, so size-wise it would suit a family.

But it is not ideal with two storeys to climb and the lack of a garden both real drawbacks.

Even so, I think this could be a great opportunity for someone looking to rent it out.

But what does a local estate agent think? I asked one for his views.

Clydebank is an up and coming area.

The proximity to Glasgow city centre, approximately five miles, it makes it

an area which is popular for commuting back and forth

to the city centre.

And Glasgow airport within 15 to 20 minutes' drive.

From what I have seen already, it is mainly cosmetic that it needs.

The electrics look a bit dated, so possibly that could be updated to a new standard.

But apart from that, decoration would be enough.

All good so far. But what about this maisonette's letting potential?

The rental market in the Clydebank area, with the new college being built, there is a rental market.

Obviously there is a lack of local housing as well.

So there is a great rental market in the Clydebank area.

So there is a healthy demand for renting properties - exactly what a buyer wants to hear.

But what kind of rent could this place generate?

I would be able to achieve approximately £400 a month.

With some renovation work, he thinks the property could resell

for about £45,000, which is £15,000-£20,000 over its guide price.

So, keeping the renovation costs low would be key to maximising any potential profit here.

There is a strong rental demand here and for a guide price of 25,000-30,000 quid,

for a flat like that which does not need much work doing to it,

I think it is a very strong proposition.

Let's see who fancies it when it went to the auction.

The next available lot is lot number two,

a three-bedroom maisonette style flat in Stinger Street in Clydebank.

Looking for £20,000. £20,000, 21.

21 it is. 22? £22,000.

£23,000, I have got. Give you a chance at 24, sir?

No, shakes his head. £23,000 I have got against you all at the moment.

I'm looking for £24,000.

£24,000, are we, back in a new place here at £24,000.

25. 26? 26, it is, £26,000.

Are we all done then at £26,000?

A new player at 27. £27,000. 28, sir?

£28,000. Come back at 29, sir.

£29,000. Make it 30.

£30,000 it is. Thank you very much.

I've got your bid at £30,000. Are you coming back at 31, sir?

No, definitely this time?

Definitely. OK, £30,000. Are we all done, last chance now.

Going to sell at £30,000 to the gentleman here.

At £30,000, last chance. New place, 31. That's £31,000.

I'll take that 500 from you if you want, sir. £31,500. 32? 32 it is.

£32,000 against you at the moment.

32,500? £33,000, yes. 500?

Yes, 33,500.

£34,000.

Need to hurry you, sir. 34.5?

£35,000, I am looking for.

35? 35, it is.

35,500. Coming back?

Needs to be 36.

Just in time there, £36,000.

36,500. No, definitely not. 36,500.

I am going to sell. £36,500, last chance.

Sold at £36,500. Well done, sir.

That winning bid of £36,500 was made by local businessman, Mohammed.

He runs a local grocer's shop and he and his wife Shafkhat

have lived in the area for more than 30 years.

They have four daughters and bought this property as an investment for their future.

I caught up with them to find out more.

Lovely to meet you both. Congratulations. That was a bit of a marathon auction, wasn't it?

-Certainly was.

-Were you happy with what you paid in the end?

Overall, it was not bad.

The prospectus slightly less, but that is the way it went.

So tell me why you wanted to buy the flat.

A three-bedroomed one we thought would be easier to rent in the area,

because a lot of people look for a three-bedroom.

And my experience in the past.

So when it came up three-bedroomed, I thought it would be a good investment if we can get it.

Mohammed's long-term plan is to rent it out until his daughters are at university.

Then they can move in and after that, it should be a nice

little nest-egg to sell, further down the line.

What kind of budget have you got for doing the work?

That's his department!

Maximum about £5,000, should not be any more than that.

Just wait and see once we start doing the work.

Hopefully that should be enough, because most of the work is done,

there is nothing structural. Mainly tidying up.

-Any idea how long it will take?

-I think four weeks should be enough.

-Four weeks, so quite tight.

-Yes, I think people are ready to do the work and we have the material ready.

So four weeks should be enough.

And are you both going to be involved in any of the work?

Basically, just bringing the material in! Apart from that,

-just the time.

-So you're not going to be involved?

No, I do not know anything about decorating or doing this.

At least she is honest!

With four kids to look after and a business to run,

it would be much easier for them to bring in a team of decorators.

Meanwhile, even though it will be a few years before the girls move in, by the sound of it they cannot wait.

They were so excited and that is for their future investment.

They all want to go to uni.

-Do you see this as a bit of an investment for them?

-Yes.

That is the main idea.

Good luck with it all. We look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thanks very much.

-Thank you.

So, Mohammed and Shafkhat

adding this to their rental property portfolio.

The only question is, will they do it in their timescale?

After all, they have a shop to run.

You can find out how they get on later in the show.

You know what they say, time is money.

Have our brave buyers run out of both or are they bang on schedule?

Let us find out.

We are back in Southall, where local businessman Jaspal

bought his three-bedroom terraced house for £177,000 at auction.

It needed a lot of renovation and some of his plans were

possibly going to mean losing some of those great period features.

If we need to put a bathroom upstairs we will have to eat into the space

of two of the bedrooms, so we might need the space. We might have to rip them out.

-You know you are naughty boy already?

-That is right.

-That's a nervous laugh!

So, has he disappointed me and ripped out those fireplaces?

We caught up with him four months later, to see if he was going to be in my bad books!

Well, he has not just lost a few period features, he has got rid of them all.

All of the fireplaces and chimneys have been removed from each room to give more space.

So I think it is definitely the naughty step for Jaspal.

One of the main layout alterations has been upstairs.

Before, the only toilet was outside, but that has all changed.

What has changed here is that we have rejigged this bedroom here

and introduced a bit of bathroom and toilet.

But I think it has worked out quite good, because we still

have a fair-sized bathroom and we still have a large-sized rear bedroom.

And looking at it, we could sell it to a family

-or put it on rental, it is ideal with first floor bathroom and toilet.

-???

was thinking of an extension out the back but has opted for a loft extension instead.

Although there is room for a bed up here, until he gets building

regulations signed off, he cannot officially call it a fourth bedroom.

But it is still a great space for storage or a little office.

Aside from missing a toilet, the house was also lacking a kitchen.

But I am glad to report that he has been busy on that as well.

Quite a big change here. We had the larder just through this door here.

Knocked the larder out and made a downstairs bathroom with a shower room and a WC.

Blocked the outside entrance from the garden.

Taken the chimney breast off to give us that extra bit of room for units and to widen the kitchen up.

As you can see, he

has not quite finished all the work in the house.

But bear in mind that he had to rewire, re-plaster

and re-floor throughout. He has even knocked down the lean-to

out the back to open up the garden space for future development.

He had hoped to have everything done in

two months but it will be more like four before everything is complete.

The fact that he was renovating another house with his business partner

did not help the schedule.

We had another project which was happening at the same time so it was like juggling builders from

that site to this site, so that is probably why it has taken that bit more than I expected.

His original budget of between £10,000 - £15,000 for the renovation has also increased.

He reckons he will come in nearer 25,000.

The overspend is just that we had to do a lot of the necessary things.

There are no short cuts or cutting corners.

We had to go ahead with it and I think that has definitely made a reflection on the final part of the

finishing of this property.

Originally, he hoped to take advantage of a council grant but he

has now decided to sell rather than rent out.

So he would not be eligible, but he has already got some potential buyers.

We haven't marketed the property officially, but we have had two offers on the

property, which is a good sign.

It certainly is. We asked

two local estate agents along to look at the house, to see how much he could sell it for.

Yeah, I like what he's done. I like the way that he's created a bathroom

upstairs, and obviously, he's created another bedroom into the loft area.

Downstairs, he's got a downstairs toilet that will appeal to a lot

of families that have got small children.

There have been good changes, totally renovated the place.

It's good that it's got the rewiring, re-plumbing, these are very important.

Also, I understand that he's taken some of the period features out,

which does create more space and in this market, it's not too bad.

I don't think they will be missed, let's put it that way.

I think anyone coming in to view the property, you know, will feel that

there's nothing that they need to do, minus a few personal touches.

I think it's important that he's incorporated another bathroom in,

to appeal to the letting market as well as residential.

I think in any house, even if you've got kids or guests, two bathrooms is essential nowadays.

It sounds like Jaspal has done all the right things so far, but what about his work in the attic?

In my opinion, the loft is basically a masterstroke, in my opinion, because first of all, he's actually

using dead space, and also, it will bring in other people who would say, look, it's got a skylight window,

might use it for storage or putting other stuff in, or maybe even an office, occasionally.

So I think it has added value, definitely.

Yeah, the loft room that's actually been created

will definitely benefit the vendor, certainly monetary values.

Once again, if you're attracting big families around here, then they are

always looking for that fourth bedroom.

However, until Jaspal gets the building regulations signed off,

he'll only be able to market this as a three-bedroomed house.

He spent £25,000 on it,

so on top of the 177,000 he paid for it at auction, that makes £202,000.

So how much could he hope to achieve when he puts it up for sale?

In my opinion, as a three-bedroom mid-terrace house, I would suggest a marketing price of

£234,950, and I believe that you will get very close to that price as well.

In the current market, I'd valued the property it at between £230,000 and £240,000.

Yeah. Pleased with those valuations, and it's coming, the offers

I had on the property are reflecting what the agents have predicted.

In fact, Jaspal did accept one of those offers and sold the flat for 235,000. His total spent

here has been 207,000, so that's an impressive £28,000 pre-tax profit,

minus the other usual deductions.

So, it's no great surprise to hear that he is very happy with the project.

I think it was worthwhile, good experience, and considering the

final valuation of the property, I think, yes, definitely well worth it.

We are back in Clydebank at this second floor maisonette staff flat.

It was bought by Mohammed and Shafkhat for £36,500.

There were going to rent it out for now, but saw it

ultimately as an investment for their daughters' future.

It didn't need much work, though by the sounds a bit, Mohammed was on his own with

anything that did need doing. You are not going to be involved?

No. I don't know anything about decorating.

But three months later, it doesn't appear as though very much decorating has taken place.

Well, it may not look like it, but there has been work going on.

The skirting boards have all been fixed, the stairs have

been carpeted, and the polystyrene ceiling tiles and the living room have been removed and replaced.

At first glance, the bathroom seems untouched, but actually,

there was a lot of work done trying to mend a mystery leak there.

So basically, the bathroom, we realised there was a leak

in the bathroom, and we had to lift the tiles

to look at the floorboards underneath, all the pipe-work,

then put it all together again, retiled it.

Then we found that there was a leak in the system,

so we have to get that fixed and the leak was in the kitchen,

so a similar process there.

Lift the tiles, piping and put it all back together again.

So the bathroom leak was fixed successfully, but it

turned out that wasn't the only leak Mohammed would have to plug.

When we got an engineer in for a boiler service and a heating service, he said we were

losing the pressure in the boiler, and he said the leak is somewhere, so we started looking for it.

One of them was upstairs in hall and the kitchen, then when we fixed

that, there were still a leak somewhere, then we had to start having to look under the stairs.

So, with all the leaks now found and fixed and decorating finished, the property is ready to rent, but

Mohammed has decided not to manage the rental himself, as his grocery shop takes up so much of his time.

So much paperwork and red tape, I can't do everything myself, so I have decided to get estate agents,

and offload my paperwork.

Hopefully, it will get to the stage where we see how it goes.

If I can do it myself, I would prefer that, but we will see how I go.

He's a busy man all right, but even whilst overseeing the renovation

work here, Mohammed knew he could rely on his family for help.

I am always with him, whenever he needs help in the shop, in the house, in here.

I only came a few times to see what's going on.

The girls were involved and they were so, like, excited.

Not only were the kids happy, but so were Mohammed and Shafkhat,

because they managed to do the job within the original £5,000 budget.

But the extra gas and water pipe-work pushed them two or three weeks

over their original timescale of a month.

How much value has all the work added to the property?

We asked two local estate agents for their opinion.

Looking at it, it would appear to have been well decorated.

It's very fresh, very clean, ready to move into.

My first impressions of the property it out that it's been done up to a basic standard.

The problem is that there's a lot of property on the market at present,

which means that there's more choice for either purchasing or rental.

The location is ideal in terms of public transport,

shops and access to schools, and all in all, the area is coming up.

It's not quite gentrified, but it's certainly

coming up from the developments by the local housing situations.

So, what could a three-bedroom maisonette style flat in this area achieve on the rental market?

The rental market in Clydebank is fairly buoyant just now,

and this property shouldn't have any difficulty in attracting a rental of around £500 per calendar month.

The first area I would look at is the housing benefit market,

where that would provide per calendar month approximately £550.

-That's good.

-Good. Sounds good.

-Kind of price I expected, anyway, between five and six, so that's quite good.

The other area that's open to the owner of the property is the college.

You could have three students in that at approximately £40 or £50 per week.

The problem there would be the multi-occupancy. That could create problems.

I don't want to go that route, and students sometimes, they don't look after properties that well.

I'm not saying all of them are like that. I would prefer a family.

Families normally look after them better as well.

So, they're aiming to rent out to a family.

If they do earn a rental income of between £500 and £600 a month,

then, giving their total spend here of around £42,000, that would mean an amazing yield of over 14%.

So the flat should prove to be a great investment,

until the girls have grown up and are ready to move in themselves.

Perhaps by then, Mohammed will be a full-time property developer.

Maybe some day if I want to pack up the job and the shop, at least I've got another option open.

Well, we hope you enjoyed today's trio of auction purchases, and that they gave you food for thought.

And we'll see you again soon for more Homes Under The Hammer.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media

Email [email protected]