Episode 55 Homes Under the Hammer

With the ups and downs of the property market,

you have to trust your instincts.

Nowhere is this more true than in the auction room.

So join us now as we take the lottery out of property under the hammer.

Buying at auction doesn't have to be scary.

If you do your research and you stick to your limit, you can bid with confidence.

Let's meet some buyers who hopefully did that.

But did they bag a bargain or get more than they bargained for?

Let's take a look at what they bought.

'This five-bedroom house in Cornwall is a real hotchpotch of badly-fitting fixtures.'

There you go, that just about sums this house up.

'In Hampshire, this three-bed detached looked a bargain from outside, but inside...'

Rather worryingly, the wallpaper's peeling off.

'And there was an opportunity in Glasgow to buy two bungalows together in one lot.'

Big question is, will it be two for the price of one or double the trouble?

'All these properties are being sold at auction

'and we will find out who bought them and what they paid for them when they went under the hammer.'

'With its beautiful beaches and countryside,

'the Southwest of England is a highly desirable part of the UK to live.

'Many people would love to have a place down here

'and in the past decade, a high number of buyers have purchased properties as second homes here.

'But there has been a down side.'

The influx of second-home owners buying properties in Cornwall

has pushed prices out of the reach of many locals.

But not here in Delabole, where I think there was a fantastic opportunity for somebody.

This is it. Guide price of £125,000 to £150,000.

It's a five-bedroom detached house. You can't argue with that, can you?

# I'd call that a bargain

# The best I ever had

'That is a lot of house for the price.

'From the front, it doesn't look too bad, either. But wait, there's more.

'By the looks of it, you also get a free dining table and chairs.'

# The best I ever had

You don't know what you're going to find on the inside of a house like this.

Yes, very grand from the outside, but what's been done with the internal layout?

Don't know yet, but a fairly cramped entrance, which I'm not too keen on.

Through to a front sitting room area there.

Making use of the local slate with the fireplaces.

And then this. What is going on? They've taken away the enclosure for the under-stairs cupboard

and it's all open-plan, but you've got this pillar. It just doesn't work at all. All a bit strange.

Through to another bit of the house that looks like it's kind of been, well, manked about with.

Two fireplaces in this room. The floors are different levels, which doesn't work.

I like the fact that they're stripped, but it just feels like somebody's just had a go

and not really thought it through before they started. However, what's that?

'Yes, I know it has a garden, but it's not just any garden.

'It's a huge family one.

'With a massive car-parking area to boot.'

# Looking through the window

'So, plenty of room to extend or maybe even develop.'

So, great news out there, but unfortunately, back in the house, the bad news continues.

The kitchen is just a disaster.

For a house like this, this should be the focal point. It should be big and family-friendly.

As it is, disastrous units and this hotchpotch feeling continues.

I mean, look at this. A main beam going across here.

You need to do something here. You need to build it out into that extension,

you need to open up these walls and create that central focus for the house and it's got to be here.

# It'll be just like starting over

'Upstairs, there are four main bedrooms.

'A box room.

'And a bathroom.

'All are in need of upgrading and potentially some repair work,

'if that damp's anything other than a few loose tiles or a problem with the flashing.

# Starting over

'But something is still not quite right.'

So, to sum up, upstairs, the kind of boxy feeling continues.

Although, interestingly, it doesn't feel like it's been messed around up here.

Again, there's no focal point, there's no master bedroom.

Downstairs, you need the kitchen to be a focal point. Upstairs, you need a master bedroom.

But I'm not sure how you'd create that.

'This property will need some thought putting into it,

'so hiring an architect could be money well spent.

'Also, because there is no significant industry in this predominantly residential area,

'rental yields are very low, so any buyer will be purchasing the house for occupation or resale.

'Either way, maximising the potential here will be paramount.

'We asked the auctioneer who sold it for his opinion.

As well as the plain, obvious, great big house,

there's quite a lot of land out the back, and if you look around at the neighbouring properties,

there's new houses being built set back, so you might get yourself a second dwelling,

which wouldn't knock an awful lot off the mother house,

cos there's quite a lot of land.

'A plot of land this size goes for around £80,000 around here.

'Developing on it might only devalue the property by around 20 grand,

'so you could make a useful increase in your total value if you did.

'So, even without this, how much could this realistically be sold on for?'

If you put this in apple-pie order, made the best of it,

probably 265, 275, which is a funny price range

when the market's hard work,

because it's a job to tug things through 250.

Ha! Well, there you go. That just about sums this house up.

The fact that the door, when you open it, goes straight into the stairs.

They didn't bother to measure it before they fitted it. This whole house has not been thought through.

But whoever takes it on has the potential to turn this into a beautiful house.

Let's find out who bought it at the auction.

Delabole. Big detached property.

Five beds. Big chunk of ground at the back.

We know it's 150, don't we? Yes, we do.

150. 55. 165. 170.

175. 180?

180. 185.

190? No, 190 I want.

185.

188. 188.

190. At 190.

At 190. It's got to make 200, hasn't it? At 190.

At 190. Stood has it. Both sat are out.

At 190. That's a lot of house.

At 190. 190 once.

190 twice.

At 190. Falling short of 200, but at 190, sure and done.

At 190. You both missed it. Well done, sir. That's a lot of property.

'That winning bid of £190,000 came from Lee.

'He's bought this house with his partner, Andrea.

'They live locally and have wanted to buy together for some time.

'Lee's an electrician and Andrea is a research chemist.

'I met up with them to find out more.'

-Lee, Andrea, well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Congratulations. It's a lovely house, actually.

-Yeah, we think so.

-Why did you want to buy it?

-Erm, I've lived in the village all my life,

wanted to stay in the village and this seemed an ideal opportunity to do that.

-In the future, maybe have some children, looking at it as a big family home.

-Right.

And what about your background? Are you from the village?

I've been in Cornwall about ten years.

I came down here for my first job after university

and I really like Cornwall and I want to stay here.

-And tell me about you two. How long have you been together?

-We've been together four years now.

Met at the local village carnival.

-Really?

-Yeah. We had a float. So, yeah.

-Tell me more about that.

-I play football for the village

-and we do a carnival float, and I was a pirate, wasn't I?

-Yep.

And I had one too many and we got chatting and the rest is history.

The first time you met, he was wearing a pirate outfit?

-Yeah, I pulled a pirate.

-Pulled a pirate!

# I am a pirate

# You are a princess

# We could sail the seven seas

'Ahh, shiver me timbers! Love at first sight through an eye patch!

'And it seems these two have had an eye on this house for a while now.'

So what was it about this house that you liked? Did you know the house?

I've got to be honest, we've driven by two or three times in the months before

-and said, "Oh, if only that came on the market."

-Really?

-Yeah.

-No!

-That's the honest truth.

-You picked this particular house out?

-Yeah, we'd driven by it and said, "That's a really nice house,

-"that'd suit us down to the ground."

-No!

I was at work one day and Ange rang me up. "You'll never believe it, there's an auction sign up!"

-Wow. So it's meant to be.

-Hopefully, yeah.

-You made it happen.

'What's also meant to be is some drastic changes to the look of the place.'

-There is a bit of work to be done.

-Yes, there certainly is.

-A little bit more than we thought. I think you agree, Ange.

-Yeah.

We'll change the downstairs layout, that's what we're hoping to do.

And we'll have to get a structural engineer to have a look cos of the walls.

But open it up, really. It's very boxy.

We'd like to open the downstairs layout, kitchen-diner, and just get a bit more light in.

'I couldn't agree more. As Lee's an electrician and both of them are prepared to do work themselves,

'they should manage on their initial £20,000 budget pretty well.

'But first they need to agree on how to spend it.'

-Do you always agree on what you're going to do?

-Eventually, we usually come to some kind of compromise.

We talk about it and then we go Andrea's way. That's what happens.

-But it starts out that you've got different views?

-Yeah, usually.

-What are your views?

-Well, it's little things, like the kitchen.

Yeah, it's the budget, what to spend on what part of the house, really.

It's not major disagreement, it's just niggly little things that we disagree on. Like the doors.

-She likes the old-fashioned doors.

-I like the original 1930s doors.

-Absolutely.

-And I'm not so keen.

-THEY LAUGH

-But, again, it's minor.

'Compromise could be the name of the game here,

'but they shouldn't rush into making decisions

'that could lead them into deep water.'

Give me an idea of how long it's going to take to do what you need to do.

We've put a minimum of six months. Four to six months to get liveable.

We're lucky, we're not in a real rush to get in, but we'd like to get it done as soon as possible.

Yeah. This is going to be our home for the next five to ten years, so there's no hurry.

We're not going to turn it round for a profit.

Great. Congratulations to you both.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you.

-I look forward to seeing how you get on turning this into a family home.

Well, it's great that Lee and Andrea are locals and they've actually bought this place to live in.

Profit doesn't come into the equation. But when they're doing up this place, they have to be careful.

It's one of those ones where you just sit down and plan very, very carefully before you start,

otherwise their £20,000 budget will soon disappear.

Find out how they get on later in the show.

'I'm in Shirley in Southampton, a residential and shopping area close to the city centre.

'It's the site of Southampton General, a large teaching hospital,

'and home to the university's School of Medicine.

'The question is, will today's property here be a major operation?'

When the catalogue said the property was near to the hospital, they weren't kidding,

because it is literally there at the end of the street, which means I'm already thinking rental

with that steady stream of doctors and nurses keen for a short commute.

The house itself is a three-bedroom detached

and it had a guide of just £150,000.

'I'm sure any medic would love to be just a few steps from home after a long shift.

'The house is on a fairly busy road, as you'd imagine, leading up to the hospital.

There's off-street parking for at least two cars, which solves that problem.

'The property itself, well, it looks like it could be in need of a few stitches.'

# Dress me up in stitches, it's now or never

# Tired of wearing black and blue

Oh, the first thing that hits you when you walk in this door is the smell of damp.

But I'm going to forget that, because what a lovely surprise.

Look at this wonderful open hallway, you've got lovely wide steps here.

But, rather worryingly, the wallpaper's peeling off,

you've got walls wet to the touch, so you've got to take on board all of that.

But moving along the hallway, you've got this spacious space to put a downstairs loo.

That's all a big tick in the right box. And, of course, through here,

the kitchen is not a bad space,

so you wouldn't necessarily need to knock through

to borrow space from this room, the dining room. You've got a lovely square shape here.

I'd be inclined to keep this as it is. Nice views out to the garden.

All in all, a good, substantial family house

with good downstairs living space. I really like it.

'Yes, I like the space. I like the deep bay in the massive front room and the curve of the kitchen walls,

'but I don't like the smell of damp.

'As you walk around, you can see more and more signs of wet all over the walls.'

Upstairs, what a lovely surprise.

This landing is wonderfully spacious.

But more than that, these three bedrooms are all good doubles,

which is unusual in a 1930s layout.

However, in this master bedroom, you've got very worrying cracks on either side of this bay.

I've seen this before on houses of this era

and it can be caused by badly-fitted UPVC double-glazing,

which pushes this bay out and down.

But just because you know what's caused these issues, doesn't mean they're cheap to fix.

So I'd get some expert advice ASAP.

'I think this place is going to need more than a quick bandage.

'The wiring certainly looks shot to pieces

'and there are hairline cracks in quite a number of the walls.

'I get the feeling this bathroom could do with being ripped out and started again.

'There are some nice features lurking, such as the fireplace in the rear bedroom.

'But a closer examination of the legal pack reveals there's something else lurking that's more worrying.'

It's a bit of a weird one in the catalogue description,

because it says this property has an unregistered freehold title. So what does that actually mean?

Well, it may surprise you that around a fifth of freehold titles aren't registered,

even though it was introduced way back in Victorian times

and it's been compulsory from 1990.

But with regards to this house, it means you must make your own investigations

into the seller's rights to sell the property.

You'll have to trawl through the deeds, check for any covenants

and ensure you know the boundaries of the land.

Essentially, you have to cover your own back and make sure you know what you're buying.

Now, it's not necessarily a deal breaker, but it's a hassle

and it could make everything just that little bit more complicated.

# It's a complicated situation

# It's a complicated situation, mama

'So, complicated and in need of complete renovation.

'This is getting more demanding by the minute.

'Still, you get a lot of house for the money

'and that location near the hospital is hard to beat.

'I asked along a local estate agent.'

I think it'll appeal to a multitude of buyers.

In its current state, it's going to probably be more investors,

in which case, once they've refurbished the property,

they'll let it out or sell it.

'Right, let's talk numbers.'

As I see this property today, it's probably worth about £160,000.

That is allowing for some form of profit margin once it's refurbished.

In terms of putting it back to market,

I think the figure's probably around £225,000, but you might want to try for a little bit more.

'How about letting it out?'

Renting this property, you're probably looking at around £850 per calendar month.

With a few nips and tucks, this property near the hospital could be a fantastic investment.

Yes, it's got its issues, and that unregistered freehold is not to be ignored,

but someone could be in for a good profit here.

Let's find out who's ready to resuscitate this lot at the auction.

OK, lot number 15. This is a three-bedroom detached house

in need of refurbishment and I'm going to start the bidding

at just £140,000.

Thank you. 140 I do have on the back there. 140.

142 I have down here in the front.

144 we have. 146? 146 here.

148? 148. Thank you.

150? 150 seated.

152? 152 I have.

154 seated here at the front. 156?

156. 158 here? 158 here.

160, sir? 160 we have.

2? 162.

I'll give you a half if it's going to help you. £500.

You going to walk away from it for £500?

I've got 162. 162,500.

Shaking his head down here in the front at me.

162 and a half. 163, thank you, in the room.

163 right-hand side.

164? No? It's 163 with a fresh bid.

163 I have, then. Once.

163 twice.

163,000 with you, then. Third and final time.

Sold. Good value. 163. Well done, madam. Your number, please.

'That successful bid of £163,000 came from Nicky,

'a full-time mum who lives in the area.

'I braved the damp dining room again to find out her plans.'

-Nicky, lovely to meet you today.

-Hi.

-Well done. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Are you new to this game? Is this the first time?

-Completely, yes.

-First time you've ever bought anything at auction?

-Yes. Never been to an auction.

Never done work on a house before. So it's all very new.

-Have you bought this for a bit of a project?

-Yes, and an investment.

Primarily as an investment, but also I thought it'd be a good challenge.

-So this isn't a house for you to fall in love with and move into?

-No.

So I've got to be careful when I do it up that I don't make it too personal.

So what was it that you loved about this house enough to want to buy it?

Erm, because I was buying it purely for an investment,

location was the main thing, really, being close to the hospital.

I think it has a lot of character, as you walk in, it's got a lovely airy feel. It just seemed right.

'It didn't take Nicky long to make up her mind. Just one viewing, in fact.

'She went on her own, without any expert eyes for a second opinion.

'I hope she's taken into account all the work that needs doing.'

So let's talk about the down sides of this house.

What problems may be worrying you?

Structurally, it's fine. There's a lot of work to do internally

and outside with the back and front areas.

So there's nothing that really concerns me.

It's just quite a lot of work to get done.

-What about the smell of damp when you walk in? It really does hit you.

-It does, yes.

There was a flood at Christmas, but it wasn't discovered for a couple of weeks,

so that's a result of that.

That'll be the first job, to dry the property out.

Upstairs in the bedroom, it looks like the bay's dropping, you've got cracks.

Is that to do with the instalment of the windows?

Yes, I believe it is. I think it was when they put the replacement window in the bedroom

that they didn't prop up the bay properly, so it's dropped slightly.

But I understand it's not a problem structurally at all, it just needs levelling out.

'Nicky is also going to get the unregistered freehold title sorted out,

'which will tidy up the property's paperwork.

'What are her plans regarding the renovation?'

Internally, all ceilings will be skimmed, all the walls will be replastered,

new kitchen, bathroom, rewiring.

And then outside, the pointing needs doing, damp course and quite a bit of landscaping, front and back.

-So, yeah, quite a bit to keep me busy.

-Quite a lot to be getting on with.

-What sort of look are you going for?

-I think where it's got a lot of character,

I want to try and balance it between still keeping that

but bringing in some quite modern ideas, as well. So really striking a balance.

'Nicky wants to rent the house out to a family eventually

'and has a budget of around £35,000 to £37,000 for the makeover.

'She's hiring a team of builders who'll live and work on site

'and hopes it'll be finished within six to eight weeks.'

Who will project manage this? Who is going to be casting their beady eye over the work?

Well, I'll be involved in a lot of decisions,

but somebody else is actually going to be really leading the project.

But with regards to type of flooring and bathroom and kitchens,

that would be me.

So you've got all the fun stuff to do! That's not fair!

-All the hard work is left to somebody else!

-That's right!

-It's been lovely to meet you. Good luck with this.

-Thank you.

-I really like this house and I'm sure you're going to do a great job.

-That's very kind.

-Thank you.

I love this house, despite its damp, and I think Nicky has bought well.

It is a big one, though, for a first project.

I hope she's properly prepared. Find out how she gets on later in the programme.

'Coming up, I see that these little bungalows in Glasgow are really pretty spacious, but...'

In terms of the internal layout, it's disastrous!

'We return to Hampshire to find the damp problem was worse than expected.'

We ended up having to rebuild some walls, the kitchen floor had to be replaced.

'But first, in Cornwall, the schedule's been ripped up.'

We initially said six months.

But maybe that was a little bit optimistic.

'We're back in Delabole, Cornwall, where local couple Lee and Andrea

'bought this five-bed detached house at auction for £190,000.

'And it seemed as if fate was playing its part.'

We'd driven by two or three times and said, "Oh, if only that came on the market,

-"it would suit us down to the ground."

-No!

I was at work one day and Ange rang me up, "You'll never believe it, there's an auction sign up."

-Wow. So it's meant to be.

-Hopefully, yeah.

-You made it happen.

'The plan for this place was to redesign the interior, which was a boxy mish-mash of rooms

'and ill-fitted fixtures, and turn it into a spacious family home.

'We've returned almost two years later

'to find out how the story has progressed.

'Although not quite complete yet, the transformation is amazing.

'The sitting room originally had two fireplaces,

'but now has one in the centre of the room.

'At the back, Lee and Andrea have built a large extension.

'Inside, there's going to be a huge dining room and kitchen with doors looking out onto the garden.

'The smaller front room has also been replastered and prepared for decoration.

'Upstairs, it's a similar story for the four main bedrooms.

'But a completely new use has been found for the box room.'

OK, this used to be the box room,

which we've taken out and put a staircase up into the loft,

which, in future, we're going to make a bedroom, an en suite,

a master bedroom and a master en suite.

'That's a great idea. The property definitely lacked a master bedroom

'and it's worth sacrificing a box room for that.

'And the bathroom is well underway.'

In the bathroom, we went for an L-shaped bath.

This gave us more room to put a shower unit in.

We went for the textured tiles.

Even though they're a little bit more expensive than the other tiles we were looking at,

we really liked these so we decided just to go for the feature wall

and a little more behind the sink.

Lee put lights on under the bath

to create a little bit more atmosphere when you're soaking in the bath.

We've got under-floor heating to keep your toes nice and cosy.

And also we've got a towel rail to go here.

And then that should be the bathroom finished.

'Lee and Andrea have certainly done a great job of redesigning this house.

'It has taken a lot of time and energy, especially as Lee has done most of the work himself,

'along with the help of some very good friends.

'All this while still working full-time.

'And there's another reason it's taken two years to get to this stage.'

I had my daughter last year.

# Baby, baby

And she's now 11 months old.

So she's taken up a lot of my time.

# Baby, baby

'I bet she has! But at least little Isabella won't be short of space here.'

She'll have a choice of bedrooms.

We're not sure which one she's going to have yet.

She might have a bedroom and a play room.

But there'll be a lot of space for her and any other brothers or sisters that come along.

'Not sure anyone's told Lee about that!

'But with everything that's going on for Lee and Andrea,

'it's not surprising the schedule ran over.'

We initially said six months, but maybe that was a little bit optimistic.

I think, when we got into the house and had a look around,

it opened up a whole new can of worms where we found other problems

and decided, "Let's do it right now."

We weren't going to do the extension, we were going to move in,

but we thought, with the mess, let's do it all now and get it finished

and if it takes two years, then it takes two years or three years, so be it.

But we'll get it how we want it at the end.

'It looks as though Lee and Andrea's efforts have been well worth it

'and they'll end up with a fantastic family home.

'But how has this affected their original £20,000 budget?'

I think we've spent just over £30,000 at the moment,

so we are running over-budget.

We've probably got another £5,000 to spend, cos most of the things have been purchased now.

'Lee and Andrea bought the property for £190,000

'and will have spent approximately £35,000 on the development,

'making a total outlay of around £225,000.

'So what impact does this have on the value here?

'We asked two local property experts for their opinions.'

The layout's pretty solid for family use.

Great farmhousey kitchen across the back looking over what will become the garden

and a nice layout of four pretty-near double bedrooms and a bathroom up here.

Whilst it's not totally finished yet,

if they carry on with the quality of work that they've started,

there could be the makings of a really high-class home here.

The layout is good. There's a nice element of flow around the property.

I would say the best selling point would be the open-plan kitchen-diner

opening out onto the back garden.

It's a really nice family space

which, once finished, will look really good.

'Great feedback on Lee and Andrea's hard work, then.

'So what could the house be worth once it's finished?'

When the house is done and in all its glory,

it'll be worth about £265,000, £275,000 perhaps.

The resale value of this property will be £275,000.

OK, yeah. I'm very happy with that, to be honest.

-Yeah. 265, 270 is about what we expected.

-So, yeah, brilliant.

'A fantastic result for Lee and Andrea. Not only have they created a wonderful family home

'but they can relax in the knowledge that they have quite an asset should they sell in the future.

'Speaking of which, what's next for this young family?'

-We've got to arrange a first birthday party.

-Yep.

And then really crack on with the house and get it finished.

Get the flooring down and the carpets chosen and maybe some colour schemes for the walls

and all the stuff that I like.

I'm in Shettleston, traditionally regarded as a family area of Glasgow.

Not necessarily your first choice when it comes to property investment, but all that could be set to change

because in 2014, Glasgow is holding the Commonwealth Games

and the velodrome, swimming pool and village centre are all going to be very close to here,

so it could be that you need your trainers on to keep up with the property race.

The property, or properties, I'm here to see is a rather interesting proposition.

It's two semi-detached bungalows which are being sold as one lot.

They have a guide price of £85,000 to £95,000. Each has got one bedroom.

The big question is, will it be two for the price of one or double the trouble?

# I got double trouble

# I got double trouble

# I got double trouble

# Twice as much as anybody else, oh, yeah

'So you get two houses for around that guide price of £85,000.

'From the front, they don't look too bad,

'but the fact they're boarded up hints that they're in need of some TLC.'

Straight away, you can see, in very shabby condition inside,

although a real bonus, the height of the ceiling is very unusual for a bungalow

and it gives a great sense of space.

In terms of the internal layout, it's disastrous!

You've got this big room at the front, which could be a bedroom.

This large central area, which is a complete wasted space.

Another room there, which I presume is a rear sitting room.

Straight away I'm thinking surely you must be allowed to play around with this,

change the layout to give you at least two bedrooms.

Then through to the rear, where there's a reasonable sized lounge,

so you wouldn't be losing anything by making that into two bedrooms.

Then through into the kitchen.

So, all in all, a very, very, very large amount of space.

'I'm surprised by the Tardis-like qualities of these properties.

'But you'd certainly need to change the layout.

'The bathroom is tiny and crammed into the hallway area.

'And next door isn't looking great, either.

'Because this one has less furniture, you can see cracks in the walls

'and that porch area is in a right old state.

'But you'd be off your trolley not to see the potential here.'

There is some good news, because planning permission has been passed

to go up into the roof and add another bedroom.

That's going to save you at least two to three months

and, when it comes to renting this place out, you want to get your money in as quickly as you can.

'But would there be demand for two renovated bungalows around here?

'To find out, I invited a local estate agent along to tell me more.'

Shettleston probably sits about four miles away from Glasgow city centre.

It's easy to get to Glasgow city centre from here

and there's a wide variety of amenities and shops within the locale.

I've worked this area for a long time

and I didn't know this property existed.

So it's unusual to find such a unique, traditional bungalow style

in this part of Shettleston, because there's a mixture of council properties, cottages,

cottage flats, so this one kind of stands alone in that it's a wee bit different.

'Being the only bungalows like this in the vicinity is surely a good selling point,

'especially if they were extended.

'So, after renovation work has been finished on both,

'what rental potential does each one have?'

I would suggest a rental figure of somewhere between £450 and £500 per calendar month per unit.

'Not bad. And if sold on?'

I would estimate that each property, if it was refurbished,

would probably be worth about £95,000 to £100,000 per unit.

Well, you do get two properties for that £85,000 to £95,000 guide price,

but as you can see, they are in a right old state.

Still, that planning permission is good news

and I think it could turn these two very shabby bungalows into desirable properties.

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

Next is lot number 29, a pair of semi-detached bungalows

offering a redevelopment opportunity if wished.

Looking for an opening bid of just £60,000.

£60,000 I've got, straight in.

£60,000. Who's coming back at 65?

£65,000. 65 I've got.

70,000. £70,000 it is. 75.

Is that 80, sir? 80,000 it is. At £80,000.

£80,000. 85.

85. 90,000. 90,000 it is.

£90,000. I'll go 92 if it helps.

£92,000. Yes, 92. I'll go 93 if it helps you, sir. 93.

93 it is. £93,000.

94. £95,000.

Shake of the head. It's your bid at £95,000.

£95,000. Are we all done?

Last chance. I'm going to sell at £95,000.

Anyone else coming in? Be very quick now.

Last chance. £95,000. Sold.

Congratulations, sir. And your bidding number is? Number 245.

'That successful bid of £95,000 came from David.

'He owns a double-glazing business and develops property on the side.

'I met up with him to hear about his plans.'

-David, good to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this pair of bungalows.

Basically, I've been born and brought up in this area,

so I've always had my eye on them and I've seen them deteriorate over the years

-and I thought it'd be a good investment.

-So what about them other than familiarity did you like?

It seems as if it's the only two bungalows in the street that aren't done up to a reasonable standard,

-so hopefully we can get them up to that reasonable standard and make a profit.

-They're big inside.

-They're deceiving from the outside. I didn't realise when I bought them.

-How do you mean?

I thought they were one-bedroom bungalows but there's a few rooms and an extension at the back.

-So you'd not seen them inside before you bought them?

-No, we couldn't get in the property when we turned up.

And presumably the planning was a big draw, as well.

-I didn't know about that, either.

-You didn't know about the planning?

-Not at all. That was a bonus.

-No kidding!

-Once we got them through, it was a bonus.

'You know what I'm going to say, don't you?

'Buying properties at auction without viewing them beforehand or looking at the paperwork is a bonkers approach.'

# Bonkers

'Thankfully, in this case, David has actually lucked out, both in terms of space and the planning approval.

'And there was the price he paid at auction.'

-Would you have paid more for them?

-Yes.

-How much more?

-I think we would've gone up to about £75,000 each for them, but they were 43 each.

So you paid 95 for them and you would've gone to 150?

Yes, 150, that was our budget.

-So you saved yourself 55 grand.

-Yes.

It's the first time I've bought a property at an auction,

but what a buzz I got from it. Afterwards, I felt really pleased.

What are you going to do with the extra money?

-Basically, I bought another property at that auction.

-Did you?

-Yeah.

-That one was walk-in condition, so it's rented out now.

-Wow!

'David's done well with these bungalows.

'Although this was his first auction purchase, he's been a developer for some time.'

I started buying property when I was about 17, so every year I've bought one property,

but this year we've bought three.

It's just more of a nest egg for when I retire.

-Right. How big is your portfolio now?

-I have about 14 properties.

So that gives your age away a bit. That's great.

-So the idea is to buy, do up and rent out, then?

-Yes.

-What are you going to do with them?

-We'll look at planning permission and just get them renovated

and get them up to a reasonable standard.

Right. What about the internal layout?

-Cos it struck me when I first saw them that it's terribly bad use of space.

-Yeah.

It's something that I'll get my builders to come in and look at

and we'll get it redrawn up exactly how we want it

and get things moved about exactly where we need them.

-Are you going to convert it from one bedroom to more?

-Yes, hopefully there'll be three bedrooms.

-Three?

-Yeah, because hopefully we can take something upstairs.

-Ah, of course.

# Now there are three

# Steps to heaven

'Going up into the loft to create a third bedroom

'will take David closer to rental income heaven. But how much will he need to spend?'

I think it'll cost between £35,000 and £40,000 to get them up to a reasonable level.

-Per property?

-Per property.

We were hoping about £100,000, each one would cost us, for each bungalow,

so we've got 57 to play with in each one,

but hopefully it'll be between 35 and 40.

'David's given himself a generous year to complete the project.

'As he has a double-glazing business and rental properties to manage,

'he'll bring in a team of professionals to do the work.'

At the start, I was very hands-on, but now, because of the size of us,

I basically have to manage everything, so I'm just on a managerial status now.

-Do you miss the hands-on stuff?

-Yeah, I do.

I miss the idea of going into customers' houses

and the banter you have with customers. You don't have that anymore.

So it's just guys that are all babies that you look after now.

-Well, we look forward to seeing it. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Well, what a doubly positive result for David.

Not only did he get the properties for £55,000 less than he was willing to spend,

but he discovers there's planning permission on them, which he didn't know about. Fantastic.

A year to get them sorted out is a long time, and that's money which could be in the bank from rentals,

so I hope it's quicker than that.

You can find out how he gets on later in the show.

Well, time has passed since we last saw our plucky buyers.

-Ah. Have they been firing on all cylinders?

-Let's go back and find out.

'We're back in the Southampton suburb of Shirley,

'where local lady Nicky bought this three-bed detached house at auction for £163,000.

'She wanted to get into property developing and this was her first project.

'The main problem with this renovation was obvious as soon as you entered.'

-What about the smell of damp when you walk in? It really does hit you.

-It does, yeah.

There was a flood at Christmas but it wasn't discovered for a couple of weeks,

so that's a result of that, so that'll be the first job, to dry the property out.

'Once the damp was addressed, plus one or two other problems, Nicky's plan was to renovate the house

'with her team of builders so she could use it as a rental machine.

'We've returned three months later to see how the development has turned out.

'Straight away, coming through the front door, you're no longer struck by the smell of damp

'or a rotting interior, but by the fantastic transformation

'Nicky and her team have managed here.

'Under the stairs, which was basically dead space,

'a downstairs toilet has been installed.

'The large sitting room with its out-of-date fireplace

'now looks as good as new.

'And it's a similar story in the dining room.

'Next to the dining room, the kitchen had really needed updating,

'and Nicky has certainly delivered on that.'

I decided to go for cream units and wooden worktops and also a wooden floor, as well.

The tiles, I decided to go for the mosaic design

because I was slightly restricted by the curve round here,

and with small tiles, you get the flexibility to be able to tile that area.

This is the window that was slightly raised to enable the sink to be put in,

and that also gave the chance for more work surface, as well.

'Moving upstairs, all three bedrooms have been given the same treatment.

'And the window in the front bedroom, which was previously crumbling, has been repaired.

'The bathroom has also been removed and entirely replaced.

'Now there is a superb finish on the property

'and no sign of any damp. How was that tackled?'

There were two problems. There was the flooding at Christmas because of a burst pipe,

so we ended up having to rebuild some of the walls,

the kitchen floor had to be replaced.

And also there was an issue with damp, which was mainly due to the driveway,

which had constantly been built upon layer upon layer

so it's actually obscuring the damp course.

So that resulted in a few problems.

The driveway had to be dug up and re-levelled.

So, basically, it meant it was a bigger job than was first anticipated.

'That damp problem turned out to be quite a headache,

'but thanks to thorough investigation and a new damp-proof course, it's all sorted now.

'But how did that affect the budget?'

The budget actually ended up being £10,000 over the anticipated cost.

Initially, I was looking at 35 to perhaps 37.

The final figure was 47.

A lot of that was the extra work that had to be done on the exterior with regards to the driveway

and also the extra work as a consequence of the damp problem and the flooding.

'An overspend of £10,000 is a bitter pill to swallow.

'But as Nicky plans to keep the house as an investment,

'getting all the work done properly was paramount

'and has given her vital experience.'

As a first project, it probably was quite adventurous and if I didn't have the support of the builders

and the help and guidance that I did have, I undoubtedly would've struggled,

so I was lucky to have the support I did.

'Nicky bought the property for £163,000

'and has spent 47 grand on the development,

'adding up to a total £210,000.

'So has her first venture been a success?

'We asked two local estate agents for their appraisal.'

It's a lovely size family property in a sought-after location and it's been decorated to a high standard.

The bedroom sizes are ideal for the rental market and sharers.

It would appeal to professionals who work at the hospital

and young families.

My first impression of the property from walking in, it's like a new home.

It's like a show home. It's been fully refurbished and it looks very nice.

I think, at this moment in time, this property is better off

as a rental property. I think it'll generate a good income.

'All positive. And it seems Nicky's idea of renting it out is spot on.

'How much could she achieve?'

I'd expect this property to achieve £995 per calendar month.

I'd expect it to achieve around £1,000 per calendar month.

I'm very pleased with those values, yes. It's above what I thought, to be honest. So that's very good news.

'Bonus. Nicky's first project seems to be paying off.

'On those numbers, she looks to be in for a yield of almost six percent.

'In the current climate, you won't find a return like that by investing in a bank.

'But if she were to sell, what kind of price could she be looking at?

'Remember, her total outlay here is £210,000.'

If I was to put this property on the market for sale, I would expect to achieve £235,000.

If I was to put this property on the market for sale today, I'd put it on for £249,950.

-I prefer the £249,950.

-SHE LAUGHS

No, really pleased with that valuation.

# Smiley faces

# Smiley faces

'Nicky's got every reason to smile.

'Despite her budget overspend, she could still make a pre-tax profit of between £25,000 and £40,000

'if she changed her mind and decided to sell.

'So, is she pleased with her first project?'

I'm really pleased with how the project's gone

and I'll definitely do another one.

It's been a learning curve, as well, but thoroughly enjoyable.

'We're back in Shettleston, a suburb of Glasgow,

'where these two one-bedroom bungalows sold at auction for £95,000 to David.

'He owns a glazing company but also develops property on the side.

'David was so taken with them that he bought them without seeing how spacious they were inside.

'But that wasn't his only surprise.

'The properties came with planning permission to extend and convert the attic space.'

Presumably, the planning was a big draw, as well.

-I didn't know about that, either.

-You didn't know about the planning?

-Not at all. That was a bonus.

-No kidding!

-Once we got them through, it was a bonus.

# Oh, lucky you

# If it's really true, oh, lucky you

'With planning permission already in place, David intended to turn these tired old bungalows

'into three-bedroom family homes within a year.

'But we've come back just six months later to see how things have moved on.

'Well, clearly a lot of work has been carried out,

'although the renovation is not yet complete.

'The exterior of the properties used to be completely overgrown,

'but that has now all been cleared in preparation for turf to be laid.

'The old windows have been removed and new frames installed

'ready to be glazed when the refurbishment is finished.

'Inside, all the downstairs rooms have been stripped back to their bare walls and replastered.

'The bathroom, which was totally outdated, has been removed and will all be modernised.

'What used to be the lounge is now destined to be the dining room.

'At the back of the house, off the dining room,

'the old kitchen has made way for a new, more contemporary layout.'

Downstairs, the houses are set out in exactly the same way.

We have our bedroom number one here, there's the dining room here and the kitchen right behind,

the toilet right behind me and the lounge here.

We've redone all the plaster work in the house.

The plumbing has been redone and all the electrics have been redone.

'David's opened up the downstairs living space.

'But it's upstairs that's seen the biggest change.'

# Change

# Nothing stays the same

'He had planned to make these bungalows into three-bed houses,

'but it seems he's managed to get four bedrooms in.

'And all a very decent size.'

# Nothing stays the same

'With a bathroom, as well.

'Extending into the roof has made a massive impact on the size

'and, potentially, the value of these former bungalows.

'But it wasn't all plain sailing.'

The roofs were a slight problem, because we started doing them in the winter time

and the snow stopped us from working.

But the most drastic part of the build was getting the roofs up.

Once they were up, everything was quite quick.

'It's taken six months to get to this point and David reckons they should take another two months to complete.

'How's he fared with the finances?'

So far, we've spent about £40,000 on each property.

I think another £17,000 on each property should be sufficient to get them finished off.

'Wow! That's a total spend of £114,000 on renovations alone.

'A definite challenge when managing the cash flow.'

I think, because this is the first big refurbishment I've done,

what we've learnt is you do need a massive cash flow to keep the builds going.

Without that, they would come to a stop dead quick. They eat up the money.

'This is a serious investment on David's part, and because of what's at stake,

'he's changed his mind about what he'll do with the houses once they're finished.'

Because we've done so much work in the house, I think renting the properties,

if somebody came in and didn't treat it right,

I wouldn't be happy at all, so I think we're going to sell them.

'David bought the properties for £95,000

'and estimates refurbishment costs of £114,000,

'making his likely outlay about £209,000.

'So, have the changes he's made

'increased the value of these two bungalows?

'We asked some local estate agents for their thoughts.'

Amazing. Quite a transformation since when I was here previously.

He's replastered all the walls, skirtings, fascias. It's looking good.

Well, he's obviously decided to make the property larger,

maybe go for a family home rather than something smaller to rent out,

which is great because in the area,

there's not a huge amount of properties of this size, so he's probably gone for the right choice.

The properties increased in size from one bedroom to four bedrooms

and, surprisingly, the rooms are very spacious

and a very good family size.

At the moment, there is a reasonable amount of work to complete them,

including bathrooms and windows,

but apart from that, it's mainly cosmetic.

'So, once the finishing touches have been done,

'what kind of price could David expect to achieve when he puts them up for sale?'

Upon completion, I think the resale of these properties would be

between £145,000 and £150,000 each.

When the properties are completed,

I think, in the current market conditions and subject to a satisfactory home report,

they would each fetch in the region of £155,000.

I think that's exactly what I was looking for. Relieved.

'No wonder he's relieved. Those valuations could give David

'a pre-tax profit of between £81,000 and £101,000, minus the usual selling expenses.'

# Go on, take the money and run

# Go on, take the money and run

'With the amount of capital riding on this development,

'David has decided to sell rather than rent out these properties.

'But even with the estate agents' rental values at between £650 and £750 each per calendar month,

'David's just satisfied that he has certainly transformed these old bungalows.'

It's really nice to see them. From when I was younger, they had gone down to such a bad standard

and now they're starting to look really nice again. It gives you a wee breath of fresh air.

-We'll see you again soon when more brave bidders hit the auction room.

-See you then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

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