Episode 64 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Now, if you're buying property,

you'll want to make sure that you're buying at the right price. Not always easy!

So how do you know what the market is doing? Will it rise or will it fall?

Well, one way is to take a trip to your local auction house.

Now, auctions are very exciting and it can be quite tempting to buy,

but to stand the best chance of success you need to do your homework first.

So let's see what properties created interest on today's programme.

I'm in my element in this garden in Perthshire.

One of the nicest things is you've got your own little summer house. I love sheds and summer houses!

In Hampshire, is there potential in this rather slim-line property?

One room, do with it what you will!

And I think this three-bed house in Derby needs a bit of reorganising.

Because, as it is, it's all a bit "corridory"!

All these properties have been sold at auction.

We find out who bought them and for how much when they went under the hammer!

Sold!

-BAGPIPES PLAY

-Misty hills,

ancient royal palaces and roaming wildlife. Yes! We are in the heart of Scotland in Perthshire,

specifically Scone, a village near Perth.

It's just an hour's drive to Edinburgh and half an hour to Dundee.

It's home to the famous Scone Palace where the Kings of Scotland were once crowned.

But, hopefully, the property I'm here to see won't cost a king's ransom!

So, not surprisingly, Scone is a really desirable place to live.

So when you hear about a five-bedroom detached property up for auction,

with a guide price of £305,000-£315,000, it's time to get very excited.

And you know what? From the outside, it looks pretty big!

Fantastic!

And there's loads of space out the front to park a couple of cars!

It's all promising so far.

Well, inside this place does not disappoint. You come through the door and it is huge.

Lots of rooms going all over the place. You've got a downstairs loo, there, kitchen there,

dining room, whatever it is, over that way. It's so big that you might even consider splitting the house up

maybe to create a granny annex or just a separate little flat.

But, on the other hand, why not just make the most of it as it is? I mean, look at this lounge!

It's absolutely huge! What a wonderful family home this would make.

It's great. You've even got your own fireplace here.

I can just imagine the invites from the local gentry there to the local garden party...

yeah...wonderful.

# Let's have a party... #

OK, so I'm getting a little bit carried away,

but it's tempting to imagine this house

brimming with friends and family at parties and social occasions, but how about upstairs?

Well, upstairs here, the space just goes on and on and on.

I mean, there are five bedrooms, a family bathroom, there's a little en-suite here.

I mean, it's just superb. What is there not to like about this property?

In fact, you know what? If Scone Palace up the road was full, this place would be fit for a king!

And out the back, there's plenty of space for a royal garden party!

Well, at the rear of the property there is a really good-sized garden.

In fact, the whole house is surrounded by some really nice patches of garden.

At the side there, there's another bit.

Across the road, actually, you own a small bit of land which you could use as a vegetable plot, perhaps,

but, more importantly, it preserves your view

across to the playing fields or whatever that is over there.

But, in terms of the garden,

one of the nicest things is you've got your own little summer house. I love sheds and summer houses!

So this just tops it off!

# And the summer house

# Where we found new games to play... #

I'm certainly enjoying playing with the remote control for the garage round the front.

This place really has it all...

spacious rooms, a huge garden, beautiful surroundings,

and all at a guide price of between £305,000 and £315,000.

But, to get a second opinion,

I've invited the auctioneer who sold the property to give me his thoughts on it.

Scone's a village about two miles north of Perth,

and Perth itself is an hour from Edinburgh.

There's a railway station, it's got good links,

it's a good jumping-off point also to Dundee which is only about half-an-hour to the east.

My first impression of the property was that it was a good-sized family house,

plenty of potential here. A total of five bedrooms, couple of bathrooms,

good-sized family/public accommodation ,

really nice house, well-built.

The house itself looks as though it could do with a coat of paint on the outside,

but otherwise it's in very good condition.

It's got a nice bit of mature garden ground to the front and rear.

There is also a small area of ground across the road, directly opposite the house,

which doesn't look big enough to do any development on,

but has the benefit of securing the view across the open playing fields.

The house doesn't need much work doing to it,

just a spruce-up with some new fresh paint and decoration.

So, what could it resell for once the work has been done?

I would have thought we're probably looking at £350,000, perhaps £360,000, once it's all done up.

What if the purchaser wanted to rent it out?

In terms of rental value, I'm not sure how strong the market would be for this type of property.

It would have to be an executive let,

and I would have thought you must be talking in terms of perhaps £1,000 a month.

So, a lot of property for the money, and the nice thing is it's pretty much ready to move in as it is.

It would make a great family home. Not only have you got the five bedrooms,

you've got all those separate areas downstairs for the kids to be in one bit, Mum and Dad in the others.

No, it's brilliant. A bit of work to do inside, especially getting rid of all the woodchip,

but for £305,000-£315,000, a great one to go for. Let's see who spotted it at the auction.

OK, lot 21.

What are we going to say for this? 250?

Thank you, sir. 250. Sitting down in the front. 250.

Do I have 260 anywhere?

I've got 250... 260. Thank you, sir. 260.

270?

It's against you, sir. 270?

270.

280?

280.

290? Take a half at 285?

285? 285.

290?

290.

295? Shaking his head.

It's with you, sir, at 290. 295 anywhere?

295 at the back. 295.

300?

300. Thank you, sir. 300.

305? 305?

No further bids at the back at the moment at 305...

At 300, it's with you, sir. It's against you, sir, in the black jacket down here.

I'm going to sell at 300,000 if that's the best we can do.

I'm looking for 305. I'll take 1 if it helps anybody.

301 anywhere?

We all done? At £300,000,

going once, twice, third and final time.

Gentleman halfway back.

That successful bid of £300,000 was from Lee and his wife Kawa.

Kawa, who is originally from South Korea, and Lee already live in Scone

and have had their eye on this property for a while.

# The more I see you

# The more I want you... #

Lee's an offshore electrician,

while Kawa is a full-time mum to their two children, Conner and Kayleigh.

Along with their two dogs, this house is going to be a bustling family home.

I met them back at the property to find out more.

Lee, Kawa, lovely to meet you both. Congratulations. How was the auction for you?

Daunting! First one I've done, the biggest purchase I'll probably make and it was quite scary.

It was very rushed, I would say...

from us seeing the house, doing a viewing... We then went away on our anniversary to Paris,

came back from Paris on the Monday,

got the viewing and the survey...

and finally...got the solicitor on the Tuesday, and the auction was on the Wednesday,

so it was a bit of a rush.

It may have been a rush, but it turned out brilliantly for them in the end,

since they paid just £300,000. That was £5,000 under the lower guide price.

Not bad for your first time at auction!

So, how did you two meet?

I was working in a shipyard, Daewoo Shipyard, over in South Korea,

-commissioning to oil rigs...

-Right.

-And I met Kawa over there.

-Wow!

-So it was just fell in love and then she came back over to the UK with me.

-Wow!

-Fantastic! Do you know the area well, then?

-We've lived in Scone for nine years now,

so we've just moved up the road, just to a bigger house, basically. We love the area.

-A bigger house and closer to the school as well.

-Yeah.

-The school's right in front of the house.

-The school your children go to is right across the green?

-Across the road, yeah.

So basically they just go across the street and into school and come back for lunch.

They're going to love it.

-So have they seen the house?

-They love the space.

-They love it.

And the bathroom as well. They always argue about the bathroom, the one bathroom,

but now there's three, so I think they're going to be happier.

-So no more waiting outside, banging on the door?

-No!

I think one of the best things is we've got the spare bedroom

for my mother to come so she can baby-sit more.

-Best thing!

-That's the best thing.

Perfect! There's even room for a babysitting grandma when she comes to visit.

This house is perfect for a family.

Loads of space for the two kids to grow up in, especially that garden.

Lee and Kawa hope to move in as soon as possible and rent out their current house.

They'll do the renovations while they live here.

The work may be a little stop and start with their busy lifestyle,

so they reckon it'll take six months to do up.

What exactly are they planning to do here?

Kawa wants to...that wall behind us...she wanted to open-plan it,

but I prefer to have two separate rooms,

so we've come to a compromise. We're going to put in glass opening doors between here and the dining room,

cos we do have quite a lot of parties and entertain quite a lot,

so we want to have the ability to extend into that room.

That sounds like a great compromise.

A glass door should allow plenty of natural light to flood into the kitchen

from those south-facing dining-room windows.

And there are exciting plans for those bathrooms too.

-The bathrooms we're wanting to make into wetrooms...

-All the bathrooms.

-All tiles.

-All tiled, yeah.

-Cos in Korea that's what they have. It's more efficient and practical.

-And who's going to do the work?

-I'm going to do a lot.

I've got friends who are in the building trade as well. My best friend's a joiner,

so he's going to come in and do a lot of work with me.

I'm, obviously, an electrical engineer, I'm going to do the electrical side of things.

Kawa's going to be doing some painting, I think.

-So...

-Your uncle's going to help us.

-Yeah, my uncle's an architect,

so he's going to help us with all the plans and anything we need.

Seems like they're sorted, then. And with a budget of between £10,000 and £15,000,

there should be more than enough money in the pot.

Well, what a great property this is for Lee, Kawa and their family.

Even the dogs can have their own room now!

But, you know what? Doing this place up while living in it is never going to be easy,

so find out how they get on turning this house into a home later in the show.

I'm in Totton in Hampshire. Its main claim to fame is that is used to be the largest village in England,

until it was promoted to being a town in 1974.

# This is my kinda town... #

Totton has great road and rail links,

handy for commuting to nearby Southampton, Bournemouth or Salisbury.

The property I'm here to see has had a somewhat varied history.

Now, it's been a bookie's, a cobbler's, a dentist's and, finally, a sandwich shop!

Well, today it's empty and it was up for auction with a guide price of £35,000-£40,000.

Let's get inside and see if it still cuts the mustard!

# I'm hungry for something

# But it seems so far away

# That sentimental sandwich

# That we shared one day... #

Even though it looks like it's got a great spot on the High Street,

the fact that so many different business have come and gone over the years

does make me concerned about how good passing trade is around here.

First impressions?

It's really small in here!

Not much room at all. You can see this is the old counter where they would have served the sandwiches.

Around here would have been where they prepared the sandwiches and done a little bit of washing-up.

And that's really it!

Not much more I can tell you. One room, do with it what you will!

I'm going to go upstairs.

You certainly wouldn't want to be running up and down these steep stairs

for jars of mayonnaise on a busy lunchtime.

So, up the narrowest stairs ever and it doesn't get any bigger up here!

You've got a little loo and a sink, but I would say it's a perfect little office space,

because you've got nice, big windows over here. So what could you do here?

Well, it's got A1 usage already, so that covers your shops, hairdresser's, sandwich bars,

although your punters couldn't eat their food on the premises.

It is a pretty broad category and it opens up plenty of options,

but it's not all about what you can do, it's about what you should do from a business perspective.

So, what is the best use for this little shop?

To find the answer to that, I think I need to go back outside.

As with many small towns, the building of the local bypass and out-of-town retail parks

has affected shops in the centre of Totton.

It certainly doesn't help that this property doesn't have any on-street parking for customers.

So this may be the High Street,

but I think that's really by name only,

because it's hardly a busy, bustling street, and that impacts on your options here.

You've got some houses, a few industrial buildings,

but little passing trade which may be why that sandwich shop is no more.

You really need to make this little commercial unit a destination

and that is the challenge for whoever takes this on.

# Take on me... Take on me

# Take me on... Take on me... #

At that guide price of £35,000-£40,000,

if they get it right, it could pay great dividends.

I asked along a local property expert to tell us what he thought.

The High Street in Totton,

like a lot of High Streets, probably it's become a secondary location.

It's really now more associated with small sort of commercial businesses.

The space is compact. Obviously the property's sort of like a one-up one-down arrangement.

There's no wasted space. You've got the storage room upstairs and a WC,

and the main preparation area, surface area downstairs.

What kind of business might succeed on this spot?

I think the sort of business that this is suited for is something that's got to draw in local trade,

cos there are a lot of businesses, more so commercial, round here.

So you're not going to get the footfall that the normal High Street would have got

with shoppers and that sort of thing, really.

So you've got to aim at something that's going to appeal to local businesses,

ie, their staff, that sort of thing.

It's not an easy business proposition,

but I think anybody willing to get really stuck in and work hard can make this business venture work.

So what valuation would he give the property as it stands?

Value for sale at the moment is probably between £35,000-£40,000.

For rental purposes you're probably looking at around £350 per calendar month.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a cheap investment.

Now, it doesn't need much work, but it does need imagination to make it a successful business.

Let's see which bright spark bought it at the auction.

Lot number 8, a single commercial unit over two floors.

Opening bidder at 30? Do we have a bidder of £30,000?

30,000 on the steps I have. 30,000 underway. Now I'll take this up in ones.

Looking for 31. I have a bid of 30.

31,000 I have got here, down here on my left. 31. 32?

No. 32 is no.

32? Somebody come? 32,000. Thank you. 32. It's all down this left-hand side. 33.

33 we have. 4?

34. Thank you.

35? 35's there. 36?

36 we have. 7?

Shake of the head. 36,000.

Needs 37,000 from somewhere else.

Back in at 37! Just chatting. 37. 38? Keep it on ones. Might make it do it.

38? Yeah?

38,000 we've got.

39? Shaking the head now. Told you it might do it. 38,000 I have got.

Anyone else wish to jump in? 38,000.

You are... 39.

39. Came in late.

Round it up to 40, might do the job. Took a long time coming back at that one.

40,000? Yeah.

40,000 we have got. 40,000 we have at the rear. Are you back in?

I'll give you the half now.

No? 40's with you, then, sir. Give anyone else a half a chance. It's at £40,000.

Make no mistake, we're in the room and selling. £40,000 that I have on my left-hand side for the first...

£40,000 for the second...

40,000, coming back, third and final time...

Well done. Your number? 40,000. Your number, please, sir.

They got there in the end. That successful bid of £40,000 came from brothers Jason and James.

They live locally and have bought this slim property, hoping for a fat return.

But what exactly have they got planned for it? I went in search of the answer.

# I've got a great idea

# Wouldn't you like to know?

# You probably can't bear it

# So I guess I'll have to share it

# I thought of it a moment ago... #

-Guys, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

£40,000 you paid. Quite a diddy little place, though, isn't it?

-Just a little bit!

-Yes, it's quite perky, yes.

-Just surprised we all got in here today.

So, first things first, what are you going to do with this? Why have you bought it?

Well, we thought it was a good investment at the price we paid.

And we're going to turn it, hopefully, into a barber's shop.

-Really?

-Mm-hm.

-Wow! So what's your background? Are you hairdressers?

-No, no, definitely not.

I'm a motor trader. Been in the business for about 20 years now.

-James?

-My game is transport. I've got a small transport company.

And this was just another outlet I thought I'd have a go at.

So, chaps, call me stupid... why have you decided to turn this into a barber's shop?

Well, it is kind of small to do anything else really with,

and we thought it we could take out the chimney breast here and give us some width,

there's room for two chairs here. Make it sort of quite trendy, nice tiled floors,

-nice full-length mirror, nice lighting...

-An inviting place

for the younger and older generation to come in and have their hair cut.

But you know nothing about hairdressing. Do you know any barbers?

-A couple of people have come forward. They want to have a go.

-We're starting to learn about it.

We'll find out as we go along. But we just wanted a place where we've not got to run it, basically,

it can run itself.

To help make it the snazziest barber's in town, they've set aside £5,000

plus an extra 1,000 as contingency. And they think they'll be finished in just one month.

So what are you going to do with the upstairs? You've got the narrowest staircase I think I've ever seen!

-I could just about get up there myself.

-It is very narrow.

We're going to gut the place upstairs as well, go right through it, pretty it up,

and I think we're both going to use it as an office for ourselves.

It's a handy one to have. Get rid of the paperwork at home and get the third bedroom back.

It might be a handy office space, but will the boys be doing much business?

I'm still a little worried about passing trade,

so do they think they'll be able to rustle up enough customers?

Well, we're hoping to, because just down the road there's a lorry park there,

we've got the local school not far away, a little bit busy up and down,

-and, hopefully, we should pick up some passing trade.

-Do you ever wake up and think,

"Hold on a minute! What are we doing? Are we really going to make this a success?"

No, we feel confident that we can do it and it'll be a success.

Well, I'm not worried about the lads' confidence or their business plan,

I'm not even worried about the renovation work they're going to do,

but I am worried about who's going to cut the hair!

# Who cut your hair?

# Who cut your hair...? #

So, have you got the staff ready? Are they ready, standing by?

-We've got one or two.

-You've got one or two? No, seriously, have you got the people to do the haircuts?

We've got someone who's really interested and wants to come and join us and give it a go.

-We need your men ready to shave heads standing by.

-They'll be here!

-It's sweet!

Once they see it all done, ready to go, been on your show...

-You won't be able to keep them away!

-They'll be in!

-Chaps, you're obviously really excited.

-It's been lovely meeting you both today.

-Thank you.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

So it's free haircuts all round!

Now I think Jason and James have got good plans for this place, but will it make money?

Well, that's not cut and dried.

You can find out if it's going to be a permanent success or a close shave later on in the show.

Coming up, I'm still perplexed by the layout of this property in Derby.

Again, very, very strange and not ideal at all.

Back in Hampshire it sounds like the deadline has gone out of the window.

What we thought we could do it in obviously changed when we started uncovering bad things.

And in Perthshire have Kawa's demands been too high?

She wanted to put underfloor heating throughout the whole house... that would have been a bit too much.

Now we're heading back to Scone in Perthshire,

where Lee and Kawa bought this massive five-bedroomed family home for £300,000.

They wanted it to become, well, THEIR new massive five-bedroomed family home!

We've lived in Scone for nine years now,

so we've just moved up the road, just to a bigger house, basically. We love the area.

-A bigger house and closer to the school as well.

-Yeah.

-The school's right in front of the house.

# Don't mind doing it for the kids... #

So it's handy for their two young children, Connor and Kayleigh, to get to school quicker,

but, even better, there was that huge garden for them and their two family dogs to play in.

Ten months later, we caught up with them to find how they've settled in.

# I'm gonna give it all of my lovin'

# It's gonna take up all of my love

# I'm gonna give it all of my lovin'

# It's gonna take up all of my love... #

There's no doubt that they've put their heart and soul into this place,

transforming it into a stunning family home.

Apart from the obvious decorating that's been done,

Lee, an electrical engineer, has rewired, refloored and replumbed throughout.

There's been some structural work too, but they decided against installing glass doors

leading through from the kitchen to the dining room.

They did have grander plans but, sadly, they didn't quite come off.

Yeah, we were going to knock the wall right back

and then open-plan it all,

but we found out it's a load-bearing wall so it's not possible to do that,

so we've had a look... investigated opening this area,

and when we started to take it back, we found that it was already open and had just been plastered up

and made into the window, so it was a lot easier than we thought it was going to be

to open it to the way we wanted it.

Yes, I think actually it worked out better.

Because one side is open plan and this other side is kind of a closed, cosy sitting area,

so I think it's better.

The kitchen isn't the only thing they've opened up here.

Somehow they managed to squeeze a bath into the upstairs bathroom.

-We found that the bath would fit in there perfectly...

-In the cupboard.

-In the cupboard.

So we put in the L-shaped shower-bath and then it opened up the whole room a lot better.

And the underfloor heating in there is just...it's great.

She wanted to put underfloor heating throughout the whole house... that would have been a bit too much.

Kawa is obviously a lady with luxury tastes. She may not have got all the underfloor heating she wanted,

but she did manage to furnish all the loos in the house with electric toilet seats,

perfect for those chilly winter months.

# Baby, you're sitting on a hot seat! #

Where I'm from, in South Korea,

it's quite normal to have electric toilet seats with a bidet.

It's great! It's warm.

It's hygienic... and the kids love it.

With Scone Palace just down the road,

I'm sure any passing dignitaries caught short would be more than happy to sit on this throne.

Originally, they wanted to make all the bathrooms wetrooms,

but time and money meant it was too big a job,

so they chose to do more work downstairs on the new kitchen and utility room.

So, basically, we've changed the floor in here from the ceramic tiles into this laminate flooring,

because the floor was damaged.

We've then went and opened this up here which was basically just a brick wall,

because the door went through there.

And, basically, we said it's more sensible to take the dogs into the utility room with their dirty paws

rather than into the kitchen and then into the utility room.

It's a great solution to help stop dogs' and children's feet dragging mud in from the garden.

# Dogs are everywhere

# Almost everywhere

# That I go... #

In fact, it's only the garden that's still awaiting a makeover,

but there are plans afoot for decking. That would be perfect for those visiting relatives

like Lee's mum Irene and Kawa's mum Chungwok.

The work on the house took around nine months which is already three months longer than they hoped,

but they did do a lot more than they had originally planned which, of course, affected the budget too.

I think we blew the budget out the water! It kind of... we overstepped it slightly.

I think we estimated between 10,000 and 15,000...

and it's more in the region of 30,000 we've spent.

But has it all been worth it?

We asked along two local property experts

to tell us what they thought of the work.

Absolutely stunning.

The property's been well laid out for family living

and it's been done very, very well.

I thought, "Wow! What a difference!"

When I saw this property back in November last year,

it was a cross between a typical sort of manse and a house that needed a lot of improvement.

It's just chalk and cheese.

They've taken a lot of time and thought into what they've done, particularly with the utility area.

Having two dogs in the family, it's nice to come into the utility area

and get dried off before you actually come into the house. They've thought the property through very well.

Well, the area they seem to have spent the most money on is doing the kitchen and the utility area.

And they've obviously installed a brand-new kitchen. It's a really impressive job.

Scone in Perthshire's a very popular location and something presented to this standard is very desirable.

So how much profit do the experts think Lee and Kawa have made here?

Remember they paid £300,000 at auction and have spent £30,000 on the work,

so the figure needs to be more than £330,000 to show a profit.

In the current marketplace, which is still a buyer's marketplace,

I would still expect this property to do somewhere between £380,000 and £385,000.

If we were putting this property on the market now, I would think £400,000 might be a fair figure.

-That's good!

-Yeah, very happy with that.

-Big difference now.

Yes. Oh, very good.

With that healthy potential pre-tax profit of up to 70 grand, all that hard work has paid off.

The family can finally sit back and enjoy their new home

and think about their plans for the future which are...

-To live here for...

-Ever.

# Together forever and never to part

# Together forever we two... #

I'm in Derby in the East Midlands.

It's home to a large university, Rolls-Royce, Crown Derby china,

and is also, reputedly, the real ale capital of Britain.

Well, Derby has a rich industrial heritage,

and one of the by-products of that is streets and streets of terraced houses.

They can all be a little bit samey, so how do you choose between them?

Well, location is the key, and the property I'm here to see certainly ticks those boxes.

It's very close to the city centre, the hospital is also really close by

which is good news when it comes to rental.

Three-bed mid-terrace at a guide price of £68,000. Let's take a look.

So what have we got? Well, through a nice double-glazed entrance there, but, oh...! Lovely!

Original features, that's what we're hoping for.

A little porch area here and this nice old door.

Nice original knobs and everything on it. We like that.

Oh, yes. All the doors are original. That's lovely.

Have those dipped and stripped. They'd cost you a fortune if you were to replace them.

They've got so much character more than modern doors.

Things like... you've got this tiled floor here.

I'm already thinking great, great, great!

There's lots of character left in this place.

And this is unusual. I mean, I must have been in hundreds of terraced properties in my time,

but I can't remember seeing one where the staircase is round this way.

I can't quite decide whether or not it works, because it does make this part of the house feel quite dark.

Maybe you could think about taking this wall out... I'm not sure.

Because as it is it's all a bit "corridory"!

The front reception room has already been stripped back to bare plaster.

A shame that the original fireplace has been removed, though.

One bonus is that the property was reroofed and had new double glazing installed a few years ago

under a government grant scheme.

So those are a couple of jobs you won't have to do here.

Down here... this is the second reception room.

And it's a nice size but it just feels a little bit isolated from the rest of the house.

And then yet more corridor which leads through to the kitchen,

right at the back of the property, and the fact you have to travel down all these corridors

just makes it feel even more isolated.

It's not a bad-sized space, though,

although this area here, which has got the only loo in the property in it,

I think should be integrated more with the kitchen. All in all,

this is just... I quite like the quirkiness, but as a layout I'm really not sure it works.

The rear reception looks out on to the patio area next to the kitchen,

but beyond that the garden is pretty big. Overgrown, yes, but potentially a real selling point.

And structurally the outside of the house looks fine with its new roof and windows.

Back inside the house, which went to auction guided at £68,000, there are three bedrooms

up on the first floor. They're all a good size, certainly doubles, but the third one is smaller.

Again, all stripped back,

but at least most of the original cast-iron fireplaces, if not always in situ, are still around,

and can be refitted.

Well, up here on the landing, some very interesting features.

First of all there's this roof light in the ceiling which lets light down into the stairway area here,

partly coming through an actual window light in the roof itself.

Well, it's nice feature and actually it's got stained glass in there, so that would be nice on a sunny day.

What I don't like, though, is this.

This is the only bathroom in the property,

and, as you can see, it's sort of tucked away here on the stairs.

It just doesn't work. There's no loo, that's right at the back of the property, as I said before.

All in all, you're going to have to play about with the layout

because again, very, very strange and not ideal at all!

And there's another stained-glass roof light above the bath.

There's a most peculiar layout in this place,

though in some respects that's also its charm.

But what does the auctioneer who sold it at auction

think of this property? It went under the hammer guided at £68,000.

It's a lovely old house.

It's Victorian, very genuine. It's not been spoiled, nothing's been done to it

to try and sort of drag it into the 20th century, let alone the 21st!

It's quite spacious, it's got a lovely feel about it.

I like it.

What I would do if it was my house is I would resite the bathroom,

I'd open up that landing area and make that a feature.

I suppose the obvious place to put it is in the back bedroom

and then you'd do a loft conversion and make a nice roof room.

As always, the crucial thing when considering a loft conversion or extension is...

don't expect more value from a house than the local market can afford.

So, is it viable here?

To do the sort of schedule that I've outlined is obviously going to cost quite a lot of money.

I think you probably would get the money back, you wouldn't make any profit on it,

but I think it would cover its costs.

If a buy-to-let investor were tempted by the house,

would they find tenants easily and what sort of income could they make?

Because we're right sort of right on the city-centre fringe,

we're not even quarter of a mile away from the city centre, it's a good letting area,

and this would rent out very readily,

and I guess you would probably get about £500 a calendar month for it.

What about a resell valuation once the renovations have been done?

Do a good renovation schedule on what is here,

somehow reconfigure the bathroom without doing a loft conversion,

I think you could probably push its value up to about £110,000.

If you did the loft conversion, you might be able to get up towards £120,000 for it.

Well, it's a bit of tired terrace, but sort it out with a new kitchen and bathroom and a tarting up,

I think you'll have a lovely property here. I like its quirkiness and I like the location.

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

Lot number 8.

It's a classical Victorian townhouse.

It's got scope for upgrading and improvement, but excellent potential to it,

all set out for you in your catalogue, lot number 8. What am I said for this one?

68's the guide price to start me.

Opening it at 65 to move on. He will, thank you. 65 I'm bid.

£65,000 opening bid.

66. 66,000.

67 is bid. 67. 68.

69. 70,000.

71, 72. 73?

It's in the market, it's going to get sold. The bid is £72,000.

73. 73, 4.

74,000. 75?

74 on the right.

75 quickly? At £74,000...I thought it might make a touch more.

At £74,000 and for the first time, second time, third and last opportunity. Any higher bid?

Sold at £74,000. Thank you.

That final bid of 74,000 was made by John. He's from Derbyshire and is no stranger to the auction room

as he's been a property developer for 20 years.

I caught up with him back at his latest purchase to find out more.

-John, congratulations. Nice place.

-Thank you.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

As an investment to pass on and make a profit on it.

-OK. So come in, do it up, sell it on, sort of thing?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Is this something you do?

-Yeah, I've been doing this for a number of years now.

So why this particular house?

Well, I think I can turn this round quickly. I can do it up and sell it.

I had an option of two when I went to the auction.

-And the first one went for 95,000 and I picked this up at 74.

-Right, and were they similar?

-Absolutely similar, yes.

-Oh, wow! So you saved yourself 20,000?

-Yeah.

-What do you put that down to?

-Cos there was nobody else interested in this one.

-Lucky dip, a bit of a lottery, really.

-What was it that you liked about it?

-Nothing specifically.

I mean, this house has got a new roof, it's got PVC windows, double-glazed units...

you know, that's a good part of the work done already.

-Apart from that, it's a mid-terraced house, nothing special.

-Unusual layout!

I haven't come across one before with the stairs going up the way they do. Have you seen that before?

I can't say that I have. But you were saying it's unusual... I just think it's a staircase...

leading to the first floor!

Well, John seemed to take a very practical rather than detached approach to property,

but, then, he has been developing for 20 years.

However, he hasn't always bought to do up and sell on as he has done in this case.

I did used to have a rental portfolio, I used to hang on to the houses and let them,

but in the last couple to three years I've been doing them up and selling them.

So, tell me exactly what you're going to do to this place?

Well, apart from a lick of paint, I'm going to rewire it,

put central heating in, new boiler, new kitchen, new bathroom...

new doors, internal doors...

-The doors are beautiful.

-Do you think so?

-Yeah! Why change them?

-I think they need upgrading.

-Ah, dip and strip them, they'll look beautiful.

-Add a bit of character.

-It's cheaper to buy a new door.

-It's not just about cheapness, it's character!

Well, possibly, yes. I know what you're saying...yeah.

Yeah...mmm.

I'm a developer, aren't I?

I haven't got time to be sympathetic.

Oh, well, obviously, pragmatism rules in John's world!

I personally think character features can help sell a property and add to its appeal.

But they do often mean renovation costs and in business it's usually the bottom line that counts.

I just hope that John doesn't rip the heart out of this place.

-So what sort of budget have you got for doing the work?

-I reckon I'll spend about 15k.

-OK.

And timescales?

-Two months.

-Do you do anything else other than buying and selling properties?

-Well, I run a maintenance business.

-Oh, OK.

-So the guys will do that?

-Yeah, the crew will come from that business.

So, John's maintenance team will do the work and it'll basically be a cosmetic overhaul.

He's keeping it simple and not planning any major layout changes or anything structural.

The only thing he might add is a bathroom in the utility area off the back of the kitchen.

This would allow the possibility of making the front reception room into an extra bedroom.

That might attract buyers wanting to purchase an investment property to let out.

-Well, good luck with it!

-Thank you.

-We look forward to seeing how you get on.

Well, I think John and I would have a heated discussion down the pub about property renovation.

I tend to try and keep character in a property, John being a little bit more pragmatic.

And if you're in this just for the money and the business, then I suppose that's how you should be.

How will he get on? Find out later in the show.

It's always very easy to put things off until tomorrow, but time is money and delays can be expensive.

So have our buyers been busy or let the grass grow underneath their feet? Let's go back and find out.

Now we're back in Hampshire

where this slim-line retail property in Totton sold at auction for 40,000.

Brothers Jason and James who both work in the transport industry

wanted to turn it into a barber's shop.

# Got a devil's haircut in my mind... #

But you know nothing about hairdressing. Do you know any barbers?

-A couple of people have come forward. They want to have a go.

-We're starting to learn about it.

Well, they may not know much about hairdressing,

but we caught up with younger brother Jason five months later

to see how much they know about renovation.

Well, there's a fresh sign on the window and inside it's all ready for business,

with tenants lined up and set to move in very soon.

Well, as you can see, we've taken away... This was all plastered and boarded up.

We discovered these nice spindles. Over this side, new sink, shower unit. There was an old kitchen here

that was pretty nasty. Taken that all down.

Chimney breast used to be here which created a lot more room through taking it out.

So, yeah, we're well pleased with it.

They've done really well to squeeze more space out of this rather narrow property.

There wasn't much they could do about those steep stairs,

but at the top they have managed to find space to install a shower in the bathroom.

Before it was a nasty yellow, covered in Artex, with a small sink and toilet,

pretty nasty...so we added a touch with a shower, new bathroom suite,

retiled all the way through full to the bottom.

Yeah, pleased how this turned out.

It's a welcome little extra for the staff to have that shower unit,

and it's certainly a lot more pleasant for them than that dingy old toilet.

Next door, the boys have decided against an office space and gone for a staff kitchen instead.

Well, I'd rather have a cup of tea than do my books any day!

Chimney breast was here which has opened it up a bit.

We took this out about a foot and a half so we can create the kitchen and make the bathroom a touch bigger,

and made it a good little chill-out room, I think, for the staff to come up and make a coffee

and wait for the next customer to come in.

The brothers' budget was five grand.

But they did have a contingency of 1,000, so how much did the work cost them?

Well, we're well pleased, we came in on £6,000.

So all good there, then, but not such good news on the timescale front,

as they'd originally planned for one month.

The timescale, what we thought we could do it in,

obviously changed when we started uncovering bad things.

and the timescale, it's been about five months.

When Jason and James' builders removed that chimney breast,

they discovered electrical problems and some damp,

but in an old place like this, that's par for the course.

But there was a much more interesting discovery about the building's past.

The guy next door had a book on Totton history and this building's in there.

And the very first thing it was used for was an abattoir, believe it or not.

But since then it's been a chip shop, a dentist, a betting shop, a cobbler's,

and now a barber's shop.

# One man's meat is another man's poison... #

So this is one property with a rich and varied history,

but will its new lease of life as a barber's shop make a neat and tidy profit?

We asked two local property experts

to tell us what they thought.

I think it's very nice, great little refurb. Nicely laid out.

They've made good use of the space, that sort of thing.

-I particularly like the staff kitchen upstairs.

-Well, it all looks good.

It's had a refurbishment. It's nice and light and bright

and attractive to a potential tenant.

I think the shower would be useful. Occupiers looking for a beauty use or salon-type use

will often need a shower for their facilities.

I think it'll work quite well as a business.

It'll get a certain amount of passing trade.

There are a number of commercial and industrial units dotted around, that sort of thing.

So the current owner's obviously done his research and I think running it as a barber's is a good idea.

Remember, Jason and James paid 40,000 for the property and spent £6,000 on the work.

That makes a total spend of £46,000 plus legal fees. So, have they added any value here?

I'd look to put this property on the market at £50,000.

I think with the right purchaser it could be worth up to £50,000.

Well, I think that's a bit of a low valuation.

You can't really buy much for £50,000, considering what we've done here.

I think that's very low.

Those may not be the kind of figures that Jason wanted to hear,

but remember the markets are not buoyant at the moment,

so in the future he could see an improvement. What do the experts think it could rent for?

On an annual basis, you'd look to achieve around £4,500 per annum.

I think it could be rented for approximately 3,500 a year.

The rental sounds a bit better than the sale price,

so quite happy with the rental price.

Those figures work out at between £290 and £375 per calendar month.

In fact, the brothers have managed to secure £600 a month from their tenants,

a tidy income of £7,200 a year. That just leaves one thing...

was there any sibling rivalry?

Well, we both stuck together. Obviously, sometimes, like brothers do,

you can disagree on something, but we get together in the end and make our decision and we agree on it.

We both worked well, got on with the job, got it finished and ready to roll.

# You gotta roll with it You gotta take your time

# You gotta say what you say Don't let anybody get in your way

# Cos it's all too much for me to take... #

Now we're back in Derby.

Remember this large three-bed terraced house? It sold at auction for £74,000 to John,

a full-time property developer who buys, renovates and sell houses on.

I was a bit worried about the scale of modernising he had in mind here,

especially on those lovely period features, like doors.

-The doors are beautiful.

-Do you think so?

-Yeah! Why change them?

-I think they need upgrading.

-Ah, dip and strip them, they'll look beautiful.

-Add a bit of character.

-It's cheaper to buy a new door.

-It's not just about cheapness, it's character!

Well, possibly, yes. I know what you're saying...yeah.

Yeah...mmm.

But John's a businessman through and through, and on top of developing he manages his own maintenance business

and has bought and sold countless properties.

So how have John and his team got on with his latest buy,

and will any of those original character features remain?

We've returned three months later to find out.

Well, everything has changed in terms of a full upgrade,

a full refurbishment has taken place.

We've put in two new bathrooms...

..new kitchen...

..rewired, new central-heating system, decorated, carpets, curtains,

a full scope of refurbishment, really.

It's light, bright, fresh as a daisy and modern to boot! A bit too modern for me, though.

I think it's a shame that he's lost the period features like the doors, tiling and the fireplaces,

but, thankfully, that old lonely-looking loo has benefited from a complete overhaul.

There was merely a toilet in this back room. I've moved the door. The door was in the corner initially.

So I've centralised the door to give some more wall-unit space,

and I've out a new kitchen in, obviously, incorporating a hob and oven.

I guess, you know, you tend to try and maximise the amount of base and wall units

you can put it in a confined space, and I think we've achieved that.

John project-managed the renovation. His team of builders have completed the project for around £10,000,

which is 5,000 under his original budget.

# Shake your money, shake, shake your money... #

He went slightly over the two-month timescale to finish due to other jobs John had the builders on,

but this one is now totally ready for market.

You can walk in here and you don't have to do anything.

The curtains are up, the carpets are down. You just have to introduce a couple of beds,

a bit of furniture...

er...a few pots and pans in the kitchen...

bottle of wine.

# Here we sit enjoying the shade... Hey, brother, pour the wine

# Drink the drink that I have made... Hey, brother, pour the wine... #

I'm sure John's own team of employees will raise a glass to him

as, although this wasn't a passion project, it will certainly help pay the bills.

I'm just doing it to keep my employees in work,

to keep money rolling in...

and, er...yeah, commerce, really.

# Go on, take the money and run Yeah, yeah, yeah

# Go on, take the money and run... #

So how has this latest venture paid off for John?

We asked along two local property experts

to tell us what they thought of the work and of the house's potential on the market.

I think he's done a fabulous job with the renovation.

The owner has really gone to town on making sure it's very neutral,

it will suit anybody that views it.

It's nice, it's fresh, it's clean, it's modern.

I think he's done a good job with it, except it tends to be,

in my terminology, just a little bit standard.

It's all magnolia paint, it's all the same contract carpet.

And I'm slightly disappointed, I think he's taken away some of the character of the house.

Whilst that's not a huge issue, it's a nice, clean, tidy house, but I think it's lost something.

I particularly like the fact that he's put another bathroom in the property.

I think that's a very good selling point, having an extra shower room upstairs

and a bath downstairs is certainly more appealing to the wider audience.

I think what he's achieved is probably the optimum out of the house as a shell of a property,

without going the second mile. The second mile would have been to have done a loft conversion,

but you're talking quite a lot of money, and I'm not sure you would get your money back in this location.

There is certainly a good rental market in the area,

there are a lot of people looking for city-centre apartments,

it's permit parking which is fantastic for this part of town.

However, there is also a good selling market for this particular area.

Its close proximity to the city centre means it's perfect for commuters.

So it could be in healthy demand either way, but what could John hope to achieve if he did rent it out?

I think if it was let as a single three-bedroomed house,

the rental value would probably be about £525 a calendar month.

I believe rental price on the property as a three-bedroom property

would be between £500 and £525 per calendar month.

I think they've got it about right. These are the experts!

But, I mean, estate agents do differ on their valuations.

But John's plan is to resell the house.

So how much value have his efforts added here?

Remember he paid £74,000 and has spent £10,000 on the work,

so this figure needs to be more than £84,000 to show a profit.

If this property came to market for sale in the current market,

I would suggest a sale price of between £105,000 and £110,000.

The asking price would probably be just short of £110,000.

I would hope that he'd get somewhere between £100,000 and £105,000.

Yeah, I'm happy with those figures.

Yeah, yeah... I think it's good news all round.

# I'm taking care of business Taking care of business... #

In the end, John decided to test the market and put the property on sale for £115,000.

He has since had an offer of 110,000 which he'll probably accept.

So, all in all, that's good news.

Join us next time when we'll have more interesting properties sold under the hammer.

Absolutely! Flats, maisonettes, plots of land, we'll follow them all as they develop.

-See you soon.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

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