Episode 74 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello! Now, despite the credit crunch,

people still want to delve into the property market.

And, if you're prepared to take the plunge, auctions are a great place to start.

Yes, it can be fast, it can be frantic,

but, you know what, you can get yourself a bargain buying your home under the hammer!

Now, some lots are very popular at auction, others go unsold.

And the auction room can be a very difficult place to conquer.

So, what won the hearts of today's buyers? Let's find out.

This Cardiff house has seen better days, but I've spotted something very interesting.

It all looks a bit tired and dated. I think the interesting stuff's back there, though.

In the seaside town of Broadstairs, this semi might be about to come out.

I've got the feeling that this should be an outdoor area, not really an indoor area.

And there are three floors in need of attention at this Devon property,

but don't be put off - the work could be quite entertaining.

I think you could have great fun down here.

All these properties went to auction. We'll find out who bought them and what they paid for them

when they went under the hammer.

It's yours, sir. Thank you.

I'm in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.

It's seen a great deal of regeneration in recent years.

There's some striking architecture popping up around the city,

but I'm off to the suburbs to see something more residential.

Well, just ten minutes' walk from Cardiff city centre,

you find yourself in Splott, an area known for its slightly more affordable houses,

very popular with first-time buyers, therefore.

I'm here to see a three-bed mid-terrace at a guide price of £79,000.

Let's take a look inside and see why you might want to snap it up.

Now, I can't imagine there are too many surprises in store with this kind of property,

but you never know! Certainly, the layout is fairly standard.

Through the front door, you've got a corridor, front sitting room there.

Nice that you've got open fires, we like that, and it comes with a free piano!

Don't forget that when you buy a property, on completion, whatever's left here is yours,

so that's good news. The rear of the property, a kind of rear living room area again with an open fire.

So that's good. It all looks a bit tired and dated.

I think the interesting stuff's back there, though.

A bit of useful space under the stairs there,

and then through into the kitchen, as you can see, in a bit of a state.

Slightly lacking in things like kitchen cabinets.

Still, we've got a sink, so what more do you need?

An open fire. We quite like that,

but clearly you're going to have to play around with this quite considerably.

Through there, fairly traditional layout.

You've got your loo and your bathroom. Again not ideal,

and you'll want to look at the costing of moving that upstairs.

But I think I'm going to get a better flavour of this property by going out the back.

You get there through this lean-to which is definitely on its last legs.

The property went under the hammer guided at £79,000.

It is deceptively large, but I suspect the interior wouldn't be to most people's taste,

not in this state anyway. And the exterior is no better either.

Quite an interesting sort of bit of space here. You've got all these outbuildings.

I daresay that's an outdoor loo or something.

But it's not until you come out here that you really see the kind of state that the property's in.

Look at the roof, look at the fact you've got cracks in the rendering there,

and from here it just looks horrendous.

Suddenly, I've added around, what, £10,000 on the renovation budget?

It leaves a rather sour taste in the mouth,

and just goes to show that it's always worth giving properties a thorough going-over

before you think about buying them.

Deterioration apart, what else is on offer?

So, upstairs, three bedrooms, and I guess this is one of them.

But to my mind this is just crying out to be the bathroom.

So the key thing to know is can you change the layout up here to still retain three bedrooms?

Well, let me investigate.

I reckon you might be able to.

Perhaps all you need to do is divide the front bedroom, which is a pretty good size, into two,

taking the total back up to three, as the second bedroom will be turned into a bathroom.

So I think you could end up with, well, basically, three really decent-sized rooms

and that bathroom upstairs, so problem solved.

Before that, though, there's a lot of work to be done.

I mean, the ceilings need to be taken down. My guess is they're lath and plaster

so you'd want plasterboard, the electrics need doing,

and I've just noticed something slightly more sinister...

Look at this. This isn't just random dust!

That...is what happens when you have woodworm,

and when they've chewed through the wood, they turn it into this fine dust.

That indicates to me that they're also still very active.

In fact, if you listen very carefully...

-CHOMPING

-..You can hear them chewing.

-BURP!

-Pardon you!

# Yummy, yummy, yummy, I've got love in my tummy... #

So the house has got woodworm and rendering problems.

It's going to need rewiring and trains thunder past the back fence.

Let's hope that at least the piano's in tune!

We invited along a local estate agent

to see if there's anything else he'd add to the list

of things to be done.

The roof at the present time is the original roof

where numerous plates have slipped, water has come into the property,

there's water staining to the ceilings which has caused more damage

and, in fact, there's even tree roots,

young tree roots in the gutters growing, so it does need a complete overhaul and new roof.

The good thing about this property is its size. You've got good proportions and there's a good garden as well,

so if the prospective buyer does wish to extend, there's scope there as well.

The property went to auction guided at £79,000, but how much could it be worse with some TLC lavished on it?

In my opinion, this property in its current layout, fully modernised,

bearing in mind it does need an awful lot of expenditure, would reach £140,000.

What about renting? Is that an option and how much income could it generate?

In my opinion, this particular property in its current state,

fully renovated, would achieve a rental figure of £600 per calendar month as a family unit.

However, if let on individual rooms, it would achieve £1,000 per calendar month.

So, intrinsically, a good place in a popular area.

Needs some work and you have got those uninvited guests to deal with,

but who fancied the challenge when it went to auction?

Now we go on to lot number 2,

which is a mid-terraced house for refurbishment, two reception rooms

and three bedrooms, as you can see.

Tell you what, I'm going to start straightaway on my reserve. I have a proxy bidder

and I'm putting it straight in the market. At £85,000 I'm bid.

At 85. Up to 8, anybody? 6, then. 86, thank you. 7 for my proxy bid.

87. Come 8. 88. My proxy bid will go 90.

At £90,000, try one more, then, in the back.

Thank you. At 91 I'm bid. 2 for my proxy bid. You're still out, I'm afraid. Proxy bid is in.

At 92. 93, thank you. 94 for my proxy bid.

You're out, sir? 5, can I? 95, I'm bid. 6 for my proxy. At 96...

97- 98 for the proxy. 9. 100 for my proxy bid.

At 101. 101 I'm bid there. My proxy bidder is out.

At £101,000. And I am selling all the time. My proxy bidder has finished.

At £101,000, it's yours, sir, thank you.

And the final successful bid of £101,000 was made by Kim.

He's an experienced property developer with a portfolio of around 100 properties,

and he's no stranger to Homes Under the Hammer!

We met him before

when he renovated another house in Wales.

You might recall that it was in a terrible state,

so Kim obviously doesn't mind hard work.

I caught up with him at his latest purchase to hear about his plans for it

and what he's been getting up to since we last met.

-Kim, lovely to see you again!

-Hi, Martin. Nice to meet you again.

-Now, it's been a few years, hasn't it?

-Yeah, five, I think, is it?

-Five.

-And we met at some really decrepit old property.

-Yes, Penrhiwceiber.

-So that all got sorted out, did it?

-Yeah, all finished,

I still own the property, and there's a lady there...

She's been there for the five years. As soon as I finished it, she moved in and she's still there now.

-So what's happened since we last saw you?

-Er...

still doing exactly the same thing, doing the building, the developing and whatever.

Sort of added to the portfolio a little bit and here we are with this one again.

So here we are. Why have you bought this one?

Good location, Cardiff. I mean, Splott, it'll rent easily, and it would sell easily,

-if I wanted to.

-In terms of its internal layout and just the general state of it,

that was important or was it more the location?

It was the location. I didn't actually come into the property, I drove past it.

-You didn't see inside?

-No, I didn't come in. No, I know,

but I wouldn't advise probably a lot of people to do that,

but again because of my background with the construction,

it doesn't matter really what we find inside. As long as the structure is good,

then we can do the rest no problem at all.

I knew it was going to be in a state. You don't buy something

in Cardiff for £101,000 unless you're going to have to do some work to it,

so, you know, it's just the same old thing to me. We'll just sort of go right through the property

and bring it right back to life, so it's no problem.

Kim trusted his instincts and knew what to expect from the property.

He's broken one of the basic rules of buying at auction,

but the state of the place hasn't come as too much of a shock to him.

-So what exactly are you going to do to sort this place out?

-Basically everything.

I mean, it needs a full revamp from a new roof outside to rerendering the rear of the property,

new windows, back and front door, render right through, skirtings, doors, kitchen, bathroom...

you know, everything that you need to do to the house, really,

so then, when it's done, it'll be done for good.

What kind of cost for doing that?

With the roof and the scaffolding and obviously the render outside and everything that's got to be done,

I would put it in the region of between £25,000 and £30,000.

-Is that costing in your time, your labour time?

-Yeah, everything that would be, yes.

-Right.

-But that gets it sparkling?

-Yes.

Kim's got a regular team of builders who will get stuck into the job.

They aims to complete in about 6-8 weeks.

That's a pretty optimistically tight schedule, I'd say, especially as he's got to add a new roof.

So what about the woodworm upstairs?

-Because that's quite... You can almost hear them!

-Yeah, buzzing around, aren't they?

Again, you know, we do this all the time.

I'll get a specialist in to look at it, and we'll spray everything so that all the joists are done.

If there's any joists that are too badly infected, we'll take those out and treat the new joists,

and again with the floorboards, a lot of those will have to be changed,

because there is a lot of woodworm in them, but some of it will stay because we'll have it treated,

and there'll be a guarantee with that, so it isn't really a major problem, so it's fine.

So what next for you?

Just more of this, really, I suppose.

I mean, that's what I do, isn't it? I've just bought a pub as well...

-A pub?

-Yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah, yeah. That's a long story, but yeah, it's in the local village,

and it came up for sale as a freehold.

I bought it and we've renovated that at the moment and it's going well.

-I'm getting married in a couple of months' time to Jackie.

-Congratulations!

Thank you very much. She's gorgeous and, er...yeah. So couple of months, here we go!

-We'll come back in a few months and see how you've got on.

-That's good.

-Look forward to it.

-Cheers.

So Kim adding to his portfolio with this property

and he clearly knows exactly what he's doing with this place.

Healthy budget, tight timescales, though,

and doesn't he have a few more important things to worry about in the coming months?

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

MUSIC: "I Do Like To be Beside The Seaside"

If you do like to be beside the seaside, then it may be worth paying a visit to Broadstairs in Kent.

The town developed as a Victorian seaside resort and has changed very little in the last 50 years or so.

There are buckets of Kentish character and charm here,

so can we detect a bargain hidden in the sand?

About a mile from the sea and suddenly we're in the suburbs,

surrounded by 1930s semis.

Now, it's not a bad spot and I love this old-fashioned cul-de-sac here. It's very practical.

The property I'm here to see today is this.

It's got two bedrooms and a guide of £100,000-£110,000.

And it'll come as no surprise that it's in need of modernisation.

You'd be surprised if it was any other way.

It's desirable to have off-street parking, but the tatty gutters are less pleasing.

They suggest the inside may also be a little rough around the edges.

OK. So, yes, it does need a bit of doing-up,

but do you know what? It's not that bad. I've certainly seen worse.

You've got a lovely big window here letting lots of natural light in, which is fantastic.

They've double-glazed. You can see there's been some central heating recently installed,

and somebody's taken the time to knock through here to create one big, open through room which I love!

You know, there's a lot of space in here.

Now, through here...

call me stupid, but it just looks like somebody has covered over an outdoor patio...

Bit of a strange one. I think that is exactly what they've done.

But you have got some beautiful flowers over here. They smell amazing,

but, really, I've got the feeling that this should be an outdoor area, not really an indoor area.

Let's see what's round here.

# In and out, and in and out... #

Inside, outside, then inside again.

Interestingly, another little lean-to, but do you know what?

It feels as though in the wind this would just collapse. Not quite sure about that.

Also here, it looks as though the flat roof is having a few problems, a bit of water damage.

I'd definitely recommend getting someone to come and have a look at that.

But, you know, I've come in the back way. This would obviously be quite a nice breakfast area,

you could put a table and chairs here, you've got a very, very long thin galley kitchen.

Not the best, it needs refurbishing, but you have got some good space to work with, so, not bad.

At the moment it feels like the house is sliced in two, right down the middle.

You could save on gym membership and just do laps around the ground floor!

# In and out

# Inside, outside Leave me alone... #

Upstairs is a much more standard layout.

There are only two bedrooms, but the one at the front is huge, spanning the whole width of the house.

The second one at the back is smaller but still a good double.

The bathroom suite looks fine, although the new owner could perhaps change the tiles.

But, upstairs, this house that went to auction guided at £100,000-£110,000

doesn't need much work. It's downstairs that the challenges are lurking.

So you've got rid of these dodgy old things, so what now?

Build a nice brand-spanking-new conservatory, extend out the back with a proper brick structure maybe?

Well, I'm not sure. Because with those gone, look at all the lovely garden you'll be gaining.

And with only two bedrooms upstairs, do you need that extra living space?

As always, it comes down to cost. If you think you can make the money back on a super sunroom,

then go for it! But if you're looking for a quick turnaround here with minimal spend,

you know, I don't think it's worth it.

I reckon it was once a well-stocked garden with this big fishpond,

but it's going to need a lot of time spent on it to get the best out of it now.

What does the local estate agent think

about the prospects for this property

just a mile from the seafront?

# Do you want to go to the seaside?

# I'm not trying to say that everybody wants to go... #

Broadstairs is a very popular town.

It has beautiful beaches, excellent shops...

This area is popular for families, people relocating from out of the area.

There is certainly a ceiling for what I feel this property would achieve as a resale.

So I think the clients need to modernise the property with a very strict budget.

The property went to auction guided at £100,000-£110,000,

but how much could it be worth after some refurbishment work's been done?

The maximum I feel this property would be worth is £135,000.

What's the rental potential here? How much could it generate?

The property would rent very well,

and I would achieve a rental figure on this property of £600 per calendar month.

So there's work to be done, but that means there's also value to be added,

which is what you should always be looking for.

But I don't think there's a fortune in this and you don't want to overspend,

or you'll be in danger of having the most expensive house on the street.

Let's find out who went for it at the auction.

Lot 87, this is Broadstairs,

two-bedroom semi in a good location. It's a nice-looking house,

gas central heating, double glazing.

Start me where you will. Can I see £100,000 for it?

£95,000. I'm obliged. I should think so, in Broadstairs. £95,000 I've got.

And 100, now, do I see? 100 in the front row I've got.

And 5. 105? 105. And 10? 100?

At £105,000 I've got, 110 I want.

Are we all done at £105,000? I'll take 8 if you like. 107?

106 you're saying?

106. And 7, 107.

107. And 8. 108.

109 now if you like. £108,000 I'm bid.

109 I'm looking for.

We're all done at £108,000. I'm selling at 108 for the first time.

£108,000 bid for the second time. Third and final time.

It's with you in the front row. It's against you at the back there.

All done at £108,000.

A house in Broadstairs for 108. Amazing!

The successful bidders who paid £108,000 were mother-and-son team Val and Brad.

# Mama said there'll be days like this

# There'll be days like this Mama said... #

They bought this two-bedroom semi in Broadstairs.

I met up with them back there to find out why they were playing the Generation Game.

-Guys, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Why have you bought this? Have you bought this together?

-Yes.

-I'm the hired labour, really.

Well, hired labour, yes. I financed it, you know, to give my son a chance.

So, Brad, what is the plan and where are you going to move forward with this?

Do it up as quick as possible, get some good friends on line in the trade,

get it back on the market, go for another one.

-So up until now what have you been doing?

-Motor trade mainly from when I left school,

right up until last year. But made redundant. Mum got the idea from your show.

So we thought...let's have a go.

Well, I'm not sure this property will get Brad motoring into the developers' fast lane,

but it is a great one to start with. Brad's separated with two children,

and has currently moved back in with his mum after his dad sadly passed away.

He's a keen handyman so that'll definitely help keep the costs down.

Why did they choose this place?

When you saw the property for the first time, what potential could you both see?

Nice family home. Look through the bits and pieces, the extra buildings out the back

and just see a nice family home for someone. Rip it out, make it nice.

So what about the room with the flat roof and the hole in it? What are you going to do with that?

That's going to be a dining room, going to have a new roof put on and some French doors at the end.

Just carpet it as a walk-through out to the garden and keep this as one big nice open living room.

-What are you going to do with that lean-to?

-Demolish it. It looks like Jack built it,

so I think we're going to get rid of that and make it an open space.

Well, hire one of those jet washers and the patio could scrub up beautifully,

and it could pave the way to a successful renovation here.

What sort of budget do you intend spending here?

We estimated about £10,000, although we've had some very good bargains...

we've picked up some very good, you know, things along the way.

We're going to keep a few thousand back just in case,

-but hopefully 10.

-So you know you're going to have to be very wise with your spending.

-Mmm.

So what sort of bargains have you got, then, Val?

Well, we've got a very good kitchen, we've got a beautiful bathroom,

which we got a lovely discount on,

almost half the price of what they're showing up in the big DIY stores.

-Got to say, your mum's the one to know! She's done very well.

-A very good businesswoman, I tell you.

-You have got a lot to live up to!

-Absolutely! I learn every day with her.

The pair have given themselves three months to complete the refurbishment.

Brad's friends are going to lend a hand, but what about Mum?

Is she going to help?

I'm going to get involved physically, rubber gloves, decorating, garden...

and as much as I can. I'll probably be the hod carrier.

Hard labour! But Val's pretty used to that.

She's certainly not short of business knowledge!

I've owned shops, newsagents, top-of-the-range fashion, done hairdressing...

had an antique shop.

My latest was a dog-groomer which I did very successfully for nearly 15 years,

-and I retired at 65...

-What?

-And I think I deserved it.

-So you've retired but now you're back on it again?

-Yes.

-Here we go!

-I can't keep still.

-Job number 50!

-Yeah, something like that.

# Mama said there'll be days like this

# There'll be days like this Mama said... #

For all her experience, Val's never done anything like this before.

-So, Brad, you must be happy that your mum's on board to help out?

-Oh, yes!

The one person I can count on, got the level head that probably I haven't at the moment.

-And, Val, you obviously are quite supportive and you think he can do it?

-Oh, I'm sure he can do it.

I wouldn't support him financially if I didn't!

-I'm really glad to see that you're both going to get stuck in. Do you guys get on?

-Yes, fine.

-Very well.

-Yes, very well. Only son, you see.

-I've got to look after Mum!

-You know, I like that! You look after your mum and Mum looks after son!

-Oh, yes!

-Good luck, guys. It's been so nice to meet you and I can't wait to see that new kitchen.

-Thank you.

# There'll be days like this Mama said... #

So from cars and dog-grooming to DIY and doing up houses.

I think this mother-and-son team have got a great first project to whet their property appetite,

but, you know, it's crucial that Val continues to shop around and Brad puts in some really hard labour.

Now, will this project be a race winner or are the pair both barking?

Join us later in the programme and you can find out.

Coming up. Don't be put off by the condition of this Devon property,

because lots of features have been covered up.

And overall the place is oozing character straight off.

We return to Broadstairs where Brad's let his mate get on with it.

I left him to it. I just said, "That's yours, you do what you like with that."

But first it's back to Cardiff where Kim's been in control.

Because I do quite a lot of this type of thing, I've got a good feel for how much things are going to cost.

Earlier in the programme, local builder-developer Kim bought this mid-terrace in the Cardiff suburb

of Splott for £101,000. It was to add to his impressive buy-to-let portfolio,

which exceeds 100 properties.

The house had woodworm, a leaking roof and needed a full refurbishment.

Kim was about to get married and is also a pub landlord.

So he was going to be busy!

Three-and-a-half months after our first visit,

we returned to see what had happened to this auction lot in Splott.

Kim and his team have installed new windows and replaced the roof.

Inside, the two downstairs living rooms remain.

Kim decided against knocking through to open it up into one large living space,

so that he could potentially use one of the downstairs rooms as another bedroom.

But the kitchen's been refitted and everywhere's been replastered.

The wooden floors on the ground floor are now concrete,

but the first question has to be, how did the wedding go?

It was fantastic. I've just come back from Crete on my honeymoon which was lovely.

I'd two weeks there. So we're very happy at the moment, all good. Thank you.

Many congratulations! But what about the house and those uninvited guests?

Yeah, it wasn't a big problem, really. The woodworm was mainly confined to the first floor,

a little bit of woodworm in the joists, but nothing that we couldn't sort of treat,

so we had a specialist company in to treat the floors,

and basically that's cured the problem so we're all free from the woodworm.

Apart from the woodwork, the three upstairs bedrooms have been totally refurbished.

There's new wiring, new windows and it's all been replastered.

With the outbuildings all demolished you can now appreciate how much land there is here.

We've rerendered everything, done all the roof, new fascias, new gutters,

generally a complete overall of the outside, new windows, uPVC, and basically that's it.

It's watertight and nice-looking, I hope.

Kim's a very successful developer.

You don't manage a portfolio of over 100 buy-to-lets if you don't know your onions.

Most of the properties that I do, I rent them out,

and I'm going to again on this one. I've got the local authority involved with us,

because I've had dealings with them before,

and explained I was doing this property and they came to see it,

and, hopefully, they'll have some tenants to come in in the next few weeks.

From past experience, Kim knows that if he lets to a local authority

they often have more stringent requirements than he might encounter in the private sector.

He's going to box in the boiler and, to comply with the regulations, all the doors have to be fire doors,

and the bathroom and loo need to be redesigned.

Well, I've split this into two toilets,

because the local authority wanted me to actually put two toilets in. It's one of their specifications.

So that's why we've got the two toilets. We try and please...

That's what they wanted, so there they are.

So the bathroom stayed downstairs and the three bedrooms upstairs have not had to change.

Apart from his property company, he also runs a building business,

so from start to finish he's used his own tradesmen. How much did it all cost?

Remember he budgeted between £25,000 and £30,000,

which was to include his time and the labour costs.

Because I do quite a lot of this type of thing, I've got a good feel for how much things are going to cost.

And we've gone right through the property, so, yeah, we were inside the £30,000...

exact figures, I wouldn't know, but it was between 25,000 and 30,000 completely finished as it is now.

Time now to see what two local property experts

make of this mid-terrace that's been added to Kim's impressive collection.

The quality of work is good, the standard is good.

They've done a full renovation project on the property

and I have to say I'm quite impressed.

It's transformed, it's bright, cheerful,

everything's been done which is essential.

The arrangements for the bathroom, obviously there's a reason for that,

which is it's not the conventional nothing house.

The bathroom is done to a good standard.

Obviously, they've opted for a shower cubicle and two separate toilets.

That's obviously not a great selling point if the property was being sold to a first-time buyer,

but it certainly meets the necessary requirements for a rental option.

Now the work's finished, how much is the property worth?

Remember, Kim paid £79,000 at the auction and has kept his budget between 25,000 and 30,000.

So, assuming he spends £30,000 on it, is it worth more than his total outlay of £109,000?

In my opinion, the resale value of this property in its present condition is £145,000.

I think the resale value would be certainly around £145,000.

So they both agreed it would generate a gross profit of £36,000 before tax and selling expenses.

Is Kim happy?

Yeah, I think that's about the mark. £145,000, £150,000, that's what I thought at the beginning,

so we're happy, no problem at all.

Kim's confident that the local authority will take the house,

but how much rental income could it generate either as a house or multiple occupancy

or if let out to one family as Kim would prefer?

From a rental perspective, you've got two avenues here,

You're either looking at four lets in which case the standard charge is £250 per room,

£1,000 per calendar month.

Alternatively, the single tenancy arrangement which is more towards the first-time buyer

or small family would then be in the region of £750 per calendar month.

As a family home, this property would rent in the region of £550 per calendar month.

With the local authority taking the property, I would have thought it would be minimum 750,

but, you know, I'd be happy with 750 anyway, so anything else is a bonus.

The multiple occupancy, the four times the 250 then, is something I hadn't really looked at.

I think I've done the deal already with the council, so I'll go with them anyway,

so more than happy with that.

I'm in Devon on the picturesque Bere peninsula.

As well as the beautiful scenery, this area was once known for growing fruit and flowers,

so trains to London would stop here to pick up the local produce.

Today it's still pretty and peaceful

and only a short hop from city life in Plymouth.

I'm in the village of Bere Alston near the picturesque Tamar Valley Railway Line

which goes from Penzance to Plymouth with coastline at both ends.

The property I'm here to see is a three-bedroomed end of terrace, at a guide price of £70,000.

The question is, will it be full steam ahead as a property investment opportunity?

# First train home I've got to get on it

# First train home I've got to get on it

# First train home I've got to get on it... #

The house has three storeys. It was built in the mid-19th century.

It does look a touch shabby and could do with a paint job,

but judging by those windows there may be some period charm here.

Well, what's on offer? Let's find out.

Straightaway, look at the state of this electrical gubbins!

Very old. That says to me straightaway you're going to have to factor in a rewire of this property

before you do anything else. Must be in your budget that, for sure.

But good-sized lounge, we like that. Not so keen on the fireplace,

but judging by the depth of the fire breast,

I reckon there's a really nice fireplace hidden underneath there, so sort that out.

In fact the whole house straightaway is saying to me,

"Strip back stuff to reveal the beauty of this property,"

because it's certainly got loads of character! Little cupboards, we like that.

And then through, down the corridor into the kitchen, and straightaway, love that, a wood-burning stove,

looks like a really old one as well. Very nice, heavy, cast-iron...

Imagine that burning away on a winter's evening, it would give a lovely feel to this kitchen.

I also love the beams, I like the fact you've got floorboards revealed.

This really has a lovely feel to it. Now the units in here are not bad, they're very serviceable.

They don't quite work for me. I'd like to see sort of Shaker style, something that matched that,

but it's not bad-sized space, and overall the place is oozing character straight off.

There's certainly a fair amount of space,

and under all that paint I reckon there's some real hidden beauty.

Those period pane windows are crying out for a restoration job,

and I'd love to take a sledgehammer to that fireplace to see what's behind it.

All good so far. Let's see what's upstairs.

Well, up here, three good-sized double bedrooms,

actually disproportionately large compared to the frontage of the property,

which leads me to think maybe this was more than one property in the past

that's possibly been knocked through into one.

But up here also there is the bathroom and the loo. I don't know if you can see that,

but look at the floor. It is sloping all over the place! It's also very small.

So I'd think about maybe taking some space out of one of the bedrooms to make a much bigger bathroom.

Apart from that, I like this little house.

Actually, it's not that small at all.

For the price it's really very spacious, and that's not all.

Remember I said it's on three floors? Well, there's an added bonus.

Not up in a loft, but down two flights of stairs.

Now, here's a real surprise and a big bonus for the property as far as I'm concerned.

There is a lower ground floor.

Doesn't look like it's actually been used very much in its previous life, I don't think...

possibly a utility room, there's a few bits and pieces there from washing machines and stuff.

But I think you could have great fun down here.

It's got reasonable size, it's got your beamed ceilings, there's a separate loo, which is good,

and, most importantly, it's got its own entrance there,

so maybe you could think about even splitting the house up,

and creating a separate kind of flat here or maybe a maisonette, this room and the room upstairs.

I mean, it's a big change to the way the property is, but I don't know... it's something worth considering.

Another quirk of this house is the flying freehold,

as upstairs the master bedroom overlaps the neighbours' front door.

This could make mortgaging it difficult, mainly due to legal complications

over sharing the upkeep of the shared part of the house.

However, it's not a huge area, so fingers crossed that whoever bought this place

will manage to get the finance.

I met up with the auctioneer who sold the property

to hear his thoughts on the place.

The versatility of the property is what I really like.

There's a maisonette to be had on the top two floors

and a little basement studio flat underneath.

I'm not sure you'd be allowed to actually split them

and sell them separately,

but you could certainly live very happily upstairs and rent downstairs out for extra income.

The downside to the property is that's no actual parking,

although, the front garden, you might be able to get yourself an off-street bay there,

although, actually, parking's never going to be a major issue on street in Bere Alston.

So, after all the work's done, how much could it be rented out for?

As a full-blown three-storey house, you're probably looking at the better part of £600 per calendar month.

But if you split it into a maisonette and a studio and rented them out,

you're probably looking at 500 for the house or the maisonette, the upper floors,

and probably still the better part of £400 for the studio on the lower floor.

And if sold on, bearing in mind that guide price of 70,000?

When the house is all singing and dancing,

I expect it to be worth around £160,000, £170,000 if you're lucky.

Well, there you go, a nice little property with lots of options, actually.

I mean, you could consider this as a separate flat.

The rest of the house, though, you've got the wood-burning stove,

you've got that lounge with that fireplace...

I'm desperate to know what behind that horrible thing that's in there right now.

Bedroom, though, dual aspect, you can't go wrong.

The only issues that might put people off are the flying freehold

and of course the bathroom with that terrible slant.

Still at £70,000 as a guide price, I'm sure it got them buzzing when it went under the hammer.

It's a big old lump of a house.

And Bere Alston underappreciated I've always thought.

Commutable and all that to Tavy or Plymouth.

Who's going to say...? Well, it's got to be the guide. 70? 70 straight in.

At 70, I've got at 70. 71? 71.

72. 73.

It's here against you at 73. 74.

75. 75, front row, then.

At 75 once...

at 75 twice...

76...right at the back. 76.

77.

78. Would a half help you?

78,500. And the same, 79.

At 79. 79,500.

80. 80,500.

81. At 81.

At 81. 81,500.

82?

At 82 once...

At 82 twice...

Getting serious now, third and last time.

Back stood has it at 82. Here we go at 82 and selling at that.

Right at the back. Sir, could you give a little wave?

The successful bidder at £82,000 was Bevil.

He and his wife Helena married recently and this is going to be their new home.

Bevil drives a digger and Helena works in a jewellery shop,

so let's hope that together they've unearthed a real gem with this place!

Bevil, Helena, it's lovely to meet you both. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Why did you want to buy the house?

Well, it was purely the price, really. The guide price...

-It can't just have been the price!

-Yeah, pretty much.

If you could have got a two-up two-down terrace in Derby

-at the same price, you wouldn't have bought it?

-No, no.

It is also the fact that we thought we were...we were going to try and buy some land with it as well,

-and we were hoping to have the lot because I've got ducks... we've got ducks.

-Yeah.

So we wanted to have our ducks as well.

And then... but unfortunately, you know, we didn't manage to get the land,

but decided to carry on with getting the house anyway because it's so nice inside and big.

So what's going to happen to the ducks?

-Er...

-Don't say anything horrible!

We're not entirely sure yet. Hopefully, somebody will take them off us.

Or my mum if I can convince her.

-So you're giving her ducks as a loan?

-That's right, a long-term loan.

Well, that's a first for me on this programme!

I hope that this duck tale has a happy ending!

Their ducks look as though they'll appreciate a new home.

# White duck, doing what he oughtta... #

What was it about the house, apart from its lack of duck-friendly facilities, that you liked?

Well, when we came into the property, we were pleasantly surprised, weren't we?

You know, it was a lot bigger than we first thought.

From the outside, it doesn't look that great.

We like all the old features as well, the beams...

-And it's three bedrooms as well.

-Three bedrooms...yeah.

-And the basements were good,

-we've got plenty of space, because we've got lots of junk.

-That's right, lots!

Well, definitely no storage problems with this house!

But outside space was always an issue here.

However the good news is that the flying freehold wasn't an issue for the couple.

As it affected less than 10% of the property, their mortgage lenders were happy to arrange the finance.

-Tell me what you're going to do to the house.

-Well, firstly, the kitchen's pretty much OK.

Change the worktops, obviously, keep the wood burner, because that's got a back-boiler as well,

-which does the water and heating, which is quite a nice period feature.

-Yeah, it's lovely.

Plus with the property being so old, it's be nice to keep the beams,

-and bring them back to wood, strip all the paint.

-Great.

-Then I think we'll change the bathroom.

-Yeah.

-Mmm...it's hopeless, the bathroom.

-What are you going to do with that?

I was toying with the idea of losing part of one of the bedrooms.

That's probably the best idea here as there's so much space to play with upstairs.

And with Helena's son also moving in, the house would really benefit from a good-sized family bathroom.

So what about the cellar? Because that's pretty much an underused sort of room at the moment, isn't it?

-Well, we were maybe going to use it as a utility room.

-That's right, yeah.

And also there's a toilet downstairs. We thought you could make it into a little shower room...

maybe, you know...it's ideas that are flying around really

-more than anything else, isn't it?

-That's right.

-Bet the ducks know what they would like it to be!

-They'd like grass put down!

-Yeah, turf it!

-A little pond.

-A little pond, it would be lovely!

Helena and Bevil have a healthy budget of around £15,000 to do the work here,

but how long have they allocated to get it done?

-We said round about six months.

-Hopefully, six months.

-But, you know...

-You never know.

Well, listen, congratulations! Good luck with it all. And we look forward to seeing how you get on.

OK, thank you.

Well, a great project for Helena and Bevil to take on.

It doesn't look like Bevil will need to use his digger on this project, though,

and I'm a bit concerned whether or not Helena's ducks will have somewhere to live.

And that £15,000 budget, living in the house?

It's going to be interesting to see how they get on. You can find out later in the show.

So did our fearless developers emerge victorious?

-Or have the floundered in the shallow end?

-Let's find out.

Earlier in the programme, we were in Kent in beautiful Broadstairs,

a popular seaside town. This two-bedroomed semidetached about a mile from the beach

had some very strange outbuildings and was bought for £108,000 by Val and her son Brad.

After being made redundant from the motor trade, Brad decided to try his hand as a developer.

He'd contributed some inheritance money and was going to do a lot of the work.

They've bought this house as their first to renovate and sell on.

-So Val, the supportive mum, do you think he can do it?

-Oh, I'm sure he can do it.

I wouldn't support him financially if I didn't!

It's now three months later and we meet up again with Val and Brad back at the house.

Now the garden's been cleared and the porch removed, you can finally see the property!

Inside in the hallway you instantly get the impression that a full-scale refurbishment has been carried out.

That formerly dark lounge doesn't disappoint

with its standard developers' sensibly neutral colour scheme.

In the kitchen, the first of Val's bargain buys looks stunning...

cheap price but quality product.

So downstairs is looking great. We'll check out the upstairs in a moment.

And what happened to those rickety conservatories that were bolted on the back?

Right, out here we had a lean-to, it was all brick-built with a plastic roof,

so we took it all out completely, opens it all up really nicely. You can put some chairs and tables.

Come through here, there was a really old rickety shed.

Move that, get rid of it, opened it all up as well,

and again through here there was another lean-to, all glass,

with some sort of cladding here which we took all off, which I think opens it up nicely,

and then we landscaped the garden completely.

As you can see it's opened it up from what it was, a jungle, really!

# Jungle love It's driving me mad... #

Well, it's not a jungle any more, but there's possibly a bit too much paving and gravel.

I'd prefer more greenery and some turf myself.

We've seen Val's bargain kitchen purchase,

and upstairs the new bathroom is equally impressive.

The bathroom was totally ripped out, bare bricks,

replastered, new tiles, new bath, new sink, new toilet, and I think it looks quite nice.

I'm happy and I think whoever has the house will be happy.

Apart from the bathroom, the two large bedrooms have been beautifully decorated.

And all the wiring upstairs has been replaced.

Brad and his mum Val have done a lot of the work, but who else has been involved in the refurbishment?

Well, the main one is my school friend Ian.

He's done all the garden.

I left him to it. I just said, "That's yours, you do what you like with that."

Another friend from school, my carpenter, George.

-Another friend, Eddie, put the bathroom in.

-And we'll have the same team

-following us into our next one, hopefully.

-definitely.

Remember, the room behind the kitchen had a leaking roof and holes in the wall.

So the flat roof has had to be replaced.

Insulation's been added and the walls replastered.

It's been virtually rebuilt.

So how much has the work cost? Did they manage to stick to their original 10-grand budget?

Well, I think we're up to almost 12. The final bits I just haven't got round to.

But I don't think we'll go much over 12.

Time to find out what two local property experts,

familiar with the Broadstairs housing market think of this property.

This property's absolutely superb.

The new owners have spent a lot of money

getting it up to a high standard,

and I think it really is just ready to move into now.

I think the key features of the property

are the contemporary kitchen and bathroom

and the fact the property has been modernised very well.

One of the main advantages with this property is you have got some really good off-street parking

and I think that certainly adds value to the property.

Lovely bathroom, very contemporary, and excellent with the shower over the bath.

The back garden's changed from a real jungle and it's now really easy to maintain,

it's been gravelled, there's some shingle down...

I think it's the right thing to do with the garden.

I think the only difference I would have made to this property

is probably adding some lawn to the rear garden.

That would certainly appeal to a family with young children.

Their plan is definitely to sell, but, long-term, Brad hopes to build a portfolio of buy-to-lets,

though he'd probably be interested to know how much income this one could generate.

This type of property is in quite high demand with tenants at the moment,

and I think the sort of rent achievable would be around about £700 per calendar month.

The rental figure for this property would be £700 per calendar month.

-That's not bad.

-That's good. That's more than I expected.

Remember they paid £108,000 at the auction. Their budget stretched to £12,000,

making a total outlay of 120,000, so what's the house now worth?

The resale for this property would be £137,500.

I think in this challenging market at the moment the property would be worth in the region of £135,000.

That range of valuation, between £135,000 to £137,500

would produce a gross profit of about £15,000 to £17,500.

Is that what they had in mind?

Mmm...bit low.

-Lower than what we anticipated.

-Yeah.

I know the market's gone down, but I still think possibly a little bit more than that.

Provided they find a buyer, this mother-and-son development double act is up and running.

and Brad's already thinking ahead.

I've enjoyed doing this one quite a bit. It's new to me, but I'll definitely have a go at doing more.

-I'd like to retire early...try to.

-I tried to retire early!

-Yeah.

-Didn't happen.

# Mama said there'll be days like this

# There'll be days like this Mama said... #

We're back in the village of Bere Alston in Devon, where this 160-year-old three-storey house

was bought by recently married couple Bevil and Helena.

They planned to make it their new home, along with Helena's son.

They hoped to carry out the majority of the work themselves,

whilst also holding down their day jobs and living in the house at the same time.

There was just one downside to their dream home -

the small garden meant there'd be no room for their pet ducks.

-So what's going to happen to the ducks?

-Er...

-Don't say anything horrible!

We're not entirely sure yet. Hopefully, somebody will take them off us.

Or my mum if I can convince her.

So we came back after 12 months to see how the renovation had progressed.

From the outside, it looks like the couple have taken to property renovating like ducks to water.

Let's see what's changed inside.

Progress has been slow but steady.

The couple are turning this property into a rural and rustic country home.

They've uncovered fireplaces, installed beautiful oak lintels and replastered and decorated the walls

in light and airy colours. So, how has the work gone over the past year?

Well, we moved in sort of four or five months after we bought it.

-Yes.

-Didn't we? And we didn't have any heating...

-Or plumbing.

-Or plumbing.

We just about had the electrics done, didn't we? We had no heating all the way through the winter period.

-So we had just the wood burner and our coats. And then we bought a couple of...

-Electric radiators.

That's right. To see us through!

Sounds chilly or cosy, depending on how many coats they put on.

The kitchen on the ground floor and to the rear of the property has been removed.

This space will become the new dining room,

whilst the new staircase leads to the kitchen's new location,

downstairs in the previously dank and dingy basement.

It's been fully damp-proofed and the kitchen units from upstairs are being re-used.

They've installed a new range

and it's been lots of dirty work for Helena and Bevil.

It's not very pleasant living in it.

Because we've hacked all the walls back to the old stonework, there was a lot of dust.

-It's not very nice to live with it.

-I don't think we realised

we were going to have to knock quite so much off the walls, did we?

No, that's the trouble. You do one wall, then you've got to do the others.

And he does like knocking holes in things, don't you? A bit of demolition.

It's a man thing, I think, isn't it?

Well, I'm not sure about that. I've met a few ladies on this show who are a dab hand with a sledgehammer!

Up two flights of stairs to the first floor where the partition walls have been removed

and the rooms reconfigured to make better use of the space.

The first room to benefit is the master bedroom.

Light now streams in from an extra window that had been bricked up.

That had happened during the period of window tax

when the tax was charged according to the number of windows you had,

so people used to cover them over rather than pay.

Bevil discovered its existence in a local-history book,

so the couple set about reinstating and restoring its former glory.

Work's continued in the second bedroom at the back of the property, and it's now ready to decorate.

The small and pokey bathroom at the rear has been transformed and given extra space.

the layout changes have meant that the third bedroom at the front of the house

has been reduced to a single-bed size.

It's taken a year to get this far and the couple have done all of this work

whilst also holding down their day jobs.

Working full-time you don't get much time to do a lot, evenings and weekends.

I think you learn to sort of appreciate things a lot more,

like not having water, and then when you get the water, it's like, "I've got water! Really exciting!"

With my cooker, I was ringing people up and saying, "I can cook a roast!"

We have enjoyed doing it, haven't we?

It just is a lot of work and a lot of dust. It's just being able to live in it. We've got some good pictures,

haven't we, covered in dirt and...

# Cos you're filthy

# Ooh, cos you're nasty... #

Their six-month schedule has long since bitten the dust, but what about the couple's £15,000 budget?

-I suppose it's going to be about 27, won't it, that we've spent?

-Something like that.

-So, obviously over our original...

-But it's still not too bad.

-No, no.

Remember the couple paid £82,000 for the house at auction and spent about £27,000 on it.

That takes their total outlay to £109,000. So how much is it now worth?

We asked two local property experts for their opinions.

The amount of work that I can see has been done has all been done to a really high standard,

they're using good quality fixtures and fittings.

There's a lovely range downstairs in the kitchen,

good fitted kitchen coming on. It's going to be a really high standard.

The house us more of a big cottage, really, so...

there is lots of character detail already

and you can always, like, buy it and put it in from a reclamation yard.

It's got all the makings of a really quaint, but larger-than-you-expected home.

The couple have no plans to put the house up for rental,

but they do want to sell in the future. What could the market value of this place be once finished?

When this property is completed, I would market this property

at £145,000.

When the house is completely done and as lovely as it's going to be,

I would see the value at £150,000, maybe just a smidgen more.

Those valuations would give the couple a pre-tax profit of between £36,000 and £41,000,

minus the usual selling expenses, of course.

-That sounds good. Sounds about right, what we thought.

-Yeah.

-Or hoping for.

-I think over 140 we'd would have been happy. So...no, that's good.

So, Bevil and Helena are happy with that.

It looks like they've got all their ducks in a row for completing this renovation.

Which reminds me...whatever happened to their pet ducks?

Well, unfortunately, most of them fell victim to a hungry fox,

but, luckily, one survived and has been rehoused.

And when the couple finish this refurbishment, they'll have a lovely new home as well.

Not enough for you? Well, there's plenty more.

-So make sure you join us next time for more Homes Under the Hammer.

-We'll see you then.

-Goodbye.

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