Episode 26 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Welcome to the show.

Buying at auction is exciting, but you have to be in it to win it.

Martin and I are always very careful to buy at the right price.

One place you can do that is by buying your home under the hammer.

If you're thinking about buying at auction,

now just might be the time to have a go.

The market is always changing, so you have to think about when is the right time to buy.

-But the people on today's show have already committed.

-Here's what they bought.

This bungalow in Devon has room for a growth spurt.

I think you could increase the size of this quite dramatically without changing the footprint.

In west London, there's scope to turn the outside inside!

Think about what it could be like. You only need to look next door.

And lots of property for your money at this end-of-terrace in Stockport.

All in all, it's not a big house,

but it feels bigger than it actually is.

All these properties have been sold at auction. Who bought them and what did they pay

-when they went under the hammer?

-Sold 203. Well done.

MUSIC: Barnacle Bill by Ashworth Hope

Ahoy, me hearties! Hoist the mainsail and batten down the hatches.

I'm on the south coast getting a healthy dose of sea air.

Today I'm in Devon, in the county city of Plymouth.

It was extensively bombed during World War II

and much of the city has been completely rebuilt.

But now it's a lively place. Lots of students, lots going on.

Great place to invest in property.

But today's property might not fit the bill as a student residence.

In fact, it's in a rather pukka part of the city.

The lot I'm here to see is actually in Plymstock, a suburb of Plymouth,

very popular with commuters and extremely highly regarded.

So, what's on offer?

It was this, a two-bedroomed bungalow with a guide price of 130,000 quid

in a very nice, quiet cul-de-sac, beautiful views. It's looking good so far.

But will it be a case of sink or swim inside?

Now, probably built around the 1930s, this place,

and I know people who only buy houses from that era

because they like the way they were constructed.

Solid, quite sensibly designed. How does this stack up?

First bedroom. Unusual to see such a lovely fireplace in a bedroom.

I'd keep that for sure.

Living room area there. Corridor continues round to the second bedroom.

Bathroom and loo. Very antiquated.

Wow, look at that bath! Superb(!)

Then through into the kitchen, or the space where the kitchen would be.

At the current time, there isn't a kitchen at all here,

which does give issues when it comes to getting a mortgage.

But it's not a bad-sized space. Access to the rear there.

So, all in all, the layout, I think, works.

It's a good solid bungalow for sure

and the period features are bang on the money.

But where is the room for improvement in a property like this?

The room itself is a nice size. Open fire, which is good to see.

And then you've got these doors which link through to another living area.

Now, an obvious thing you might consider is possibly converting this into a third bedroom.

I don't know. One of the big issues with bungalows, to my mind,

is they do sometimes feel a bit cramped.

A great thing about this one is this big space

so I, personally, would keep it.

Keep it as a two-bedroomed well-proportioned bungalow.

Speaking of good proportions,

there's plenty more to this auction lot.

A fabulous garden at the front, with plenty of off-street parking.

And at the back, well, I'm getting some big ideas!

It's out the back here

where I think there's great potential for this bungalow.

It's a sloping garden. It would be nice to have some decking.

If you stood on a chair, you might be able to see Plymouth Sound!

But I think you could increase the size of this bungalow dramatically

without changing the footprint.

Straighten off the edges, going up, maybe putting in a dormer.

That's what similar properties in the area have done. It's very effective.

It costs money, but builds in real value.

A good thing to go for.

# The only way is up, baby,

# For you and me now. #

We spoke to the auctioneer who sold it to find out whether the only way is up

for this bungalow, and also to learn more about the neighbourhood.

Plymstock is a total mix of dwellings. Quite a few bungalows,

quite nice family houses.

It's for people who don't want to live in the city but want it handy.

Plymstock ticks a lot of boxes with the countryside so near.

So that's the thumbs-up, then.

What are the best options for adding value to this two-bed bungalow?

As far as I see it, there's two roads to follow.

The first one would be to make the very best of what's there

or go up in the roof, like some of the neighbours have done.

But you have to watch your capital values. There's always a ceiling.

Wise words of caution.

With a straightforward renovation, could it make a good buy-to-let?

You'd probably get something in the region of 650, maybe £675 per calendar month.

Not bad!

What if the property was sold close to the guide price of 130,000

and the buyer was tempted to extend into the roof?

Personally, I'm struggling to see the end value of anything there

much over £250,000.

Hence I would lean slightly towards making the very best of what's here

rather than risking further investment up in the roof

unless it was going to be my home, in which case the new owner could justify that.

So, what do you think?

Do you like it? I do. I think it has great potential.

The cheap option is just to reconfigure downstairs,

creating an extra bedroom where the dining room is.

The more expensive choice would be to put a dormer in. You'd need planning permission,

but it would make the most of the views. Let's see who spotted it when it went under the hammer.

Two-bedroomed bungalow for refurbishment.

115, we'll start. No less. Thank you.

At 115. 115.

118. 118.

120. 122.

124?

126. 128.

128 I've got. 128.

At 128 for Lot 77.

At 128. At 128.

At 128, the first time.

At 128 second time.

At 128. 29. 129. 130.

130. At 130.

That's not nice, is it? Not really.

He thought he had it, then.

At 130 once. I'm not going to take my eyes off you.

130 twice.

At 130. Sure and done? It's your last chance.

Here we go. At 1-3-0.

And out. 1-3-0.

That's yours. Well done, sir. Well done.

That successful bid of 130,000 came from Gary.

# With a wink and a smile. #

And well he might wink.

He's an experienced builder and property developer.

It looks like he's got an eye for a deal.

Congratulations.

Why did you want to buy the bungalow?

It was the best one that came up at auction. Few places are coming up at auction.

This was the best location I could find.

Not many places up at auction? Tell me more.

The price bracket I'm looking at, and the areas I'm after.

Down in Cornwall, yeah, there's plenty,

but I prefer to stay in the Plymouth perimeter,

or just outside.

-Why Plymouth?

-There's a lot of young families here.

Hopefully this will be ideal for them.

Gary is clearly knowledgeable about his target market.

Specialising in one area is a very good idea as you get to know what's possible

in terms of renovation costs versus resale prices.

So your strategy is to do what, in general?

-Keep them, sell them?

-I buy, do up and resell.

I steer away from rental because I need the income from the sale to keep me going.

-How long have you been doing this for?

-Five years. I've been building for 15 years all told.

-But five years I've been doing this.

-How's it gone?

Last year was a disaster. I had one property which I ended up selling for what I'd paid for it.

-But it didn't put you off?

-It did initially, but I sat back to see where things were going.

As I say, I decided to have another go at it.

If I don't get it right this time, yes, it will put me off!

# You've got to get it right. #

It just goes to show that even experienced property developers can fall foul of tricky times.

Let's hope he gets it right with his latest purchase.

What was it about this bungalow that made you think it was worth going for?

It's a good area. It's elevated, got views, which is a good thing.

Plus potential to go into the loft area and create a bigger property,

which next door have done very successfully.

There's good scope to make money out of it.

Some people in the street have done quite elaborate enhancements and extensions.

Is that what you're planning?

Yeah, the main one is loft. I've got an architect doing drawings at the moment.

-I should get two bedrooms and a bathroom up there easily.

-Wow!

-Whether we go further, I'm not sure.

A large dormer to the back of the property is the plans.

To the front, sadly, it'll take a lot longer to get permission for that.

So I'll go through building regs as opposed to planning.

# Everything changes but you. #

So the front of the property will stay as it is

because changing its appearance requires planning permission which would slow things down.

Whilst a dormer at the back requires building regs, it's classed as permitted development

so no wait for planning permission.

That will make things quicker and easier for Gary, helping him stick to his six-month timescale.

But how much will it all cost?

I've budgeted about 50 to 60,000.

So it's quite a lot on top of the price I paid for the property.

But hopefully, market value, it should see a good return.

What kind of involvement, in terms of the building, do you have?

Hands on with everything.

I have a couple of guys who specialise in loft conversions.

To do something like this, you have to put steels through, which is a specialist thing.

I'll employ them to get that in place and build the roof structure.

After that, it's down to me and whoever else I call in.

-Congratulations. Good luck. Look forward to seeing you again.

-Thank you.

So, potential profit in this one for Gary,

and it's good to see he wasn't put off by his unfortunate experience last time.

In terms of what he's going to do, it's going to be a big improvement.

How will he get on and will he meet that six-month timescale? Find out later in the show!

I'm in a highly-desirable part of London today,

a place called West Kensington.

Flats sell for over £300,000 and properties can command millions of dosh.

So I was delighted to find a property with a guide price

of £425,000.

It's an attractive three-bed end-of-terrace

so there must be a catch!

Ooh! Not exactly my idea of attractive!

Let's see if it gets better inside.

# You can't judge an apple by looking at a tree

# You can't judge honey by looking at the bee

# You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother

# You can't judge a book by looking at the cover. #

This three-bed end-terrace may not be the prettiest on the block,

but will it make up for its lack of kerb appeal on the inside?

Now, I know for a fact

a lot of people will have been put off by this property

because of all the breeze blocks outside.

But it's just a security measure.

Once you're inside, this is a really good room. Look at this.

If you look beyond what's under here,

you have a fantastic large, double-sash window

and it's not been badly damaged.

You can imagine what that would look like once these are out of the way.

Sadly, there are not loads of hidden features here.

No beautiful cornicing, no ceiling rose.

But that's something you can add.

You've really got to put on those rose-tinted spectacles with this property.

# Whatever day I come

# Whatever day I come

# I'll be on my way. #

But the renovation work necessary here

isn't as simple as swapping breeze blocks for panes of glass.

The layout of the kitchen and downstairs rooms needs a complete rethink.

Disappointing kitchen! It's all a bit dingy in here.

But rip out the units, install a lovely kitchen, loads of square footage in here.

One disappointing thing is,

from here, I can see it's a downstairs bathroom.

I'm hoping there might be another one upstairs.

Having a bathroom just off the kitchen is not ideal.

You'd be better off opening this up to create a kitchen/diner

and moving the bathroom upstairs.

There's already an en-suite up there which could be expanded,

especially as there's space to be squeezed out of the three bedrooms.

It seems like a promising solution, but it's hard to tell when it's so gloomy in here!

As you can probably tell, there's been fire damage up here

which may explain why the extra security of breeze blocks was needed.

They obviously don't help the instant appeal here

but we must ignore that and imagine the potential once it's been redecorated

with bright natural light flooding through it.

There's even more food for thought outside.

You can see there's loads of square footage out here, under-utilised.

Just imagine if you could get planning permission to fill this area in.

And perhaps put the front door here

creating more room inside.

Extra space equals big pound signs in London.

That would make this house much more attractive and uniform.

The extra space created by an extension would allow plenty of options at front and back.

It's definitely the key to unlocking the potential here.

Once you're rid of the breeze blocks, you can walk out of the back door into the garden.

A nice bit of outside space for London.

But ever get the feeling you're being watched?

Hmm. It's not ideal having half a tower block able to spy on you in your garden,

although outdoor space in London is not something you can turn your nose up at.

Remember, before any work can be done on the outside,

at the back or front,

there's red tape you have to deal with.

This property sits on a road that's within the Olympia and Avonmore Conservation Area.

So if you wanted to make any alterations to the property,

like changing the windows, painting the house a different colour

or altering the facade in any way,

you have to obtain permission from the local planning authority first.

Hopefully, they would look kindly on any plans to turn this ugly duckling

into a beautiful swan!

What does a local property expert make of the place?

We asked one for his thoughts on it.

First impressions are it needs some work. It's had a bit of damage.

But it's a lot of space. It's a TARDIS upstairs.

There's a lot of potential here.

The unused space at the front needs to be dealt with.

If you could turn it into indoor space it would be fantastic to give a better living room.

That would all depend on getting planning permission.

So if the buyer stuck with the current layout,

and simply did renovation work,

what level of rental income could they hope for?

If you were to rent it as a three-bed, per calendar month,

I'd expect to achieve £2,900 per calendar month.

The guide price of 425,000 was low for this part of London.

So, with an imaginative refurbishment, this property might be a candidate

for the resale market.

If this came to the market renovated as a three-bed, I'd put it on at £850,000.

This property has potential. OK, it's not attractive at the moment

because of the breeze blocks.

But think about what it could be like.

You only need to look next door!

My only concern is the setting.

You are surrounded by towering blocks and to be overlooked might not suit everybody.

But somebody wanted it. Let's find out who as we head to auction.

Attractive three-bed house.

I've got a proxy bid on this.

Who'd like to kick off from this? Over to you.

505, yeah? 510 with me.

515.

520.

525?

530 with me.

535?

540 with me.

545?

550 with me. 555?

I've got 555 down here and it's going. 560 anywhere else?

If not, 555, first time.

Second time. Third and last time. Have you all done?

Sold, 55. Well done.

And without much competition, that successful bid of 555,000

came from Patrick.

He's a trained carpenter with plenty of renovation work under his belt.

# I once dreamed I was a carpenter. #

Patrick's originally from Ireland

but has lived in London for 25 years

and has done up several properties down the decades.

I wanted to hear the plans for his latest purchase.

Patrick, lovely to meet you today. Thank you for joining us.

Nice to meet you!

Why did you want to bid for this on auction day?

What was it about this place?

-I just saw potential in it.

-What made you think, "I'm going to buy that"?

Um, I just saw the next-door-neighbour's extension

and thought maybe if I did something like that it would be a good house to buy.

Patrick went to the auction intending to buy a different property

but was outbid and decided to try his luck on this one instead.

Undeterred by its poor condition,

he could see this place could be something special once he'd let in the light.

I hate seeing it in its present condition. I'd like to see it up and running.

Even initially, you know?

And just tidy it up and especially get those blocks off the windows!

-Get 'em out! I know!

-They're dreadful!

I want to be able to see what you've got on offer here

because it makes it look so down.

I've had several quotes for new windows.

They only take two to three weeks, so I'll order them straightaway.

Because this is a conservation area, you can't stick any windows in.

I've got to do sash windows again.

The windows are the eyes of the property. It will look amazing with the windows in.

-It'll change things.

-They're more expensive than ordinary windows, so more expense.

-More expensive cos they're beautiful!

-I guess!

Patrick plans to put in a new kitchen, new bathroom suite and flooring throughout.

Everything will be redecorated and central heating installed.

On top of all that, he's also planning to make this a five-bed property

by extending it.

What's going to happen outside? You've got almost a flying freehold situation

with rooms over the top. Will you fill it in and make it useable?

Yeah, I'm moving the front door. The main entrance is going to be in that space.

And enclose the alleyway also.

-So what is your budget to spend here?

-Initially to get it up and running,

I think maybe 20 or 30,000.

20 or 30? That seems quite low to do all that work.

It's not including the extension works and stuff.

So I'll have to spend more money. I've just applied for planning,

so I have to wait some months for that to come through.

Will you have problems with planning, or should it go smoothly?

Well, I'm basically just copying next door's extensions.

So I can't see there being a problem.

Patrick's using the same architect as his neighbours.

Since other properties in the street already have loft conversions, he's optimistic about permission.

Is this something you're desperate to do, or is it purely a money-making exercise?

No, no, I do take a certain amount of pride in my work

so I'd like to get it right if I could, you know?

It's lovely to meet you. Good luck. It's a big project you've got here.

-It'll be exciting to see the outcome. Well done.

-Thanks.

Nice meeting you, too.

Patrick is confident he will complete basic renovations in just three months.

There will be much more profit, though, if he secures planning permission to extend.

I hope he has the luck of the Irish!

Find out how he gets on later in the programme.

Coming up: good news in Stockport.

At the rear of the property is a nice little garden.

It really is just the icing on the cake.

We return to London to see if Patrick's blown his profit.

The budget has slightly gone... Shot through the roof, shall we say?

But first, in Devon, has Gary had more bad luck?

The property is worth less because it has less space in the loft area.

It's cost me a lot of money.

MUSIC: Barnacle Bill by Ashworth Hope

We're back on the south Devon coast in Plymstock

to see how builder and developer Gary got on

renovating this two-bed bungalow that he bought at auction for 130,000.

He had a budget of 60,000 and a six-month timescale.

His plan was to extend into the loft.

But he's had his fingers burnt before in the property development game.

Last year was a bit of a disaster.

I had one property I should have done well on but ended up selling for what I'd paid for it.

-It didn't put you off?

-It did initially, but I sat back to see where things were going

and decided to have another go.

If I don't get it right this time, it will put me off!

Well, 14 months since our first visit,

a rather alarming eight months behind his original schedule,

we're back to see if Gary is ready to throw in the towel.

The outside looks completely different

and not just because of a lick of paint.

There's also an entirely new roof.

Inside, the house retains a 1930s feel

but modern materials bring it bang up to date.

The ground floor has a whole new layout

that really maximises the space.

Gary has knocked through into what was the second bedroom

to create a large, contemporary kitchen.

Used to be a single window here. I've widened the opening and put French doors in here.

There was a partition wall here, which I've removed.

The utility room now is what used to be the coal shed.

Keeps the washing machine noises out of the kitchen.

Then the kitchen itself.

It's turned out well, I think.

It's what I aimed for, a nice family space.

Out back, the extent of the work upstairs becomes clear.

The loft conversion has turned a lowly two-bed bungalow

into a four-bed family home.

This is the new stairs which we put in.

It brings us up into what used to be the loft.

We have two bedrooms to the left here.

The smaller one and larger one to the front.

Then we have a bathroom with built-in shower, which is lovely.

Then into the master bedroom here with a double aspect which is light and airy.

It's worked out well.

It's a total transformation from top to bottom. In fact,

it almost feels like a completely new house.

Gary's done most of the work himself, and there was a lot of it!

All the upstairs is brand-new.

The ceiling beams all through at the lower level are brand-new.

All the ceilings are new through here.

New roof, new windows right through apart from the bays at the front. Rewired.

New plumbing all through. New heater, new boiler.

Everything that needed replacing, we replaced.

It's an amazing achievement, but that eight-month delay is a clue it wasn't all plain sailing.

Gary found himself tangled in a planning nightmare.

The problem was

I had an architect who managed to get some of the calculations wrong, shall I say.

Which meant I thought I was building it under building regs

but it turned out I needed planning permission for part of the extension.

There was an issue with the dormer size, basically.

Long come short I had to halve the size of the dormer to get back in building regs.

They wouldn't give permission for the dormer size I wanted.

So I've still got three bedrooms and a bathroom,

I had an en-suite originally, it's still a good space,

but it isn't what I thought I was going to have.

What a shame. Loft conversions are generally allowed

under permitted development, which doesn't require planning permission.

But there are limits on the size of the extension, which is where Gary came unstuck

and so did his budget.

I originally budgeted for spending 60,000.

For everything. I was on track until the mess up with the planning and building regs and so forth.

I've probably backtracked. It's cost me about another 15,000 on top.

So I'm 15,000 over budget.

And I have a property that's worth less because it has less space in the loft area,

so it's cost me a lot of money.

Added to the purchase price of 130,000,

that brings Gary's total outlay to 205,000.

But it's not just the money. He's also invested a lot of his time in this project.

He hopes to sell it for 280,000

but what will two local property experts think?

Is this the same house I came to before?

It's a total transformation. One of the best I've seen.

The main surprise when arriving here after all this time

is that it's got another floor.

He's created three good bedrooms, a stunning bathroom,

and it's got the benefit of glorious views down to the Sound.

So he's created out of a fairly meagre bungalow

a proper full-on house.

The layout is lovely. I think it would be lovely for a family

because you have a large lounge/diner,

you have a study/other bedroom,

a lovely-sized kitchen/breakfast room.

The kitchen is a wow factor. It's really lovely.

Contemporary, the wood worktops. Absolutely lovely.

But has all Gary's hard work been worthwhile?

What sort of rental income could he expect from the enlarged house?

On the rental market, the house would probably achieve in the region of

£800 a calendar month, maybe even 850.

The rental value for this property is in the region of 850 to £900 per calendar month.

That's a reasonable yield of up to five per cent.

But would Gary be happy to rent out the property?

It's not something I'd really thought about.

It's worth a thought. See how we go with selling first.

If that doesn't happen, I'd consider that.

So selling the house on is still Gary's preference.

But will the resale value meet his expectations?

265, 275,000, something of that order.

The resale value for this property is in the region of £275,000.

So, not quite the £280,000 Gary was hoping for, but almost.

It's not far off what I thought.

I still think 280 would be worth marketing at.

It's over the 250 threshold, so on that basis,

I know it's more difficult to sell, but I think it's worth it.

The big question is, have the run-in with the planners,

the delays and the overspend dampened Gary's enthusiasm

for property development?

There's no point in being negative. You learn with everything you do in life.

I'd say it's been a good experience.

The downside is all the red tape, but apart from that I've enjoyed it. It's been great.

For the next property that went under the hammer, I'm in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

Like many towns in the area, it was once home to a thriving cotton industry.

The lot I'm here to see is just outside town.

I'm in the largely residential area of Heaton Chapel

in north Stockport.

Lots of local amenities and facilities,

good bus routes, a train station. Halfway between Stockport and Manchester.

Lots of ticks in boxes.

And the beautiful Cheshire countryside isn't far away.

This is the property I'm here to see. A two-bed end-of-terrace, guide price 60,000 quid.

Let's take a look.

The first thing I've spotted is that several bricks have been replaced - a bit odd.

Let's hope that's the only structural issue I find.

So, what's in store

behind the door?

A fairly standard layout for this kind of house.

Straight in the door. Stairs up to the bedrooms.

Living room there. Doesn't look in too bad a condition.

Doesn't smell damp.

That's always a good sign. However,

through into the kitchen and there's been some kind of issue in the past

which resulted in the ceiling falling down!

It's interesting to look up here. You can see some water staining

on the wood there. I guess that's where the bathroom is and there's been a leak.

It looks dry now, but that could be cos the water's turned off while the house is unoccupied.

Definitely need to be investigating that.

But into the kitchen. It's a really nice-sized space.

It's been turned into a kitchen/diner. A wall's been knocked down.

It does create a good-sized space and although it's not a big house,

it feels bigger than it actually is.

It's all down to the open-plan layout here.

You could run circuits round the ground floor, if you wanted.

It's a good thing that they've kept the doors, so you can shut off individual areas if you want,

for example to control heat and smells from the kitchen.

I've seen some of the first floor already, so what's the rest like?

Upstairs, a decent-sized landing. Loo and bathroom here.

It needs a toilet seat, but otherwise at least it's a white suite

so you could probably just refurbish that.

Rear bedroom is a good size.

What's in here? Looks like a newish boiler. That'll save a bit of money.

Then through to the front where you've got a really nice-sized bedroom.

Good to see this. A box there from where the stairs come up,

but apart from that, a really good space.

So, all in all, a lot of property for the money.

Being end-of-terrace does have its benefits.

There's space to park your car

plus this storage area at the side in this brick-built block.

It's hard to see it under all this snow, but at the rear of the property is a nice little garden.

So it really is just the icing on the cake of what is a really good little property.

To learn a bit more about the prospects for this house,

we invited a local estate agent to look around.

What would he change?

The only two things that I would keep

are obviously the central heating, it's fairly new, working and adequate.

And the bathroom suite is fairly new.

Apart from that, you'd probably look to put a new kitchen in,

double-glaze the property,

and then realistically look at the decor.

This part of Stockport is popular with first-time buyers

as transport links are good.

But what about renting? How much income could the property generate once refurbished?

I would expect the new owners to get around £550 to £575 per calendar month.

The house went to auction guided at 60,000.

How much could it be sold for after a full refurbishment?

I would expect the property to fetch around 95,000 to £100,000.

Well, deceptively spacious accommodation here

with a decent-sized garden and good long-term resale value.

So, a good little area and a property that needs tender loving care and refurbishment

but nothing too major or structural. A good one to go for.

Let's see who agreed with me when it went under the hammer.

Lot six. Vacant two-bedroom end-terrace property.

What's this one worth today?

Who's going to give me 50,000? 50,000.

At 40, then. 40 bid. Thank you. 40,000.

Do I see 45?

45 bid. 45 I have. Do I see 50?

52,500 new bidder. 52,500.

Give me 55.

55,000. 55 bid.

57,500?

57,500. Do I see 60?

At 60,000. £60,000. Do I see 61?

61,000. 61, then. Do I see 62?

At 62,000. Are we all done?

At £62,000, then. For the first time.

Second time. At 63.

63,000 I have now. It's against you. 64 I'm looking for.

It's in the market at 63.

63,000 for the first time.

63,000 for the second time.

Are we all done at £63,000?

It's your property, sir.

Paddle 887.

The successful bidder who paid £63,000 was Ken.

He currently lives with his girlfriend Michelle in Manchester.

They bought the property to refurbish and sell.

I met up with Ken there to find out more.

-Ken, lovely to meet you.

-Hi.

-Congratulations.

-Thanks very much!

Why did you want to buy this place?

We viewed about 20. We had a shortlist

and this just happened to come within the parameters we had. We had a ceiling to go for.

What were the criteria for your list?

We had a budget of what we could work to.

My girlfriend worked very hard and phoned estate agents to say we were thinking about buying at auction.

How much would it sell for once it was done up.

So you go round, have a recce of the house and work out how much things would cost

and see if it comes within the budget and if you can make a profit.

-If that works, it goes on the shortlist.

-Preparation to be proud of!

I give it all to my girlfriend. She did all the preparation.

-I'd point out things and say there's cracks here, I don't like that.

-A good joint venture.

-Yes.

-What's your experience?

-We've done one before. We bought a house in Croydon.

We spent two years doing that one up. We lived in it at the time.

So we lived in the top half whilst we did the bottom

then moved downstairs while we did the top up.

We were about to sell it when my girlfriend's job finished

so rather than stay in London we moved up to Manchester.

I was working so I could transfer to the Manchester office.

At the time, Ken was working in the travel industry specialising in tailor-made holidays.

# Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away. #

He and Michelle successfully renovated and sold their first auction property in Croydon

before spreading their wings and moving to Manchester.

Let's move on to this place. What was it about it that you liked?

It's in a pretty good area. It's in Heaton Chapel, part of Stockport.

Easy commute into Manchester and out to Stockport as well.

A nice, mature area.

And the things that need to be done to the house look to be something -

I'm not an expert in anything -

but things we can do.

We'll need to bring in professionals for some parts,

but a lot of stuff, taking off wallpaper, repapering, sorting things out, we can do it.

What are you going to do to it?

We'll turn it round, probably sell it.

Probably just paint the front room, neutral colours, full kitchen in here,

-so a nice fitted kitchen.

-The bathroom. There's been a leak.

Yeah. It seems fine now. There's plumbing to be done to the bath.

And some of the tiling in places is absolutely woeful.

So we'll take that off and start again.

-Who's doing the work?

-As I say, we'll be doing as much as we can.

But for time, if we gut the kitchen, we'll get somebody in who can do it.

If it was me, it would take weeks.

But just for speed, it's probably better to get somebody in to fit it.

What's the timescale for sorting it out?

Hopefully we'd need to get it on the market for the spring market.

So three months maximum.

What's the budget for the work?

Initially 10,000, but in retrospect, probably more like 15.

-And then the idea is to do what? To sell it?

-Yeah, we'll sell it on.

Then depending on if it worked, if our strategy works, we'll buy another one after that.

Ken's looking forward to moving into property development.

He's also setting up a new business venture,

a company that moves luggage for walkers and cyclists so they don't have to carry it with them.

He's willing to take a chance, and by the sounds of it, good luck is by his side.

I won a competition that took me round the world, a yearly ticket,

which allowed me to travel round the world.

-A round-the-world airline ticket?

-Two, so my girlfriend got to go.

-Wow!

She got time off work, but my people wouldn't let me take time off

so I'd got to a plateau and it was time to move on.

-What a trip!

-Yeah. Quite a big trip.

-A good trip.

-Fantastic.

Then back to properties in Stockport!

-Yeah, that's it. There's no more glamorous place than Stockport!

-Absolutely.

-Congratulations. Good luck.

-Thanks.

-Look forward to seeing how you do.

Well, this property is not so much round the world as round the corner. That's handy.

And with a bit of luck, Ken and his girlfriend could be onto a winner.

Well, from travelling the world, Ken has ended up in Heaton Chapel.

I wonder what sort of journey this property will take him on

in the coming months when he sorts it out.

You can find out later in the show.

Time can be a great healer, but it can also be an enemy if you're up against a deadline.

So, what happened to the properties we've been featuring?

Let's find out.

We're back in West Kensington, London.

This three-bed end-of-terrace sold at auction for 555,000

to Patrick, a trained carpenter turned property developer

who takes great pride in breathing life back into run-down properties.

I met up with him to find out more.

I hate seeing it in its present condition. I'd like to get it up and running.

Even initially, you know, and just tidy it up

-and especially get those blocks off the windows.

-Get 'em out! I know!

So, did Patrick manage to revive this dark and dreary property

by giving it a smart, sophisticated appearance to match the terrace?

We're back nearly seven months later to see how he got on.

Oh, I hardly recognise the place! Patrick has transformed the front of the building

by moving the front door into the newly-created wall where the archway used to be.

This has enclosed the entrance and started to make more of this area.

The ugly breeze blocks have been banished

and replaced with traditional sash and case windows.

A fresh coat of paint has really helped to upgrade this end of terrace.

Although Patrick is still finishing the work,

the light let in by the beautiful new windows reveals the improvements that are ongoing.

The kitchen, which was gloomy and grubby

has been completely overhauled.

Now it's a bright, airy space filled with natural light.

To create a large kitchen/diner, Patrick knocked through the wall to what was the downstairs bathroom.

The new space opens out even further

with a set of French windows leading to the back yard.

Those grimy kitchen cabinets are now gone, replaced by a stylish white fitted kitchen.

We've removed the wall that was here

leading to the original back door and bathroom downstairs.

We've just opened it up and installed a new kitchen.

New units, granite worktop,

new appliances, new flooring.

New boiler. Just finished off the painting and tiling at this stage.

Almost there.

Upstairs, Patrick's taken space from one of the bedrooms

to create a new family bathroom.

This is a much more convenient layout.

What's more, he's installed an en-suite for the master bedroom, a real bonus.

It's not the only change for the better.

Remember the fire damage in the master bedroom?

We just took the whole ceiling down and replaced some of the timbers

and put a new ceiling back up.

And job sorted!

What a difference. A fresh coat of paint and new windows have really brightened things up.

Bedroom two has been cheered up,

and the light shining in helps this room appear a little bigger.

The third bedroom was decidedly dull,

but now with two windows letting in light, it looks bright and clean.

So, all in all, even with some work still to be completed,

it's like night and day compared to its condition last time we came.

So job well done, Patrick!

However, I bet it wasn't easy!

It was quite a demanding job.

It was in a worse condition than I thought when I bought the house.

So there was a lot of initial stuff that had to be done.

When I visited the property seven months ago,

Patrick was aiming to copy his neighbour's loft extension

and expand this into a five-bed house.

He did get planning permission, but there's no sign that that's underway.

Has he changed his mind?

I don't know if I'm going to do it right now, at any rate.

I might try to put the house on the market and see what happens.

And maybe consider the loft extension at a later stage if I don't sell.

Patrick estimated his budget would be a maximum of 30,000 without the extension.

Has he managed to keep to that?

Well, the budget has slightly gone... Shot through the roof, shall we say?

It's gone from the 30 initially to about 50 at this stage.

50 is more realistically what I've spent here.

So Patrick's gone 20,000 over budget. What about the amount of time the work has taken?

His original timescale for the basic renovations, without the extension, was three months.

So, seven months on, what's been the hold-up?

I tried to do any works I was doing to suit the planning application

on the ground floor and the first floor.

So that was a delay for a month or two.

Then we had the issue with the windows.

They were like a two-month waiting time for those, the timber windows.

And then we had all that snow and stuff around Christmas time.

It may not be quite finished yet,

but how does he feel it's gone?

I think I've revived this house, brought it back to life from what it was.

Definitely, I think it needed this overhaul badly. It was in a sorry state!

It'll make a nice home for somebody now.

So, with a sale price of 555,000 at auction

and after spending about 50,000 on the refurbishment,

making a grand total of £605,000,

is Patrick on course to make any money from this venture?

We asked two estate agents for their views.

He's made some really substantial changes. It's bright,

it's light, open, airy, all the things you'd expect to see. A good job.

First impressions, the property looks fantastic.

It's perfect for any family to move straight into and make their family home.

That's great feedback for Patrick. But how do the sums add up?

He always intended to sell this three-bed property.

But what could he make if he rented it out instead?

As it's three bedrooms, it should rent for £3,000 a calendar month.

As a three-bed, the property could be marketed at £3,000 per calendar month.

Those are pretty decent rental figures.

What does Patrick make of them?

I think they're very good.

Very high figures. But I'm not sure I want to go down that road.

I've done a high spec finish on the house

so I thought for a sale. I was aiming at that market.

I might try that first and see what happens.

It looks like Patrick will definitely be aiming to sell the property first and foremost.

Because he already has planning permission to add another two bedrooms

he could increase his asking price by up to 30,000.

What do the experts think he could get on today's market?

As a completed property in its current layout, three bedrooms,

I would look to achieve £700,000 in this market.

As a three-bed property, I would currently value it between 700 and £720,000.

I think it could be slightly higher but I'm still making a good profit.

So yeah, even if I sell at those figures, I'll still be doing OK.

If Patrick pushes ahead and completes the extension,

at an estimated cost of 50,000,

how much could the property achieve if put up for sale?

As a five bedroom, I'd expect it to sell at £775,000 to £800,000.

As a five-bed, I would say in the current market the property would achieve

between 800 and £825,000.

That would increase Patrick's profit but would also take a lot of time and effort.

Perhaps that's why he's focusing on finishing the renovations

and selling the property with planning permission as an added attraction.

So now he's nearly finished,

is he sold on the area?

I might buy another property in west London, yeah.

We'll see what happens!

When we were last in Stockport,

this two-bed end-of-terrace was bought for 63,000

by Ken and his girlfriend Michelle.

# Come fly with me

# Let's fly, let's fly away. #

Ken worked in the travel industry for many years

and had enjoyed the ultimate travel experience.

I won a competition which took me round the world. A yearly ticket to travel the world.

-You won a round-the-world airline ticket?

-Two, so my girlfriend came too.

-What a trip!

-It was a very good trip.

-Fantastic. Then back to properties in Stockport.

Yeah, that's it. Yeah.

He and Michelle had renovated a house in Croydon

and relocated to Manchester.

Ken now wanted to move into property development

so they bought this place near where they live.

He and Michelle planned to refurbish it and then sell.

Well, almost three months have passed and the seasons have changed

and so has the house.

The front door's been replaced,

plus all the windows.

The whole place has been completely redecorated,

fresh paint and new carpets have really improved the appearance of the living areas.

That ugly hole in the ceiling is now a thing of the past.

The couple have transformed this space into a lovely kitchen/diner.

Picking up some tips from their travels, they've put in all new appliances

including a large American-style fridge.

In this room we fixed the hole in the ceiling. It was very large.

It didn't look nice, so we had that all fixed.

We've replaced the units in the kitchen and painted it a bright, airy colour.

Upstairs, the makeover continues.

The bathroom looks all the better for its smart new floor

and the carpet has given the landing a lift.

The two bedrooms have been decorated in clean, neutral colours.

To give the room character, Michelle borrowed furniture from a friend, adding curtains and cushions.

Finishing touches like these really add to the house's appeal.

It looks like it's just waiting for someone to move in.

With both bedrooms, we tried to increase the awareness of space.

There was pretty old wallpaper on the walls so we stripped everything back,

lined it and painted it white.

It's very open. We've put double beds in to show it's a double room.

To keep costs down, they did most of the work themselves.

They put in the hours at evenings and weekends to get it done in less than three months.

They called in specialists to check the plumbing and electrics

but luckily all was fine, so no nasty shocks there.

The original budget was ten.

We had an upper end limit of 15.

But counting down to the very last screw that we used,

we're probably just under the 15.

But that includes absolutely everything. Fees and everything.

So, Ken and Michelle are on time and on budget.

They even managed to spruce up the outside, too.

At the front the original flagstones have been lifted and re-laid.

You can park there, but they haven't applied to the council to drop the kerb.

That could be expensive, but would definitely be a strong selling point.

After all their hard work, is Ken pleased with the finish they've achieved?

I do come in and think about how nice it looks.

Whether anybody else thinks that, it's up to them.

Personally, I think it looks absolutely fine.

The couple bought the house for 63,000

and have spent £15,000 refurbishing it.

So, will two local estate agents agree they've spent their money wisely?

It's refurbished to a good standard.

It has a new kitchen, new bathroom.

Decor's good. So ideal for a first-time buyer or landlord.

The new owners have done a lovely job on it.

It's ideal for a first-time buyer now. The decor's lovely throughout.

Nice kitchen, bathroom suite. It is as you would like it.

The doors are a bit dated. Pine's good,

but with the modern style of the property, I'd have painted them white.

The only thing I would positively have done is to seek permission to drop the paving at the front,

therefore giving off-road parking.

There's a space there, but it can't be classed as off-road parking because of the pavement.

Ken spent a total of £78,000 on this property, and plans to sell it.

But has it been worth all the hard work?

What do two property experts think?

This property would market between £95,000 and £100,000.

If I put this on the market today, it would be between £95,000 and £100,000.

Well, they both agree. That valuation range would generate a gross profit

of between 17 and 22,000 before the usual selling expenses.

Well, that's spot on what we were hoping for.

And, yeah, that's an excellent deal.

I'm really pleased.

If they can't sell straightaway, how much could Ken and Michelle hope to earn

if they rented out the property?

This particular property rent

would be approximately 550 to £575 per calendar month.

On the rental market, I feel we'd achieve around £550 per calendar month.

That's very impressive. Certainly something to consider in the long term

if we can't sell it.

A rental income of £550 a month would generate a yield of just over eight per cent.

That's definitely something to write home about.

But Ken's already shown the property to several potential buyers

and it looks like everything is going to plan.

So, if this venture into developing is a success,

what will Ken and Michelle do next?

We'll try and sell this house.

If that doesn't work, we'll reconsider and think about renting it out.

If we do sell it, we'll probably move on to the next one.

Join us next time for more action from the auction room.

-Look forward to seeing you then on Homes Under The Hammer. Bye!

-Bye!

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