Episode 48 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Have you ever thought about buying a property at auction,

but don't know where to start?

Perhaps we can show you some tricks of the trade.

Join us now as we follow three plucky buyers

buying their homes under the hammer!

Buying at auction is not complicated. Anybody can do it. All you need is the money!

Today we'll talk to some intrepid buyers who took the plunge.

Did they sink or did they swim? Let's find out.

With five external doors, this three-bed bungalow in Wiltshire

is far from an open-and-shut case.

Yet another door there! How many doors do you need?

This four-bed semi in Surrey

could be money down the drain.

Whoever takes on this property will need buckets of cash.

And in Sheffield, this two-up, two-down mid-terrace is lacking...something.

Out the back... Oh. I was kind of expecting another bit!

All these properties were sold at auction. We find out who bought them

and what they paid when they went under the hammer.

Devizes is a small market town in the heart of Wiltshire.

It's home to some beautiful Georgian architecture

and has nearly 500 listed buildings.

But today I'm venturing away from the town into the unknown!

No, I'm not in the African savannah.

I've actually come a few miles outside Devizes

to the village of Potterne. I'm here to see this,

a three-bed bungalow in a very pleasant cul-de-sac.

It went to auction with a guide price of 140,000.

So, what is in store? A fairly impressive front door,

but possibly the narrowest entrance porch I've ever seen.

Just about squeeze a grow-bag and some tomato plants in that!

Right outside the front door, this oil storage tank tells me the house isn't on mains gas.

A decent-sized central area here, off which most of the rooms go.

Lounge, bedrooms, et cetera.

A bathroom there, then through into the kitchen. This is a bit of a surprise.

As you see, it's in need of tender loving care, but it's a good-sized space.

Another door there. How many doors do you need? Through to this area.

My thoughts are this is an extension.

I don't know what's going on with the floor, but we're on two different levels.

You'd want to have that checked out and maybe level the whole thing.

But it's a big space, and, joy of joys, yet more doors

out onto the rear garden. Lovely view.

Pretty good.

In contrast, the bathroom isn't huge,

and, like the kitchen, could do with ripping out and replacing.

So through to the lounge. Another nice surprise, it's big.

An open fire there

and it just goes on again into that area that was the extension.

Again, more doors, yes, more doors, out onto the garden.

You're getting a lot of property for your money here.

There are three good-sized bedrooms which just need to be decorated.

It's the perfect place if you want to confuse any door-to-door salesmen!

You've got the double front doors.

The original back door.

Two double patio doors

and a door into the conservatory.

So options galore!

One of the things I love about this house is it has a really nice garden.

There is a road at the back, but it's in a cutting. You'd be forgiven for thinking you're in the woods!

And the place doesn't end there. There's a conservatory,

a garage and a greenhouse.

Time for an estate agent to tell us a bit more about this sprawling bungalow.

It needs a fair amount of money spending on it.

Anybody who buys this is likely to put a new kitchen and bathroom in,

redecorate it, and there's a problem in the kitchen where the floor level changes.

Bearing in mind that guide price of 140,000,

what could this place be worth once spruced up?

Once this property's been renovated, it will hold a value of £215,000 to £220,000.

If it's done very well, it may get a touch more.

But generally, in this street, properties of this size and style

tend to go for around the £215,000 mark.

Is this area good for lettings? Is it worth an investor buying the place,

doing it up then renting it out?

Once the property's been renovated, there would be a rental market for it.

You'd achieve something in the region of £650 per calendar month

if you were to rent it.

I'd imagine more likely a family would rent it than older people.

So, nice location. Very, very big bungalow,

and a guide price of just 140,000 quid. What is there not to like?

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

Lot two. A bungalow that has been extended.

Needs a bit doing to it. It's here to be sold.

Who's going to start me. The guide price is 140.

140, somebody? 130, then. Start this at £130,000. Below the guide.

At £130,000. We'll go in twos.

At 130. 132.

34. At 34. And six, may I say?

At £134,000.

Six if you like. 36. At 136.

138. 140 to you, sir.

At 140 on my right-hand side.

140. Two I'll take.

At £140,000. Against you on the phone.

140,000. 142 I'll take. 44.

46.

48. 50.

Two?

Four. Six. Eight.

160. Two.

Four.

Six.

At £166,000.

On the wall. 166 it is. I'll take eight for it, anyone.

I'll take seven, sir.

167?

No? At £166,000 on my left-hand side.

For the first time. £166,000. For the second time.

All done? 166, third and last time.

Have you done at 166?

The bid that sealed the deal came from farmer Frank and his wife Pauline.

They paid 166,000 for their new bungalow.

I met them back there to find out what they wanted to do with it.

Pauline, Frank, lovely to meet you.

-Thank you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations! Tell me why you wanted to buy the bungalow.

Well, we want this for when we retire. We've got a small farm now,

which we're only tenants.

We've been looking for a bungalow to do up and retire to in a year's time.

What was it about it that you liked?

This bungalow is quite a sizeable bungalow.

It's got three nice-sized bedrooms.

And a nice size lounge and diner and kitchen.

We thought it was ideal for us because we're used to living in a big farmhouse.

-Right.

-It's quite a downsize!

-Is it?

-Yes, very.

-How will you get all your furniture in?

-We won't be able to, I don't think!

Obviously Pauline and Frank have been extremely sensible here

and bought this bungalow well in advance of when they need to move in.

They've got plenty of time to do the place up and get it just how they like it.

They reckon they've got themselves a bargain.

-My top limit was 180,000.

-And you paid 166.

-166. I think we can do it for nearly 180,000.

-Wow!

So you're viewing you'll be able to get it fully refurbished

-for the extra money you were willing to pay for it in the first place.

-Yes.

What are you going to do to it?

To start with, we've got to define where the front door is!

-Yes!

-Because it looks, "Oh, where's the door?"

I think we should put a small porch or conservatory on the front door.

Then we'll move the oil tank

from outside the front door

to down behind by the garden shed.

Then we want to pull out that fireplace

and build a bigger one to have a small log burner.

-We're used to a log burner.

-They're great.

-Yeah.

-Being country people.

Frank and Pauline aren't stopping there.

They want to fully refurbish the house, changing everything in the kitchen and bathroom.

It's certainly going to be quite an undertaking.

So who's doing the work?

-Him!

-You?

I shall get her on the sledgehammer!

I'll do what I can to help. Do what I can.

-Are you fairly handy?

-Very.

I can do anything. I've done virtually everything where we live now.

I put in a new Rayburn, did all the plumbing.

Done the electric work.

Done everything. Put in new ceilings, windows, kitchen, bathroom.

-Does he do a good job?

-Yeah, very good.

Frank certainly doesn't lack confidence,

and judging by that list, it sounds like he's got the experience to back it up.

Although it's a big job for one person to take on,

they've given themselves nine months to get everything done on a realistic budget.

-I reckon 20,000 will be the max.

-20, yeah.

We may be able to do it less than that.

But the first thing we've got to do is central heating.

It's got to be oil because there's no gas in the village.

So we've got to have an efficient boiler out there

because we don't know where the price of oil is going to get to.

What about the extension? It's great, but in the kitchen,

-there's an undulation in the floor.

-I don't know what they did when they built the house.

They built the floor in the kitchen before they knocked the middle wall down!

And then they saw they weren't quite the same level!

So I shall raise the wood floor to the level of the concrete floor.

What will you do with the garden?

At home, we grow all our own fruit and veg.

-Right.

-So we shall grow some of it here.

We're still eating carrots and onions from last year, from the summer.

-Great.

-They last us one year to the next.

-Really?

-Yeah.

What about this area? What do you think about the area round here? Happy to move here, to retire?

-Yes.

-My mother and father used to live in the village here.

-Did they?

-Quite a while ago!

The lady next door we met this morning, she had a hairdresser's in the village,

and she used to do my mother's hair.

-What a small world!

-And she knew his sister as well!

It's a small world when you get around.

I hope you're very happy here. I look forward to seeing how it goes. A bit of work to be done!

-Yes.

-We'll get there.

-You'll get there.

-And get it nice.

-Congratulations. Good luck. Lovely to meet you both.

-Nice to see you.

How lovely that Frank and Pauline have found somewhere they're happy to retire to

and they got it for £14,000 less than they were prepared to pay.

Big question is, will the garden and the house prove fruitful for them?

Find out later in the show.

If you'd visited the London borough of Sutton in the 1800s, all you'd have found were fields.

Then in 1847, the railway arrived and boom!

Today it's still commuter heaven, only 25 minutes by train to London Victoria.

You ask any Londoner what's on their list of must-haves when choosing somewhere to live

and I guarantee you that being close to transport links makes it to the top three every single time.

Nobody wants to waste their day travelling.

So I'm delighted the property I'm here to see is a ten-minute walk to the station.

The house itself is perhaps slightly less than perfect.

But it's got four bedrooms and had a guide price of £215,000.

The outside is crying out for a lick of paint, and possibly a re-render.

But what's it got to offer inside?

We've got two doors to get through before we get into the hallway.

But goodness me! Straight away I can see this hasn't been lived in for a long time.

But the thing that hits me between the eyes is it's massive!

It just goes on and on!

It has a lot of character. I'm guessing it's Edwardian.

A beautiful lounge through there, the old newel posts - shame about the spindles!

Get rid of that ironwork and put something more original in.

But the bones are good. This is a bit unusual. Off the corridor you've got another room.

Lots of this wobbly glass everywhere.

A good space here.

Oh, dear! That's the kitchen in there!

A bit of a '50s nightmare.

You could think about knocking this through,

creating one large kitchen/diner.

But there may be a better option that that.

I told you this house was big, didn't I? Look at this.

You've got a third reception room here.

It's amazing. There's so much square footage here to play with.

So I'm thinking the kitchen is just behind this wall.

Even if you take this wall down and just turn the kitchen around,

you then face the garden. For me, even though it's an old period house,

it would work so much better to have your kitchen/diner here.

You've got lovely double doors leading out to the garden.

OK, you've got to update everything, sort that garden out for a start,

but I think this would be a much better way to live

and look, it's handed to you on a plate, really.

A structural engineer can tell you if the wall is load-bearing.

If it is, you might need a steel beam for support, which may be costly.

But this could be a fantastic open-plan space.

The downside for some people would be the train line at the end of the garden.

But once inside, it's not all that loud

and the trains aren't that frequent.

It had a guide price of 215,000,

so this could be a shrewd purchase for someone who knows what they're doing.

What I really love about this house is the sense of space.

You've got wonderful high ceilings.

But oh, dear! Nobody likes to look at that!

You can tell there's obviously been some sort of leak.

I know this part of the building has a flat roof above it - over here it's the tiled portion -

so where they meet in the middle, I wonder if the water may be getting in underneath.

Get an expert in to have a look at that.

But you've got lovely wide landings.

It needs decorating, it's old-fashioned, needs starting over.

A good-sized double bedroom in there.

Family bathroom, a bit small, and there's no toilet, so that needs a bit of a juggle.

And a lovely room with a gorgeous old fireplace

but look down here.

One, two, three, four, five... Nine buckets.

Now I'm thinking there is a definite problem with the roof.

There's something going on up there. I'd love to get somebody in to have a rummage.

But whoever takes on this property is going to need buckets of cash.

# There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

# There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole. #

There is some serious work to do here but it's not completely beyond the "pail"!

Once you've got the place water-tight, you need to get a toilet in the bathroom.

And also another bathroom somewhere.

One simply isn't enough for a four-bed house.

It's exciting, if potentially expensive, to plan what you'd do here.

There's space and scope aplenty and previous owners haven't stolen its charm.

So it could be great fun.

There's bags of potential here. I love it!

If you're looking for a home to lovingly restore with bags of character,

in the words of local girl Katie Melua,

"Call off the search - I think I've found it!"

# I'll call off the search. #

The guide price for this house was 215,000.

We asked a local estate agent for his take on this smashing semi.

The property itself is fantastic. It really is.

It's a beast of a house!

The lay-out is pretty sound.

It is a good family home.

A good, honest family home.

So once this beast of a house has been tamed,

what could it make on the re-sale market?

Once the property's been refurbished,

it could achieve up to 400,000.

400 grand?

That's almost double the guide price.

There's certainly money to be made here. What about renting the property out?

The rental value per calendar month

would be anywhere between 1,800 and £2,000, once refurbished.

This property is clearly worth more than its guide price due to the location alone.

It's a top spot, and personally, I would love the chance to make it work as a family home again

and restore its character and charm.

Let's see who else fell for it at the auction.

Lot 19, which is in Sutton.

A four-bedroomed house requiring modernisation.

What shall we say for this?

200, was that? Yes? Thank you. He was first.

He was holding his hand up.

I'll take 205, if you will.

Yes? 205.

210?

Two, is that? 207.

210, then. 212.

214. 216. 218.

220.

222. 24. 226.

228. 230.

After a quick-fire start to the auction,

three bidders begin to battle it out.

We pick things up as the auction hits 250,000.

250. 251.

252.

252. Lady's back in. 253 anywhere else?

Otherwise at 252, then. 253.

254.

254. 255?

No? £254,000

straight ahead for the first.

255,000 is bid. 256?

256,000 back in.

257? No?

Sure? £256,000, gentleman on my left seated for the first.

257. Back in.

258?

Sure?

257,000, then, with the lady for the first.

257 for the second.

Third.

258. 259?

258. Gentleman at the front for the first.

258. 259. 260?

She's on her own! There's four of you. You should be able to do that!

£259,000. Lady's bid for the first.

259 for the second.

Third and final time.

Lady buys it at £259,000.

That successful bid of 259,000 was made by Gladys,

hidden behind the man in the grey jumper.

Gladys is a support worker

and husband Stefan a staff training consultant for companies overseas.

This is their second auction purchase.

I caught up with them to find out more.

Stefan and Gladys, it's lovely to meet both of you.

-Thank you.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Did you think you would win this on auction day, Gladys?

-No, I didn't.

When I first came here, there were about 20 or more people

and I didn't think I would.

So I came back again. I liked it so much.

So I brought my builder to come and have a look.

I saw the ceiling, the state of the ceiling. He said, "It's superficial. Go for it.

"It's nothing structural. It looks fine. Just go for it."

So what is your plan for this place? Will you keep it as a family house?

Yes. We get pleasure out of renovating

so to turn this back into a nice family home

which has all the advantages - location, the station.

And we, in fact, when we first got married 20 years ago,

-is it only 20 years?

-It feels like 50!

We used to live just round the corner on the Brighton Road.

So we know the area.

Local knowledge is key, as is experience. Stefan's a semi-retired engineer

with a passion for DIY.

Gladys's role is more organisational.

Those 50 - sorry, 20 - years together means they have a great working dynamic.

They certainly have their work cut out for them here.

-We...

-We'll make the roof secure, first thing.

-Yes, secure the roof.

The builder is coming at the end of the month and he'll sort that out.

-Electrician.

-Electrician.

-Rewire.

-A plumber's coming in, also end of the month.

And really it's also to design. We're not sure where to put the kitchen.

We have a nice back reception.

Then there's a middle reception.

We're not sure which one will be the kitchen.

I would definitely think about creating a kitchen within that big space at the end.

That'll be the best part of the house as far as families are concerned.

Mum cooking with the kids there. Maybe they're playing in the garden.

-I just think that is what that space should be.

-You've reassured us!

Stefan and Gladys won't be short of options.

I'm certain they'll do a great job here,

especially if they give the property that family-friendly kitchen it desperately needs.

But all this comes at a cost.

They have a budget of 40,000, which may sound like a good wad of cash,

but could disappear in a flash.

We think that 40 is a reasonable 40

and we think we've covered everything.

But there's something that we call the "huth factor", the "homes under the hammer" factor,

and that is whatever you do, there's something called luck involved.

So you can be very lucky or very unlucky.

So far, we're hoping we're lucky.

The "huth" factor. Never heard of that. The "homes under the hammer" factor.

-Ah, yes, well.

-Guys, good luck with this. I see how passionate you are about this house.

It'll be great finding out what you do to it. Lovely to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, Lucy.

-Thank you very much.

So Gladys and Stefan have a wonderful project here.

And some serious profit to make.

But £40,000 for all this work?

They're going to need a lot of luck and some "huth factor" to see them through.

Join me later in the programme to find out how they get on.

Coming up. The roof of this two-bed terrace in Sheffield needs some serious attention.

Just added quite a few thousand onto the renovation costs there.

In Surrey, Gladys and Stefan have been using the "huth factor"

on their four-bed semi.

The "homes under the hammer factor" has been positive in this house.

But first, in Wiltshire, farmer Frank has the key to success.

You've got to buy the right place in the right place at the right price.

Back to Wiltshire where farmer Frank and his wife Pauline

bought this three-bed bungalow in the village of Potterne, Devizes.

They snapped it up at auction for 166,000

and the plan was to renovate it, then retire and move in.

But Frank didn't seem like the retiring type.

-Who's doing the work?

-Him!

You are?!

-Are you fairly handy?

-Very.

I can do anything. I've done virtually everything where we live now.

I've done the plumbing, the electric work,

done everything. Put in new ceilings, windows, kitchen, bathroom.

With a healthy £20,000 budget

and a year to do the work before the tenancy expired on their farm,

it was all systems go for Pauline and Frank.

-Does he do a good job?

-Yeah. Very good.

Well, 12 months after our first visit, we're back

to see just how good a job Frank and Pauline have done.

Well, you have to hand it to Frank. With a bit of help from family,

he's been down here twice a week for the last year

and done most of the work himself.

And it was more than you might think.

We completely gutted the place,

doors, skirting, everything.

Then we had it replastered.

We put all new skirting boards round

and brought the bathroom out.

And made the kitchen different to what it is.

And that's about it, really.

The bathroom was enlarged so it now incorporates a separate shower.

But rearranging the bathroom was no mean feat.

Because it's concrete floors, we had to dig the floor up

to get the pipes in for the shower and bath and basin

all a different way.

So it was quite a bit of work.

And it doesn't stop there.

Frank's been busy knocking the kitchen about, too.

In the process, he managed to sort out the strange changes of level

in the kitchen floor.

But it wasn't all about Frank wielding a sledgehammer.

Pauline's made her mark on the property too.

I chose all the lights. I wanted all the same through.

The wallpaper, I wanted something nice and bright

with a bit of colour to set it off quite nicely.

It's taken just over a year to get to this stage

and there's still some plumbing to do, carpets to go in

and some landscaping.

But Pauline and Frank are relaxed about the schedule because their plans have changed.

Their tenancy on the farm has been extended

so they've decided to delay retirement and stay on there.

I wanted to move from the farm and come here.

But Frank wasn't too keen.

He likes his farming too much.

As long as you're fit, you want to keep fit, don't you?

If you sit down all day, you're soon in a long box!

Well, Frank's certainly been keeping himself busy here. Outside,

he's moved the oil tank, extended the off-street parking,

built an area of decking, and when the lawn goes down, there'll be a lovely garden here.

Budget-wise, Pauline and Frank gave themselves 20,000.

How well has that held out?

We've only spent 14,700

and it's in the book out there if you want to check it!

But we've got to have the radiators and a bit done yet,

-so I think it'll be about 16 or 17,000.

-Yeah.

Which is pretty well within budget.

If they do end up spending £17,000,

their total outlay on the project

will come in at about 183,000.

We asked two local property experts to look around and give us their thoughts.

My first impressions are the property's changed an awful lot

from what was here before.

It's a lot brighter, it's been modernised throughout

which makes a massive difference to the overall feel of it.

-A very different property.

-It's very spacious for a bungalow.

They've done a super job. It's quality. You see that straightaway.

The kitchen fixtures and the bathroom.

So they've done a great job in the length of time they've had the property.

Frank and Pauline's plan is to stay on at their rented farm.

So what might they earn from renting out the bungalow?

The demand for rental for bungalows is very good.

I'd estimate you'd achieve £695 per calendar month.

The rental value will be £650 per calendar month.

And if they decided to sell it on?

The resale value of this property

will be £220,000.

The resale value of the property at the moment would be 220 to £225,000.

What do Pauline and Frank make of that?

Not too bad.

We'll make a few quid profit!

A few quid?!

By my calculations, the couple could be looking at a pre-tax profit

of between 37 and £42,000, minus fees and expenses.

That's a fair few quid in my book!

There's no sign of Frank slowing down just yet.

So what's their plan when they've finished here?

Well, if we sell this,

we'd probably buy another to do up next winter.

Yeah, we're in no hurry at the moment to go and buy one.

-It depends...

-Keep a lookout. Keep a lookout.

It depends what comes up.

-You've got to buy the right place in the right place at the right price.

-See what comes up.

That's the spirit, Frank.

Something tells me it may not be too long before we see you again on the show!

This is Sheffield, a city currently going through a resurgence.

Its streets are filled with students, over 50,000 of them,

and brand new businesses to bring in the bright young things.

It's working and the city of steel is now being transformed.

This is Darnall, a suburb to the east of Sheffield.

Full of these terraced houses

built for the steelworkers who worked in the town.

It's a good place to live. Good transport links into the city centre,

especially with the new tram.

This is the property I'm here to see. A two-bed terrace, guide price of 35 to 40,000 quid.

Let's take a look.

So, not a lot of money. What do you get for it?

Oh, dear! What you get, to start with, is a fairly bad damp problem.

Hmm.

Need to investigate that a bit more. It's on that wall, also that wall.

Not a bad size front living room.

I notice one thing, that is obviously the chimney breast

and I'd like to see an air brick in that. If it's been blocked up,

without proper ventilation, then you could get damp through that chimney breast.

Stairs up to the bedrooms. The rear of the property where the kitchen is.

You've got a kitchen sink.

A boiler, which looks terribly old.

Not a bad-sized space, though.

And then out the back...

Oh. I was kind of expecting another bit. Maybe an extension like the other houses in the street.

Or some of them. That's where you might expect a bathroom to be.

Nothing there. OK.

Not to worry. Let's take a look upstairs.

Most houses end with a utility area or a bathroom.

But this is abrupt, straight out into a decent-sized garden.

Maybe there's space to extend out the back.

It looks like the neighbours have done it, so it may be worth a go.

Upstairs, pretty much what you'd expect.

A pretty good-sized double bedroom. But then it gets a bit unusual.

There's this little landing area here

and instead of having one bedroom on this side as well

as you'd expect in this kind of house, you've got a bathroom and loo there.

Fantastic. Obviously there's been a compromise.

And that's that the second bedroom is a bit small. Good storage, though.

But thinking about the kind of people that would use this property. It'll either be a couple

or maybe somebody with a young family.

So one bedroom and a smaller bedroom here will work well.

So I think that is good news.

It's always a positive to have a bathroom near the bedrooms in a small house like this.

That would appeal to families, along with the little bedroom for a child.

Not so appealing to the eye or the wallet is the amount of damp.

I've spotted it all around the house.

It's in virtually every room and in sizeable patches

which peel away to the touch.

This needs to be solved, and pronto.

So, wherein lies the problem?

I reckon it could be something out here.

Look at the brickwork. The pointing isn't in that good a condition so that's the first port of call.

You can see down the front of the building lots of watermarks.

That looks like it's coming from the guttering, so we're replacing the pointing and the guttering.

And come back a bit further from the property,

so you can see the roof, and oh, dear!

Looks like it needs a new roof as well.

So you're starting to add quite a few thousand pounds onto the renovation costs.

This terraced house really is piling the pounds

onto its currently skinny frame.

I'm worried it'll take more cash than it's worth to fatten it up to a decent standard.

Let's add it all up.

Maybe there's still a chance to make your wallet bulge here and not have you running for cover.

Well, these still are fairly sticky times in the property sales market.

Maybe the best option for this place

is to rent it out.

With that, it could generate quite a good yield.

Get the property for say, 40,000 quid. Spend about £10,000 on the renovation.

That's £50,000 you're in it for.

These properties would rent out at £400 a month or so.

So that is about a ten per cent yield.

Not at all bad.

Obviously,

there are auction and potential rental management fees to add on.

They would eat into your profit.

But just from that simple sum, it's worth considering.

The interior could be pretty cheap to do if you kept it simple.

Just some paint, carpets and a basic kitchen and bathroom suite is all it would take.

It's really just on the outside that costs start to add up.

But with that guide price of 35 to 40 grand,

this place offered a good start for an investor.

We asked a local estate agent what he thought of this two-bed terrace.

First impressions,

there's got to be quite a bit of money to be spent

before it's marketable.

In our opinion, we're looking at about £15,000.

It needs a new roof,

a new kitchen

and double-glazed windows.

No surprises there about the level of work needed.

But the estate agent reckons the area is popular

and the house would appeal to families or young professionals. What might it fetch in rental value?

Once it's all renovated, we'd be looking to achieve in the region of 400 to £425 per calendar month.

What could a resale achieve?

Once all the work is done,

we'd be looking at marketing it for around 65,000.

Not a bad little property, but it needs more rehabilitation than at first glance.

That roof could be a problem. It'll add thousands onto the renovation costs.

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

Lot 36. The guide price 35 to 40,000.

Let's start at 35. Do we have an opening bid of 35,000 on this?

35?

25, then. 25,000 down here. 26 anywhere?

£25,000.

26, thank you, sir. 27?

28. 29.

30.

31. 32?

33.

34.

35?

34,500.

34,500 anywhere?

34,500. 35.

35,000, sir? Stood up.

35,000?

Bid's at 34,500. I'm looking for 35.

35,000. Thank you.

35,500? At £35,000.

Stood up. The first time at £35,000. You're out down here.

Any other bids?

35,000. The second time at 35,000.

Third and last time at £35,000.

Yours, sir. Thank you.

That successful bid of 35,000

was made by Babul, seen here on the right.

He came to meet me at the property with his younger brother, Shibul.

Babul's been a practising lawyer for ten years

while Shibul is a legal assistant.

I chatted to them to find out why they'd bought this house.

Babul, Shibul, good to meet you.

-Good to meet you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this.

It's located in an area which is desirable.

And also the price. I thought this would be an ideal first house for my brother.

So you've assisted him getting onto the property ladder.

In the past my parents have helped when I was younger,

-so I thought I'd do something for my brother.

-Great. How do you feel about it?

Over-excited!

I don't know how to explain it, to be honest.

I'm just looking forward to the future in some ways.

-Are you going to be living here?

-Yeah.

-So this is your starter home.

-Yes.

-What did you think about the house when you saw it?

This is the first time I've seen inside!

Really?! Today?

-Today.

-What do you think?

I like it. I honestly like it. As soon as I walked in,

when I looked at the rooms, I've got plans in my head already.

I'm going to have this there, what colour, how I'll set it out.

I've already got ideas so I'm looking forward to it.

Sounds like Shibul is already making himself at home.

He has lots of friends living on this street

and is clearly grateful for his brother's help.

Shibul is currently living at his brother's house.

Babul, who already has three other properties, knew a good deal when he saw this.

What do they plan to do to the place to get it ship-shape for Shibul?

Talk me through what you're going to do to sort it out.

Initially, the damp-proof and the roof. I'll get some experts' quotes for that.

Certainly new carpeting throughout. A new kitchen in here. New bathroom.

In terms of the garden, as you've seen, it needs a bit of work.

But we'll see what can be done.

Who's going to be involved in sorting it out?

-Will you get involved?

-Uh...

-Yes, you most certainly are!

-You're doing a lot of the work!

-I'll be doing the majority of it.

It gives me experience on how to deal with it in the future.

So it's got to start from somewhere. So here we are.

Right. What are you going to do to sort it out?

Well, I'm planning on getting it revamped.

-Obviously the house does need a bit of work doing.

-I'll be handling the project management!

-Will you?

-Yes. I'll get him to do some painting and decorating.

Some of the more significant jobs, I've got contacts from previous properties.

So they'll be doing things like guttering and damp-proof course.

But you're more than capable of doing the painting and things like that.

I can reach the high points!

You're taller, of course.

So with Shibul's height and Babul's cash and know-how,

these two should get this place sorted.

They have a £10,000 budget which will be tight,

considering the problems with the damp, the roof and their two to three month timescale.

But when it comes to deadlines, there's a good reason why Shibul needs to be in here soon.

-My wife and I are expecting our first child in March.

-Congratulations.

So that's going to be interesting.

So you might be getting out of the house just in time before the screaming and the noise!

-And pooey nappies!

-That's it, yeah.

-What do you think about what your brother's done for you?

I'm overjoyed. I can't express the feelings of what he's done for me.

Congratulations to both of you. Well done for helping your brother

-and good luck in your new home. We look forward to seeing how you do.

-Thanks.

Well, that's brotherly love for you.

Babul really helping Shibul get on the housing ladder.

Shibul rightly delighted with his first home.

I'm a bit concerned though that they've underestimated the budget.

Roofs tend to swallow up funds like you wouldn't believe.

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

It's been a while since we last saw those properties.

Have the renovations been plain-sailing

or has it all gone horribly wrong?

Let's go back and find out.

Back to Sutton in Surrey now.

Husband and wife, Stefan and Gladys,

bought this semi-detached house for 259,000.

This is the second property they've bought at auction.

The plan was to renovate and sell it on.

But that was all going to rely on one very special ingredient.

There's something that we call the "huth factor".

The "under the hammer" factor!

That is that whatever you do, there's something called luck involved.

So you can be very lucky or very unlucky.

So far, we're hoping we're lucky.

So did that all important "homes under the hammer" factor

stay on their side? Five months later,

we're back to see if leaky roofs are a thing of the past for this fabulous family pad.

As you can see, this is the new kitchen.

This used to be the back reception room.

The old kitchen was behind this wall

and it was very small.

We were going to knock this wall through so it's a bigger kitchen/diner.

But we found out this was a supporting wall

so we had to leave it. What we've done is kept the kitchen in the back reception.

The new kitchen/diner is a fantastic family space.

The old kitchen has been cleverly re-jigged

to make a utility room and downstairs loo.

Win, win, win!

Upstairs, the winning formula continues.

The buckets and damp are no longer.

The four bedrooms have been given a new lease of life.

The bathroom has also benefitted from a rethink.

When we purchased the property, it was very small.

So we took about a foot to 18 inches off that bedroom

and put in a completely new white suite.

We couldn't put the toilet in there because there was no stack point at the front of the house.

So we kept a separate toilet and used this as the main family bathroom.

The revamped upstairs loo now has a hand basin and works pretty well.

With the roof fixed and new windows throughout,

the property looks the part as a lovely family home.

How has all this work impacted on Gladys and Stefan's £40,000 budget?

-We were very close. Very close.

-Very, very close.

Just over. We've actually come in at about 42

and there's probably another few hundred to spend.

Including their purchase price of 259,000,

Gladys and Stefan's total spend is around £301,500.

And the good news is, they're a whole month ahead of schedule.

We asked along two local estate agents

to give us their opinion on the result of their efforts.

I love the way that the property's been presented.

They've kept some of the original features as well.

Obviously everything is spick and span.

It's just a nice, honest, good home.

The standard of finish is good.

As with refurbishing, you can spend as much as you want

or as little as you want, to maximise on profit.

However, they've done enough to ensure that people will be interested in this property.

Moving the kitchen to the back is definitely a good idea.

It bring in the outside space inside, which is fantastic for a family.

What do the experts think the property could fetch as a rental?

If I was to rent this property out,

I would expect it to achieve between 1,400 to £1,650 per calendar month.

The property would achieve anywhere between 2,000 and 2,500 per calendar month.

-Ooh, that's very high, isn't it?

-Very high and very low.

We think - we've done our research -

we think around 1,800 to 2,000.

That's probably a realistic value for this area.

The estate agents' valuations would give the couple a healthy yield

of between 5.5 and ten per cent.

But Gladys and Stefan would like to sell. What might they make if they did that?

Given the fact that there is a shortage of this style of property in the locality currently,

I think it could be tested, you could put it on at around 400,000

and maybe even test it slightly higher.

Maybe up to 420.

In the current climate, the property would be valued between 400 and £425,000.

-Yeah, that would do us very nicely!

-Yeah.

-Thank you!

Now I can have my holiday!

Yes, a holiday and a half, I reckon!

Gladys and Stefan could be looking at a pre-tax profit

of between 98,500 and £123,500.

Will there be more renovations for this couple in the future?

-We'll go on for a while yet, yes.

-We love property.

For us, it gives us the buzz when we do the work

and we see the end product.

-I think that's the reason why we're going to do more.

-Definitely.

Now, what about that vital "huth factor"?

We were very lucky.

The "homes under the hammer factor" has been positive in this house.

That, and some great teamwork!

We get on really, really well.

She does tell me we do, so I have to!

But we do!

You didn't have to say that!

We're back in Sheffield, the steel city,

to check on progress at this two-bed mid-terrace.

Babul bought it at auction

for his brother, Shibul, for £35,000.

You've assisted him onto the property ladder.

My parents helped when I was younger, so I thought I should do something for my brother.

-Great. How do you feel about this?

-Over-excited!

I don't know how to explain it, to be honest!

I'm looking forward to the future, I guess, in some ways.

The brothers had set a £10,000 budget and a two to three months timescale

to tackle the damp issues and bring the property up to scratch.

They'd planned to get builders in to do the big jobs

but to be quite hands-on themselves.

-I'll be handling the project management.

-Will you?

I'll get him to do painting and decorating.

I'll be able to reach the high spots!

You're a bit taller, of course.

Five and a half months after our first visit,

we're back to see how things have gone.

There's no sign of the damp that was everywhere in the place before,

which was a great start.

But in all honesty, I was hoping for a bit more here.

To be fair to the boys, it's a big improvement on the semi-derelict state

the house was in last time we were here.

Now it's all perfectly liveable.

In the kitchen, principally it needed a new boiler.

The last boiler was very old and dated.

Crucially, it wasn't working!

So that had to be taken out and replaced.

In terms of the kitchen, we've skimmed it,

painted it bright colours as you can see,

to make it a little bit more attractive.

The boys may not have gone for a high-end finish inside,

but have spent their money wisely on repairing the roof.

That should mean the end of the damp problems that were everywhere before,

especially in the master bedroom.

The main issue was in this room in particular

because of the problem with the roof.

This corner here was mainly damp.

Once we got the roof sorted,

we came back in here and re-skimmed the whole room,

repainted it and we've got it all sorted, so no more damp patches!

Shibul was planning to move in, but he's still living with his brother and sister-in-law

and their new baby, Zak.

The brothers have decided to rent it out instead

and the tenant, along with their pet chinchilla, seem very comfortable here.

That's the key to understanding this renovation.

Babul and Shibul have been very canny and done just enough to let the place out

and get some rent coming in.

We're not in any rush to get the bathroom sorted

because it's in a decent condition at the minute.

The tenants seem to find it OK as well, so we'll leave that till later,

if we decide to do that in the end.

Is there anything else they'd like to do to the property?

We need to upgrade the windows and doors from single to double glazing.

That has to be done for the whole house.

The only other thing we may possibly do is add a few units to the kitchen.

That with the double glazing and the doors brings the property up to a reasonable standard.

Babul and Shibul managed to stick to their two to three month timescale

to get the property ready for tenants.

But how have the boys done on the budget front?

The initial budget was to spend approximately £10,000.

We're just halfway over, maybe around the six, £7,000 mark.

But the double glazing, doors and kitchen units are awaited,

so we'll marginally exceed that, but it's relatively within budget.

So there's still work to do.

But if we take their current spend of 7,000

Babul and Shibul's total outlay to date comes to £42,000.

We asked two estate agents to look around the house as it is and give us their thoughts.

It hasn't improved that much. Obviously it was derelict when I came last time.

But I expected them to change the windows, put in a new bathroom suite and new kitchen.

But they haven't done that. They've just done mainly cosmetic work.

The jobs they've done are the invisible jobs.

They're jobs that to the naked eye aren't something that jumps out.

Roof, rendering, that kind of thing.

They're the important jobs because the rest is cosmetic.

They've put the money into the right place straightaway.

A roof can turn into a leak and then you've got more damage.

So they've gone the right route first

but the long-term plan is then kitchen, windows, bathroom.

Just the finishing. The decorative side of things.

In its current state, what do they think it could fetch on the resale market?

In the sales market now, we're looking at achieving

round about the £55,000 mark.

As the property stands right now in this market

we'd be looking to market it around the £60,000 mark.

Well, there you go.

It may not be all shiny and glossy,

but if they were to sell it right now,

the boys could be looking at a profit of between 13 and £18,000 minus fees and expenses.

That's not bad at all. What about the rental market?

The rental market, in its present condition, I'd say £400 per calendar month.

As the property stands, with the work done so far,

we'd be looking to achieve around 400 to £425 per calendar month.

Again, that's a really good yield of between 11.5 and 12 per cent.

It just shows you don't need to splash out

to get a return on your investment.

What do the brothers make of those rental valuations?

I think that's a little bit low from what I know of the letting market in this area.

But it's not too far off from what I think is the going rate.

Yeah, it's about 500 or so, isn't it?

I'd say 450 to 500.

And what's their plan now for this two-bed mid-terrace?

-You're going to keep letting it.

-Letting it out.

We've got very good tenants in at the moment. Yes.

That's it for today. We're back with more thrills and spills from the auction room next time.

-Make sure you join us then.

-Goodbye!

-Goodbye!

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