Episode 50 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Whether you want an investment property or a dream home, auctions could be for you.

In these challenging times, there are still bargains if you avoid the pitfalls.

So join us now and we'll show you the ropes.

A wave of a catalogue, a nod of the head or a wink of the eye -

it doesn't matter how you bid to get the auctioneer's attention.

Today, hopefully, we'll be meeting some buyers who did just that. Let's see what caught their eye.

'This former pub in Salisbury has so many rooms you need a clear head to find them.'

I shall do my best to introduce you to the property.

'This mid-terrace in Kent is full of original features, but there's a problem.'

It's in a right old state, but I really, really like it.

'And in Derby, there are three floors in this house that gets better the higher you go.'

Now that's a surprise. What a great view.

All these properties went to auction and we'll find out who bought them

and what they paid for them when they went under the hammer.

I'm in the medieval city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, known as "the city in the countryside".

Visible from miles around is the cathedral, which has the country's tallest spire

and claims to house the world's oldest working clock. Time I went to find today's property.

The property I am here to see is two minutes' walk from the city centre.

Admittedly, on the other side of the bypass, but no matter.

Built over 500 years ago, it was a former pub.

Looks pretty impressive from the outside. Well, it needs tarting up, but look at that roof. Fantastic.

They had a guide price of £150,000. Big question - is it last orders for this place or an extended licence?

# We're going down the pub

# We're going down the pub... #

And the really good news is that it comes complete with detailed planning permission

to convert it into four separate dwellings. It's in three sections.

Behind the pub is a larger building that was presumably accommodation.

Plus there's a separate coach house.

So what's the inside got to offer?

So what have we got? Straight away, I see it's a bit of a rabbit warren.

I shall do my best to introduce you to the property and its potential.

What have we got here? A kitchen area there, stairs up to one of the higgledy-piggledy bits there.

Then through to what was the main bar area.

It's always a bit strange coming in to places like this with no punters, no beer, no roaring log fire.

But anyway, it's certainly got character - the low beams and things like that fireplace.

I bet that has an inglenook for sure. Absolutely glorious.

A lot of work to do straight away, but you have got planning permission

and that is very interesting, but I can see straight away - it's going to be a lot of work.

'This place is huge. The pub has two bar areas plus the kitchen we saw to start with.

'Upstairs there are several bedrooms and numerous passageways linking the two buildings.

'All the rooms have issues of some kind or another.

'There are wash basins and plumbing in some rooms. It's not going to be easy to divide into separate units.

'But it's looking well worth that guide price of £150,000.'

So how would you go about maximising the investment potential?

Well, a lot of the work has already been done. Plans have been passed for converting the whole place

into separate units. Basically, three flats in this bit and the coach house as a separate unit.

The proposed plans have made the most of the higgledy-piggledy layout of this character property,

but I'd have liked to have seen a more simplified layout

as there could be problems with the freeholds of one property over another.

But the good news is the plans have been passed, so the principle of converting the place into flats

has been agreed. Let's just clarify what was on offer for the guide price of £150,000.

The plans at the moment are for three flats in the two main buildings. The rear coach house,

which we can't get into at the moment, would be a separate dwelling, so plenty of property

but no outdoor space on offer. Will it be worth it?

Let's do the maths. What kind of potential profit is there for a spirited investor?

Well, let's say you get this for the guide price of £150,000.

You build two two-bedroom flats and one one-bedroom flat

and that separate unit a two-bedroom house.

Build cost, around £70,000-£80,000 per unit, so you're in this for a total of around £470,000.

Two-bedroom flats round here sell for £150,000-£200,000, a one-bedroom about 130,

and the separate unit about 200, so there's a potential end sale value of £650,000-£700,000.

Take off your initial £470,000 investment and there's at least 200 grand in this.

Hmm, worth doing. The drinks would be on you.

Time to find out what a local estate agent thinks of the opportunity here for this former pub

built over 500 years ago. The property is listed, so how much of an issue will that be

for renovation and conversion?

It'll be a lot more expensive to convert because the Listed Building Officer for Salisbury Council

has insisted on parts of the building remaining intact.

There are fireplaces, walls which have to remain the same, timbers which have to be protected.

How much might it cost to convert the property?

In my opinion, the cost to convert it will be in the region of £250,000-£300,000.

With a 500-year-old listed building, inevitably, the restoration and rebuilding costs

could escalate, but it's the potential profit that's got me excited.

Well, not a five-minute job to sort this one out, but the hard has been done in terms of planning permission

and get the figures right and there's a lot of money to be made.

So let's see who bought the old pub. Let's go to the auction.

Lot 18.

Grade 2-listed public house. Our guide is £150,000.

Put me straight in at 150?

150, right at the back. 155 on the aisle. 160.

165, by the door.

165. 170.

In green. 170.

175. Fresh bidding at the front.

180 in green. 182. 184. 186.

188. I took him on the aisle.

190. 190. 2.

192. 194.

196 in green. By the door.

198. 200 in red. Fresh bidding.

202. 204.

At 204. 206. In brown, 206. 8.

208. 210.

210. 212.

214. In the aisle at 214.

16 in red. At 216.

218. 218. 220.

At 220. 222.

224. 224.

226. 228.

228. 230.

232, sir? 232. I'll take one if it helps, sir. 233, on the aisle.

234. 235.

On the aisle at 235,000.

236, sir? 236. For the first time, then. At... 237.

237. 237.

238. 238.

At 238,000, standing tall.

239. 239.

240.

240. First time at 240. For the second time at 240.

Third and last time, then, at 240.

Congratulations in red.

The new owners of the former inn are Jim and his wife Pam.

They have six children between them, three of whom have come to see what they've bought.

Pam's background is in business banking and Jim's a carpenter.

They live on a farm and have two properties they rent out. I was keen to find out their plans.

-Lovely to meet you both. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Got yourselves an old pub.

-We have.

-Tell me why you wanted it.

-I'm a Salisbury boy.

I'm a carpenter.

I've worked on a number of old projects in Salisbury.

Normally, clients buy old buildings that I'll do up for them.

Pamela said to me, "Wake up, Jimbo. We could do this ourselves."

Why were you so keen to push Jim into doing this for yourself?

Well, probably because Jim's spent a long time doing this for other people.

I said, "We've got a little bit of spare money. Let's try to do something for ourselves."

So we started looking tentatively and this came up. Then it was like all systems go, really.

-So we decided we'd go for it.

-We didn't like the scheme presented,

the design of the new units, so we met the Conservation Officer prior to the auction,

had a meeting with the planners.

We felt we could produce a better design and a better layout, more sympathetic to these buildings.

We've presented a new scheme which doesn't split it up into flats.

It keeps it in block buildings.

So we are trying to retain the buildings as house units,

rather than flats stacked above each other.

Well, full marks for their homework. It sounds like they've done everything by the book

and carefully calculated how to bring the old pub back to life.

Jim has some colour-coded plans already drawn up, so I wanted to find out how he'd change the place.

-Talk me through what we've got, starting with the blue one.

-The standalone unit.

This will be our last project.

We'll do the orange, pink and green units, the front three, simultaneously.

With the standalone unit being done last.

Let's talk about the three, then, the green, pink and orange.

-This is the tallest unit. The sitting room and above it some bedrooms.

-Yes.

-However,

the end section of the building is on three levels - kitchen, study, dressing room.

-The orange one is a bit more simple. Two storeys.

-A one-bedroom unit.

Finally, the pink unit where we are.

-Yeah, we're standing here.

-Bar and everything's going?

-Unfortunately.

-Fireplace?

-It's staying. It's been here forever.

-It seems to be utilising the space.

-It will just make life much easier to block them.

Instead of having flying freeholds and flats, it's four houses.

It makes far more sense when we go to split the title.

Especially for building regs as well, it makes life easier.

'Pam's banking background will come in handy as she intends to monitor the figures as they go along.

'She also looks after the finances of their 2.5 acre farm at home, where they keep chickens.

'But before they can count their chickens with this pub, their planning has got to be approved.

'They have funded the purchase from savings and borrowed money.'

-Do you have any idea how much it is going to cost to do?

-Yeah, we've done a forecast.

We imagine that we've probably got to spend in the region of £250,000 on the four.

We've got to be prepared to go over budget a little bit.

-I don't think we will. I'll be doing a lot of the work myself.

-So what will your involvement be?

Lovely jobs like stripping the wallpaper. We'll all get involved.

Jim's got two girls, I've got two boys and between us we have two boys, so we've got six,

dare I say willing, helpers.

It's going to be very much a family affair, I think, doing this up.

# We're going down the pub... #

So a big project ahead for Jim and Pam.

I do like the plans they've come up with better than the originals.

However, when it comes to restoring a place like this, there are going to be unforeseen problems.

Will they chicken out before the end? You can find out later.

For the next property that went to auction I've come to Maidstone, the country town of Kent,

on the beautiful River Medway.

I'm half an hour from Maidstone town centre and I'm here to see a three-bedroom mid-terrace property.

It had a guide price of £95,000-£100,000.

It's in this little cul-de-sac so there's no through traffic.

But I've got to say it's not the prettiest outlook -

this car park here, that tower block looming there.

Not a good start.

The views may not be attractive, but the terrace is quite pretty.

I love the fact it's still got the original sash windows and they seem to be in reasonable condition.

I really like the colour of this front door. I know you can't buy a house for that, but anyway...

What do I think once I'm inside? It's not looking terribly good.

It does pong a bit as well. Look at these old spindles.

What if they were painted a nice modern colour scheme? It could look quite good.

And, oh my goodness, talking of paint, look over here!

This is years and years of somebody smoking. Nicotine stains everywhere.

To you at home, this must look a mustard yellow. It's not great.

Look at this. These curtains - really crispy to touch.

You've got to put on the rose-tinted spectacles and see beyond this.

You have a beautiful characterful window. It could be quite nice once you've decorated.

I'll root around and see if it gets any better.

'Slightly less yellow is the second reception room at the back.

'The room's quite spacious and this fireplace looks worth restoring.

'I'm already thinking of new doors leading out into that garden. It's a bit overgrown,

'but is a good size. There's a brick store out here and a small larder off the kitchen.

'But that's going to need a full refurbishment.'

So, yup, visually it's still very grim, but I think we all now know it needs a complete overhaul.

The kitchen, very basic indeed. That all needs ripping out.

But what I do like about this house is there are a few options to improve it.

You could knock through here and create a nice kitchen dining space.

Or with permitted development you can go out three metres

and perhaps meet the line of the outbuildings.

So you could knock it all into one and have your kitchen dining space by creating an extension.

It would be more costly, but you'd keep a second reception room, so that's quite a good idea.

The guide price might have been £95,000-£100,000

but even if you decided to do just a basic refurbishment, to rent out,

there's still a lot of work to do to get this place modernised and up to scratch.

So upstairs you've got a little single here, two doubles here

and a bathroom. I don't care what you say about this house - I know it needs loads of work,

it is in a right old state, but I really, really like it. I see so much character here.

You've got a lovely wide staircase, all the bedrooms have got lovely little fireplaces.

You'll need to check the electrics and there are no modern touches anywhere in this house,

but it just feels really homely and I really like it. It gets a big tick.

# There's a change in the weather There's a change in the sea

# From now on there'll be a change in me... #

What can a local estate agent tell us about this three-bedroom terrace?

It has some lovely period features. How important would it be to keep those intact?

I think with this property

you must keep as much of the originality as you can. They've got all the picture rails.

Same with the fireplaces and any cupboards built into the recesses.

It's good to keep them.

'Once refurbished, would this property work as a rental?'

This would rent very easily because of where it's located.

The sort of rental that we'd achieve would be around £750 per calendar month, depending on the spec.

'And the potential sale value after a makeover?'

I think in the current market, once all the work is done,

we'd be looking at marketing it at somewhere around about £180,000-£190,000 for it.

I really like this little house. I think it's got loads of character.

You could be onto a winner with this if you get it at the right price. Let's see who was interested.

Good-looking town centre house. Close to everything you need.

Needs some refurb. Three bedrooms.

95,000 to start me? Anybody bid 95,000? 95?

£90,000. I'm on the way. At 90.

92 I have. And 4. And 6.

And 8. 98. And 100.

At 100 sitting down. And 2.

102. And 4. 104.

And 6? 106. And 8?

108.

110. And 12?

112? Shake of the head. Have a think. 112 on my right-hand side. You can see him bidding.

114 I've got. 116 now.

It's against both of you. 116. In front of me. 115 he's saying.

115. And 16.

116,000 I've got. 117 out on my right-hand side. 118.

It's against you. 118. And 19.

And 20. 120. And 1.

Shake of the head. 121 anyone else?

I saw this gentleman first at 121. 122 to you? 122. 123.

And 4. 124, it's with you.

125? 125. And 6.

126? 126.

And 7. 127. And 8?

128. And 9? 129? 129.

130. It's against you. 130, it's with you. And 1.

131. And 2?

132 I've got.

And 3? Don't give up now.

133. And 4? 134? A shake of the head.

At £133,000 for the first time.

At 133 for the second. Shaking his head.

Third and final time. £133,000. It's yours, sir, for 133,000.

That final bid of £133,000 was made by Kent businessman Wayne, at the auction with his son James.

I met up with them both at the terrace house to find out their plans.

-Guys, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-There you were, bidding for this.

You paid £133,000.

-What was your budget?

-133.

-Right on the nose!

-Yeah. One more bid and we wouldn't have got it.

Is this for you, James, or is it a joint venture?

-A joint venture.

-Yeah. A joint venture.

-But James will be doing most of the work.

Why did you want this property?

-Just because I've got a property two doors down.

-On this street?

Yeah, on the same street. It's identical to this one.

And it was in the same sort of condition, so obviously I know what to do. I've done it before.

It took me 8 months to do that, but I did a lot of it myself.

-It took a bit longer.

-We hope to do this a lot quicker so he knows what to do.

'James has certainly bought in a location he knows well,

'but this time the pressure's on to get the job done quickly

'in time for a very important date.'

-So why have you done this as a joint venture?

-James is getting married and needs extra money

-to pay for the wedding and his honeymoon.

-Tell me more! The big day is looming.

Yeah, I'm getting married this year, so I need to get this done and get the money in the bank.

-Guys, have you got much spare time? I gather this isn't your main job.

-No, I've got a garden centre.

So quite busy with that. Hopefully, with James living so close, he can do a lot of an evening.

-Are you involved in the garden centre as well?

-I am, yeah. It's a family business.

All of the family work there.

-Are we going to see a spectacular garden out there?

-I think so!

-You can get a cheeky discount, surely!

-Yes.

'The garden centre has been in their family for 40 years.

'Wayne's run it for 25 of those. When James finished university he joined the business

'and now deals with administration and the website.'

So what are the plans for this property? I've never seen such a yellow, nicotine-stained house!

-It is quite bad, but you can't be put off.

-No, no.

We've got quite big plans. Maybe put the toilet downstairs and knock through the kitchen.

Take this wall out, put some nice French doors there out to a patio.

-What about the budget? How much have you set aside?

-About £15,000 we hope to do it for.

Now that we've done it once, we know where we can save money.

We won't replaster every single room and things like that.

Are you getting involved, Wayne?

Not too much.

Now that I can do it, he doesn't bother any more.

-But he's stumping up half the cash.

-Yeah, that's true.

-So how long is it going to take you?

-Three months maximum. We might even do it quicker.

-Yeah, 10 weeks.

-Something that worries me - is your future wife going to see you?

-That is the only problem.

I might be a bit busy now.

I can't wait to see what you do with this. And good luck with the wedding, James.

Now Wayne and James have got some great plans for this place, but will they do it all on budget?

And will James make enough money to help fund his wedding?

Let's hope so. You can find out how the boys get on later.

'Coming up: this Derby terrace has a tiny kitchen, colourful rooms and three floors.'

All in all, hmm. Quirky.

'We return to Maidstone to see if this pre-nuptial agreement worked.'

Working with my dad has been good. It's been nice to have the help.

But first we're revisiting this 500-year-old pub.

I enjoy a challenge and this building has been a real challenge!

Back now to Salisbury where earlier in the programme Jim bought this former pub

and coach house for £240,000. He specialises in restoring old buildings

and his wife, Pam, manages the accounts. The buildings have planning permission for flats,

but Jim was going to submit revised plans to convert them into houses.

We felt that we could produce a better design and layout,

more sympathetic to these old listed buildings.

And we've presented a new scheme which doesn't split it up into flats.

It keeps it in block buildings, so we are trying to retain the buildings as house units,

rather than flats stacked above each other.

It's now 16 months later and we met up again with Jim and Pam to see what's been achieved.

Outside, there have been some big changes to the former pub and the building directly behind it.

But the work on the separate coach house has yet to start.

Inside, the work is completely finished in the former pub,

where two new houses have been built. The first, a two-bedroom home, has a large open-plan area

where the former bar was.

All the timber's been restored as well as the fireplace.

On the other side of the chimney breast, a lovely kitchen's been built

and they made a great discovery when they removed the old fireplace.

When we bought the pub, there was a planted-on fireplace on the front.

We thought we'd just remove that and we didn't expect anything behind it.

We took out three fireplaces altogether before this inglenook,

which unfortunately was not in a good state, so we've had to reconstruct that side

to match the other side. I think it looks really lovely now. We're really pleased with that.

Upstairs, there are two bedrooms, both lovingly restored.

And full of original character and charm.

The bathroom remains in the same location, but is completely refitted.

The real bonus is up in the attic where two more rooms have been created.

Getting access to the attic required a new staircase, as Jim explains.

We've created a hit-and-miss winder here with a little landing.

It all works.

We've had headroom issues, as you can see, as I come down.

You've just got to mind your head.

However, we've created something that's now a lot safer than what we did have.

I've lit the staircase with an old-fashioned skylight, so there's plenty of natural light.

This was one of the hardest bits, getting the staircase to work with all the winders and everything.

The second property they've completed is a smaller one-bedroom cottage,

built on the right-hand side of the former pub.

Again the ground floor living area and kitchen are really delightful.

Up on the first floor there may be only one bedroom,

but it's also beautifully finished

and they've managed to fit in a separate bathroom.

The property is over 500 years old and has listed status,

so any work had to meet the stringent conservation regulations.

I almost enjoyed every day here.

I enjoy a challenge and this building has actually been a real challenge.

The roof needed serious attention to stop the leaks

and the bricks in the chimney have been removed, repaired and rebuilt.

But how much have they had to spend so far getting these two houses completed?

We've spent about 140,000 so far,

but for that we've done two and a half of the buildings, really.

The roofs have been done on both of these buildings.

The building behind has already been plastered and first fixed mainly.

They anticipate it will take another year to finish the two-bedroom house behind the former pub

and the two-bedroom coach house. For now, the plan is to rent the two properties out

with Jim's two daughters Rosie and Catherine moving in to the two-bedroomed house.

Eldest daughter Rosie has made a great discovery in the bedroom.

I love this room. It's really spacious and brilliant for storage.

What's really quirky about this room is this cupboard.

It's going to be quite useful for shoes.

Time to get some expert advice from two local estate agents.

The way they've used the development is an incredible use of space.

You would never have had a drink in the pub

and realised so much was available.

I think particularly what they did with the loft rooms is very clever

and exposing one of the inglenooks which couldn't be seen before, that's special.

A fantastic level of finish in a one-bedroom house. Good use of exposed beams. Lovely character.

What valuation would they estimate for the two finished properties?

Jim and Pam paid £240,000 at the auction and have spent £140,000 so far,

making 380,000 in total.

Re-sale values for the two-bedroom house would be in the region of £235,000 to £240,000.

For the one-bedroom cottage, we're looking at a re-sale value of between 165 and 175.

I would say on the two-bedroom unit, we're looking at something in the region of £250,000.

The one-bedroom cottage, in the region of £175,000.

Those valuations on the finished properties would generate between £400,000 and £425,000.

The estate agents think that once completed,

the rear two-bedroom property could be worth between £225,000 and £250,000

and the coach house between 235 and 250 grand.

So all four properties together could sell for an estimated £925,000,

which would mean a healthy profit.

-That's probably about what we thought it would be.

-That's what we hoped to achieve.

We were never intending to sell it.

We were always intending to keep it and add it to our portfolio, so we'll keep them and rent them out.

What sort of rental income might the two completed houses generate?

The two-bedroom unit would be in the region of £850 per calendar month.

The one-bedroom cottage,

£650 per calendar month.

For the two-bedroom house, we're looking at £900 per calendar month.

For the one-bedroom cottage, £650 per calendar month.

So two of the four properties are all done now.

Jim has still got two to finish. Would he contemplate taking on another project?

I can't help looking at auctions and even going to some auctions.

You get the bug and want to do another one,

but we mustn't jump into the breach because we need to focus on these.

-Almost certainly...

-We probably will do another one.

-We'll do something again. Definitely an auction one.

Belper has everything you could want from a traditional Derbyshire town -

a market square, quaint streets, nice shops and some good pubs.

It was known for its nail-making industry and the local football team are still known as The Nailers.

So will we manage to nail ourselves a good buy today

or even hammer out a great bargain?

# You don't waste no time at all

# We're just waiting for the hammer to fall... #

Belper's been attracting some attention lately as somewhere excellent to live,

so maybe this is a chance to get in before the cafe culture and trendy pubs send property prices sky-high.

The property I'm here to see is a few minutes' walk from the town centre on a fairly busy road,

but the property looks pretty good. It's two/three-bedroomed, mid terrace, guide price of 95,000 quid.

Let's take a look inside.

So, straight in to the living room and this door isn't double-glazed.

I'd do that to keep the noise from the road down,

but the room has a good feel to it - open fire there.

You've got this bay window which lets in lots of light.

Stairs up there, and then kind of unusual, more stairs down there.

Through to a rear room. I reckon this would be classed as the "stroke" third bedroom.

It's not a bad-sized space, but wow, that's a surprise!

What a great view!

# I've got a room

# I've got a room with a view... #

It really is a stunning spot - fields, cattle and yes, more fields.

Upstairs, there are two more bedrooms, both a decent size and both in a similar state.

Not awful, just not awfully pleasing.

And there's another window for admiring the view.

If the views are good downstairs, they are quite spectacular here up on the top floor,

but apart from that, all you've got is two bedrooms. No loo or bathroom which isn't very convenient.

Still, I think you can suffer that with views like this.

Oh, haven't I gone all romantic!

Nowhere to relieve yourself in the middle of the night,

but don't worry, outside your window are rolling fields.

Hmm, I'm not sure how long this feeling is going to last.

# I've got a room with a view... #

Not long at all because the bathroom inconveniently is down on the lower ground floor,

down these stairs and then down these ones.

And believe me, they are steep.

Two flights of stairs down in the basement - I'm not sure if you could suffer it,

especially in the middle of the night, coming down to the loo.

I'm not sure what you could do to change it. I can't see anywhere else that it might go.

Down on the basement floor, you've got this room. I'm not quite sure what this is.

Then the kitchen is tucked away in another kind of dark hovel there.

It really isn't working. The kitchen wants to be brought out here,

so you've got views while you're doing the washing-up or whatever.

Use that as a utility room, but there is still the problem of the bathroom.

So all in all, hmm, quirky!

Right now, "quirky" doesn't cut the mustard in my book.

I like unusual, I love interesting, but this is just plain inconvenient.

Still, once you've got the kitchen sorted out, this could be a lovely space.

In the summer, you'd find yourself living down here because again I'm being teased into changing my mind

by what lies through the back door.

At the rear of the property, a little terrace and then steps down on to a long garden,

leading out on to open fields.

I know I'm going on about it, but the fact that you've got this open aspect,

as opposed to looking on to the back of terraced houses, it really makes this property for me.

This house does have its issues,

but ultimately, it also has saleability.

To find out to what extent, we asked a local estate agent for her opinion.

It is an interesting property.

You don't imagine you've got a lower ground floor.

Then at the back of the property when you see the stunning views, it is a surprise.

What kind of value could this have?

These properties have a ceiling price

because of where they are, the road and things like that,

but once they're beautifully modernised

and it's ready for somebody to move straight in, you'd be looking at a ceiling price of around 150.

-How about rental?

-These properties are popular. They do rent very well.

In my opinion, you would get £550 to £575 per calendar month.

So, all in all, a quirky property that may well be a bit too quirky for some people,

but you certainly can't knock the view and the guide price is attractive,

so let's find out who bought it when it went under the hammer.

Lot 32, a mostly completed, very large, three-bedroomed townhouse.

Start me where you will on this? 90,000 to start?

Yes, 90,000 here, thank you. 91 in the corner.

92 here. 92,000.

93 back there. 93. 94?

94,000. 95...

96 is bid.

I'll take a half. 96 and a half. 97 is bid.

And a half.

98.

98 and a half.

99.

99,000. Lovely little house. 99 and a half.

£100,000.

And a half. The bid's against you.

At £100,000 once...

Twice. Third chance.

Sold here at 100,000, thank you.

'The winning bidders were local couple, Alison and Tim.

'Tim works in IT and Alison in local government.

'The question is, will they be able to tame this quirky cottage?

'I met them back on the terrace to find out more.'

-Alison, Tim, lovely to meet you. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Why did you want to buy this place?

-We saw the potential in it

and we wanted to buy somewhere to develop and sell on.

-So why this house particularly?

-It's just down the road.

-Is it? OK. So, easy to get to, for sure.

-Yeah.

The location is... Certainly the view here is quite spectacular.

-It is.

-Is that what drew you to it?

It has the best of both worlds. It's close to Belper town. It's not too far from Derby.

Then you've got the benefits of the countryside as well.

# Somewhere only we know

# Somewhere only we know... #

'As they live just down the road,

'the pair were in a good position to know what the right price was for this place.

'In fact, Tim renovated their current home when he bought it a few years ago,

'so this will be quirky property project mark two for him.

'How will they make the quirks here work for them?'

What will you do with the property?

It's only been part double-glazed previously, so that needs completing.

It needs central heating in it.

The wooden flooring we're looking to expose as well.

We're looking to bring the kitchen into the back part of the house.

-Right.

-And change what is currently the kitchen into the utility area.

-Perfect.

-Which makes more sense in terms of layout.

And just really decorating it to a better standard, so it's more appealing really.

# Can you read my mind?

# Can you read my mind...? #

What will you do about the bathroom? That is the biggest bugbear here.

We're thinking of putting an en-suite bathroom in for the top back bedroom...

-Ah.

-..in the stairwell cavity.

We'll be able to fit a toilet, shower and sink in there.

-That'll make a big difference. It's not too good to have to come down two flights of stairs.

-No.

'The creation of an en-suite on the top floor is a great idea and vital in my opinion.

'It should be doable within the £20,000 budget they've set themselves.

'How long is it all going to take?'

-Probably about 12 months.

-Oh, wow!

-We're quite flexible on timescale, really.

We both work full-time, so it's going to be an "every evening and weekend" job really for us.

We'll have people coming in and doing some work for us,

but we want to do as much as we can ourselves.

How is it going to work between you two working together?

I think Tim will probably lead.

Tim's done a lot of renovation work on his home before

and he's very much into DIY and things,

so I'll kind of follow his expertise, really.

-You'll still argue with me.

-Yeah, I will.

But it's healthy, so I think it'll be fine.

-How do you feel about the whole concept?

-I'm sure it'll be OK. I'll get my way in the end, I think.

-Listen, good luck. Congratulations. We look forward to seeing how you get on.

-OK.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, lots of work for Alison and Tim to do to get the place sorted out,

but I'm delighted that they're putting in that en-suite.

It'll make all the difference, along with moving the kitchen.

I can't wait to see what it turns out like when we come back later.

Our would-be property sharks were eager beavers when we left them.

-But did they grab the bull by the horns?

-Let's see how they got on.

'Back now to Maidstone in Kent

'where Wayne and his son James bought this three-bedroom, mid-terrace property for £133,000.

'Although it had now stopped smoking,

'it still had a large nicotine patch,

'which meant the wallpaper and paint all had to be stripped back before any refurbishment could start.

'James lives on the same street and they planned to sell this house once the work was done.'

Guys, why have you done this as a joint venture?

James is getting married and he needs a bit of extra money

to pay for the wedding and his honeymoon.

They both work for the family's garden centre business,

so I can't wait to see if this nicotine-stained house has come up smelling of roses.

Three months have now passed and we're back with James and Wayne to find out.

Well, there's a new front door, but the windows and roof haven't been changed.

The front garden has shingle, rather than grass.

Inside, at the back of the house, they've taken down the wall between the kitchen and dining room.

The resulting large space is now ready for the kitchen units to be installed.

There are new windows and a patio door.

And that smoke-stained, yellow front room has scrubbed up very well.

It could still do with some gloss paint and the chimney breast needs plastering,

but that musty smell of smoke has definitely disappeared.

It was very yellow and smoky, so we had to strip off a lot of the wallpaper.

It took a long while to get rid of the actual smell,

but once we started painting, ripped everything out and re-plastered a few walls, it got better.

Upstairs, the layout hasn't changed.

The large front bedroom retains the original sash windows and the fireplace.

It should be lovely once the carpets go down in there.

The bathroom remains at the front of the house.

It's been re-tiled and a white suite installed.

How have this father-and-son team got on with this job?

Working with my dad has been good. It's been nice to have the help.

I'm really impressed with him.

He's done all the plumbing and when he finished it and tested it, there wasn't one leak. If I'd done that,

we'd all be standing here in our life jackets.

The smallest of the three bedrooms which overlooks the garden has been decorated and flooring put down.

I'm pleased to see the sash windows remain here too.

The window in the largest second bedroom at the back remains as well,

although they have lost the original cupboard and picture rail.

This room was in fairly good condition, really.

We just had to take off the wallpaper.

It's nice that we kept some of the original features like the sash windows there

and of course, the fireplace.

Outside, the brick-built store remains - potential for a utility room later perhaps.

They've added a new decking terrace which looks good.

There's still a fair amount of work to do in the garden,

but seeing as they run a garden centre, well, that shouldn't present any problems.

We're going to cut the hedge down on the left-hand side and then re-turf it

and probably put a fence and some plants. It'll look nice when it's all finished.

It should be great. It's a big garden.

Meanwhile, although new central heating has been installed and the property rewired,

there is still lots to do. How is the budget faring?

Originally, it was 15,000 we were hoping to spend.

We've spent 22 at the moment, so we have gone over.

I'm getting married in a couple of months, so the sale of this house is very important

to give me some money to help with that, paying for the wedding and the honeymoon.

Fingers crossed that two local estate agents

can be the bearers of good news.

I like the accommodation because it has three separate bedrooms upstairs.

And I think what most people do like

is having an upstairs bathroom.

The layout downstairs is very sociable.

It's now more commonplace to have the kitchen and dining room together

because it allows families to mix. That's going to work very well.

One of the main things they haven't done is they've only partially done the double glazing at the back.

It ought to be double-glazed at the front as well.

I think the owners have done the right thing leaving the windows.

It matches the other houses along the terrace, so it doesn't spoil the look.

So will there be any profit to put towards James's wedding?

The house cost 133,000 at auction and the outlay so far is 22,000,

making a total of 155 grand. How much could it now be worth?

If I were to put this property on the market, I would do so for £175,000.

On the basis that they're going to finish it to a nice standard,

I'd be looking at marketing it somewhere in the region of £180,000.

Those valuations are £20,000 to £25,000 more than they've spent so far,

but the gross profit will be reduced as they still have to finish off the house,

so can the wedding arrangements now be signed off?

What's it cost us now? I think about 155.

So 175, yeah, we'd be happy. That'd pay for your honeymoon, wouldn't it? Just about.

Well, I'm sure James has lots of other things on his mind now,

but once the house is sold and James returns from his honeymoon,

would they go to another auction and buy another property?

-Yeah, we would.

-Yeah, definitely. Keep looking and if the right house comes along, we'd be interested.

'Back now to the Derbyshire town of Belper where this mid-terrace property was bought

'for £100,000 by Alison and Tim who live on the same road.

'The houses are deceptive.

'There are actually three storeys with fabulous views to the back over open land.

'The property had already undergone a lot of refurbishment,

'but there was still plenty of potential to add value to it.

'Tim and Alison's plan was to complete the refurbishment and then sell.'

How will it work between you two working together?

I think Tim will probably lead.

I mean, Tim's done a lot of renovation work on his home before

and he's very much into DIY and things,

so I'll kind of follow his expertise, really.

Well, it's now one year later.

And there is some great news in the back garden.

The view is even better now that the area has been cleared.

And the other headline is that Alison is due to give birth in a few weeks.

They've added a new terraced decking on the same level in the house as the front living room

where the floor has been sanded and varnished.

The couple have also exposed the chimney breast which gives an attractive first impression.

The chimney is on show in the rear living room as well.

New central heating has been installed and the property has been re-plastered throughout.

Downstairs, the unused room at the back has been transformed.

It's now a beautiful kitchen

with another exposed chimney breast, quality floor tiling and appliances.

They've converted the original kitchen

into a utility room.

When we bought it, none of this was here, obviously.

This was all plastered over and there was a gas fire there.

The floor was tiled, but it wasn't very nice, so we decided to tile over and put the kitchen in

and expose the chimney breast.

The arch was quite a bit lower originally,

so we had to take the bricks out and raise the arch up.

It worked out really well.

The bathroom was also on the lower floor.

Although it had been refurbished, Tim and Alison have refitted some of that as well.

The couple have done a lot of work themselves,

but must have had professional tradesmen in for some of it.

Yeah, I mean for the things you need to have people in for like the electrics and the gas work.

Also, the plastering, we've had to have people in,

but I've tried to do as much of the work as I can.

Up two floors to the top of the property now where the two bedrooms have been completely re-plastered.

In the master bedroom, they've added an en-suite.

So we started off by moving... Originally, there was a walk-in cupboard here.

We raised the flooring level to allow for drainage

and Tim also knocked out the wall here

in order to allow for the sink and the glass bricks to be put in and just to create a bit more space.

Then we had the plumber and the electrician in

to put in the main plumbing work and the electric shower for us and the lighting.

Quite handy as the family bathroom is down two flights of stairs.

The garden and the view over it is a major selling point for these properties,

but clearing all the clutter from it must have been a challenge.

The garden was a nightmare. On two days, we had some helpers round, good friends.

We managed to fill two eight-yard skips full of concrete.

It was a mammoth task, but we're really pleased with the results.

Alison and Tim had full-time jobs, so they had to fit the refurbishment in to evenings and weekends.

All the work has taken a year, but how much did they spend on top of the £100,000 they paid at auction?

We, um... We originally budgeted for around about £20,000.

We're creeping up to around 25.

The property now needs carpeting and some final finishing touches,

but have their plans for it remained the same?

Our intention was to sell this place when it was completed.

Obviously, my money is tied into this house and Tim owns the house that we live in,

so it would just make more sense to combine our assets really.

Time to see what two local property experts think of their efforts.

It's deceptive. A roadside inspection does not do the property justice.

You go upstairs and you've got an en-suite to the master bedroom

that is simply stunning. Downstairs, you have a super kitchen and bathroom with a separate shower.

They've done a first-class job.

With the bathroom so far away from the bedrooms,

the en-suite is a neat solution to that problem.

The finish is very good. They've used travertine on the tile splashbacks in the kitchen and in the bathrooms

and stone on the floor. It's a very high standard.

The view from the back is outstanding

and you've got a super-sized garden that just leads straight into that view.

I think it's the USP of this place for sure, but will that be reflected in the valuation?

Tim and Alison paid £100,000 for it and have spent another £25,000, so what's it worth now?

We'd hope to sell this on for between £140,000 and £150,000.

This property will sell at about £140,000.

That valuation range would generate a gross profit of between 15 and 25 grand.

Is that the level they were expecting?

They're lower than what we kind of had valued before.

Hopefully, we can try and get a bit more for it.

The project has taken longer than planned and the potential profit isn't quite as high as expected,

so has the experience put them off or would they consider another refurbishment in the future?

We kind of knew what we were getting ourselves into.

We both tend to be drawn towards properties that need some element of work doing to them,

but I don't think we would be necessarily as hands-on in the future with anything else we look at buying.

It hasn't completely put us off. Put it that way.

Well, from dream homes to perfect investments, join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-See you then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2011

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