Episode 78 Homes Under the Hammer

-Hello, and welcome to the show.

-They say a house tells a story,

and over the years Martin and I have found this to be true.

Yes, there are tales to be told

and secrets to uncover when you buy your home under the hammer.

At auction, properties are bought on a buyer-beware basis,

so it's up to you to do your homework before you bid.

Or you could be in for some nasty surprises.

Let's see if the bidders on today's show got lucky.

Coming up, in Lincolnshire, this two-bed house may have character,

but there's something not on the level here.

Clearly not good, is it?

This commercial unit in Dartford may take you to infinity and beyond!

Space has always got me so excited!

And in Cornwall, a standard semi hides something in the garden

that's bigger than your normal potting shed!

There's this huge, great... Well, I don't know what it is, to be honest, garage or something.

All these properties are being sold at auction,

and we'll find out who bought them and what they paid for them when they went under the hammer.

Well done, thank you.

I'm in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. Recently, the historic riverside area has been transformed

by a £20-million regeneration project.

With a wide range of shops and amenities, it really is a town on the up.

The variation in Victorian property always amazes me.

You get little rows of terraced houses, you get grand villas, all sorts of things,

and, in this case, semi-detached houses.

I mean, look at this. It's actually bigger than it looks from the outside.

It's only two bedrooms, though, at a guide price of £35,000-£39,000. Let's take a look inside.

For such a big sturdy block of a house, under 40,000 doesn't sound half bad.

And it's a very attractive road, only a short walk to the town centre.

Still, on second thoughts, that low guide price could be too good to be true.

The exterior paintwork could do with a bit of a touch-up.

Into the corridor and, yes, inside, not terribly presentable,

although it looks like at some stage it's had some damp-proofing,

because the lower part of the wall here, that's new plaster, which is a good indication of that.

You've got your living room there at the front. Love the fireplace! You know, that's really attractive.

Understairs cupboard, through into your rear sitting room,

and again some indications that work has been done at some stage.

That's obviously been channelled out for some new electrics over the way.

So that doesn't particularly cause me a problem, but the overall feeling of...

well, a major bit of decoration being required.

Er...yeah... Wow!

But in terms of space I like it. I mean, through here,

you've got this kitchen, it's a good size.

You've only got a sink, so you're going to have to put some units in there.

But I think you've got a really presentable shell that you could do all sorts of things with.

And, surprisingly, I must say, I actually like it.

# You've got the love You've got the love... #

Yes, the ceiling is black, but that just requires elbow grease and paint.

There's lots you could do here to improve this house,

like knocking the kitchen through into the second reception room, for instance.

And maybe making some doors out to the garden which needs a little bit more than a weekend's work.

So the house looks bad, but as a shell, it's a decent one.

Or have I spoken too soon?

So up here, and...

a bit of a shock, to be honest.

This front bedroom... I can't remember seeing a floor quite like this before.

It is...bowed! I mean it goes down to that corner over there, down to this wall here,

and it's literally got a high point here.

Look at this.

It's clearly not good, is it?

And...uh-oh.

That's not good either.

On the front wall of the property, this... Right, OK.

Take those bits out. There's obviously some serious cracking going on.

Look at the state of those bricks. I don't want to touch those any more.

It's gone from slightly cosmetic to very worrying.

# Well, worry, worry, worry... #

It's very hard to recognise the extent of the bulge unless you are standing on it,

but, believe me, it's there, very there, and very worrying.

I wouldn't touch this property without a full structural survey.

So apart from the bowing floor and the dicey front wall there, not a bad-sized room

for a front bedroom.

The rear bedroom is here and it's also a really good size.

And you come down this dark and dingy corridor, not helped by the green wallpaper on the walls,

to the smallest room which obviously was the loo at one point and has now got the immersion heater in it.

Well, maybe get rid of that, put a combination boiler downstairs.

And then down a step into the bathroom.

Now, that smallest room has got me actually thinking...

is there an opportunity to convert this possibly into a three-bed?

Maybe you could steal some space off the second bedroom,

maybe do a bit of jiggery-pokery, move the toilet's location...

You've got a few issues with levels going on, but, it would be nice to get a third bedroom.

It's all going to come down to cost and effort required. Mmm.

This doesn't feel like a two-bedroomed house, more like a three-bed one.

But the configuration's making that tricky.

It just depends on whether you'd get any more money for a three-bed

in this wonderfully spacious two-bedroomed home.

To find out more, we invited a local estate agent along

to this property

which had an auction guide price of £35,000-£39,000.

Today we're in a central area of Gainsborough

within short walking distance to local schools.

The road is reasonably regarded as quite a decent area to be,

a mix of two-, three-, some four-bedroomed semi-detached houses

and some two-bedroomed mid-terraced as well.

How would the place do on the rental market?

You'd find the tenants for the property nice and easily.

You'd probably get between sort of 400 and 425 per calendar month.

What about its resale potential?

Currently I'd put the property at around £35,000-40,000,

and, potentially, once all the work has been done to it, then probably towards the 80,000, maximum 85,000.

Well, despite the fairly grubby interior

and the potentially serious structural work that needs to be sorted out on this place,

I still like this property.

I'd like to try and get a third bedroom in, but, either way, I reckon it's a great one to go for.

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

Lot number 1.

40,000 anybody to get on? 40, is it? Thank you, sir.

41. 42.

43. 44.

45, 45,000.

At £45,000 I'm bid. £46,000.

47. 48.

49. 50,000?

49,500. 50,000. 50,500.

51,000. 51,500.

52,000.

52,500. 53,000.

53,500.

54,000. 54,500? 55,000. 55,500.

56,000. 56,500?

At £56,000.

£56,000 for the first time.

For the second. Third and last time at £56,000. Any more bids?

Well done, sir.

Valuable time spent in the office today. Gentleman in front...

Madam's very happy, I can see that.

And very pleased with their successful bid of £56,000 were husband and wife Bob and Catherine.

Bob's a truck driver and Catherine is in healthcare.

But will they be able to nurse this potentially subsiding semi back to health?

-Bob, Catherine, good to meet you both. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-You looked jolly excited there.

-I was very excited.

-It was the one that we really wanted right from the beginning.

-Why did it give you that feeling so much?

Because I like old houses. We looked at four separate terraced houses.

This was the first one we looked at, and straightaway I knew this was the one,

-because I could actually live in this.

-Tell me about you two. Is this something you do a lot of?

-No.

-Never.

-First one.

-Yeah. We've never done anything like this before,

although we've spoken about it for a couple of years.

What prompted your first sort of foray into property investment?

Er...just been watching your programme, actually.

-Oh, great! Well done.

-I'm on nights, so for the last four years,

I've been watching your programme, so I thought, "I can do that!"

Why this area, then?

-Well, we...

-We live five minutes away.

-Yeah.

And Gainsborough is, so they tell us, an up-and-coming town,

so they're doing lots of changes, so houses are still a reasonable price,

you know, and I think there's some money to be made.

# I do it, I do it, I do it for money... #

Absolutely, if you've got the funds and the know-how.

Certainly there's money to be made, so what are they going to do to make that cash?

-Well, we're going to knock through into the kitchen.

-Oh, OK? Get rid of the dividing wall?

-Yeah.

And then there's a utility room waiting to be discovered behind that wall.

-So we're going to knock through there as well.

-Wow!

Pretty much upstairs leave as it is apart from the bathroom.

We will knock down where the tank is and make the bathroom bigger.

Any thoughts about creating an extra bedroom.

Yeah, we thought about it, but I think it would make the second two bedrooms too small,

-and I think it's a spacious house, and I think two double bedrooms is going to be...

-It's better.

Who's going to do the work?

-Both of us.

-Well, we're going to...

-There'll be a few tradesmen in.

-Yeah, there'll be a few tradesmen!

I don't trust Bob to do anything to be honest!

-I'm Frank Spencer!

-His nickname's Frank Spencer, so that says a lot, doesn't it? You know...

-Your nickname is Frank Spencer?

-Yeah, sometimes it does go wrong, so...

-Tell me.

-One of the cottages that he had, he decided to rotavate the back garden

and went through the main cable and nearly took out the whole street with the electricity, so...

-Yeah, but it didn't go right through, did it?

-Oh, that's all right, then!

-Good job the reinforced wire was there.

-So he's going to do as little as possible, I think.

We're going to have a laugh.

MUSIC: "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" Theme

So Bob is a real-life Frank Spencer! Well, some mothers do 'ave 'em!

As long as he stays away from any DIY disasters, then I'm sure it will all be fine.

They hope to sell the property once renovated, although they are prepared to rent it out

or even move in themselves if necessary.

So they're keeping their options open. But what about that all-important budget?

-10,000-12,000.

-Yeah, 10-12.

-No more than that.

-Quite a lot of work to do for the budget, then.

Going to call in a few favours from people that I know.

-Hopefully that will keep the budget down.

-I don't think it looks as bad as it is, maybe, I don't know...

You don't think it looks as bad as it is? You mean...

-you don't think it is as bad as it looks?

-Yeah, yeah.

-That as well?

-Yeah. That way round.

Well, what a Freudian slip! And I'm worried she was right the first time.

But actually I do think it looks as bad as it is,

and we haven't covered what's wrong with that floor, so have they done their homework?

I think it's movement when it was built.

I had a chap round. He looked at it and said, "No problem now, but at one time it did move."

And once you've done this project, what's next on the cards?

-To do another one.

-Yeah.

-That's the plan. We want to keep doing them.

Well, listen, congratulations. Good luck with it. I'm delighted that we've inspired you.

-Thank you very much. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-You too. We'll see how you get on.

-Thank you.

Well, having a laugh when you're doing up a property is all well and good,

but this place is going to need some serious effort to sort it out.

And I think that budget might be a little bit tight.

Still, I do intrinsically like this place and I love their enthusiasm, so how are they going to get on?

You can find out later in the show.

I'm in Dartford, Kent, a town with great transport links.

It's served by several train stations which will get you to central London in less than an hour,

making it ideal commuter territory.

# Train, train... #

I'm here to see a substantial auction lot.

The square footage is generous to say the least, over 7,000 square feet.

Now, we're all desperate for more living space,

but I think that amount would be too much for the majority of us.

The heating bill would be extortionate. And cleaning? Well, it would be an all-day operation.

But I'm not here to see a residential property, it's commercial.

And it's certainly substantial.

This is a well-located town-centre unit which had an auction guide price of 380,000-400,000.

Straightaway I can see it offers a variety of business opportunities,

especially given the potential for passing trade and parking space at the front.

Built in the '80s, this commercial building has B1 usage.

Now, that covers offices and light industry businesses.

Until recently this place housed a printing company, but what can you do with it now?

Well, let's explore these premises and have a think about what could work here.

Could this old printer's be a licence to print money?

There are some really nice-sized offices which could give you all kinds of options.

As these are only partition walls, you could play about with the layout here.

I think there's great potential to turn this into some sort of retail space, and talking of space...

Space has always got me so excited!

Do you know what? I think it harks back to the day of being a little girl in the park!

Look at all this room.

Wow! It's like a huge empty hangar! Well, it is.

Now, you've got lots of little rooms going off.

You can really imagine this as a printer's. I bet so much hard work went on in here.

But there's just lots of room to do lots of different things.

It's going to be very interesting finding out what this is used for.

I know I could spend quite a lot of afternoons just going, "Whee!"

Anyway, enough of that! We've got some work to do. I'm going to explore.

# I'm in a wide open space... #

To reach the upstairs part of this unit, you have to go outside and up. It's a separate entity entirely,

and it's being used as an office space.

Again, it's a series of small office rooms leading off one big, open-plan room.

There's also the possibility of adding an extra floor here,

which gives the whole place so much scope.

I have to admit I'm a real fan of this unit, so why am I so positive about this auction lot?

A new public car park has opened up over the road, perfect for your customers.

There's scope to extend, should you wish to create even more space.

And there are so many options for business use.

Perhaps you'd like to turn this into a retail unit, a showroom, a garage...

All these things are possible, but, before you start making too many plans,

it's best to contact your local council and find out your chances of obtaining a change of business use.

So there's an incredible amount of potential here.

We invited along a local estate agent

to get his take on this vast commercial unit

which had an auction guide price

of 380,000-400,000.

The property is a nice big unit, particularly on the ground floor.

It could also be extended at first-floor level

to create extra space and that only helps to add

to the number of different uses that it could be put to.

I imagine that the local authority would be quite amenable to a change of use

as it is unlikely that the property would be put to an industrial or print-type use again.

How much could this unit rent for?

I think that the two constituent parts of the property, being the ground-floor industrial office area

and the first-floor separate office suite,

could be rented out in total for a figure in the order of £45,000-50,000 per annum.

And if it was sold on?

Once developed and refurbished and assuming the use stays the same as it is at present,

I would predict that the property could be sold on for a figure in the region of £475,000-500,000.

Assuming perhaps a future leisure-type use for the property,

I would predict that it could be sold on for perhaps £550,000-575,000.

There are so many options here and that is what's so exciting about this auction lot.

What will the new owner choose to do with this vast building?

Let's find out as we go to auction.

Lot 37. Where'd you want me to start?

380. Start me where you will.

370 if you like.

370. I'm on the way at £370,000.

380 may I say?

380 I'm bid.

380 I have.

385? 385. And 390.

390 bid I have.

395. Bid it up to 400.

400.

405? Anybody else coming in? 405.

410? 410.

415. And 420.

420 I'm bid.

425 in the...? 425. 430.

435? 435. 440.

440. 445?

At 445. Do you want to say 450 and knock him out of the scene?

Yeah? 450 I've got.

451? No? At £450,000 I have the first time.

£450,000 for the second time.

Third and final time. With you, sir, at £450,000. We're all done.

I think you came here to buy that, didn't you?

It was commercial builder Chris who made the final bid of £450,000.

He was bidding on behalf of his clients Emma and Jason

who plan to turn the property into a dance studio and fitness centre,

with Chris project-managing the work. I met up with Emma at the unit to find out more.

Emma, it's great to meet you today. Thank you for coming along.

-No problem.

-Now, you weren't the person bidding at the auction for this lot.

No, we had Chris who does a lot of our building work and contracting work for our other sites as well.

He went for me.

So had you set a limit on auction day to buy this lot?

Yes. There was a ceiling that I said he could not go over,

but fortunately we got it for less than that, so we were quite pleased in the end.

-How much less than that did you end up?

-About £60,000 less which was great, we were really pleased.

-That's fantastic!

-I didn't really want to go to the top, but, you know, there has to be a limit.

And it's good that I don't go because I get quite excited at auction.

Emma and Jason already own three health clubs. One of these is a dance studio

which has become so busy that they needed new premises, hence this purchase,

and it returns Emma to her old stomping, or should I say, dancing ground.

I had my first fitness gym and dance studio just around the corner.

So we started in Dartford and it's like us coming home now.

We started that 12 years ago. I started as a dancer myself,

and really enjoyed teaching young people and giving them confidence and giving them skill

that they could use and enjoy themselves in a fantastic and rewarding career.

What an exciting career you have! I mean, how fabulous!

But now, look, you've got all this ahead of you, so what I want to know is

where are you going to start, what are you going to do here

and what are you going to use that huge hangar down there for?

Well, that hangar's going to be three really big studios

with a moveable acoustic wall that we can take away and have a theatre space.

So we can deliver masterclasses, we can have theatre productions,

it'll be one great big space that we can use, but we can also section it off and have classes,

so it's going to be great.

Up here we're going to have another studio, so we'll have four big rooms.

There'll be a recreation-rest room and another musical theatre space for acting and singing.

So we've got quite a lot planned.

Emma and Jason have £100,000 budget and a three-month timescale.

Project manager Chris is the man in charge of realising their vision.

He joined me to tell me more about his involvement.

Tell me, what are you going to do here?

How's it going to work? Are you going to get your teeth into this?

Definitely, yeah. It's a big open space, so we thought about it, we got an architect onboard,

who'll put all the plans in for building regs and the planning. Obviously there's change of use.

Then we're going to come in. We're going to rip all the inside out, put all new walls up,

acoustic walls, because obviously with it being a dance studio they don't want sound transference,

so we're going to do all that. That's quite technical.

OK, something I'm a little bit worried about is the three-month timescale.

I know Emma needs to get her students in here. Gosh! Can you really work to that?

Oh, no problem. We've got quite a large staff,

we've also got a lot of subcontractors we can call on if necessary,

but basically tomorrow morning there'll be ten people here making a start.

So do you think this is going to be a huge success for her?

I think it's going to be a massive success.

And also there is options in a couple of years' time to bring the back up two storeys,

so I'm hoping it's going to be such a success she'll have us back in two years

to put, you know, a second storey on. Great for me, great for them.

# I'm in the mood for dancing... #

These guys have done so well here. They are just so close to the train station

and having a car park opposite is going to prove popular with their students,

but the pressure is on. There's just over three months before enrolment. They have their work cut out.

Will they meet their deadline date? You can find out later in the programme.

Still to come, in Cornwall, the kitchen in this house looks decidedly risky.

Whatever is above us...

could be coming down to join us quite quickly.

In Dartford, has Emma turned this huge space into what she wanted?

Two studios and we can divide them for classes and singing, acting...

But first, in Lincolnshire, did Bob live up to his reputation for DIY?

-The whole thing collapsed.

-Me and the ladder in the bath.

It's back to the river town of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire now,

and this two-bed semi-detached house which, despite the name of the town, wasn't exactly an oil painting.

It may have had character outside, but inside it was distinctly grubby.

And something told me the bedroom floor wasn't on the level.

There was a lot to be done to get this place up and running.

It was bought by first-time developers Bob and Catherine for £56,000,

and it seemed this was a job the novices were up for.

Who's going to do the work?

-Both of us.

-Well, we're going to...

-There'll be a few tradesmen in.

-Yeah, there'll be a few tradesmen!

I don't trust Bob to do anything to be honest!

-I'm Frank Spencer!

-His nickname's Frank Spencer, so that says a lot, doesn't it?

Well, let's hope Bob didn't make a whoopsie out of this place, Betty!

But, joking apart, this will be an interesting start to their developing careers.

The couple reckoned that a £10,000-12,000 budget and a timescale of three months

would be enough for the job. So, four months later, we've returned to see how they've got on.

From the outside, a tidy-up of the front yard and a lick of paint have done wonders for its kerb appeal.

Inside, the living room looks far more appealing in soft neutral tones,

livened up with a contrasting feature wall. So far so good.

And at the rear...

..a wonderful new open-plan kitchen and dining room have been created.

When we first bought the property, there was the wall here with the door.

We've taken that completely down to open this up into a kitchen-diner.

We've knocked through to what used to be the old bathroom

and that we've made into a utility room. It's still a work in project at the moment.

I've probably got another week on it and hopefully then I should have it done, but I'm very pleased.

It's come out exactly as I would like it to. When it's finished, it'll be absolutely lovely.

I'm very, very happy with it.

I'm not surprised! For someone who's been sold as a DIY disaster zone,

Bob's done a great job here, creating a spacious open-plan kitchen-diner.

Upstairs, the two bedrooms have been made over in the same style, with soft tones and carpeting,

which strike the right note for the current property market.

But the bathroom's a different story altogether.

It was quite a big bathroom when we first came and looked at the house, when we first bought the house.

There was another room here which had the cistern and the tank in there,

so we decided to knock that out, so that made the bathroom even bigger.

And we got a nice big shower and plenty of space as well.

We've probably spent more on the bathroom than we really maybe should have done,

thinking about the budget, but we're so pleased with it.

It's certainly got the wow factor.

The bathroom may have had the wow factor, but, remember, the bedroom with its sloping floor

had something of a whoa factor!

Well, I had a friend round who's a builder and he's had a look at it,

and it's history from where the house has subsided on that side, that whole complete wall dropped.

So we had the floorboards up and it's been all braced and rectified

to put it back to how it was.

That had been the problem Bob and Catherine were most worried about when they started the project,

but it seems there was something more unappealing waiting round the corner for them.

We thought everything was better than it was.

When we started taking wallpaper off, the plaster fell like it had blown and it fell off the walls,

so I would say nearly all the walls have had to be replastered.

But that was as far as the major problems went.

Outside the back garden has been cleared and returfed, and is now a tidy and manageable space.

Apart from the qualified tradesmen that were needed,

the whole renovation was down to Bob and Catherine, working in any spare time they had from their day jobs.

And they've done a really top-notch job here.

But it seems as though Bob wasn't able to shake off his Frank Spencer reputation totally on this project.

-We'd just got the bathroom in, hadn't we?

-That's right.

And the entrance to the loft is directly above the roll-top bath,

and he's got the ladder sort of over the bath, and he was trying to force his body...

and he's not a small guy... trying to force his body up into the loft space

-and the whole thing collapsed.

-Me and the ladder in the bath.

-Yeah.

So it did actually make a couple of chips on the roll-top bath.

Fixing the bath did incur a cost, talking of which...

the couple's renovation budget did stretch from £12,000 to £15,000

and their timescale overran from three to four months.

But there's a good reason why they overspent and overran.

The main idea is to put the house on the market and sell it.

-If we can't...we'll probably give it three months...if it's not sold...

-Move in.

..Then we're probably going to move in.

Bob and Catherine bought the house for 56,000.

Add that to their £15,000 spend and the total outlay is 71,000.

Time to find out what two local estate agents make of the couple's first-ever development.

First impressions of the property are very positive.

It's been completed to a very high standard.

I like the way

the bathroom's been finished. It's a fantastic bathroom.

And the kitchen's been opened out very well and the extra utility made so it's added to the property.

They've done some really good work on it,

knocking through the kitchen and opening there.

An open-plan living space is far more in keeping with modern-day living, really.

So with the couple having spent 71,000, what could the house achieve if sold?

If I was to put the property on the market for sale,

I would be looking to ask for £90,000,

and hopefully achieve a price in the 80,000 region.

If I was to put this property up for sale today, today's market,

I'd hope to achieve around £75,000 for it.

Not going to sell it at that price,

cos, you know, we would make nothing on it, so, you know...

-so definitely keep it, probably move in it and...

-See what happens with the market.

-Go with that, yeah.

As Bob and Catherine aren't likely to get the sort of resale value they'd hoped for,

it looks like they may be moving in. But if they decided to let the house out,

what sort of rental income could they earn?

Rental value per calendar month would be £425.

If the property was to go on the rental market,

I think it would achieve around the £425 per calendar month mark.

-I think that's really good, actually. I'm pleased with that.

-Yeah, that's OK.

-A bit more than we thought.

-Yeah, it is more than I thought. Yeah, that's good.

That rental income could give them an annual yield of just over 7%,

but for now it looks like they're the ones who'll be enjoying the fruits of their efforts.

We're happy about that because we've done it with us in mind as well,

so we've made a good job of it and done it to a good standard, so we're pleased with that.

I'm in the Indian Queens area of North Cornwall.

There are plenty of stories explaining who the Indian Queen was, but none are conclusive.

But whoever she was she gave her name to the local coach house.

The name of the pub changed over the years and the building was demolished in the 1960s,

but the pub's name plaque still exists today.

The village has other heritage too.

In days gone by, Indian Queens was well-known for one thing and one thing alone, traffic jams!

This was one of the major routes in and out of Cornwall

until the bypass, the A30 as it is now, was built,

this would be literally bumper to bumper during the summer months.

Nowadays it's quiet, but it still has those great transport links.

So that's good news, and this is what I'm here to see.

Three/four-bedroomed semi-detached, had a guide price of £110,000. Let's take a look.

Well, so much for the Queen of Indians.

Let's hope this house hasn't been visited by the king of cowboys!

So the question is, are you getting more than a tepee for your money?

Well, I think probably so... Interesting colour of paint for the hallway.

Stairs up to the bedrooms there and then through into your lounge.

You've got a big space here. Nice to have the open fire.

You definitely want to make sure you've got good double-glazing on that side

because that road is still quite busy.

But it's a good-sized space... Clearly needs a bit of sorting out, but it's looking good.

Through to the kitchen, and clearly this is an extension to the original property.

And it's a good-sized space, a sort of kitchen-family living area, so we like that.

Obviously all the units need to go, but you've got space to work with. However...

Coming into properties that have been extended should set a few alarm bells ringing...

and when I see a construction like this, clearly a structural part of the property...

this is some kind of a supporting beam here... When I see another one going this way

which is sort of joined on without going that way as well, it just starts to worry me a bit.

Now, it's probably absolutely fine, but I'd want to take off whatever this stuff is on the surface here

and just see that that has been actually properly done underneath,

because if it hasn't been properly done...

whatever is above us... could be coming down to join us quite quickly.

# I see trouble in the air up above my head... #

You can never be too careful with things like this.

It might be perfectly safe, but if it doesn't meet building regulations,

you may struggle to get a mortgage on the house.

Then you could end up with a property you can't sell.

That would be a shame, because with the amount of space and light,

the vibe down here is pretty good.

So...top of the stairs, probably where it should be, the bathroom.

Good size, I have to say, nice big corner bath there.

However that concerns me somewhat because that is actually situated right above the kitchen

where that not necessarily but possibly slightly dodgy bit of construction and support was.

Now, with an average bath holding around 225 litres of water

and an average litre of water weighing 1kg, that's 225kg of water...

add in the weight of the person in the bath, 80kg, that's 300kg of water there...

waiting, poised...

Ooh!

Definitely get a structural engineer to check that beam out.

But what have we got apart from that? Reasonable-sized bedroom there.

Reasonable-sized double bedroom there, small boxroom there,

and then a spiral staircase leading up to the "stroke fourth bedroom".

The reason they say "stroke fourth" is because really you can't class that as a bedroom

unless this has passed building regulations,

and judging by this...and what I can see by glancing up there, I don't think it has.

That's unfortunate because it's not a bad space.

But at worst it could be used as a great storage area.

But there are three bedrooms here so it's not short on rooms.

Certainly in terms of size, it could still appeal to a family.

However, the outside space is perhaps less appealing.

Well, at the rear of the property, lots and lots of space,

but also lots and lots and lots of concrete and this stuff can actually be a nightmare to get rid of.

So take my advice. Hire yourself a mini digger for the weekend, scrape it up into a few skips,

and job done. But also at the back here

there's this huge, great... Well, I don't know what it is, to be honest, garage or something.

Oh, wow! Look at this!

Fantastic!

It's a huge great workshop, I suppose...

Imagine if you were into your classic cars or your motorbikes or just wanted a bit of space

for something like gym equipment...

Great thing to have. Quite surprising. You could even run a business from here, I suppose,

subject to the local planning permission, of course, but actually a great bonus, fantastic!

# It's like concrete... #

It may be all concrete and steel on the outside,

but I'm rather worried about the strength of some of the inside.

What does a local estate agent feel

-about what's on offer here?

-Needs some work,

definitely, but they're the kind of things people like to buy now,

because money's very, very tight,

so everything's got to come out of one budget,

which means they can put their own stamp on it. I think it's definitely saleable

I think there'd be quite a few different groups that would be interested in this property.

The property may attract purchasers but is the workshop in the garden a positive or a negative?

It's taking a huge chunk off the garden,

and taking into account the size that it is at the moment,

internally you can see that originally it was a big double garage/workshop anyway,

I would maybe recommend that it was taken back to its original length,

giving you more useful space for the garden.

So perhaps the outside area needs some work,

but could this auction lot that was guided at just £110,000 be a sound investment?

The resale of this property, once finished, would be in the region of £150,000.

The rental valuation on this property, once finished, would be in the region

of £650-695 per calendar month.

Well, this house in Indian Queens certainly offers a lot of property for the money.

Work to be done but I think there's also money to be made

as long as whoever bought it doesn't get the cowboy builders in.

Let's see who that was when it went to the auction.

We now move to lot 12. May I say £80,000?

£80,000? £80,000 I'm bid.

Is there 85 anywhere? 85 I'm bid.

May I say £90,000? 90 I'm bid.

95 I'm bid.

And 100 I'm bid.

105 I'm bid.

Go 1 if it helps. 106? 106 I'm bid. And 107? 107 I'm bid.

And 108?

108, sir. 108 I'm bid.

109? 109 I'm bid.

And 110? 110 I'm bid.

And 111? 111? At £110,000 right in the front row here.

May I say 111? 111? At £110,000 in the front row

for the first time. At £110,000 for the second time.

At £110,000 and selling for the third and last time. Congratulations, it's yours, sir.

For £110,000 the successful bidder was local man Martin.

He works as an area manager for a dental company and does property developing as a sideline.

If you think his face is familiar, it is.

Martin was on the programme quite recently.

-Martin, good to meet you again.

-Thank you.

-It wasn't that long ago when we met you before.

-Couple of months?

-Yeah, I finished one project, went to an auction and this one came up,

-so away I went.

-Straight on.

# Let's go round again

# Maybe we'll turn back the hands of time... #

Martin's previous property was a few miles away in Par.

Although very different in appearance to this house,

the work needed wasn't so different as it needed a complete refurbishment.

Martin did that and eventually sold it, making a profit of around £20,000.

Now he's on to this one.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

Well, I actually went to buy another property at the auction.

However, this came up prior and went for such a good price that I couldn't let it go by.

Right, so it was literally the price. Had you seen it beforehand?

Yeah, I'd done my research. I'd looked online and then I'd come and had a look through the windows.

-I hadn't actually been through the front door.

-Oh, wow!

But I could see where it was and I could see the kind of work that would need to be done.

When it went for such a good price at auction, I thought whatever happens and no matter what I found inside,

there was a worthwhile amount of money to be made.

So Martin's taken a small gamble here,

but he knows the local market and whether he rents or sells,

he's confident this will be a money-spinner once refurbished.

So tell me exactly what you're going to do to the house itself to sort it out?

OK. Inside it's a top-to-bottom refurbishment.

So, basically, I'll be changing the doors, taking out the carpet,

and I'll basically shell the property, refresh the bathroom,

-and redo the kitchen.

-What about in the kitchen here?

I was a little bit concerned... it's not necessarily a problem, but I'd like it to be investigated,

-this construction on the roof, holding up the bathroom upstairs.

-I've had a look at it,

and the construction of it... I'm quite convinced that it's all good.

What about the sort of fourth bedroom? It really can't be called a fourth bedroom, can it?

It's got the spiral staircase, it doesn't really meet planning regulations.

-What are you going to do with that?

-I think I'll leave it as it is.

I think it would make a really good sort of playroom. I certainly won't be taking the stairs away.

I think it's a useful addition. It adds value, rather than just putting a loft hatch over it, so...

Martin plans a pretty modest refurbishment here, reflected in his budget of 4,000-5,000.

Timescale-wise he hopes to turn it around in just a couple of months.

That will be pretty good going with his full-time dental job as well.

-What about outside, then? Cos that is a real surprise, isn't it?

-Exactly.

The building outside could lend itself to a number of uses.

It was actually used as a coach refitting business some years ago,

so they've got planning permission to use it for commercial use.

Personally, what I would do with it is present it in a good state

so that people can see what they've got there.

And, obviously, then it maximises the opportunities and potential.

So the garage-cum-workshop could be a real bonus for Martin.

And there's certainly plenty of work to sink his teeth into here.

So lots of options for Martin with this place,

but just £4,000 to sort it out? Sounds a bit tight to me,

especially if it turns out that there is structural work required.

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

Well, transforming a property from a worn-out shell into a home can be a very rewarding experience.

Did everything go to plan for our buyers today? Let's find out.

Back now to Dartford where dance teacher Emma and her husband Jason bought this former printworks

at auction for 450,000. They hoped to turn the place into a performing arts centre,

and their plans were certainly ambitious.

Downstairs we're going to put studios, there'll be a musical theatre room.

Up here we're going to have another studio, so we'll have four big rooms.

There'll be a recreation-rest room and another musical theatre space for acting and singing.

So we've got quite a lot planned.

The couple had a budget of 100,000 to do the work and a tight schedule of just three months

to be up and running. But with commercial builder Chris employed to manage the project,

it seems like they were in safe hands.

We're back three-and-a-half months later to find out if they've quickstepped their way to success

or if they've been tripped up by two left feet!

Well, the outside has undergone a makeover. What about inside?

# Dancing in the moonlight... #

The former huge hangar-like space is still undergoing some work,

but it's clear the complex is taking shape with four separate studios being created,

large, light and all with enough room to swing a leg.

Upstairs, it's been a total transformation.

The former office area has been stripped and partitioned off into two studios,

each soundproofed and a great site for practising those moves, plies or just belting out a song.

We met up with Emma and Jason who told us they'd certainly belted along to get this project finished.

Well, it's certainly been a busy few months.

We've completely transformed the site, so very close.

It's just the finishing up, the finishing touches on the walls,

the builders are just finishing up and tidying around

and the last bits of carpet going down, so it's very close.

In fact, so close that 300 students have already enrolled

in the various dance and arts programmes run by the centre.

It looks like some are already going through their paces.

MUSIC: "Rhythm Is a Dancer" by Snap

It's the ground-floor space that will put the perform in performance as Emma explains.

Well, it's two studios and we can divide them for classes and things like that, singing, acting...

We can also open up the space and have Studio 2 as the theatre

and the seating in Studio 1 and have a really good performance space.

But this transformation is not all just about putting on a show.

There's a business to run,

and on the ground floor the reception has been opened up and made more client-friendly.

And once inside there are new changing rooms and a kitchen.

It's a big renovation and was made possible by a team that Emma and Jason have known for ten years.

Project manager Chris and surveyor Deborah have played key roles.

They've worked very closely with Emma and Jason

to make this studio literally all singing and all dancing!

So are they the Fred and Ginger of project managing?

We work really well together. We've both got different skills, different things that we're good at,

but, you know, bringing that together means that the company works really well together

and the projects get finished because you've both got different ways of working,

but bringing it all together, which means the clients get the best of both worlds.

The couple faced a few minor problems changing the usage of the unit

to a performing arts centre.

To avoid any excessive music affecting the neighbours,

the windows at the front had to be closed and ventilation has been added to the first-floor studio.

But things have pretty much run to schedule.

A few days left to finish and it's due Friday week,

and we will, sort of Wednesday, have the contract cleaners come in and the clients are very happy.

As for the £100,000 budget, well, Emma and Jason have now added a theatre into the equation,

so expect that to be exceeded, and there were other problems.

Mainly all of the wiring had to be changed because it had been ripped out for the copper.

All the copper pipes were removed, which we didn't expect.

And there were a few changes that the Building Control required.

And the additional things that we added so it pushed the budget up to 180,000-190,000 in the end.

Emma and Jason paid 450,000 at auction for the property,

and with their renovation costs reaching about 190,000,

that makes an overall outlay of £640,000.

Time to find out what two local estate agents think of the couple's new performing arts centre,

and whether it's worth making a song and dance about.

It's been finished to a very high standard.

Obviously, it's still a work in progress, but once it's finished,

I think this is going to be a very modern useable space.

Very good space for this sort of use.

It's obviously built as a factory unit,

but it's good per eaves height,

I would have thought ideal for performing arts.

How much could the unit be worth on the resale market?

For marketing purposes I would suggest putting it on at £550,000.

I would put this commercial property on the market for £550,000.

-It's a reasonable...

-Given the current climate.

Yeah, and it's quite specific, you know, our use for the building.

So sort of as an empty building for use for something else, it seems a reasonable valuation.

That valuation means that Emma and Jason would stand to lose 90,000.

# Every day is so wonderful

# And suddenly... #

However a quick resale was never part of the plan.

A performing arts centre is a long-term project for the couple.

If the business is successful then the real value won't be in the short-term price of the building.

It's great that it's now coming to the end and we don't need to moan at anybody any more, so that's great!

-The lovely thing is to see the students' faces, see what they think of it.

-Yeah.

That's what I'm looking forward to, seeing it full of people, that'll be great.

# I am beautiful

# No matter what they say

# Words can't bring me down... #

Earlier we were in the village of Indian Queens in Cornwall where we met Martin.

He's an area manager for a dental company who bought this three- or four-bedroomed detached house

for 110,000.

Martin was on the show before when he refurbished a property in nearby Par,

and was well-prepared to take this place on.

As much of the work was superficial,

and as there was a huge garage in the garden, ripe with possibilities,

he knew he'd got himself a bargain here.

When it went for such a good price at auction,

I thought whatever happens and no matter what I found inside,

there was a worthwhile amount of money to be made.

Armed with a budget of just 4,000-5,000, Martin had plans to refurbish the house

in just a couple of months and get it on to the rental market.

But it was nine months later when we returned.

From the outside, a fresh lick of paint on the walls

and a tidy-up in the garden makes the frontage more appealing,

and inside...

Well, the living room has been stripped bare and it's obvious there's still a lot to do here.

But the kitchen...

Martin has decked this out with new units, new tiling, new everything!

Well, nearly everything.

The kitchen was quite dated and old.

It had dark units...

lino floor...

Over here we had the arched recess with the heron window.

I decided not to keep that.

Although it let light into the front room,

I didn't think it was in keeping with the rest of the property.

I managed to retain the original sink. I feel it was good quality.

It went really well with the rest of the units and the worktops.

I tiled the floor and flashbacks. I think the end result's really good.

Martin installed the kitchen himself and seems to have done a grand job.

He also did the changes upstairs,

decorating the three bedrooms, recarpeting and adding a new door...

He applied the same style of makeover to the loft.

And the bathroom? Well, that hasn't been replaced, but it's been updated with new flooring

and a new sink and shower,

all achieved with Martin's DIY skills.

So was he able to do anything with the garage at the back?

I think the garage is a real positive for this property.

Although it didn't look very appealing when I bought the property,

having replaced the industrial-looking metal doors with a modern roller shutter,

I think I've turned something that was quite unappealing into a real asset to the property.

Certainly when it comes to sell, I think this is a real selling feature and will appeal to a lot of buyers.

Any future owner who is into car restoration

or perhaps wants to run a small business from here

would go crazy for the sort of space offered.

So this large garage certainly does have the potential to put the pounds on to any resale price.

And with the garden tidied up, it all ends up being a solid transformation

from that tired house that Martin bought.

Getting to this fresh look should have been straightforward, though, shouldn't it?

If you look at a room and think,

"I can paint that in a day," by the time you take off the wallpaper

and then replaster the bits that are falling off,

and then notice there's doorframes that had woodworm...

and you factor that in that's going to take a day to replace as well,

that bedroom that was going to take you a day could end up taking you a week.

Obviously, throughout the house, if you look at those little issues,

they all add up and that's where the time goes and that's where the money goes.

In any renovation, discovering woodworm would open up a can of, well, worms!

But the message here is, as always, allow some leeway for unexpected hold-ups.

As it is, Martin now plans to live here.

He had aimed to finished the project in two months, but a mini disaster,

where sewage leaked into the kitchen created a stink with the schedule,

and that wasn't the only hold-up.

Well, it's been a busy sort of eight months.

I was hoping to get the work done a lot quicker.

However, work commitments meant I was working in South Wales a lot of the time,

so a lot of weeks nothing got done, so things kind of dragged on.

It looks as though there are still a few more weeks left to get this place across the finishing line,

but as he's run so far over schedule how did Martin's budget hold up?

My original budget was 4,000.

With some of the problems I had with regard to losing items due to sort of flood damage,

it's gone up to 6,000 now.

Add that to his purchase price of 110,000

and Martin's total outlay here is 116,000.

Time to ask two local estate agents what they think of his investment.

I like it very much.

I think the finish that he's done... there's a little bit to do yet,

but what's been done so far is very good.

I like the flooring, I like the colour schemes that he's chosen,

and I like how he's sort of concentrated on the garage as well.

I think that's a very good selling point.

It's got a lot of potential, obviously still not quite finished.

Upstairs the work I've seen I've been very impressed with,

done to a very high standard.

Martin's current plans are to stay put for a few months and make this his new home,

although he does aim to sell eventually.

Having spent £116,000 here, what could he expect to achieve on a resale?

I would market it for £165,000 to achieve in the region of £155,000.

I would look at putting it on the market for between £160,000 and £165,000.

They're really positive figures. Taking into account what I paid for the property and the money I spent,

there should be quite a good return on my effort.

You're right there, Martin! If those sale prices could be achieved,

he could make a possible £39,000-£49,000 profit, minus the usual taxes and expenses.

And with a potential rental income of £750 per calendar month,

he could make a healthy annual yield of just under 8%.

While this renovation may have taken its time,

this house could still offer some healthy returns in the future for Martin.

Now he's getting the knack of this developing game, he has a clear philosophy on getting the job done.

When things go wrong, just keep your eyes on your prize,

and when things do go wrong, keep calm and carry on.

Well, whether you're a seasoned professional or a property novice,

there are always thing to be learned about buying property.

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

-See you then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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