Episode 11 Homes Under the Hammer

In today's challenging markets,

do you think you could hack it in the world of property?

It can be an exciting and enjoyable way to make money.

It can also be rewarding if you buy your home under the hammer.

There are tense moments in the auction room.

Who will make the right bid at the right time?

Property can change people's fortune for better or worse.

So what inspired the buyers on today's show?

In Wellington, Shropshire, the kitchen in this mid-terrace

makes me wonder what else is to come.

I'm prepared for the worst, basically.

In Kent, this two-bedroom flat is missing the heart of a home.

Buying a property without the necessary kitchen is a gamble indeed.

And in Heaton Norris near Stockport,

this studio flat has a rather unusual feature.

Hang on a minute! What's this?

All these properties have been sold at auction.

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

That's your property, sir.

I'm in Wellington.

Not Wellington New Zealand, Chile, Canada or South Africa,

but Wellington Shropshire, which forms the northern part of Telford.

# Around the world

# I've searched for you

# I travelled on when hope was gone

# To keep a rendezvous. #

Just half a mile from the town centre is the property I'm here to see.

Three-bedroom mid-terrace at a guide price of £55,000.

It looks a little bit, erm, what's the word, from the outside.

Let's take a look inside.

That's not a good start, is it? Let's try around the back.

# Step on round the back. #

Luckily, the back door is operational

and this gives me a chance to check out the back garden.

It's a good size and the new owners who bought it at auction

have already cleared and fenced it.

It's a good start, actually, once you finally get into the place.

A really nice, useful area with a downstairs loo

and a place to store your bits and pieces, your wet coats and stuff.

Then into the kitchen. Clearly, work required.

I do happen to know that this place was a squat

prior to it being sold, so I'm prepared for the worst, basically.

But this is not too bad. Let's see if it gets any better. Or worse.

Through to the living room and not a bad size.

Lots of light coming in through that window there.

You've got a gas fire and, oh my word, what is that?

I don't think that's what it looks like. Only one way to find out.

Only kidding! Anyway, it's superfluous.

It's something you will remove

and you'll do in the first few moments of being here.

Something a bit more serious and kind of more expensive to sort out is this.

This is where the copper pipe that feeds the central heating system would have been

and as you can see, it's gone. My guess is, it's been stolen.

And that's an increasingly common problem in houses that are left unoccupied,

in railway lines, in church roofs.

Tens of thousands of tonnes of metals are stolen every year

and the most popular ones are lead and copper.

It's going to cost quite a lot to replace that

and the central heating needs to be redone.

And of course, you then have to consider security while the house is unoccupied.

You certainly don't want it to happen again.

Maybe even consider putting plastic pipes in instead. Let's go upstairs.

# Fantastic plastic people. #

Yes, plastic pipes wherever possible is the way to go to outsmart the metal thieves.

I've also noticed that the lead has been stripped from the front bay window roof,

which definitely needs sorting before the rain gets in.

Upstairs are the three bedrooms. Two doubles and a single.

All in need of new flooring and redecorating. And that's not all.

Up here, a bit of a nice surprise. The toilet and bathroom.

It's where it should be - upstairs.

The only slight issue is this bit of the corridor is actually

over the alleyway between this property and the next-door neighbour.

So, in effect, it is a flying freehold, or it could be.

So you definitely need to have your solicitor check that out.

It needs refurbishing, pretty much like the rest of the house,

and the only thing I might consider is taking out this wall to open it up.

You couldn't go all the way down because that's where the stairs are.

But it would certainly give a bit more of an open feel to the bathroom.

But all in all, a lot of space, actually, in this house.

# Gravity you feel can be defied

# If you just overcome your fear of flying. #

A flying freehold just means that part of the property

goes over land that doesn't belong to you.

It's something mortgage companies can be wary of,

but if it's just a small area, there are ways of getting around it.

Perhaps with a specialised insurance.

What does a local estate agent think of this property, guided at 55,000?

I think the property is in reasonable condition for this type of property.

It does need some work doing to it, but mainly cosmetic.

The bathroom is in relatively good order so there's not too much to be done there.

Depending on whether it's going to go for re-sale or for rental,

I would replace the kitchen and put a cheap kitchen in

or put new worktops and new cupboard doors on.

Once renovated, would you be able to let this place out easily?

This would rent relatively well.

In pounds per calendar month,

I would recommend that this goes on for £525 per calendar month.

And a sale value, if it were put back on the market?

Once this has had the improvements carried out to the property,

I would suggest a market price of £85,000.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with this place.

It's just a bit of a tired house

that needs a bit of tender loving care.

Let's see who came to its aid when it went under the hammer.

Lot number 16. 40, can we say? 35 then.

35 bid, thanks. £35,000.

40, can I say now? At 35. Thank you, 40.

45? At 40. £45,000. 50?

At £45,000. I will take one if it helps.

£46,000. 47? £47,000. 48?

New bidder. £48,000. 49?

49. 50? £50,000. At 50.

There proved to be a lot of interest in this two-bedroom terraced house.

Bids continued to rise in single thousand increments

to well over 60,000.

New bidder at 62. Shaking his head. 62. First bid, there.

£62,000. Standing at 62. At 62. Back in on the left.

63. 64. 65. 66.

Shaking the head. 66, still with you.

At £66,000. Are we all done now?

At £66,000 then, first time.

At £66,000, second time.

Third and final time at £66,000, all done.

Your lot.

# I know what you've got

# I know what you've got

# I know what you've got

# Lord, it does me good. #

The final bid of 66,000 was made by friends Purnell, who's in the pink,

and Penny, who have known each other for the past 12 years.

Penny worked as a teaching assistant at the same school where Purnell taught.

This is the pair's first successful auction buy

and I met them at their purchase in Wellington to find out more.

-Purnell, Penny, lovely to meet you both.

-Lovely to meet you too.

-Congratulations.

-Thanks very much.

So why this particular house then?

I just think it's a really good starter home.

It's quite good in size. Structurally, it's sound.

It needs a makeover,

but I think it's a lovely little property to move into.

I think Penny is right about that.

As first investments go, this looks a good choice

and that's because she's been doing her homework.

After a long spell at home, nursing a broken ankle,

Penny picked up plenty of tips from this very programme.

But could this new business partnership be make or break for the friendship?

So how do you think it's going to work between the two of you?

Being friends is one thing but being business partners is slightly different.

I'm just going to tell her what's happening!

And then I'll do what I want!

-It's going to be good. We complement each other.

-We do, actually.

-We've had such fun so far.

-Any disagreement so far?

-Yes, but nothing we couldn't work out.

Nothing that we're going to fall out about.

What have you squabbled about so far, in a friendly kind of way?

Cooker hoods.

Some of us feel cooker hoods aren't the be all and end all of the world, but some people do.

I think it's necessary. Sky dish - keep or get rid of. I keep. Get rid of.

So there are bound to be a few differences of opinion

and at least they're about minor things.

Just as long as they remember to put profit before personal taste,

they should be OK.

So tell me what you're going to do to sort it out?

What are the plans for it?

Not too much. We're hoping to leave it as it is.

We're not changing any rooms, shapes of. New kitchen.

Clearing out some of the kitchen so that we can have a breakfast

-and eating area in there.

-Dining kitchen.

-What was it upstairs?

-New bathroom.

We're going to change the boiler and have a combi boiler

so that you can actually use the airing cupboard space

and open the bathroom up a little bit more.

And then obviously, a new cloakroom suite downstairs as well.

Clearing the garden and making that much more open.

The garden was completely grown over but we've started work on that.

The plants were about 50 foot high and 18 foot wide!

You couldn't actually see much in the garden at all.

I can think of anything else at the moment.

No, I think those are the main things.

So the hard work has already begun in earnest.

They'll be bringing in tradesmen to do the work

and they plan to sell the house on rather than rent it out.

But how penny-pinching will Penny and Purnell be with their budget?

Have you got any idea of how much it's going to cost to get it sorted then?

About £12,000 to £13,000.

With some put by in case, because you never know, do you?

Exactly. Very wise.

And in terms of how long you are hoping It'll take?

-Two or three months, we hope.

-Yes.

-I would like to do it earlier if possible.

-Of course.

Congratulations both of you.

I look forward to see how you get on and we'll be back.

Moving from being friends to business partners

is never without its potential problems.

In this case, will we return to find a satellite dish or not

and a cooker hood or not?

You can find out if they are still friends later in the show.

# Sail away with me

# What will be will be

# I want to hold you now

# Now

# Now. #

This is Erith, south-east London, in the borough of Bexley.

Money is being spent here because Erith falls within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone.

With good transport links and a nearby railway station

with links to London Bridge only 35 minutes away, things look promising here.

You would think after all these years I'd have seen every single style of Victorian house, but no.

I don't think I've ever seen a terrace quite like this.

These are purpose-built Victorian flats,

so rather than a shared entrance or two doors at ground level,

you have steps up to the flat.

I rather like that idea because everybody gets their own front door

and you're not losing valuable floor space.

And I rather like the guide price too. Just £55,000 for this two bed.

The design is practical with each unit very separate, one on top of the other.

And it's always good to have your own front door from the street.

The exterior would benefit from a lick of paint around the windows.

The roof looks in reasonable condition but the guttering could do with a once over.

As for parking, there's plenty of space on this unusual street.

Let's see what's in store inside.

This corridor goes on forever.

You certainly don't think it's going to be this big from the outside.

But what I love about it is the high ceilings.

I know it's Victorian and they're quite notorious for wonderful ceiling height,

but it has a lovely feeling of spaciousness inside, which is great.

You've got the lounge. It's a shame the fireplace has been taken out.

This wallpaper is probably hiding all manner of sins underneath it.

So you might have to factor in re-plastering all the walls everywhere

because look, polystyrene tiles, incredibly dated.

A fire hazard. But not a bad size room.

This would be a bedroom. Really comfortable. What I love is this. Come and look.

You've got a wonderful view out there of a beautiful weeping willow.

I certainly didn't expect to see so much greenery out of this window.

But something you'll have to factor in as well,

these are single glazed so you will need to think about double glazing.

But overall, it's a really good start.

So far, so good, with the size of these rooms and that lovely view.

But the single second bedroom isn't such a showstopper after such a promising start.

Let's hope it's not downhill from here.

When I read in the catalogue description, "kitchen (not fitted)",

I was hoping I might find something freestanding.

But no, there just isn't a kitchen fitted at all. Hilarious.

But the lack of units is not the issue here.

You can add a kitchen, easy peasy.

It's getting a mortgage on a property without one that's not easy at all.

It's often a requirement to secure finance

and buying a property without the necessary kitchen

is a gamble indeed.

# Don't gamble with love

# Don't gamble. #

Having nowhere to cook might not be the only issue here

as having no kitchen at all could seriously hinder

anyone wanting to gain finance on this flat.

That bathroom at the back of the kitchen is less than ideal.

There's a section of garden space out the back,

but the stairs are rotten, so I can't venture down and explore.

I'm now slightly less enamoured with this flat as there seem to be more negatives than positives

and there's even more bad news.

# Gamble with love

# You'll lose it for sure. #

So the flat needs considerable work

but does that explain the £55,000 guide price?

Well, I'm afraid it doesn't.

It's low because as a rather unhappy coincidence,

the lease has 55 years left to run.

Well actually, it's got 54 and a half years, which is a bit worse.

So you can add into the mix fewer mortgage companies willing to lend,

higher rates of interest from those who do,

the lease renewal to go through, finding the freeholder,

agreeing the price, dealing with the paperwork and then paying for the thing,

which will certainly be over £10,000 for a lease this short.

This issue will have put plenty of people off, with good reason.

But for the plucky developer who is not afraid of months of legal hassle,

this could still really be a good investment.

So it's not all doom and gloom.

But what does a local estate agent make of this property?

We asked one along to find out if it's worth taking a chance on it.

# Baby take a chance on me. #

It's a good size.

It needs some work doing to it, obviously,

to get it into good condition.

A nice outlook at the back and it's the wider part of the road, which is better.

And you've got the park at the end of the road, which is good as well.

What could this flat achieve as a rental?

In good condition,

the flat should rent for around £700 to £800 per calendar month.

What about the re-sale market?

If the property was sold with a sensible lease,

according to the current area, and in good condition,

then it would probably be heading towards £120,000, something like that.

This flat has been neglected and it comes with plenty of baggage

but I say, with that guide price, give it a chance.

The patient, spend some money, sought the lease out

and you could have a lovely little home or a great renter.

Let's see who took this one on at the auction.

This lot went under the hammer near the end of the day

when there weren't as many bidders in the room.

Lot 120. Erith in Kent. It's a two bedroom raised ground floor flat.

Who'd like to give me a start on this?

What about 50 then? Give it a nice bit of discount. 50,000? Thank you.

50, I've got. 51. 52. 53.

54. 55. 56.

57. 58. 59.

60,000.

61. 62. New place. 63.

64.

65. 66. 67.

68. 69. 70,000. 71.

72. 73. Go on. 74.

Anybody else? It sounds cheap to me, but anyway.

If not, 74 for the first, 74 for the second,

74 for the third and final time.

All done. Sold for 74,000. Good buy, that.

That successful bid of £74,000 was made by Sarrita.

She works as a building surveyor

and has renovated a few properties over the last couple of years

as a part-time venture.

I am sure her surveyor skills have come in very handy.

# Handy

# Handy

# Just a good time loving girl. #

I caught up with Sarrita back at the flat to find out more.

Congratulations. Why did you want to buy this property at auction?

I was looking for a new buy to let property.

I had a look through the catalogue and this one looked the most interesting.

This is actually the only one I came to see from this auction.

So do you have a portfolio of properties?

I wouldn't really call it that. I've got two other properties.

So what was it about this one that caught your eye?

I liked that the rooms are very big. There's quite a lot of space.

I would have preferred two double bedrooms

but for a three-person property, this is pretty big.

# So big My heart is so big

# My love is so big. #

This flat is big indeed, but did the short lease

and missing kitchen make financing it difficult?

-Did you manage to get a mortgage for this?

-I did.

Even without a kitchen in place, which is quite surprising?

By the skin of my teeth. We completed a couple of days late.

So that must have been a very nerve-racking time for you,

because otherwise, you'd have had to have stumped up all the cash.

-Very stressful. Or lose the deposit.

-So how do you feel now?

-Relieved.

# Relax. #

Phew! Sarrita didn't make it easy on herself but can relax now.

Well, to a degree.

She hopes to extend the lease after a couple of years renting it out,

which means putting money aside.

Her renovation budget is limited to between £10,000 and £12,000,

so she'll need to be creative to find the best way to spend that cash.

So for £10,000 to £12,000, what are you going to be doing with that money?

I'm going to spend quite a bit of it in the kitchen.

The kitchen is very important when it comes to looking at lets, especially if people are sharing.

There needs to be enough space in here for you to sit down and have something to eat

and also, if you are two adults that are not a couple and share,

you need to be able to get away from each other.

So you need some space to sit down here

and some space to sit down in the front room.

That always makes a big difference.

Sarrita to also plans to replace windows, add a new front door,

re-insulate, re-plaster and rewire throughout.

A new kitchen will be installed

and in the bathroom, a new bathroom suite will be put in

and completely retiled.

Out the back, that rotten staircase will be replaced

and eventually, the garden will be cleaned up.

Sarrita plans to do the stripping out and decorating with the help of her husband,

but when it comes to the bigger jobs,

she'll call in builders she's used before on her other projects.

It sounds like you know what you are doing.

How long have you got to do the work?

Not a very long time.

One of the conditions of the mortgage is that the work has to be done

within three months of the purchase date.

Wow! That's quite a pressure. So why is that?

What they do is, they give you a mortgage on the full value of the property with the work done

and they put in a timescale for when it needs to be completed.

So the property has to be re-inspected by the mortgage company within 12 weeks.

-And if you haven't done it within 12 weeks?

-You lose your mortgage.

-Right, get cracking!

-Good luck with this. It's been great meeting you today.

-Thank you.

So Sarrita is a very careful planner.

She'll need to be to get all the work done in that budget

and that tight timescale.

What a way to pile on the pressure!

There are a few ifs and buts with this one

and I will be interested to see how it goes.

You can find out how she does later in the programme.

Coming up - in Heaton Norris, I find out if good things really do come in small packages.

There isn't a lot of space. Excuse me.

In London, how has that tight deadline gone for Sarrita?

My builders took a three-week holiday in the middle of the work,

which made things rather nerve-racking.

But first, back in Shropshire,

are Penny and Purnell still good friends?

Sometimes, I let her have her way, and once or twice,

she might have let me have my way!

Now, we're back in Wellington, Shropshire,

with friends and colleagues, Penny and Purnell,

bought this three-bedroom house for £66,000.

This was the first development property for the pals,

so could their new working relationship test their friendship?

# You've got a friend in me. #

I'm just going to tell her what's happening!

And then I will do what I want!

It's going to be good. We complement each other a lot.

We've had such fun so far.

They had had some minor disagreements about their plans,

but one thing they did agree on was that there was a lot to do.

The property had been occupied by squatters and unfortunately,

not only was it in need of fresh decoration

but also much of the copper piping was missing, even the water tank.

They had hoped to have the work completed in two to three months.

Nearly three months later, we're back.

So have the fledgling property developers

managed to turn this into a nest egg?

Well, outside, the property has been smartened up with a new front door

and the weed-infested paving slabs have been replaced by gravel.

Downstairs, a new toilet has been installed, replacing the old one.

And a lick of paint has freshened up the entrance.

New flooring runs through into the kitchen,

which has been completely overhauled.

New cupboards, a gas hob and a combi boiler have all been installed,

using copper piping again, which their tradespeople did recommend.

In the living room, the decor has been smartened up.

The gas fire has been removed and new central heating installed.

Upstairs, the bedrooms have all been redecorated, with new carpets laid.

But it's the bathroom which has changed the most.

Originally, we thought we were going to be able to keep the bath

and possibly the wash hand basin, box it in.

There was a little bit of damage to the bath.

We thought we were going to be able to repair it but then we thought, it's not viable.

So we've taken it out completely, put a brand-new bathroom in

and we've moved the door back quite substantially,

so it's actually given a lot more area

and we've taken out the cupboard that was in there.

Now, you walk through and it's very open and fresh, I think.

It is quite a nice-sized bathroom, to be honest, now.

So what other major decisions had to be taken?

One of the main things was the decision we had to make about the heating

because all of the copper pipes and the water tank had been stolen.

So we made the decision to put in a combi boiler.

We were very pleased that there was actually less plastering than we thought we'd have to do.

So we did a lot of filling and a lot of sanding and that went well.

And the kitchen. We're just so thrilled with the kitchen

because it was not set out so well.

We're really glad now that people have got a kitchen

where they can sit and eat in and cook in,

so that the living area can be completely for living.

And the fact that the downstairs toilet ended up looking lovely.

And a downstairs toilet is always good to have!

OK, it's crunch time. Did they fall out or are they friends forever?

You don't know how you are going to get on, friends working together.

But we've done really well.

I'm very proud and she's lovely. We've worked well together.

We're very different.

We've had times where we've totally disagreed about things

but we've compromised on what we've done.

Sometimes I have let her have her way and once or twice,

she might have let me have my way!

So very different skills, I think, we've brought to it.

We've both learnt a lot and we've had such fun together.

It's been really good.

So the partnership has worked well, which is always a relief to hear.

But what about the £12,000 to £13,000 budget

they set for the refurbishment?

How close were they to that?

Practically, I think we possibly went £30 over our budget.

But we were very conscious

and the things that we couldn't have, we didn't have.

We came back within their three-month timescale

but how long did it actually take?

I think we actually finished in six weeks, from start to finish.

Just six weeks. I am impressed.

And to top it all, they've even managed to sell the property already.

Including all their fees and costs from the auction,

Penny says they've spent £15,000.

So added to the £66,000 purchase price,

that's a total outlay of £81,000.

Have they made any money?

Let's find out what two local estate agents think.

First impressions of the property are very positive.

They've concentrated on the key areas,

which were the kitchen and the bathroom.

They've given it a good refurb throughout and put new carpets in.

The kitchen is great. They've done a really nice job of that.

Very contemporary. The bathroom is great. Limited space, but they've used it well.

They've got the refurb work right.

It is all the right colours. Magnolias, whites, neutral carpets.

It's pretty much spot on.

The kitchen itself is very neutrally decorated. Nice modern units.

The fact that it's an open plan kitchen diner, I think,

would appeal towards the family market, which this could appeal to.

Out of interest, what could this have earned as a buy to let?

If this was put on the rental market,

I would expect to achieve roundabout £550 per calendar month.

In the current rental market, this property should achieve about £500 per calendar month.

A very healthy yield of between 7.5% and 8%.

But they have actually already sold the property on,

so what ballpark figures should they have been expecting,

bearing in mind their total outlay of £81,000?

I would put this currently on the market at £95,000.

I would expect the property to achieve around about £95,000.

Penny and Purnell actually sold the property for £90,000

within just two weeks of it going on sale.

It's a buyer's market a bit at the moment, isn't it?

It is, and at the end of the day, yes, we may have got 95,

but we may have had to stay on the market for a lot longer.

We've sold and we're moving on to the next one now.

And they've made a quick pre-tax profit of £9,000

to invest in the next one too.

For a first time project, I have to hand it to them,

this pair have done good.

Fantastic team. Really good. Really worked well together.

We complemented each other. We enjoyed it, we had fun, and sold it.

-So, we're happy, aren't we?

-Very.

I'm in the popular residential area of Heaton Norris,

about five minutes outside Stockport town centre.

A very popular place to live.

But there is one big issue with living around here.

# Get your motor running Head out on the highway

# Looking for adventure

# And whatever comes our way. #

This is the A6.

It's a really major road

that slices right through the centre of Heaton Norris.

It leads from Stockport and further afield

right through to Manchester city centre.

And at rush-hour, it's chock-a-block.

So you wouldn't necessarily want a property too close to this.

# Born to be wild. #

This may put some buyers off but you certainly can't knock the location

in terms of transport links.

Thankfully, the property I'm here to see

is set a reasonable distance back, so that is a good start.

It's a studio flat. It had a guide price of £35,000.

It's on the second floor. Let's take a look.

Inside, you have the communal hall and it's in good nick.

Let's head upstairs to see what it's like there.

It's a studio flat. I'm not expecting a lot of space.

Let's see what there is. Straight through the door.

Bathroom and toilet there.

The suite looks like it could do with being replaced

and you certainly need a shower screen and a shower over bath.

Very small cupboard with the immersion heater

and hot water tank in there.

Another cupboard.

A bit more space with more central heating type gubbins.

And that's it for here. There's not a lot of space. Excuse me.

# Hey, darling, squeeze me in. #

Everything in this flat runs off this corridor

and as space is limited, these two cupboards

provide much-needed storage space.

So far, nothing out of the ordinary, but we're not done yet.

Hang on a minute! What this?

A very strange bit of, erm...

..well, divider.

I think maybe if it was painted a different colour it would be better.

But hey, it's a bit of interest

in what's otherwise a fairly characterless,

is it fair to say that, one room.

This is your living room, bedroom, dining room, whatever.

One nice thing though, it's a bit small, but you've got a huge great window.

Floor-to-ceiling, basically, with glass.

Great views out across the bit of garden there,

so that's a really nice thing to have.

If you were careful about how you did your interior design in here,

maybe have a fold down bed and picked your colours carefully,

you could actually make this a really nice living environment.

The only other room you've got is unfortunately a bit of a disappointment.

It's the kitchen. As you can see, it's in a bit of a state.

It's small but that's not a surprise.

Again, clever design in here to make the most of what isn't a massive space,

but it could still be really nice.

With a studio flat like this, you have to use the space efficiently.

The only window in the flat is big, but it's single glazed.

Another potential cost to consider is heating.

There is underfloor heating here but it needs to be checked to see if it actually works.

A few changes inside and this could be a great little home.

Outside, the block is looked after by a management company

for which the owner pays a monthly fee.

The flat also comes with a parking permit

and garages are available to rent.

So is this the perfect pad for the commuting professional?

With a guide price of £35,000,

we asked a local property expert for his opinion.

This flat, you know, great little studio flat.

It needs some modernisation but, you know,

it'll look good when it's finished.

I think this property is going to appeal to a single person.

Somebody who's looking for a base for 6 to 12 months.

It's a nice little flat really.

What needs to be done before someone can move in?

I think, obviously, full redecoration. New carpets.

New kitchen, new bathroom. I would replace the windows.

You'd probably need to check the lease.

I think you'd probably spend around £7,000 or £8,000

to get this property to a very good standard.

Not a massive spend needed here

but how much is this studio flat worth?

I think in its current state, you'd be looking at receiving offers of around about £45,000.

And once it's had a makeover?

Renovated, you could easily achieve £65,000.

How much could this Stockport studio flat rent out for?

Rental on this property, done up to a good standard,

you'd achieve between £350 and maybe £375 per calendar month.

Well, as studio flats go, I think this is pretty good.

You weren't going to expect anything massive. What there is just works.

It needs a bit of sorting out, especially in that kitchen.

But I think this could be a good investment. It's certainly in a good location.

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

I'm looking for a minimum of £30,000 and we'll be away.

£30,000, I'm looking for. A good buy at 30.

At £30,000. 30.

At £30,000. Thank you, sir. 31, I'm looking for now.

At 31,000. 31. 32.

There are two of you in it. 32,000. 33.

At 33,000. 34. At 34,000. 35?

35,000. 36. At 36. 37,000. Yes.

At 37. 38. At 39,000. 40.

At £40,000. 41.

At 41,000. 42. At 42,000. 43.

At 43,000. 44. At 44,000. 45.

You're shaking your head. 500, maybe? No. At 44,000 then.

At 44,000 for the first time.

44. 45,000 then. We're just over the line at £44,000.

46? At 46,000.

No, at 46,000 then for the first time. Second time.

Third and final time, at £46,000. That's your property, sir.

The successful bid of £46,000, £11,000 over the guide price,

came from property developer Ivor.

Ivor's property career began as an estate agent when he was 18.

Although he's been doing his own properties for over ten years,

he still does occasional estate agency work in the Manchester area.

He's bought this flat jointly with silent investors.

I met up with him to find out the plans.

-Ivor, lovely to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

-Congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

I think there's good value in the Manchester property market at the moment.

This one, we thought, was particularly good value

and of interest.

We think it'll rent well.

So why this particular flat then?

I like the location. It is well located.

It's halfway between Stockport and Manchester. Two very good towns.

The block is good. It is well managed. No flat roof.

It is nice and secure with it being on the second floor,

so hopefully, we'll get a young professional person in here who will pay us a good rent.

What kind of rent might you expect?

We're hoping to achieve somewhere between £350 and £400 per calendar month.

If we do a good job, which we're hoping to do,

then hopefully we'll get towards the top end of that.

Ivor has ten other properties that he rents out

and although this flat is a joint-venture with other silent investors,

it'll be Ivor who keeps an eye on it, as he lives nearby.

He wants all of his properties within a five-mile radius,

which will certainly come in handy during the renovation stage here.

Tell me what you plan to do to sort it out then.

First and foremost, the kitchen. We're completely ripping it out

and putting in a nice new fitted kitchen

with a stainless steel oven and hob.

The bathroom, we're not decided on yet.

It's possible we may get away with it.

Obviously, we're going to be putting in a shower and doing some tiling,

regardless of whether we keep the existing suite or not.

And then, obviously the colour scheme needs to be changed.

-Get rid of the pink perhaps.

-Yes, I think so.

There's only one window in the flat. The one in the lounge. It's a big one but it's not double glazed.

-What are you going to do about that?

-It is a single-glazed window.

It is in good condition so there is a possibility we may keep that for now.

At the moment, it's got underfloor heating.

Are you going to keep that or replace it?

We're going to be replacing the heating.

We're not even sure if the existing heating works.

So we're going to be putting in modern electric panel heaters

that will provide an instant heat rather than one you have to wait for.

They'll hopefully be a lot cheaper to run.

# All the small things

# True care, truth brings. #

It may be small but putting a new kitchen in here and updating the decor

will definitely make a world of difference to this studio flat.

Ivor also plans to furnish it so could well be on the lookout

for a fold-down bed to help maximise space in the main room.

He's got a few decisions to make over the next couple of weeks

about the rest of the work but given his experience,

I bet he's got his figures all worked out.

-What's the budget for the work?

-We're hoping to get away with £5,000 all in.

That would include the kitchen and the decorating, new carpets,

and hopefully furniture as well.

What's the timescale?

We're hoping to have everything done within four weeks.

The guys were here measuring up for the new kitchen yesterday.

So pretty much as soon as you guys have moved out,

we'll be moving in and getting started.

Congratulations and good luck with it.

-We'll look forward to see how you get on.

-Thanks.

Ivor, undeterred by the vagaries of the property market

and I think he's got himself a good little investment flat here.

How will he get on working his magic,

turning it into a beautiful professional pad?

You can find out later in the show.

If you want to maximise your profit,

then getting your timing right is absolutely critical.

And you need to be flexible with your plans.

And not let time pass you by. Let's see how our buyers got on.

Time now to head back to Erith in Greater London,

where earlier we met part-time property developer Sarrita,

who also works as a building surveyor.

She bought this two-bedroom Victorian flat

at auction for £74,000 and planned to rent it out.

The place was tired and dated

and in need of a complete cosmetic overhaul.

The stairs down to the back garden were rotten and condemned,

so needed to be completely replaced.

Whilst the bathroom was in need of something new and less blue.

The kitchen, however, was non-existent.

Not even a kitchen sink.

This and a short lease made it tough for Sarrita

to get finance on this flat but she managed it,

leaving her with a £10,000 to £12,000 budget to sort the place out.

So for £10,000 to £12,000,

what are you going to be doing with that money?

I'm going to spend quite a bit of it in the kitchen.

The kitchen is very important when it comes to looking at lets, especially if people are sharing.

There needs to be enough space in here for you to sit down and have something to eat.

Also, if you are two adults that are not in a couple, you need to be able to get away from each other.

So you need some space to sit down here and space to sit down in the front room.

That always makes a big difference.

Sarrita had to get her skates on for this refurbishment

as a strict condition of her mortgage arrangement

was to complete the work within three months of the purchase date.

So with the pressure on, we returned just over nine weeks later

to see if she has dressed this property up for success.

# I'm gonna get dressed for success

# Shaping me up for the big time, baby

# Get dressed for success

# Shaping it up for your love

# For your love. #

The living room has been completely redecorated

with new flooring and radiators.

And that shell of a kitchen, well,

hey, good-looking, it's time to get cooking!

It was really nice to be able to fit out the kitchen.

It was a completely empty room when we started out

with nothing in it at all.

So we've changed all of the fittings and we've installed new appliances

and we'll be fitting it out entirely with white goods.

I am really happy with how it's turned up and I like how it looks.

I hope the tenants will really enjoy this space.

I'm sure Sarrita's tenants will love this kitchen.

Now, let's see what's changed in those bedrooms.

New windows, carpets and light colours throughout.

Goodness, it feels so much better in here.

In the bathroom, there's a brand new clean white suite

with modern fixtures and fittings.

Sarrita has definitely been busy in here

and only has a few things left to finish.

But how did she get on with her builders?

I really enjoy working with my builders. They're a really nice crew.

It's really important to have a good relationship with them

because they were able to help me to reduce the cost

of my staircase from £4,000 to £1,400 by building the staircase themselves.

I think these are the times when you really rely on your relationship with them.

How did Sarrita fare with her timescale?

We had 12 weeks within which to complete the work.

It was a condition of the mortgage. We just about made it.

We finished the work in nine weeks. It was very difficult.

Unfortunately, my builders have a three-week holiday

in the middle of the work, which made things rather nerve wracking.

Eventually, we got everything done.

# It's all been done. #

I'm glad Sarrita got all the work done in time

but her budget of £12,000 was stretched to the limit

as the back staircase added extra cost.

She ended up spending around £13,000 on everything.

The flat only has 54 years left on its lease, so she's been in touch with the freeholder

and hopes to extend this in 18 months or so.

at a cost of around £10,000.

Sarrita bought this flat for £74,000

and has spent around £13,000 on the renovation.

That's a combined spend of around £87,000.

We asked to local estate agents along

to hear what they thought of this Victorian flat.

I think the finish is good, generally. Nice flooring.

Everything has had a complete go through and a re-plaster.

The standard of fittings in the kitchen and bathroom

are pretty good quality as well.

I think it's great in here. It's lovely and light.

It's quite spacious.

It's great having the benefit of the outside garden space as well.

And of course, there' s parking in the front.

Lovely open aspect in the back. Super little two-bedroom apartment.

Good first impressions but let's get down to business.

Bearing in mind Sarrita's £87,000 spend here,

is it worth selling before extending that rather short lease?

With the short lease, at its current length,

I would imagine the value would be in the region of £70,000 to £80,000.

The limited market means it may only achieve in the region of £70,000.

So definitely not a good idea to sell now then.

But what will it be worth with the lease extended,

by which time Sarrita's total spend will be closer to £100,000.

I would imagine that we could sell this property on

for in the region of £120,000.

I would expect to be able to achieve in the region

of £125,000 for this property.

That's pretty much what I was expecting for this area.

No doubt about it then.

Hold on and extend the lease to maximise your profits, Sarrita.

But for the foreseeable future, this flat is to let,

so what could she be charging?

I would expect to achieve between £825 and £850 per calendar month.

It should be fairly easy to get in the region of £800 per month.

Maybe slightly higher.

That's pretty high. That's higher than I was expecting.

If Sarrita gets rental like that,

she'll be looking at a tidy yield of between 11% and 12%.

She certainly got her sums right with this property.

So, is she tempted to try her hand at an auction again?

Yes, I would do it again.

It was very hard work but I really enjoy it and I'm a sucker,

so I would do it again.

It's time now to head back to Heaton Norris in Stockport,

where earlier, we met property developer Ivor,

who bought this studio flat at auction for £46,000.

This cosy little studio flat only had one room and one window

and it was, erm, very colourful and in desperate need of new decor.

The bathroom also looked rather rough around the edges

and the small kitchen was in a bit of a state.

So I'm sure Ivor's budget of £5,000 would be put to very good use here.

Tell me what you plan to do to sort it out then.

First and foremost, the kitchen. We're completely ripping it out

and putting in a nice new fitted kitchen with a stainless steel oven and hob.

The bathroom, we're not decided on yet.

We may get away with it.

Obviously, we're going to put in a shower and do some tiling,

regardless of whether we keep the existing suite or not.

And then, obviously, the colour scheme needs to be changed.

-Get rid of the pink, perhaps.

-Yes, I think so.

With a timescale of only four weeks and a budget of £5,000,

we return six weeks later to see if Ivor

managed to turn this studio flat into a number one investment.

# Number one. #

The bathroom has been redecorated and tiled, but the suite remains.

A new shower and shower screen have been installed,

so it definitely feels much better in here.

But now, let's take a look at the main living area.

# Number one. #

As you can see, it's been completely redecorated.

All the horrible pink woodwork has all been blanked out.

All the plug sockets, all the light switches have been replaced.

New light fittings, obviously a new carpet and the new energy-efficient heater.

So I am really pleased with the way it looks.

Ivor's done a job in this room.

It feels so much brighter and these light colours help create a feeling of space.

But what about that rather compact kitchen?

Basically, the old kitchen had to be completely ripped out.

It was completely unusable. As you can see, we've put all new units in.

Obviously, new sink. New stainless steel fitted oven and hob,

with the extractor hood. New tiling.

And obviously the floor is tiled also.

So I think it's made the kitchen and transformed it.

I am really pleased with the way it's turned out.

The original underfloor heating was not very effective

so new electric heaters were installed throughout the flat.

They work much better and are also more energy-efficient.

Ivor thought about replacing the main window with a double glazed one

but decided against it as the current one was in good condition.

But why did he leave that strange partition in the living area?

I think it's a little bit of a feature.

It kind of breaks the room up, rather than just having one blank room.

I think the room is set out quite nicely.

Ivor used the team of workmen he's worked with before on previous developments.

How hands-on is he?

No, I was not hands-on at all, I must admit.

I've done absolutely nothing myself in this project.

Even my wife did the cleaning last night.

All I've done is basically sign the checks.

That has been the extent of my hands on!

Everything seemed straightforward for Ivor on this renovation

until he realised the water tank needed replacing,

which he hadn't budgeted for.

It's taken six weeks to finish rather than the four he planned.

Did that boiler bust his budget?

The original budget was £5,000. That's what I thought we'd spend.

In actual fact, we've gone about £500 over budget

but given the standard of finish that we've got here

and the fact that we had to put in a new water tank,

I am not unhappy with that at all.

Ivor bought this flat £46,000 and spent £5,500 on the renovation.

That's a combined outlay of £51,500.

He already has a tenant lined up to move in straight away,

so let's find out what he should be charging.

We invited along two local estate agents

to see what they thought of this cosy studio flat.

I think it's a nice flat.

I think it would be great for a first-time buyer

or a potential buy-to-let investor. It is nice and bright.

Not the biggest flat, but it's a good location.

It is a little bit small but it is just a studio.

I do like the fact that he's put a good-quality kitchen in there

and he's also popped a shower in the bathroom.

Let's talk money. What kind of resale value could you expect from this flat?

Remember, Ivor spent £51,500 here.

The sales market is a bit stagnant at the moment

but I would market the property at around about £65,000,

but would look at getting offers of around about £60,000.

In the sales market, I would expect to achieve in the region of £65,000.

Yes, that seems fair enough.

It shows a nice profit in the short term,

and it's reassuring to know that we've made a good investment.

But this is very much one for the future.

Those sales figures could give Ivor a profit of between £8,500 and £13,500,

minus the usual selling expenses.

But as Ivor already has a tenant lined up,

what sort of rent could he be charging?

In the current market I would expect to rent this property for £400 to £450 per calendar month.

I think this property is ideal for the rental market

and I would market the property at £395 per calendar month.

That rent of £395 a month means this tiny property

would give a bumper yield of just over 9%.

-Happy with that, Ivor?

-Yes.

In actual fact, that's the exact rent we've managed to achieve on the property.

That exact figure. So I am quite pleased with that.

So what's next for Ivor?

Just to continue and pick up a property here and there.

So onwards and upwards.

We'll be back with more great stories for you next time on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Yes, Join us then from more auction action.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd