Episode 3 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. In today's climate, it's increasingly difficult to find your own little bit of house heaven.

Whether they are large or small,

auctions are a great place to start looking.

Yes, so join us now as we follow today's bunch of people

buying their homes under the hammer.

If you've decided to take a gamble

and place a bet on property developing,

you may well end up at the auction.

The atmosphere is electric and the action,

well, it's fast and it's furious.

So here are the properties

that inspired the buyers on today's programme.

This house in Torquay makes my hard beat all the faster.

Ah, I'm in love already.

Whereas in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,

I think this place could drive you a little mad.

SHE MAKES SQUEAKING NOISES

All day and it's going to drive them crazy.

On a trip to Carlisle in Cumbria,

I need to find a way of changing the layout

of this end of terrace property.

Let's go and see if that might be possible.

All these properties went to auction.

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

Congratulations!

Today I've come to Devon to a pretty little suburb of Torquay

with a real villagey feel.

It's got a post office, shops and a local pub.

What more could you want?

I'm here to see what the auction catalogue described

as an impressive and substantial Victorian detached villa,

set in its own private grounds along a gated driveway.

It sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Let's hope it doesn't disappoint.

From the outside, certainly not.

Guide price on this one? Have a guess.

£345,000 - phew!

Wow! I'm in total agreement with the auction house.

This period property is certainly impressive and then some.

Oh, wow!

Fantastic! In through the front door, as you might imagine,

you've got a little entrance porch.

A lovely old-fashioned reception room there,

through to the dining room.

Ah, you know what? You've got to see this. Come on!

THAT is spectacular!

Walking into a house like this, stained glass window,

the staircase...

Ah, I'm in love already.

# Love is in the air Everywhere I look around...

From the stairwell and the entrance hall...

# Love is in the air Every sight and every sound...

..to the large reception room with its shuttered windows

and period features...

# Love is in the air

# Love is in the air. #

..to the back dining room,

and perhaps the less lovely kitchen, which could do with a little TLC.

But it's a fair size and has a useful utility area behind.

Generally it's all certainly got me swooning.

I just love that, amazing.

The whole house, the condition of it is just extraordinary.

You could literally move in here tomorrow.

You might not like the taste of the decoration

but what the heck, it's wonderful.

Three bedrooms - you might expect this place to have more than that

but they're all a really nice size.

Double bedroom, but you could always put a king-size bedroom there with an en suite.

The third bedroom here, again a good size.

You've also got a family bathroom. What's not to like about this place?

There really is plenty of space here.

The master bedroom has an en suite

that's bigger than most people's bathroom.

# That's the way Uh-huh uh-huh

# I like it Uh-huh uh-huh... #

And it's all in such good condition.

And as if the space on this level wasn't enough,

there's another floor.

Well, upstairs onto the second floor

and possibly my favourite room in the whole house -

the attic, at some stage, has been converted to give you this amazing space.

Interestingly enough, the auction catalogue really plays down this area.

It's almost like, at some stage, somebody's done the conversion,

but hasn't received the planning permissions or building regulations,

so it can't really be marketed as a usable space.

But get that formalised, speak to the planning office

and building regulation people, put in whatever you need,

and this could be either a fourth bedroom

or what a fantastic play area!

Again, this is amazing.

This is just a case of someone boarding a roof space

and putting in a few electrics, this is a proper conversion,

albeit lacking full building regulations approval,

and I guess not conforming to fire regulations either.

But it's certainly another useful area

to go with what's already a pretty impressive property.

With a house like this, you may well expect a really grand garden.

In this case, it's not, it's not massive -

a very manageable size. You've got nice mature trees and shrubs.

The good thing about that is

it offers privacy and a little bit of protection

from the busy main road just at the bottom there.

This is a great family space, with plenty of lawn to play on.

Yet it's enclosed and secluded

and a perfect setting for this majestic property.

So what's the final verdict on this house?

If you bought it, what would you do?

This is a fabulous family home.

Yes, but you could consider running it as a business, maybe as a B&B.

Or maybe even a nursery or offices, perhaps.

Or how about carving it up into flats - much more lucrative.

Look, that would be criminal! You can't do that!

OK, everybody, calm down, let's leave it as it is.

So, now that's sorted out,

let's ask a local estate agent for his opinion -

what does he think of the place?

It's a fantastic Victorian villa,

situated in a prestigious area, Wellswood in Torbay.

Obviously the property itself is spacious, and en suites,

family bathroom's a good size.

Garden surrounding, nice driveway leading up to the property

which is a nice selling point.

The house certainly has a lot going for it,

but how would it fare as an investment?

The property would rent between £1,100 per calendar month

to £1,300 calendar month.

And on the resale market?

Fully renovated, between £500,000 and £550,000.

So, with what was a £345,000 guide price,

values of £500,000 plus sound like music to my ears.

OFF-KEY PIANO PLAYS

Oh, you found me.

You know, a bit like this piano,

the house needs a little bit of fine-tuning.

But spend a little bit of money and, boy, oh boy, would it be grand!

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

Lot 45 is a bit special.

None of your...tat studios here now, right?

This is a proper Torbay villa house.

Who'll say 325?

At 325, 325,

we're off. 325.

330? 330.

330. It can't just be once!

335. Not for a house like this. 340.

It's a home, really, isn't it? 345.

350, 355.

360. 360...

365. 365.

370, 372. Treat the same?

372, 374.

At 374. 376 is sat. At 376.

At 376. 376 once.

At 376 twice.

At 376, here it goes, lot 45.

Congratulations, well done.

The successful bidders at £376,000 were Mandy and Steve.

Steve's a car salesman and commercial property manager,

and Mandy has her own jewellery business.

They've been together for a year and a half.

This amazing property will be their first house together,

and what an incredible place to start!

-Steve, Mandy, lovely to meet you. Congratulations!

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-You must be very excited?

-Absolutely, yes.

-Really excited, yes.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this fantastic house?

I fell in love with it, didn't I?

Steve had seen it and he said to me, "Go down, it's up for auction,

"but it's on Wednesday," so I came and had 10 minutes round the place.

But as soon as I walked through the door, I was like,

"I've got to have it, love it."

-Yeah.

-So that was it.

-So we went down and brought it.

# She's got it

# Yeah, baby, she's got it... #

So, Mandy's now got her dream home.

For Steve, it's a return to the area he grew up in

and he remembers the house from when he was a boy.

They'd been looking for a place for over six months,

so couldn't believe their luck when this came up for auction.

Tell me what you'll do with the place.

OK, well, the kitchen first, obviously.

I think we're going to extend or rip out the kitchen

or maybe knock a wall out there.

Let some more light into the kitchen cos it's a bit dark.

And then from there, we'll go upstairs into the bathroom,

put a walk-in shower unit...

..like a wet room, we want to do that.

Talking of walk-in wet rooms, with as much space as this,

is Mandy tempted to put a walk-in wardrobe into the master bedroom?

No, because what I want to do is, one of the spare rooms, I want to

make that a wardrobe, a whole room for my clothes and shoes.

Yeah, that's what I want to do.

What kind of budget have you got for doing the work?

Initial budget to start, I think we have about £25,000.

-We'll see how far that takes us.

-Yeah.

Steve and Mandy are happy to tackle the DIY side of things,

but will employ tradesmen for the larger jobs.

This is their first place together

and they're giving themselves about a year to get the work done.

But although they love the house, do they have the same tastes?

First time I've done a period property.

Everything else I've ever done is modern and contemporary.

We might have to fit a few, well...period things in.

Yeah, you're really modern, aren't you?

I'm going to struggle with that one.

Would you like period or modern?

No, I like the older... I like period, yeah.

Steve likes modern, so we're going to try and mix the two.

Listen, fantastic. Congratulations. I'm really pleased for you

-and I can't wait to see how you get on.

-OK.

# Just what I've always wanted

# Oh-oh, just what I've always wanted. #

Well, Mandy and Steve, clearly absolutely delighted

to have got this as their new home, and quite rightly so.

I think they're being realistic about the budget too.

A property like this could swallow up the funds.

I think there might be a few squabbles

over whether they go modern or period in the redecoration,

and exactly how big is Mandy's walk-in ward-room, as opposed to wardrobe, going to be?

You can find out later in the show.

This is Gainsborough, a small market town

in Lincolnshire on the River Trent.

Once a port, the Riverside area has recently been transformed

with a £20 million regeneration project,

but there are still buildings remaining from Gainsborough's past.

The Old Hall is one of the best-preserved medieval manor houses in the country.

It's over 500 years old.

Well, not quite as ancient as Gainsborough's Old Hall is the property I'm here to see.

It's a modern two-bed semi-detached, built circa the 1990s,

and it's just a short stroll from the town centre.

Architecturally, I know what you're thinking -

it's not that interesting - but the guide price, well, £50,000.

I'm going to take a closer look.

The dark wooden-framed windows do date the house a bit

and the front garden needs a quick tidy-up,

but overall, it looks in reasonable condition.

Oh, much bigger than I expected!

And not in too bad condition. It's very empty and echoey in here

because there's just floorboards down.

A bit of a busy, noisy road out there,

so the first thing I'd do would be to have double glazing put in.

It does have that '90s feel - look at all this brown-stained wood.

It's surprising what a tin of white paint can do.

It'll bring this property back to modern standards,

and I think that's what it needs -

lots of white paint, some nice carpet.

You could really put character back in here because, as it is, it's a bit bland.

Let's look at the kitchen.

Ooh, there's easily enough room for a little table in here

so you can call this an eat-in kitchen.

But you can see, it's really dated.

It needs a complete overhaul, get it out in the skip, brand-new kitchen.

It's just a little bit crammed.

Look, you'd be getting stuff out of the oven,

then going to the dishwasher, and it's just...

You've just got to rethink the space, it needs a complete reshuffle.

Through that little doorway there

is a room big enough to house the utility, the white goods.

Currently, it's just housing the boiler - a total waste of space.

If this was my kitchen, I'd shuffle it all around,

then you'd have a really nice area to cook and to entertain.

# Let me entertain you... #

So it may not be able to stage any enormous dinner parties,

but you can certainly improve what space there is.

Upstairs, there's a peachy bathroom, which again dates the property.

A white suite alone would do wonders.

The second bedroom is rather compact,

but, with some redecoration, it would be just fine.

There's still lots of brown everywhere to dazzle you upstairs,

but once you've got over that,

you've got a good-sized double bedroom here.

Look at this - loving this! Huge area, nice big wardrobe space.

You could almost call it walk-in.

Somewhere to store all your shoes, handbags and clothes.

Or is that just me? Anyway, I've got a bit of a story.

If you look down here, there are boards everywhere.

I used to have a flat in London

and I used to drive the lady who lived downstairs absolutely crazy

because all she could hear was...

CREAKING Can you hear that noise?

It really used to squeak.

So my advice is, get down here, get rid of these nails,

and put in screws, and do them up really tight,

then lay the carpet.

Otherwise, your friends and neighbours are just going to be listening to...

SQUEAKS

..all day, and it's going to drive them crazy.

# Maybe you're crazy

# Maybe we're crazy... #

But would you be crazy to buy this house, guided at £50,000?

As a starter home or a buy-to-let, it looks pretty good.

It just needs a bit of sprucing up inside.

At first, the outside space looks promising,

with a decent-sized garden.

It even has its own off-street parking at the back - all positives.

So the house doesn't need much work - tick.

Garden small, but perfectly formed - tick.

But here is the big uh-uh!

This property is right next to an electricity substation,

so a big negative.

There have been a few stories about families

living near to substations becoming ill,

allegedly due to the electromagnetic fields they create.

But the link has never been scientifically proven

and the fact is, everyday electrical devices, like TVs,

mobile phones, hairdryers - they all produce magnetic fields.

But whatever you believe, having this right next door

might put some people off buying or renting this property.

Something to bear in mind if you're after a quick sale in the future.

# Danger, danger

# High voltage

# When we touch When we kiss, when we touch... #

That's a bit of a shocker, just as it was going so well.

But how much of a negative

is having an electricity substation next to your house?

What does a local estate agent think of this place,

that was guided at £50,000?

The nearby substation

could raise question marks for potential buyers.

It could affect saleability

and the final negotiated purchase price.

But it's not uncommon

to see substations close to properties in residential areas.

What about the house itself, and its location?

The property is on a busy main road,

but only minutes from the centre of Gainsborough itself.

It's a modern area

and would benefit from general refurbishment internally,

but does have the plus point of off-road parking to the rear.

So, pros and cons of the property. But how about it as an investment?

In my opinion, the property would achieve

in the region of £400 to £425 per calendar month.

In a reasonable standard, I would expect the property

to achieve somewhere in the region of £70,000 - 75,000.

It may have an unpopular neighbour on one side, but even so,

with a bit of work, there could be a potential boost to its value.

Well, this may be just an ordinary, rather unexciting property,

but in terms of an investment, it makes perfect sense.

This house just needs a simple, cosmetic overhaul

which shouldn't cost too much or take too long.

It's basically a straightforward development.

But let's not overlook that substation.

That is definitely something to consider.

So who was looking for a simple semi like this?

Let's find out at the auction.

Thank you. Right, lot number 5, we come back to Gainsborough.

A good, modern townhouse, two bedrooms, bathroom upstairs.

40, £40,000 I'm bid, thank you.

£40,000 I'm bid. 41, 42, 43.

At 43,000. 44.

At 45. 45, 46.

47. 47, 48, 49 for you? 49,000.

50 for you? At £50,000 I'm bid. Here on my right.

£50,000. 500 anywhere?

500.

51, sir. 500.

500. 52,500.

53,000. 500? 500.

54,000. 500? 54,500.

55,000?

No?

At £54,500 on the left here.

All done at £54,500 for the first time,

second,

third and last time, at £54,500.

No? Gentleman at the end of the bar, best place to be, sir.

So, the Gainsborough semi sold for £54,500 to Wayne

who comes from Leeds but now lives in Lincolnshire.

Wayne runs his own joinery and building business.

I met him back at the house to find out his plans.

Wayne, congratulations. You bid for it, you bought it. Here we are.

-Yep.

-How you feel?

-Nervous.

-Why are you nervous?

Are you scared that you bought this at auction?

A little bit. It's unseen, isn't it? Unseen, unsure, but should be good.

-Did you do any research?

-Come to view it, day before.

Didn't have a lot of time to do much thinking about it,

but viewing some of the other ones around here,

I think I made the right decision.

Wayne has viewed 50 to 60 houses in the last six months,

so should know exactly what he's looking for.

This wasn't his only recent property purchase either.

This is one of three, so we're going to be busy anyway.

-So why have you bought three?

-It was bad timing, really.

It came to auction when I was already purchasing another one.

We got the keys for this one last Tuesday

and the other two keys on Friday last week.

So they have all come the same week.

But I'm sure we'll get through.

What's the game plan, have you bought this to sell on or rent out?

They're all bought for a pension plan, if you like, so if I can have them all renovated,

tidied up, rent them out, after the term of the mortgage is paid in 20 years,

that's when I can hang my coat up, if you like.

Wayne dips into the property market when his main business slows down.

There are advantages to buying three properties at the same time.

He can move the trades from one to another and bulk buy.

And with Wayne running his own company,

he's already worked out the schedule for all three of them.

What are you going to do to really turn this place around?

My programme on this is a new kitchen, brand-new bathroom,

everything out, all tiles, bathroom suites out, showers and everything.

I'm happy about that. It was too peachy for my liking.

I'm glad you're going to change that.

-I was going to save that for you.

-I don't want it! No thanks!

The whole of this property is dated.

It's tired, a bit out of date now, it needs modernising, really.

The interior of the house should be relatively straightforward for Wayne,

but there's still the small issue of that unwanted neighbour.

# You know, I hate to ask

# But are friends electric? #

Tell me - do you think they may be put off by the substation outside?

Possibly.

If you view the properties that have got

a 10-year-old kitchen and bathroom, and tired and mucky, if you like,

you know, grout all limescaled up,

and this is all pristine and brand-new,

I hope that's going to sway for me.

In due time, I will put windows and doors in.

The double glazing will maybe mask any sound you might have heard.

But it won't be getting done just yet, the windows.

I think Wayne's approach to the refurbishment is right.

The substation next door will have less effect on tenants than on buyers.

But with only a general cosmetic upgrade planned,

I was intrigued to know Wayne's budget.

I'm hoping to turn this round in the region of £4,500 to £5,000.

How long do you think it'll take to get in, do it up and get back out?

I've got a rough programme on it. Three weeks, I reckon I can do it in

but everybody says that, so I'm saying four to give me some time.

-A completely refurb in four weeks, £5,000.

-Yep.

-OK, I'm going to hold you to that.

-Good.

-Good luck.

-I hope you don't work too hard. Thanks, Wayne.

-Cheers.

Well, our Wayne doesn't do anything by halves, does he?

He's bought three properties in quick succession

and now he's got three properties to renovate.

Will this house be put on the back burner

while he concentrates on the other two,

or will he have time to turn it around in just four weeks for £5,000?

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

Coming up, in Carlisle, Cumbria, is this house

right for the resale market or is rental the better option?

Look at those figures and then make your choice.

In Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,

does Wayne plan to become a full-time developer?

If they were all like this, I'd do them every day,

but they're not always as easy as this one.

But first, back in Torquay,

are Mandy and Steve pleased with their purchase?

Now we've added our touches to it, it's very nice, I'm very happy.

It was in Torquay, Devon, where we first saw

this absolutely splendid three-bedroomed Victorian villa.

Set within its own garden, this grand house with high ceilings,

bags of character features and well-proportioned rooms,

even had the bonus of a fully converted loft space.

It was one of those houses to excite the emotions.

For car salesman and commercial property manager Steve

and partner Mandy who owns her own jewellery business,

this was exactly what they'd been looking for.

I fell in love with it, didn't I? Steve had seen it and he said to me,

"Quick, go down, it's up for auction, but it's on Wednesday."

So I had 10 minutes around the place,

but as soon as I walked through the door, I was like,

-"Oh, got to have it, love it!"

-Yeah.

-So that was it.

-Yeah, we went down and bought it.

They bought it for £376,000 at auction

as their first home together.

And with a very rough budget of between £20,000 and £25,000,

they planned to give the house the loving update and upgrade it deserved.

Now, a full 15 months later, we're back.

Not surprisingly, that splendid exterior hasn't really changed much.

But what about inside?

Steve and Mandy have started the process

of turning it into their own home.

So, the big reception room is now a comfortable modern lounge.

Whereas the rear reception area has been made into another chill-out zone

and has French doors out into the garden,

plus a new patio and decked area,

while the whole of that pokey kitchen really has been transformed.

When we first came into the property,

there were small brown tiles on the floor and it was dark.

It really closed the place in.

Over there, there was a wall which has all been taken out

to let more light in and to open it up, because it was very small.

The size of this kitchen was tiny, considering the size of the house.

The units, we've kept.

We've just moved them around because there's nothing wrong with them,

they're really nice. And the worktops as well, this is all new.

This is lovely, I really like these worktops,

and the kitchen's really cosy. I'm happy with it.

So, with a kitchen now much more suitable for the size of the house,

it was then a matter of tackling the first-floor rooms.

The master bedroom has been redecorated,

recarpeted and furnished.

The en suite bathroom is completely modernised,

with a fantastic shower installed.

The second bedroom has been refurbished,

and although the family bathroom hasn't been altered much,

it looks like Mandy and Steve

have really started to stamp their mark on the house.

But with Steve keen on a more modern look,

and Mandy on a more traditional style,

how did they decide on the finished result?

I think we have compromised quite a lot, really.

Yes, I've put some modern lighting through the house

and we've got mood lighting and things like that.

We've kept the lounge neutral.

We've kept all the cornices, the ceiling roses

and we've kept the window in the lounge

and we've just kept as much as possible, really.

No, Steve wasn't too bad.

It seems to me that Mandy has got what she wanted,

with a strong traditional feel to the house.

But high on their wish list was to convert

one of the rooms into a walk-in wardrobe.

Has she done that?

# Oh-oh, just what I've always wanted. #

That hasn't happened yet. I'm still working on that.

But we've got the spare room, I just need to get it all fitted

and get someone around and measure up, but yes, that's my goal.

# Dreams can come true #

# Look at me, babe I'm with you

# You know you got to have hope

# You know you got to be strong... #

So, the third bedroom remains just a storeroom for her clothes.

A dream still unfulfilled,

as is the conversion of the top floor into an en suite bedroom.

But a large house like this takes not only a lot of time to get it right, but a fair amount of money.

The budget we worked on, between £20,000 and £25,000,

and I think we've come to the £20,000 really.

Their current spend of £20,000 on top of that £376,000 purchase price

takes their total outlay to £396,000.

So, have their hearts ruled their heads with the purchase of this house?

What do two local estate agents think?

I think it's been fantastically well renovated.

It's very modern, yet it's kept its character throughout,

which I think is a credit to its owners.

It's a very nice property.

They've done it up to a high standard and obviously

put a lot of work into it.

I like the approach, I like the sweeping driveway,

the size of the rooms, and it has quite a grand feel about it.

They seem to like the house.

Does that mean Steve and Mandy invested £396,000 wisely?

Taking into account the current market conditions,

I'd look to market this property at £495,000.

We could put the property on the market

for approximately £550,000.

Those figures would show a healthy pre-tax profit

of between £99,000 and £154,000. What do they think of that?

More than what I expected, yes.

I was thinking more 450, 470, but that's pleasantly surprising.

And I said 500,000, didn't I? So I'm pleased.

So this may have turned into a very profitable investment,

but has it also been transformed into their home?

It does feel like home. It's got a nice feel.

It's really cosy and now we've added our touches to it, it's very nice.

-I'm very happy.

-Yes, a fantastic house, a fantastic home.

We have some great times and good parties and good family.

# Celebrate good times

# Come on

# Celebrate good times

# Come on... #

Today, I'm in Carlisle,

the ancient fortress border city.

It's the most besieged city in Britain.

Its 900-year-old castle has seen it all

and is remarkably well preserved,

considering the number of battles it's been involved in.

'Was today's property worth battling for in the auction room?'

Well, just a mile from the city centre,

just off the main road into Carlisle,

is the property I'm here to see.

It's a two-bed end-of-terrace.

Lots of pebble dash, but let's take a look inside.

# Roll away your stone

# I'll roll away mine...

Well, its outer appearance may not be to everyone's taste.

# Together we can see

# What we will find... #

But as an end of terrace, you have that little bit of extra room,

even an entrance to the back yard from the side.

The auction guide price was 40,000,

so will the good news continue inside?

Double-glazed door and windows, which is a good start,

and then into your living room.

Nice high ceilings, I like that.

-HE LAUGHS

-Obviously, it needs a touch-up,

but nothing too dramatic and it doesn't smell damp.

Through into the kitchen and a bit more work required.

The units don't look like they're that old,

but, obviously, not exactly brilliant quality,

so a bit of time and money spent in here would make a big difference.

Downstairs loo. I haven't seen upstairs yet, so I don't know

if there's space for that, but, if you could,

to move that upstairs would be the ideal thing to do

and then you'd create a much bigger space down here.

Let's go and see if that might be possible.

This area, quite frankly, is a bit of a mess.

The downstairs bathroom doesn't even have a bath.

And, with all the doors eating into the kitchen area,

the layout really doesn't work.

There's certainly no wow factor here. More an "urgh" factor.

So this needs a complete rethink to unlock its potential.

Maybe the key lies upstairs.

Got a rear bedroom there, that's not big enough for a bathroom,

but up these little steps into the front bedroom and,

a bit of exploring, a big cupboard there with a hot water tank in it.

Get rid of that, put a combination boiler in the kitchen downstairs

to give yourself some more space,

and I think this bedroom is big enough to create a bathroom in.

Whether you do it or not, well, if you're living here,

it would be a nice thing to have.

If you're doing it for the money, what difference would it make

to the value of the property or what you might get in rent?

Look at those figures and make your choice.

Personally, I think since you're going to need to do some work on that downstairs area,

moving the bathroom upstairs would make sense

and may not add significantly to your budget.

The benefits to the kitchen space would probably outweigh

the loss to the bedroom area, but there is another option.

# It's your choice...

Well, at the rear of the property, you've got this courtyard.

Something that might be of better use of this space

is to consider what next door have done - to put in an extension.

Obviously, planning permission has been allowed for that.

It may be within permitted development rules,

so check that out and think about it.

Again, based on whether or not

it's worth it for you personally or financially.

Decisions to extend or not

generally fall into the rental-resale question.

If you're buying to rent, extending generally isn't worth doing.

If it's for the resale market, or to be someone's home,

then it could be beneficial.

But, overall, this isn't a bad house

that could, with a reasonable amount of work and money,

be turned into a lovely one.

But what does the auctioneer who sold it

think of this two-bedroom Carlisle house?

I think the property would serve both the rental market

and the resale market well.

If you were preparing for resale,

you'd want a new kitchen in, a new bathroom,

new floor coverings, wall coverings, decoration throughout.

OK, so it clearly needs some work, but what sort of returns

might you expect from this property that was guided at £40,000?

I think this property would achieve, in the current market,

a rental income of £375 per calendar month to £395 per calendar month.

In the current market,

this property would probably achieve between £65,000 and £70,000.

So, as an investment, like the house,

there's nothing spectacular here but all in all, it's pretty solid.

So, two bedrooms and not too much to do to sort this place out.

Good location and a great one,

especially if you're just starting out in property renovation.

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

Right, let's move on. Lot number three.

A two-bedroom end-terraced house in need of modernisation.

This property would be an ideal investment or first-time buy.

At £30,000 in the room, someone? 30 I've got.

At £30,000 I have.

We're away. I'll take it in ones, nice and easy.

At 31 . 32 may I see? 33.

Four, five.

Six. Thinking about it.

It's with you at £35,000.

Are you done? 36, 37.

Eight.

Two early for halves. Eight I've got. Nine.

40. Shaking their heads. With you at £39,000.

I'll take a half. Half I've got.

40? And a half? Shake of the head.

It's with you at 40.

At £40,000, then.

You're definitely out. At £40,000, I'm selling this. It's in the room.

Don't lose it. £40,000.

First time. At £40,000 second time.

Third and final time. Selling away.

Well done, madam.

Phwoar! Spot on the guide price of 40,000,

the successful bidder was Jenny.

She used to run a mail-order company, but recently sold it.

Now, along with her two sons, Ben and Johnny,

she's decided to try her hand at property developing.

She joined me along with her youngest son Johnny

back at the Carlisle two-bedroomed house.

-Jenny, Johnny, lovely to meet you both. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

Well, we wanted to buy it

because we've got a couple of other properties that we're renting

and we were looking for another one to add to the portfolio.

And this fit our budget, basically, and it's in a reasonable location.

You've got other properties in this area?

Yes, we've got a flat just up the road,

a two-bedroom flat that we're just finishing off

and a couple of student properties.

So new to the whole world of being property magnates?

We are, yes.

SHE LAUGHS

Yeah. When did we buy the student houses?

It came about because after my grandma died,

we got left the house, the three of us.

The three of you being...?

-My brother, my mum and I.

-Right.

And we sold that house

and used the funds from that to buy the two student houses.

The student lets they bought were already refurbished

and the university acts as a letting agent for them,

so they've been fairly straightforward.

But though this house is to be a rental property,

it's unlikely to be a student let.

It will certainly need some refurbishing,

so it's a somewhat different proposition.

-You seem very excited about it.

-Yes.

It's fun to be doing something with my sons.

Although Benjamin's away working

and this won't be their job,

but I've now sold the business that I did run.

What was that?

It was a business selling engines

and parts for radio-controlled model aeroplanes.

-Wow!

-By mail order.

-Fantastic.

Which was a successful business that I started with my late husband,

-about 20 years ago and we ran it together.

-Mail order?

-Yes.

We moved to Cumbria about nine years ago.

It was a good little business, that I sold to my brother.

So I will be the one who will be doing most of the work,

with looking after the properties and so on.

Johnny, tell me about your involvement.

My involvement is because we've bought the first few things together,

we created this partnership between us.

I come in and do little odd jobs around that need doing.

I think Mum's got the plan of me knocking in the back wall

and getting some scrubs on and doing a bit of painting.

Just odd jobs that we can do to keep the costs down as much as possible.

So is this going to be your full-time job?

No, I don't think so, unless things go really badly wrong.

What you do?

-I've done a degree in musical theatre.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

I'm going to study a masters in that in January.

What does that mean exactly?

It means, hopefully, that I'll be performing musically,

in one way or another, professionally.

-On stage, singing and dancing?

-Yeah.

Hopefully, that'll be my full-time job

-and I'll help out as much as I can.

-Right.

So, while Johnny hopes to be standing in the theatre wings

ready for his big performance,

Jenny hopes to be gaining her property wings

with this, her first proper full-scale renovation.

I think she's chosen quite a tricky house to get her new career off the ground.

# I'm learning to fly

# Learning to fly

# But I ain't got wings... #

So tell me what you're doing to sort the place out?

We're going to rip up this wooden floor.

We're going to knock down the wall in the kitchen

that leads into the bathroom.

Move the bathroom upstairs.

Put a stud wall in the larger of the two bedrooms,

make a very small landing with doors at right angles,

so that you don't have to go through a bedroom to get to the bathroom.

-So what's the budget?

-15,000.

-Right.

-OK, that's a fairly healthy budget.

-Yes.

-And what kind of timescale?

Hopefully, a couple of months.

That sounds like you're going to be hands on. Is that right?

Yes, very much so.

Try and keep the cost down as much as possible,

so I can strip wallpaper and things with the best of them.

-Um, I even bought a drill.

-You did, yeah.

Wow. That's it, then!

The whole spirit of DIY.

-Is this your first drill?

-It is my first drill!

I was very excited about it, actually.

Well, we'll leave you to get on with your drilling

-and wish you all the best with it.

-Thank you very much.

And all the best and hopefully see you on the stage in the West End.

Yeah, I'd like to be.

So, with power tools in hand, Jenny is ready to start cracking on.

# I've got the power! #

Well, from model aircraft to modelling a house -

Jenny, will she be flying high with this one?

Well, she's got a drill and she's got Johnny to help her.

You can find out how this pair got on sorting the house out

later in the show.

The day of reckoning has arrived.

Have those property gambles paid off?

-Or have our buyers backed the wrong horse?

-Let's find out.

It was in the Lincolnshire town of Gainsborough

that we came across an old new-build.

Built in the '90s, this two-bed house was really just a bit dated,

with dark-brown woodwork and a peachy bathroom.

But, otherwise, it was pretty sound.

It did, however, have one unattractive feature

and that was its position next to an electricity sub-station.

However, this didn't put local man Wayne off parting with £54,500

as part of a bit of a spending spree.

This is one of three, so we're going to be busy, anyway.

-Why have you bought three?

-Timing. It was bad timing, really.

This came up at auction when I was already purchasing another one.

# Come together... #

So all his property purchases had come together.

But, as Wayne runs a joinery and building business,

he was confident he could cope with his triple purchases.

With the Gainsborough house, he hoped he could bring it together in three to four weeks,

with just a £5,000 budget.

So has it worked out as planned? Just seven weeks later, we're back.

Oh, well it might have a new door,

but it's still fairly brown on the outside.

What about the inside?

Wow, the reception room has certainly changed.

It looks like Wayne has been busy.

This area of the house, we've had new door frames,

we've had new laminate floors down, fully decorated.

We've changed the balustrade on the staircase from the traditional style

to the more modern, freshly painted, white feature.

We've got all the windows and radiators gone from the dark stain

to a nice, new, white freshness.

We've changed the front door and frame, as well.

And new laminate floors downstairs, as well.

So the lounge has been brought up to date, as has the kitchen.

Basically, in the kitchen area, we've removed all the wall units,

the base units and the appliances, tiles, etc

and replaced the full kitchen

with new base units, wall units and appliances, and retiled,

and a full decorate to freshen the place up

with new vinyl flooring as well.

With the kitchen completely refurbished,

it was just upstairs that needed to be sorted.

And that peach bathroom?

Well, that's a thing of the past.

And with the two bedrooms redecorated

and new carpets laid, this house looks like it's ready to rent out.

Everything's complete now, yeah.

Everything's finished and we've a tenant moving in tomorrow.

It's got to be done for then, anyway.

So, yeah, everything's complete.

That's great news.

It's finished and rented out, so clearly its position

next to the electricity substation hasn't put tenants off.

I've done a lot of the work.

I've had a decorator come and decorate with us

and I've had a plumber to do my bathroom suite and my kitchen sink.

Despite it being seven weeks since we first visited,

Wayne got all the work carried out in just over four weeks.

He's planning on using what he learned here

on his other property purchases.

I am, yeah. I think it's come together really well.

Things have matched up really well.

It's not dissimilar to the colour scheme we're doing in the next one.

With the feedback I've had on this one, with the silly things like the feature wallpaper,

it's the same paper that's going on the next one and so on and so on.

So Wayne's started to develop a look for his properties

that not only helps planning and refurbishment,

but when you have three properties to do at once, you can bulk buy -

a good way of keeping the costs down.

My budget was 4,500 to 5,000.

We're in at £4,920.

And we're about three days over the time limit I said,

so I'm happy with three days. I can live with three days.

Wayne's basically hit his targets.

With a spend of roughly £5,000,

plus the purchase price of £54,500,

his total outlay is just short of £60,000 before costs and expenses.

So is he on target to make this a profitable investment?

What do two local estate agents think?

I think the property has been tastefully refurbished

in all the right areas - kitchen, bathroom, decoration.

It's very modern, very contemporary.

I think the kitchen has been done very well,

along with the bathroom,

and just generally a nice standard throughout.

Wayne prepared this house as a rental and has already got a tenant,

but how would his investment of around £60,000 fare

on the resale market?

In my opinion, I would expect the property to achieve

somewhere up to £80,000.

I think the property would, in my opinion,

achieve around about £80,000 on the open market.

80,000? Right. I didn't think it would be as much as that.

Nowhere near, like.

Probably 10,000, 15,000 over what I thought, so that's really good. Really good.

Yes, I'm not surprised he's pleased.

That's a potential pre-tax profit of 20,000

for just over four weeks' work.

But first and foremost, rental is the name of the game here.

On the open rental market,

I'd expect the property to achieve up to £400 per calendar month.

Rental, I believe the market would support

a valuation of around £400 per calendar month.

Wayne is actually getting £395 per month rent,

which would net him a healthy yield of just below 8%.

But is this to be a long-term rental for his rapidly growing portfolio?

We'll rent it for now. I've got a tenant, like I say, moving in,

so I'm going to rent it for now.

But the valuation for sale is a lot more than what I was envisaging.

I didn't have any plans to sell until he mentioned that.

Well, that's a pleasant predicament for Wayne to have.

With this being such a successful project,

will it make him consider becoming a full-time property developer?

If they were all like this, I'd do them every day.

But they're not, unfortunately, always as easy as this one.

In the Cumbrian town of Carlisle,

a solid two-bedroom end-of-terrace house came up for auction.

Although fundamentally sound, there were a few layout issues.

The downstairs shower room off a sorry little kitchen

was the only washing facility in the house.

But for local mother-and-son team Jenny and Johnny,

it seemed like a good potential investment.

And despite having other rentals in their portfolio,

this was their first house that needed some serious renovation.

As Jenny previously owned a model aeroplane mail order business,

she may not have had the obvious skills for property renovation,

but she was certainly willing to give it a go.

-It sounds like you're going to be hands-on, is that right?

-Yes, very much so.

Try and keep the costs down as much as possible,

so I can strip wallpaper and things with the best of them.

-I've even brought a drill.

-Yeah, you did.

-Is this your first drill?

-It is my first drill!

I was very excited about it, actually.

Jenny bought the house for £40,000

as a joint venture with her two sons, Johnny and Ben.

Armed not only with her drill but also with a £15,000 budget,

she hoped they could turn the place around fairly quickly

and get it on the rental market.

Now, two months later, we're back.

The outside has been given a fresh lick of paint.

Inside, it's a case of goodbye, 20th century decor,

hello, contemporary modern living, with those polystyrene tiles

stripped off, walls replastered and central heating fitted.

The house has had a thorough upgrade

and they've also tackled the layout issues.

So this is the new kitchen area.

It was probably the biggest project of the entire development.

It used to be a kitchen and the bathroom was situated in this point.

About here, there was a huge wall,

which we actually had to put that beam in,

and then we just put in entirely new units and new tiles,

paint job, easy close cupboards.

Really happy with how it's turned out, really.

But having removed that washroom from downstairs

to get that much improved kitchen space...

..did they manage to get a bathroom upstairs?

So this was the most difficult part of the project

because we wanted to move the bathroom upstairs

and the challenge was how to move the bathroom upstairs

and still have two good-sized double bedrooms.

This was the larger of the two bedrooms,

so it was the logical choice,

but the position of the bath was difficult

as we didn't want to make this bedroom too small.

So, in the end, we managed to use what was effectively a cupboard

where the old hot water tank was

to get the bath in that way on

and still retain a good size double bedroom here.

So, although quite tight,

they have successfully got an upstairs bathroom with a bath

and yet have still crucially retained two bedrooms.

But moving bathrooms, replastering, rewiring and plumbing was done by tradesmen they employed,

so what was their involvement?

-We tried to do all the simple...

-..ish.

-..manual jobs ourselves.

So we did all the wallpaper stripping,

which was a mammoth job, wasn't it?

-All the painting.

-It's been a massive learning curve.

So they both mucked in where they could,

with Jenny being here most days to oversee the trades.

Johnny joined her when he could, and they've not only learnt a lot

but they seem to have had fun doing it.

I mean, we really have laughed a lot.

The tiling was probably the day we laughed the most.

-Because we were so incredibly bad at it and it did look so completely straightforward.

-That was so funny.

And I have tiled before.

It was so funny because we started early in the morning

and we got home at lunchtime and we'd done like two rows.

We were just sat there, like, "We're so useless. It's believable."

We got there in the end.

We did get a wall done, the wall that the shower's on,

the tiles are not quite as even as everywhere else

-because that's our wall.

-SHE LAUGHS

Well, perhaps their tiling skills may need a little improvement

but what about those jobs that needed a little bit more power?

Yes, well, my drill, I used a fair bit, actually. I did.

I drilled plasterboard to the fireplaces

and I put the air vents on

and did a lot of screws and things to take doors off.

-You got plenty of use out of it, didn't you?

-I did.

So Jenny may now be a dab hand with the drill

but how big a hole has all the work made in their budget?

We initially said that we thought it would be about 15,

and we haven't got all the bills in yet,

but I think that we're going to be more or less spot on.

A £15,000 spend on top of their 40,000 purchase price

will make their total outlay 55,000 before costs and fees.

So although aimed as a rental property,

has this been a wise investment?

What do two local property experts think?

First impressions of the property, the lounge is a good size,

it's nice and light and the kitchen is very big and modern.

They've made a very, very good job.

What they've done, they've done right.

They've taken the bathroom upstairs, which is always a plus,

helps it sell better and it helps it rent better.

But how much better?

It cost them £55,000 to get the house into this condition.

I think you'd probably achieve between 65 and £70,000.

The resale value of the property would be around £65,000.

-Yeah, I think we're happy with that, aren't we?

-Probably spot on.

-Really happy.

-Great.

So a potential pre-tax profit

of between 10 and £15,000 if it was sold on.

But the plan was always to put it on the rental market.

I think you would achieve between £375 and £395 per calendar month.

Rental potential for the property

would be around £400 per calendar month.

-That's very good.

-Probably spot on what we were thinking ourselves.

-Yes.

Those valuations would generate a yield of between 8% and 9%.

If she got those figures,

this will have been a very successful first renovation project

for Jenny and her sons.

-Yes, it's been a success, hasn't it?

-Definitely.

It's been an excellent return for a couple of months of hard work

Yeah, definitely.

Well, whether you're a full-on property developer

or a complete novice, join us next time for more auction stories.

Make sure you tune in then for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd