Episode 45 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello! Now, more and more people would love to have their own property portfolio.

And that doesn't have to be as grand as it sounds.

No. If it can raise even just a small sum of cash,

you can usually find something to buy.

Then at least you'd have your foot on the property developing ladder.

But where do you start? Well, maybe by heading to the auctions.

Because of the variety of property available,

auctions are a great place to get good value for money.

And if you've done your research and got your finances in place,

you should be able to make a success of it.

So let's see what our buyers were interested in on today's programme.

There's tons of period charm at this Stoke-on-Trent semi,

but it's been caught short!

The only loo in the house is downstairs in the outbuilding.

At a south London mid-terrace, I reveal a childhood wish to be an astronaut!

Look at the size of this room! I love space!

And this house in Greater Manchester is a blank canvas with one stroke of genius!

I've never seen a four-poster bath in all my travels with the show!

All these properties have been sold at auction.

We'll find out who bought them and what they paid for them

when they went under the hammer.

Your paddle number, please.

Today, I'm in Stoke-on-Trent.

For over 300 years, this town's been the centre of England's pottery industry,

with famous names including Wedgwood and Royal Doulton still having their bases here.

So, from pottery to property.

I'm in a suburb called Oakhill,

a real mixture of housing here from flats to terraces to semi-detached.

But I'm really excited because in the 50-odd times I've visited Stoke-on-Trent

in the last few years filming the show,

I've never seen a house like this.

It's called a Minton house.

It's the one on the right there.

I'll tell you more about the history in a while.

But for now, £55,000 was the guide price. Two bedrooms. Let's take a look.

This property has a certain Brothers Grimm fairytale charm to it, I'd say...

..especially surrounded by these traditional terraces.

But will it be "Grimm" inside,

or is it a Sleeping Beauty waiting to be awoken?

And if so, would that make me Prince Charming?

Look at this fantastic front door.

You literally don't have to go very far at all

before you get the impression this is a very characterful house.

In terms of that history I was talking about,

maybe the floor has something to do with it. That's the first clue.

Through the front door, you've got a sitting room on the front there.

Nice characterful entrance through into the rear living room area.

Very traditional of this kind of house to have that kind of thing, front and rear sitting rooms.

Big open fire, nice to see. Judging by the pipe work, a back boiler in there,

which, good and bad, probably means there isn't any central heating.

That's something to factor in to your costs.

But as a room, yes, actually, it sort of works.

It sort of works and sort of doesn't.

Because this is the kitchen, absolutely tiny.

So straightaway, you take down this wall here

and create a really nice family kitchen/ living area.

Opening up this area would be very in-keeping with modern living.

But it would be at a cost to its historic past

as sadly, those original floor tiles might have to go.

But I'd certainly keep the tiles in the hall.

They'd make a fabulous first impression once restored.

Through the under-stairs door and it's down to a sizeable cellar.

This could be converted into further living space,

but I suspect a developer may have enough work just renovating the rooms up top.

Let's take a look upstairs where the two bedrooms are.

My, oh, my, there is no denying this property needs a great deal of attention.

Yet its character and charm is evident even in this condition.

I'd recommend that the new owner commissions a structural survey

as there are large cracks on the walls

and possible signs of separation between the exterior and interior walls. Never good!

In the bathroom, I'd keep this lovely roll-top bath

and expose the claw feet.

But there's something in here that's desperately lacking.

One thing you are going to have to put in is a toilet.

Because there isn't one. The only loo in the house

is downstairs in the outbuilding. Not ideal!

Far from it, in fact! Dashing to an outdoor loo from my warm and cosy bed

is not how I like to spend my nights!

But for now, cosy down, cos this place has quite a tale to tell.

So, what is the history of this Minton house?

Earlier on, when I said it could be something to do with the floor,

I was throwing you off the scent a bit.

Cos it's a lot to do with the floor. That, of course, is a Minton floor,

made in a local factory, the Minton factory, started by Thomas Minton

in the 18th century.

Before long, Minton floors became the floor to have.

So what about the Minton house?

Well, this was the equivalent of a perk for the higher-ranking people in the Minton factory.

And, of course, the floors had to be Minton, didn't they?

And that's the history.

The property is not listed,

but taking on a house with all this heritage is quite an undertaking.

The amount of work needed may have put off potential purchasers.

I'm sure that whoever bought this place must have a genuine passion for it

because it's going to need them to put their heart and soul into it.

We invited a local estate agent

to give us his opinion on this property,

which had a guide price of £55,000.

'This is a marvellous property, full of character

'history, specific to Stoke-on-Trent itself.'

You have to be very, very careful with a property of this nature.

It needs improving, it's desperately in need of modernisation,

but you've got to be very, very sympathetic not to destroy the history and the character.

If renovated sympathetically, to a high standard,

what could it be worth if sold on?

Once renovated, this property is worth in the region of

£100,000.

And as a rental?

I would say you were looking at £525 per calendar month.

The house isn't listed, but you almost feel it should have some kind of preservation order on it

because it is such an important part of the history of the local area.

I just hope that whoever bought it really looks after it.

Let's find out who that was when it went under the hammer.

This was the very last lot of the day

which explains the empty seats.

What's this? 50?

45, then. 45 bid. Thank you. At £45,000.

50. At £50,000.

55? 51. 52.

53.

54.

At £54,000.

£55,000.

£56,000.

56 and a half.

57.

And a half.

58.

And a half.

59.

This house was a hot property.

We rejoin the action at 65,000.

65 and a half?

66.

Another half, sir?

Are you sure?

66 with you.

Seated. At £66,000.

66 and a half. Are you sure?

At 66 and a half, then, on the back wall. Are we all done?

-He's back.

-67.

Another half, sir? No?

67. Seated. First time at 67.

Second time at 67.

Third and final time. All done at £67,000.

Clearly delighted with their £67,000 purchase

are builder, Howard, his wife, Lindy and their daughter, Sam.

Howard and Lindy both develop properties,

but this is not their usual type of investment.

They're helping their daughter Sam to buy her first house.

Sam has recently returned from travelling in America,

and she and her parents are splitting this investment 50/50.

She plans not only to live there,

but also let rooms to her friends.

Sam, Lindy, lovely to meet you.

-Hi.

-Congratulations!

-Thank you!

Tell me why you wanted to buy the house.

We looked at a load of houses in the university area, about five minutes down the road,

and they're all small terraces. You get off the street into your living room.

Things like that. So Mum and Dad are helping me out,

so they found this on the internet and we had a look round. Dad fell in love with it the most.

-What was it he really loved?

-There's a beautiful floor next door

which we would love to have kept.

But unfortunately there's been a heave in the floor

and we tried to lift them to see if we could re-lay it,

-and they're disintegrating as we're lifting them.

-The tiles are.

Yeah. So we'll be able to keep the hall, which we think is stunning,

but we think the back room floor will have to go.

It sounds like you're going to be sympathetic to the history of the place.

Like you do, you see something and you kind of fall for it, I guess.

I can understand why you fell in love with this place. It's an amazing house.

'I'm happy to hear that Sam, her mum Lindy, dad Howard and me

'are of one mind about the charm of this house.

'However, it is a shame that the tiles in the rear reception will have to go.'

So who's doing the work?

I think we all are, really.

But it'll be days off, things like that. Me, Mum and Dad really.

Does your dad do building as a full-time job?

-Yeah.

-So he'll be squeezing it in between other jobs?

-Yeah.

I work part-time, so he will give me instructions.

Sam, tell me what the plans for it are?

Well, basically, the upstairs will have a toilet in it, which is probably in the garden!

We will renovate then the upstairs.

The back bedroom fireplace is pretty good. It's a nice cast iron piece.

So we'll put a surround around that.

So upstairs will stay the same lay-out, with a toilet in the bathroom

-and a nice new bath suite.

-Ooh, talking about the bath.

Bath, bath, bath. What about the bath?

-New bath.

-"New bath"?! What about the bath that's there?

It's a roll-top gorgeous, cast iron piece of loveliness!

-Which needs...

-We could get a couple of quid for it!

-What?!

-The enamel's gone, the taps are interesting, and there's no shower.

The size of the bathroom, it is small by the time you put a sink and toilet in there,

you can't really make much of a feature of that bath.

I may be wrong! I may be wrong!

'So, it's bye-bye, bath tub, unfortunately!

'Renovating properties can be a stressful experience.

'With Mum, Dad and daughter all equally involved here,

'I hope that it doesn't lead to family quarrels and squabbles.'

How long do you think it'll take to do it?

-We'd like to take...

-I think five months is do-able.

-We could probably do it in five months.

-I would like to think so, yeah.

-What about a budget?

-About 10,000.

Ten?!

-Yeah.

-Wow! That's because your husband's a builder type thing?

We can do nearly everything ourselves.

We'll get a plasterer in. Kitchen's no problem. Taking walls out.

Simple plastering like chases, I can do that.

A lot of it you can do yourself if you're prepared to muck in and get it done.

Congratulations, I'm delighted for you both.

We look forward to seeing how you get on.

How great that Sam and Lindy love this house as much as I do.

They seem to be as sad as I will be to see this floor in the back go.

But I think they're right. It may be very difficult to preserve it.

But what a fantastic project to take on.

One of those projects I just can't wait to see what they do to it.

You can find out later in the show!

This is Tooting, an area growing in popularity

as an alternative to the nearby, but more expensive, Balham.

Did you know, there's a crater on the planet Mars named after Tooting?

Quite a claim to fame! Let's hope the place I'm here to see is equally out of this world.

It's great to be near shops, restaurants and buses.

But they mean noise and traffic,

which is why it's so lovely to step off the main thoroughfare

into a nice quiet residential street like this.

Amazing what a difference a few paces can make!

The road itself is attractive, and the property I'm here to see

looks rather lovely, too.

It's a first floor flat with a guide price of £185,000.

The auction catalogue describes this as a four-roomed flat

with a kitchen and bathroom.

It's got its own door, and from the outside, it doesn't look in bad nick

but on the inside, well, it could do better.

Ooh, a bit tired and dated,

but you come to expect that, doing my job!

But what I do like is this little skylight here.

If you could sort that out, it's wonderful to throw some natural light on this area

and up here could have the potential for a loft extension,

but remember, this is leasehold, so you don't actually own that loft space.

Maybe something to think about in the future.

But a really nice-sized bedroom there.

An original fireplace, which is a big bonus,

and look at the size of this room!

I love space! A wonderful room to entertain in, a really nice lounge.

Not an original fireplace.

I'd like to change that.

Not beautiful original sash windows,

but energy-efficient, so we do like that.

Overall, this is really good.

I like it. Fantastic!

I think an open fire would really make this room. I love it.

The second bedroom is a bit of a squeeze...

..and then there's a third room, with the kitchen off it.

At a push, this could be a bedroom, but I'd use it as a dining room.

Now, this is great. You could have a big table and chairs in here,

you can imagine having your supper here,

with a nice window, lots of natural light coming in.

And you've also got access to your own little garden.

Bit of a steep staircase, but you can get out to your garden,

so on a summer's evening, that would be lovely.

And this is the kitchen. A bit disappointing.

I'd have to get rid of all of this, cos it's not working for me!

The kitchen is on the small side, but I could live with it.

What's this? The broom cupboard?

Of course it's not!

That's the bathroom! But there's not even a bath in there,

it is just a shower room.

So disappointing.

That is what lets this flat down.

So whoever is going to take this flat on,

has got to sit down with pen and paper

and think about rearranging the layout.

Because that is just a big no-no.

So there's going to have to be a re-jig here

to put in a bathroom proper.

Perhaps utilising the dining room space. That would inevitably come at a cost.

Nevertheless, if it was bought for close to the guide price

of 185,000,

I reckon it could be worth the expense.

The guide for this property is very appealing.

Very appealing indeed.

Tooting is still seen as the poor cousin to neighbouring Balham,

which is well and truly gentrified.

But it's only one tube stop along on the Northern Line

and this area is already seeing the trickle of young professionals down the track.

And crucially, this property, once fully renovated,

it should break another boundary.

The three per cent stamp duty threshold at 250,000.

That is a big financial and mental barrier which often holds property prices back.

But here in Tooting, not any more!

When young professionals are prepared to fork out that sort of tax,

then you know the area's on the up.

I really believe that spending cash on this Tooting flat

will see you reap rewards.

If that spending is kept under control!

So bearing in mind the guide price was 185,000,

it's time to ask a local estate agent what he thought

of this first floor flat.

First impressions are it's a good buy. Fantastic location with a lot of potential.

Reconfiguring this layout it the only way forward.

What could the flat then sell for?

If the work was done and it was on the market today,

280 to £285,000.

How does the rental rate sound?

If I was going to put this on the rental market with the works done,

I'd expect to get 1,200 to £1,250 a month.

The guide price for this property is extremely appealing.

It's a bit of a clumsy flat at the moment,

but with some imagination and a reasonable budget,

you could have a great pad for the young professionals transforming Tooting.

Let's find out who agreed at the auction.

Lot seven.

Who'd like to kick off on this?

170? Take it with the ladies first. 170.

175?

180. 185.

190.

195. 200.

205. 210.

215?

215. 220.

225.

230.

226? Can I help?

225 down here.

226 elsewhere.

226 by the door. 227?

228.

229.

230.

231.

231. Someone else trying to get in?

231, new spot.

232. 233.

233. Looking for 234.

234. 235.

236.

237.

238.

237. 238?

Someone? 238. 239 at the back.

240. 241.

240 down here.

Looking for another thousand. If not, 240 first time.

Second time. Third and last time, have you all done?

Sold 240, down here.

That successful bid of 240,000, 55 grand over the guide price,

came from Ray.

He was bidding on behalf of his good friend, John,

who was sitting beside him.

Ray's been on this programme before,

and since he has plenty of property developing experience,

he'll be heavily involved with this renovation.

As John wasn't able to meet me,

it was Ray who I spoke to at the Tooting purchase,

to hear more about their plans for it.

Ray, congratulations!

-Thank you, Lucy.

-You must be pleased you managed to buy this flat.

Yes, just a bit. It's a good thing to get, this one, actually.

John had to set himself a budget that he wanted to go up to,

and he stuck to that to the nail.

I would have liked to have bought it myself,

but I just felt 225 would have been my limit,

so John was happy to go further on and he did and he got it.

Are you going to be involved from here on?

Yes, I am. John's a very good friend of mine. I've known him for about 20 years.

He wanted to renovate this flat for himself. He's going to live here.

-I want to see it through with him.

-I know you can do this, because we've met you before.

Yes, I'm afraid I have been on before. Yes, for my sins.

That was in Borough.

This is very different, but it's a nice area.

So who's your little friend today?

-That's Oliver.

-Is he going to be involved in this?

I'm afraid he will be. He's started in the garden already.

-He's found a few things out there to nibble.

-He brings you luck.

-He does.

I don't think they'll need too much luck to make this place special.

But as John plans to live here

and doesn't want to lose a bedroom,

then it will take some thought to sort out the layout,

as Ray explains.

I think that room is going to split into two.

He's going to have a utility room in half of it

and a wet room in the other half. That's the intention.

It means that the bathroom will be accessed off the kitchen.

This will become the kitchen. It isn't perfect, but all the drains are on that side of the building.

It's going to be such an expense to move it all into what should be the bathroom,

-the middle bedroom, the little one.

-Absolutely.

-But then you lose a bedroom.

-You do.

-That's not good, either.

You could put the bedroom at the back here, but all the drains are the problem.

I think the most cost-effective way is doing what you're doing.

Moving the kitchen into this room and splitting that up.

But you will, again, have quite a small bathroom.

-It will be quite small.

-Have you had a chance to cost this?

Yes. It keeps moving. We originally thought of moving the bathroom into the middle.

Thought it would be about 25,000 to include that.

But we're now downsizing the budget somewhat. Keep it down, and hopefully about 15,000.

-To do everything here? Or is that just for the bathroom?

-No, everything.

Wow. £15,000 isn't a lot to create and rearrange these three rooms.

And that's before you get to the rewiring, a new boiler, appliances

and general updating.

Hmm. Perhaps they will need Oliver's luck after all!

But at least the timescale is generous at six months.

And Ray is confident he'll measure up to the task ahead.

Have you learnt along the way? What knowledge will you use on this flat

that perhaps you didn't on the other property?

Last time, I found there was a long, long gap with trying to sort out the paperwork.

I don't think John will have the same problem here. It's quite straightforward.

So we won't be involving the leaseholders.

I don't think there'll be anything to slow us down on the actual work involved.

And I'll be here to get on with it.

Tell me, why has John trusted in you to do this?

We've known each other a while now. We can trust each other. Hope so!

-Will you make a success of this?

-Yes, I think so.

I think John will be happy with the product at the end.

It'll be a really nice flat.

It's going to retain the character.

Unfortunately, two windows have to be replaced, the original sash.

But I think we'll work together well.

-It'll be a test of the friendship, I don't deny that.

-Ray,

it's been wonderful meeting you. I can't wait to see where the bathroom ends up!

Thank you, Lucy.

Ray has an intriguing project here.

It's a lovely flat, but it is full of difficult decisions.

Where will John decide he wants the wet room?

Will they manage to retain some character?

And most importantly, will their friendship survive this Tooting transformation?

You can find out later in the show.

'Coming up, this Greater Manchester end terrace is full of surprises!'

Oh, wow! Now this is what I call an attic room!

'Ray reveals that his budget for this first floor flat in London

'was a work of fiction!'

I thought 15,000 would do it. But I just plucked that figure out of the air!

But first, in Stoke-on-Trent, it's been about retaining period features, windows included.

I think they look brilliant. Sam's dad's done a fantastic job.

Time to return to Stoke-on-Trent,

where I was enchanted by the fairytale exterior of this two-bedroomed house.

Inside, however, was "Grimm"!

But I believed this property was a Sleeping Beauty waiting to be awoken.

It was purchased at auction for £67,000...

£67,000.

..by Howard, his wife, Lindy, and their daughter, Sam.

You could tell as soon as the hammer fell

that they were as smitten with the character and charm of this property as I was.

I think Dad fell in love with it the most out of the lot of us.

I can understand why he fell in love with this place. It's an amazing house.

Like you do, you see something and you kind of fall for it, I guess.

This property was a 50/50 investment for Sam and her property developing parents.

The house was to be Sam's new home

and with the help of her mum and dad,

she planned to carry out a sympathetic refurbishment.

So, after six months, we're back.

Has there been a happy ending for this enchanting place?

And it looks like Sam and her parents really have waved a magic wand.

You might remember in the kitchen previously we had a large wall here.

We obviously needed to maximise the space in the kitchen.

We really would have loved to have kept the floor that was there originally.

But they were all cracked.

So we salvaged as much as we could of the tiles from around the edge

and then put those together and made a hearth out of it

so we could kind of get a sense of what used to be here.

But also bring the house up to date as well.

In the hall, I'm happy to see the tiles,

which give this house its distinct charm and character in pride of place.

The hall has been freshly decorated, and with the sunlight streaming in

from the lovely arched window,

the house is looking just as good as I hoped it would.

The bedrooms were derelict and dilapidated,

and my fears of possible structural damage proved to be correct.

Steel bands were fitted, binding the interior and exterior walls together

to ensure that this historical damage did not get any worse.

This project is still in progress,

but I can see great work has been done,

not only restoring but also modernising the windows.

Sam's dad originally was going to put plastic windows in,

and I said, no, I wasn't having it.

It caused a few words, shall we say.

Then he said, we'll have to replace them as they are and put in single glazing.

Again, I mean, we're on a road. You have to accept there's going to be traffic.

We really wanted the house to be as efficient as possible and put double glazing in.

So we decided the original frames could be kept

and we would get away with making slightly deeper sashes

that would take the thinnest double glazing units you can get.

I think they look brilliant. Sam's dad's done a fantastic job.

In the bathroom, I was excited about uncovering this roll-top bath.

However, Lindy and Sam weren't so keen on this period feature.

This house is a combination of contemporary comfort and style

whilst retaining the period features that give it an undeniable allure and charm.

But it's time to talk cash. What about the budget?

The original budget I'd said was about £10,000

with a £5,000 contingency.

I think we're sitting on about 13,500, and that includes furniture,

which I probably hadn't factored in in the first place.

But we're certainly under the contingency,

so I'm really very pleased with it.

There is still work to do. The living room is yet to be finished,

but Lindy predicts they will spend just under £14,500 on the renovation

which, added to their purchase price,

means a total outlay of 81,500.

We asked two local estate agents to give us their opinion

on the finished result.

'When you go in the property, it's nice to see the restoration, they've kept the character and floors,'

picture rails and kept the windows in,

but enhancing it with double glazing.

'They've kept a lot of the character which would have been a crime to destroy.'

But they've installed modern conveniences - new bathroom,

the kitchen's new.

Sam has a housemate ready to rent a bedroom for £300 per calendar month.

Once the sitting room is complete,

that will also be let as a bedroom.

For the moment, she's already earning a yield of around four to five per cent.

But how much value have the family added here?

Their projected total investment is 81,500.

I would suggest the resale value of this property

is somewhere in the region of £105,000.

In the current climate, I would estimate the property to be worth £105,000.

That's a potential pre-tax profit of £23,500.

What do they think of the estate agents' valuations?

-SAM:

-It doesn't matter how much it is, really, for me.

No, it doesn't. You've got a cracking house

and big rooms.

Chuffed!

Today we're in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester,

where the transport links make it a hot ticket for commuters.

I'm in an affordable area of Radcliffe,

about quarter of a mile from the Metro station.

So you've got easy access to Manchester to the south

and Bury to the north.

The property I'm here to see sounds almost too good to be true. It's this,

an end of terrace, really substantial,

had a guide price of 25 to 30,000 quid.

There are a few signs of some cracking there,

but nothing too untoward so far!

Just to be safe, I've got a structural engineer on the case straightaway

to have a look at those cracks.

But if you can see past those boarded up windows and doors,

there's no denying this is a pretty substantial three-bedroom property.

Oh, my word! It's immaculate! What a surprise!

OK. I'm actually joking. It's not looking too good.

However, some nice potential features here. Look at this.

Some lovely original tiling. I wonder what else is in store?

Yes, the door's a bit broken,

but again some nice leadwork over the top there.

And I'm seeing straightaway that in its day,

this would have been a really grand house.

High ceilings, nice coving, plasterwork up there.

Lovely.

Large front sitting room.

Again, lots of space.

I'm trying to see, as you must do if you visit this kind of property,

through the mess that is here

to what this could become with not too much work so far.

Yes, lots of plasterwork, et cetera, but things like big fireplaces, lovely to see.

I like the layout as well. Come through there into this rear sitting room area

and then through to the kitchen.

Here's another clue as to how this house would have been in its day.

A really big fireplace, probably a range in its time.

Obviously it's been taken apart slightly.

But put something spectacular in here, a range cooker or something.

You've got a nice sized space. Room out the back there for a utility or whatever.

So yes, it's a mess, but already I'm thinking, "What was that guide price again?!"

In fact, the 25 to £30,000 guide price is looking more and more attractive all the time.

We just have to hope that those props are doing their job

and it's not touch and go upstairs.

What have we got here, then?

It's the bathroom, and a pretty impressive one it is, too.

I've never seen a four-poster bath in all my travels with the show!

Interesting! Soon get rid of that, though.

But it's a great size. Like the rest of the house, in proportion, a good-sized family bathroom.

Great!

It may be the most over-engineered shower curtain ever,

but there's room to play around with the layout here

and maybe even put in a bath and separate shower.

What about the rest of upstairs?

So, a big bedroom at the rear of the property.

Very large bedroom towards the front,

but I am a bit concerned about the state of that floor.

It's bowing down. That's not good.

But a great size.

Wonderful. It fits in with the feeling of the house.

But one bedroom, two bedrooms. We're missing one.

Upstairs.

Oh, wow!

Now this is what I call an attic room!

How fantastic!

Enough space to be a bedroom. You could have a snooker table, a Jacuzzi in the corner,

have your train set out! How wonderful!

Things like the old fireplace, lots of light coming through the windows.

I think this would actually count as a bedroom.

And what an amazing room it could become.

The icing on the cake!

But before we gorge ourselves on the delights of this tasty property,

something's caught my eye in the garden.

Here at the rear of the property, a few more things to be considered.

That end gable wall, you can't see that clearly,

but from this angle it's definitely bowed.

Don't know why. A structural engineer can answer that question.

But at the very least, I think that will have to be rebuilt.

So added to all the other things you're going to do to this property,

it's going to cost you a pretty penny.

It may well be worth it, but you need to budget carefully.

What does the auctioneer who sold the property think?

Could you really

have your cake and eat it?

The main positives for me here

are the overall size of the property.

Two reception rooms is fantastic.

Unusual to find the third bedroom on the second floor.

But that gives us a great size room on that level.

So for me, that's the main positive.

The overall size of it. I think it's great.

Bearing in mind the auction guide price of 25 to 30,000,

what could it fetch once renovated?

Providing the work is done to a good standard

and the structural issues are looked at,

then you could easily see a value of £75,000. Possibly £80,000.

And if the purchaser were to let it?

We're probably looking, from a rental point of view,

comfortably £500 per calendar month.

Well, lots of work to be done and a few possible structural issues to resolve.

But intrinsically, this is a big, solid house.

And for that kind of money, I'm sure it generated a lot of interest

when it went under the hammer.

Even though this lot came up towards the end of the day,

bidding was fast and furious.

I'm looking for £15,000 to start.

15,000. 15 I've got here.

16, then. 16 there. 17.

Got it. 18. 19...

Before you knew it, the bidding crept up beyond the 25 to £30,000 guide price.

35. Got that. And a half?

I've got it. 36. And a half?

37. I need another half.

Got it. 38.

I've got that. 38 and a half. Yes. 39.

Want to make it 40?

He does. 40. 41.

Got it. 42?

No. £41,000 here.

Gentleman stood at the back at £41,000.

I'll take a half again if it helps you.

Shaking his head. It's with you, stood at the back, sir, at £41,000.

First time at 41.

Second time at 41,000. Are we all finished? Yes, we are.

That successful bid of £41,000

was placed by Andy, who's a postman.

Andy and his brother, Paul, an electrician,

already have three properties that they rent out.

I met them back at the latest addition to their portfolio.

-Paul, Andy. Good to see you both.

-Hi.

-Congratulations.

What a lot of house for the money.

-Hmm.

-Hmm.

-You agree, obviously!

-Yeah.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

It's a good size. Doesn't really need a dead lot doing.

It doesn't!

So you feel it doesn't need much doing to it?

-Not a massive amount.

-And Paul?

Hmm.

Bathroom, kitchen. Roof's a bit dodgy.

-And it's big, isn't it?

-It is big.

So talk me through what you're going to do to sort it out, then.

New kitchen.

Bathroom suite.

Decorating. We've got somebody to fix the roof.

There's a few faults on the building itself.

But we've had an engineer to check it.

Basically, it's OK.

-What's his recommendations?

-Just replace the broken bricks with new ones.

Right. What about at the back of the property, there's some bowing. What's going on there?

The engineer says we need to take the brickwork down

-and brick it up again straight.

-Right.

He says about £2,000, so we'll go with that.

-It's a party wall, so hopefully next door will share the costs of that.

-Right.

Well, these guys appear to be taking it all in their stride.

Rebuilding a party wall wouldn't come top of my list of quick and easy fixes,

but if they can get the neighbours on their side,

they're half-way there.

In terms of budget for doing all the work?

-10,000.

-Ten? That's not going to go far, is it?

-I think we'll do it for less.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

-Won't cost us more than ten.

-But you are the man who doesn't think much needs to be done!

Well, we'll see.

-How much do you think it'll be?

-I think it will be about ten. Maybe even a bit less.

-But we'll do it for ten.

-Do it for ten.

-Yeah.

-Who's going to be doing the work?

-Mostly me.

-Mostly you!

OK.

-Are you going to charge for your labour?

-No.

-No.

OK. Well maybe the budget of ten will be all right, then!

'Andy and Paul seem reluctant to agree on the budget

'and on how much work needs doing here.

'But they have agreed a three-month timescale to get the house ready to let.'

Congratulations to both of you. Good luck.

Look forward to seeing how you get on!

Well, Paul and Andy have got themselves a great property here.

But I do think they're being a little bit hopeful

to think they can sort this place out for 10,000 quid.

And they're making the slight error of not costing in their own time and effort

which, if this is a business, you must do.

Still, it's going to be a spectacular transformation, we hope.

Find out how they get on later in the show.

Well, the big question is, have our plucky buyers

made money from their investments?

Have their efforts paid off?

Well, time has passed. So let's go back and see what those properties are like now.

We head back to the south-west London borough of Tooting.

This first floor flat, made up of four rooms, kitchen and bathroom,

was perfect at one end with a grand living room complete with large windows.

But it was not so good at the back, with a tiny run-down kitchen

and a shower/toilet layout which felt shabby and cramped.

John, seen here on the far left,

bought it at auction for 240,000 as a future home.

But it was his friend Ray who met us at the flat with some ideas

for solving the dodgy layout.

I think that room is going to split into two, with a utility room in half of it

and a wet room in the other half.

That's the intention.

It means that the bathroom will be accessed off the kitchen. This will become the kitchen.

You could put the bedroom at the back here, but it's all the drains are the problem.

'With a tight budget of 15,000,

'solving the layout could have drained the coffers

'and that would be before they even started to give the flat the makeover it desperately needed.

'Well, that was seven months ago.

'We've now returned to catch up with Ray.

'No, he hasn't taken to delivering pizzas!

'This is for Oliver, his canine companion,

'and hopefully, for this project, his lucky mascot.

'So, was this renovation blessed with luck?

'That living room is looking much grander,

'with a lick of fresh paint and new carpeting.

'But how has that kitchen fared in the renovation?

'Well, this is different from Ray and John's original plans.

'There's no wet room or utility area.

'But there's a new double bedroom with wash-hand basin

'and the kitchen, well, you might have spotted that this leads off from the new bedroom

'where the dining room used to be.'

You may remember that originally there was a wall, a corner here,

which was the shower cubicle.

And just an opening there where the very basic kitchen was.

This room, I suppose it might have been classified as a sitting room, almost a dining room area.

This has now become just the kitchen.

John, I'm very pleased to say, has kept the window.

The other windows are uPVC and double glazed

but this one and the one in the bathroom have remained original.

They work fine.

So he's got the sink

and a nice hob, which cost about as much as most average kitchens would!

A bit of finishing off to do still.

Edges.

But a very presentable little kitchen.

'So, with no new wet room,

'where's the bathroom now?

'It seems the team have gone for that dramatic move

'and put a new bathroom suite in the small middle bedroom.

'Removing the old wardrobe has revealed an original fireplace

'adding character to the new suite.

'Putting the bathroom here is definitely a great move

'and one they always had in mind.'

It was a plan we looked at right at the beginning.

And it just made sense to actually move it as we did.

'So, what about the top dog who will be living here?

'We asked John for his thoughts on the flat now.'

I'm very, very pleased with the bathroom, because I was keen it should be in the middle of the house

so people don't have to come through the kitchen to get to the bathroom.

By putting the bathroom in what was the little bedroom,

we've been able to create a second double bedroom

which none of the other flats along this road have.

'And talking of bedrooms, the original middle double

'has also been decorated and carpeted.

'John and Ray have installed new central heating and a combi boiler.

'The wiring has been upgraded where necessary

'and they've put sound insulation in throughout the flat.

'John is very pleased with the final result.'

I think it's a lovely flat. There's a beautiful feel in the flat.

There's a good atmosphere and I think it's a very nice space.

It's been a well worthwhile project, though a lot of hard work.

A bit more hard work than perhaps we'd thought,

but without Ray I wouldn't have been able to do anything

and he's been a really good partner working and helping me in this.

He's been a really useful person. Our talents have complimented quite a bit.

'The renovation was relatively pain free

'and only ran one month over their original six-month schedule.

'But with all that reconfiguring, how did their budget cope?'

I thought 15,000 would do it, but I plucked that figure out of the air.

It was just an optimistic figure.

If I had done it, I might have spent easily double that.

But fortunately, John did it,

and he's kept within a good budget.

So round about the 20,000 mark, I think, he's paid himself.

'Ray anticipates a final renovation spend of 24,000.

So, add that to the original purchase price of 240,000

and John's total outlay should be £264,000.

Time to find out what two local estate agents think of the new-look flat.

My first impressions are that it's been decorated to a very good order.

It would therefore suit both the sales and letting market currently.

My first impressions are that the owner has carried out the works very well

to a good standard.

He's turned the property into a fine example of its type in this area.

'Let's not forget that John will be living here.

'But what could he sell it on for,

'bearing in mind his £264,000 investment?'

I would expect this property to achieve on the sales market

around the £300,000 mark.

If the owner decided to sell,

I'd be looking to put it on the market for around about £300,000.

I think 300 is very good, John.

I think it's a reasonable sort of price. Yes.

'Those valuations could give John a tempting pre-tax profit

'of £36,000.

'The estate agents reckon it could make between 1,300 and £1,350 a month

as a rental property.

Which would be a healthy yield of around six per cent.

So, as it's been a successful renovation,

can we expect to see John and Ray on another project together soon?

I think we will probably go to a few auctions.

It just depends on what we see there.

As long as it's not quite so much work as this one,

it might be possible to do something again.

'Back now to Radcliffe in Greater Manchester,

'where this three-bedroom end of terrace was bought at auction for £41,000

'by brothers Paul, an electrician, and Andy, in the pink shirt, who is a postman.

'But somewhere along the line, something must have got lost in the post

'because these two couldn't seem to agree on how much work was needed here,

'or how much it was going to cost.'

The budget for doing all the work?

-10,000.

-Ten?! That's not going to go far!

-I think we'll do it for less.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

-It won't cost us more than ten.

-But you are the man who doesn't think much needs to be done!

Well, we'll see.

'A ten grand budget and three months to do all the work

'and have it ready to let seemed pretty ambitious to me,

'especially when the brothers were going to do most of the work themselves

'on top of their day jobs.

'And so, almost nine months after our first visit,

'we're back to see how Andy and Paul have got on.

'So close. So very close!

'Paul and Andy reckon that within a couple of weeks,

'they'll have the bathroom and kitchen finished off

'and the whole place shining like a new pin.

'But the reason for the delay?

'The boys changed their mind about what to do with the place.'

Originally, we were just going to tart it up and rent it out.

But because we decided we'd put it on the market quite early on,

obviously there was a lot more work done on the property than we'd originally expected.

The brothers have done a lot of the work here themselves,

fitting it around their day jobs.

Andy's replaced the missing front door and fireplaces

with period pieces from an auction website.

He's painstakingly stripped and restored the banisters

and has been busy in the attic bedroom, too.

We did quite a lot of work in this room.

We took the ceiling right back

and we put that wall in there.

One of the things I quite like, which was a good find,

was this fireplace. When this house was built in the 1880s,

this would have been the height of fashion.

It's a Thomas Jekyll, known as The Songbirds.

I had to spend about a week stripping off 50 years' worth of paint,

of every colour of the rainbow,

but it was worth the effort and I'm quite pleased with it.

Meanwhile, Paul has busied himself with the more structural side of things.

Once they had planning permission in place,

he set about extending the kitchen.

Originally, there was a fireplace here, or just back here.

A back wall,

and we thought we'd knock through to what used to be the outhouse

and we're very pleased with how it's turned out.

It's doubled the size of the kitchen and it's a proper family dining area now.

Their structural engineer got them to replace the cracked bricks at the front

and at the back, Paul and Andy have had an unused chimney removed

and the wall straightened.

So that took care of any issues there.

But there was an unexpected headache inside.

Rising damp in the kitchen and both reception rooms.

They discovered that after they'd plastered,

so that all had to come off and be re-done.

What a pain!

So we know that their timescale has slipped,

but what about Andy and Paul's £10,000 budget?

Have they managed to keep to that?

We're close, but we're a couple of thousand over,

with the extension and the damp problems.

We're up to 11,800. Everything's bought now that needs to be bought.

So we're quite happy with the budget.

£11,800 on top of their purchase price of 41,000

makes a total outlay of 52,800,

which I think is pretty good.

We asked two local property experts

to give us their thoughts on this almost refurbished end of terrace.

First impressions, having had a look round the property,

is it's a very large house, over three floors.

The renovation work is partly finished.

There are some works needed to be done.

But headway's been made.

I think it's great they've left some original features in the property,

like the high skirting boards

and the two fireplaces in the lounge and separate reception room.

That will be really appealing to some buyers.

The experts think the house could let for between 525 and £575 per month.

So if they did go down that route,

the brothers could be looking at a phenomenal yield of 12 or 13%.

But they'd rather sell the property on,

so bearing in mind their total spend to date

of £52,800,

what do the experts think it would fetch on the resale market?

We're probably looking at an asking price of £85,000.

I believe that this property should be marketed between 85 and £90,000.

Yeah. We thought a bit higher, but...

-It's still a worthwhile profit.

-Yeah.

-On the work we've done.

A sale at 85 or 90,000 would mean a pre-tax profit before fees and expenses

of £32,200 or 37,200.

So, is it back to an auction for these two to source another project?

Yep.

Hmm.

After a rest!

We hope you enjoyed the show and perhaps got some inspiration from our buyers.

We'll see you next time with more property updates from the front line!

-See you then.

-Goodbye!

-Goodbye!

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