Episode 63 Homes Under the Hammer

Welcome to the programme.

Lucy and I are fascinated by property

and we're always looking for a good deal for ourselves.

In today's tough market that is not always easy.

One way you can do that

is perhaps to buy your next home under the hammer.

Buying at auction has become increasingly popular over the last decade.

That's because there's no messing about.

When the hammer falls, you have exchanged contracts.

Let's take a look at the three properties

sold at auction on today's program.

I'm visiting this house in Derby, now how's this for a garden?

It carries on. And on. Game of cricket, anybody?

I have got heavenly hopes for this former church in West London.

The catalogue tells me it's rarely available, so that always bodes well.

And in Gretna, this three bed semi

has me popping an important question.

Why can't all houses just be like this?

All these properties were sold at auction,

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

when they went under the hammer.

Sold.

Today I am in Littleover just outside Derby.

This place has become an epicentre for good quality education

with great secondary and primary schools in the area.

As well as boasting all that, there are community schools

and colleges working in partnership in the Millennium Centre.

An innovative facility for those 16 and over.

# Education saved the day

# Thank God for the friends you made. #

The house I'm here to see is in an area popular with families

with kids looking to be in the catchment area of those schools.

And it's a good-sized family house, so you do the maths. This is it.

Looks OK from the outside,

it's a three-bedroom, semi-detached with a guide price of £115,000 plus.

But you can't judge a book by the cover as they say,

so let's take a look inside.

It is a fairly standard looking design from the outside,

but you never know until you walk through the front door.

Actually, it's living up to expectations and that is good.

A little entrance area here,

stairs up to your bedrooms, a nice size hallway.

Your front sitting room, your rear sitting room,

at the moment they are two separate rooms, some people knock those together

to create one large living space which is good.

I would hold on before I did that because this is the kitchen

and it is, as is often the case in this particular design of semi,

a bit of a disappointment. It's too small.

The simple solution is to take out this wall here.

So you then create a kitchen/living area

and that is very family friendly which is what we are all about.

These kinds of houses were built for families,

but how we live in them now has changed a bit.

Creating an open-plan kitchen where families can congregate

seems to be today's norm.

The great thing about these properties is just how

flexible the space can be.

# Bring the family back

# Bring the family back

# Together. #

But what happens when I head up to the first floor?

So, upstairs and the standard layout continues.

A little landing area, bathroom and loo, one room, often there's two.

Not in this instance which is good.

It needs refurbishment, but at least it's in the right place.

Three bedrooms in total, a box room at the front

and next to it a reasonable sized double,

and to the rear of the property another good-sized double bedroom.

In general, you can see it's in need of some tender loving care.

You have paper coming off the walls, and it just needs

a bit of attention, but I'm not seeing anything that frightens me.

It's really stacking up well.

This house is a perfect example of if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Whilst upstairs is in need of a makeover,

the layout works as is

which will help keep costs down when renovations start.

Although there are no scary surprises up here,

out the back may be a completely different story.

So, out the back door and what do we find?

With a semi-detached like this you never can tell.

You certainly can't tell from the front,

but in this instance, first of all a locked door.

I'll forget about that one for a minute.

We got a downstairs loo - I expected that to happen - which is always good.

Get access to the rear garden.

We have a little potting shed area there which is lovely,

and then a garden.

It's a bit overgrown but it has some nicely well-established shrubs,

so we like that.

In terms of size, it's pretty good. Look at that. Fantastic.

That would be fantastic, but that's not the end.

You know what, it carries on. And on. A game of cricket, anybody?

And on, and on, and on,

and on, and on, and on...

I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

This garden has amazing potential and again it screams family friendly.

However something to bear in mind if you were planning on letting this place,

you would be wise to remember not everyone is green-fingered.

Tenants would most likely prefer a lower maintenance set up out here.

This property, guided at £115,000, has plenty of positives.

We invited the auctioneer who sold it to give us his thoughts.

Nice, solid semi-detached house,

obviously old-fashioned and unmodernised.

But I like that.

Lots of potential, it's a blank canvas.

And particularly where you've got location, you can do a lot with it.

So, if you renovate the house and or make some of the structural changes downstairs

what could its potential be on the resale market?

Well, if you renovate what is here, I think you are probably

looking at a value up to £150,000.

However you are still left with a small kitchen.

If you were to extend the kitchen which I would probably do

if it was my house, you would then be looking at up to £165,000.

What about the rental side of things?

When renovated it would command

a market rent of 575-£600 a calendar month.

Well, it's a good area and a nice solid house.

I like the internal layout,

I love the rear garden and those sheds.

A good one to go for.

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

Ladies and gentlemen, Lot 65, 115 on the guide price.

115,000 I have, thank you.

115 is the start, 116 I have,

117, 118, 118,000, 119, 119, 120.

120,000, 121, 121,000 I have got there, 122. 123, 124.

124, I've got you, sir.

125. 126. 126, 126, 127,

128, 128, 129. 128,500. 128. 129.

129,500. 129. Going once, going twice, third and last chance.

All finished and done?

Sold at 129. Thank you.

Clearly delighted with his successful bid of 129,000 was Kamran.

He is ideally suited to buy a property in an area

of educational excellence given that he's a science teacher.

I caught up with him to find out what he wants from his property purchase.

Kamran, great to meet you, congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place?

I'm hoping to get it all done and then move in.

But we'll see how long it takes to finish the job.

-So is this going to be your house?

-Yes, it is. Hopefully.

-First house, or have you got other houses?

-First house.

-Fantastic.

-Do you know the area well?

-Yes, I do.

My parents live down the road, so Mum's there to help out if needs be.

Good. What do you do when you are not doing up properties?

-I'm a science teacher.

-Great, which science?

Well, I do all three so chemistry, physics and biology.

# I said, teacher, teacher I know my A-B-C

# I want to read and write,

# I want to understand why the sky never ends

# And why the sea is blue and not white. #

So, this is Kamran's first property project and one he plans

to make into his home as he feels that the chemistry is right here.

So, why this particular house then?

For the price, I'm thinking it's reasonable.

The driveway, plenty of parking space,

beautiful garden I can spend all my days sorting out.

The rooms as well, big spacious rooms, two double bedrooms,

nice box room,

rooms downstairs as well and I can do a lot with the property.

If I want to, later on, I can do something with it, maybe extend etc.

It's a really great place. Tell me then, what you're going to do.

It needs central heating, first of all.

The walls will be stripped down, floors as well, new kitchen,

new bathroom upstairs, sort the garden out.

I don't think that needs much but you know, just to clear it up.

No taking out walls in between rooms.

There's a wall behind yourself that I am thinking about taking out

and having this to be joined with the kitchen, so I think that

will be quite nice, big spacious room and kitchen attached.

I think that would be very nice.

Kamran seems pretty focused on what needs to be done here.

With no DIY skills to speak of though, he is going to be

reliant on his mother, father and brother and some friends for help.

'But won't be resting on his laurels.'

-Are you going to be hands-on?

-I am going to be hands-on.

-This tie will come off and I will be hands-on.

-Fantastic.

I will do some of the work, but I think structural work

and those kinds of things, I will leave with the builders.

What sort of budget have you got for the work?

I'm thinking in the regions of £8,000 to £12,000.

If it stretches, maybe £15,000.

It just depends on, you know... I want quality goods in here

so I may be willing to spend up to 15 on this.

And the timescale you'd like to stick to?

I would say two weeks but that's a bit too...no,

I think we're looking at about eight weeks,

a couple of months, to get this done. Properly, that is.

How exciting to have your own place.

I am really excited. I am absolutely excited.

It's nice to see an old house and do it how I want to do it,

rather than buy a new house and it's already done,

so this is nice...it'll be a nice project for me

and there's plenty of designs in my head I really want to do.

Tell me about some of those designs in your head.

I'm not too sure if I want paint and maybe a bit of wallpaper.

Floors, I am thinking laminates mixed with carpets mixed with tiles.

I am probably going to go for something that's not to modern

and something not too old, somewhere in the middle.

-Listen, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

Good luck and we look forward to seeing how you get on.

Thank you. Cheers.

Well, it doesn't sound like Kamran needs too many

lessons in property renovation

and it's really exciting that this is going to be his first home.

Lots of work to be done,

lots of family members to help out. How will he get on?

You can find out later in the show.

Today I am in the West London suburb of Hillingdon in Middlesex.

With good transport links and Brunel University on your doorstep,

it's a pretty popular place.

I am quite excited about today's auction lot.

The catalogue tells me it's rarely available so that always bodes well.

It's also modern,

built in 1997 and so hopefully the structure will be sound.

It's got parking for ten cars, yes, you've guessed it, it's

a commercial premises and the guide price for all of this - £200,000.

Off-street parking is always a plus point

so that's ten points notched up so far.

The building itself isn't much of a looker,

but it does all appear to be in pretty good shape.

What a welcoming hallway! Loads of coat hooks.

That would be so handy in my house.

Here's a bit of information about what this used to be.

It was a church up until quite recently. The decor, as you can see,

is in good order, carpets, yeah, fine,

and because it's so modern, I'm guessing all

the electrics are to standard, though I would still have them

checked to make doubly sure. There's over 900 square foot

here and so it is quite a substantial commercial unit.

But what could it be used for?

Currently it's got D1 usage.

That classing allows the new owner to run a medical or health

service out here. You could also set up a day nursery or some

kind of educational centre, so if that's your line of business,

you're all set to go. Happy days!

You could, of course, keep it as a place of worship,

but D1 usage is highly sought after for commercial properties.

There's a whole range of possible users there.

A window or two might be quite nice, or what about taking things

a little further?

It's when you come outside that you get a real

sense of how big this site actually is.

It's approximately 0.12 acres

and so there's quite a bit to play with here.

You could think about extending this building,

if you didn't really want all this parking space or

how about applying for a change of use to residential?

The auction catalogue does hint at its potential for conversion.

I know there's a business next door.

Not ideal, but there's a residential development close by.

Definitely something to think about.

We invited along a local estate agent to get her take on this former

church that went to auction at a guide price of 200,000.

I think this is a very attractive and rare commercial premises.

It still has potential for slight improvements but most importantly,

it offers parking and facilities to accommodate any D1 business.

And if the purchaser rented the property out

with its D1 commercial usage,

what kind of rental income might that achieve?

I would anticipate a monthly rental of £1,750.

And if they sold it on as a commercial unit?

I'd strongly recommend a market valuation of £325,000.

If the purchaser went for change of use to residential

and built a three-bed bungalow on the plot,

it might rent out for between 1,350 and 1,400 per calendar month

but what about selling it on as a residential property?

As an attractive modern three-bedroom bungalow,

I'd anticipate a purchase price

in the region of £380,000 to £450,000.

And so there are a couple of options here -

keep it as a commercial unit and hold onto your D1 status,

which seems to be the most sought-after business classing,

or you could apply for planning

to turn this into a residential property.

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

Right, Lot 31 is a readily available

purpose-built detached church premises.

Over to you. Who'd like to kick off?

200 anywhere?

OK, start the other way. 1...170, I'm not going to go below 170.

170 anywhere?

170 standing up, 170. 175.

175?

With you, £170,000, your bid,

first time, second time,

third and last time. Are we all done?

175.

180, 185.

190.

195.

200.

195, 200 in the front, 200. 205.

210. 215. 220.

225. Just nod now. 225.

230. 235, sir.

240.

245.

250.

245. With you, 245.

250.

246. Yep?

247? Or 250?

250? 250. 251.

Yep? 252.

253.

254. 255.

255 elsewhere?

254, first time,

second time, 255,

256,

257.

258,

259...

No?

258, first time, second time,

third and last time...

Yes, no? 259,

260, 261.

262.

Yeah? 263.

264.

265?

264 with you, sir.

265 elsewhere? If not, 264,

first time, second time,

third and last time, are you all done?

Sold, 264 to you. Well done, sir.

That successful bid of £264,000

was made by Danny on behalf of his son Daniel

who runs a veterinary practice in the area.

# Oh, Danny boy

# The pipes, the pipes are calling... #

I met up with Danny and Daniel back at the property

to find out their plans.

Guys, congratulations.

Now, you weren't both at the auction, were you, on auction day?

-No.

-You were at the auction.

-That's right.

-So, Danny, you're father to Daniel.

-Correct.

And you were bidding on his behalf?

-Yes.

-So what's the story? Tell me.

The story was that Daniel needed to expand his business

and he needed more premises.

These premises came on the market and that was it.

So tell me about your business, Daniel.

I run a 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic

that opened maybe three-and-a-half years ago

and the workload has just got so much in the current building

that we needed to expand out

into at least one more location at this stage,

probably moving onto a third and fourth site shortly,

but just literally to keep up with the volume of work that's coming in.

Danny, what was auction day like for you?

Well, auction day was very, very good because our perk in going up,

my wife and I, our perk for going up was to have a champagne lunch.

-Did you do that?

-No.

-Aw, why not?

It was too busy. Everything was too busy on the day, so we ended up,

when the deal was finished, we just went to the pub.

So didn't it worry you spending so much money on behalf of your son?

No, not at all. I was glad to get out and spend somebody else's money.

It's marvellous!

Daniel, what sort of great plans do you have for this building?

How are you going to turn it around?

It's obviously going to be used for a veterinary clinic,

a daytime veterinary clinic

with operating facility in here, consulting room.

So are there any plans for you to change this at all,

-to extend out the front?

-It appears at the moment

from the initial discussions with the architect

that extending upwards into the ceiling

would be far more expensive than going out into the car park.

The car park's obviously fairly substantial,

it's a lot cheaper to expand out there,

probably with some form of glass structure

in order to carry maybe a waiting room area out onto the front.

So guys, are you going to be working on this project together

or have you done your bit now, Dad?

No, I'll still be working on it. Yes, I'll be working,

doing all the necessary things that are required.

I'm going to be the van driver, an overseer, a general dogsbody.

Daniel seems pretty relaxed about the whole thing

and hopes to get the new clinic up and running within three months.

How much are you looking to spend here? What's the budget?

I would have thought the site itself we'd probably spend 60-70,000

on the actual building work of changing this site,

and then possibly sort of 600,000 on equipping it for the type of use

that we would move forwards with.

Wow, 600,000? That really has stunned me, actually.

You see, the digital radiography facilities, dentistry,

the whole equipping - putting in the anaesthetic circuitries,

oxygen generation, so we do spend quite a lot on that type of,

you know, to make it as modern as can be.

No wonder Daniel was keen to get his paws on this property.

It will certainly meet a lot of his requirements.

But I wonder what kind of patients he'll be getting to see here?

Just tell me, what's the most unusual animal you have ever had to work on?

-A raccoon.

-A raccoon. And what was wrong with the raccoon?

It was a film raccoon and he was very badly behaved,

so they wanted him castrated.

-And you got the job?

-And he was evil.

-And you got the job?

-Yes.

-I love it.

We got the job because somebody rang the clinic one day asking how much we would castrate a raccoon for.

I was operating, and mistakenly thought, the same as a rabbit.

Not realising what I'd have to deal with. A very dangerous animal.

-That is funny. Was it a famous film?

-It is a famous one.

-Really?

-Yes. I can't remember what it's on, but it's a famous one.

And I wouldn't want to see it again because I think it'll be even angrier next time it sees me.

That is a very funny story. Guys, I'm so excited to see what you do.

And good luck with the business. I'm sure it will be a huge success.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Lovely to meet you. Thank you.

Sometimes it's just meant to be, isn't it?

Daniel needed an overflow for his business, and this came up.

So no need to change the business classing,

so he can get on with the work straightaway and move his practice in. Brilliant.

The big question is, will he do it in just two to three months?

You can find out if he manages it later on in the programme.

Coming up, in Gretna, this house makes a great first impression.

You know, when you walk into a house sometimes, everything just feels right.

In Middlesex, did Daniel's project turn into a money pit or pet? Boom, boom!

This really adjusted the price upwards.

But first, how did DIY virgin Kamran fare at his Derby pad?

Designed it myself, installed it myself, including the plumbing as well.

We're going back to Littleover just outside Derby,

where earlier we saw science teacher Kamran buy this at auction.

A two-bedroom semi in need of some TLC for £129,000.

This was his first property purchase for himself

and he had little DIY we experience.

That didn't halt his plans to get pretty involved.

-And are you going to be hands-on?

-I'm going to be hands on.

-This tie will come off and I will be hands-on.

-How exciting to have your own place.

I'm really excited. It's nice to see an old house

and to do it how I want to do it rather than buy a new house and it's already done.

With enthusiasm to spare, how did Kamran get on making this house into his home?

We're here less than two months after we first met to find out.

What was tatty and tired

is now fresh faced and filled with plenty of personal touches.

And it starts as soon as you're through the front door.

Originally when I bought this house there was a blue door here

and a window here. And it was blocking most of the light in here.

So I decided to take the door out, take the window out.

And I thought, well, why not make an arch and tile it up?

And it looks fantastic.

Yes, a porch area can be pleasant.

It also keeps the noise and drafts out.

But if not needed for that, it can feel like a waste of space.

This now feels bigger and brighter. And that's no accident.

I think the biggest thing this house was, I wanted the house to look more spacious

by using certain colours, using bright colours.

I wanted more space here. And having a gas fire in here wouldn't make this room look good.

So I decided to take that out. But the dresser, I kept that in

simply because it just looks good. It's an old school feature.

Whilst Kamran has done this place to his own design,

he's blended it well with what was here.

That may have been partly to keep his budget down.

Originally he had planned to spend ideally between 8,000-12,000,

though he was willing to stretch to 15 if necessary. So how did he do?

With the extra features of the house, I spent a little bit more.

Um, went about £12,000.

And it's not only the budget he came in on.

His original timescale was up to eight weeks. And he did it in six.

But not without all hands being on deck.

My mum and dad have helped me out a lot.

My mum's painting and the wallpaper has been amazing.

She has chosen that. So she has got a good eye for that.

I really appreciate that. And again, my brother has helped me out lot as well. So it has been brilliant.

So, brother Cecil and the rest of the family helped out.

Without them, this would surely have taken a lot longer.

And the time wasn't the only impressive length here.

One of my favourite things about this property

was that massive garden.

But whilst the size was certainly impressive,

the state of it? Mm, not so much.

So this is the garden.

Most of the work's been done by my dad.

He's put some long hours into this.

But you can see how much different it looks now.

It looks really, really good. My dad lost a stone or so doing this.

So brilliant, yeah, well done, Dad.

Well done, Kamran, who didn't let the fact that he had virtually no renovation experience behind him

get in the way of doing plenty of the work.

Through this project, I've done the kitchen, the tiling,

the floor tiles, all the technical work, the floorboards.

I've done some plastering and the bathroom as well,

so that was an experience, doing the bathroom

because I designed it myself, installed it myself,

including the plumbing as well, so yeah, I did really well.

Kamran did bring in the professionals for some of the work,

but I'm really impressed that he took on so much of it himself.

But what would two local estate agents think?

We invited two along to ask them.

First impressions of the property, I like the garden.

The garden's a nice, big garden for families.

The kitchen has been opened up

to make it a nice, big kitchen-diner with modern units.

Upstairs the carpets are nice and stripy, modern,

giving it a contemporary feel and good-sized double bedrooms.

And the third bedroom is also a good size, it's not a box room.

The front is attractive and it has driveway parking. Perfect.

I've had a good look around the property

and the overall look is very nice. I think the style of it is good.

It's a good location. Nice, big garden.

So they like the look, but could this property be lucrative?

Kamran purchased it at the auction for £129,000 and has spent £12,000

on the renovation, bringing his total outlay to £141,000.

If he wanted to sell, would he make a healthy profit?

If I was to market the property for sale, I would market it at approximately £155,000.

To sell the property, I think we would be looking at offers

within the region of £170,000.

I think the 155 might be a little bit too low.

I think the 170 might be a little bit too high.

I'm thinking around about the 160 mark on this.

But yeah, all in all, it's still worth it for me,

because for what I've bought it for and what I've spent on it,

I've still done really, really well.

A pre-tax and expenses profit of between £14,000

and £29,000 is not to be sniffed at.

But selling on is not on Kamran's agenda.

Although he does plan to live here himself,

he's decided he will rent it out for a while first,

so how much can he get for that?

I would market this property at between £600

and £625 per calendar month.

I would look to achieve £620 per calendar month.

I was thinking about that kind of price so, yeah,

I'm really, really happy with that.

Those rental figures would mean a yield of around 5% to 5.5%.

Not a bad return for his first property venture.

And having done it once,

has Kamran now got a taste for turning places around?

Buying something in the auction and then really doing it up

to how you want to do it up is time-consuming.

It's a lot of work, it's a lot of hours,

but you can see the rewards of this.

And I love it. I think it's brilliant.

Give that man a gold star.

Well, today I'm on the border between England and Scotland,

in Gretna Green, obviously famous for marriages over the centuries.

Its main claim to fame dates back to 1754 when an Act of Parliament

was passed in Britain which meant that if you were 21 years or below

you had to get the consent of your parents before you got married.

That wasn't the case here in Scotland where a girl could be as young as 12, and a bloke 14,

so many a young English couple

would elope north to Gretna Green here, and that, the old blacksmiths.

Scottish law proved lucky not just for the runaway couples.

It dictated that anyone could carry out the nuptials

as long as there were two witnesses.

So a very lucrative sideline developed

for enterprising blacksmiths who were known as an Anvil priests.

The romantic notion of eloping still persists so viva, er, Gretna Green.

Let's hope today's auction lot is a decent proposal.

Well, if romance and intrigue aren't enough to attract you

to this Scottish border town, maybe the property I'm here to see is.

It's actually in adjoining Gretna, right by the side of Gretna Green.

It's this three-bedroom semi-detached

at a guide price of £75,000.

# Let's get married

# Let's get married. #

I may just have been swept off my feet by the area,

but I've got a good feeling about this place.

There is something quite charming about it already

and it's on a quiet road not far from the local amenities. Bonus.

OK.

You know, when you walk into a house sometimes

everything just feels right. You walk through the front door,

there's stairs to the bedroom there, then it's through to the lounge,

with a door you can close to keep out the draughts.

Already I'm liking the layout.

Big windows there looking out to the front,

double glazed which is good news.

And open fire. Whoo!

And it carries on in here too.

The kitchen, obviously been knocked through at some point

to create a really nice family living and food preparation area.

Kitchen looks to be in half-decent condition.

If you were renting this place out you could maybe get away with it.

But what I really like is again the feeling in here.

It's all sort of open-plan and it just works.

Big windows again out onto the garden

and you could see yourself living very comfortably in this house.

And it's refreshing to get that feeling from down here

rather than have to think straightaway how you would create it.

Here's hoping the rest of this place 'marries up' to expectations as well.

So you come up the stairs and I keep on thinking,

why can't all houses just be like this?

It's exactly as it should be. Up the stairs,

loo is at the top of the stairs where it should be.

Three bedrooms, a small box room at the front,

a larger double at front and a larger double again at the back.

But everything is exactly as it should be.

You know, it's a breath of fresh air, to be honest.

Whoever plumps for purchasing this property won't have to worry about the layout.

So it could be ideal for someone embarking on their first renovation.

It really just needs new life to be breathed into it.

The outside looks promising too.

Well, at the rear of the property, a really nice surprise. A big garden.

Now it needs a bit of tender loving care,

but with a bit of imagination, you can see what this could become.

You've got a pond - do that up.

A bit of grass, get that cut. Maybe some sheds at the bottom there.

The most important thing is you've got the space to do it.

So not just a good, solid house but a great garden to boot.

All for an attractive guide price of £75,000

and right on Gretna's doorstep, or should I say, threshold.

It's scoring some serious points with me,

but does a local estate agent agree?

We invited one along to find out.

Well, the fact that it's in relatively decent order,

I mean, depending on your personal choice you could,

if you wanted to, move into it and do it while you're living there.

Or you could, if you want to, strip it out and start again.

If this was my property, I would park a skip out the front,

strip the property from the floor up and rent it out.

And if it were to be put on the rental market,

once it had been brought back to life of course,

what could the rental returns be?

In rental, it should achieve between £450

and £500 per calendar month.

What about the sale value?

Once renovated, this property should achieve between 120,000

and £125,000.

Well, a big house in a decent location

and not too much work required. It ticks all the boxes.

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

Semi-detached house with garage and gardens. 70, I'm looking for.

Not going lower than 65. 65 I've got. We are away. At £65,000 then.

I'll take it in twos. 67, 69, 71 I'm bid. 73 I've got seated.

I'll take one, 74. 74 I'm bid.

75 I'm bid, 76.

76. 76,500, 77. 77,500.

78 I've got. 78,500. 79 I've got.

£79,500 I've got.

And 80, and a half. And 81. And a half.

82. And a half.

83 I'm bid, and a half. 84.

84,500, 85.

And a half. 86.

At £85,500, then, first time. Second time.

Third and final time. All done, all out. You, sir.

The hammer fell at £85,500.

The bid made by Chris who attended the auction with his friend,

Dave, as they're purchasing the property together.

Dave's an independent mortgage adviser and Chris a joiner.

They sound like an ideal match to take on this Gretna three-bed

which is where I met up with them.

-Dave, Chris, nice to meet you both.

-You too.

-Congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this house in Gretna.

We're looking for an investment property to do up

and it came on at the right price at the auction so we went for it.

Ideal pairing, someone who can do the work

and someone who, hopefully, can raise the finance.

But you were mates first and foremost?

We've been mates for 15 years.

-15 years.

-So why this house particularly?

I've stayed in this street before. It's a good area of Gretna.

It came up at a good price.

Local knowledge is invaluable when making a property purchase.

As they were both born and bred here,

and have lived in similar properties in the area,

Chris and Dave are armed with useful information.

They searched for a while before they unearthed this one,

but hopefully once they renovate it, they will strike Gretna gold.

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

It's his department here!

Probably come in, obviously strip it all-out,

the kitchen out, the bathroom out, all the internal doors

and skirting boards, and then just start afresh, really.

Get it re-plastered, and new fittings back in.

And are you going to be doing all the work?

I'll be doing most of it. I'll try and rope David in for some of it!

I'll feed him a coffee and keep the music going, keep him entertained.

Good. So what's the budget that you've put aside to do it?

-About 15?

-I would say that should do it, top to bottom. Hopefully.

And we're either going to sell it on, if we can, or if not, rent it out.

-Right.

-We'll see how it goes.

But in an ideal world, you'd sell it, would you?

-Yeah, ideal world, we'd sell it.

-The right price.

-And do another project.

So this could just be the start of this duo's property venture.

As well as the work inside, they also plan to clear the garden,

take it back to its roots, lay down some flag stones

and put a new door on the garage.

And they need to do it all whilst also juggling their full-time jobs.

So how long do you think it'll be before it's all sorted?

-Two to three months.

-Really?

-Hopefully finished.

A lot of weekends and evenings then!

-Try and get it done as quick as possible.

-Good stuff.

So once you've done this then, what's next on the agenda?

Hopefully we'll build ourselves up so we can build a house of our own,

one each. We'll just have to see how it goes.

How do you think it's going to work, working together,

because obviously you're mates but it's a different kettle of fish?

-I think we'll be fine.

-Should be fine.

Give each other their own space, we'll be all right.

And when in Rome, or Gretna in this case, there's one last question.

-So are either of you two married?

-No, I'm getting married next month.

-Are you?

-Yes.

-In Gretna?

-No, in Penrith.

So much for 'There's no place like home.'

Well, Dave may be choosing not to marry in Gretna,

but hopefully his relationship with Chris,

when it comes to property developing,

will be a marriage made in heaven.

Work to be done here. How will they get on? Find out later in the show.

It's been a while now since we last saw those properties.

There should have been some work done,

but that's not always the case.

Lots of problems can arise.

Let's go back and see what they've been up to.

We've come back to the West London suburb of Hillingdon.

Vet Daniel purchased this former church premises

for £264,000 for his rapidly expanding practice.

He intended turning it into a second surgery where he could give his patients some creature comforts.

Tell me, what's the most unusual animal you've ever had to work on?

-A raccoon.

-And what was wrong with the raccoon?

It was a film raccoon and it was very badly behaved

-so they wanted him castrated.

-I love it!

We got the job because somebody rang the clinic one day asking,

how much would we castrate a raccoon for? And I was operating

and they mistakenly thought just the same as a rabbit.

Not realising what I'd have to deal with.

I wouldn't want to see it again because I think it will be even angrier next time it sees me!

Well, hopefully I won't be angry when I see the property again.

It's now nine months since I met Daniel and his dad, Danny.

In that time, have they turned this into a perfect place for pets?

# I'm the king of the swingers, a jungle VIP

# I've reached the top and had to stop, and that's what bothering me

# Ooh-be-doo, I wanna be like you

-# Want to walk like you, talk like you too.

-#

It sure looks like it.

Outside and that handy parking area has been marked up

and a disabled space added.

Also new is the extension of the front, which as planned,

houses a shiny, new waiting area for pets and their owners.

And there's more inside.

We have obviously the front waiting area and then we have the reception.

The two consulting rooms,

and then into this operating area which is very much open-plan.

An X-ray area, dental area.

And then the acoustically sealed kennels.

Obviously they're leading out to the outside

and we have the outside kennel run

to let the dogs out in the middle of the day.

But they are not just any kennels.

The acoustic kennel room was quite difficult to set up

because I haven't seen this sort of thing done before.

Acoustically-sealed kennels are similar to what they use

in recording studios to try and prevent noise for the comfort

of their clients and staff and the other patients waiting.

If you can hear a dog barking and you're a dog waiting,

terrified to go into a veterinary clinic, it doesn't help.

# It's a dogs life

# They give you names like Rover

-# They give you names like Rex.

-#

With the practice not open yet,

Daniel's drafted in his dog, Hercules, to help test it out.

Daniel's dad couldn't meet us today but did help out with planning

and project managing and Daniel brought in a team of builders

who've been beavering away to get this high spec, high-tech surgery up to scratch.

So one of the features of the building would be the leaded wall.

This allows us to take X-ray in this location here without exposing

the rest of the premises to radiation.

Obviously, these walls are tested so it's certain that they will absorb the radiation properly.

It looks the same as the rest of the walls,

but it's the construction that is different.

It seems every detail of this place has been planned to perfection.

And it will be up and running very soon.

The building's ready to go, the timescale,

we sort of said three months to have it all set up.

It took five. Really, we weren't in a rush.

It was more the standard that we wanted, rather than to try

and get the job finished quickly.

So that is why we needed an additional couple of months delay

on the project itself.

Quality costs money so how much did Daniel have to pay for it?

The original budget was around £60,000.

It probably went to 70, £80,000.

Because of additions and higher specifications that we started

to insist upon during the development of the site itself.

This really adjusted the price upwards.

So over-budget and schedule, but worth the wait.

And Daniel's taking it in his stride.

With that approximate £80,000 on the work

added to the purchase price of £264,000,

his total spend here has been £344,000.

Not including the costs of the new equipment.

We invited two local property experts to cast their eyes

over these commercial premises.

The work's been done very well. It gives a very good impression

when you come into the building.

The property's been refurbished to an excellent standard throughout.

Ideal for purpose. Great use of space

and the nice thing is there's plenty of parking at the front

for people visiting the veterinary.

If the property was offered for sale on the open market at any time,

there would be a considerable amount of interest

simply because it has D1 use, which is very, very popular,

even in these difficult times.

If he were to consider selling,

what would these estate agents believe he could get?

I would recommend an asking price of £375,000,

with a view to achieving a selling price of £350,000.

If I was putting this property on the market today, I'd be looking to put it on for £375,000.

I think that's a reasonable figure.

They're both obviously very qualified in this area

and understand commercial markets.

Very pleased with that.

So the potential pre-tax profit would be between £6,000 and £31,000.

Would letting be a better option?

On the rental side, there's huge demand for this kind of property

and we'd be placing it on the open market for £24,000 per annum.

An appropriate rental figure per annum would be £23,000 or £24,000.

£24,000, I would say, would be a very reasonable price, yeah.

Absolutely. Happy with that.

So a potential yield of between 6% and 7%.

But Daniel set up this place for himself

and his ever-increasing business.

He hopes to open a third AND potential fourth practice before long.

We want to continue expanding the business.

Maybe a larger scale industrial unit is the next one that in the pipeline.

# It's a doggy's life. #

We're back in the Scottish border town of Gretna,

where local lads, David, a mortgage adviser, and Chris, a joiner,

paired up to purchase this three bed semi for £85,500.

The property offered a great garden and superb layout,

but was in need of some serious cosmetic attention,

which would put Chris' skills to good use.

-Are you going to be doing all the work?

-I'll be doing most of it.

I'll try and rope David in for some of it!

I'll feed him a coffee and keep the music going, keep him entertained!

This pair seemed like a dream team,

but by juggling this with their full-time jobs,

they were taking on a challenge in aiming to complete

the work in under 12 weeks.

So we're back almost three months to the day since we first met

to see if it's all done or all over the shop.

Well, I'm delighted to say it's all done.

The boys stripped the entire house out

and started from scratch on the inside.

It all looks so much better than before. But what about the outside?

We stoned this area here.

Also dug out all the overgrown weeds, dug up the pond that was here,

relawned it, replaced the fence panels

and just gave it a pressure wash. It's been such a difference.

Whilst I quite liked the pond that was here before,

I think they've made the right decision by keeping it simple

and low maintenance. Once the grass has had a chance to grow,

it'll be an ideal outside space.

Inside, the biggest change here is in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, we came in and stripped all the old kitchen out.

Stripped all the wallpaper off, had this wall reskimmed,

because it was quite a mess.

We've moved the pipe work about a bit to suit the new kitchen,

and basically fitted the new kitchen, the worktops,

tiled all the splash backs and then decorated.

That's about it in the kitchen. We're quite happy with the result.

-It's quite a nice finish.

-It is indeed.

But as this was the first time these guys have worked together,

I want to know, did it finish their friendship?

# He was a friend of mine... #

Yeah, we've got on great.

I just give the jobs I don't want to do to David.

I've done all the non-skilled jobs, he's done the skilled ones.

So they did get hands-on with the work,

but as an independent mortgage adviser,

David's skills were more geared to the finances.

They had set an ideal budget of £10,000.

Have they done all this for that?

Just over eight, I think.

Chris doing a lot of the work helped. Saving a lot on labour.

I pulled a couple of favours in to help us.

Yeah, we're pleased with what we've come away with.

It really does do wonders for your budget

if you can do as much of the work yourself as possible.

Even basic things like stripping the walls

or units can tot up to a fair amount.

If you get someone else in for those jobs,

your profit will start to shrink.

But these boys have come in under budget and on time.

Well, just on time anyway.

Once we got the keys, we got going

and nothing got done for a good month, month and a half

and then it was a mad rush at the end.

But we got there.

They sure did, and the house looks great.

Added to the £85,500 they paid at auction,

their approximate £8,000 spent on the work

brings the total outlay here to £93,500.

Time to invite a local estate agent

and the auctioneer who sold the property round

to see what they make of it all.

I think this property has been done out really well.

It's really bright, airy, spacious, it's been decorated throughout,

carpeted throughout, new kitchen, new bathroom.

It's all light and airy, loads of light coming into the property. Nice, easy living space.

-It's very nice.

-It's a good-sized property. Good garden.

Lawned area, garage, off-road parking.

In general, the owners have done a good job.

Both property experts agree that the house would do well on either the sale or rental markets.

And last time Chris and Dave seemed open to either.

Let's hear how much they could get if they sold it.

In the current market, this property would achieve somewhere between 115,000 and £120,000.

I think the property would achieve in the region of £115,000.

-Quite happy with that.

-No surprises there. Seems fine.

We're going to rent it out for the foreseeable future,

until the market gets better, possibly sell later on.

So a potential pre-tax profit of between £21,500

and £26,500 isn't quite enough for now.

How about the rental figures?

If this property was exposed to the rental market,

it would achieve a figure of between £475 per calendar month

and £495 per calendar month.

Rental wise, at the moment, in the current market,

this property would achieve somewhere between £475 and £500 per calendar a month.

We've got a tenant lined up and we're renting it for £500 a month.

-So we're quite happy with that.

-And so they should be.

£500 per calendar month will give them a rental yield of nearly 6.5%.

That tenant moves in today.

So we'd better get out here, but not before we get some last-minute tips

from Chris and Dave about buying at auctions.

Set a budget before you go and don't go over it.

Try not to go much over it. We went slightly over it but, yeah,

set a budget and try to stick to it.

Well, that was today's bunch for you.

We have plenty more property owners who have experienced the highs

and lows of buying at auction.

So make sure you join us next time to meet them.

And see some more auction action, here on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

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