Episode 3 Homes Under the Hammer

Despite all the doom and gloom in the news,

the property market can still be a tempting place to put your money.

But it is vital to do your research.

But, by buying under the hammer, you can get yourself a bargain.

If you like variety and good value,

then and auction house may be just for you.

Here are the properties that lured our buyers on today's programme.

When we first saw this delightful Devon property,

it had been abandoned mid-renovation.

We returned to see how it finally turned out.

And in Donnington, Shropshire, there's a house that dazzles me.

Let's just say the canary yellow has not gone unnoticed with the textured wallpaper.

In the village of Brandon near Durham, I find a semi, which just keeps on giving.

If this was just it, it'd be OK. But there's more.

The properties were sold at auctions. We'll find out who bought them and what they paid

when they went under the hammer.

Sold.

We're going to revisit a property I fell in love with in Devon.

It's been a year since I was last in the cute village of Crediton,

where I was smitten by this characterful place, which had been stripped back

to its bare bones.

Hmm...

Pretty bad.

Gosh! Well, um...

It's not what I expected. This is not your usual mid-terrace, that's for sure.

Look at these floorboards and look at these beams.

Woah! That is oak. It looks like it's had woodworm in its time.

But how much character can a small place possibly have?

Let's try and describe this.

It's obviously got solid stone walls,

judging by the depth of that reveal there.

You've got this front area here with a wooden floor.

Probably a cellar underneath there.

Then this amazingly characterful bit of step

leading to the rear of the property, where you've got this, sort of, I don't know,

amazing wood-burning cooker. More beams set into the plaster.

Ah...

Wow!

# Speechless

# Speechless

# That's how you make me feel #

It does feel like you're stepping back in time here.

There's no central heating and just the dirt floor at the back.

And, at the moment, it feels quite dark and cramped.

What surprised me upstairs is that there seems to be more space than there is downstairs.

You've got a fairly decent-size loo and bathroom.

A little set of stairs, which leads up to an attic area up there.

And this is your one bedroom. But the fact that, obviously,

someone stripped away the ceiling in here, it gives it a real feeling

- I never thought I'd use this word - of space.

What would I do? Straightaway, I'm thinking maybe create an open-plan

mezzanine floor, galleried perhaps, looking down

on to this area. Create an extra bedroom there but not separated out.

You've got yourself one heck of a charming property here, really.

Yes, lots of work. Yes, it's grade-two listed,

so you'll have to get approval for things.

But worth it? Oh, I think so.

On second thoughts, I don't think there's enough ceiling height

to make the attic space a proper second bedroom.

The attic stairs are too steep to meet building regulations.

You'd need to put a window in the roof

and the listed buildings office might not be happy with that.

At the rear of the property, the challenge is...

Well, they don't get any less, to be honest.

This is the rear door of the house. That little window, that's it. The rest of the stuff

in this courtyard is other people's property. It's a shared courtyard, so you have access out the back.

But when it comes to things like party walls, doing renovation works and not upsetting the neighbours,

when it comes to just defining, when it comes to being a solicitor,

who owns what, it's a nightmare.

# You're welcome to my nightmare, yeah #

Many calculations to make and lots to do to this listed

freehold house. With no kitchen in place, it may not be mortgageable either.

But what's a nightmare for one person could be a dream investment for another.

Especially at that relatively low guide price of 55 to 65,000.

Well, let's be realistic about this.

The fact that it's fallen to pieces inside will cause you problems.

The fact it's grade-two listed will cause you problems.

The fact that there's no space for a skip will cause you problems.

But I don't care. I love it.

I'm sure somebody fell in love with it when it went under the hammer.

A charming mid-terrace, grade-two listed house. Guide price is 55-60.

To start at 50,000 would be very nice.

Straightaway at 50. And 1. 50,000.

And 51. And 52.

And 52,000. And 53.

53. And 54. 54. And 55.

56. 56,000. 57.

57. 58.

58,000. 59 now. Take a half if it helps you.

Yeah, 58 and a half. 59 now.

£59,000. 60 for knockout.

It's with you at £59,000. Any advance on 59.

Are we sure we're all done

at £59,000? Are we quite sure we're all done?

It's sold to you. £59,000.

# You bought it

# You bought it #

That final bid of 59,000 came from Devon-based Charlotte.

She works part-time in a primary school

and is mother to George and Lily.

While the kids play, I found out more about her plans for this, her first property investment.

-Charlotte.

-Hi.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Wow! Well, it's not your average house, is it?

No, no. I wasn't expecting to buy it but I'm glad I have.

-You weren't expecting to buy it?

-I'd never been to an auction, I went to see what happened.

But the bidding carried on, whizzed up

and then came to a point and stopped just under my limit.

-Oh.

-So I put my hand up knowing that if anyone else bid that was me out and nobody did.

Well, that is how it works at auction.

If you put your hand up, you've got to be prepared for the fact that you might buy it.

Charlotte had viewed it before the auction but was more interested in another property.

However, the low guide price for this one proved just too tempting.

So, have you done anything like this before?

Not on my own. I have done up an old farmhouse before.

Um... And my parents have been in property renovation for a while.

This is your first renovation project really.

-Yes.

-And your first auction purchase?

-Yes.

The expression "in at the deep end" springs to mind.

A little bit. At least I don't have any ripping out to do, it's all done for me.

-Blank canvas.

-Looking on the bright side.

Um, so tell me what you're going to do with it. How are you going to sort it out?

I'm not doing any major works in there. I want to leave everything, the layout, as it is.

Obviously, put a ceiling back in the bedroom. Just board that out

because there is a second staircase going up to the attic. It would be an attic room

-not an official second bedroom.

-But you will open up the attic room?

-Yes.

-OK.

New kitchen, obviously.

Where? Where's it going to go?

The kitchen we'll fit in at the front. Already worked out, we can squeeze everything in.

Charlotte has a budget of up to £20,000 including legal fees.

And a practical timescale of six months.

She plans to do as much of the work herself as possible, bringing in tradespeople for the skilled jobs.

She's also got two willing helpers in her children,

George and Lily, as I discovered.

-Tell me what you're going to do.

-We are going to do quite a lot.

We get to use a lot of tools and stuff, which will be quite fun.

Lily, what are you going to do?

I might help with putting slate in the living room floor.

She'll probably do a lot of painting because girls are better at that.

Well, that was back in October 2011.

When we first returned nine months later,

things hadn't moved at quite the pace Charlotte had planned.

It's progressed slower than I hoped it would.

But it has been a big learning curve.

But I'm pleased now I'm getting to a stage where, every day I spend here,

I can see a difference at the end of it. So I'm on the final bit.

Charlotte is slowly but surely bringing this cottage back to life.

I've been doing an awful lot of work myself.

I've had electricians, plumbers and a plasterer in.

But beyond that, all the work I've done has been me.

# She's a hard-working woman

# If you only knew

This had been no quick lick of paint makeover.

It's been a lot of hard graft.

Trying to put the ceiling joists in,

just me by myself, it would have been quite a quick job

if I'd had somebody holding the other end of the timbers.

But working on my own it has taken a lot longer.

# She's a hard-working woman

# If you only knew #

This is the room probably with the biggest change

because, if you recall, there was no ceiling in here.

So you ere looking up to the underside of the slate tiles.

So putting the ceiling in,

stripping all the wallpaper off, redecorating.

Really pleased with the size of the room now it's all cleared out.

Just need a carpet down and this one's nearly finished.

Ever the optimist, Charlotte had already bought

the fixtures and fittings for her kitchen and bathroom.

But as she slowly worked her way through this period feature-rich house,

the bathroom and kitchen caused her the biggest delays.

There was hardly a right angle in the house.

And these areas were no different.

But Charlotte did have some specialist help with the wonky walls.

George and Lily haven't been here as much as they originally hoped.

But they did come down on Saturday and paint the bathroom wall.

So they have done their bit now.

And a very nice job they made of it too.

Charlotte had spent around £10,000 of her £20,000 budget

to get the house to this stage.

She was well on the way to finishing it and moving on to the next one

in her bid to fund a new home for herself and her two children.

Join us later in the show, when we see if she finally turned this

quirky little house into a place someone would be proud to call home.

This is Telford in Shropshire.

It's a modern town with shiny new developments and a population that's ever growing.

But perhaps my favourite thing about Telford,

apart from the glorious countryside,

is the fact that the average house price around here

is £80,000 under the national average.

The property I am here to see is, in fact, in Donnington.

A former coalmining town surrounded by lovely countryside.

Also, home to an MOD base and there's plenty of local shops.

The house itself has got three bedrooms.

It has a guide price of just £50,000.

There's already a lot to like about this place.

It's tucked down a quiet cul-de-sac.

There's a pleasant bit of green open space

with plenty of trees to look out on

and a decent-sized front garden

that could be made more attractive once tidied and flowers planted.

I'm certainly feeling positive vibes walk into this house.

The lounge is much bigger than I expected.

A lovely space. You could fit sofas in there and a family TV.

There's central heating, which is a really good sign.

Let's just say the canary yellow has not gone unnoticed with the textured wallpaper.

It does give the hallway quite a sort of closed-in feeling.

And you've got a second reception room towards the back of the property.

I really like this space. It would be wonderful to have a great big family table here.

And the kitchen is just here.

So you've got a couple of options.

You could knock this down.

Or if you don't want to take down the kitchen wall,

it's not like you have to walk far to put the food on the table,

you could widen this doorway to have a bigger opening

so you've got an easy walk through.

Also, what I'm spying is a couple of storage sheds.

Again, great for families. You can get all the kids' bikes,

all the junk that a family brings. They are really good to have.

All in all, you get a lot for your money with this house.

Don't forget, the guide price - 50 grand.

# We've already said...

Colourful it may be but I'd treat this house as a blank canvas.

# ..goodbye

Who knows what's lurking underneath the textured wallpaper and tatty carpets.

# Since you've got to go, oh you'd better go now

You will need a new kitchen and that downstairs loo will need a total refit if it's to stay.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms. At the front,

there's one single and a decent-size double.

While at the back, there's a large double bedroom and a bathroom

so green but I doubt anyone would be envious of it.

All in all, it's in need of some serious redecoration and rewiring.

To the rear of the house, as well as the sheds,

the back garden to be is a good size even if it is a bit tired.

# Since you've got to go, oh you'd better go now #

So, who is this property going to appeal to?

Well, young families moving up from a flat maybe.

But my money is on rental investors who'll be more than tempted

by the potential £550 per month that this place could generate,

which adds up to an 11% return on your cash. Appealing indeed.

The area around Telford nearly always delivers fabulous rental yields.

So I hope this property is no exception.

I've allowed £10,000 spend in my calculations for the rental return.

Which should be just about doable considering the heating's already there.

We asked a local estate agent what he though of this Donnington number

guided at offers over 50,000.

First impression of the property is that it's a good-size three-bedroom family home.

This would be good for resale or rental

because the rental yields can be good on these properties.

Get it on the rental market and it would rent very quickly.

Once the house is refurbished, what could it attract on the rental market?

If this was to go on the rental market, I would recommend £550 per calendar month.

We're clearly in agreement on that rental figure of £550 per calendar month.

But what could it get if refurbished and sold on the open market?

If this was to go on the sales market, I would suggest an asking price of £90,000.

There's a bit of instant profit here for sure.

But with that rental yield, I think this Donnington home is definitely a keeper.

Let's see who bought it and what they thought at the auction.

Lot 83. Back to Telford.

Three-bedroom end townhouse requiring modernisation.

35 can I say to start?

35 bid, right in the middle.

40. At 40,000.

45 standing.

OK. 50. Lady's bid. Now 50.

55.

£60,000. Shaking his head. Lady's bid. £60,000.

61, I'll go now. 61 on the phone.

62.

63 it will cost you on the phone.

Yeah, 63.

64.

Out. 64. Bid's in the room.

£64,000. 65, anywhere else?

At £64,000.

Are we all done? At £64,000 for the first time.

At £64,000 for the second time.

Third and final time, 64,000.

Yours, madam, well done.

A successful bid of 64,000, £14,000 over the guide price,

was made by hairdresser Julia and painter and decorator husband Gary.

# Make me a picture

# Paint me a scene #

They bought this property as a buy-to-let. I met them back there to find out more.

Gary and Julia, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-You must be pleased you got this on auction day.

-Very, very pleased.

-Was this your first auction?

-No, it wasn't.

We weren't successful at the first auction.

So we decided we'd make a game plan, we looked at four properties round the area.

-The first one went.

-Yeah.

-We were outbid.

This was the house we preferred and fortunately we got it.

So this was the house you wanted?

-This was the house we wanted.

-Sometimes, it's not good to win a house in your first auction.

-It's good to sit through it and watch how it works.

-It's exciting.

We've never done it before. It's quite nerve-racking bidding.

-I was bidding, I was like, "Ooh!"

-On the first, we thought we'd got a property.

Then, at the last minute, somebody else bid and then it goes on.

-We couldn't.

-We had to shut off. I was like, "Julia, stop! Stop!"

-That's it, no more.

-Did you both come on the viewing for this?

-No, we didn't.

-No.

You didn't? You just looked from outside?

Yeah, we looked outside. I know the area, I know the houses.

We had a look at the other houses around to get an idea of what sort of thing we're getting.

Our daughter said, Imogen and Amelia, a gentleman walked out

from the neighbourhood, Imogen said, "He's got a Jack Russell."

-The dog clinched the deal for your daughters. It was. Imogen said,

-"It's definitely the one."

# Move over old dog cos a new dog is moving in #

If only all property decisions were as easily made.

But the neighbour's pooch is no substitute for looking around a potential purchase, Gary and Julia.

Still, having now seen inside, what are they planning to do?

Well, Gary's a decorator by trade.

Strip all the walls off, probably cross line them,

paint them in a neutral colour all the way through.

Julia, are you going to help out? Are you going to be Gary's glamorous assistant?

-I can paint too.

-Can you?

-Yes, I'm good with a roller.

-Good.

Are you going to be on board? I know you've got two daughters.

-They'll help as well.

-They will be too?

-They'll be rolling as well. Yes, they'll be involved.

What about the rest of the house? It needs carpeting, a new kitchen and bathroom.

We've got plans for that. I've got various friends that will help me.

We deal with different trades.

Lots of friends and family to help out. What about alterations?

I'm looking at the kitchen. Normally, I'd walk in and say,

"Let's get that wall down, let's open the space up."

But here I thought you could widen the doorway.

Maybe it wouldn't be for everybody, opening it up and taking the wall down.

-What is your preferred option?

-I'd like to take the wall down.

As a mum, you like to have an open kitchen living area, really.

I know I'm not going to be living here

-but that's what I would like.

-It would really work for families.

-It would, yeah.

-So you're involved in the two rooms together.

-Who's going to do that?

-I'll sort that out.

Why are you doing this? What is your game plan for the future?

As my 11-year-old daughter said, this is her pension.

-She said that?

-She said that to my dad.

-Is that what you're doing this for?

-Well, long term, yeah.

We're self-employed and pensions aren't worth a lot nowadays.

This is a way of saving money for the future.

-What do you do?

-I'm a hairdresser.

-Are you going to have spare time to help your husband?

I'll be here in the evenings and at weekends, yeah.

What about the budget? You'll be doing most of the work. How much will you need to spend?

Carpets around about the £2,000, possibly £2,500 mark.

Redecoration, £2,000 to £2,500.

Kitchen, not sure yet. We're not sure how far we want to go with it.

What's your overall budget? Come on. How much have you got to spend?

Overall budget, we're probably looking at 6 or £7,000.

-Really?

-Yep. So...

-It could be variable.

-Depends.

-It depends on the kitchen.

I'm able to do a lot of the work, which is going to cut down a massive amount of expense.

-If you can get this whole house done for 6 too £7,000, I'll eat my hat.

-We'll be doing all right.

-We're not making any promises.

-I would have said at least £10,000.

-It's quite a big space.

-It's a lot of space.

The bedrooms, the toilet out the back, a bit of work needs doing.

-A few areas you need to concentrate on.

-Yes, yes, I totally agree.

How long until we can come back and have a look at it?

-Probably six weeks, we're trying to gauge it on about six weeks.

-Yeah.

Do you really think six weeks and six grand?

-Yes, seven grand.

-Oh, you're going up now.

-No, no.

-Six weeks to six to seven grand.

Six to seven grand, yes.

Six weeks, that's having a guideline to set sail on, really.

We'll see how it goes once we start.

Obviously, what we're going to uncover, various things like that.

-I'm looking forward to seeing this. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Lovely meeting you.

Well done, Gary. Julia, thank you.

6 to 7,000 for the whole house?

I think that might be just a tad optimistic.

Still, get the kids working on their own pension pot and they might just pull it in under ten grand.

You can find out if they do later on in the programme.

Coming up, in the village of Brandon in County Durham,

it's a loft conversion I presume.

So definitely worth exploring.

In Donnington near Telford, property developers seem to get younger.

We had to put the dustsheets down.

Then we had to tip paint into the bucket.

But first, we return to Devon to see if Charlotte can bear to leave the house now it's finally finished.

I've fallen in love with this house over the time that I've owned it.

It's been a full 12 months since we first visited Crediton in Devon

where one of the hardest-working mum's in town is almost

single-handedly bringing a charming but dilapidated house back to life.

Charlotte had to fit the renovation in around bringing up her two children.

She'd bought the one-bedroom property for just 59,000

and had a decent budget of 20,000 to fix it up.

She hoped to refurbish within six months and sell to help her on her way

towards buying a brand-new home for her own family.

The tiny house was ripe for renovation but that didn't mean it would be a simple task.

Upstairs, there were rooms without ceilings

and just nods towards the idea of a bathroom.

The only way this budget was going to work was if Charlotte rolled up

her sleeves and did as much as she could herself. But let's just say

this wasn't the fastest way to renovate this place.

The first time we came back, she'd put up ceilings and learned how to tile.

She'd brought in an expert to rewire and replumb.

But it was far from complete.

It's progressed slower than I hoped it would.

But it has been a big learning curve.

But I'm pleased now that I'm getting to a stage where,

ever day I spend here, I can see a difference at the end of it.

It's been a year since we first visited the grade-two listed house in Devon.

Time to find out if its rustic charm has been recreated from the rubble.

# You're going to make me, make me love you

# Nothing at all nothing that I do

# Promise I made, promise I made

# Started to fade, started to fade, fade

Inside, at last, this cute place has somewhere to bake a cream tea.

# Promise I made, promise I made #

The biggest change has got to be in the kitchen.

I've got the units, appliances in,

the worktop has all been cut in, the breakfast bar.

The flooring throughout has now all been nearly completed.

The tiling in the living room.

There was a ramshackle porch on the rear of the property,

which my father and I dismantled and rebuilt one weekend.

The hardest job was taking the old porch down.

The roof of the porch was actually about seven layers thick of different materials.

And the walls were made out of old doors,

which were screwed together. The rear porch has been repaired.

A lovely new stable door at the back.

And the attic now has also been boarded out

to make it a more usable storage space.

Making the most of every inch of space in a small house is essential.

It's a great idea to shift the boiler up here and add heated

storage space as well.

Upstairs, the bathroom has been transformed from hovel to heaven.

But it should be obvious by now that, as it's a characterful house,

that means not much can be bought off the peg to fit.

Being an old property,

it's been a challenge to get the kitchen to fit

because none of the walls are square or straight in the house.

But I had a very helpful chap come in and cut some to the units down to fit back into the corners.

Lovely oak worktops,

which have been fitted in beautifully with the breakfast bar

over the old stone wall into the sitting room.

I'm really pleased with the way the kitchen has come together.

In general, the quirky nature of the walls and floors, and the property in general,

has meant this wasn't the fast turnaround refurbishment Charlotte had dreamt of.

The project has taken a lot longer than I originally projected.

I was hoping to have it completed within six months.

I think that was extremely ambitious working on my own.

It's always been easy to stay at home and think,

"Why do I want to go to that dank, dark, dirty house and work all day?"

But the whole aim of it was to purchase this property,

complete it, sell it and repeat the process

so that I can buy a property for myself and my children to live in.

And that's been my motivation to keep at it.

And the love of the little house, of course.

Charlotte bought this one-bedroom mid-terrace for £59,000.

And spent £20,00 refurbishing it.

Bringing her total outlay to £79,000 before tax and expenses.

It's time to hear whether two local property experts

share her love of this quaint little place.

It's a very attractive cottage and it's been nicely renovated.

The cottage is quite small.

There's a limit to the number of people interested in buying it.

It will appeal to first-time buyers.

There's little on the market in this price range and it has beautiful

character and features and such charm.

It's rare to find a property that still boasts all its characterful features.

They're encased with partitions and plasterboarding.

To find a gem like this is very rare.

I love what the lady as done to the living area.

It's a feature. She's exposed the shelving and cupboard units

to make a wonderful space, not forgetting the range area.

This house, packed with period features, has certainly worked its charm on theses state agents.

But will their enthusiasm turn into profit for Charlotte?

What do they reckon the rental value might be?

If it came on to the renal market, which is strong in Crediton,

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

On the rental market, you could achieve somewhere in the region of £500 to £550 per calendar month.

That's a good return on my investment.

But I'm not really interested in renting it.

I'd rather release the capital that I have invested in the property and reinvest it

-in the next project.

-Better find out what the experts think it might sell for then.

If I put it on the market, I'd put it on for £109,000

with a view to achieving between 100 and £105,000.

If it was put on the market, you could achieve in the region of £100,000.

That would make Charlotte a profit of between 21 and £26,000

before tax and expenses.

I'm pleased with the valuations.

It still leaves me in profit.

But I was hoping, perhaps, for just a fraction more than that.

This was a very demanding choice for a first development.

But this is no ordinary property, so fingers crossed that its considerable charms

work on the next owner as well as they obviously have on Charlotte.

I've fallen in love with this house over the time that I've owned it.

And I would love to live here myself.

But with two children and three large dogs, it's just not practical.

So I will find, eventually, my larger version of this house that we can all fit in comfortably.

This is Durham in north-east England on the banks of the river Wear.

It's a city famous for its cathedral and castle, both designated World Heritage sites.

And there's been a university here since 1832.

Just three miles from the centre of Durham is the commuter village of Brandon.

The good news is there are great road and rail links.

And prices are less than in the centre of the city.

For instance, a two-bedroom semi-detached, looks all right,

had a guide price 49,950 quid.

The property certainly has a large front garden

and the added bonus of modern double-glazed windows.

Well, I have visited so many properties in my time

but it's rare I see an architectural feature that I haven't done before.

But these brick columns, they certainly do it.

Wow!

Let's see what else is in store.

Through the main front door into this little hallway area.

You've got the stairs curling round up to the bedrooms.

The front sitting room is a decent size and then through

into the kitchen. This is in need of time and money spent on it.

It's not a bad-size space but, if this was just it,

it would be OK. But there's more.

# More, more, more

# How do you like it? How do you like it? #

Just off the kitchen is this rather oddly shaped utility area.

This place is ripe for conversion.

It's just bare brick at the moment but you could easily incorporate

this area into the kitchen making a large kitchen diner.

Or use it as another room, maybe even a third bedroom.

And that's not the only bonus in this property.

Out through these large sliding doors

into what would have originally been the garden and is now this area here.

Historically, you might call it an orangery, it doesn't have any oranges

and it isn't in that Victorian style. So we'll call it a sun room.

But it does give a really nice extra bit of semi-outdoor space.

So, yeah, great.

At the rear of the property,

you do get a feeling of quite what an interesting design this house is.

Look at the highly and steeply banked roof line.

At the back here, this great big extension,

including this little ramp down to the garden.

The garden's not a bad-size space.

It is really interesting but it doesn't quite work.

It's almost like you want to keep the exterior, rip out the middle bits,

and put it all back together again properly.

But, you know, in terms of space, great, can't fault it.

Upstairs, the space on offer is rather more limited.

There are only two bedrooms up here but they're both doubles

and in pretty good condition.

There's also a family bathroom and the suite is pretty new.

You could possibly even keep that. But there is potential to add

even more square footage.

So, does that incredibly steeply pitched roof

throw up any interesting opportunities?

Well, take a look. Yes, it most definitely does.

It would be a real shame to leave this as it is.

This central space is pretty much clear for you.

Normally you'd have joists, purlins and all sorts of things going on.

But that's fantastic, so definitely worth exploring.

Not a Christmas decoration in sight.

# Just stop torturing and tell me what you're going to do

# What are you going to do?

I'm getting quite excited about how the space in this house,

guided at £49,950,

could be reworked.

We asked a local estate agent to tell us how he thought the place could be improved.

It's a good-size property begging for an extension downstairs in the utility area.

You could incorporate the sun room more into the property

and possibly extend the kitchen out into that area.

Or more likely, given the orientation of the garden,

leave it as an attractive heat trap for family use.

# I thought you were going to tell me what you're going to do

Even more possibilities for this flexi house.

But will the extra effort to make use of the space be rewarded with extra value?

If it was renovated and improved with a small conversion downstairs, you're probably looking

somewhere in the region of about 85 to £90,000.

What about rental estimates?

A rental figure, once converted, you'd be looking somewhere in the region of

475 per calendar month.

What if you went all out and added more square footage?

If you were to do a first-floor extension and convert the downstairs area,

you might be able to hit somewhere just over the £100,000 mark.

It would certainly enhance the rental slightly.

There is a ceiling price for the area, probably just over the £500 per calendar month mark.

Well, absolutely loads you could do with this place.

And for that incredibly low guide price, I think you can't go wrong.

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

Lot number 38. Available with immediate vacant possession.

We've got this advertised with a price of 49,950-plus.

They want to sell. Do I dare ask for 50?

No bid at 50.

How about 37 and a half?

I'll come down to 37 and a half to have bid anywhere. 37 and a half.

Nobody? At £37,500? One bid at 37 and a half on the front.

It's your last chance, guys, because I'm going to sell.

Going once at 37 and a half.

Going for the second time.

At 37,500.

-Sold.

-Wow! That was one of the fastest auctions ever.

The property was sold on its maiden bid for £37,500

to former music producer Crichton.

# Talk about pop music, talk about #

Crichton has two companies developing and managing property.

Although he's a regular auction-goer, he almost missed his chance to buy this one.

Crichton, good to see you.

-How was the auction on this one?

-Interesting auction.

-In what way?

I found out about the house the morning I arrived back from my summer vacation.

-Oh.

-I was left text messages and emails.

I landed at Gatwick, switched on my phones and there were messages

from the auction house and from estate agents saying you need to go and have a look at this.

So I spoke to the auctioneer. I was at Gatwick at 6.

I had a look at this at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

Went to the auction and it was done.

-When was the auction?

-That night.

-That night?

-Yeah.

-Talk about back in at the deep end.

-It worked out quite well.

-Were you happy with what you paid?

-Yes, I was quite pleased.

If I'd paid 2,500 less, I'm a Scotsman, I'd be more pleased.

But I was quite happy.

So, why this house?

We've done four or five projects in and around Durham already.

We tend to focus on the villages on the west side of Durham.

Those are quite nice little commuter villages.

But the value out here is great and you've got a 15-minute bus ride into Durham.

The property will rent all-day long, I hope.

Crichton was a music business executive when he lived in America

and dabbled in properly there. However,

a move back to the UK prompted a complete change in career.

He now runs two family firms with relatives who are silent partners.

He seems happy to have exchanged pop stars for property.

In general then, are property worlds being OK for you?

Obviously, interesting times still.

We've got a specific model and we follow it.

Picking decent properties and decent commuter areas

and keeping it for ourselves or selling them to possibly other investors building their portfolios.

How big is the portfolio now? What does this take it to?

This one's been pre-sold to another investor.

-Pre-sold? Is that right?

-We sold it about three days ago.

It's now a case of getting the work done.

And he can go ahead and sort his mortgage out.

-Great.

-Job done.

That's fast work. Sold to another investor in just three days.

But what's the plan now?

It's quite adaptable. It's a bit like a TARDIS. If you look at it from the outside,

it's a small cottage. But we can make it a lot bigger without doing too much to it

and without planning permission. Make it much more flexible.

Tell me what you are going to do to it.

We're going to get rid of this boiler.

-We'll have the heating in by the end of next week.

-Right.

We'll redo the kitchen and the bathroom.

Both are reasonable. We've already had somebody wanting to rent it.

It's not what we like to do. We like to refurbish the properties.

There is a room out the other side of the kitchen, the brick walls in there are non-supporting walls.

-They'll be gone by tomorrow.

-Really?

-That will leave a 12 by 10 bedroom.

We've now got a three-bedroom house as opposed to a two-bedroom cottage.

And it's a big useful room.

-One downstairs bedroom.

-Yeah.

In terms of the kitchen, not increasing the size of the kitchen?

Not at all. We looked at ways of opening the kitchen out

into the extension but that would have made it difficult to structure the kitchen.

So we're going to leave it and redo it and rebuild a new kitchen back into the existing space.

What's the timescale for sorting it out?

Clearly, you've got people jumping at the bit.

No reason why this can't be done in six weeks maximum.

What kind of cost?

-Great question. Um...

-Thank you.

I can't see why we would spend more than ten doing it.

-OK.

-I just can't see it.

Crichton doesn't seem in the least fazed at having a deadline for a client.

His experience, built up over the last six years,

means his business models are flexible and have survived

the financial challenge of harder to raise mortgages.

To keep up the cash flow, he sells on around two of the three properties he buys.

It seems that the pace is relentless.

What's after this?

We start another project tomorrow in another village the other side of Durham

-That's a nice one.

-Wow!

And there's two other properties I'm waiting to see if my offer's been accepted.

-Right.

-I saw a couple this morning, one of which I really want.

-I haven't got it yet.

-Could you get a few more in by the end of the day?

We have a target to keep a number in the pipeline.

-As one falls out, we like to get one in.

-Wow!

-That's how it works.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Good luck. We look forward to see how you get on with this one.

-Thanks very much.

So Crichton hopefully turning this one to a quick profit.

Just what you need. His plans are very interesting.

I can't wait to see how it looks when we return later in the show.

Well, time has simply flown by.

How have our buyers got on with their properties?

Let's go back and check out what's been happening.

We're back in the glorious countryside of Shropshire

just a few miles from Telford in the town of Donnington.

Painter-decorator Gary and his hairdresser wife Julia

bought this three-bedroom semi as their very first auction purchase.

The end house was a dazzler, calling it colourful would be an understatement.

But the bright walls didn't distract me from noticing

the mould, the damp, the dodgy wiring and the general decay.

However, since Gary was a painter and decorator, this house didn't seem to give him the blues at all.

What's your overall budget? Come on. How much have you got to spend?

Overall budget, we're probably looking at 6 or £7,000.

-Really?

-Yeah.

I wasn't totally convinced that this could be refurbished for such a small budget.

Especially since they seem to share my enthusiasm

for knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room.

I'd like to take the wall down. As a mum, you like to have that open kitchen living area, really.

I know I'm not going to be living here but that's what I would like.

Gary and Julia bought the three-bedroom house for £64,000

and aim to do the work in an optimistic six weeks armed with that optimistic budget.

So we're back right on the dot of six weeks later to meet them along with their daughters

Amelia and Imogen. Have they transformed this rainbow house into a pension pot of gold?

# Ain't no stopping us now

# We're on the move #

The house with the blues and the greens and the yellows is no more.

Downstairs, the dark mouldy dining room is a bright welcoming space.

And the kitchen is light and fresh too.

-It's been...

-A bit of a rollercoaster.

-To say the least.

-Done very quickly.

-We turned it around quite quickly, haven't we? Which was good.

Well, I actually would have liked to have taken that wall out.

But, on talking to our builder friends,

they said we'd make a lot of extra work for ourselves.

So we decided to leave it as it is.

I think it looks absolutely fine just the way it is.

Sounds like these first-time developers are making the right decisions

by not letting personal taste get in the way

of development profit.

But this was a house they didn't view before buying.

Were there any unwelcome surprises lurking under the wallpaper and carpets?

We stripped all the wallpaper off and there were three or four levels of wallpaper on there,

which was disguising dry lining.

Dry lining is like a cardboard instead of a normal plasterboard.

So we've reskimmed the whole of the place.

We've replastered it right the way throughout,

which gave us a little bit more work.

Well, a lot more work than what we were generally expecting.

But, as you can see, it's come out really good now.

Upstairs, the formerly vibrant green bathroom is now a clean fresh and welcoming space.

The two double and one single bedrooms are also neutral and inviting.

As well as calling in help from friends, the family haven't exactly been sitting around either.

We had to put the dustsheets down.

Then we had to tip the paint into the bucket. And...

We used paint brushes to go around the edges.

Then we used rollers to go on the main walls.

Basically, my father told me that Imogen said that this was her pension fund,

which we thought was highly amusing.

But, you know, it is a pension pot for us and also, hopefully, in years to come, for the girls.

Perhaps a family business they can carry on as well.

They just like being involved as a whole family.

That's what we're about. We tend to do everything together.

We planned the purchase of the house with them.

And they're here at the finish as well. Yeah.

They enjoy it.

The success of Gary and Julia's, sorry, Imogen's pension plan

is important to the family. I was worried that their 6 to £7,000 budget was not going to be enough.

We've kept it cheap. We've had some really good friends helping us out.

We've had some really good deals off various different companies.

The total budget of doing the job came to £5,700.

That's including the labour. Not including my hours or Julia's hours that we spent here.

But that's where we've saved a lot of money.

I take my hat off to them. This is a lot of refurbishment done on a very tight budget.

I had my doubts but they pulled it off.

Gary and Julia bought the house for 64,000.

And have spent £5,700 on renovations.

Bringing their total outlay to £69,700 before tax and expenses.

We invited two local property experts to hear what they thought about the couple's hard work.

What did the estate agent who saw it before make of it now?

The refurbishment has been concentrated on the important areas.

It's been neutrally decorated throughout. New flooring throughout.

The bathroom and kitchen have been replaced, which were important areas to concentrate on.

The standard of finish is very good. The kitchen and bathroom are good.

They're both inoffensive. The decor and carpeting are very good.

The market it's geared up for is a first-time buyer or investor.

And it would appeal equally to both sets of people.

On to the bigger question now. What could it sell for?

If this was to go on the open market,

I would suggest an asking price of £95,000.

I'd value this property at £80,000.

I'd like to value it at more but there is a lot of choice for this kind of house in the area,

which does keep the prices down slightly.

Based on those figures, they'd make a profit of between £10,300

and £25,300 before taxes and expenses.

-Bit of a variation, wasn't there?

-Yeah.

-So, yeah. That's good.

So that's good. But it's going to be a long-term

-investment, isn't it?

-We're not thinking of selling it.

Better find out what rental valuation these two local estate agents would suggest.

If this was to go on the rental market, I would suggest an asking price of £575 per calendar month.

The rental market is very buoyant in Telford.

I would value the property for rent at £575 per calendar month.

We're renting it out for 550, it's being rented out for.

So, yeah, that's what we originally got a guideline price of, didn't we?

Yes. We could have possibly rented it out ten times,

the amount of people that approached us when we bought it.

We're happy with the people who are moving in. Nice family. Yeah. So, well pleased.

What does the future hold for this hard-working couple?

-Auctions next week, isn't it?

-Back to the auctions.

-Here we go again.

We're back on the outskirts of Durham in the commuter village of Brandon

to find out how ex-music industry maestro Crichton

got on with the red-brick house with almost too many possibilities.

The two-bedroom semi was a riot of red brick with pillars in the porch

and loads of potentially usable space.

In the roof, there was a loft.

Downstairs off the kitchen, there was a utility room ripe for conversion.

The question was, what to convert the spaces to?

It's adaptable. It's a bit like a TARDIS.

If you look at it from the outside, it's a small cottage.

We can make it a lot bigger.

Crichton doesn't hang around.

He'd found a buyer before he even started the refurbishment. So time was of the essence.

He paid £37,500 for it and planned to turn it around in a maximum of six weeks with a budget of 10,000.

Well, we've come back just over seven weeks later to see if Crichton

has managed to do a quick fix on this flexi house.

# If you're looking for fast love

# Fast love in your eyes

# It's more than enough

# Had some bad love

# Some fast love is all that I've got

# On my mind

# Ooh, ooh, baby baby #

I'm very pleased. We said it would take six weeks and it came in within six weeks.

Originally, we were going to create the additional room on the ground floor.

But what we changed is the access to that room.

The original access was through the kitchen.

So we decided to block that kitchen up and knock a new access through from the sun lounge.

The actual bedroom is made up of wasted spaces.

None of the walls in there were supporting walls.

So we removed all of those walls and created a 12-foot-square bedroom with a little study area.

Turning a two-bedroom property into a three-bedroom one is a very smart move.

And the improvement to the front of the property is a nice little bonus.

How many porches does a house need anyway?

Porch at the front, it went in a skip.

We didn't know what function it served. It was two-feet deep.

We just ripped it all out, exposed the front of the house.

Then completely repainted the front.

As far as I'm concerned, it looks 100 times better.

Upstairs, in the master bedroom, the old bright colour scheme has been toned down.

Now both upstairs bedrooms are bright and inviting.

When we started the property,

we decided right from the beginning, new bathroom.

The electrics were redone with a consumer board.

There's a new heating system with a combi boiler and new radiators.

It's been fully decorated inside and out.

New carpets. Project complete.

Crichton's enlarged the space without having to get planning permission.

So no extension in that attic.

But is there anything he regrets?

There's always little snags. If there was going to be one area I'd moan about

it's my decision not to turf around the back and put grass seed.

The weather in the north, within about a week we'd had two real

cold frosts and it just stopped the grass growing virtually immediately.

We'd like to keep the property in our portfolio.

However, we made a commitment to an investor at the start, it's now going trough the conveyancing.

Then we'll find a tenant and we'll manage the tenancy on her behalf.

The deal may be done with the investor but it's time to find out

if the numbers add up to a fast buck as well as a fast turnaround.

Crichton bought the house for 37,500

and spent 11,000 on the refurbishment.

Bringing his total investment to £48,500 before tax and expenses.

What do two local estate agents think of the work done here?

I think that the property has been done to a reasonable standard.

It should appeal to first-time buyers.

The addition of a third bedroom should make it appeal to families.

I feel the refurbishment of the property has been done to a reasonable standard.

I feel in areas it could have been finished better.

But adding the third bedroom has added a lot to the property.

That third bedroom was definitely a good idea.

So what do the estate agents think the place is now worth?

In its refurbished condition, I think this property would achieve £80,000.

Had the property been finished to a higher standard,

this would have added a few thousand pounds to its sale price.

If I was to put the property on the market today,

I would advise an asking price of £90,000

to achieve between 80 and £85,000.

Based on those figures, that would mean a profit for Crichton

of between 31,500 and £36,500

before tax and expenses.

We carry out our own valuations using a local valuer.

So those figures are pretty close.

We have accepted an offer on the property of £85,000. So we're quite happy.

Remember, Crichton will find tenants and manage the property on behalf of the buyer.

What could it attract on the rental market?

I feel this property would achieve £400 to £425 per calendar month.

If the property was to go on the rental market, I'd expect it to go to a young couple or small family.

And should achieve between £425 and £450 per calendar month.

I think they're quite good. They're representative of the area.

However, we've put a third bedroom on, we've got a conservatory a lot of other properties don't have.

And we've got new everything. We've achieved a higher rental on that of 500 a month.

Which we're quite happy about.

# What you're going to do #

What does the future hold for Crichton and his property partners?

This project's been the easiest one of all we've done.

And that's to do with the way we got the property.

The condition the existing property was in.

We like Brandon as a village.

If we can get more property in Brandon, we'd snap them up.

Whether it's a bungalow, a mansion or a piece of land,

we'll be here to see what happens to it next time on Homes Under The Hammer.

-So make sure you join us then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

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