Episode 62 Homes Under the Hammer

-Hello and welcome to the show.

-Now, buying a property can be a long,

drawn-out process, but not at auction.

Now, imagine getting the keys to your dream property in just 28 days?

Sound too good to be true?

Well, it's not, if you buy your home under the hammer!

Sometimes buying at auction can be a bit of a gamble,

but not if you do your research first.

So, are today's buyers on a winning streak?

Here's what they bought.

In Chiswick, London, there's a flat in this building I adore

from the outside and may fall for the inside, too,

once the work is done.

I'll be looking around a five-bed house of multiple occupation

in Derby, which could make big bucks.

Get it right and it could be a great little earner.

And I will be in Blyth, Northumberland,

checking out a real option rarity,

a property that needs virtually no work.

Well, maybe a little.

All these properties are being sold at auction,

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

when they went under the hammer.

Sold.

There's no nicer place to stroll on a sunny day

than the banks of the River Thames and this part of Chiswick,

known as Strand-on-the-Green, is particularly picturesque.

A short walk from Kew Gardens and lined with gorgeous homes,

well, it's been described as one of London's last remaining villages

and it really is a very special place to live.

You're a 20-minute walk from the nearest Tube station,

which isn't perhaps ideal,

but that doesn't seem to have held back property prices!

The lot that went to auction was a flat, but around here,

some really big houses can sell for several million pounds.

A couple of minutes from the river and we're here, yes,

it just keeps getting better, because the flat we're here to see

is in this impressive Regency-style building.

It's a one-bed, it's on the third floor

and it had a guide price of £240,000.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Now, I know that sounds like a lot of money for a one-bedroom flat,

because it is!

But this is a prime location and similar flats regularly go

for half a million pounds and, with its great facade,

well-kept communal gardens, from the outside,

this place looks impressive.

Hmm-mmm! Calf muscles, ready for the burn!

# To the left, to the right,

# Step it up, step it up, it's all right

# To the left... #

LUCY LAUGHS

That's a serious amount of steps to climb!

Well, before we go any further, this flat is for the young and fit.

Phew! Right, let us have a little look around,

we've got a fantastic space behind me, that really is lovely,

loads of views over there,

a nice bathroom, the thing that I am noticing

is the eaves, but you don't feel like you're shoved upstairs

in an attic space, the rooms have got fantastic proportions,

through here we've got a little kitchen,

I think you could actually try and enlarge that in some way.

You've got a nice little window area and you can fit a table in,

so you could have supper in there.

Little fireplace, over here, you've got a beautiful window.

Another thing, it's incredibly light and what I like, again,

is you just don't feel squashed in, you've got far-reaching views,

you feel a world away from everything.

So, the positives. Great space. The negatives. The stairs.

All in all, I think it's a brilliant little flat.

# Yeah, yeah, yeah... #

OK, I say little, actually, in London terms,

this place is pretty spacious and being in the roof

gives it a lot of character and light.

But it's undoubtedly dated and lacking any sense of "Wow!"

# Yeah, yeah, yeah... #

So, it's definitely a case of splashing some cash.

The question is, how much?

# Yeah, yeah, yeah... #

There's no doubt the flat needs to be high spec when it's done,

I am talking marble worktops, high-end appliances,

a hotel-style bathroom, it's what buyers around here want

and expect from a home, let me tell you, and renters aren't far behind.

You need to make the place sparkle

to help people get over the fact that the service charge

is a whopping two grand a year!

That's £166 a month, enough to put your average buyer off,

which is another reason you need to appeal to the really rather rich.

# Bang, bang

-# We're beautiful and dirty rich

-Dirty rich, dirty, dirty rich

# Bang, bang... #

You could certainly see where some of that high service charge goes,

with the beautifully-maintained garden and exterior

and with the top floor flat, you want the roof to be in good order.

But with high costs, come high expectations,

which, at present, the flat simply doesn't match.

The property came with a £240,000 guide price

and the local estate agent we invited along

loved the outside as much as I did.

It really is a stunning property,

stucco-fronted, beautiful, really, it's a major statement piece.

When you eventually get into it, it's got some wonderful views.

Without a doubt,

some people may find the amount of stairs a little off-putting,

but, in my opinion, when you get to the top, it's well worth it.

Yes, it's an effort to get inside the flat,

but what efforts are needed to make that hike upstairs worthwhile?

In my professional opinion,

you're going to be looking to spend around about £45,000

to take it to the standard of finish

that you need to, to get maximum price when selling.

So, with that guide price of £240,000,

could this one-bed flat really show any financial returns?

Once fully renovated, we could be looking anything as high as £450,000.

Wow! So, there's no doubt there could be some decent profit here,

but what about rental returns?

I'd expect to obtain around about £1,700 per calendar month.

This is a stunning location in a very special part of the capital,

a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of London.

And the flat itself, well, it could be a really lovely place to live,

if you've the money to spend.

Find out who did at the auction.

So, move on to Lot 48. I have seen this one, nice property.

Very appealing, one-bed flat, it needs some upgrading.

Er, I don't know. Start low,

start at 200, go upwards from there.

200 with you,

205,

210,

215, 220,

225, 230,

235, 240.

245, 250,

255,

260,

265...

With the bidding heating up, we rejoin at 300,000.

300, 301,

302,

302, 303,

304, 305,

306, 307,

308, 309,

310, 311,

312, 313,

314, 315,

316, 317,

318, 319,

back to you, 318,

319, elsewhere?

318, first time...

second time...

third and last time...

sold, 318.

So, after a hard-fought battle,

the one-bed top floor Chiswick flat was bought for £318,000

by Orvis.

Orvis is an accountant based in West London

and he bought this flat with his wife, Farima.

I met them back at the flat to find out more.

Guys, congratulations, this is great news for you.

I mean, what a fabulous part of London this is!

-It is, actually, yes.

-It's a lovely area.

And a great property as well, so who found it?

Well, actually, we have a friend.

THEY LAUGH

He did all the hard work!

Really, and you've just swanned in at the end?

We did it together.

We have a friend, a good friend, and he was really helping us.

He basically did a lot of research and he picked this property.

Actually, I saw it, you didn't see the property before going, did you?

-No.

-It was only me seeing it before.

-I trust you!

So why have you bought this flat?

For investment purposes, basically, yeah.

We're not going to live in it, we're going to make it nice and resell.

This is their first development together

and they've been looking for some time for the right property

at the right price and now with this flat,

I hope they've finally found it.

# I'm so glad I finally found you

# Yes, that one... #

So now you've got the property, what is your vision for a flat

like this, because I really think by the time you've climbed all

those stairs, you've got to open the door and be faced with a wow factor.

Well, basically, we're going to do everything.

We're going to knock everything down and

do everything from scratch and we're thinking of doing it to

a high standard, sort of, because of the area and the location.

I think that's a great idea.

I really think you need to be giving it top spec because it is

going to be some city worker, some very professional person.

-That's what we had in our mind, yeah.

-So what's your budget for the work?

We've put a limit of £40,000 plus about £5,000 as contingency,

basically, which probably we're going to use because we initially

thought it was a little bit of wiring and plumbing but now I've seen it...

-We think there's more to it.

-Yes.

Stricter rules by mortgage lenders now mean it is much trickier

to flip a property, with many insisting it's to be owned for

six months, so unless you can find a wealthy cash buyer, beware.

Orvis has taken this into account

and plans on an 8 to 12 week renovation schedule.

-Who's going to do this job for you?

-We have a friend. He's a builder.

He's got a company and his own team, basically.

-He'll be the one...

-Carrying out the work.

-Carrying out the work.

So who's going to be choosing all the fun bits?

How involved are you going to get? Ah, there you go, a little smile.

What part are you going to play?

I'll be looking for kitchens, bath tiles, that kind of stuff,

-I'll be choosing that.

-And are you happy with that?

-Yeah, sure, I have no other option.

-You've got no option?

No, I was just kidding. We're going to choose it together. Definitely.

Yeah, we'll probably go with Farima's taste because she's really

-good at choosing the right stuff.

-Thank you.

Well, I'm so excited to see the outcome and see what you do here.

I'm sure it's going to look amazing. Lovely to meet you.

-Thank you, you too.

-Thank you.

So Orvis and Farima have wonderful plans for this place and I am just

so glad they're not going to scrimp and save.

They need to stun those potential buyers.

Find out if they do, later in the show.

MUSIC: Greensleeves

This is the Friar Gate area in the city of Derby.

Its name comes from a Dominican friary that existed here

until King Henry VIII saw fit to abolish it

during his dissolution of the monasteries.

But, by the 18th century,

this was the place to be for the well-to-do and many

of the magnificent Georgian streets and houses built then remain today.

Friar Gate is populated with plenty of bars, restaurants and nightclubs

so is proving popular with students and young professionals alike.

The property I'm here to see is walking distance from both

Derby city centre and Friar Gate

and it's certainly eye-catching from the outside.

It's this three-storey Edwardian town house.

Had a guide price of £78,000 plus. Let's take a look.

Well, one of the first things I'd want to check for is double glazing,

otherwise noise from a busy main road could be a bit of an issue,

but you've this entrance area here

and a front room there and through to a rear sitting-room.

Now, I say rear sitting-room but that immediately begs a question

because this house has previously been used as a house

of multiple occupation, as in more than one room rented out.

That front room was one room, this,

I believe, was a living room area and then it carries on.

But, you need to decide fairly early on what you're going to do with

this because if you wanted to maximise your return,

then possibly you'd make this into another bedroom.

The things you need to consider though, is the number of people

and the number of facilities that they require.

There's some fairly strict guidelines on this

and even comes down to things like the number of cookers,

the numbers of refrigerators, etc and the amount of space.

This is the kitchen. As you can see, it's not exactly ideal.

It's all wiggly woggly to get to it then you get here,

it's a bit cramped and horrible.

I think you could enhance this dramatically by taking out

this wall which currently separates the kitchen from this little

utility area where the boiler is.

A bit of jiggery-pokery you could do but I think you'd then create

a really nice sized kitchen here which could then compensate possibly

for turning that into a bedroom and losing that sort of communal area.

Something to consider.

Look at the numbers,

get your architect to check about taking out things like this wall.

Then just mull it over.

# Let me think about it

# Let me think about it... #

And having mulled it over, I've concluded that you won't, in fact,

be able to turn that rear sitting room into a bedroom after all.

The position of the stairwell means this communal area

is your only feasible access route to the kitchen, so you're going to

have to keep that as a sitting room so your tenants will appreciate it.

Let's see what's on offer upstairs.

Well, whatever you do with this property,

one thing you are going to have to focus on is the bathroom

situation because there is currently only one.

Clearly if you're renting out as an HMO, you're going

to have to have more than one toilet and bathroom.

Some of the options you might want to consider though, could be

converting it back into one house, maybe converting it into flats.

The HMO option is definitely worth pursuing

because in terms of potential return on investment,

getting £50, £60 a week per room if you went that route,

£300 a week, £1,200 a month, sounds pretty good to me.

On this floor, you've got two reasonable sized bedrooms then

up that little staircase to the top floor,

where you've got two additional attic bedrooms

and all these upper rooms have basins plumbed in.

Very handy for an HMO.

Added to the front room downstairs, that gives you five rooms

you could rent out separately and I think, if done to a good standard

and after turning the sitting, kitchen and utility area

into a much more friendly communal space,

you could ask £65 per week per room.

But before getting carried away with the numbers, there's work to do.

Well, one thing which is really important

when you take on a project like this, is to engage the professionals

and also the local authorities at the earliest possible stage.

And by that I don't only mean builders

and architects or the local planners, I also mean

the local fire department because they'll come along and give an

assessment of what you need to do to make this building fire compliant.

-That's very...

-FIRE ENGINE SIREN WAILS

I think they're on the way now!

That's very important when it comes to an HMO.

You'll need things like fire alarms, fire extinguishers

and in this case, maybe even a separate fire escape

from the upper parts of the building.

Engage them early on.

They'll give you that advice and then you can do it right.

# Come on baby make it right

# So we can make this groove swing... #

There is plenty to consider here but if you were to bag it

for anything near the £78,000 guide price, you could be laughing.

Oh, and did I mention the building won a civic award for its design?

It's all sounding and looking mighty promising for this place

but what did the auctioneer who sold it think?

We invited him round to find out.

This particular block of property, it is not your normal

terraced type house.

It's got a very striking elevation

and facade to it which is rather pleasant.

I suppose the negatives of the property are now where it is

located because the street that we're on, has now become

part of Derby's inner ring road, so it's very heavily trafficked

and parking is at a premium.

So, positives and negatives but how about this property's history

and its future?

The property was built in 1907 so it's a genuine Edwardian house

and, of course, in its heyday, it would

have been a fashionable town house as a single residence.

It's not going to be that again so in later history, it's become

a house in multiple occupation.

Every room here has got a washbasin in it, so it's been let out

as a shared house, separate rooms, for a variety of different purposes.

I suppose now it would be suited ideally to student accommodation.

The auctioneer felt that by turning it back into a home or

converting it into flats,

your outlay would negate any additional profit, so sticking

with the HMO usage once the property had been upgraded

and all regulations met,

what did he think the potential financial returns would be?

You'd have a gross income of somewhere around £17,000 a year.

Take off your bills, 2,000, 2,500, 14,500, £15,000 net income.

On an investment basis,

the property would have a value of between 140 and £150,000.

The £70,000 figure is based on full-year occupancy

so if you want to do this properly,

you have to think about how rooms lying empty may affect your sums.

Well, there's a little bit of work required to sort this place out

but definitely worth it because, get it right,

and it could be a great little earner.

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

Lot number seven is freehold and vacant.

Start me on this where you will at 80,000 for it. £80,000.

75, 75, I have in the centre. Thank you.

At £75,000, the opening bid.

75,000, 76 is bid. At 76, 77?

The auction became a battle of wills between two bidders

and we rejoin them as the price hits £98,000.

98,500, 99,500, 100,500,

101? 101,500 at the back of the room.

102. 102. Out against you at the back. 500. 103. 500.

103,500, £103,500 once,

£103,500 twice, all done at 103,500.

Sold at the back. 278. Thank you.

That successful bid of £103,500 was made by Graham

who was at the auction with daughter-in-law, Louise.

She's sharing the good news with Graham's son, Simon, but it was his

other son, Andy, who joined him at the property to meet me for a chat.

Graham, Andy, great to meet you both. Congratulations.

Well, a place with possibilities. Tell me why you wanted to buy it?

-Well, looking now, not entirely sure.

-Oh, dear.

Just the prospect of, you know, it's a good earner really. Five bedrooms.

This will be the fifth property we've undertaken.

There's a bit more to do here to get to HMO standards

and probably looking at a fire escape out of the kitchen etc,

but it'll be done.

Is this something which you do together and have done so before?

Tell me about the relationship here.

Well, it's normally myself and my brother that do all the graft.

-My dad can't help himself. He usually comes...

-Interfering.

-Yes, interfering.

-Charming, that is, isn't it?

-It's a family turnout.

-The women turn out.

-They come along. And the kids.

-Literally get stuck in.

-Is it harmonious?

Yes, 90% of the time.

Well, 90% beats most.

Graham's other son, Simon, also does the paperwork

and property management side of things.

Graham used to work in the railway industry but has since built

up an extensive background in construction and renovation.

Andy runs his own door and window fitting business

so they are well prepared for the job at hand here.

-So, tell me what you're going to do to it then.

-Fire away.

Well, obviously needs...

The windows are all right but we'll rip all of them out,

-put new in, wood chip off. See what we find.

-Ha!

-It's everywhere.

All go back to neutral colours,

-new carpets.

-Skim up as required.

New kitchen, new boiler, check the electrics out, possibly...

Fire alarm system seems to be in place but check it all out.

And so a full and thorough job lies ahead

and they are planning a spend of £15,000.

Best of all, their top limit at the auction was 120,000

and since they got it for 103,500, their renovation money is

already taken care of with a little room for manoeuvre. Result.

They want to get the place ready for renting in three months.

-Listen, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Good luck with it.

-Look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you very much, yeah.

So, Andy and Graham recognising the potential of this place

and they have a plan. Will they stick to it?

You can find out later in the show.

Still to come, a Northumberland property that could make you

happy or blue.

It might not be to everyone's taste but it makes you smile.

Back in Derby,

how are family ties faring under the pressure of turning a profit?

-There's moments.

-We had a few heated debates.

-As you do.

But first to Chiswick, London. Did Orvis and Farima

inject this one bed with wow?

I love it, we love it.

It was in the exclusive West London area of Chiswick that we

first saw a one bedroomed flat.

Situated in a rather elegant building, this top floor flat lacked

the wow and pizzazz that was needed to draw in the local clientele

and make them want to climb the stairs to reach the flat's door.

Even though it had a pleasant communal garden,

it also had a whopping two grand service charge.

But with light, airy, spacious rooms, the flat also had

the framework to potentially dazzle

and that is what London-based couple Orvis and Farima thought

when they bought it at auction for £318,000

as their first property developing project together.

So who's going to be choosing all the fun bits?

How involved are you going to get? Ah, there you go, a little smile.

So what part are you going to play?

I'll be looking for kitchens, bath tiles, you know, that kind of stuff.

-I'll be choosing that.

-Are you happy with that?

Yeah, sure, I have no other option.

So with Farima in charge of providing the wow factor

and Orvis overseeing the building team and a budget of 40 to 45,000,

they were hoping in 8 to 12 weeks

to make this upper floor flat top notch.

And now, just under three months later,

we're back with Orvis and Farima to see how they got on.

Wow, pretty well I'd say.

As you see, the whole thing has changed and it looks spacious,

bright, lovely. I love it. We love it.

Yes, I agree.

I like what I see too, but how is the key selling point,

the kitchen, looking?

Wow, that's more like it. Hi spec and smooth, super chic.

We love the kitchen. The colour, we love it. The worktop is great.

The best part of the flat is the kitchen.

Well, I'm so impressed.

They really moved this flat up a notch or two and then some.

They've also found clever ways of maximising the space.

One side of the bedroom, there was basically a false wall

which had an entrance through the bathroom

and there was a huge water tank inside it.

We removed that wall and that created a really big

space in the bedroom.

The end result was definitely smooth and sophisticated,

but getting there wasn't quite so smooth with floors, ceilings

and pipe works proving to be fiddly to work on in the roof space.

What about working together? Did that go smoothly?

Farima chose the bathroom so it's basically her selection.

That's why it's beautiful.

The kitchen also was both of us

but it was mainly again I went with her decision.

We have tried to go for top quality on everything.

Not hugely expensive but top quality in a reasonable way.

Ah, but did that approach keep the budget in check?

We wanted to spend about £45,000.

We were happy to go up to £60,000 just simply

because we knew the areas that might need extra attention.

It did actually cost just under £60,000, 59,000 or 59,500.

Well, a £60,000 spend on top of their 318,000 purchase price

takes their total investment to 378,000 without costs and fees.

So will their high spec renovation pay dividends?

What did two local estate agents think?

Coming back to this flat today,

I am absolutely overwhelmed with the progress that has been made.

Everything is high quality.

The kitchen, the bath, the shower, the tiles, the flooring,

the lighting.

This really is a magnificent property and something

that they should be very, very proud of what they've achieved.

My first impressions of the property is that it's done to a very

high standard.

The condition is very good and I like the contemporary finish that

they've put into the property. The kitchen is very stylish, very nice.

The appliances are all integrated, very clean lines,

lovely views over the communal gardens.

It's a very nice kitchen indeed.

They really want to sell the flat on. In fact, they've already got it

on the market but if it didn't sell, what rental returns might they see?

If I was to place this on the market for rental,

I would expect to achieve a rental of around £1,700 per calendar month.

If I was to put the property on the market for rental,

I would put it on for £1,700,

to achieve between £1,650 and £1,700 per calendar month.

The rental figure, around £1,650 per calendar month,

would achieve a yield of around 5%.

So what do they make of that?

-It's always good to know because just in case it doesn't sell...

-Yeah.

..there's a second option but we very much doubt it.

We just want to sell it and move on.

Yep, resale is the name of the game so, having spent £378,000,

can this flat achieve sky-high values?

I would market it for £520,000,

with a view to achieving around the £500,000 level.

Purely above that, you're going to the next level of stamp duty.

I would put this property on the market for around £520,000,

to achieve around that figure.

-Oh. 520.

-That is great.

-Oh, yeah.

-Even better than what we thought.

Yes, anywhere around the £500,000 mark would see a fantastic

potential pre-tax profit in excess of £100,000.

So, sky-high indeed. Not bad for their first joint effort.

They've done a great job!

So, I'm guessing they might want to do more...?

-Can you work with me again?

-Definitely, yes.

-That's the plan for the future.

-It is the plan for the future.

So, very soon... We've already started looking for another one

because we think this will sell very soon.

I think neither of us would have been able to do it on our own,

so it was something between us.

-Yes.

-Definitely do it again.

-Definitely, yes

I'm in the bustling port town of Blyth on the stunning

Northumberland coast.

Now, since the demise of the coal and shipbuilding industries,

things around here have been tough but the port itself is still

very active, handling over 1.5 million tonnes of cargo every year.

Goods such as paper and pulp from Scandinavia,

which goes on to supply the newspaper industry, lands here.

In recent years, a £3 million investment in the port

and the town of Blyth have given the whole place a new lease of life

and wherever you have this sort of regeneration going on, you can

usually be sure it's a good place to invest in property.

Well, the property I'm here to see could leave you purring with delight.

It's described in the auction catalogue as a substantial

mid-terrace with three spacious bedrooms. Is it the cat's whiskers?

That guide price of £54,950 could be purr-fect for someone.

Well, looks like it might be. Yeah, nice entrance area here.

Stairs up to your bedrooms there and immediately,

it seems a lot bigger than it does from the outside.

Through into your front lounge.

Look at this. A really nice sized space...

definitely. Whoa!

The fire might be a candidate for modernisation.

It's a personal taste thing and the decor the same.

But this place looks as though it has been well cared for and wouldn't

require too much work if you wanted to turn the property around quickly.

Well, the kitchen, that looks fantastic.

You could move into that tomorrow.

As pretty much you could all of the house I've seen so far.

This is the rear, sort of living area.

You know, I've been in properties that have been done up

which are in worse condition than this. Ah!

Onwards and upwards.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms.

Two are very spacious.

One at the back and one at the front, both with good storage.

The third is smaller but I think this is an ideal house for a family.

# Well, I've got blue music on the old jukebox

# Blue teardrops on the table top

# Blue whisky in every glass I pour

# Lord, I've never been this blue before... #

I feel like one of those Greek statues sitting here.

It was all so sort of normal until I came into the bathroom here.

What can you say?

Well, it might not be to everyone's taste but it makes you smile.

Indeed it does.

It's all a bit, well, blue but it is big and perfectly serviceable

if you plan to rent out.

Why bother to fix something that ain't actually broke?

In terms of auction properties, I would say this deserves a gold star.

# She's a star. #

Now, so often when you come out to the rear of these properties,

you find a complete disaster.

However, in this case, absolutely not. Looks pretty good to me.

Yeah, that's great news.

The other bit of good news is this little courtyard area.

It's quite large but even better than that,

you've got a set of double gates leading out onto an access road

at the back, so this is car parking or whatever you wanted to be.

Brilliant.

This property could be a really nice investment, especially

if you were to get it for anywhere near that £54,950 guide price.

We asked along a local property expert for her opinion.

To be honest, the property doesn't need much work at all.

It's got double glazing. It does have gas central heating.

It would depend on whoever the buyer is whether they change the boiler or not.

It's got some nice features such as the deep skirting boards

coving, ceiling roses, so it is quite an attractive property.

So, a decent first impression,

and what are her thoughts on the resale value?

I think there's not a lot you can do with this property to add value.

However, I think with a lick of paint, brightening it up,

the most you will achieve the area is going to be around the £65,000.

What does she reckon the property would fetch on the rental market?

Three-bedroom, nice condition in this area, you're probably

looking at around £450 per month rental.

Well, what a fantastic house this is. What a find.

One of those auction nuggets that if you search hard enough for,

you will find every now and then.

Let's see who was panning for the right bit of gold in this

instance when it went to auction.

Substantial mid-terrace, close to the town centre amenities.

Any bids for 50?

The auctioneer reduces the guide price in order to entice

a bid for those who have stayed towards the end of the auction.

How about 48? No bids?

48 on one of the telephones. £48,000.

We are off and going. 49 anywhere else?

I've one telephone bid of £48,000.

49, the person in the tracksuit at 49. 50?

Gentlemen in the hoodie at 49,000.

50,000? I'm in the room at 49.

50,000 on the telephone. 51? 51 bid. 52?

I am in the room at... 52 bid on the telephone.

53? 53 bid. 54?

I am in the room at 54,000. I am here at £54,000.

Try another one? 500? 500 bid.

54,500. 500 from you.

500. 55. I'm here and selling at 55.

55,000 on the telephone.

Do I have 500 anywhere else?

I'm selling at once at 55, for the second time at £55,000...

Sold on the telephone.

Zoe was the successful bidder at the other end of the line

who got this for £55,000, just a smidgen over the guide price.

Unfortunately, she was unable to meet me but luckily, her family

are very much to the fore on this project, so her dad, Trevor, and

her aunt, Mandy, came along to tell us about Zoe and her new property.

-Trevor, Mandy, great to meet you both.

-Nice to meet you, Martin.

Now listen, you have to start off by explaining what is going on here

-because this is a major family thing, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

It's a project of my daughter, Zoe.

-She... In 2010, she had an accident on Christmas Day.

-No!

She was knocked down by another vehicle, put on life support.

She has come through it. She had a fractured pelvis.

She's still got some...disabilities but this has helped her to...

..kick-start her life again.

Sounds like she's lucky to be alive.

-Yes, she is lucky. Even the doctors said that. But...

-But she is!

Every cloud has... This is her silver lining.

This is something which she can...

-This is going to be her career and her future.

-Terrific.

Zoe and her family are clearly really positive

and I think this is a great project to tackle.

West Sussex-based Zoe is a former contracts manager

and is putting up most of the money

and will manage the project with family lending a helping hand.

My daughter used to live next door and when Zoe mentioned it,

I was shocked and I said, "Yeah, it's absolutely gorgeous."

I said it's, you know... The outside and obviously seeing from my

daughter's bedroom and the garden, you couldn't really see inside.

I said it was lovely. And then Zoe asked me to come and have a look.

-And, yeah, really fell in love with it.

-It's a great house indeed.

What happens now?

What is the project plan and how is all that going to work?

It's to give it a make over.

There's nothing structural that needs to be done to it.

Get the electrics checked, the gas checked and just brighten

the place up and then put it out there for the rental market.

What kind of budget have you got then to do what you are going to do?

Zoe's budget was £3,000-£4,000 but I think

she will probably do it for less.

That sounds like a fair budget and hopefully, they will not feel

the need to change this little gem of a property.

Well, actually, having said that...

What about the bathroom?

She said she had considered possibly taking that back to just

-a freestanding bath.

-Yeah.

-But she's going to see how it goes.

Who will do the work?

The sprucing up, we'll do.

We are up here for a few days so we will do as much as we can.

Zoe is hoping to come up in a few weeks' time.

Spend a week up here with a friend of hers and finish off.

-What's the timescale then?

-A month or two.

As there is no structural work, just sprucing it up

and hopefully it can all be done within that time.

Will you have a hand in the renovations?

Yes, I will be coming down and helping out

and workmen... She's got people coming in for the gas and electric

and all that, she's got professionals coming for that.

I'll be here to let them in and do what they've got to do.

What about the ongoing management of the property - tenants

-and stuff like that? Will you get involved in that?

-Yes.

Yeah. I did with her last property, we done the same.

People come in and you introduce yourself and speak to them,

see what they are like.

Zoe has the last say, obviously, with what it's all about.

But you vet them as well.

It's great to hear that everyone is pitching in to help Zoe

with her new property portfolio,

as it's not just her career she's having to start from scratch.

It's her whole life.

She always used to do horse riding. She used to compete.

Unfortunately, after her accident, she couldn't...

..compete for the cup she won the previous year.

She tried to go back, helping people ride horses and that,

but she found it very, very difficult to be around horses...

and not being able to ride.

What she did, she went to a local place near to where we live, and she

did volunteer work, helping children, schoolchildren, children with special needs

-and that to do various activities, outdoor activities.

-Oh, right.

And she got certain qualifications in the various things,

archery and things like that, to help these kids. She enjoyed that.

-How do you think she has done here?

-Amazing, really. Really has.

I love the place. It's just lovely.

As I say, what she paid for it was brilliant.

We are hoping that it will be done, sorted and rented out very quick.

Congratulations. Good luck with it.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Well, it's a fairly shocking story and obviously Zoe will have

been through some fairly tough times of late,

but thankfully, property, in particular this one,

is helping her through and onwards to her recovery.

It is a great house and I'm delighted for her.

You can find out how she gets on and meet her later in the show.

Well, time has passed.

Let's return to find out what's happened to those properties.

-Are we confident they will look brand-new?

-Let's find out.

We are darting back over to Derby now where earlier,

I took a look at this -

a striking and attractive property from the outside,

but inside was slightly tatty and tired.

And that tiny kitchen was in desperate need of expansion,

particularly as this house of multiple occupation

had five bedrooms.

Nabbing it for £103,500 was Graham, and it was his sons,

Andy and Simon, who are going to bring it up to standard.

Although Simon couldn't come along, Andy did, to tell me

how this family work like a team, or maybe not.

Is this something which you do together?

Have you done so before? Tell me about the relationship here.

Well, it is normally myself and my brother do all the graft.

-My dad can't help himself. He usually comes...

-Interfering.

-Yeah, interfering.

-That's charming, that is, isn't it?

It's a family turnout, the women turnout, everybody turns out.

The wives come along, the kids, everybody, really.

Is it harmonious?

Yes, 90% of the time.

THEY LAUGH

Well, let's hope they're still laughing

and that the work's 100% complete.

It's been a mere four months since I met them,

and we're back to find out if this HMO is good to go.

Well, the kitchen is a million miles from what it was.

You wouldn't know you were in the same place,

and it's just as well, because this communal kitchen and living room

is now going to be shared between not five, but six bedrooms.

The front bedroom's been made over,

and now has an en suite bathroom.

Up to the first floor, and what was the main bathroom is now a bedroom.

And there are still two other bedrooms on this floor, as well,

one with en suite and a communal shower room

thanks to a bit of layout rejigging.

And, lastly, on to the top floor.

Redecoration throughout, not a bit of wood chip to be seen

and an additional separate communal shower room.

And there's been even more to this refurbishment

than a reshuffle and a lick of paint.

We renewed the roof on the dormer roof here,

which was a major problem with the leak,

which also opened up the wall here.

A new balustrade, new windows throughout,

new architrave skirtings, fire doors,

and there was originally a walkway through

where we created a shower bathroom,

which was the entry into the old bedroom there.

New carpets up here, and that's this floor wrapped up.

Also wrapped up is the back garden, which has been tidied

and is now low-maintenance and ideal for tenants.

The boys have done good and have met all the regulations

necessary for HMO, and apart from a small snagging list to get

through in the next couple of days, the rooms are ready to rent.

What has been the best part of the project?

-Seeing it completed.

-Yeah.

What we've achieved in the time, it's fantastic.

Their original timescale was three months

and has stretched to four, but they have done a lot more

than they planned, and they put in 14 hour days

sometimes to get it finished.

And it seems like everyone and his wife pitched in.

Well, most of the time it was me,

Andrew and Simon, my other son, followed up by the wives

backing us up, painting and decorating,

and a lot of friends, really.

We have taken the odd tradesman on, like a plasterer, electrician

and plumbers, but down to a minimum, really, to keep the expense down.

Their original budget for the work was £15,000,

but they've spent £18,200.

However, they've got a lot of bang for their buck

and, as the project took a little longer than expected,

they've missed the current student market, so they're aiming

for professionals, which could equal better returns.

And, best of all, family harmony was - mostly - preserved.

-There were moments.

-A few heated debates, but...

-As you do.

And they're still smiling.

The property cost £103,500,

and with an £18,200 spend on the work,

the total spend here has been £121,700.

We invited a local estate agent and the auctioneer who sold the house

to check out its new look and layout.

When I walked in here, I was absolutely bowled over,

really impressed by the transformation

these guys have done to it.

It's so different to what it was before.

First impressions of the property are it's very nice and modern,

well designed and well laid out,

and I'm very impressed with the decor of the property, also.

There's nothing I would have done differently to what they've achieved

if the intention from day one

was always to rent it out as a shared house.

Because, let's remember, that's the way it was used

before they bought it, so it was logical in a way.

And, potentially, it's going to earn good income,

so I think what they've achieved is actually the best,

the ultimate out of what was here.

And now he's mentioned income, let's get some figures.

How much do the experts think

Graham and family could rent the rooms here out for?

This property has massive potential with it having six rooms,

and I think this property would fetch around the 85 per week, per room,

fetching in around £25,000 for the whole property.

I think this would rent out extremely well.

It's in the right location.

As always with these city centre fringe properties,

parking is a bit of an issue.

You could rent it to students,

although there's plenty of student accommodation in Derby.

And you'd get a better income, actually,

if you let it to professional people,

and I would think there'd be quite a demand for professionals.

I suppose you'd rent them out at something like an average

of £85 per week, per room, including all your bills.

We'd valued it and got tenants in with the en suites at £100 per week,

the plain rooms at 85, and we're actually receiving rent

and we've got people waiting for rooms when they leave, basically.

So, yeah, they're not that far out, quite pleased with that.

"Quite pleased!"

Wait until you hear this - the rooms are in demand

and going on the assumption they'll all be rented all year round,

there's a total income of £28,080 per year,

making an almost unbelievable yield of 27% -

one of the highest I've ever heard on Homes Under The Hammer.

There's no wonder Graham has no interest in selling for now,

although if he was, the experts suggested prices

of between £135,000 and £155,000.

That top valuation would give them a profit

of £33,300 before tax and expenses.

So, what's next?

We're going to sit down for a week and discuss it.

But I'm sure we'll all come to the conclusion that, yes,

we're going to get another property and continue doing it.

From pads for professionals

to a family home here in Blyth in Northumberland.

This three-bedroom mid-terrace property

was purchased for £55,000 by Zoe.

As she wasn't able to meet us when we first visited,

her father and aunt came along instead.

Mandy and Trevor explained that Zoe had changed career

to property development after a serious car accident.

-In 2010, she had an accident Christmas Day.

-No!

She was knocked down by another vehicle, put on life support.

She's come through it, she had a fractured pelvis.

She's still got some...disabilities,

but this has helped her to kick-start her life again.

Sounds like she's lucky to be alive.

Yes, she is, very lucky, even the doctors said that.

But from...

every cloud... And this is her silver lining.

This terrace was in pretty good condition

and really didn't require a lot of work to get it rental ready.

Having seen the property via a webcam thanks to Aunt Mandy,

Zoe was still determined to give the place a bit of zhuzh.

With the help of family and friends,

she hoped to do the work within a month or two.

And it's just four weeks later that we've returned.

Zoe and Mandy have come along to show us their handiwork.

OK, not much change here.

Or here.

But it does little whiter and brighter.

There wasn't much to do in this house,

so I'm keen to find out what Zoe and her family have tackled.

The bathroom, I hope?

Oh, yes.

This room is one of my favourite rooms, it's had the most change.

It's been lightened, brightened, new floor, bath panel...

It just does look a lot nicer in here now you've got

the light reflecting off the white, rather than the dark ceiling,

and all the blue on the garish side has now gone.

It's had new flooring, bath panel - I'm really pleased with this room.

Zoe knew she would have to get the electrics and central heating

checked out, but the boiler turned out to be an unforeseen expense.

We only had one complication, which was the boiler.

That had to be removed and we've updated it with a new combi-boiler.

The installation of a new boiler means that this fireplace

does look more appealing, even with no fire.

This room's had a lick of paint, just to brighten it up again.

We have removed the gas fire because it had the back boiler.

Now we've got the new combi-boiler that's not necessary,

so we've just made it into an ornamental feature place,

and I'm really, really happy with it.

It certainly seems brighter and nicer.

Installing a new boiler took a large chunk out of her budget -

£2,500, to be precise.

Luckily, Zoe is taking it all in her stride.

We have spent 4,500 on the property,

and that was with the unexpected boiler change.

There's little changes happened in every single room,

but it's basically just brightening up and lightening

and giving it a fresh coat of paint to look a bit nicer.

The timescale has been only approximately three weeks,

three to four weeks, so we've been able to get it all done.

Organisation was key.

It sure was!

And, from her base in West Sussex, Zoe managed to find

and interview tradesmen using video calls and e-mail.

And she had a bit of help.

There was lots of people involved, mainly friends and family,

my auntie, my mum, my dad, my brother, my sister, my cousins...

and a few friends of mine.

The house was initially recommended by Zoe's Aunt Mandy,

who is definitely hands-on.

I've really enjoyed it.

Painting, stripping walls, decorating, everything.

We all mucked in and got as much done.

I love it, it's a real lovely family home,

and I just hope, you know, people will be happy here when they move in.

Was the £4,500 budget on top of the £55,000 purchase price

money well spent?

We asked along two local property experts to hear their thoughts.

I saw this property about a month ago

and it didn't really need a lot of work at the time.

It has been freshened up with a fresh lick of paint

and some little jobs here and there, and it's nice, bright and airy,

and it's a good standard.

The look of the finish of the property is very good,

will appeal to the rental market

as it is ready for immediate occupation.

Although she isn't selling just now,

if Zoe did decide to try the resale market,

what do the experts think it would get?

I think if the property was offered for the sale market,

again, it's in very nice, presentable order,

I would be recommending an asking price of around £65,000.

I think, realistically, it's about 60-65. 65 would be the maximum.

We're happy with that, but that's not really what I'm doing it for,

it's to go in the portfolio for the rentals.

That maximum value of £65,000

set against her total spend of 59,500

could see Zoe reaching a profit of £5,500 minus taxes and expenses.

What do the experts think of the rental value?

I think for a property of this size in this particular area,

they usually go for around £450 per month.

I would be recommending

a rental figure of £450-£475 per calendar month.

Yeah, that's about right, I think.

We've got it advertised for 450, so that's what people are on.

£450 per calendar month would give her a 9% yield.

That's a pretty decent return

and a great addition to Zoe's growing portfolio.

It seems that this new career suits her.

After the accident, it was a life-changing experience,

it turned my world upside down, and it made me realise what's

important in life, and that's doing what makes you happy.

Cos I really enjoy it, I love what I do now.

We will have more auction properties for you next time

to whet your appetite.

Yes, we hope we've inspired you and given you an insight

into the auction world here on Homes Under The Hammer.

-See

-you then. Goodbye.

-Goodbye.