Episode 63 Homes Under the Hammer

-Welcome to Homes Under The Hammer.

-Property auctions used to be

the territory of builders and developers, not any more -

all sorts of people are realising their potential.

Even in this difficult market,

people are still buying their homes under the hammer.

Even for the most experienced buyers,

auctions can be exciting and nerve-racking places.

You have to make sure you don't get carried away.

Did today's buyers keep a cool head? Did they get some great deals?

Here's what they bid for.

Hallelujah.

In the small village of Stanley in Derbyshire, I found

a property worthy of praise.

This house in Lancashire might not be quite so inspirational

but with what was just a £20,000 guide price, it made my heart sing.

Follow these three steps and this London flat could make

a heavenly investment.

Do it up quick, spend the minimum and let it out fast.

All these properties have been sold at auction and we'll find out

who bought them and what they paid for them when they went

under the hammer.

It's yours, sir.

Today I'm in the pretty village of Stanley,

halfway between Derby and Ilkeston in Derbyshire.

It's got a pub, a village shop and post office, a primary school,

everything you could want, really.

And yet you're close to major road links

and only 20 minutes away from Derby city centre.

It's a bit of a soggy day but even on a day like this you can

see why this is a really popular little place to live.

The property I am here to see is a fantastic opportunity for somebody.

It's the former Methodist chapel.

It had a guide price of £100,000 plus.

You've got the main chapel area there,

this little building on the edge.

Let's go and take a look.

Built in 1882, this chapel certainly is a striking building

on the outside.

But with the only land being this tarmacked area,

you'll need to get the diggers out if you want to make this

into a garden.

Ooh. One good thing about looking around properties in the rain

is at least you get to see what kind of condition the roof

and the rainwater goods are in. So far, so good.

Before we go into the main Methodist chapel,

let's take a look at this little area here.

This is formerly a schoolroom. It's one big area.

Toilet there.

A little kitchen area.

Lots of windows, including that nice one at the front there.

So quite a useful extra space.

But...the main event!

This is what we want to see.

Wow! How about this?

Yes, it's the former chapel building and extraordinary.

Lots of windows so lots of natural light. Massively high ceiling.

Structurally, needs a closer inspection

but at first glance it seems to be OK.

No signs of dripping so, thank goodness,

the roof seems to be in good condition.

What you've got here is one big shell.

All you've got to do is just decide what you're going to do with it.

Nothing can be done without the involvement of the planners,

as this currently has consent only to function as a place of worship.

Any plans to turn it into flats,

a home or commercial premises would be subject to planning consent.

There is no guarantee that that would be granted.

It's always sad when places of worship like this close

or stop operating for whatever reason.

The reality is somebody will turn this probably into a house or

some kind of residential opportunity,

flats maybe, I don't know.

But with it, I suppose, will go memories of the church

but hopefully not all of them.

Look what I've found, this fantastic old Bible,

which has probably seen

years of sermons from up here or whatever.

Look at the illustrations here.

Absolutely enchanting.

So...hopefully, whoever takes this place on

will be sympathetic to what this place once was.

This isn't a listed building but is in a conservation area

and as I'm sure you can tell, I love this building.

For me, it's got that special something.

# Yeah, you got soul

# You got soul

# Yeah

# You've got soul

# You got soul... #

But what does the auctioneer who sold this building think will be

the best use for this chapel that was guided at £100,000 plus?

I think its prime use is for conversion into

a residential dwelling.

We've got a roof here,

which is high enough to accommodate

a first floor, which is fairly key to conversion to a dwelling.

You'd certainly make a four-bedroomed house out of it.

A four-bedroomed house could be fantastic but it's not going to be

an easy conversion and it will need planning permission.

One of the lovely things about a building like this is

you can make it into a very individual dwelling

and pull out some fairly nice and appealing features about it.

But what would this chapel,

guided at £100,000 plus, get on the open market in its current state?

Its value is what you see in its potential.

It could fetch anywhere between £120,000 and £140,000.

Well, it's a new chapter in the life of this former Methodist chapel.

It's going to take someone with divine inspiration to take it on.

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

We move on to lot 49, the former Methodist chapel.

Typical chapel architecture.

You've got a large former chapel, meeting room,

with an additional schoolroom at right angles to it.

Who's got 100,000 to put into the bidding? 100.

Thank you. £100,000 is the opening bid here. At £100,000.

At 100. 102 somewhere?

102. At 102.

104 in front of me.

106.

106. £108,000.

At 108. 110. 110.

112. 112. 114.

116. 117.

118. 119.

120. 121.

121,000. 122. 123.

123. 124.

125.

126. Where are we? 126.

I've got you, sir. 127.

128.

129. 130. £130,000.

131. 132.

132. And three.

133. 34. 135.

136. Definite.

£136,000, once.

£136,000, twice.

All done at £136,000.

HE BANGS GAVEL

Sold at the back. 136.

So for 136,000, the new owners of the old Methodist chapel

in Stanley, Derbyshire are Pat and his wife Janet.

Pat and Janet live locally

and I was intrigued to find out their plans

for this unusual building.

Janet, Pat, great to meet you both. Congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

Well, we were looking to downsize from our current home

-and we were looking for a house to move into.

-Downsize?

That was the initial idea, yeah.

We were looking for somewhere...

Initially we wanted a building plot or a house we could develop.

We saw this quite by chance and I drove by just from the outside,

saw it and thought, "Oh, that looks quite good. It's got some potential."

Plus I grew up in the neighbouring village and I spent a lot of

my childhood in this village so I've got ties with this area.

What did you think when Pat first mooted the idea of this place?

I was quite pleased because we were looking for somewhere else anyway.

I like the area. I also grew up in a village

so it's quite a nice feeling coming back to live in a village.

Strangely enough, I went to chapel in the village

so a lot of my childhood memories actually stem from

spending time in a Methodist church.

-Wow.

-Quite a nice feeling.

-It's all come full circle.

-The idea is what, to convert this into a home?

-Yeah.

-The whole thing?

-Including the adjoining bit and all that stuff?

-Yeah.

-Have you got any experience in this kind of thing?

-Yeah.

I've got my own company, which does home improvements.

-OK.

-Although we do specialise in garage and loft conversions,

we do a lot of extensions and we do buildings so I'm in the know

as you might say. I've got all the right guys around me.

'Yes, Pat might have all the right contacts but this is a little more

'lofty an ambition than a house improvement.

'It's not even a house yet. How do they hope to turn this into a home?'

The first thing, strip it out.

We've got to get that ceiling out, get rid of that to discover

just how much height we've got.

Then we need a mezzanine floor in here, which is

a steel structure to get an upstairs in.

Staircase over there so once we've got the mezzanine floor in,

we can look at subdividing partitions for rooms.

The extension that is built on the side there, that is going to be

the kitchen but we'll have a sort of family area

-so we've got a kitchen and dining area there.

-How many bedrooms?

-Four.

-What is the budget then?

-I worked out budget of

about £77,000 for it.

-About 77,000?

-Well, 77,000, yeah.

-Very specific!

-77,358!

Pat has gone into this thoroughly, budgeting down to the last penny.

But then the whole project is dependent on them selling

a property so it is not surprising he has done a detailed costing.

What timescale are we looking at?

We've got three months to get through planning, if that goes well.

-At the moment it's got planning to be a church?

-Yeah.

-So you've got to apply for it to be changed to residential?

-Yeah.

How do you think that will go down?

As part of the sale package, it had already been discussed

with the local authority and they had indicated that they would look

favourably upon such a development.

I've had the council out here, in fact, just to get their feel for it.

Also I was trying to find out if it was realistic.

The feedback I'm getting is quite good,

quite favourable that they will look favourably upon it.

So three months for the planning and then the construction?

I think the project will take about six months.

The work is about six months.

I'm working on a 12-month turnaround

because you've got to allow for slippage, if the council takes

a bit longer and I've got to get some money together to pay for it.

There is always that, yeah. Wow. Well, very exciting indeed.

Can't wait to see how you get on. Good luck with it.

-Thank you very much indeed. Lovely. Cheers. Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, it was always going to take someone with imagination

and experience to take this place on.

It seems that Janet and Pat have both. Still, it is ambitious.

How will they get on? I can't wait! You can find out later in the show.

Today I'm in the historic mill town of Bacup,

which sits in the rural setting of the Forest of Rossendale.

These days, it is popular with people looking for

easy commuter access to Manchester

but if you're interested in Great Britain's industrial past,

you might want to pay a visit to Bacup

because it's in a conservation area

of special architectural and historical interest.

And it holds the prestigious title of the best preserved

cotton town in England.

The town features large-scale mills

and factories from the Industrial Revolution.

But several hundred years before that, Bacup had its own

cottage industry, producing flannel and woollen cloth.

But will today's property be something special

or just run-of-the-mill?

The property I'm here to see is typical of the town.

It's a two-bedroom terrace.

You never know what you're going to find until you walk through

the door but an extremely attractive guide price of just £20,000?!

This has got to be worth a look.

This is quite an interesting area to hang up your coats.

It's a good use of space

although I'm not so sure I like the leaded light effect.

You might want to think about knocking that out

and putting something more modern in its place.

But what a great room. Wow.

Loads of space inside.

Somebody's already knocked through here, which is a real bonus.

Enough room there for a big family dining table.

You've got the kitchen right at the back of the property, needs a lot of

upgrading, you could certainly spend a few quid in here

but it's a really good family house.

So far, so good.

What's also looking rather special is that there's no bathroom down here,

which can be par for the course in these types of properties,

which means that at the top of a pretty tight staircase is

this bathroom, albeit, with a pretty run-down suite.

There are two bedrooms, one's a decent size and one, well,

not such a decent size.

But I'm also beginning to spot reasons why the house comes

guided at £20,000.

Upstairs and down, there are clear signs of damp on the walls,

ceilings and floors.

Fixing this lot means you'll have to factor in a good sum to that

renovation budget.

I think getting someone in to look at the roof is a must

and talking of outside...

So, if you're thinking of inviting your friends

around in the summer for a bit of a barbecue, a glass of wine,

you'd better invite them one at a time.

This is your back garden.

# Dinner for one, please, James

# The madam will not be dining... #

But look on the bright side,

at least it'll be a low-maintenance area.

The front of the house looks solid and tidy

but with that low guide price of 20,000, I reckon there's

plenty of work to be done here to get this place up to scratch.

Time now for a second opinion.

We asked a local property expert,

her views on this two-bed terraced house in Bacup.

The property will need some serious TLC.

The majority of it is double glazed.

Some of the seals may need some attention, though.

Erm, it does look it's got gas central heating

but obviously the boiler will need investigating, I would say.

Erm, some of the floorboards are missing, erm,

and will need some attention, definitely.

You'll be looking new kitchen, new bathroom and basically,

bringing it up to an overall modern, contemporary standard.

So, is there any advantage in changing the downstairs layout?

Ideally, you'd want to try and open that accommodation up,

to make the most out of the kitchen space and obviously,

the lounge that you've got to the front elevation,

take that wall out, start bringing your kitchen in,

so that you've got more of a open-plan living space.

But it depends on budget and obviously,

if you're even going to get that cost back in today's market.

Bearing the tricky resale market in mind,

what does the agent think this house could achieve if the work was done?

Erm, you'd look to market it at £65,000

and aiming to achieve around £60,000.

So, there could be profit in this house if sold on but what about rental values?

The rental market in this area is very strong.

We'd have tenants ready to move in straightaway

and aiming to achieve £395 per calendar month

to maybe £425 per calendar month.

Well, I think it's a fairly straightforward one, this.

A traditional two-bed terrace in a historical town,

with plenty of character.

Let's see who cottoned on to it when it went under the hammer.

Lots 146...nice and easy, straightforward. Give me 10,000.

£10,000.

Ten, straight in there.

I've got ten looking for 15 and I've got it off you, sir, have I?

I have.

20? 25?

No? 22?

No. 21, then?

No? On my left at 20. Looking for 21...

At 20,000, it's going, first time, second time, we're all finished.

HE BANGS GAVEL

Sold, to paddle number 998.

Well, that was short, sharp and sweet

and the man getting the house for bang on its guide price of 20,000

was Russ, seen here on the left,

with his business partner and financial director, Andy.

They've bought this house for their company, which buys,

renovates and sells residential properties.

And I met them at their latest purchase to find out

if that's exactly what they've got planned for this place.

Andy and Russ, congratulations!

There are not that many properties on Homes Under The Hammer that

sell for 20 grand.

Were you surprised on the day?

Yes, we always look pre-auction.

-It was up for sale for around about 25,000, wasn't it?

-It was, yeah.

And, erm, initially Russ said, "Bid 19,000,"

so we bid 19,000 and they came back and rejected it.

We then bid 23,000, again came back rejected.

So, the final day before the auction, we made a bid of 26,000.

-Wow, that's quite a jump.

-And they turned us down.

He managed to get a couple of hours spare and went to the auction.

So, tell me what happened on the day?

Erm, he went 10, 15, 20,000, the hammer went down, that was it.

-Bang, that easy!

-Shortest auction ever!

Well, Russ and Andy may have got lucky on the day

but they've got the experience to turn this place around.

'Russ was originally a chef before changing career 20 years ago,

'working his way up in the construction industry

'from labourer to builder and now to a developer,

'while pal Andy had been a partner in an accountancy firm before

'setting up a company with Russ and becoming the finance director.'

So, tell me about your company, guys.

Well, we tend to build portfolio. I mean, we asset manage.

So, people come to us

and we try and find individual properties for people

and build their portfolio of properties up and then we tend to

manage them, don't we? We have another section who manages them.

And we do ourselves, as well. We buy for ourselves, like this one.

Erm, we're going to do it up to a high standard and aim at the first-time-buyer market.

With this one having so much profit, we thought we'd keep it.

-SHE LAUGHS

-You see, so you've bought this for yourselves.

I mean, this is a great one for you two

because there's not a lot you need to do to improve this.

It just needs updating, really.

Yeah, it was a nice find when we came through the front door.

It was... You don't know what to expect and it wasn't bad.

Russ, with his builder's know-how will project manage the renovation,

while Andy, being the money man, will raise the funds for the job.

They both know they have a bargain on their hands

and have a team of builders ready to swing into action,

hoping to have the place ready in six weeks

but how much do they aim to spend on the house?

And what do they plan to do?

In the region of 15 grand, erm, renew everything, electrics,

plumbing, taking the stack out of the roof, probably dropping the stack.

New kitchen, bathroom, new floors, re-plastering,

-neutral decor, carpets.

-Wow!

So, when you say "taking the stack out of the roof",

-we're talking about the chimney stack?

-Yes.

You know, we're talking about that much space.

I mean, that's quite a lot of work for not that much space.

The second bedroom's quite small, as it is with a lot of properties.

So, what we can do by doing that is utilise upstairs to make the second

bedroom slightly bigger and still having a good size front bedroom.

And you can do all that for a 15 grand budget?

Yeah, cos again, cos we've got it so cheap, we have an energy saving

company, so we're going to try and put solar energy in and also

as many lighting and electric saving devices as possible, aren't we?

-We are, yeah.

-Fantastic!

So, it's going to be an energy efficient, lovely terraced house?

-Correct.

-Tell me how you're going to upgrade the kitchen?

Erm, we're going to take out the window

and we're going to run a breakfast bar through an L-shaped kitchen,

reset the boiler upstairs and maximise the space, really.

Perfect, so it'll be ideal for a family, nice and modern.

Yes, yeah, it would, we're aiming for the first-time buyers.

A nice, clean finish.

And Russ knows a damp problem when he sees one.

And having done a bit of investigating,

reckons the joints and timbers are fine, with no woodworm or dry rot.

He plans to just replace the floorboards.

So, well and good and as for that rear yard, well,

if it can be called that!

Do you think that's going to put potential buyers off

because there isn't anything out back?

There's plenty going on around, isn't there?

I mean, there's obviously... there's the cricket pitch close by

and there's plenty of places to walk, there's a park so...

No, I mean, to be honest with you, in this day and age,

people don't like doing the garden, it's as simple as that.

I mean, most terrace houses only have a yard or a little cubbyhole, don't they?

I don't think people like doing it, it's maintenance free...

It's still good to have that bit of outside space -

to be able to go out and have a barbecue or hang your washing or something.

I mean, there isn't that at all here.

But you've got a nice kitchen extension, you've got a big, open-aspect lounge, living room.

So, with the weather that we get, you don't want to be spending too much time in the garden.

Especially being in Bacup, you don't get your washing out very often.

Guys, good luck with this project.

-I can't wait to see the outcome, well done. Andy, Russ, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, Andy and Russ certainly picked up the bargain of the day

with this one.

But will they get that first-time buyer

they need to make the profit they're hoping for?

Join us later in the programme and you can find out.

Coming up, we find out how this flat in South West London

goes from decent to desirable.

Back in Lancashire, Russ and Andy tell us

their secret to a successful partnership.

Andy's not been here, so it's been perfect.

But first, is it inspirational, is it magnificent?

Have Pat and Janet made their Derbyshire chapel divine?

It was in the quiet Derbyshire village of Stanley where we

first came across one of the most unusual of auction lots.

Built in 1882, this former Methodist chapel had an impressive

facade and although, perhaps, less striking on the inside,

consisting mainly of two large rooms,

with a few smaller rooms off them, there was plenty of space

and plenty of opportunity to make this something special.

And despite the fact there was no planning permission in place,

local couple Pat and Janet snapped it up at auction for £136,000

and they had big plans for it.

We've got to get that ceiling out, get rid of that completely.

Then, we need a complete mezzanine floor in here, to get an upstairs in.

Staircase over there.

So, we're going to look at subdividing partitions for rooms.

Erm, the extension that's built on the side there,

that's going to be the kitchen but we're going to have a sort of

family area so, you know, we've got the kitchen and dining area there.

-How many bedrooms?

-Four.

-Four.

Pat runs his own loft conversion company

and he hopes this rather large conversion could make

this into home, on a budget of £77,000 and he thought his team of

builders could complete the work six months after planning was granted.

Well, now, nearly 17 months later,

we're back with Pat to see how they got on.

Well, the sandblasters have been out

and the exterior brick work's looking as good as new.

The side extension has been extended to include a garage.

They're not short of off-road parking space either.

But how about inside?

What will greet us through the new front door and porch area?

Wow! It looks like it's gone from being a hall to a home,

with new dividing walls, creating separate living spaces.

And as for the side extension,

has Janet got the kitchen space she hoped for?

Oh, she sure has!

It's now home to a fantastic, vaulted ceiling kitchen.

What we did in here was, we wanted to get plenty of light,

so the flat ceiling which ran above us here,

we took out completely.

And then what we did was we put in the roof lights to enable us

to get lots of light to flood into the room to make it nice and light.

Originally, the altar was here.

We obviously had to remove the altar.

None of these walls were here at all.

Within these walls there's actually steel columns

and also a complete steel structure, which created the floor for upstairs.

And with cloakrooms and utility areas, downstairs is looking great!

But what about that upper mezzanine level? What's up there?

Having got the mezzanine floor in and the steel beams across,

we were obviously able to cover the floor with our timber.

So, having done that and having subdivided it into four bedrooms,

we've actually got a master bedroom with a dressing room

and an en suite and a family bathroom here.

We've ended up with four bedrooms, one master en suite

and one general family room and I think, a very substantial property.

So, with four bedrooms, one of which is en suite

and that family bathroom, this is very much now a home.

But what are their plans for it?

Initially, we thought we were going to move here ourselves

and live here as a family ourselves.

The more you think about it, the more you start

thinking about the logistics of actually making the move.

Cos where we live at the moment, we've been there 26 years.

I run my business from there.

We're so settled where we are, that the idea of moving just

suddenly didn't appeal, to be perfectly honest.

Well, moving can be a heart and head decision.

In this case, it seems that head has ruled heart but nevertheless,

they've created a wonderful home out of what was a landmark

building in the village.

So, has it met with local approval?

We've had lots of people within the village who walk by,

who knew the chapel when it was a chapel,

and people that used to attend it

and appreciate the fact that we've respected the building,

you know, little touches like the Bible that we've kept.

They thought that was a real nice touch

and showing respect for what it was,

but also making it into a home for somebody, whoever that might be.

Pat and Janet tried to do this conversion by the book,

but this has been a longer project than planned,

with planning permission taking eight months to achieve.

And then there was a further eight months to do the work,

so what effect did this have on their £77,000 budget?

I'm on budget.

The granite might take me a tiny bit over

but I'm more or less on my budget, which I set myself.

I'm very chuffed with it. I think we've done really well.

Well, a budget of £77,000

on top of a £136,000 purchase price

takes their total spend to £213,000 without costs and fees,

and with the plan now to sell the chapel conversion,

will this four-bedroom property appeal to the local market?

What do two local estate agents think?

The first thing that I would say is the look of it. I think it looks great.

The only question mark I would have is going to be on the first floor.

It's quite a modest first floor

compared to the ground floor,

and I think maybe if it was to be appealing to a couple,

it might be better served as a three-bedroomed property.

That would give the opportunity to have a large master bedroom.

Certainly what catches my attention

is the ground-floor space.

Extremely well proportioned, very well appointed.

Upstairs may be a little tight on accommodation

but got all the mod cons, en suite family bathroom.

But without a garden, this might not tick all the boxes

as a family home. Even so, how will a building Pat and his wife Janet

have invested £213,000 in

fare on the resale market?

I think if I was to put this on the market,

I would start asking £395,000.

If I had to place this on the open market,

I'd initially suggest an asking price of £350,000.

It's in the sort of region I'd hoped and half expected,

but what people say it's worth and what somebody offers can differ.

So I'm not going to get carried away with that, but, yes,

it's in the sort of region I'd have expected.

Well, this isn't your conventional property,

so valuations are hard to make

but, potentially, there could be a very, very healthy pre-tax profit

of between £137,000 and £182,000,

which - it goes without saying - makes this

a very successful project, financially.

So, is Pat pleased with the overall outcome?

Generally speaking, I'm very satisfied with the project.

I think it's gone really well.

Everything that I expected to get from it, I think we've achieved,

so I'm very satisfied. Ready now for the next project.

We've got to move on to another one.

Raring to go, basically.

Well, while Pat's raring to go,

I'm not quite so sure where I am.

Somewhere in South London.

This part of London is equidistant between Raynes Park and Wimbledon.

Now, the auction catalogue said it's Raynes Park,

but the local estate agents say it's Wimbledon.

So, where exactly is it?

Well, it's a popular and desirable location whatever.

So the property I'm here to see is a one-bedroom flat -

it's on the ground floor of this mid-terrace,

it had a guide price of £180,000 plus,

so let's go inside and take a closer look.

OK, so the SW20 postcode

does place this property thoroughly in the Raynes Park camp,

but it really is just a difference of a few hundred yards

as to which is closer - central Wimbledon or Raynes Park.

So, what have we got?

The entrance hall and all the rooms off here is quite nice.

This room at the front, I suppose, is the bedroom.

And it's really in quite good condition.

I know it's ex-housing association

so therefore, it'll be reasonably maintained over the years,

but have a look at this.

Look, the plaster really is in such good condition.

The electrics are OK.

You've got new double-glazing over here.

So far, so good.

If I was to be picky,

I'd say this flat is a little characterless,

and there's a bit of condensation around the front windows,

but no signs of serious damp.

I think the place just needs a good airing.

The bathroom is quite small and needs a total refit.

Sometimes, a bit more luxury wouldn't go amiss.

The rear reception room is also a very good size

and really just needs carpet,

although a fireplace would make a nice additional feature

and focal point here. I'm really struggling to find anything negative

to say about this flat.

Even the kitchen units aren't too bad,

although I think I would suggest replacing them.

But look out here.

You've got your own private garden. It's brilliant!

Which gives you the option, if you want,

to extend just like the neighbours have done.

And if you haven't guessed it yet,

yes, there is a train track at the end of the garden. Not ideal.

OK, there had to be something wrong with this flat.

The passing trains might

put some buyers off.

What does a local estate agent think?

The trains aren't really an issue.

If you live in London, we all expect some noise from somewhere.

So, we've got trains at the end of the garden?

But we've got a garden.

But what about the postcode question?

Does that make a difference?

It does make some financial difference between Raynes Park and Wimbledon.

Wimbledon, generally, is more expensive than Raynes Park,

although there are parts of Raynes Park that are extremely expensive,

but I think that this property should definitely be classed as Wimbledon.

But what about the flat itself?

My thoughts of this property are, "What a fantastic purchase!"

Absolutely great.

It's a good size, one-bedroom ground-floor flat

with its own private entrance.

It's got a garden. What more could you ask for?

I would be very surprised if it didn't sell,

in its current condition,

for around about £299,000.

There's also the possibility of extending the property.

I think you could easily get a second bedroom out of here.

Remember that guide price?

It's £180,000 plus,

and if you got it anything near that,

you could make a sizeable profit

without even doing anything to it.

That begs the question,

would it be worth the hassle and expense

of doing the renovation work?

If the property was completely renovated throughout,

given a little bit more character, a little bit more charm,

I think that you would certainly be looking to achieve

something in the region of around about £350,000.

If you were able to extend this property,

you would then make this into a very nice two-bedroomed ground floor.

In that case, I would certainly be looking to market the property

at around about £425,000.

Wow!

So, say you got this for anything like that £180,000 guide price,

even if you spend £60,000 extending this flat,

there could be a really substantial profit here.

But if you opted to let, not sell, what then?

As a one-bedroom ground-floor garden flat,

I would definitely consider a rent of no less than

£1,200 per calendar month.

If this property became a two-bedroomed property,

I would suggest that you would be looking around about £1,600

per calendar month.

So, this flat is in a very popular location,

but it does have its downsides,

the main one being the busy train track at the end of the garden.

But did that put the bidders off?

Let's find out when we head to auction.

Who'd like to start off on this? I don't know. 200 anywhere?

I'll start the other way. 150, then?

Start at 150? 150 in the aisle. 155.

155 straight ahead.

160, sir.

165.

170. 175...

Not surprisingly,

this was a very keenly contested auction.

We rejoin the bidding at 234,000.

234 with you, sir, blue shirt.

Anyone else? 234.

235.

236.

237.

238.

239.

239. 240.

241. Yes? 241.

242. 243. With you, sir, in the white cap.

244.

245.

244, first time...

Second time...

Third and last time, are we all done?

Sold 244. Well done.

The final bid for that trackside Raynes Park flat

was made by local couple Anita and Behar.

These two have only just recently finished renovating their own home in Wimbledon,

which took them 18 months to complete.

So, was this Raynes Park flat the next property on their hit list?

I met Anita and Behar at the flat to find out about their plans.

-Behar and Anita, lovely to meet you today.

-And you.

What a fantastic little find.

Tell me the story about the flat and how you got here.

Well, um, we decided that we were going to start a new business

because Anita has gone through a divorce

and she just wants to start a business

and we know a lot about property - at least we think we do.

And we went along to an auction

and here we are.

Anita, what is the whole purpose of you having bought this flat?

To create income. This is going to be my new income stream,

so, yeah, that's it.

-Are you looking at renting it out to somebody, potentially?

-No.

I think we're probably going to sell this on

and then move on to another project.

Both Anita and Behar have dabbled in property in the past,

and Behar has even bought at auction before,

but that was 20 years ago and a bit more unplanned.

I went along to an auction, to do my due diligence, as you do,

and I was with a friend

who was an estate agent, and he said, "Look, just put your hand up."

A little three-bedroom house came up

and I went, "What? Are you sure?"

And he went, "Yeah, yeah, it'll go for much more."

I put my hand up

and the auctioneer looked at me and he said, "Going once,

"going twice...gone! Bargain of the century."

And I'd bought a house.

-So, had you put your hand up just for a little rehearsal?

-Yeah.

-That's right.

-And you ended up buying it!

35,000. I bought a house. Wow.

-So that little rehearsal cost you 35 grand?

-Yeah.

But I made a lot of money on it.

-That's what I like to hear.

-Yeah.

-Pure luck.

# If practice makes perfect

# Just close your eyes again

# We'll try those sights again

# And make them more sublime... #

Yes, they say practice makes perfect

and in this case, that's true. Behar was lucky.

But making a bid as a rehearsal is a really risky thing to do.

If you make that winning bid, it's yours,

and if you don't come up with the money,

you could get yourself into some very expensive trouble indeed.

So who was it who spotted this property?

I think I did, actually.

-Yeah, you did.

-We came and viewed it, we did two viewings,

and did all the research, read the legal pack.

We live five minutes round the corner

so it's really useful for us, location-wise.

And because it's our first one, we thought you can't take chances.

Really close by. We were just delighted we got it.

Absolutely. I think you've bought quite an easy development here.

There's not that much you need to do.

You've got new windows, it's already been really well maintained,

-you just need to sort of tart it up.

-Absolutely.

-Posh it up.

Well, Behar and Anita want to posh this place up,

but what are their plans, exactly?

Plan A was to extend fully, full width, into the garden.

But we've since...

We pretty much think we've changed our minds on that.

It's so clean and it really doesn't need a lot doing to it.

The walls are clean, new ceilings,

so we're going to sort out the flooring,

probably carpet... tiles in the kitchen,

bathroom, just right the way through,

to get continuity.

-Nice and bright. We want it to be fresh...

-Neutral.

That lovely neutral, fresh look.

-Blank canvas.

-What budget have you got for the work?

I think we...

I'd be surprised if we spend more than £12,500.

Are you quite excited, both of you? And have you got the time?

-Oh, yeah.

-Yes.

-We've got the time.

-I've got the time.

-This is my job now.

-Anita's got the time. It's not your job.

I work two and a half days a week

so I've got plenty of time.

Behar's current work is as a part-time well-being consultant,

dealing in nutrition, massage and psychotherapy.

However, a new career in property developing

can be very time-consuming

but at least with this flat, there's the option of doing nothing.

Anita, are you tempted - come on, be honest -

to just sell it on as it is? To flip it, make some quick money?

Yes. If the figures work out, then definitely. Yes.

I think we'll put it out there and see

if anyone's interested in buying it as a blank canvas

to put their own touch on it,

so I think we're going to definitely try that.

We've got an agent coming round this afternoon, actually, so we're on it.

So the big question is, what are we going to see when we come back?

And how much are we going to spend?!

-Will it already have sold?

-I know. Exactly.

-And how much are we going to make?

-Watch this space.

Guys, it's been fantastic meeting you both.

I'm so happy, and I hope it goes really well for you, Anita.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Thanks, Lucy.

-Thank you.

Well, at least this time round Behar actually bought

a property on purpose, and not by accident.

Indeed, Behar and Anita, they've done their research.

They've bought in an area they know well

and they deliberately picked a property with not much work to do.

But will they choose not to do anything

and just sell it on as it is?

Stay tuned and you can find out what happens later on in the programme.

Well, once you've bought your new property, the hard work really

starts and you have to be prepared for surprises along the way.

Have our buyers uncovered any treasures,

unearthed any hidden pitfalls?

Let's find out.

It was in the Lancashire cotton town of Bacup where we first saw

a two-bed terraced house which really needed some love

and attention.

With signs of damp and rotting floorboards,

it generally wasn't in a great state

and the single-storey extension had left little room at the back.

No barbecues or sun loungers here.

It was called a yard and a yard was all you got.

However, the extension did increase the living space.

So there was a decent sized lounge, reasonable kitchen,

and the bathroom was upstairs.

And although the two bedrooms weren't massive,

it had the potential to be a good first-time-buyer's property

or an ideal rental investment.

Particularly since the guide price was just £20,000.

All of which made it perfect material for property developing

Lancashire lads Russ and Andy,

who having had a previous offer of 26,000 turned down

prior to auction, were delighted when they got it spot on

for that £20,000 guide price.

So, tell me about your company, guys.

We tend to build portfolio.

We asset manage, so people come to us and we try and find

individual properties for people and build a portfolio of properties up.

And then we then tend to manage them,

we have another section who manages them.

We do it ourselves as well.

We buy for ourselves, like this one, we are

going to do it up to a high standard.

And aim at the first-time-buyer market.

With this one having such profit, we thought we'd keep it.

Russ looked after the project management of the renovation,

while Andy is the money man, sorting out the funding and looking

to find potential investors or tenants,

so having been armed with £15,000 and a timescale of around six weeks,

it was down to Russ and his team to do the business

on the house, while Andy did the business on the finances.

And now, 12 weeks later, we're back to check on the progress.

Well, the double glazing's in and there's a new front door.

And inside...

Oh, yes, I like it! Very smart.

And to go along with the new fixtures and fittings,

there's a revamped kitchen.

What we did here is, the original door and window were

part of the original property before they built the extension.

We removed them to create more light and create a breakfast bar area

so they've got somewhere to eat and the kids can eat.

I think it worked out well.

So, with a considerably improved kitchen area,

it was just a matter of tackling upstairs.

And the bathroom certainly looks a whole lot better.

But did they manage to increase the size of the second bedroom,

as they'd hoped?

There was a retaining wall here,

which we removed to drop this wall back approximately 18 inches,

which opens up the room into a nice L-shape -

ideal for two children.

We also had a problem over there. There was a three foot hole

when we opened up the plaster and we put a new lintel in.

I think this room has worked out really well.

Yes, clean, fresh, tidy.

This is exactly what this house needed.

And the walls might be magnolia,

but they intend to make the house a little greener,

with soon-to-be-installed solar panels

to go alongside the low energy lighting,

and although it's 12 weeks since we've been back,

the work has actually been completed in six and a half weeks

with another project in Blackpool,

and a few holidays delaying the start-to-finish time.

So, how did they divide up the work?

I was on site every week - virtually every day, I was here.

All the lads were here.

Obviously, I was spitting my time between here and Blackpool.

Andy's not been here, so it's been perfect.

Well, Andy may not have been on site much,

but he certainly seems to have been busy behind the scenes.

Well, we've actually sold it to an investor.

I believe he's already got tenants lined up, which is my more job.

That's why he shouts at me for not being here, but I'm a vital cog.

Yes, a vital cog indeed,

but it's all very well having a buyer,

provided they can make some sort of profit from it,

and the key to that is sticking to the budget.

Our original budget was £13,000-£15,000.

To press, we've spent £13,800. So, we're in budget.

There's no major expenses, there's just nagging little bits now.

We still spent too much, though.

Well, that Andy is a hard taskmaster.

Let's call it a £15,000 spend to avoid any arguments,

and add that up to the £20,000 purchase price.

That brings their total investment, without fees, to £35,000.

Sounds like a bargain to me. What do two local estate agents think?

It is a lot better than last time I visited.

Everything has been improved, and everything has been refurbished.

A lot better.

It's a nice, neat and tidy house.

They've done a good job in terms of making it nice and neutral.

It's your standard two-up two-down, but it has two good-sized

bedrooms upstairs, and a nice little bathroom as well.

There's certain things which maybe aren't up to spec.

The kitchen is very basic.

The shower in the bathroom, instead of it being self-contained

running off electric, it's actually running off the taps in the bath.

So, there are certain things which could be improved,

but, although it is basic, it is right for the public market.

So, maybe not top spec, but this is an investment property after all.

So, how well have Russ and Andy done with their £35,000 investment?

I think we'd aim to put the property on the market for £70,000.

And aim to achieve around £65,000, maybe slightly less.

If you're looking to put the property on the open market,

I think you'd be looking in the region of £60,000.

We thought around about 69,950

but we've had an investor who has offered us 65,000,

-so...

-We're quite happy with that.

-..we're going to take that, we think.

A £65,000 sale price would see a potential pre-tax profit of 30,000

for the lads and the investor's not going to do badly out of it, either,

with rental figures expected to be between £375 per calendar month

and £400 per calendar month, generating a healthy yield

of around 7%, so it looks like it's quids in all round.

But what's next for Russ and Andy?

Straight to the auction, buy another one and see you in a fortnight!

So, will Anita and Behar also be heading back to the auction

after spending 244,000 on this one-bed flat in Raynes Park,

South London, which needed very little doing?

I think you've bought quite an easy development here.

There's not that much you need to do.

You've got new windows, it's already been really well maintained,

-you just need to sort of tart it up, as they say.

-Exactly, absolutely.

-Yep, posh it up.

"Poshing up" this former housing association property with

a £12,000 budget was one possibility,

but another train of thought was just to flip it -

that is, to sell it on without doing a thing.

So two months later, and we're back to see which option they took.

They've had the builders in for only three weeks

and this property has now been transformed.

The rooms are as they were originally,

and we've basically renewed everything.

Without trying to put too much of our own stamp on this,

we wanted to keep it really simple, contemporary.

My son is a designer so he had a big part in helping

and just really, without putting a personal touch on this,

it was a question of, "Well, what do people like now? What are they looking for?"

One of the most important things was we wanted to keep the flat

-as bright as possible.

-Yeah.

-Hence the floor. Obviously the feel in this room is one of just light.

-Yeah.

And they've managed to do it all

without any major structural changes.

So, the kitchen is very similar to the original layout.

We moved the oven from this side over to that side of the room

and we put in integrated washing machine and dishwasher.

Just modernised it with your white gloss cupboards

and the LEDs down below, which everybody likes.

We've maximised the space with storage

and we've put as much cupboard space in, above and below.

We've put worktop all the way around the room

so there's plenty of food preparation areas.

Wait a minute, wasn't one of the options to add a second bedroom?

We looked at the whole possibility of extending full width

out through the back and turning this into bedroom number two

and then having a nice, large, L-shaped lounge

with bi-fold doors opening onto the decking,

and when we looked at the figures, they just didn't stack up

and the other advantage of not doing it was time,

saving money

and also just leaving something for somebody to do,

cos often people buy things wanting to put their own

kind of impression on it.

But has that approach helped them

keep their renovation costs down, I wonder?

We talked about 15,000 up to about 20,

and in fact we came in at 20 and a half, total...

-20 and a half, yeah.

-..including parking permits.

A £20,500 spend on top of a £244,000 purchase price

takes their total cost to £264,500.

So have they spent that money wisely?

What did two local estate agents think?

Walking back in today,

I was absolutely gobsmacked, really and truly.

What a lovely, lovely job they've done

and in such a short period of time.

They've made the place look a lot bigger by painting everything white,

using lots of modern units in the kitchen.

The bathroom's beautiful. The heating facilities, the radiators,

are absolutely hi-spec.

Coming through the front door, you can

see immediately the finish is to a very, very high standard.

The flat's lovely and bright.

It's a good aspect with a south-facing garden

so you're on the right side of the road.

I think it will attract people from the kerb appeal.

Well, that sounds very positive

but will the figures be equally as encouraging

when it comes to selling the flat on?

If I was to put the property on right now,

I would certainly place it on the market at around about £365,000

in the hope that offers would certainly come in

over and above £340,000 to £345,000.

As the flat currently stands,

I would put a value of between £350,000 to £360,000

with an estimated sale price in the region of £340,000 to £345,000.

What did Behar and Anita make of those valuations?

We have sold it and we've accepted an offer of 342,500

which represents a 25% profit after all expenses.

Well, that £342,500 offer

will see them make a pretty pre-tax profit of £78,000.

Not bad for three weeks' work,

so will they do another property together?

As a team, I think we work very well

-and, yeah, delighted with the way we've dovetailed together.

-Yeah.

-Onwards and upwards.

-Absolutely.

-Yeah.

We hope you've enjoyed watching Homes Under The Hammer.

Join us next time for more fascinating stories

from the auction rooms.

-Look forward to seeing you then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.