Episode 73 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Over the years, Martin and I have witnessed the ups

-and the downs of the housing market.

-But whether it's a home or

an investment property you're buying,

you want to see its value go up, not down.

So, if you do your research,

you may stand a better chance by buying your home under the hammer.

Now, we've all heard about the ever-changing property market

and delays in buying.

Now, buying at auction really is one of the simplest processes.

Your hand goes up, the hammer goes down, and you've bought it.

That is what happened when today's three lots went under the hammer.

Getting permission to extend this Southwark property

could prove problematic!

This is a conservation area, so nothing is guaranteed.

I love this beautiful Cornish cottage.

Have I wandered into Bargain Hunt by mistake?

This is an absolutely beautiful Georgian fireplace.

Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

There are three to four bedrooms in this property,

which has got me puzzled.

What's a "to four" bedroom?

-All these properties went to auction.

-434...

We find out who bought them

-and what they paid when they went under the hammer.

-Sold.

This is Bermondsey in southeast London in the borough of Southwark.

Historically, a working class area,

it developed in the Victorian era due to the thriving trade

in industry based around the dockyards on the Thames.

Today, this area is still home to families who grew up here

and it's also feeling the effect of the South Bank's popularity

and property here is becoming that bit more attractive to new buyers.

This oft forgotten corner of London still offers decent value for money.

Well, bearing in mind we're in the capital, but for how long?

Cafes, boutiques, bars

and converted warehouses all add to this area's appeal.

I'd better get to the property pronto.

I feel price is rising by the second.

# One for the money and the free rides

# It's two for the lie that you denied

# All rise

# All rise... #

This road is one of the later Victorian developments in

the Bermondsey area, a street spread out to house the dockyard workers.

It's a lovely spot with neat period terraces, nice little front gardens,

and the house I'm here to see today is this one.

It's a three-bedder which had a guide price of £320,000.

This is a brilliant blank canvas to work with.

It's already been completely stripped.

Let's have a little look in here. So this is the first reception room.

I'm glad to see that somebody's already taken the care to

open up into the second reception room,

but there's little bits and pieces in here that I love.

You've got the arched window, a fireplace here,

once you pull that back, you never know what you're going to find.

You've got nice cornicing. The hallway along here...

Now, when you take these off,

you'll probably find some lovely spindles underneath,

and right the way through to the back of the property... Wow!

Didn't expect to see this.

A really nice-sized kitchen with a bay window there,

fantastic space and, right at the back...oh, no!

The bathroom...but, what a big bathroom.

Now, I'm hoping that we could get that upstairs,

get rid of this and then really open up this downstairs living space.

You could have a dining area, some potential doors put in to

go out into the garden. So, for me, first impressions...very exciting.

When you're dealing with a freehold property rather than

a leasehold one, it's always easier to get excited about potential,

because the house is all yours to do with what you will, within reason.

However, keep in mind that we're in a conservation area,

so any major works will need to be approved by the local council.

The apple tree in the garden is a case in point.

It really blocks out light and could spell trouble for the drains

and foundations, but there could be a tree preservation order or

the conservation regulations might restrict what you can do about it.

# Don't sit under the apple tree

# With anyone else but me

# Anyone else but me

# Anyone else but me

# No, no, no! #

Upstairs, there's a wonderful bedroom to the front

spanning the full width of the house.

Another good-sized double in the middle

and a dinky double at the back.

So, what options are there for getting the facilities

moved up here?

Well, you've got to put the bathroom up here somewhere

and this small bedroom at the back, I think, is the perfect size,

but, by doing that, you would be turning the house into a two-bedder.

Now, I don't necessarily think that is a major issue

and it's certainly better than leaving

the bathroom off the kitchen,

but I'd like to see if there was a chance you could extend out

over the back here

and then you could put the third bedroom in the new extension,

you could put your bathroom in here with a corridor right along here.

Now, you could fit a little skylight in the bathroom or you could

punch a window in this wall,

but there's no point getting carried away with all this

because you'll need planning permission first

and this is a conservation area, so nothing is guaranteed.

If you did manage to extend,

that would solve your bathroom issue and increase your property's value

all in one go, but, by how much and would it be worth it?

This property came with a guide price of 320,000

and we asked a local estate agent along to get some more advice.

The house is in a beautiful location which is now favoured by

young professionals looking to stay close to the city.

A great opportunity,

obviously, wood flooring throughout...

pretty minor work, really, required other than, you know,

potentially having to move the bathroom.

Other than that, absolutely has the basics...beautiful period property.

Great potential.

We're both agreed then.

Nice house, and moving that bathroom upstairs

would definitely improve it.

So, what about that possible extension to keep the third bedroom?

Would spending the time, money and effort doing it give you

a decent return if you were to sell the house on?

If you were to move the bathroom upstairs and finish the property

to a very high standard, we would market the property around £550,000.

If there was a possibility of extending the property further

and maintaining three bedrooms plus a bathroom,

they'd comfortably be looking to market at 575,000.

Buying into this area would not just mean living super close to

the centre of town, it's also about owning a little piece of London's

industrial past in an area that the locals are still very proud of.

Let's see who went for it at the auction.

Southwark.

I really like this one. I think it's a great buy. I've seen this one.

It's a good area to invest in.

Where'd you wish to start?

350 on the phone, 350...

355 in the room.

360.

Too late. 360.

365.

370. 375.

380 on my left.

390.

395...

'Bidding continued to escalate at pace

'and we rejoin the auction at a bid of 430,000.'

430.

431.

432.

Back in, 433, yeah?

434.

435.

436.

437.

Back to you, 436. It's first time...

..second time...

..third and last time. Have you all done?

Sold 436 to you, sir. Sorry, the other bidders.

Coming in at a whopping £116,000 over the guide price with

that bid of 436,000 was David.

He purchased the house with brother James.

The pair run an estate agency in north London

and have a portfolio of properties.

I met them to find out what's brought them south of the river

and why they wanted to invest a rather sizeable chunk of money here.

# Gotta friend, my brother

# Be my brother... #

-David and James, so lovely to meet you today.

-Thanks.

So, you're brothers, you work together, you invest together,

you're going to do this development project together...

-Yeah, it's good that we get on, yeah.

-Do you get on?

-Yeah, we do.

-Luckily.

There's the odd fight, but, yeah, generally, generally good.

I love your house that you've bought at auction.

What I want to know is, what are you going to do with it?

Uh, we're going to do a general refurbishment.

We're probably going to relocate the bathroom at the back upstairs.

-Great.

-Because, um, we've seen a lot of people have done it

in the street already and, these days, people would prefer

a bathroom upstairs. Um, and that would probably mean

extending the kitchen.

The survey came back with no problems, so...you know,

it's just cosmetic, really.

In your opinion, where's the best place for that bathroom to go?

-We're going to put it in-between the hallway and the back bedroom.

-OK.

So, it's going to be small, it's going to make that bedroom

smaller, but it's the only way round the problem.

Or you could just put it in one of the bedrooms as you come up

the flight of stairs. Right in front of you,

you've got the bedroom with the window looking out onto

the apple tree. You could put it in there.

You could just literally have a two-bedroom

property as opposed to a three, and speaking to some of

the agents locally, they seem to think that it won't damage the value

too much to do that.

You won't get a whole lot more money by having a third bedroom here.

Yeah, it's definitely a possibility.

It's something that we'll think about, but I do believe you would

get slightly more value if you were looking to sell it as a three-bed.

So, what about then extending out over the top of the kitchen area and

having your third bedroom up there with a little walkway.

That is a possibility, but that involves planning permission and a

longer time to do it and we want to get this rented as soon as possible.

We don't want to go too far with this,

we just want to do a general do it up, make it really good, rent it out.

So, you're definitely looking to rent it, not to sell it,

it's going to be slotted into your portfolio of...how many now?

This would be number 11.

And they've accumulated those 11 properties in seven years,

so they're clearly doing something right.

'Not to tempt fate, but it sounds to me that they have the ideal balance

'of giving due consideration to all the options, but,'

without going OTT.

They have a healthy £25,000 budget

and want to keep as many of the original features as possible.

Always music to my ears.

One feature they're hoping to get rid of is the tree and they

don't think that's going to be a problem.

With their team of builders, the only other teamwork is

that between the brothers, so, I wondered what that was like.

We're brothers, good mates and we've got a business together,

so we are lucky in that way, you know.

-At weekends, we'll go for a beer together, so...

-Oh, my gosh!

Weekends too!

Weekdays as well as weekends!

It does get... No, I'm joking. It's all right.

Listen, boys, it's been lovely meeting you today. I can't wait to

see what you do and see the outcome of this lovely house.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

-Really nice to meet you.

-Cheers.

-Thank you.

Well, I am genuinely intrigued to see what happens with

the upstairs layout and I think James and David really need to

decide who their target market is before they make any decisions.

You can find out what happens later in the show.

Fancy another layout conundrum?

Well, look no further than here in Ilkeston, Derbyshire,

a location popular with commuters working in Nottingham or Derby.

Well, just half a mile outside the town centre

is the property I'm here to see.

£58,000 plus, was the guide price, end terrace,

but a three to four bedroomed one.

What's a "to four" bedroom?

I am sure that all will be revealed in good time.

Meanwhile, what's it like inside?

Looks pretty good at first glance.

Certainly in nice condition decoration-wise. Doesn't smell.

Half decent carpet.

Front living room area here. You've got a gas fire,

even that looks relatively new, and then it looks like it continues

as you come into the rear sitting room.

Again, half decent gas fire. Stairs up to your bedrooms...

HE CHUCKLES

And maybe the "to fourth" bedroom. Yeah. Lovely. Lovely, lovely!

And, yes, it continues in here. Look at this kitchen.

OK, it might not be particularly modern.

It would definitely benefit from some new units, it's not huge, but

perfectly serviceable, and so far, I'm liking everything I'm seeing.

What about that bedroom though?

From the outside, this end terrace looks to be in fair condition.

It's quite narrow, which could go some way to explaining that

odd description of the number of bedrooms.

And so upstairs, where we will hopefully solve

the mystery of the number of bedrooms. Well, let's count them.

At the front there is one.

Upstairs in the attic there is number two.

A third one there, which is a good size and then down this corridor...

to...

..the answer. This is...

the "to fourth" bedroom! Look!

The reason it's a "to fourth" is because...

tacked on the end of it is the only loo

and bathroom in the property, well, apart from the toilet that's

outside, and I suppose that's not ideal, is it?

You don't really want to access this via a bedroom,

so, I guess you could get a bed in there,

but more than likely you'd have it as a study or a workroom.

So, now you know what a "to fourth" bedroom is.

# Is there room enough Still room enough

# For me?

# Is there room enough Still room enough

# For me? #

Well, when it comes to that attic bedroom,

there is one cautionary note

and that is to always check that the loft conversion

meets the strict planning requirements for access,

head height and escape route.

Well, at the back of the property, it's really rather pleasant.

I love this red brick.

You've got an outside loo there, a bit of a storage area,

and then the garden.

Well, with these kind of properties, terraces like this,

you never quite know what the garden's going to be like.

But in this case, it's fantastic and it's big.

The other good thing is it's fairly low-maintenance,

lots of gravel, and, certainly if you're looking at

renting this place out, people who rent sometimes

don't look after gardens, so, it's absolutely ideal.

But if you were to live here, loads and loads of lovely little

spaces to sit in the summer, a greenhouse to grow your seedlings.

A shed, a little interesting area at the back here, I mean,

what more could you possibly want?

# No, not much... #

Well, at the guide price of £58,000 plus,

I wouldn't be surprised

if there was stiff competition on auction day for this house

that's in such good nick and in the handy commuter-ville of Ilkeston.

What does a local estate agent think of the plus points of this property?

'As I walk round, I think it's a good-sized property.

'It's quite spacious.'

Two good-sized reception rooms,

three double bedrooms upstairs

and the addition of the fourth bedroom/study.

Well, it's a nice all-round property, this,

and it doesn't need a great deal doing to it.

How much does the agent think it could be worth after

a bit of a spruce up, if it came back on the sales market?

If the property was modernised, I would expect this property to

achieve anywhere within the region of £80,000 to £85,000.

And, assuming the bedroom layout remains as it is, how much

rental income does the agent think it could produce?

If the property was to be rented out,

I would hope that the property would be able to achieve anywhere

within the region of £450 to £500 per calendar month.

Well, what a great property this turned out to be.

And I love that "to four" bedroom.

-HE SIGHS

-Who went for it? Let's find out...

when it went to the auction.

Lot 45,

an extremely well-presented end terraced house, uh, that's got

three/four bedroomed accommodation. £55,000,

55.

54. Bid me where you like. 54,000 I have.

54, 55,

55, 56,

57 at the back. 58. 58. At 58...

59, sir? 59. 60,000.

Seated bid at 60,000.

It's in the market, you're not bidding against me. At £60,000.

61. 61. 62.

63.

64. 500?

63 and a half. 64.

64,500. 65,000.

65 and a half.

500. 66.

At 66,500.

At £66,000 once... 500.

66 and a half there. 67? 67.

5 again? 67,500.

68 and 5.

69 and 5.

70,000.

£70,000. Done? Sure?

At 70,000 once...

twice, third time.

Sold at 70,000. Thank you.

Not surprisingly, the house went for £12,000 over the guide price and

was bought for 70,000 by Jay,

who was at the auction with his dad, Rob.

I met them both back at the property to find out more.

-Jay, Rob, great to meet you both.

-Yes, and you.

-And you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you, yeah.

-Good house.

-Spot on. It really is,

yeah. Spot on. It's exactly what we wanted, I think, wasn't it?

Tell me about the partnership then. What's going on there?

I've always been passionate about property,

and you wanted to get on board with it, so.

Well, I think Jay's always had this passion for property and I think

he's watched every Homes Under The Hammer over the last ten years...

Really?!

The last couple of years doing his A levels,

he decided he wanted to do something with property

and we knew he was serious in the summer when we went on holiday,

um, and all he did was read about property and kept coming out

with buy-to-lets and below market values and everything else.

So, I knew that's what he wanted to do and, fortunately,

I'm in a position where I can help to sort of give him

some business acumen and a bit of experience

-and a bit of cash as well to follow his dream, really.

-Oh, good on you.

-What's your background? What do you do?

-Um, healthcare.

-OK.

But, I suppose it's following on like 25 years ago,

my parents sort of helped me set up to run our business.

-They sold their properties.

-Fantastic.

-So, you're helping your son now?

-Yes, yeah, yeah, hopefully.

I've got the privilege of being able

to work alongside my boy, I suppose, eh?

# Teach...

# The children well

# Their father's hell

# Did slowly go by... #

-How old are you?

-18.

-18!

-Yes.

-Fantastic!

I think it started in my last year of school, actually,

and I finished in June this year

so I think I purchased a first property back in my school days,

so this is my second one, hopefully, the second and more to come.

'Jay's dad, Rob, only does property as a sideline.

'His full-time job is owning and running local care homes,

'which Jay's mum, Rose, is also involved in.

'Jay is a keen rugby player

'and plays semi-professionally for Ilkeston, but it's

'the local football club that he and his dad, Rob,

'hope will score for them.'

Going back to Ilkeston, I think it's got a perfect link to

the football club down the road,

which I've got a very good connection with as in,

like, the chairman, we know him well

and we've got a good connection with the club and, um,

they have said that, um,

they're willing to bring some of their boys and live in here for...

-Oh!

-..as, like, a multiple occupation kind of thing,

-a sideline to look at.

-So, a tenant lined up already then.

-Yeah.

-That's one option, isn't it?

-And the house itself is

-pretty spot on, isn't it?

-I don't think we could have picked

-a better one, really, could we?

-No, we looked round it,

we didn't think it needed a lot doing to it, um,

it has got a back boiler,

it needs a combi putting in and the electrics just looking at

and then the safety aspects, doing the smoke detectors and things,

so, I don't know, we've got a budget, haven't we, of...?

-About two and a half grand, I think, or three grand.

-Right.

-We might turn it around in a week or two weeks, probably, so.

-Oh, wow!

-Yeah.

-If you were to stick it back on the market,

what do you think you'd get for it?

Not significantly more at the moment. I think

if we did revamp it completely, there's a room leading onto

the bathroom upstairs, which is like a study area.

That's a three-bed at the moment, make it a four-bed.

-Potentially get a bit more...

-So, you've finished your A levels?

-Just finished my A levels.

-Are you planning to go on to university?

Well, I'm just having a gap year out to begin with,

having a look around property, see if I can get a portfolio started,

and then come back and re-evaluate at the end of the year.

If it's picking up and going really well,

I'll most likely stick with doing this.

I think it's more attractive than going to university at the moment.

So, let's set some expectations then.

-By 25, how many properties are you going to have?

-25...

Um...how many is that? Six, seven years...

-Pushing ten, probably!

-THEY LAUGH

Wow! Go for it, Jay!

-# Get back!

-Heads up!

-Go for it!

-# Get back!

-Heads up!

-# Get back!

-Heads up!

-Go for it!

-# Get back!

-Heads up! #

Robin tends to help a little, along with Jay's two brothers.

One of them is an electrician, which is pretty handy.

What do the rest of the family think about what you're doing?

His two younger sisters, who I've said I'll invest

their...rather than put their little bit of savings in a bond or

anything, if they want to put it into some property.

-They both said no at the minute.

-How old are they?

14 and 16.

I think that would be ideal,

probably in two or three years' time, so that they've got

some property as well then to go on with if they're going to go to uni.

-You setting the whole family up there?

-Yes.

I'm really delighted for you

and I'm delighted that we had some part to play in the whole thing.

-Good.

-Thank you very much.

-Congratulations.

We look forward to seeing how you get on.

Well, Jay's certainly started young and with help of dad Rob,

has got himself a cracking little property here.

Still, a very tight turnaround to get it sorted out.

How will he get on? You can find out later in the show.

Coming up, there's a father and daughter team

taking on a challenge in this gorgeous Cornish cottage.

Let's just hope we're on speaking terms when you come back!

We return to Ilkeston where teenage developer Jay has been given

a start in business just like his dad was 25 years ago.

But, first, we're still keeping it all in the family here

in Southwark, southeast London.

This three-bedroom terrace went for £116,000 over its guide price

at the auction and sold for £436,000 to brothers James and David.

They own an estate agency in north London,

but decided to head south of the river to take on this project.

So, you're brothers, you work together, you invest together,

you're going to do this development project together...

-Yeah, it's good that get on, yeah.

-Do you get on?

-Yeah, we do, luckily.

-So...

-There's the odd fight, but, yeah, generally...

Generally good.

So, how did they get on with the renovation here?

They had a budget of 25 grand, but were hard to pin down on how

soon they'd be ready for their first tenant.

We're here 16 weeks after we first met them, to see

how it's taken shape.

David and James hadn't planned to do anything too radical to this

house, but it certainly looks clean and fresh.

However, their plan to keep it simple was thwarted

when they discovered the house had signs of subsidence that had

not shown up in the lending survey.

The only thing to do was bite the bullet and get the work done.

We've done quite a lot.

We've ripped out a lot of the walls, because,

when we took the wallpaper off, they were...you could just push them over.

They were completely deteriorated.

So, a lot of the internal walls are now stud walls,

so they're better insulated and stronger

and we even had to do some underpinning at the front

of the house, but now the house is stable and a full refurb,

really, a new kitchen, bathroom... everything.

Added to all that, the roof had to be redone,

they got permission to remove the apple tree as it was dying and

there were issues with the floors and new joists had to be installed.

So, they really did have a fair whack to contend with.

This was probably one of the rooms that had the most work done in it.

The floor was very bowed because it had subsided, the front

of the house had dipped, so, obviously, that's been brought up.

Um, the fireplaces,

when we finished it off we'll put cast-iron Victorian fireplaces

in here and in here to give it a bit of character

and, generally, we're very happy with it,

so, whoever rents it or buys it off of us should be happy.

I reckon they have every right to be pleased with this job, especially

when they've had to contend with so many unexpected issues.

Upstairs things look pretty good too.

Having invested all this money in getting the house

structurally sound, I'm wondering if the original plan has changed too.

Well, at the moment, we're going to leave it with the current layout,

probably rent it out for six months or a year

in its current state and then, we've already been speaking to

a planning consultant to do a side return and then extend upstairs

and then we could move the bathroom upstairs,

another bedroom upstairs, and then have a huge kitchen downstairs.

Brilliant. I was hoping they'd go for that extension upstairs,

but it's a really good idea to get the house in rental condition

so they can be making money

while the long process of planning permission takes its course.

Money-wise, they had planned to spend 25,000,

but that included moving the bathroom upstairs,

and didn't include resolving a lot of the underlying issues they fixed.

So, I'm interested to hear, how did their budget pan out?

Quite a bit higher than that, yeah, about...nearer to 40.

That is quite a significant overspend,

but not only have they had to do all that structural work, they've

also had to re-plaster the walls and ceilings, and redo the plumbing.

On a plus note, they have managed to get a new loo under the stairs.

This hasn't been a straightforward job for

the two estate agent brothers so, after all that,

do they still get on?

Generally, yes, but there's been a few things where...

-But we don't argue, we sort of discuss it.

-Yeah.

So, it's...there's no fists involved.

Well, I'm certainly glad this didn't prove to be a "Rocky" experience!

MUSIC: "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor

And before we invite two more estate agents to the property,

did the brothers get involved with doing the work here?

'We're more of a supervisory role, but we do...we are here quite

'often, so we'll come in sort of every other day to check.'

Regarding hands-on, I barely know how to pick a screwdriver up, so...

Well, he wouldn't want to, um, screw it up, would he?

Building skills aside, have the pair of siblings proved themselves

up to scratch with the property development side of things?

That larger than expected renovation cost of 40,000 added to

the purchase price of 436,000 brings their total spend to £476,000.

We asked two local property experts for their opinion.

First up, the agent who viewed it with us last time.

I think, for the rental market, it's done perfectly, very neutral,

very simple, nice finish

in terms of basic finish.

Tenants can imagine themselves living in the property

and bringing their own furniture

and putting a bit of a spin on it for themselves.

First impressions are very nice property. The owners have

refurbished it to a good standard and I don't think they could

have done anything different to make the price increase.

As for now, the plan is rental,

so what do these experts think the brothers could charge?

I'd look to market this at £2,100 per calendar month.

The rental figure that this could achieve is

around £2,000 per calendar month.

That's sort of £500 a week, so...

more or less, yeah, that sounds about right.

That £2,000 per calendar month would give them a yield of 5%, but what

if they did an about turn and decided to sell it here and now.

What price could they fetch?

I believe they could sell this property for £600,000.

If I was to market this property now, I'd market it around £600,000.

We were saying 575 to 600, so...

Yeah, and taking into consideration the sales market's gone a bit

crazy over the last...

four to six months, everything's going for asking

and over asking price.

If the property sold now at 600,000, the boys could make

a whopping £124,000 pre-tax and expenses profit.

However, they have decided to try and sell the house for £625,000,

so they could be looking at a potentially even larger return,

and I think I can guess the answer to my next question.

Will they be doing this sort of thing together again?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-I think so.

I think we're stuck with each other for life now.

Well, head across the Tamar Bridge or

the Torpoint Ferry from Plymouth in Devon

and you find yourself somewhere they call the forgotten Cornwall.

Oh! I tell you what, it's a bit...

Forget it! Forget the weather!

# Waves...

# And goodbyes...

Plymouth is only ten miles away as the crow flies, or is blown on a day

like today, but, with the winding country roads

and a chain-link ferry, the journey can take up to an hour.

It was in this Cornish corner, south of Torpoint,

that I found the pretty village of Kingsand.

Steep, narrow streets lined with charming period houses, where even

a two-bedroom property will set you back between £240,000 and £250,000.

Not cheap for Cornwall, but the area is surrounded by a breathtaking

coastline often drenched in beautiful Cornish sunshine.

Well, if you're lucky. I'm not, I've had to get a new brolly!

Well, on a day like today,

you are really not seeing Kingsand at its best, because,

when the sun's shining, this is an absolutely charming little spot.

17th century traditional Cornish fishing village with

meandering streets, charming houses, and, huh...

You know, as much character as you could ever wish for and, joy

of joys, the property I'm here to see is actually a traditional home.

It's a two-bedroomed cottage at a guide price of £120,000 to £140,000,

which, for Kingsand, I reckon, could be extremely good value for money.

The only one way to find out is to take a look inside.

-FOGHORN BLOWS

-Oh! There's a foghorn.

It really is a ropey day.

Oof! Glad to get out of that.

Well, here's a big bonus, especially on a day like today.

Straight off the road into, not a living room, as you might have

expected for this kind of cottage here,

but into a hallway, which means, at least on a day like today, as

I said, you've got somewhere to put your brolly, your coats or whatever.

Your lounge is there.

Um, it's looking a little bit in need of some tender loving care,

but some really nice original features.

That fireplace, you know, probably going back to the 1920s or

whatever, but a nice-sized front lounge.

Down this fairly narrow corridor and then into your kitchen area.

Off it, the stairs up to your bedrooms, I mean, it's a

fairly traditional layout and this wood, again, very traditional

for this type of property and looks lovely stripped back.

It's probably got some pitch pine underneath there,

but the kitchen itself...

A bit lacking in units, but it's a nice size and, again, you know,

given the facade of the property, quite a surprisingly large space.

Something which won't be to everyone's liking, that is

the only bathroom and toilet in the property. Could you live with that?

I think you probably could. There might be space for it upstairs.

Only one way to find out.

It's a fairly traditional two-up, two-down cottage with lots of period

features and potentially bags of character waiting to be unearthed.

With some loving renovation and redecoration in this cottage,

you could certainly bring new life to this old salty seadog.

Well, even just walking up the stairs where the carpet is

very threadbare, you can see the wood underneath.

I reckon that might be elm, which they

often used for staircases,

and up here I'd like to see these floors stripped back.

I bet there's absolutely gorgeous floorboards under here

and you get that sense with this place that it's just waiting

to be unearthed in lots of ways. Look at this...

years of horrible white paint on this door. Have it dip-stripped.

You just get so much character back into the place. What have we got

up here? A good-sized double bedroom at the front.

Smaller sized single bedroom at the back, but, you know, again, it's not

a huge cottage, and yet, it doesn't feel too claustrophobic inside.

That whole bathroom question, is there space to move it up here?

I don't think so.

I mean, possibly, but, for the sake of it,

I'd pretty much leave it where it is and, again, a really nice thing.

Some of the original windows and views, not of the sea,

but at least some interesting rooftops of Kingsand.

And I think that's the real appeal of this place.

Kingsand is wonderful even on the wettest, windiest day of the year.

This cottage just needs to be warm, cosy, full of character

and loved all over again.

However, the cottage's idyllic location also brings

a burden of responsibility for the new owners.

The house is in a conservation area,

so what does that mean in terms of what you can do with it?

Well, it's not quite as restrictive, say,

as if it was a listed building,

but what it's basically saying is that the area is of interest

in some way - historical, traditional, whatever it might be.

So, in general,

it's the exterior of the property that the planners are going

to be most concerned about,

and so things like changing the windows is going to be a big no-no.

Inside, you can do pretty much what you want.

One thing you might want to do for sure inside is...

..change the heating system.

I love this!

This is an absolutely fantastically beautiful, original,

I think probably Georgian, fireplace and, in front of it,

this charming 1970s, 1980s storage heater.

(Brilliant. The fact that they put it in front of that!)

# Why...why...why... #

Why indeed! Some features like this fireplace are timeless.

The interior period features are part of the overall appeal

and need to be preserved,

so it's not just the outside of the property that needs care.

I think this is a charming house packed with potential

for a very reasonable guide price of 120,000 to 140,000, and I love it!

# I get misty

# The moment you're near... #

Does the local property expert who helps sell it agree with me?

This is a stunning cottage in the making.

It needs everything doing to it from a kitchen to bathroom

redecoration, etc, but its location,

and being so close to the sea, is wonderful.

Being in a conservation area, it's going to be tricky to go

knocking down walls, moving staircases, etc, so you'll have to

work very closely with the conservation officer if you decide

to do a lot of things to the property.

Yup, there's going to be a few hoops to jump through,

but once the work is done, what does he think it could be worth?

If the property was to be marketed in a finished state, it would

fetch somewhere in the region of £225,000 to probably £250,000.

So, what would you do with this cottage in Kingsand?

Well, it obviously needs a bit of tender loving care,

but you cannot criticise the location.

This is a fantastic place, either as maybe a holiday home,

a holiday let or somewhere to live.

Lots of options and I'm sure it was a hugely popular lot

when it went under the hammer.

Who's going to do the whole room a favour and bid 130 to get it going?

'Not surprisingly, bidders were quick off the mark

'with this property and there was a lot of interest.

'Let's join the bidding at 172,000.'

172 I've got.

And a half. Don't look at me like that.

173.

Half. 173 and a half.

174. 174.

175. Fresh face!

175 and a half.

176. Another new face.

176 and a half.

177. 177 and a half on my right now.

178.

At 178.

179. 179.

180. Let's find out at 180. At 180. At 180.

181. 181. At 182. 183. 183.

184. I'm looking for 5. We'll take a half, but at 184 first time,

184 second time,

at 184 and done.

Sir, yours.

And fending off the competition with that final bid of 184,000 was Mike.

His excited daughter Justine was just visible.

# Somewhere beyond the sea

# Somewhere waiting for me... #

Mike was accompanied by Justine and his other daughter

Sarah to the auction,

but it was Sarah who came along with her dad to the property to meet us.

Mike is retired from the building supplies business

and lives with his wife in Somerset.

-Sarah, Mike, great to meet you both.

-Hi.

-Hello.

-Congratulations!

Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

Well, Sarah lives in the village and this is really bought

so that my wife and I can come down

and spend some time in the village with the grandson, but, also,

our youngest daughter, Justine, used to work in the village

and she's keen to come back here at some stage, so...

-Right.

-It may well be some time in the future she will move in.

So, there's a strong family history with Kingsand then,

-is there?

-Yes.

-Well, we've been here about 20 years.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-The idea of this then is keep it in the family...

-Yes.

..and a bit of flexibility in what you're going to do with it.

Whether my wife and myself come down here to live permanently some

time in the future, that may be a possibility, but not at this stage.

But also Just is desperate to move back

and it's really difficult to get an affordable house in this area.

-Right.

-So, when it came up for auction, it was just like,

-"Oh, my God, I've got to go for this!"

-Right, so,

how are you going to decide what's going to happen?

I mean, it sounds like Justine's going to have the first...

the most powerful influence on what happens! Is it?

We have a committee.

So, it could be a holiday home, or a new house for Justine,

or for Mike and his wife. Huh!

I'd love to be a fly on the wall for those committee meetings!

One thing is for sure, they're going to turn it into a family

friendly home and Mike has already worked out his top priority.

The plan is...the EPC certificate for this property is quite poor.

-It's an F.

-So, that's the energy performance certificate.

That's right, it's an F, which is just one step up above from the

bottom, so, the plan is to obviously make it more energy efficient.

I'm looking to replace the windows as well.

Currently, they are a single glaze sash windows.

I'm looking to replace them with double glaze sash windows.

How difficult are they to source these days?

Well, I did contact the local authorities to see what the

rules and regs were, whether I could replace the windows under

building regs, or whether I would need full planning.

So, it may well be, if it's going to be difficult,

-I'll actually use secondary glazing...

-Right.

..on the inside, which is normally used in conservation areas

and on listed buildings.

When the weather's like this,

an energy performance certificate seems like a priority

and it's something you must have for a potential buyer or tenant.

A is, not surprisingly, the best rating, while G is at the bottom.

The rating tells you how energy efficient the house is and in these

days of high energy costs, an energy efficient property is a must,

so I'm glad Mike is thinking about making the place well-insulated.

He plans to totally renovate the property in two to three months,

so, what kind of money does he hope to spend?

It would say it would cost 20,000 to 25,000 to, um...

-..to renovate it.

-What about floor coverings then?

Because I'd love to see what's underneath the carpets.

-I bet that's beautiful floorboards.

-I'm going to take the carpets up,

obviously, upstairs and down the stairs as well.

If they're in good condition, then,

-obviously, we may well buff them up.

-Yeah.

Downstairs, probably a wood floor in the lounge, a wood floor in

the hall, ceramic tiles here in the kitchen leading out to the bathroom.

Sounds good. Is that going to meet with

the committee's approval, do you think?

Yes!

It will, it will, it will.

Let's just hope that we're on speaking terms when you come back!

-Congratulations!

-Thank you.

-I can't wait to see how you get on.

Well done.

Thank you.

Well, it sounds like an absolutely ideal

purchase for Sarah, Mike, Justine, and the whole family.

And it will be keeping the whole family in Kingsand,

a beautiful place too.

Lots of work to be done, glad to hear Mike talking

all about insulation, but the rest of the house, the character,

the feel, how will it be?

Well, you can find out later in the show.

Well, we always hope that the buyers have set themselves realistic

-timescales and budgets.

-There's only one way to find out.

Let's catch up with them and see what they've done.

Earlier in the programme, this three-to-four bedroom terrace

was bought for £70,000 by Jay and his dad, Bob.

He and Jay, who is just 18-years-old, own three properties

between them and Jay bought his first in his final year at school.

I've always had a passion about property

and you wanted to get on board with it, didn't you?

I knew he was serious in the summer when we went on holiday

and all he did was read about property and kept coming out

with buy-to-lets and below market values and everything else.

So, I knew that's what he wanted to do.

Jay and his dad were in discussions with a family

friend at the local football club who were keen to rent

the property to house some of their players.

# Football! Football!

# That's a bunch that go in places

# They got some guys with the cutest faces... #

But they didn't want to wait for extra time,

so, Jay and his dad hoped to complete the work in two weeks

and set a budget of just £2,500.

So, you've just finished your A levels?

Just finished my A levels, yeah.

So, are you planning to go on to university?

I'm having a gap year out to begin with, having a look round property,

see if I can get a portfolio started, and then

come back and re-evaluate at the end of the year.

And now, just three weeks later, this father and son team

are running out again for the second half of the story.

During our half-time break,

the property needed no major treatments from the physio,

but, on advice of the kit man,

a washing machine has been installed in the kitchen, and a cooker.

The first floor bedrooms have been decorated

and the vibrant coloured carpets have been replaced.

When we bought the house, the kitchen was ready to go, so we didn't make

any changes to it whatsoever. Due to the contract we agreed with

Ilkeston Football Club, I had to fit a cooker and washing machine

to suit them. The other snag we hit was the boiler we had to fit.

As you can see in the kitchen, there's not much room at all.

So, we had to think of another idea.

And that was outside, at the back of the property.

This is the solution as to where we decided to fit the boiler.

Originally, the property was fitted with a back boiler.

After close inspection, looking at it, it was found out that it

was more cost-efficient to go for the combi boiler.

If we did try to change the layout of the property internally

in the future, having the boiler here in the outhouse

means that it would give us space to work with

so it wouldn't inhibit what we did decide to do.

A property housing more than three unrelated people needs

a licence, and there are regulations regarding fire-proofing doors

and so on, as well as regulations about facilities that need to

be met, so you do need to bear that in mind.

It's always worth checking with your local council

whether you need a licence for a house of multiple occupancy.

Two lads from the football academy are moving in,

in the next few days, and it's definitely a handy location.

It's just the proximity of the ground to here.

It's only 200 or 300 yards and that would mean the club would be

able to keep a close eye on them and make sure everything is going well.

And how does Rob think Jay has got on with this property?

The first one he's taken on since leaving school.

Well, up to now, everything seems to have gone pretty well,

like, he's done all the hands-on work, helping the plumbers and the

electricians, which are my brother and my nephew that have been

working on the property. My nephew's a professional electrician,

he came in, looked at everything for us.

We did have a new consumer unit

and then he's wired in all the smoke detectors for us as well.

What effect did the combi boiler installation, the electrical work,

and the white goods in the kitchen have on their budget?

Budget wise, it seems to be sort of pretty on track what

we thought we'd spend initially. We said 2,500.

It's been a little bit more than that,

but, yeah, we're very pleased with what we've spent up till now.

Well, sticking with the spend of 2,500, with the £70,000

they paid at auction, it takes their total investment to £72,500.

We invited two local estate agents to come and have a look

at the property, to find out what they think

of the finished product.

Since I last visited the property,

I noticed the owners have put a new boiler in

and re-carpeted the property upstairs.

The property, in all fairness, was in good condition

when they purchased it

and not much was really needed to be done.

I think this property will appeal

to the rental market with its three bedrooms maximising with

the third bedroom in the attic,

as well as a separate office area.

The property is in perfect condition for letting out or reselling,

however, if the owner wanted to achieve a maximum

price for selling, we would recommend fitting a new kitchen and bathroom.

And what about rental income?

If this property was to be placed on the rental market, I would expect

to achieve anywhere within the region of £400 to £450 per calendar month.

I would put this property on

the rental market for £400 to £450 per calendar month.

BOB: We were advised sort of

450 to 550.

Um, and we've managed to get top end of that already

-and we've let it out within three weeks.

-Yeah, it's already confirmed.

We're ready to go at that top-end price, so...

525 per month is very good for us.

Yes, that is good, especially given how little work was carried out.

That rental figure of 525 per calendar month will give

this young entrepreneur and his dad a yield of 9%,

a very handsome return.

What about resale values?

Is it worth more than the £72,500 invested so far?

With the amount of refurbishments that have been done, you'd look

to hopefully achieve anywhere within the region of £70,000 to £75,000.

If I was to put this property on the market,

I would put it on the market at £78,000.

And it means that the property in its current condition would

generate a potential loss of £2,500 to

a profit of £5,500 before taxes and expenses.

But if a new bathroom and the kitchen had been installed,

the agents think the valuation could then reach between

£80,000 and £87,000.

I mean, we haven't done any major work to overhaul it to get it

back on to the top-end, but if we were to come in and sell it,

I'd need things like the kitchen and the bathroom to be redone

and then, hopefully, achieve that top-end price.

And judging from the properties Jay is hoping to add to his portfolio,

it sounds like he might have put university on the backburner.

Hopefully, four or five in the next year, year and a half,

and then, hopefully,

forecasting going forward it's going to be replicating that year on year.

You're going to view another one this afternoon.

-Yeah, yeah.

-See how that goes.

So, a very successful father and son partnership there.

How did our father and daughter's do here in the

beautiful Cornish village of Kingsand? Earlier in the programme,

this two-bed cottage was bought for £184,000 by Mike

and his daughter Sarah, who lives in the village,

and her sister, Justine, who used to live there.

Mike has recently retired from work in the building supplies industry.

He lives in Somerset with his wife Janet.

This is really bought so that my wife

and I can come down and spend some time in the village with

the grandson, but also our youngest daughter, Justine,

used to work in the village and she's keen to come back here at some stage.

-Right.

-So, it may well be some time in the future she will move in.

The idea of this then is keep it in the family...

-Yes.

-And a bit of flexibility

and you don't know quite what you're going to do with it.

He'd set a timescale for the work of two to three months

and budgeted £20,000 to £25,000.

It was going to be a very democratic refurbishment, as Mike and Sarah and

Justine were going to have family committee meetings to

determine the look and who could use the cottage.

It's now eight months later.

Inside, it's not quite finished.

The structural work has been done

and the public areas are still to be floored and decorated.

But, when the floor has been completed, like in the not one,

but two en suite bathrooms, it's simply lovely.

At the back, the storage sheds have gone.

Bi-fold doors have replaced the former kitchen sink

and the new kitchen has been created.

This was originally the bathroom, we've extended it behind me about

a metre, and put this new kitchen in which will have

integrated appliances shortly.

Then through here, this originally was the kitchen,

we've knocked a hole through between the kitchen and the lounge,

to make it a lounge/diner,

so I think this now complements the property very well.

Originally, there were two windows here,

but now we've put a sliding, folding patio door.

It's much lighter, we've got a cloakroom downstairs,

which we didn't have before, and we've got two en suites upstairs

so I think it really...it really finishes the property quite nicely.

One of the issues about this house was that the bathroom was

off the kitchen and I didn't think there was anywhere else to put it!

But Mike has managed to get two en suites up here. Amazing!

And, while they've managed to get all the mod cons you could

ask for, they have retained the cottage's old world charm.

From the outside, it's a pretty little cottage

and it's just going to be really nice.

It's going to be lovely and warm and cosy.

It's just going to be a really nice house to live in.

The cottage had almost the worst energy performance rating

possible, and I was delighted Mike intended to make the property

much more energy efficient.

The building's been completely replastered.

New ceilings, the floors have been repaired, insulated,

the external walls have also been insulated internally as well.

Mike had hoped to install new double-glazed windows, but

the conservation officer insisted on the original sash windows remaining.

Mike's had them refurbished.

He's going to install new storage heaters

and a log burning stove and, with the new insulation,

he's hoping the energy efficiency should rise from F to C.

Mike employed local builders and an electrician,

but I wonder how much time he's spent on the project.

Oh, I've been quite involved. I've knocked the plaster off the walls.

I've taken down ceilings.

I've been underneath the floor to woodworm treat them.

I've actually spent three or four days a week here on site.

And... Come on, Mike! Spill the beans!

Has the family committee been a model of democracy?

I think the committee worked quite well, which comprised of myself,

my wife, Justine, my youngest daughter, and Sarah,

but, at the end of the day, I had the casting vote.

Yeah, we said how we liked it and then he went ahead

and did what he wanted!

Ah, well, I reckon it was a good call whoever made the decisions.

'The family committee had agreed on a £20,000 to £25,000 budget,

'but that wasn't allowing for any layout changes,

'so what's that meant for their sums?'

When we decided to change the layout, then, obviously,

the cost went up, so we're looking now at spending around 34,000.

With the £184,000 Mike paid at auction,

it takes the total investment to £218,000.

Time to find out what impressed two property experts

in this seaside cottage.

First, the auctioneer who sold it and viewed it originally.

What I'm noticing with the work they've done so far

is that the current owners

are looking to keep a wealth of character within the property

but installing a lot of the modern cons as well, so,

that works really well and if they keep going along the same veins,

this is going to be a stunning property when it's finished.

I think the ground floor layout's very nice.

They've done a very good job with opening it up. It's made the area

much more sociable. By adding the kitchen on the back,

it's given it more space as well.

I was looking for a bathroom, couldn't find it and behind the

louvred doors were two en suites, and the that works fantastically well.

But have those features added value?

Is the cottage worth more than the £218,000 invested?

I would put this property on the market in the price region

of £280,000 to £300,000.

Once the property is totally refurbished, it should fetch

somewhere in the region of £250,000, maybe up towards £300,000.

Well, quite a range of valuations there,

but, as it's not complete, easy to understand.

The top valuation of 300,000 would generate

a profit of 82,000 minus taxes and expenses.

It's nice to know that you have added some value cos that's

a positive thing, but I wonder also if Dad's maybe got a bit of a

property developer bug, but I don't know if he's got any money left!

Well, if he's looking for income,

how much rental return could the cottage achieve?

If the property was placed on the rental market, it could fetch

somewhere in the region of £850 to £900 per calendar month.

This property would rent for £800 to £900 per calendar month.

If Mike did want to rent, that would give him a yield of around 5%.

This is a lovely spot and although it's not Mike's plan,

I'm betting this could make a good investment as a holiday let.

Does the auctioneer agree?

This property, in peak holiday season, could fetch

somewhere in the region of, I reckon, £1,200 to £1,300 per calendar week.

That sounds very encouraging

if we do decide to let it during the holiday period.

Somehow, I suspect Mike and his wife and their daughter, Justine,

won't leave many weeks free, or will they?

-MIKE:

-I wouldn't say we'd be down here every week,

but certainly reasonably frequently and, obviously, during the

spring and summer, we'd spend even more time down here.

One of our problems is we have four dogs and three chickens,

so, we can't accommodate all four dogs here and we can't bring

the chickens, so somebody will have to look after those at home.

So, there you have it, another three properties to add to the archive.

Yes, and there are always plenty more where they came

from, as you'll see if you join us next time on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.