Episode 8 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello, and welcome to the programme.

Now, Martin, I'm sure you'll agree with me, property developing

is hard work, it's frustrating, but it is never boring.

No, it's a fascinating world to be in.

No properties are ever the same and no two days are ever the same.

That's why we love it - buying homes under the hammer.

Barons Court, Kensington, lies a short hop, skip and a jump

from London's shops and museums

and there's an eclectic variety of properties -

townhouses, conversions, flats and mews.

But, as we all know,

living close to the city centre doesn't come cheap.

The average price of a flat in Barons Court

is over half a million quid.

Even in an expensive area,

there's sometimes a relative bargain to be found,

and in the auction catalogue,

with a guide price of just £350,000 plus, was this -

a first-floor, one-bedroom flat!

I can't wait to see what you get for that kind of money around here.

I love these old mansion blocks,

they just have such a lovely feeling

and there's lots of light coming in.

Already I'm feeling quite at home here. What's in here?

SHE LAUGHS I am laughing, because you're in London

and a lot of estate agents might call that bedroom number two.

Clearly it's not big enough for that,

you couldn't get a single bed in there,

but it seems a waste of space to have that as a cupboard,

so maybe in that little nook you could put a computer

and just do something a little bit more interesting with it.

So, the reception room - don't think the green is working.

A nice, muted tone would work well.

But a stunning bay window.

That is absolutely gorgeous.

So you could start from scratch, you've got the floorboards,

so you could even put some nice hardwood flooring,

but this is a leasehold flat,

so you would need to get permission from the leaseholder, don't forget.

So in here - the kitchen.

SHE KNOCKS

Would we like to knock through

and make this one great big open-plan space?

I think so, because it's almost as though

there's too much stuff going on in here and it's not big enough.

But, oh, there's doors - so that must mean outside space?

I love this!

It's only small, but you do have your very own balcony in London,

outside space, glass of wine, cup of tea, whatever.

From here I can see shops, bars, brasseries and life.

You're in London, what's not to like?

So this is the only bedroom in the flat,

of course it's a one-bedroomed property,

but it's a wonderful space in here - lovely high ceilings,

again, you've got cornicing,

two fabulous sash windows over there, and the bathroom.

Again, this is a really big bathroom,

you've got enough room for a shower, a big bath,

there's even storage in there, which is good.

The downside is, this is the only doorway into the loo,

so if you're in the flat

you're going to have to walk through the bedroom to get here.

So I suppose you could create an independent access with the corridor,

but it all depends on the budget

and how far you want to go with a property like this.

I think the interesting thing is here, it's London, it's location,

the Tube station is literally around the corner,

but when you look out the window...

..there we go, there's the track right there.

I'm just wondering how noisy it's going to be in this flat.

These are single-glazed.

It might be worth spending that extra bit of money

and putting some double glazing in.

The plumbing needs a bit of attention, the cold water feed

to the electric shower is currently routed along the bedroom walls.

Unobtrusive it is not.

The actual bathroom fitments all need refreshing and replacing,

and then that cupboard space I mentioned earlier...

Well, a combi boiler replacing that tank might free up some space.

So work to be done,

but nothing that appears to make that guide price of 350,000 seem worrying.

In London, prices can vary enormously within a few streets

so we asked along a local agent

to tell us more about the potential for this one-bed flat.

If this flat was refurbished to a high standard,

I would be expecting us to achieve, on the sale side,

anything between £500,000

to as much as £550,000

if the market continues to go up as it has been.

And as for rentals,

it's a really good rental market at the moment so, if that continues,

I would expect it to be achieving £1,500 per calendar month.

So it's not a huge property.

The bathroom might need some independent access,

but there is potential to do it up and make a profit here.

So let's see who wanted this at the auction.

Move on to Lot 56.

Around Barons Court area, a good area.

Kensington, W14, near Queen's Club.

Who would like to kick off on this?

400?

300 with you. 305?

Anywhere?

305 with you, madam. 310, 315.

320... No, it's behind you. You had your chance. 315, 320.

Well, the bids climb rapidly

to where we rejoin the bidding at £450,000.

450.

455.

460.

465.

470.

475?

475. 480?

480. 485?

Have a think. 480. 481 will maybe help a bit?

You never know, it might stop him. 481?

Yeah, 481. 482?

No?

482, yes?

Come on, 1,000 and you're going to miss it. 481.

You're being a gentleman. There's not a gentleman in the room.

481, with the lady. 482?

481 with the lady.

First time, second time, third and last time.

If you're all done...

481.

You're very lucky, madam.

MUSIC: Luck Be A Lady by Frank Sinatra

# Luck be a lady tonight... #

And the lucky lady bidder was Cherry.

Her successful bid of £481,000

was a substantial £131,000 over the guide price.

I met her at the flat along with her personal trainer and friend, Charlie.

Cherry and Charlie, lovely meeting you both today.

So this is for you, and what's Charlie's input going to be?

So, Charlie's helping me with it,

so he's going to help with the project management

and also he's very well connected

so we'll be using his contacts to do the work here.

So, guys, how did this all come about?

-Was it over a training session?

-Yes.

-It actually was.

-Was it?

You should have been sweating and doing lots of hard work.

She was out of breath, so when I put it across to her

she couldn't really say no. So, yeah.

So, come on, tell me.

When I first met Charlie last year, I had my own business

and I was just in the process of selling that business,

so I said to him I wanted to use the money to start doing this.

This is something that my parents have done for years and years,

so I've always wanted to do it as well.

So what makes you think, guys,

that you can add value to quite a small flat like this,

enough to then reap the rewards and move on to the next one?

I think, if we get the touch right,

hopefully someone will come in and fall in love with the flat

and they'll want to take it.

So, Charlie, what is the magic touch? Tell me.

The magic touch is... light and airy, I suppose.

We just need to go high-quality

and I think that will sell this.

And they have ambitious plans

for the space currently used as a cylinder cupboard.

We thought maybe putting a cloakroom in there would be a good idea

but take the wall back and make it smaller.

That's a great idea to have a secondary loo,

not that you do need it,

or you could maybe think about a little corridor into that bathroom,

so it's independent.

So, guys, what is the budget? Let's start with that.

20,000, because we want to have a really nice kitchen and bathroom,

-because we feel that is really the selling point for the flat.

-OK.

And we've got a 5,000 contingency.

OK, so £20,000-£25,000 budget.

Timescale? How long are you thinking it is going to take you?

Three months is what we've set ourselves.

Cherry, have you ever done anything like this before?

Not for property development, but I've done it to live in.

The house that I live in at the moment,

we had to rent a house for six months while it was being done,

so I've lived through a huge, huge project of totally re-doing a house.

So, coming in to see what we need to do here is not daunting at all.

What do your family think, particularly your mum and dad,

because this is what they used to do?

My mum is really excited about it.

My husband was really cross with how much money I spent at the auction,

and so I had to get her on the phone

and she assured him that it's in the blood, so it's all going to be OK.

Well, guys, it's been lovely meeting you both today,

and I really hope you can put the Charlie touch to this flat.

I'm sure it's going to look fantastic

and we will be back to check up on you.

-Brilliant.

-Lovely to meet you. Well done.

-Thank you.

Well, Cherry is taking on the family tradition

of just setting off on her first property development venture.

How will she get on?

With Charlie's help,

well, hopefully she'll turn this tired little flat

into a bijou pad for a king.

You can find out if Charlie does add his magic touch

later in the programme.

Singer Tom Jones has a lot to thank Abertillery

in his home country of Wales for.

# Yeah... #

It was his performance in the Top Hat Club here

that led to him being signed by manager Gordon Mills.

The rest we can say is pop history.

MUSIC: If I Only Knew by Tom Jones

# If I only knew

# What I could do

# To make you, make you love me

# To make you, make you love me. #

£15,000 plus was the guide price for the property that I'm about to see.

What do you reckon you get for that? Can't be much, can it?

Well, it's a two-bed terrace. How bad can it be?

Erm...

Well...seen worse.

It doesn't smell too bad.

So, the corridor - pine-tastic.

The front living-room area there - it looks dark, obviously,

because you've got those boards on the windows.

Just to take those off would make that room feel a lot better.

But it seems all right. Bits of wood lying around all over the place.

Stairs up to your two bedrooms there -

it's a pretty traditional layout.

Into the...

Eww.

Into the slightly wonky-feeling back room.

I'm not sure if there is a problem here,

but it feels, when you step in here, like there's definitely a slope.

I know the road's on a slope, but I don't think that's an excuse.

So that needs to be checked out, but it's a half-decent-sized space.

So far, so middle-of-the-road.

And then - ahem - into the kitchen.

Obviously built into some kind of little extension thing

on the back here.

This is the kitchen, there's also a loo there with a shower in it.

Er, OK.

HE INHALES SHARPLY

Erm, a bit of work to be done, eh? Ahem.

# What would you do about you

# If you were me. #

So, upstairs, and in one of the bedrooms, a boiler.

Now, that looks absolutely ancient

and it definitely needs to be got rid of

and, I would say, relocate it out of the bedroom.

We don't like boilers in bedrooms, ideally.

Erm, up here, again, this feeling - whoa, whoa, whoa!

Upstairs, as well, is majorly sloping.

It's a good-size room

and then a very traditional sort of layout.

A little danger zone here.

A little mini landing you have to step across

to get to the other bedroom. Not a bad size.

Again, very slopey down this way.

Oh, my goodness gracious, what's that?

Wow. Bare wires. I don't think I'll touch those.

Just something to be aware of when you're looking round properties -

auction ones or otherwise -

just be careful.

MUSIC: Danger! High Voltage by Electric Six

# Danger! Danger! High voltage

# When we touch

# And when we kiss. #

So it's not just the guide price that's shocking here.

Joking aside, there's plenty to do in this house

and making it safe should be the first job on the list.

Behind the property there is a communal lane

that has access from the side of the terrace

and up to some higher ground,

from which you can get a clearer idea

of the state the property is in.

Good news. The main roof doesn't look to be in too bad condition.

It's really this one that sits above the kitchen and the bathroom

which definitely needs some attention.

But, you know, is it going to cost a lot? Probably not.

Another bonus when you step out the back here, you have access to this -

this is your garden.

I imagine at some stage that was a garage.

Good news, there's a little access road at the back there,

so you could have it as a usable garage.

It's just a little bonus

on a property which doesn't have to do much

to justify its guide price, does it?

Yes, it may be in need of a fair bit of work,

but that guide price of £15,000

is hard to argue with.

However, we are in an area which has a ceiling price,

so you will need to watch your budget.

What does a local estate agent make of the property?

What could it expect to generate

once the work is complete?

I would expect this property to rent out

for approximately £350 per calendar month.

And how about for resale?

Once this property is completely renovated,

I would recommend that it would achieve

somewhere in the region of £60,000.

Well, potentially a few structural issues

and definitely a lot of cosmetic ones. Oh, boy!

Yeah, new kitchen, bathroom, walls, plastering, electrics,

all that kind of stuff. Still, what do you expect for 15 grand plus?

Let's see what it actually sold for when it went under the hammer.

It's a mid-terraced house.

Requires upgrading and modernisation.

Guided there at just £15,000.

Who's going to start me? Start me at 15, will you?

15. It's cheap at 15. Start me at 15, somebody. Put a hand up. 15, 12.

Make it 10 then, just to get it off the mark, if you like. 10 can I see?

Thank you, I've got you at 10. 11, sir, can I say? 11, thank you.

And 12? Thank you, at 12. And 13. 13, now.

At 12 we've got you there standing. At 12. At 13. Thank you, 13.

14? 14?

14. 15?

16? 16? 16.

17? 18? 18?

18 new bidder. Thank you, 18. 19 now.

19. 20. 21?

21, now.

I'll take a half if it helps you.

I've got £20,000 on my left-hand side, standing here.

For the first time at £20,000.

And for the second time.

Third and last time. Are we all done at £20,000?

Sold, sir, yours. Your number, please?

The successful bid of £20,000

belonged to Chris.

Chris recently took early retirement from the IT and electronics sector

and has been looking for a house to begin property-developing.

He's managed to enlist the help of his son, Dale,

for this, his first project.

It was back at the property where I met them both.

-Chris, Dale, good to meet you both.

-Likewise.

-Congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

I think the first attraction was the price.

To get a house for £20,000 anywhere in the country is pretty good.

-Are you working together on the project?

-Yes, we are, yes.

-First time working together?

-Yes, it will be.

So how's that going to go?

Well, we'll find out soon.

THEY LAUGH

Chris has earmarked a 15-week timeframe

to get this first venture into property developing done.

So hopefully, the father-and-son team will run smoothly.

So, Dale, what's your involvement in all of this?

I'm going for the landscaping out the back,

removal of rubble, concrete.

Basically stripping the building back to a frame.

So you're the workforce, are you?

-I'm demolition.

-Demolition!

What do you think the biggest issues are?

I think getting the roof sorted - the extension roof -

that's got to be done up front.

I'm also moving the shower room,

which is downstairs at the moment,

to a bathroom upstairs.

And what will you do with the little toilet downstairs?

That will become part of the kitchen,

so it will all be opened up.

The kitchen will be open-plan with a little dining room.

That sounds lovely. What about the slopes?

There do seem to be quite a few of them, don't there?

Yes, I did notice when I viewed it.

It's actually a bit worse than I thought.

It's somewhere between a four- and six-inch drop

actually going across the bedroom,

so I'm going to have to re-level the boards.

What's the budget for the work?

Approximately 15,000.

-OK, so quite a healthy budget for the property.

-Yes, it does need it.

I do need to bring in plumbers, gas fitters, electricians,

so that's all part of the budget.

What's the bigger-picture plan for it?

Is it to do it up and sell it on, or rent it out, or what?

To sell it on. I'm hoping this will be the first of many projects.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

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

So father-and-son team Chris and Dale

embarking on their first

property-development venture together.

Well, what do you think about the £20,000 price?

There are bargains out there.

How will they get on sorting it out?

You can find out later in the show.

Still to come in Walderslade, Chatham,

there's trouble in the air...

And the smell?

HE INHALES AND COUGHS

Worse, if anything!

And in Abertillery in Wales,

how did the father-and-son team get on?

We did have some free and frank discussions at times.

It's now back to the sought-after area of Barons Court

in West Kensington, London.

A desirable area of the capital

where the average one-bedroom flat sells for around 500,000 -

so I was excited to look around this first-floor, one-bedroom flat

that had a guide price of 350,000 plus.

Well, someone who was all on board for this property was Cherry,

who went way beyond the guide price

with a successful bid of 481,000.

Cherry had with her friend and personal trainer Charlie,

who would be helping her with the renovation.

It's now six months later,

and we've returned to Barons Court to see how the work's gone.

Yup, they certainly promised a little Charlie magic - and there it is!

A terrific transformation,

taking out the wall that divided the living room and the kitchen,

and it's created an up-to-the-minute, open-plan space -

perfect for the young professionals they're hoping to attract.

I'm glad they've utilised that cupboard.

It's now part of the living area, not a square foot wasted at all.

The boiler is now a combi and it's in the kitchen.

The bedroom has been tastefully decorated to a high standard,

and although I would've liked to have seen

a separate entrance to the bathroom,

there's no doubt that its clean lines are stylish and practical.

Time to catch up with Cherry and Charlie

to find out how it's all been for them.

I'm most pleased with the overall look of the flat.

If we remember what the flat was actually like,

with woodchip everywhere, really revolting green colour.

But just to see the transformation

and, you know, the flat was very sorry for itself in the early days

and now it's just fantastic.

So, with this, their first venture into property development together,

how has it all worked out?

My role was pretty much dealing with the builders

and getting the work ready and going,

liaising with everyone,

making sure everyone's on time and what have you.

I actually did a bit of work in the flat as well.

I had to take some wallpaper down, stripping wallpaper,

clearing some rubbish, some of the tiling.

Well, all of the tiling, in fact.

But apart from that, yeah, I've pretty much been...in doing the work

and taking Cherry's orders.

Quite right too.

So I have not really been that much involved in what's been going on.

I like choosing colours

and deciding what the carpet's going to be like

and which tiles we're using.

I've really enjoyed doing all that

but I haven't got my hands dirty at all, I have to confess.

-You did help me with the wallpapering once.

-Did I?

-Yeah.

Oh, I did pull a bit of wallpaper down over there somewhere.

A lady after my own heart!

Because of a change to the permission from the freeholders to do the work,

it actually took five months

and their budget of £20,000, plus a five-grand contingency,

came in at £23,000

which, I think, is not bad at all

considering the transformation here.

However, one of the big concerns was the sound of the trains outside.

What happened to the idea of double-glazing the windows

to tackle the noise?

This is a leasehold flat, it's not freehold,

so the freeholder is Hammersmith and Fulham Council

and they're responsible for all the windows.

One of the things I've been doing is trying to find out from them

when they're actually going to redo all the windows

and whether it was worth it

for me to actually invest in doing the windows.

So I have actually got in writing from them

that they're going to do that at the beginning of next year,

so all the windows will be replaced.

Putting aside any future costs of the share of the windows,

Cherry has invested 504,000 in this flat.

You may recall Cherry's husband wasn't best pleased

that she paid 131,000 over the guide price.

So who will be eating humble pie?

Let's see what two local estate agents reckon.

I would suggest a marketing figure

between £500,000 and £550,000,

and expect to achieve

fairly close to those figures.

For sale, I think this property would sell

at approximately £525,000.

I'm quite disappointed with that, with 525,000.

I would like to get more than that

and, I think, when we originally started with this flat,

we did talk to a couple of estate agents

about how much we thought we would get

and they said more around the 550-plus mark.

So I'd be happier to get something a bit higher.

Well, if Cherry did achieve her preferred 550,000,

that would mean a pre-tax profit of £46,000.

And with the estate agents predicting an average rental

of £1,475 per calendar month,

bringing in a rental yield of over 3.5%,

it leaves Cherry with a decision to make.

I think we should put it on the market and just see what happens.

See how much interest there is in it.

If we decide that it's not going to go for as much as we want it to,

then we'll probably rent it out.

We're going a little back in time now to February 2014,

and the area of Walderslade, only ten minutes from Chatham.

It's a popular area, well served with commuter links.

When the property that was up for auction

was described as substantial,

with a guide price of just £200,000-£210,000,

you've got to think, "Whoa-ho-ho! This could be brilliant."

Behind this rather... mishmash of trees and shrubs

is the property itself - and substantial it most certainly is.

Two doors to go into. Which one should we choose?

Eeny-meeny-miny-mo...

That one!

One side of this property was a semi,

and this side was divided into two flats.

But, oh, dear...

The first thing is, the moment you walk in the door,

this overwhelming smell of damp.

MUSIC: Dirty, Dirty Feeling by Elvis Presley

# I got a dirty, dirty feeling

# Dirty feeling's goin' on. #

It was a substantial property,

but clearly there was a substantial amount of work to do.

On the plus side, it had a decent-sized lounge,

bedroom and bathroom,

was double-glazed and had a garden.

Would it be smelling of roses in the upstairs flat, though?

Worse, if anything! Not good at all. What is good is the size.

Like downstairs, a really nice-sized living room here.

Through to the kitchen.

Now, it's kind of a kitchen with...two sides.

This side here - well, you know, old units but nothing too dramatic.

This side, however...

not good.

So there were some definite issues with the roof.

But at least the bedroom was looking in the pink

and it had access to a roof terrace.

But the bathroom was a little odd,

with a bath wrapped in carpet.

Yes, that's a new one on me, and hopefully never to be repeated.

And the outside needed some work for sure.

Next door, in this really substantial property,

was this semidetached three-bedroom house,

and I had my nose at the ready for the smell of damp.

But the air of neglect wasn't present on that side

and the air was fresh and clean.

But it was all a bit dated,

especially in the kitchen department.

The only downside I could see

was that this property was right next to a school,

but I guess if you had kids the proximity could be a plus.

Upstairs, the house ticked all the family boxes,

with three decent bedrooms...

a separate bathroom and toilet...

..and there was double glazing throughout,

and what looked like a fairly new boiler.

So this was indeed a property of two halves

but, with what was a guide price of £200-210,000,

I expected it to be a popular lot at the auction.

A property developer's dream, I would have thought.

Start me where you will. Good-sized plot.

180? 180 do I say?

180. 180, I'm on the way.

190 I'm bid. 190.

200? 200 if you like.

195 I've got on my right. 200 if you like?

200 I'm bid. 205 now if you like?

'The lot did indeed prove popular,

'and we rejoined it at £300,000.'

300. And five.

305 I'm look for.

305. And ten.

307? 307 I've got.

And 310.

312? No, definitely not.

At £310,000 in the front row, then, for the first time.

£310,000 for the second time.

Third and final time at 310 in the front row. Make no mistake.

All done?

-GAVEL BANGS

-£310,000.

The lot was bought for £310,000 by Robin,

who works in insurance but has developed new builds before.

So this was a departure for him,

and his two sisters are silent partners in the venture.

This was a big property, not Robin's usual territory.

But he did have a secret weapon.

I've got a contractor.

He's worked for me on a conversion that I've just recently done.

The contractor, Paul,

-has done an excellent job in a short period of time.

-Right.

We work very well together.

-It just seemed a perfect marriage.

-Great.

-So, has he seen it yet?

-He has.

He came with us when we viewed it initially

before going to the auction.

We got an idea from him as to what it will cost to do it up.

-What did he say?

-Approximately 40,000.

A 40-grand costing seems like a stonking deal to me,

and Robin's timescale of up to six months seemed pretty realistic.

Well, that was in February 2014,

and when we returned five months later

things were looking promising.

Or, should I say, part of it was.

MUSIC: Livin' On A Prayer by Bon Jovi

# Ohh, we're halfway there

# Ohh, livin' on a prayer

# Take my hand, we'll make it I swear

# Ohh, livin' on a prayer

# Livin' on a prayer... #

The three-bed house was nearly complete and ready to go.

But less ready - well, actually relatively untouched -

were the flats, which were more or less as we left them.

The house will be finished in the next seven to ten days, roughly.

As soon as they're done, we're going to put this house on the market

and Paul will start on the flats. Paul has already kind of started.

We envisage it will be done within the next two to three months,

and then the whole project will have reached its conclusion.

And nine months after our first visit, we're going back again,

and you can see how Robin's project has progressed later in the show.

MUSIC: See You Later Alligator by Bill Haley and the Comets

# See you later, alligator

# After a while, crocodile. #

TOM JONES: # Yeeaaaaahhhhhh... #

That voice can only mean one thing - we're back in Abertillery,

once a venue for the talent of the legendary Tom Jones.

The house we were here to see, though, was far from legendary.

Yes, it may be in need of a fair bit of work,

but that guide price of £15,000 is hard to argue with.

OK, so maybe not quite a steal,

but certainly low enough to tempt Chris and son Dale

to make the successful bid of £20,000.

Eight months later, and we return to meet up with Chris and Dale

to see if they made a new home out of that run-down residence.

MUSIC: Something New by Girls Aloud

# We girls going to run this, run this

# All I want is something new

# Something I can hold on to... #

Chris has done a terrific job,

knocking down walls to open up the space

and giving the house a full modernisation,

including moving that bathroom upstairs.

But there was a lot of work to tackle

and they're not there yet,

so what have they done?

The house has been completely rewired, re-plumbed,

new central heating, it's also been completely plastered,

every wall in the house and ceilings have been plastered.

New windows and doors fitted, outside and inside.

There was a slope upstairs in both bedrooms,

approximately five or six inches from one end to the other.

What I had to do is take up all the floorboards

and put timber on top of the existing joists.

It was a massive job, but I did that myself.

MUSIC: Got My Mojo Working by Muddy Waters

# Got my mojo working But it just won't work on you... #

In fact, Chris did most of the work himself,

just getting professionals in

for the rewiring, plumbing and central heating.

He even built the new partition wall in one of the bedrooms,

allowing him to move the bathroom upstairs. That's good thinking.

So, how is it working with Dale?

This project is the first father-son project that we've attempted.

Erm, we did have some free and frank discussions at times

about methods of demolishing walls,

but in the end I just let Dale get on with it.

Yes, he also helped me fill up a few skips as well.

-Four skips.

-Three.

-Four.

MUSIC: Parents Just Don't Understand by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

# There's no need to argue Parents just don't understand... #

Oh, don't worry, Dale - I'm sure the help WAS appreciated,

especially as Chris ran into a bit of bother.

An unexpected problem we came up against

was building regulations.

Because we'd opened up the house downstairs,

we lost the protected fire escape.

So I had to put in fire doors

and fire escapes to the windows upstairs,

which I wasn't expecting and hadn't budgeted for.

And there was another planning-regulation issue that came up

with that extension roof.

We got a builder up here to look at it,

and he said it'd be better to actually replace it.

Buildings Control wanted a flat roof

to add some strength to the roof structure.

I didn't, I wanted a bit of height to the room.

So I came up with a compromise of part-flat and part-sloping,

and they were quite happy with that.

Unexpected budgetary items -

that's not good news.

I've actually spent nearer 20.

The extra money has gone into the fact that the plans changed a bit.

Also the length of time it's taken.

Having to change plans can cost money and, of course, time.

As can having to adhere to regulations,

as Chris has discovered.

He's gone well past his original 15-week timescale.

The reason for that was probably the fact I'm new to this game

and I find that things you estimate are going to take one day

generally take two or three days to complete.

Property developing definitely has a steep learning curve.

Estimating how long things will take

is a skill that often comes with bitter experience,

so it's always worth having a good contingency fund.

Has Chris' total spend of £20,000

on top of the original £20,000 purchase price been worth it?

We've asked along two local property experts

to get their opinion.

With current market conditions,

I would recommend an asking price of £57,500.

If this property was on the market,

I would expect it to achieve somewhere in the region of £60,000.

Those evaluations are about right, actually.

I would be looking to put it on the market at 60,000

and hope to achieve very near to that.

If Chris does achieve that top valuation of 60,000,

he will have made a potential profit of £20,000,

minus the usual taxes and expenses.

Plus, with both estate agents estimating a monthly rental

of £325 per calendar month,

equating to a possible yield of over 9%,

this project is something of a success.

It's been hard work, it's taken a lot longer than I thought,

and it's cost more money.

But I've got no regrets about trying it,

and I'd like to do it again.

It was back in February 2014 when we first took a trip

to the outskirts of Chatham in Kent.

It was here we saw a large, dilapidated lot.

Essentially two semidetached houses,

one of which had been converted into two one-bedroom flats.

The temptation was too much

for insurance claims adjuster and part-time property developer Robin.

Having paid £310,000 at auction,

he hoped, with help from his builder Paul,

he could do up and refurbish all three properties in just six months.

But when we returned five months after our first visit,

well, Robin and Paul were around the halfway mark

with the three-bed house just about completed.

Nearly ten months since I first stepped through

into that somewhat damp and neglected building, we're back.

The whole building is looking great,

with new guttering,

roof tiles and windows.

It's ready for whatever the Kent weather throws at it.

And those flats?

Well, the downstairs one-bed flat is certainly looking good,

with new flooring, skirting,

central heating, decor, the lot.

But, with no layout changes,

this flat was always the more straightforward of the two.

Whereas the upstairs one was a completely different proposition.

We've obviously moved the kitchen from here to over here,

which is now the new kitchen.

This has now been turned into a living-kitchen-dining area.

Well, that really works,

and the reorganising of the space didn't stop in the kitchen/diner.

One of the biggest changes was to turn this bathroom into a bedroom,

and this is what we've done.

It wasn't very hard to do.

We took the bath out, the sink out, etc, and here you go.

The layout changes enable them to make this a two-bedroom flat,

with the master bedroom having the benefit

of access onto a small roof terrace.

Nice!

And so, finally, this multifaceted project is nearly finished.

Since your last visit, the house has been sold.

We got 260,000 for the house,

which is within a reasonable price bracket.

That's good news.

Robin spent £25,000 of his total £40,000 refurbishment on the house.

So is his budget safe? How much have the flats cost to renovate?

I think we've spent approximately 22,000 for both flats together.

It's gone slightly above the original budget,

but I think it's still within a comfortable frame.

OK, numbers time.

Robin bought the lot for £310,000

and has spent £47,000 renovating the semi and the flats.

A grand total of £357,000.

But don't forget he's already sold the house for £260,000.

So, to give him any profit,

the flats need to be worth more than £97,000.

Let's find out what the estate agents think of the flats.

For the one-bedroom property, I would value that

in the region of £155,000.

The ground-floor, one-bedroom flat

I would value at £140,000-150,000.

And the two-bed flat upstairs?

What's that currently worth?

I would value the two-bedroom property

in the sales market for £180,000.

The two-bedroom, first-floor flat,

because of how unique it is,

I'd market between £170,000-£180,000.

And, with a combined valuation of £310,000-£335,000,

plus the £260,000 he's already got for selling the house,

Robin potentially is looking at a pre-tax profit

of between £213,000-£238,000.

Whoa! So what does he make of that?

More than I had expected, which is obviously pleasing.

Yeah, so, going forward,

this is something that I'm looking to turn into a full-time career -

property development.

Well, that's it for today's show,

but we'll have lots more projects,

from bedsits to large family homes, for you next time.

We'll be bringing their stories to you very soon,

so join us then on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.