Episode 1 Homes Under the Hammer

With the property market in a state flux,

everybody has to do their own research.

You have to trust your instincts and make your own decisions.

Yes, and one way to do that

is to see things with your own eyes,

and a good way to do that is by going to the auctions.

All sorts of properties go up for auction, some in good nick

and some not so much!

But they are the ones that are the most interesting, challenging

and potentially lucrative,

so here's what we've found for you on today's show.

This three-bed end-terrace in Maidstone

looks solid enough, but there's a big catch...

So much work needs to take place in here!

In Salford, a one-bedroomed flat has one big issue...

Finding it!

And you eventually get to the flat.

And while this two-bed mid-terrace in Stoke is worryingly damp,

there is a more pressing concern...

The big question is, where is the bathroom?

All these properties have been sold at auction.

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

-when they went under the hammer.

-Bought, well done.

And so to the Garden of England - Kent -

and Maidstone, which has fantastic transport links to London

and also to the south coast and beyond.

It also has some pretty solid-looking property.

Less than a mile away from the high street

and I'm on this extremely pleasant and popular residential road.

It's full of really rather substantial Victorian houses,

and it's this one I'm here to see.

Now, it's got three bedrooms

and has a guide price of £120,000 to £130,000.

OK, so it may be lacking a little bit of kerb appeal right now,

but a spruce-up could transform the front garden.

But what about the inside?

Wow! Untouched, or what?!

It's quite rare that you see houses like this.

My goodness! Just the way they've been decorated!

And look, you've got Crittall windows in here. Hello!

Incredible! I'm just wondering if it'd be worth taking this whole

middle section out and opening these two rooms up.

But look at the cornicing in here!

I know I'm getting incredibly excited and most of you

looking at this will think, "What?!"

It's like a film set.

So much work needs to take place in here

and I know this would frighten a lot of you off.

Look at this old boiler.

But the thing I love about it is that it is untouched.

You've got beautiful doors,

lovely big, open spaces.

I mean, look at this for a kitchen.

Is it scary or is it really exciting?

I don't know. I'm going to investigate further.

Thrilling, chilling, terrific or terrifying?

Maybe all the above.

I hate to think what nasties might be lurking in the cellar,

and there's no getting away from

the fact that everything will need doing here.

Plumbing, wiring, the lot.

And that's all before you start messing around with the layout.

Oh, I wasn't expecting this little room at the back of the property.

A bonus area. Fantastic!

But what would you do with it?

I'm wondering what you could do with the internal layout.

Would you have this as a dining room and knock through?

Would you keep it as a study?

But look, it's just fantastic. Cornicing, picture rails,

a fabulous old fireplace.

I would really love to see what's behind there

because, at the moment, it's all just boarded up.

Hopefully, it'll be a nice garden.

What I am seeing here is potential...

and loads of it.

Fingers crossed it's the same story up a storey,

if you catch my drift.

Well, the space continues upstairs.

I mean, look at the proportions of this room. Fantastic.

And yep, good news! There is a garden.

Bad news - it's completely overgrown.

I can't even see where it ends.

There's just brambles and bushes everywhere.

And if you like blackberries, you're in luck.

Well, the Garden of England it is NOT,

but there might just be a bit of outside space

lurking under all that foliage.

Back inside, the next stop is the only bathroom,

which is a touch on the small side, really.

There's a second bedroom

and at the front of the house, the crowning glory...

So, the master bedroom, as you'd expect,

in a lovely untouched Victorian house like this.

I mean, just a gorgeous window area,

really, truly fantastic.

But I am wondering, can you squeeze in an en suite or a bathroom?

Because at the moment, you've just got one family bathroom.

There is something you could do, and I've seen it done many times

and it does work really well - just put a wall up here,

you could have an independent space in here with your window,

so you could still keep the nice proportion of this room.

Bedroom, bathroom.

I think that would really add value to this property.

A more radical approach might be to go up into the loft

and add a bedroom or two there,

but that might just send your budget through the roof as well.

We asked along a local property expert to get his thoughts

on the end-terrace.

My first impressions of the property are good.

It's really substantial.

It's lovely to see. It's almost...

It's in a time warp, really, isn't it? It's untouched.

So it's begging for some modernisation

but hopefully, with all the lovely features,

someone will be sympathetic.

And would he be tempted to develop the attic space?

Converting the loft into one or two bedrooms,

or maybe a big master bedroom with a lovely en suite,

would make it a very desirable property,

but I would suspect, as is often the case,

that all the owner might do

is simply recover the cost of that.

In fact, if they're not careful,

they could overspend and it wouldn't be economic,

particularly if they're looking to make a profit on the property.

Fair enough. Bearing in mind the auction guide price

of £120,000 to £130,000,

once done up, what does he think it could fetch

on the resale market?

If it were renovated in its existing form,

I would suggest about £260,000.

If they go into the loft

to create either one or two more bedrooms,

it could reach as much as £275,000.

And if you left the layout as it is and put

the house on the rental market?

I would anticipate achieving about £950 per calendar month.

Oh! I love houses like these -

solid, straightforward and, OK, it needs loads of work,

but it really will be worth the effort.

Let's see who agreed at the auction.

So, start with lot 64,

in Maidstone. It's a three-bedroom bay-fronted house for improvement.

It's got a guide price of 120 to 130.

So, may I invite your bids at, say...

Well, £120,000. Start me off.

120. And 5. And 30.

130. And 5. And 40.

140. And 5. And 50.

150 in a fresh place.

155. 160.

160. And 5. 170 right at the back.

And 5. And 80.

180.

At 175 to the maiden bidder.

180 I'm looking for. 180 in a fresh place. And 5.

185, if you like.

At 180, standing at the back in the open shirt. 185 I'm looking for.

182.

182 I've got.

182. And 4. 184.

And 6. And 8.

188. 87, if you like.

For £1,000. 187.

188. Looks like you could buy it for that.

190 I'm bid.

192 anywhere else? 192 anywhere else?

At £190,000 I have for the first time.

£190,000 bid for the second time.

Third and final bid at £190,000, are we all done?

Yours at 190, sir, and your number, please?

And that successful bid of £190,000

came from Maidstone local Colin.

Colin used to be a bingo caller.

And in his time,

Colin has rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names

in entertainment - Ken Dodd, Bob Monkhouse,

even Sir Cliff Richard.

But Colin has yet another string to his bow.

The former bingo caller started developing property

back in - eyes down, goodbye teens - 19 -

candy store - 74.

I met Colin and his builder Andrew for a quick chat.

Colin and Andrew, congratulations.

Now, Andrew, you're the builder.

I'm the contractor, yeah. I've got this lovely thing to do up.

So did you see the house before Colin bought it?

-Not at all.

-So you've seen it for the first time today?

-Absolutely.

-Wow!

-I didn't even see the house before Colin bought it!

Colin, what were you thinking?!

I bought it blind.

So, Colin, why have you bought this house? An investment opportunity

or just to keep you busy?

To give me something to pop round and see how it's coming along

and watch the progress of it,

because I'm a pensioner now, Lucy,

and I don't have much to do. I used to be a bingo caller

with plenty of work, but I've got nothing now. No-one wants me now!

So it's quiet for you, but this will keep you busy,

-because you've got lots to do here.

-Yes.

-Were you quite pleased with what you paid?

-Yes.

I worked out the figures,

and if I come out just a little bit in front, I shall be happy.

Colin did pay 60 grand over the top guide price for the property,

but I agree. If he keeps an eye on his budget

and sells the property on, there is great potential here.

That kitchen - well, it's just incredible.

There's so much you can do to completely turn this place around.

-That's where you come in, Andrew.

-It is.

I'll be looking at knocking through and changing the layout a little bit.

Brand-new kitchen, obviously,

and trying to keep the old features.

I'm glad that you've said that,

because the first thing that I noticed about this house is,

there are some amazing features.

People always say, "Oh, Lucy, you always go on about features,"

but to have something modern and workable

and up to date, but with the original features,

I think you can't beat.

-To me, that helps sell a property, as well.

-Yes.

Keep those nice little old features there

but modernise it so it works for the family.

Now, Colin, you're making me laugh

because it's almost as though you're looking at Andrew

-and he's making all the decisions.

-It's so good, I'm going to buy it!

Andrew, how's it going to work as you walk in through the front door?

As you come through the front door,

the wall to the right-hand side will stay, we'll keep the lounge there.

What about this window area? This interesting Crittall creation?

-That's going to be coming out.

-Right.

-We'll probably board across here.

-OK.

-So keep this as a nice, large lounge.

-Fantastic.

-So a big open-plan room.

-Yes.

-Kitchen goes basically on two walls here.

-Yeah.

-With a breakfast bar at the back.

-OK.

Taking that back wall out as well.

-Going into a nice dining area at the back there.

-Fabulous.

-So kitchen-dining area.

-Kitchen-dining area.

-Patio doors in the back.

-Hey!

-Going out onto the back...

-Into the jungle!

I think there's a garden somewhere.

Junking the jungle

and opening the kitchen-diner into the garden sounds fantastic.

And upstairs, once they've stripped everything back,

Colin and Andrew will have a look at putting in another bathroom,

but they're not planning on going up into the loft.

So how long do you think it's going to take to get this place shipshape?

THEY MUMBLE

You guys!

Joking aside, Colin and Andrew have a three-month timescale,

which sounds doable given that they won't need to apply to the council

for planning permission.

What about the money you're going to need to spend on it?

Or do you leave that up to Andrew?

That's up to him. I've got no money left...

Andrew, that's not true, is it?

-That isn't true.

-You tell me how it is. He's too much of a joker.

Yeah. We're probably looking at the 30, 35 kind of mark,

round there, to get it all up to the kind of level

-which I would be happy with.

-Colin and Andrew,

it's been so much fun meeting you today.

I can't wait to see the project and see how it turns out. Good luck.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Lovely to meet you.

So, former bingo caller Colin certainly has got a house

full of character here and a great colleague in Andrew.

I love this property

and I cannot wait to see what it looks like when it's done.

You can find out later in the show.

As regeneration projects go, they don't come much bigger than

the City of Salford in Greater Manchester,

and even on a murky day like this,

the transformation shines through.

I'm in the Broughton area of the city,

about a mile-and-a-half from Manchester city centre

to see a property which definitely sounds interesting.

It's a one-bedroom flat

in this old converted warehouse.

The guide price was a tantalising £25,000 plus.

Let's take a look.

Built in 1860, this grand old lady of a building

was once the home of the Pendleton Co-operative Industrial Society,

originally comprising of shops, warehousing,

assembly rooms and offices.

It's great to see our industrial heritage

developed into homes for a new generation.

Our flat is on the top floor. There is at least a lift up to it.

But I think a map might be useful.

I'm really at a loss to find it.

# But I still haven't found what I'm looking for... #

What a warren of doors and corridors.

It's got to be around here somewhere.

HE SIGHS

Phew!

And finally, through a door, into a little corridor,

round through another door, round a bend

and you eventually get to the flat.

Going to have to give somebody a sat nav when they move in.

It's incredible. But what do you find when you eventually get here?

Well, um, doors.

Not where they should be, like in a doorframe.

Let's skip on from that a minute. The bathroom there.

It looks to be reasonably modern.

All this building has been refurbished quite recently

and so it's not in bad nick if you can see through the mess.

The bedroom there, and through into your one main living/kitchen room.

The first thing that strikes you when you come through the door,

is where the windows should be, there is a big wall.

Low down you've got these little windows, another window here.

But it doesn't really create a very nice initial impression at all.

Neither does that, a bit of a hole in the wall,

it looks like something's been broken there.

Um, it's a bit of a shame, because obviously this is

a half-decent kitchen, but obviously it's in a bit of a state.

I don't think it would take too much effort to put this right.

And the same applies for the rest of the flat.

But it's a classic case of your initial impression -

those first 30 seconds aren't good.

Now, it's important to get past the cosmetic damage and step back a bit.

The kitchen will need a complete refit

but chances are you were going to do that anyway.

And the bathroom actually could be OK.

It's a white suite, there's a power shower,

so it might be salvageable, and that could save some dosh.

It is often a problem when it comes to designing the refit,

or refurbishment, of old industrial buildings like this,

of how do you get living space into what was basically

a commercial or industrial unit?

And the compromise, as has happened here, is often windows -

there's none in that front bit and there's none in this bedroom.

I mean, there's a skylight up there, which,

I suppose, at least brings in some natural light.

I don't personally find this particularly liveable.

However, there are those people who like darkness in the bedroom

and not too many windows so, for those people, the flat is perfect.

# So light up this room

# Cos it's dark in here

# And I'm told that you're coming round soon... #

Clever lighting will give this flat a real lift.

Yes, it is a quirky property, but it's in a unique building,

and with a 999-year lease and a service charge

of just £100 a year, I certainly wouldn't write it off.

What does a local estate agent think of this one-bedroom flat?

Nice, attractive building, which is important, aesthetics on the street,

good location, convenient for public transport,

own car parking to the rear of the property as well,

on-site caretaker as well, which always helps.

Very popular building for tenants who work locally,

so a very high demand for

these types of properties from the investor market at the moment.

So if the flat was fully refurbished,

it sounds like there is a market for this type of property.

But with what was a £25,000 plus guide price,

could it be worth rolling up your sleeves and sorting it out?

Once renovated,

this flat would be worth around £55,000 on the open market.

So potentially a decent uplift on resale values.

What about rental returns?

I would value this property for rental purposes

at £425 per calendar month.

Well, it might not be for everybody, but these kind of flats

and apartments are very popular and will rent out very easily.

So if whoever bought this got it anything like the guide price,

the yields could be quite significant.

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

Lot 32.

The apartment comprises open-plan lounge/diner and kitchen,

plus bedroom and bathroom.

25 plus is your guide. Who's here for this?

-20.

-20. I'm in at 20. At £20,000.

In ones. 21 back corner. 22. 23. 24?

24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

29. 30.

31.

32, may I say, madam?

31,250. Not much to beat. At £31,500.

Against the phone. With you at £31,500. I'm selling it.

31,750. 32.

250?

Got 32. It's in the room. It's against you.

£32,000, first time. £32,000, second time.

Third and final time. All done?

All out? Selling away.

Well done.

Holding his paddle aloft was the successful buyer, Rick,

who got this unusual flat for £32,000.

Rick is an accounts director and he's bought this flat

with his partner Helen to add to their small rental portfolio.

And it was marketing manager Helen who navigated her way to

the latest property purchase

to tell me their plans for this latest flat.

# Find what you get there

# Find what you get there... #

-Helen, great to meet you.

-You too.

Congratulations. Tell me why you wanted to buy this flat.

It was just that we were looking for properties that would give us

a good yield, really.

If we can gain some capital growth then that's great,

but that's not our primary aim.

This property, it's quite close to Manchester city centre,

it's also close to the university as well.

And we believe we can get a good rent

-for, you know, what is a good price.

-Right.

It is an interesting flat, isn't it?

When you walk into this room, the fact there's no...

-there is a window, but you're hit by a wall rather than windows.

-Yeah.

-But it's quite a good size.

-Yeah, square footage, it's quite good.

It's a good-sized bedroom, decent living area.

The fact that it's an old building that's a factory or something

that's been converted we quite liked, rather than a standard new build.

So we thought it was a good buy.

Obviously in a bit of a state at the moment.

Tell me what you're going to do to sort it out.

Well, a complete tidy up, refit.

We're not going to replace the bathroom

because it's a white suite, it's fine.

In here, we'll tidy up the kitchen,

sort out where the wall has been damaged.

The lights have been pulled out from the ceiling,

completely repainted, re-carpeted, we'll also be furnishing it as well.

OK. The carpet doesn't look too bad.

Yeah, but I think we'll probably just put a wooden floor in here.

We want it to look contemporary, clean and quite simple.

-Something that will appeal to maybe a young rental market.

-Right.

Maybe perhaps a couple, or perhaps a student if that's what we get.

What's the budget for what you plan to do?

-We aim to spend no more than about 6,000 on it.

-OK.

-That's quite a lot, actually.

-Well, I suppose,

but there's furniture as well.

So we need to... We have some other rental properties

and we know that it's better to furnish them,

-they rent out much easier.

-Do they?

-In Manchester.

So, once we've... We need to look at furniture as well.

So we are aiming to spend about 6,000. Possibly less if we can.

And then with the fees and everything,

and what we paid for the property,

then it brings it in around the 40,000 mark.

If Rick and Helen can turn the flat around for a grand total of 40,000,

with the estate agents' predicted rental values

of 425 per calendar month,

they could see a yield in excess of 12%,

which makes this a very decent investment indeed.

-So, what's the timescale?

-Four weeks.

-OK. Bing, bang, boom.

And then let it out through an agency or do it yourself?

Yeah, we always use an agent to find the tenants for us

and then we manage the properties ourselves.

That's what we'll be doing with this.

Congratulations, good luck with it

-and we look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you.

Well, at the price she paid, I think Helen's done really well here.

It may not have quite as many windows as I'd like,

but still potentially a very profitable investment.

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

Coming up, in Stoke,

the damp in this mid-terrace has me beating a hasty retreat.

Ahem! Upstairs!

But it's not getting out of this Salford one-bedroomed flat

that's the problem.

The biggest challenge with this property

is actually getting into it from outside!

But first, back to Maidstone, Kent,

and this rather forlorn three-bed end-terrace

which Colin bought at auction for 190,000.

Yours at 190, sir.

Colin's builder, Andrew, was planning to spend three months

and between £30,000 and £35,000 doing the property up.

So, Colin, why have you bought this house?

Is this an investment opportunity, or is this just to keep you busy?

To give me something to pop round and see how it's coming along,

and watch the progress of it.

And just to keep... Because I'm a pensioner now, Lucy,

and I don't have much to do.

I used to be a bingo caller and I had plenty of work,

but I've got nothing now. No-one wants me any more!

Oh, I'm not sure about that, Colin,

because when he wasn't calling bingo,

Colin was developing property

ever since he went to his first auction almost 40 years ago now.

Just over four months after our first visit,

bingo caller and builder are back.

But will it still be in a state - 28?

Or tickety-boo - 62?

Well, the outside definitely looks spruced up. Wow!

The hallway is looking bright and new,

complete with the original banister.

And as for the kitchen that time forgot...

Very nice indeed.

A clean, open-plan look that's perfect for modern living.

In fact, the whole ground floor has been brought bang up to date

and I love it.

The lounge is now much bigger, but they've still managed to keep

the best of the period features.

And they've squeezed in a loo and a utility,

and the kitchen-diner opening out onto the garden is just fantastic.

And talking of gardens, remember the old bramble-filled jungle?

Now, that's better,

although you will have to go to the shops for your blackberries now.

Upstairs, Andrew and Colin have been very clever.

They've given the back bedroom an en-suite shower room,

which is just what it needed.

The family bathroom is looking swish

and the old master bedroom has been partitioned

to give a double and an extra box room.

And if that's not enough, they've cleared out the cellar

to create a really useful space down there.

Colin must be chuffed to bits

with what the builder Andrew has achieved here!

It's better than I imagined.

I didn't think it would turn out anything as lovely as this.

That's all down to Andrew's...

thoughts and plans and everything.

And he's...

I've got 100% confidence in him.

So I just give him the keys

and he just lets me know what it's going to cost and that's it.

Andrew has played a blinder,

and the changes he's made to the layout downstairs work a treat.

The front room, we had that wall across the middle of it

with the little window serving hatch or whatever it was before.

So basically, we wanted to extend that area, take the wall out,

move the wall further back.

The only problem,

the hard bit was actually trying to keep

the old features and the old coving.

Couldn't find the same kind of coving anywhere,

so we had to build our own coving, which took a bit of time.

But I think it turned out all right in the end.

Another job delayed Andrew's start here,

hence the slight overrun on the schedule.

But what about their £30,000 to £35,000 budget?

Budget in the end was about 43,000, Andrew? 42,000, something like that?

It was a little bit less than that. Probably about 37.

-You charged me 41!

-No, I didn't!

-You dog!

-No, I didn't!

No, I think we're about 30... with the windows and everything.

-It works out about 37, I think.

-Oh, you're right, yeah.

That's really pretty impressive, and Colin has come up with

another way of showing his gratitude for Andrew's hard work.

I'm giving him a little bonus and sending him

and his wife and his little girl to Las Vegas for a week.

Just to show my appreciation.

Nice one, Colin!

A spend of £37,000 on top of their purchase price

of 190,000 brings the total spend here to £227,000.

We asked along two local estate agents to get their thoughts

on the renovated end terrace.

First up, the agent who saw the property before they started work.

It's taken something that I would have described as uninhabitable

to being a luxurious property.

This room we're in now I particularly like

because it's going to be a very sociable room,

particularly with the lovely fireplace that they've left in place.

So I think it's got absolutely bags and bags of character,

excellent for entertaining

and I think it's therefore going to make a wonderful family home.

It's a really handsome period house.

From the outside, it's very characterful

and inside they've retained a lot of the character features as well.

But they've also included lots of modern features

that people do really need these days.

Great stuff.

If Colin were to go down the rental route,

what do they think the end terrace would fetch on the rental market?

I think if we were to rent this property,

I would imagine achieving something close to £1,000 per calendar month.

I would estimate this value to be £1,100 per calendar month.

The estate agents' rental evaluations

would give a decent yield of between 5% and 6%.

Colin's plan is to sell on, so what about those resale evaluations?

I would estimate that the value of this property is £260,000.

I would anticipate it selling for something between 260 and £270,000.

I think we can achieve at least 280,000.

I've had chats with various estate agents round here

and they're all in agreement with that.

The evaluations from the agents we spoke to

would give Colin a healthy profit before tax and expenses

of between 33 and £43,000.

-So, is it back to the auction for Colin any time soon?

-Oh, yes!

This time next week I shall be at the old auction,

bidding for another large detached house in its own piece of land.

And I will employ Andrew again,

and again, I hope Homes Under The Hammer come round and film me.

And Lucy and I can have another cup of tea together.

And I can relive fond memories.

Oh, Colin! I can't wait. Hopefully I'll see you soon.

This is Bucknell, one of the suburbs of Stoke-on-Trent,

or Stoke, as it's more commonly known.

Originally six industrial villages, basically,

the Potteries amalgamated together in 1910

under the slogan "vis unita fortior" -

united strength is stronger.

# Oh, united we stand

# Divided we fall

# And if our backs should ever be against the wall

# We'll be together

# Together, you and I... #

Well, if guide prices are anything to go by,

the property I'm here to see, um... Well, it's going to be interesting.

£25,000 plus, two-bedroomed terraced,

it doesn't look too bad from the outside.

I'm sure it'll be just peachy in!

# Together, you and I. #

Oh, well, ever hopeful. What have we got? Well, um...

It's one of those properties, you walk through the front door

and straightaway you're greeted by, well,

a property that clearly is in need of a bit of work.

Signs of quite serious damp on that wall, very dated.

Floors feel a bit uneven, which is a bit of a worry.

In fact, there's some tiling there

which looks like it's going down a bit, which is not good.

Into the back, again,

all the internal walls seem to be showing signs of quite bad damp.

Oh, my goodness me! Over here, look at this. By this window.

We've got... Yeah. Everything is coming off.

One of the things you'd have to do is strip off the plaster anyway,

so maybe the fact that it's in such a state saves you a bit of a job.

But a good-sized front room.

Rear room, I mean, it's a very classic layout.

This kind of house, originally a two-up, two-down.

Yeah, just needs a bit of work.

Oops! Make that a LOT of work.

Off the back of this middle room is the kitchen, which clearly needs...

How shall I put it? A bit of an update.

Onwards and upwards.

So, upstairs, no great surprises in terms of the layout.

Turn right to go to one bedroom, turn left to go to the other.

They're a good size.

Obviously, like the rest of the house, in need of some attention.

But the big question is, where is the bathroom? It's not downstairs.

It's not upstairs. Nope.

Really...

..it's at the bottom of the garden.

Out back is the dunny, as they say in the outback, and an outside loo

may feel as far away as Australia if you've got to go on a chilly day.

But worse than that, no bathroom probably means no mortgage,

so cash buyers only, please.

That said, I do see a glimmer of hope.

Well, at the rear of the property here there is actually some

very good news.

No, it's not the state of the outbuildings or

the size of the garden, although that is quite nice.

First of all, I would say, a great opportunity in terms of an extension

is to extend the kitchen this way to create the much-needed bathroom.

That said, once you've done that, the really good news is that,

at the bottom, there is an access road,

so you could do what next door have done, put a set of gates, provide

off-street parking, and that really is a big bonus for this house.

Plenty to do both outside and in,

but I think this place has the potential to be a cracking home.

We asked along an expert from the auction house that sold it,

to get his thoughts.

First impressions of this property is that it does require a full

modernisation and refurbishment from top to bottom, really.

And it would appeal more to a builder with experience rather than,

you know, a first-time project.

Once done up, what does he think

that the mid-terrace might rent out for?

I would anticipate a rental income

in the region of £450 per calendar month.

And bearing in mind the auction guide price of £25,000 plus,

what does he think the refurbished property might sell for?

After the works, I would anticipate

a re-sale value in the region of £80,000.

Well, that guide price is certainly very appealing

but a lot of people would have been put off

by the state of the property.

But you've got to look through that to what this house could become,

and I think it's got a lot going for it.

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

Lot number six is in Bucknell.

It's a two-bedroom mid-terrace, and it does need modernising.

So, lot number six, 20 to start me on this?

18, then? Can we start it at 18?

18 right in the middle, thank you.

At £18,000. 20 can I say now?

20 left, at 20 left.

22? 22. 24? No.

At 22 in the middle, 24 anywhere else?

At 22 in the middle.

24 anywhere else? 24.

26? 26,000. 28?

No, at 26,000, still in the middle, 28 anywhere else?

Do you want to go one, make it 27?

27. 28?

28. Another one? No?

At £28,000, the bid's right in the middle at £28,000.

29 in the middle again, 29.

30.

31? No? At 30.

Still with you, sir, in the middle, at 30,000.

All done now? £30,000 for the first time.

30-and-a-half, you say?

30-and-a-half. 31, sir.

31, half.

Two. No?

Still with you. 32,000, right in the middle.

All done now? 32,000.

New bidder right at the back now. 32,500.

33.

33,500.

On the phone, 34.

34.

34,500.

35.

Shaking his head, still with you on the phone, £35,000.

All done now?

35,000 once.

35,000 twice.

Third and last time, at £35,000.

Well done.

Cheek by jowl with the under-bidder was Kevin,

with a successful bid of 35,000, well over the £25,000 guide price.

Kevin and his wife Jackie have recently turned to

developing property full time and are building a portfolio.

I met them back at the mid-terrace.

-Kevin, Jackie, great to meet you both.

-And you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-You look very happy.

-I am!

-Well done!

Now, there are people who would have stumbled on this place

and thought, "Blimey, what a lot of work to do," but no?

Yeah, there is a lot of work to do.

We've, er...

We came and viewed it first, erm...

-We knew what state it was in and it doesn't faze us.

-Right.

-So, we're...

-It's a blank canvas.

-Makes it easier when it's like this.

If you're going to strip it back to brickwork, it's easier.

-It makes it easier when it's like this.

-Yeah.

Wow, what a positive outlook. Quite right too.

But this is going to be, do it up and rent it out, is it?

That's the plan, yeah, initially.

Great. So have you done anything like this before?

Erm, this will be our third property now.

-We've, er, we've currently got one that we rent...

-Hmm.

..erm, one that we're just finishing off, and this is the third project.

Wow. So tell me what you are going to do to sort it out, then?

The first job we need to do is make it watertight and secure.

There'll be a roof, doors and windows.

Erm, we'll then start stripping it back to brickwork, ceilings down...

-Chimney's coming out.

-Chimney out.

-Oh, really, what?

-The chimney breast?

-Yeah, out of this room.

-Right.

Erm, keeping the main one in the living room but I don't know whether

-you've noticed as yet, but there's a bathroom missing in the house.

-Yeah!

-It was one of the things I was quite surprised about.

-Yeah!

So, we plan on converting the kitchen at the moment into the bathroom,

moving the kitchen into...

-Having a kitchen-diner here.

-..this second sitting room.

-Ah!

Erm, changing the access for the stairs and living room.

-Swapping the door over.

-OK.

Erm, and then the possibility of

putting an en suite upstairs as well in one of the bedrooms.

Interesting. I'd assumed Kevin and Jackie would put

the bathroom in a new extension beyond the kitchen,

but their layout of sitting room,

new kitchen-diner and the bathroom where the kitchen is now

could work really well.

And while I'm not sure

if an en suite upstairs is strictly necessary in a house this size,

it certainly beats the current al fresco arrangement.

So who does the work?

Er, I'll be doing the majority of the work myself.

Erm, obviously getting the specialist trades in, the electricians,

-erm...

-I do a lot of tiling.

-Plumbing.

-Tiling?

-Tiling, grouting.

-Jackie'll come in and do the...

-The flooring.

Yeah, do the finishing touches, she's a dab hand with the paintbrush.

-Great. Well, more than just a paintbrush, it seems!

-Yeah.

The tiling, grouty thing and whatever.

So what is the timescale?

-Erm, we've set it initially at six months.

-Yeah.

We think that's achievable based on the last couple that we've...

But we have still got to finish one off, so...

-And what about budget?

-Erm...

That's about 15,000, with an extra five, you know, just in case,

when we go up into the roof or...

And if the joists or the roof timbers need replacement...

Just as a contingency, isn't it?

That is a generous budget, and Jackie, who has

a background in accountancy, will be looking after the purse strings.

But despite Jackie's financial savvy,

the couple nearly came a cropper

when they decided to bid for this property at the 11th hour.

I remortgaged one of the other properties,

but obviously, because we saw this very last minute,

on the Thursday before it went to auction on the Monday,

it was quite a short timescale

to get the mortgage sorted, get it valued,

and the money actually came through on the Monday morning,

this Monday, where we had to complete Monday lunchtime,

so a few sleepless nights.

Wow, cos you couldn't get a mortgage

on this particular place in the state it's in,

so you remortgaged another property?

What would have happened if that had fallen through,

if that remortgage had fallen through?

I'd got three friends in place, all to donate a little bit of money

-until it came through.

-Really?

That was why, on the day of the auction, Jackie wasn't there,

but I was busily bidding, but at the same time on the phone to Jackie

making sure that we got the funds.

-But you didn't have the funds!

-No.

No, it's number one rule of buying at auction!

You have to have the funds in place before you bid!

Yeah, it was a low value so we knew we could get it,

even if it went on the credit card for a few weeks.

Buy a house on the credit card, yeah!

For the record, here at Homes Under The Hammer, we don't recommend

buying property on a credit card, even if it is just for a few weeks!

Well, it's going to be a transformation, that's for sure.

-Mm-hm, it will. It will.

-Can't wait to see it. Listen, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Best of luck.

-Thank you very much.

Look forward to seeing you in a few months.

MARTIN LAUGHS

Well, Kevin and Jackie did break one of the golden rules

about buying at a property auction, and that is that you

have to have your finances sorted out before you make your bid.

Really important.

That said, they seem remarkably unfazed about sorting this place out,

lots of enthusiasm, lots of smiles.

Let's see how they get on. You can find out later in the show.

Well, time waits for no man. The weeks and months have passed.

Have those properties turned from ugly ducklings into swans?

Well, let's go back and find out.

It was in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, where we

came across this grand old building.

Built in 1860 for the Pendleton Co-operative Industrial Society,

this former office and warehouse block

had been converted into modern apartments and flats,

and it was a one-bedroom apartment at the top of the building

that we'd come to see,

though finding it was easier said than done.

But once you'd navigated your way to the flat,

you found a place that had been bashed about a bit,

with holes in the walls and signs of vandalism

but, underneath, actually quite a decent space.

It was bought for £32,000 by Rick and his partner Helen,

to add to their small rental portfolio.

Are you going to give whoever rents it a sat nav to find their way in?

Yeah! Yeah, it is quite interesting...

Left, right, through door, corridor, down, upstairs, round the corner...

Yeah, yeah, it's... Yeah, it's quite difficult to find, yeah.

But having found the flat, marketing manager Helen was

hoping to turn it round in just four weeks,

and on a budget of £6,000.

Now, nearly three-and-a-half months later, we're back with Helen

so we can find out how she got on.

# Baby, now that I've found you

# I won't let you go

# I've built my world around you... #

Firstly, that hallway with doors in all the wrong places...

..has been replaced by a welcoming entrance hall.

The lounge has been transformed with neutral colours

and sleek wooden flooring.

The kitchen has been completely revamped

and is now part of a comfortable kitchen-diner.

With a rejuvenated bedroom

and a refreshed bathroom, the flat is certainly in a better

condition than it was when we last found it.

And we had to do quite a bit of repair work

because the property had had some vandalism to it - holes

in the walls and doors off, wiring pulled out, those kind of things.

So once we got those problems sorted, we've painted throughout,

we've put new flooring down, we've replaced the kitchen appliances

and the kitchen cupboards.

We then utilised the existing carcasses.

The bathroom has had a complete clean.

New carpet in the bedroom.

And we furnished the property.

So, all pretty straightforward, really.

There was a delay in sorting out a builder to do the work

and a busy home life meant that the project has

overrun by a couple of months, but overall, it wasn't too taxing.

The biggest challenge, really,

with this property is actually getting into it from outside.

It's a bit of a rabbit warren to find.

Also, when some of the work was being carried out, the lift was broken.

So when, you know, carrying the fridge and, you know, flooring

and that kind of stuff up to the flat, that was a bit of a problem.

But apart from that, we have not really had any issues.

Yes, it is actually as straightforward as it gets,

no structural changes, just some cleaning and tidying up,

and really just a good make over.

Some dressing as a final flourish and job done.

But at what cost?

Originally, we estimated 6,000

and we have ended up spending 3,700 on the actual renovations

and the furniture, and about £1,300 in fees.

So it has taken us up to a £5,000 spend.

And having bought the flat

at auction for £32,000,

a five-grand spend will take their all-in costs

to 37,000.

But what did two local property experts make of the renovation?

First up, the expert who saw the flat before work began.

When we first looked at the property, it had been vandalised.

I think it had been broken into. It was in a very poor state of repair.

The property has obviously been fully repaired, modernised

and refurbished throughout.

First impressions were quite good, to be honest.

It is probably one of the best ones that we have

in the block at the moment.

They do seem to have spent a lot of time and effort

to attention to detail, which is

what a lot of investors don't tend to do these days.

The standard is perfectly acceptable for the market that we are in.

What you don't want to do with a property like this is overspend.

For the area, it is clean, it is modern, it is presentable, and

that is exactly the type of property that tenants are looking for.

Helen and Rick really bought this as a rental property

and aren't immediately looking to sell it on, but what

could their £37,000 investment be worth on the open market?

I would value this property for open market sale at £50,000 to £55,000.

If I was going to put the property on the open market,

I would expect to achieve between £50,000 and £55,000.

That's a potential profit of £13,000 to £18,000.

What does Helen think about that?

I'm really happy, yeah. I mean, you know,

sort of to get capital growth was never really our intention,

but to hear that, you know, we have also increased in value,

then that is really good, yeah.

Yes, there might be a profit up for grabs on the resale market,

but for Rick and Helen it is all about rental.

The rental market is very buoyant.

There is a very active demand for properties like this

and I would expect this property to let for £425 per calendar month.

The rental market is quite strong in Salford.

If I were to put it on the market, I would be expecting to achieve

£425 per calendar month to £450 per calendar month.

When we went into it, we were sort of hoping for about £400

a month, but since doing our research and looking at what else is

available, we were hoping that we might be able to sort of get 450.

But if we sort of got around the 430,

then we would be really happy.

Well, even the lower monthly rent of £425 per calendar month

would generate a yield of over 13%.

Wow, that is some return.

I'm guessing Helen is keen to do more.

The plan is to look for another rental property,

probably similar to this, you know,

sort of in the areas that hug Manchester city centre

but don't quite demand the prices that a city-centre apartment would.

And longer term.

I think, yeah, we would like to retire and move abroad.

So I suppose, hopefully, eventually, we will have enough properties

to sell to, you know, release some capital and be able to do that.

So, a future in the sun for Helen,

but are the prospects as bright for this mid-terrace in Stoke?

Husband-and-wife team Kevin and Jackie bought it for £35,000,

complete with leaky roof and its fair share of damp patches.

And that was far from all.

I don't know whether you've noticed as yet,

there is a bathroom missing in the house.

Yeah, it was one of the things that I was quite surprised about.

We plan on converting the kitchen at the moment into the bathroom,

moving the kitchen into the second sitting room.

-Oh.

-Here.

The possibility of putting in an en suite upstairs as well,

in one of the bedrooms.

Kevin and Jackie were planning to spend six months

and around £15,000 re-digging the layouts

of the mid-terrace and creating off-road parking at the rear.

Almost eight months after our first visit, we are back to see if they

have tamed the jungle outside and got their teeth into the interior.

# I got the eye of the tiger

# The fire

# Dancing through the fire

# Cos I am a champion

# And you're going to hear me roar

# Louder, louder than a lion

# Cos I am a champion

# And you are going to hear me ro-o-o-o-ar! #

A great job on the inside, and out back,

things are looking neat and welcoming.

# You're going to hear me roar! #

Well done, Jackie and Kevin.

We came into it with our eyes open.

We knew that it was,

-um, dilapidated, it was...

-Derelict.

Almost falling down.

But really pleased with the final result.

And so they should be. The top priority was to fix the roof,

and not only would that sort out the damp problems,

it had another very welcome bonus.

Within probably the first week of buying it,

we got somebody in to do the roof. At the same time,

they realised that there was problems with the roof next door,

which it was adjoined to.

So then we met the neighbours, Cynthia and Les.

Lovely couple.

And from then on, they've been around a few times a day,

-providing coffees and bacon sandwiches.

-Yep.

They've been absolute brilliant, so whoever moves in,

they're going to have really, really good neighbours.

Great stuff.

With the source of damp addressed, they could re-jig the layout.

The family bathroom, where the old kitchen was, works a treat.

The new kitchen-diner also works well.

And it is just a small thing, but moving the stair access

from the new kitchen into the sitting room was a stroke of genius.

Changes afoot upstairs, too.

As you can see, we've added an upstairs WC.

It had not got a bathroom at all, originally,

so we have put a bathroom downstairs

and we decided it was important to have a WC at least upstairs.

So we are very pleased with it.

And you can see that it has not taken that much

room off the second bedroom.

We have also been left with a small storage area where you can

add a wardrobe or perhaps a set of drawers with a TV.

So overall, we are really pleased with it.

Jackie took on the role of project manager on this one, with Kevin

ably assisted by his dad Eric on site, getting their hands dirty.

I couldn't have done it without him.

He has been retired now for 17 years.

But he was still here every day.

-I let him off occasional days for a game of golf, didn't I?

-Yeah.

But he was...

He was putting myself to shame, filling skips,

digging out in the back garden, rebuilding brick walls and helping

me out on all the building and demolition work that we needed to do.

Good old Dad.

They had to finish another property first, but the work here has

only just gone over the planned six-month timescale.

But what about their £15,000 budget?

We have spent approximately 17,000.

£17,000 on top of the purchase price of £35,000

brings their total spend here to £52,000.

We asked along two local property experts to see what

they make of the transformation.

The owners have done

an excellent job refurbishing it

right the way through, from top to bottom.

And what about outside?

The back yard has been tidied up substantially.

Nice lawned area.

And they have dropped the kerb at the back,

which has created some off-road parking, which everyone likes.

What do they think the mid-terrace could fetch on the rental market?

We'd ask somewhere around £400 per calendar month.

The other agent thinks it could fetch

as much as £450 per calendar month,

but both agents agreed on a resale valuation of £80,000.

Food for thought, there.

The rental valuations could mean a very healthy

yield of around the 10% mark, or the resale valuation could mean

an equally healthy profit before tax and expenses of £28,000.

So, what to do with the mid-terrace?

It might even be worth trialling the market for a sale and then,

if nothing comes of it, or you don't quite get the price that you're

after, then we'll go back to the original plan of renting it.

Either way, there is good yield in the rental market as well there,

-so it's... Yeah.

-Yeah.

-It's a winner both ways, isn't it?

-Mm-hm.

We'll have plenty more auction properties for you next time

on Homes Under The Hammer.

Yes, join us as we discover what happens behind the scenes after

the hammer comes crashing down.

-We'll see you then.

-Goodbye.

-Bye.