Episode 14 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. We both enjoy dabbling in the property market

and love to snag a great deal, but in today's competitive market,

well, that's not always easy.

But what can you do to give yourself the best chance of success?

Maybe you should buy your next house under the hammer.

Property auctions are becoming increasingly popular

and that's because there's no messing around.

When the hammer falls, you have exchanged contracts.

So let's take a look at the three properties

going up for auction on today's programme.

In Millbrook, Cornwall, you'll need to tread carefully

when buying this cottage.

You haven't even got a ceiling or a floor between the rooms.

And you're going to need some imagination for the kitchen

in this end of terrace in Limavady.

You can see where all the units would go straightaway.

But what this house in Carlisle needs most of all

is to rediscover its inner home.

The fact is, it was actually an office.

All of these properties have been sold at auction

and you can find out who bought them and what they paid for them when they went under the hammer.

It's yours. Congratulations.

I'm on the Rain Peninsula, an area known as Forgotten Cornwall.

Across the Tamar Bridge or the Torpoint Ferry, you've got Plymouth and Devon.

But here, you are definitely in Cornwall and it is a glorious spot.

This is Millbrook.

You've got Kingsand and the beaches close by.

Inland, it's gorgeous. Who wouldn't want to live here?

# Don't you forget about me

# Don't, don't, don't, don't. #

We are not officially on the coast here, but there is a tidal inlet

from the River Tamar, so the place has the smell of salt in the air.

Up the road is Torpoint,

where you can catch the chain-link ferry to Plymouth,

should you feel so inclined.

So Millbrook is a perfect place to visit

and possibly an ideal location to live.

So what brings me here?

Well, a potentially very interesting opportunity.

It's this end of terrace.

Actually, two properties that were knocked together to create

this fairly substantial building.

The guide price was £110,000 plus,

which when you consider the average price of a house around here

is nearly 200,000, makes it definitely worth investigating.

OK. Plan B.

It looks like the servants entrance for me.

But this cottage is pretty in pink and I've got a good feeling about it.

Erm... HAD a good feeling.

Well, judging by this complete detritus,

it's not going to be brilliant, is it?

# But we're trash

# You and me

# We're the litter on the breeze. #

The good news is, there is a skip on hand.

The bad news is, you'll need several dozen more.

And don't forget, skips cost a lot.

Maybe this means there's nothing left inside to throw out.

Fingers crossed. Well, I don't know. It's a nice size.

You really get the impression it's these two cottages knocked into one

and there are some original features at least, those beams.

A good size space. Some nice features, yes. An old range here.

But definitely one of those where you're going to have to try

and see through what it's like to what it might become.

Oh!

Oh, boy! Wow! Right. A swift change of thought.

A false sense of security in the kitchen.

Through here, what a disaster. Lots of work in progress.

Lots of bits and pieces and it hasn't been cleared out

and suddenly we are looking at it as a shell because you haven't

even got a ceiling or a floor between the rooms.

It's gone to a different level, this place, hasn't it?

# There's nothing left for me to take for granted. #

There's certainly none of the things you WOULD take for granted in house here.

Walls, ceiling, doors.

I suspect someone has just taken on too much.

Upstairs is a bedroom and bathroom above the kitchen

and there's another two bedrooms at the front.

But really, this place is a shell,

where the floors are an optional extra.

Talking of which, there is a third-floor.

Be afraid. Very afraid!

Well, up even more stairs to the top floor and...

..I am absolutely dumbstruck.

Look at what somebody has done up here to create

a quite extraordinary amount of space.

If you see there, that was the original roofline of the property.

It's been extended up by, I don't know, 20 odd feet to incorporate

both the existing top floor and the attic space and whatever.

You've now got these three massive rooms with high ceilings,

lots of window light, views out over the surrounding countryside.

And it's almost like a completely different property.

Yes, it's a mess and yes, there's lots of work to finish it off,

but suddenly the potential of this place is screaming at you.

The loft conversion as a whole is relatively recent

and this possible large bedroom at the front of the property

spans the entire width of the house.

And this is not the only large area that the property has to offer.

At the rear of the property, there is

this absolutely massive elevated garden.

And with a bit of interesting construction, shall we say,

this kind of slightly sophisticated summerhouse.

You've got that bit of the garden there,

great views across the hills.

But it gets even better because back there,

about the same bit of garden again!

It does take your breath away.

It's an amazing house and land, all for that guide price of 110,000.

But what a big project.

Let's see what a local property expert thought of the task ahead.

Looking at the property, it's such a job.

It's going to be a six month job at least to actually get

a finished article where you can move in.

It's not really for the DIY enthusiast by any means.

This is a professional job. It needs everything doing to it.

I think on the way out they have stripped everything,

so it really is a bit of a state.

Millbrook itself is the head of the tidal creek,

so it is quite a pleasant village. The people here are lovely.

It's a good commuter town.

The city of Plymouth is obviously only about 10 miles away

so it's very handy for those working in and out every day.

The property clearly requires an extensive programme of modernisation,

reconfiguration of various rooms and maybe the staircase even.

But once that is completed to a high standard,

I think you could put this on the market

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

And how about the rental market?

If the property was refurbished to a high standard and placed on the rental market,

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

Despite what it may appear,

I think this is an absolutely brilliant opportunity

because to buy something like this done up in this part of the world,

you're going to have to pay a lot more money.

It's a classic case of if you can buy it for the right price at the auction,

spend a bit of money doing it up, you could really do extremely well

and have a lovely home in this lovely location.

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

A handsome, three-storey end of terrace house.

How many people are going to put their hands up

if I ask for £100,000?

It's not going to go for less than that.

If there is nobody here for it at that level, I will just slide on by.

Thank you, sir. 100, I've got. 102 from the young lady. 105 if I can, sir.

108 to you if you would like it. At 108. 110 is there.

At 110. At 112. 112.

The lot attracted plenty of interest.

We rejoin the auction where the bidding has now reached 138,000.

138 behind you, I'm afraid. I now need to ask you for 139. 139.

140, I have. 140. 141. 142. 143.

144. 144, I've got. 145.

146. 147. 148. 149.

150. 151. 151.

A shake of the head. At 151, once. At 151, twice.

At 151, the lady has it. If you're sure and done at 151 and out.

That successful £151,000 bid came from Amy.

# To be a real sensation

# With your inspiration

# You've got to know the tricks of the trade. #

This property is definitely going to need all the tricks of the trade,

which is perfect as Amy is a plumber.

Plus, she's no stranger to renovations.

I met her back at the cottage to find out more.

-Amy.

-Hi. Congratulations. Thank you. I think!

-Wow!

-A bit of work to do then?

-Yes, just a little bit!

-A potentially amazing house.

-Yes, I think so.

-Why did you want to buy it?

It just looked like a good project. I like a challenge, I think.

Once we get all the rubbish out, I think it will look good.

What was it about the house you particularly liked?

The character, I really like the fact it's a cottage.

But it's not a small cottage like most because it used to be two properties.

It's quite a big place.

So what do you know about the area?

I lived here for 28 years and moved away just over 12 months ago.

I've always lived here, I've been brought up here and I really like it.

So you bought this to move back? Is this going to be your house?

Yes. It's a lovely area. It's a nice opportunity, a nice house.

Amy is spot on. It's going to be fabulous.

So what kind of experience is she going to bring to it?

-I'm a plumber. I've been doing it for 11 years.

-Great.

I converted a couple of properties that I've lived in and I just love doing it.

-I saw this opportunity and thought, yes, go for it.

-Great.

-A lady plumber. There aren't still that many, are there?

-No.

I don't know any other ones, but I think there are a few around.

I worked with dad. A summer job originally.

-And it just stuck for 11 years.

-He's a plumber, is he?

-Yes.

He's got a local business and I just started working with him.

Sounds like Amy is just the woman for the job.

But who is going to be doing the not inconsiderable work?

Me and my dad, mainly. We're hoping to get it done in about six months.

We've given ourselves 12 months maximum, but six months should see it done.

-Will you be fitting that around other jobs?

-Yes.

-Evening and weekends. So this is my spare time hobby.

-Is it? OK.

-I've still got to work all day.

-That can't be easy though, can it?

No, it's quite tiring. But I enjoy it.

So Amy and her dad, John, will be doing their bit on this huge task.

-But is her budget equally huge?

-We're hoping for around 20,000.

-OK.

We can obviously do most of the work ourselves

so we don't need to employ people, so it's just materials, really.

Structurally, we're not changing too much.

We are going to move the staircase just to make it a bit more practical.

And then just gut each room and redo it,

finish off the loft conversion because they're halfway through that.

We've got two bathrooms to put in.

Outside, there is a fair bit of work just to get the garden sorted out.

There's a summer house in the garden that's nearly finished, so we'll finish that.

You seem, how can I put this, fairly unfazed by the challenges ahead.

Yes. I think most people would look at it and see quite a big challenge.

But I've done up a couple of properties that I've lived in

and I think I've done more work on those than needs doing on this.

-So it shouldn't be too bad.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-Good luck with it.

-Thanks.

-We look forward to seeing how you get on.

Thank you.

Well, Amy may well be in the trade, but she still seems remarkably undaunted

by what by most people's standards would be a pretty enormous project.

Still, I think she can see... Well, I know she can see the potential.

So let's see how she gets on later in the show.

Fancy a bit more beautiful British coastline?

Well, how about the stunning golden beaches of Northern Ireland?

This is Benone Beach, one of the most scenic

and photographed beauty spots in this part of the world.

An area of natural beauty.

It stretches for over seven miles, from the ruins of Downhill House

to the Mussenden Temple and on to Martello Tower at Magilligan Point,

where Donegal is just a short ferry ride across the lock.

About five miles from Downhill Benone's beautiful sands,

I'm in the little coastal hamlet of Drumavalley.

It may seem quite remote, but it's actually just under eight

miles from the market town of Limavady in County Londonderry.

Close to the sea coast road,

much of this hamlet was built in the mid '70s

and with the station just a mile and a half away,

you can get yourself to Derry and Belfast in just under two hours.

And all that for a guide price of £35,000. Not bad.

Now, the neighbours have been telling me these properties were built in the late '70s

and I've got to say, these feel very solid, great houses.

Although, this one in particular, no central heating,

so you're going to have to factor that into the cost.

But a really nice sitting room with lovely windows.

In fact, all the windows and doors look to be pretty new.

So you win some, you lose some.

Through here into an extremely open plan, large kitchen dining room.

You can see where all the units would go straightaway.

You've got off-street parking.

You would have to put a little fence panel up there to designate your special little area.

But it's a great start and it's got a really nice homely feel to it.

It would of course feel more homely if it actually had a kitchen.

Unfortunately, no kitchen means most lenders will consider it

to be uninhabitable and therefore unmortgageable

Some specialist companies will advance up

to 90% of the value of a property in the uninhabitable state,

releasing funds in stages as the property is restored.

So unless you've got a lot of cash, this could be a way to go.

What I will say about this property is that there is a certain

amount of character here. You've got these lovely balustrades.

Look at this great big window letting in loads of light.

You've got quite high ceilings. Three bedrooms, which is fantastic.

A great family house. A bathroom through here.

And it does have a spacious feel.

But the best bit for me

is you can look at out to sea and there is Donegal just over there.

For natural beauty, towering mountains

and the joys of rural living, you can't beat this little hamlet.

And it's just as well that that is all on your doorstep, as this

end of terrace house doesn't have much to offer in the way of gardens.

There's a small plot out front that can do with a tidy up

and as we've seen, a rear yard crying out for fence panels to offer some privacy.

But as for the house itself,

the roof and windows look in reasonable condition.

But what does a local property expert think of this house,

guided at £35,000?

First impressions, it's a house in need of some modernisation

and some repairs.

I think with a bit of work done to it,

I think it will prove to be a good buy.

But is Limavady a good place to invest your money?

It's a nice, quiet area to bring up young children.

You have some good primary schools here.

It's a good commuting link between Limavady and Coleraine.

And, of course, you have the leisure facilities as well

of Benone Beach and all the attractions.

But the key question is, once refurbished,

how attractive would this place be on the property market?

Once the property has been tastefully refurbished,

I would expect the property to fetch in the region of between £55,000 and £60,000.

Once renovated, I would expect this property

to rent in the region of £425 per calendar month.

Well, you can hear the seagulls from here and smell the sea.

A solid house with character and views

and a guide price of £35,000.

Let's see who went for this one at the auction.

Lot number 82. Guide price of £35,000.

We have a pre-auction bid here of 25,000.

We have a pre-auction bid of 25,000. Any advance on 25,000?

30,000. We have 30,000. 30,000, seated. Any advance on 30,000?

Any advance on 30,000? We have 30,000, seated. All sure? Last call.

31. 31,000. 31 against you. 32. 32, it is. 33. 33 against you, sir.

At 33,000. 34. 34 it is, seated against you. 34,000. 34. 35.

Selling at 35,000. Against you, sir. 35,000. On the man standing. 36.

36, seated. At 36,000. Selling at 36,000. All sure? Last call.

Going once. Going twice.

And that hidden but successful bidder getting the lot for £36,000 was George.

George bought the house along with his wife, Paula.

While she is a part-time swimming teacher and housewife,

George is a local farmer.

So I was keen to find out why they had ploughed their money into this property.

-George and Paula, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

What was it like for you on auction day?

It was a little bit nerve-racking, but all right. It was OK.

George, I know you're a farmer,

so how does a farming auction compare to a property auction?

It's basically the same principle, but just more money involved.

A cow would be 500, where a house is whatever you want to pay for it.

Tell me about your farming background. How long have you been farming for?

I've been farming since I left school. Beef farming.

With farming not as lucrative as it once was, George and Paula decided

to branch into property developing to subsidise the family income

and over the past 25 years, have now got themselves

a nice little crop of properties in the area.

Would you say you prefer property to farming?

They both have got their advantages.

The farming, by day, I suppose you don't see anybody.

When you work in houses, you're always speaking to people

and meeting people and I enjoy that very much.

-So you quite enjoy the property banter, do you?

-Yes, I do.

I like doing things to houses and talking to the tenants. That type of thing.

Do you know this area well?

Yes. We live about a mile away from here, from Drumavalley.

Well, we already have a property in Drumavalley, and we know

-all the locals really well.

-Do you?

-We know them all.

Well, most of them all very well, and I'm sure most of them would know us.

So, George, would you know everybody in every house on every street,

-honestly?

-Yes.

I could take you to any house on this estate

and name the person by name and they would name me by name.

-And they would know you, Paula?

-Yes, they would.

-What's that about?

Well, I suppose it's just more the Irish way of doing things,

that everybody knows everybody

and it's like one big family on the whole estate and you discover

that a lot of people would be related to one another.

And maybe work together or have grown up together or grown up

with their parents or their sisters.

-So lots of families all live and work and play together.

-Correct.

So how did you get to hear about this? I'm sure it was word of mouth!

Correct, word of mouth.

That's why we didn't view it before we purchased it

because we know what the house is like.

We already have one on this estate and it's worked very well for us.

And this one came up for sale, so we said we would try and buy it.

So, hold on a minute. You bought this without seeing it?

Well, I had been in this particular house before with

the previous owner, but I haven't been in it since the last two

years and we didn't come to view it before we purchased it.

Because you know everybody on this estate, you'd actually been in this house a couple of years ago anyway.

-Yes, as a visitor.

-So, you sort of tried to remember what the property was like and

-today's the first time you've seen it since you bid for it at auction.

-Correct.

-Yes.

# I know, I know, I know

# We've been here once before

# I know, I know, I know

# Cos we've been here once before... #

George and Paula plan on renting the house out,

so all that word of mouth will come in handy

when it comes to finding a tenant and chances are,

whoever rents it out will already be living in the hamlet.

George knows these are solid houses that won't be needing much

work to get up to speed.

This will be a refurbishment, a new kitchen, new tiling,

new skirting, new doors.

Decorate it.

Nothing major. All just basic work.

Heating system, have to replace the heating system. And fences outside.

I think you can't extend here. That's quite easy to see.

You've got what you've got,

you've got to work within the boundary of your floor plan.

Do you think you could tweak it in any way, or are you happy with the way it's laid out?

I'd be quite happy the way it's laid out. There's not much more you can do with it.

You couldn't do much more to improve it.

So I won't touch the layout at all.

With their 25 years' experience,

the couple reckon that a five grand budget and a month's turnaround

should be enough to get the place ready for the rental market.

And George will be tackling most of the jobs needed here,

though it will only take a quick phone call for a plumber or

electrician to do the jobs that require a certificate.

And Paula's role?

I'll be involved with the purchasing of the kitchens and the

appliances, the decor, as George wouldn't be the best at the decor!

-I choose all the colours.

-And why is that?

Why are you not very good at the decor?

I think I'm very good at the decor, but Paula thinks I'm colour-blind.

So you get involved in doing it up and making it look nice?

Yeah, uh-huh.

And make decisions...get the bathroom suite,

anything that has to be done, I'll hopefully get involved there.

So, do you two work well together as a team?

Yes, we would, yes.

Yes, with a weakness, hopefully, the other one will be better.

So with the two put together, we can manage it.

It's been fantastic meeting you both.

I'm really excited to see what this looks like

and to see who you rent it out to. So, congratulations.

And we'll be in touch. Lovely to see you today. Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

So, farmer George clearly

experienced in the world of property, as well as farming.

He knows what he's doing and with the help of Paula, I reckon

this one will be added to their field of dreams.

You can find out how they both get on later in the programme.

Coming up, in Carlisle, this might look like a house, but...

In its most recent guise it wasn't actually used as a house.

And in Limavady, did George and Paula get on?

She does what she's told! THEY CHUCKLE

Which is not very often!

We now head back to Cornwall and the village of Millbrook, where

earlier we saw this end of terrace cottage that had loads of character

from the outside, but inside, well, yes, hm...

But there was a lot of potential here across its three floors.

It was obviously midway through a renovation,

with unfinished jobs, here, there and everywhere.

It would take someone brave to take this project on

and in this case, it was Amy who bought the cottage for £151,000.

Amy's already done up two properties and importantly, is a plumber,

both of which might explain why she took the plunge with this project.

-Why did you want to buy it?

-Just looked like a good project.

I like a challenge, I think! A lot of rubbish to get rid of.

I don't think there's too much work, once all of that's out.

-Really?

-We'll see. It's not as bad as it looks, I don't think.

Well, appearances can be deceptive,

but Amy was confident that with her dad's help, a £20,000 outlay

and a 12 month timescale,

she would be able to make this into a new home for herself.

And when we returned, 11 months later, the cottage front appeared

unchanged, though the original front door was now bricked up.

Fortunately, Amy was there to show us the new entrance

and her new home.

Wow! Amy has done an amazing job of the cottage!

Dining room and lounge combine to create a gorgeous open plan space.

And look at the country cottage kitchen that Amy has created

by using the original units and then adding perfect finishing touches.

I love the butler sink.

There's a good flow from the lounge to the kitchen,

but it's only possible now due to the ground floor's biggest change.

So, in here, I decided to move the front door.

It was in the living room before and it just didn't work.

It didn't flow properly. So, moved the front door into here.

Because of building regs, we needed a fire escape route, so we had to move the stairs.

Decided to move them into the middle of the house. That means the whole place flows a lot better.

They flow onto the next set of stairs and it's a nice open landing.

It certainly is.

And if we go with the flow to the first floor,

the bedrooms now have walls. There's a bonus(!)

And the wooden floors have now been restored,

which adds to the cosy cottage feel.

I've put fireplaces back in to the bedrooms,

just to give a bit of character. I wanted it to look cottagey,

I haven't wanted to make it look too modern.

So, I've tried to make the bathrooms quite traditional as well.

The bathroom is definitely in keeping with the style

throughout the cottage.

Now, up the next flight of stairs is the bit I've been waiting for -

that great loft space with bags of potential.

The cottage now has a fourth bedroom, complete with en suite.

So, I decided to move the door. The doorway came through

and round the corner before and it didn't work very well.

I decided to put an en-suite in there.

It's something I could do easily and it works for this room.

But there's more.

Across the landing is yet another light, spacious bedroom.

And next to it, a family shower room.

This top floor layout has certainly got every inch of space

working for itself, just like Amy had to.

I've managed to do everything myself, apart from the plastering.

I've got somebody in to do that. My dad's been helping me as well.

-But I've been doing all of it.

-Very impressive indeed.

And needless to say,

installing the bathrooms must have been her speciality.

# I'm a one woman army

# Yes, I'm doing OK

# Wanna see the sweeter side of me

# Don't get in my way. #

New electrics had been fitted before Amy had bought the house,

but an electrician has been brought in to certify and sign it all off.

All that remains to be done now is a lick of paint on the end wall

and a tidy up of the garden.

For what was almost a one-woman show,

this is such an impressive transformation,

especially considering it was all done in 11 months.

We said 12 months and I've been doing it in my spare time.

If I'd given more of my spare time up, I would have got it done

sooner, but I've got to enjoy life as well, at the same time.

Amy did most of the work in the evenings and weekends,

with her daytime plumbing job helping to pay for the renovation.

But how did that £20,000 budget cope with all the impressive

changes here?

We've come in under budget. I think we're about 16 or 17,000...

I've got to work out some final figures and obviously,

finish outside, but there's not much to spend out there. So, yeah, I'm pleased with that.

So you should be, Amy!

Pulling off this renovation for that figure was down to doing

all the work herself.

And the fortune of having no hidden horrors lurking in the cottage.

It all means that along with her purchase price of £151,000,

her total outlay is now around £168,000.

And together with her pet parrot, Oakley,

she can now enjoy the comforts of her new home.

I moved in four months ago,

so I've been living here while I've been doing the work, so I've been

giving some more spare time to it, when I get home from work, evenings.

So, yeah, I'll live here a while and then see what happens.

But what do two local property experts think of Amy's hard

work and of her £168,000 investment?

We start off with the auctioneer who first saw

the property before Amy got her hands on it.

I thought I was at the wrong property when I eventually came in

here, but it's a wonderful job.

It really is a transformation from top to bottom.

I think the house has been done up to a really good standard.

They've presented it beautifully, kept it really neutral.

I think the layout works really well.

I think moving the stairs into the middle of the property gives

downstairs a more open feel.

As soon as you walk in, it's a wonderful warm feel to the property.

It's a homely feel.

If Amy did decide to sell on,

what sort of profit could she make after her £168,000 spend?

If I was to place the property on the open market, it would

be in the region of £275,000.

I'd value this property at £250-275,000.

Those upper valuations mean that Amy,

if she decided to sell the house,

could make a profit of £107,000, minus the usual taxes and fees.

That's fantastic!

I'm really pleased with the valuation on it.

I was hoping for about 295 tops, so I think if I do decide to sell,

then that's the figure I'll go for.

And the agents also reckon if she decides to let the cottage out,

Amy could get an annual yield of around 5%.

but after putting all that hard work into the house,

she's decided to stay put and enjoy it all.

I'd like a bit of a break.

I want a few holidays and just relax for the summer.

I missed out on all of my summer last year, doing this place up,

so this year's time for me.

I'm in the historic city of Carlisle.

This city has been centre stage in sieges and battles

fought by the local populace -

the Romans, the Vikings and of course the Scots.

In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie's forces held the garrison

until the Duke of Cumberland took the castle back

and executed 31 Jacobites on the streets of the city.

Today, it's a major railway hub

and only a few minutes drive down the M6 to the lovely Lake District.

Well, two miles east of Carlisle town centre,

situated on a very convenient bus route,

is the property I'm here to see.

And a very substantial one it is, too.

A three-bedroom semidetached in this slightly elevated plot.

40,000 quid was the guide price, let's take a look.

Now, for £40,000, you might not think you're going to get a lot

for your money, but actually you'd be wrong.

For a start, this is an ex-local authority house

and as you know, that generally means

quite a lot of house for the money.

Good, solid walls, and a decent amount of space.

Certainly, that's the image you get

the moment you walk through the door.

Winding staircase up to the bedrooms there,

this is a little entrance area

and then through to your main living accommodation.

Dual aspect, nice bay window here, a few signs of neglect.

But it doesn't smell damp and it's certainly a good-sized space.

Open-plan through to the back of the property,

where you've got this other living area.

Now, I say "living area"...

But what's becoming apparent is that this, in its most recent guise,

wasn't actually used as a house.

Strange things like you've got the bars on the windows,

you've got a relatively small and fairly utilitarian kitchen.

And through here a strange, little ante area,

with a downstairs loo, which has been converted for disabled use.

I mean, things like signs that you wouldn't have in a normal house.

The fact is, it was actually an office.

But in terms of the layout lots of space to play with.

But things like this little area here, by the back door,

doesn't particularly work, so a bit of rethinking required.

OK, downstairs doesn't look like a family home, any more,

but what about the rest of the property?

So, upstairs and the feeling of space continues.

Three good-sized bedrooms.

A bathroom, looks like it's been knocked from a separate bathroom

and loo into just one.

Half-completed, but at least you're moving in the right direction.

Bit of a box room there, and the rear bedroom here.

Again, at some stage, these would have been built-in cupboards.

These were probably used in recent times as, I don't know,

maybe little offices or storage areas.

Hence it does feel a bit utilitarian.

Although it could definitely benefit from some new double glazing.

Well, actually, any double glazing! Cos those are fairly old.

But, again, what you've got is space to play with.

There's a bit of work to do to the property.

It needs upgrading, but it also needs a heart to change

it from a cold, practical work space to a place to live in.

Well, the house definitely benefits from its position on a corner plot.

It's got this really nice-sized garden,

which would make it a great family home.

But, before it becomes that,

you have to apply for planning permission.

Not for the work that's required, but for change of use.

In its most recent guise, it was offices,

and, although clearly it was a house in the past,

currently, planning regulations are that it's an office,

so you've got to apply to change it back to being a residence.

Now, any planning officer, I think, would look upon that

application favourably, but it's still something you've got to do.

So this family house, sorry, former offices,

after all it's not a home until the paperwork is stamped,

has a guide price of 40,000.

Is there potential for a bit of profit in it, then?

We asked a local property expert to come and have a look.

Does he think there's much to be done to the property?

No, once it's had change of use applied for and granted,

back to a normal residence,

because it used to be a drop-in centre,

really it's just mostly cosmetic.

Smarten up the kitchen and the bathroom,

put some new carpets in and new paint, and it should be good to go.

The only real change I would try and make to the property is

perhaps make the kitchen slightly bigger,

because it's a decent-sized house

and it would warrant having a slightly bigger kitchen.

So I would try and, you know, rejig the downstairs a little bit

to try and make the kitchen a better size.

So if the buyer made those changes

and turned the place from an office to a family home,

would it be worth it?

If this property was renovated to a high standard,

I should imagine it would go back on the market at around £90,000.

So, at its guide price of 40,000,

there's a lot of potential in this property. And what about rental?

If this property was to come to the rental market,

the area here is good for rental,

I would expect it to achieve around £495 per calendar month.

Well, a bit of work to be done to sort this place out,

but it's a big house that would make a great family home.

It's also in a strong rental area.

A good buy-to-let opportunity, as well.

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

£40,000. Need a bid.

At £40,000, 35, then.

35 here, at £35,000. I'm away.

At 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,

39, I'm bid.

40, 41 here, just beat you to it, sir, sorry, 42...

With a packed house, there was plenty of bidding on this property

and we rejoin it at £53,000.

53, 54, 55, 55 here, 56,

56 and a half, I'll take it.

57, and a half?

You're out.

At £57,000, first and second time.

If this gentleman gets it, he needs a round of applause,

third and final time, are we done?

Who's going to spoil the party?

Nobody, all done, all out...

wahey!

That round of applause was because this was ninth time lucky

for buyer Alex who hadn't managed to win eight previous lots.

This time, he let the spotter,

who is usually there to assist the auctioneer, wield the paddle.

The lucky lady seemed to change the outcome

with a bid of £57,000 winning the day.

# Luck be a lady tonight... #

However, with this house, I think he has come up trumps.

He owns his own decorating business

and has another role as a landlord with a growing portfolio

of properties he rents out.

-Alex, great to meet you.

-And you.

-Congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

I've been buying houses for quite a period of time,

renting them out, and I thought it was reasonably cheap,

-although not massively so, and I had a tenant for it already.

-Oh, wow.

Yeah, before I bought it.

-That's a great security blanket, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

Did they dictate the kind of house you bought and where or..?

No, I've got tenants already in several properties.

-I've also people on a waiting list, almost...

-Right.

..so I actually went to the auction to buy three houses

-and ended up buying just this and a plot of land.

-Right.

So ideally they'd have had two more, so I've got more people waiting.

Wow. It's a good, solid house. I really like the design, as well.

What did you think when you first saw it?

I'm familiar with the area and I'm familiar with the style of house,

because I work as a decorator and I've decorated similar houses,

although this has been knocked about, because it was used as an office.

It needs a bit of rejigging, in my opinion, but that's maybe just me.

OK, tell me what you're planning to do to it.

Well, there's a great big gap that I'm stood in here,

between the two rooms.

That'll be going, there'll be a door where I'm stood.

Oh, you don't want the open-plan feel?

No, I'm not particularly keen.

I was brought up in big houses and they tend to be a pain to heat...

-Right.

-..so given it's freezing...

It is the Lake District - it either rains or it's freezing.

One or the other up here! And then through...

The layout, to me, is a bit odd, you've got the hall

and the back door,

you've got kind of a wasted area with a disabled toilet down there

and then a very small kitchen at the back

which for a single man or whatever would be fine,

but as a family house you'd really want a bigger kitchen,

so that toilet will be disappearing

-and that'll be all kitchen between there and...

-Wow.

So no downstairs loo, at all?

-No.

-So what about upstairs?

Changing the layout up there or leaving pretty much as it is?

No, everything's staying there. Just a good tidy up. New windows.

-You mentioned you're a painter and decorator.

-Allegedly, yeah.

What do you mean, "allegedly"?

I work with a guy who's been doing it for 45 years

-and I've only been doing it about 12.

-Right.

So I kind of fell into it more

and I work with him, but, of the two of us,

he's far better qualified than I am.

-What did you fall into it from?

-Publican.

-What?

-I was a publican for six and a half years.

-Wow.

-Was that fun or hard work?

-Both. It was entertaining.

It was a good pub, but to be honest

it's a lot easier living painting and decorating.

So from publican to property and painting and decorating.

Oh, and he also has busy summers working on the family sheep farm

in the Scottish Borders.

And he's also a qualified electrician,

so how much of the work here will he be doing?

I could do quite a bit of it.

Obviously, all the decorating and electrical work I'll be doing.

I can't do any gas work.

Any plumbing, I'll be doing.

Refitting in the kitchen, that'll be done by me.

This wall is actually going. I'm getting a joiner to do that.

Just purely because of the door going in the middle.

I want it good and solid and secure.

-So what's the budget?

-About eight.

-Right.

-Any more than eight and I'll be unhappy.

-Right.

An experienced landlord like Alex will undoubtedly keep to his budget,

especially since he doesn't think this house was a total bargain,

having paid 17 grand over the guide.

His aim is to get the property ready in six weeks so he can

get his tenant in and for very good budgetary and practical reasons.

Empty houses get vandalised and whatever.

So, yeah, I want somebody in for the rent,

but also I begrudge paying council tax on empty property,

which you do these days, which seems crazy, but that's the way it is.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you very much.

-I look forward to seeing how you get on.

Thank you very much, Cheers.

Well, Alex might not have got quite the bargain he was hoping for

with this place, but to have a tenant lined up

before you buy the property is certainly the way to go and

he's got some clear ideas of what he's going to do to sort it out.

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

It's been a while now since we last visited those properties.

Has there been any work done?

Well, all sorts of problems can crop up,

so what have our buyers had to cope with? Let's find out.

It's back now to the beautiful coastal landscape

of Northern Ireland and the hamlet of Drumavalley,

where earlier this solid, three-bedroom, end-of-terrace house

was bought at auction by married couple George and Paula for 36,000.

George is a local beef farmer and along with Paula

has over the last 25 years branched out into property developing.

They now have themselves a nice, little rental portfolio

and this house is the latest addition.

With one of their properties already in Drumavalley,

they know the area well

and it's also fair to say that the town knows them well, too.

So, George, would you know everybody in every house on every street?

-Honestly.

-Yes. Yes, I could take you to any house on this estate

-and name the person by name.

-Ah!

-And they would name me by name.

-And they would know you, Paula?

-Yes, they would do, yes.

With this close community spirit, it's hardly surprising

that George had already visited this house a couple of years before.

So he knew what to expect.

Although he might have expected a kitchen and central heating!

However, they were confident that with a month's turnaround

and a five grand budget,

they could make it a nice home for their tenant.

So we kept them to their word and we returned one month later.

Now, new fencing, a re-turfed front garden and a rear yard,

also newly fenced-off, gives this place some much-needed privacy

and kerb appeal.

But have George and Paula made the inside just as appealing?

I'd say! A great looking new kitchen has been fitted.

While the tiled floor leads around to a modern, fresher living room.

All this is a result of George and Paula's handiwork.

In here, the biggest problem was levelling the old floor out.

I had to take out the old floor and replace it with a new floor,

levelling the floor, and, as you can see, put in a new fitted kitchen

and a new hob and an oven, sink, skirting, painting and decorating.

That's basically all that's been done in here.

Up the re-carpeted stairs, the three bedrooms have all been overhauled

with a lick of paint and new carpets.

All straightforward and no fuss.

The bathroom suite has been replaced and is still white.

If you remember, Paula is in charge of the colour schemes

and a nice job it is, too, Paula.

In this room, we renewed the flooring,

took out the old cupboards,

replaced the fire, put up new curtains,

new light fittings, reclaimed the old door,

cos we liked the light coming in, because it gives it a brighter feel.

And redecorated it.

We're happy with this room.

Indeed, the standard of finish is here very high.

And it's part of George and Paula's approach to renovations -

they do it right first time, so they won't have to do it again later.

There were minor problems with the plumbing and the electrics,

but everything here now has been certified

and is functioning smoothly,

including the newly installed heating system.

Well, there was originally oil-fired central heating in this property,

so we had to get in a new boiler,

and the fact we had one from a previous job,

which saved quite a bit of money.

Obviously, the gas would be more suitable,

but you don't have gas mains.

Maybe the larger towns or cities would have it in Northern Ireland,

but certainly not out in the country, we don't.

So you've only got the one form of heating and that's oil.

And just like that heating system,

George and Paula's renovation process is a well-oiled machine.

Well, obviously, it was organising,

making sure that that one job follows directly after the other job,

and we've had quite a few late nights, as well.

Basically, that's how we managed to stick to our timescale.

Apart from the electrics and plumbing,

the couple did most of the work,

more often than not, burning the midnight oil to get the house ready.

But for George, there was still a farm to run.

That left Paula to project manage the refurb

and the stream of materials needed.

But loaded with 25 years' experience,

the couple know that to hit their schedules,

organisation is key.

We've been used to working together for quite some years now.

It's good, the same scenario, so, er...

We work all right together.

When she does what she's told.

Which is not very often.

Experience and hard work have helped the couple finish in three weeks,

a week earlier than planned,

but was it enough to keep them within their budget?

Originally, we thought £4,000, maybe £5,000,

would have renovated the property,

but I think maybe we were a bit over-optimistic about that,

so, yes, we did go over budget.

It finished up £7,200.

Add that to their purchase price of 36,000

and Paula and George have spent £43,200.

Time to find out what two local property experts think of the house.

We start with the agent who first saw it before the renovation.

They've done a great job. It's been really transformed

from the front, from the kerb appeal from the outside

with the lawns turfed, the nice round top fence.

Inside - absolutely fantastic,

with all the wooden floors, lovely new kitchen,

white bathroom suite and a nice sandstone fireplace.

They've done a good job of it.

It's an end terrace, so there's a limited amount that they could do,

but everything's neat and tidy and it's ready for sale.

I think the main items in the house have been changed -

the fireplace, kitchen and bathrooms.

They're all good and they would appeal to a wide range of people,

both first-time buyers and investors.

George and Paula aim to let the property, so for their investment

of just over £43,000, what sort of rental income could they achieve?

I would expect this property would fetch in the region of £430

per calendar month.

The rental value would be £450 per calendar month.

We've already had the property let out at £440 per calendar month.

We always intended to let it. We never intended to sell it.

That rental income will give them a whopping annual yield of 12%,

but if George and Paula change their minds,

then the agents reckon they could get a resale figure

from £58,000 to £60,000,

giving them a profit of around 15,000-17,000 before fees and taxes.

All in all, this has been a successful refurbishment,

so will they be returning to the auctions?

-Yes, we certainly will go to auction again.

-Yes.

Providing it's the right property at the right price.

It certainly hasn't put us off, anyway.

Back now to Carlisle,

where earlier we met another buyer who wasn't put off at the auction,

earning a round of applause

when he finally bought the ninth lot he bid for.

-AUCTIONEER:

-Wahey!

He managed to buy this ex-local authority semi

for 57,000.

The house had a bit of a municipal air, having been used as offices.

Alex had plans to make it more homely.

Well, there's a great, big gap that I'm stood in here

between the two rooms.

That'll be going. There'll be a door literally where I'm stood.

-Oh, you don't want the open plan feel?

-No.

And through between...

The layout to me is a bit odd.

You've got the hall and at the back door

you've got kind of a wasted area with a disabled toilet down there,

and then a very small kitchen at the back

which, for a single man or whatever, would be fine,

but as a family house, you really want a bigger kitchen,

so we'll be going through that toilet wall.

That toilet will be disappearing

and that'll be all kitchen between there and...

-Wow!

-Yeah.

-But a massive kitchen?

-Well, reasonable sized, yeah.

-Yeah.

With a budget of £8,000 and an optimistic timescale

of six weeks to get the work done, how would Alex get on?

We've returned two months later to see what's happened.

Alex has done what he intended to

by turning what was something of an open plan barn

into a comfortable living room...

..and a very useful dining room.

The wall between the loo and hall has been removed,

so a small kitchen becomes a large kitchen with plenty of cupboards

and a door to the back garden.

Right here there was a brick wall.

It would originally have been the outer wall to the house,

so when removed it, we had to put load-bearing beams in there

to take the weight.

And then new units, et cetera.

Right here there was a strap wall, a stub wall with a sliding door on it

for the disabled toilet, which would be in this area here, originally.

Right there.

Obviously, we've taken the toilet out, the wall out.

It needs a bit more filling, cos it's not quite right yet,

but we'll get there.

Breakfast bar, new radiator there.

And the other changes are all through here.

And those changes were, pretty much, there was a large hole here,

it was open plan -

we have put a door in and a door frame, obviously,

between the two rooms so we can block it off

and if you've got children et cetera,

or you like to keep your heating bills down.

You've got two separate rooms. You've got a dining room, living room

and we're pretty pleased with the way it's all turned out.

And it's the same upstairs.

Everything now looks much more shipshape.

Alex hasn't done all this by himself.

He has called on friends and family.

These primroses are courtesy of his mum

and another member of the family has leant a paw too.

Oh, Pip's an absolute star.

He's a lovely, lovely dog.

He's about two years old.

Had him since a pup and he comes everywhere with us,

but in terms of helping, I'm not quite so sure

he's so helpful on the jobs.

He sometimes comes home different colours than he started off.

But I wouldn't be without him, he's an absolute diamond.

What about the cost?

Alex thought £8,000 for the renovation,

a couple of thousand for fees,

and with the purchase price of 57,000, a grand total of £67,000.

I've gone over that. It'll be 70,000 it'll cost me.

Underestimated on the carpets, cos I thought, for some mad reason,

they'd be cheaper and it's a bigger house than I estimated on that.

Looked at downstairs, double-glazed, thought, "Oh, marvellous".

Didn't look at the upstairs, which wasn't,

so that was another 1,400-1,500 quid.

But I had choices to make

in terms of I could have put cheaper windows in, cheaper carpets down,

and done less work, but realistically,

I thought it was worth the extra to get a better house

come the day if I ever were to sell it, or generally for the use of it.

I think it was worth going that extra little bit.

What about the timescale? Alex reckoned it would take six weeks.

It took two months,

so probably a couple of weeks over on the thing.

One of the weeks was spent in Tenerife,

which was entirely avoidable but very pleasurable.

Holidays?! Whatever next?

Anyway, with a total spend of 70,000,

Alex will be eager to hear the valuations

of two local estate agents.

The renovation of the property's been thought through really well,

the standard of finish is fantastic

and I think this property will appeal to families

due to the second reception room

giving more living space downstairs

and also the three bedrooms as well.

The kitchen's a good size. It's nice and modern as well.

The addition of double glazing to the property is of particular note,

because with the property being a corner plot on a busy junction,

that will help to quieten some of the road noise

and it's also useful for insulation

and people want to keep heating costs down.

Both valued the property at £80,000,

so that would mean a pre-tax profit of £10,000,

but Alex is going to rent the house out.

For the rental market, I value this property at £450 per calendar month.

In terms of rental value for this property,

I would suggest it's somewhere in the region

of £400-£425 per calendar month.

With a rental estimate from £400-£450,

that would provide a rental yield of 7%-7.5%

That's spot on. That's exactly what I thought.

I thought 450 is probably the market value for it.

I won't be letting it for 450,

cos I'll try and get long-term tenants

and I'll try and get people in that aren't going to wreck it or whatever,

so that's absolutely spot on.

-Alex makes it sound like a...

-WHISPERING:

-Sh! Not too loud!

..a walk in the park.

So what's next? Will they be taking a..."paws"?

Well, next, really, I've let my farm work go way behind,

so as of Wednesday, I will be out at a farm

on the Scottish borders with Pip

and he'll be running round like the free dog that he is

and he'll be a very, very happy boy.

Well, there's another set of property owners

who've experienced the highs and lows of buying at auction.

So make sure you join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-We'll see you then.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.