Episode 24 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Welcome to the show.

Like many people, Lucy and I are really interested in property.

And that means every aspect of it. I know I'm always up for a bargain.

Yes, but where do you get your hands on them?

Well, one place good be your local property auction.

Well, there are property auctions held all over the country,

so you are spoilt for choice.

So let's see what made our buyers part with their cash

on today's programme.

The last word in kitchens in Manchester...

-Did I have the final say?

-No.

-Yes, I did!

I only did it when I knew it was right.

How best to tackle a literally cracking property in south London?

I would definitely, definitely,

want a professional to take a look at that.

And in Northumberland I can't quite believe my eyes.

I just thought for a minute I'd come into the wrong house. Look at this!

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.

This is the popular, leafy North Manchester suburb of Prestwich.

But will today's auction lot be dressed to impress?

Or downright depressed?

Well, close to the Metro link in this really popular

and lovely residential area is the house I'm here to see.

This falls classically into that category of worst house

on a nice street because, tucked away in the corner here

behind all this foliage is a three-bedroomed detached property.

Now, similar houses around here are selling for a lot of money.

This, the guide price was 50,000 to 70,000 quid.

Phooof!

# That don't impress me much... #

First on the list, a tree surgeon. Lop off a limb or two, or three.

And only then will you see the true glory of this one.

Ah.

Well, there's always a reason why houses are going cheap, isn't there?

It's not in a very good state.

There's a smell that meets you when you come through the front door.

Which I really am terribly pleased you're not experiencing right now.

Holes in the floor. I mean, nice size rooms.

That's a half decent sort of double fronted living room there.

But again, more holes in the floor.

It's one of those houses that clearly hasn't been

lived in for some time.

And when that happens, damp, ingress of water, plant infestations,

they all just take over, don't they?

So, it's one of those ones where we have to rise above

what we can see to what this place could become.

And in terms of layout, I like it. Through the front door, nice there.

Stairs up to your bedrooms. A big double-fronted lounge, we like that,

into this kitchen. It's a good space, lots of storage.

Lots of light from all these windows.

But it's clearly one of those "rip it out and start again" jobs.

Yep, it looks like what you're buying here is pretty much

a brick shell.

Once you've gutted the place, you can then start

to put things back more or less as you like.

Although at some stage,

some of the windows have been replaced with UPVC ones.

But not all of them.

Upstairs there is a bathroom and separate loo.

I seem to be out of step with everyone else, as I like them

being separate.

But here, there's no sink in the loo,

so maybe, in this case, you'd want to knock them together.

The master bedroom is a great size.

And bedrooms two and three are pretty roomy too.

Although the decor is a bit... Not so New Romantic for my liking.

# Break me down, break me down break me down... #

The rear jungle is another indication

of how the property has been left to its own devices.

# And it's going to take some time this time... #

But, get rid of the undergrowth,

and I think there's enough room for a decent extension here.

We asked along an agent from the auction house which sold

the property to tell us a bit about the positives.

It's a good area. It's got easy access to popular schools.

Local amenities, network links

and Heaton Park.

I would basically recommend taking it all back to the brickwork

and completely starting again.

A woman after my own heart.

And we also agree an extension would be a good idea.

Bearing in mind the guide of £50,000-£70,000,

and the cost of refurbishment, what could it sell for?

I think, if the property was extended,

I would expect the property to achieve £190,000.

And, done up, extended and then rented out?

I would expect the property to achieve

a £725 per calendar month rental.

Well, this could be a really lovely property,

and it's certainly well located.

But it's going to take quite a lot of money to sort it out.

Let's see who wasn't daunted when it went under the hammer.

In your catalogue is a three-bedroom detached property.

Needs a lick of paint. Located in the most popular residential area,

benefiting from Paso PVC double glazing.

It would suit the professional developer,

maybe a touch more than a lick of paint...

60 in the room? 60 here.

-At £60,000.

-Now, this auction took an absolute age. He was keen.

-64...

-And so was he.

-72...

-And then this one had a go.

-New bidder here.

-At 85.

-And then the gentleman at the front!

-92.

But in the end...

So, £94,000, then. First time at 94 second time at 94, selling out.

You're out, you're out, you're in.

-Third and final time, all done, all out. Selling away, £94,000.

-BANGS HAMMER

-Well done.

-It was builder Darren who placed the winning bid of £94,000.

I met Darren and his partner Linda back at the house

to find out their plans.

-Linda, Darren, great to meet you both.

-You too.

-Congratulations. Thank you. You like a challenge then?

-Certainly!

Yeah!

Tell me why you wanted to buy the house.

-Well, it was a joint venture between me and my son.

-Oh, right.

He'd spotted it on the internet. He lives in London.

He phoned me up, asked me would I go and have a look at it.

We came up with a price together for the do,

and then we ended up just getting it.

-So what does your son do at the moment?

-He's a footballer.

-Oh, great. What, professionally?

-Yes.

-Oh great, which team?

-Charlton Athletic.

-Oh, good! You raised your eyebrows.

-Charlton Athletic, brilliant. Is it a team you support?

-No.

-No?

MARTIN LAUGHS

-It's my second team I follow now.

-Who do you support?

-Bolton Wanderers.

-Oh, blimey. Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic.

-Are they big rivals?

-No.

They're doing the championship, but Bolton should be in the premiership.

MARTIN LAUGHS

Oh, great. So how long has he been a professional footballer?

-Since he was 17. Five, six years now.

-Oh, right. A lot of hard work.

So why was he buying up here?

The prices are better than down south, or what?

Well, it's very expensive down south for houses. And he's from up here.

-He's only staying down there because of the football.

-Right.

He's hoping eventually to come back up here.

-But this, he wants to do up and sell on, and start... Like a hobby.

-Right.

-Like a second profession.

-Yeah, yeah. Brilliant.

And obviously I'm a builder so we knew it wouldn't cost him

-as much to do.

-Right. It works out quite well having a builder dad.

He's invested, he's looking at investments at the moment,

-but this is his first venture.

-OK.

-But he's getting Mum and Dad to help out.

-Yeah, very much so.

-Good trick if you can do it.

-Yeah.

What did you think about it when you first saw it?

I've done thousands, thousands of refurbishments.

I've been in worse. But this is bad. But I thought, for the price, yeah.

-Not one for the unwary, probably.

-No.

-You were a bit different, weren't you?

-Yeah.

-What?

I'd heard rumours that you were falling through ceilings

and different things,

so I trod very carefully yesterday when I came in with Darren, didn't I?

And I sent him first because I thought if anybody's going,

it's him, not me! And his size as well.

I like your thinking, Linda!

But thankfully the old joists are holding out. For now, at least.

That said, there's plenty of work, both structural and cosmetic,

to get through here.

So, tell me what you're going to do to it then, to sort it out?

Everything.

First we're going to rip everything out. Windows, doors, floors,

all the plaster off the walls. All the ceilings down.

We're going to take a wall out,

build an extension right across the back,

so it will make a dining room. A bigger kitchen,

make the lounge bigger.

Upstairs is staying pretty much the same,

cos it's three decent sized bedrooms.

We're going to knock the wall... it's got

a separate toilet and bathroom, make all that one, put a shower in,

-the lot.

-Wow.

Wow, wow, wow. Tell me more about the extension.

-Single-storey is it?

-Single-storey, yeah. Permitted development.

3m right across the back of the house.

-Open-plan kitchen-diner, bi-fold doors...

-Oh, nice.

..and a kitchen window.

And two skylights on the pitch to let the light in.

-Gosh, that sounds lovely. That will transform it, won't it?

-Yeah.

And the garden's big enough, so, once we've cleared the garden,

-it won't take room off the garden.

-A few trees to chop down, of course.

-Yeah.

-The forest!

-The neighbours will be happy to see it.

-Yeah.

-And what will your involvement be?

-I'll just project manage, I think.

"Just" project manage? That's an important job!

I don't think I'll be picking a hammer up or anything like that.

I'll stick to the at home design.

As project manager, Linda will keep an eye on the budget,

which Darren and footballer son Dale have set at £35,000, with Darren and

the guys from his building firm doing as much of the work

as they can.

And what sort of timescale for sorting it then?

I'd say three to four months.

Cos once we start it, we'll be on it every day.

-You will?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Weather permitting.

Cos obviously with the winter months coming up now,

-so weather permitting, three to four months.

-And then what is the plan?

To sell it on, or to rent it out?

I think we would look to sell it on first.

Depending on what price, and the market.

And if we can't sell, probably rent.

Right. Well, a few challenges ahead, but good luck with it all.

-And I really look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, it's a project that would faze most people,

but it's water off a duck's back for Darren. Or so it would seem.

Still, a lot of work to be done. Major transformations in store.

Can't wait to see what it looks like.

You can find out later in the show.

I, too, have major transformations in store for me

here in south London.

I'm two minutes' walk from the Elephant And Castle roundabout,

just into the Borough Of Lambeth.

But it's 15 minutes' walk to the London Eye,

and being in the central London transport Zone One area,

it only 11 minutes by Tube to Oxford Circus.

This location is real inner-city London living.

Loud, fast paced, and super central. Not for everyone, that's for sure.

But opportunities around here are few and far between, and to find

a whole house in need of refurbishment

is an opportunity not to be missed.

And the guide price? £390,000.

Oh, yes! Now, scope and potential springs to mind.

It's in a bit of a bad state,

but nothing that a bit of flair can't remedy.

Sadly, all the features are no longer here.

Even in the lounge you can see the fireplace has been ripped out,

although you do have that beautiful window still intact.

I'm hoping there's something you can do to preserve that.

Down the long corridor, you've got another room here,

hopefully there's a hidden fireplace behind that piece of plastic.

And under here, do we have the little spindles?

So, it will be quite exciting getting in here

and ripping it all apart. Nice space for an under-stairs loo, perhaps.

And the kitchen, really disappointing.

Small, lumped at the back of the property.

Although... Again, that word "potential"

springs to mind, you could easily shift all this over,

have a nice extension, and have double the width of the kitchen.

I've seen that done on so many houses like this in London.

It would be quite costly, but definitely would be the way forward.

Upstairs, there are two reasonable sized bedrooms.

You can look at this house in two ways.

You can either be completely put off by the state of it,

or think, "Wow, I could put my own stamp on this."

You know, rooms like this really excite me,

because you've got these two...two!

Two beautiful Victorian sash windows.

You've got a potential fireplace lurking, maybe under there.

And the proportions of this room are fantastic.

But what I really like about it is... It's so quiet!

And you're in Zone One! That is amazing.

The bathroom is enormous. Never mind the Lambeth Walk.

we could have a dance in here.

But it would need a bit of sparkle first.

It's all a bit dingy. But so far, pretty standard.

Until this!

# A crack appeared inside a wall

# And a door sprang up around it... #

Unfortunately the bathroom crack isn't alone.

There are cracks of varying widths and lengths

on several of the internal and external walls.

If you find cracks like these here's a few pointers.

First off, check outside to see if there are any external signs.

Large or v-shaped ones can be a very big concern.

'Horizontal cracks are generally more serious than vertical cracks.'

But of course, it's best to have no cracks at all.

Because you don't want the worst to happen...

# And the walls kept tumbling down in the city...

# That we love... #

Before I parted with any of my hard-earned cash to buy this,

I would definitely,

definitely want a professional to take a look at that.

In the meantime, another professional,

a local estate agent,

is going to take a look around this property

with a guide price of £390,000,

to see if he thinks it's a cracking deal.

This area is extremely central.

We are on the borders of Elephant And Castle and Kennington.

'What has drawn people to the area over the last couple of years'

is the fact that you get great value for money in comparison

to other areas that are very close to the city and the West End.

'My first impressions of this property is that it's'

a great-looking property,

but it could benefit from a lot of refurbishment.

Great layout at the moment. A good, well-proportioned space.

But certainly could do with a bit of TLC.

Yes, I'm interested in those ideas about extending the house.

There's the obvious kitchen expansion into the side return,

as it's known in the trade, giving a much more useful kitchen space.

There is a precedent with the neighbouring properties

going upwards, assuming the possible structural issues

don't prevent developing the property.

How would the numbers stack up?

In terms of extending to the side return,

I certainly would look into doing that.

It would give you a bigger kitchen

and thus making it a kitchen-breakfast room,

and allows you to draw in more natural light into the property.

I could certainly expect to achieve in the region of £650,000.

In terms of converting the loft, there is a possibility.

I can certainly see the value in that.

It would give you an extra bedroom and an extra bathroom.

However, I do feel as a two-bedroom property,

you would still get probably more benefit.

There aren't too many two bed houses in and around this immediate

location, and so you will appeal to more people

and you'll get a stronger demand.

If you were to make this property into a three-bed,

you could certainly expect to achieve in the region of £725,000, £735,000.

This house is interesting and exciting

and a rare opportunity in such a central location.

It will be very interesting to see who bought it at the auction.

You can tell from the photograph, great property.

Who would like to start off on this? 400? 405?

405. 405.

After a slow start, eventually three bidders begin competing.

We rejoin the bidding at 450,000.

450, 450 down here. 455. 460.

456, trying to help. Might just help.

456. 457. 458. 459.

460.

460, 461.

Two then fight it out in £100,000 steps, climbing to 475,000....

475, 476...

475, first time, second time...

Third and last time, if you're all done...

-BANGS HAMMER

-Sold 475. Well done.

Good buy, that. I like that property.

Fiona from north London paid £475,000 at the auction.

She has restored properties before and works with an architect

and a team of builders.

Fiona, why do you want to buy this house?

Because I saw the potential in it. As soon as I walked in, I could see...

-I mean, having looked at the house next door...

-I know!

That looked lovely. And also that they'd gone off into the roof.

So, coming in I knew that, OK, we can go up into the roof

and we can go out the back. And just the layout of it I really liked.

So are you a developer?

I think it's a bit premature to call myself a developer right now.

-So how many have you done then?

-This is number four.

What is the enjoyment factor? Is it the fact that you're making money?

Is it the chase, so at the end of it you're going to cash in?

Well, I'd be lying to say that the money isn't part of it, of course.

But the thing I've enjoyed the most out of the properties we've bought is

watching something come back to life just fills me full of joy.

You see, that's exactly how I felt when I walked into here.

A lot of people are put off because of the state of it.

-But it's a blank canvas for somebody.

-Yes.

What are you going to do to change it? There's so much

-you could do. There's a lot of scope.

-Yes, there is.

So, hopefully we'll go into the roof, planning permitting,

to create a large bedroom ensuite.

And actually where the bathroom is at the back of the house

-at the moment, that's going to be a bedroom.

-That's huge, isn't it?

-That's such a lot of wasted space.

-Yes.

So the bathroom will actually be next to this room,

-so that we can get a staircase in up to the roof.

-What about downstairs?

We'll extend out to the back, just slightly, and into the side return.

So creating a large kitchen-dining room at the back.

-So you're really going to be adding lots of valuable space?

-Yes.

What worries me slightly, I mean, it's going to be quite a big house.

-Yes.

-For this location.

Who are the people that you think are going to be buying this?

I think it's possibly a young couple.

Many couples want two or three bedrooms,

and perhaps that is with a view to having children.

So, when are you going to start and how long is it going to take you?

Er... Well, hopefully within the next 12 weeks.

But that's all down to planning.

And we'd like to do it within three to four months.

But before Fiona can estimate how much she'll need to spend,

she'll need to get a survey done.

-I have noticed a few cracks here and there.

-Yes.

We walked up here into the room we're standing in now and the

architect said, "So, the wall's trying to fall out onto the road."

And we said "Right, OK," but he said, "That's not a problem,

"we'll just stitch it up with a few bricks."

So Peter has a really lovely way of making everything seem like it

isn't a problem, and the builders are great at making sure it isn't.

I just trust that they know what they're doing.

I can't wait to see the outcome.

And I cannot wait to see the finish in a property like this,

because it's in a brilliant location.

-Congratulations, and well done, Fiona.

-Thank you very much. Thanks.

So, Fiona is really maximising the potential of this place.

I hope that's the right decision, bearing in mind the location.

But whatever she decides,

I know it's going to be pretty exciting to see the transformation.

You can see it for yourselves later on in the show.

It's all about those important finishing touches

for the buyers of a holiday let in Amble, Northumberland.

In Lambeth, south London,

the cracks really start to show with the planning department.

Planning is never easy.

It was just outside Manchester in the town of Prestwich

where we first came across a three-bed semi-detached house,

which was sadly lacking in kerb appeal.

Surrounded by greenery,

it really was a case of not seeing the wood for the trees.

# Find your way out of the wild, wild wood... #

And the inside really wasn't much better than the outside.

This was without doubt a "rip it out and start again" job.

And it was bought for £94,000 by builder Darren as a joint project

with his son Dale, who's a professional footballer.

But it was going to be down to dad Darren and Darren's partner Linda

to manage and coach the house back from the brink.

-You like a challenge then?

-Certainly.

-Yeah.

So, tell me what you're going to do to it then to sort it out?

First we're going to rip everything out.

Windows, doors, floor, all the plaster off the walls,

all the ceilings down.

We're going to take a wall out, build an extension right across the back.

Wow, wow, wow.

And having agreed a budget of £35,000, they hope to complete

this comprehensive refurbishment in 324 months.

And now, nearly seven months later we're back with Linda and Darren

to see if they're winning.

# How did you find me

# Came out of nowhere like lightning

# It's kind of amazing how you found me

# Through all the noise somehow... #

First of all we had to do the garden. We had to cut all the trees down.

It took us about a month just to find the house.

# You broke through the darkness and you reached me

# It's kind of amazing how you found me

# Through all the strangers somehow... #

And not only have they found the old house, they've made it bigger

and better, with a great single-storey extension at the rear.

But what about the inside of the house?

All the floors had to come out.

All the plaster had to come off the walls.

All the windows had to come out.

Apart from the outer skin, we've rebuilt it, basically, haven't we?

Yeah.

And the kitchen would certainly not look out of place

in any new-build show house.

With a dining area and patio doors out onto the terrace,

the extension really scores.

The front of the house has new vistas too.

You can see out the windows.

A modern sleek fire

and neutral carpet add the finishing touches to this room.

Off the hallway,

a cloakroom completes the ground floor refurbishment.

Originally, when we walked upstairs

there was a door to your right which led into a separate toilet,

and then a door from there which led to a very small bathroom.

And then on an angle you had the three doors to the bedrooms.

So what I had to do is, I had to take all the walls out upstairs

and then rearrange it.

And that much-needed layout change has helped Darren balance

the bedrooms and make much better use of the space.

The front bedroom is the biggest bedroom,

which is like the master bedroom.

And the other two bedrooms are roughly the same size.

That's such an improvement.

Not only does it flow better, the whole house feels so much lighter.

And then we knocked the wall out in the bathroom,

took the wall over to make it so we could get a shower in,

and a bath. So it's like a family bathroom.

Darren and his team of builders have done a fantastic job.

And it's hard to know which is my favourite bit.

But I think it must be that extension with the kitchen.

I was up at a shopping centre one day

and I walked into this kitchen place, just looking for ideas.

And I found this kitchen. And it was in the sale at half price.

So we didn't even have the form of the kitchen.

We didn't even have the extension up. But I bought it there and then!

SHE LAUGHS And I just got a picture on her phone, saying,

"This is the kitchen you're fitting. Make it fit."

So, like everything else about this house,

in the end it's all fitted together beautifully.

I guess that's down to good teamwork.

-We're still together, put it that way!

-Yeah!

No, it's been good, because Linda's been sourcing everything,

and then she's also come here, "Right, this is what we need to do.

"This is what we want. We want this here, we want that there."

-I have the final say. Yes?

-But I've done the work.

-Will you please say it on camera? Did I have the final say?

-No.

-Yes I did!

-I only did it when I knew it was right.

We're at it now.

Oh, dear!

Well, before that kicks off, more importantly,

have they scored a success with their footballing son, Dale?

He's seen pictures, he's only seen pictures.

He saw it as a shell, and he came back when we'd just plastered.

But he's not seen it complete. He's only seen pictures.

And he said, "Wow, what a great job."

I think he ought to be wowed. Mind you, he is paying for some of it.

So, how is that £35,000 budget going?

Our budget stands us now at roughly £50,000.

Well, a £50,000 spend on top of their £94,000 purchase price

takes their total costs to £144,000.

It does seem like a winner to me,

but what did two local estate agents think?

First up, the agent whose firm auctioned the property.

It's incredible.

From being a dark, dingy property that you couldn't see into,

because of the trees around it

that you couldn't see out of,

it's now been transformed into a bright, airy home

and terrific outdoor space.

I think the standard of finish is excellent.

The whole property has been re-plastered

and generally looks like a show home as soon as anybody walks in.

The plan really is to sell on.

But how would it fare on the rental market?

The rental potential in the area is very good.

We would expect to achieve £750 per calendar month.

The rental valuation we would put on a property like this would be

-£750-£850 per calendar month.

-Yeah, that's very good, that.

-That's excellent.

-Pleased with that.

Even the lowest £750 per calendar month would generate

a yield of around 6%. But with an investment of £144,000

in the house, is there going to be a gross, or even a net profit here?

I would expect to put his property on the market for somewhere

between £175,000 and £185,000

and look to achieve in excess of £170,000 for it.

The sales valuation we would put on this property would be

anywhere between £175,000 to £180,000.

I think that's a bit low, to be honest.

Darren and Linda might be a little disappointed with those valuations,

as they reckon from their research in the area that

some semi-detached houses in the vicinity have been

selling for nearly 200,000.

So they're confident they will sell their lovely detached house easily.

I wouldn't be surprised if they did get nearer

to that £190,000 asking price they were hoping for,

giving them a possible pre-tax profit of £46,000.

So, what's next?

-A good rest!

-A bit of a rest, yeah.

I think we'll be going to Spain for a couple of weeks.

Or maybe a couple of months.

Because I think Dale will probably be thinking

along the lines of another one.

So hopefully it won't be as horrendous as this one.

-It might be in better shape!

-Hopefully, not as much to do.

I'm in Amble, a former coal port that's now moved back

to its more traditional roots as a fishing port.

But it's on the most spectacular Northumbrian coastline.

I say spectacular.

If you haven't been here, it really is gobsmackingly beautiful,

even on a fairly cold day like today.

Whatever you're into - ambling, rambling, scrambling -

there's an abundance of things to do in and around Amble.

# A rambling man... #

So, what am I here to see in this beautiful part of the country?

Well, it's this. Stone-built, mid-terraced house

at a guide price of £74,950. Looks pretty spanking from the outside.

Let's take a look inside.

# Ta-da-da-da... #

Hang on a minute! Um...

Yeah, this is the right house.

I just thought for a horrible minute I'd come into the wrong house.

Look at this.

It's incredible. Furnished, warm, carpeted.

Doesn't smell. Nicely laid out.

But this is actually the house that was up for auction. Wow.

This is a bit of a first. What have we got?

Through the front door, it is the right front door,

stairs up to your bedrooms.

This is the main living area downstairs. It's a nice size.

A bit too good to be true. It can't go on, surely?

Ah, well. There you go, actually.

The kitchen is possibly not as big as you might like it.

But again, it's in lovely condition.

It looks like it's been recently refurbished,

quite modern-looking with those kind of tiles and everything.

Again, laid out, it's got stuff in it, you can have bins,

all the things you need, even a kettle. Yeah.

You could basically move into this place as it is. Wow.

But before we start counting our chickens,

the kitchen does seem to be lacking an oven. Though there is a hob.

And I don't see a washing machine anywhere.

However, out back there is a yard, complete with shed.

We do like a shed. And you might be able to plumb

a washing machine in there.

So, what have we got on the first floor?

Well, upstairs, no great surprises, it's all in pretty tiptop shape.

Bedroom there, it's a good sized double down this corridor.

Bathroom, again, in nice condition.

You might spend a bit of money in there,

but I don't know if it's worth it.

And then here, through to the second, pretty nice sized double.

So, it's all looking pretty good.

The only downside I suppose is that sometimes

when you're buying auction properties, or any properties in

general, you want to buy something you can add value to.

So something that's a bit run down but you could maybe redo

the kitchen, redo the bathroom, and add a bit of value to it.

Obviously you're not going to be able to do that here,

cos it's pretty much great as it is. So it's horses for courses.

If you're after something you could pretty much move into

straightaway, or rent out as it is without any hassle,

this is your baby.

# Yes, sir That's my baby

# No, sir I don't mean maybe

# Yes, sir That's my baby now... #

You could move in, rent it out,

or how about setting it up as a holiday let?

What does a local expert make of the property?

A property like this would appeal to a variety of buyers

from holiday let investors, with the fact that it is close

to the beach, it's on local bus routes and it's got local amenities.

Also it would appeal to first-time buyers,

up to people looking to retire back to the area.

As a holiday let, the property could fetch around £250 a week

in low season, rising to around £450 per week in high season.

But what about a longer term tenancy?

The property itself would usually bring in around £450

per calendar month, to £475 per calendar month.

And it would do quite well on the rental market.

And, bearing in mind its £74,950 auction guide price,

what might the property fetch on the resale market?

A property like this would usually come onto the market

for around £90,000 to £95,000.

So, who fancied this hassle-free property investment opportunity

in Amble? Let's find out when it went under the hammer.

So, we're moving rapidly on and we're here at lot number 89.

Fantastic terraced house, well presented, great location.

Anybody want to start at 75,000? Do I have 75 anywhere?

I'll take 73.

Any bid at 73? Lady sitting down, £73,000.

74 anywhere else? I have one bid, £73,000.

We want to sell, I need one more. 74,000? I'm going to go at 73,000.

74? 74, sorry, nodding, 74.

75. 76. 77. 78.

Are you sure? At 77. 78 I'm selling.

No? Second row, I'll take a half.

I'm here, I'll take a half anywhere else.

I'm selling at £77,000 on the second row. 500?

I'm going once at 77. I'm going for the second and final time,

at £77,000...

-BANGS HAMMER

-Sold at £77,000.

And that successful bidder of £77,000 was made by Linda,

who attended the auction with her husband John.

And I met them back at the property to find out their plans.

-Linda, John, great to meet you both. Congratulations!

-Thank you.

-It's an amazing house, isn't it?

-Just a bit.

Not the sort of thing we normally see at the auctions.

Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

-As a holiday let.

-Oh, perfect.

-Yeah.

Is it something you do?

No. We've never done it before.

We didn't come up to Amble to look at this specific property.

It was another property that we came to see.

Then the girl at the estate agents handed us the particulars

on this one. We thought, "What have we got to lose? We'll go and have a look at it."

Right, OK. So have you got other properties at all?

Yes, we've got another property that's rented at the moment.

We had another property which we did up a couple of years ago and sold.

-Right.

-So it's something we're looking to get into more and more.

Right. What do you do when you're not doing property?

-I have an alloy wheel refurbishment business in Newcastle.

-Oh, right.

When people bang their wheels on a kerb?

Yes, when they scrape them or just want a colour change.

-They come to us and we powder coat them.

-Oh, great.

-So we renovate wheels and houses.

-OK!

# Spinning wheel, spinning true

# Drop all your troubles by the riverside

# Kept your painted pony on the spinning wheel ride... #

Linda helps John with the alloy wheel business, but before

he got into that, John worked in the building trade, so he's quite handy.

Not that there's much need for DIY skills in this one.

The idea of doing holiday lets, where's this come from?

-Purely on the basis of coming to see this house.

-Oh, really?

-Mm-hm.

-This is where it started then?

-Yes.

And we only live 15-20 minutes from here.

So we're not too far away from the property.

And we like the coastline up here.

We've got two Labradors, so we come up here quite often,

to walk the dogs on the beach. So it's very much a dog walker's place.

So, clearly doing holiday lets is a different business proposition

-to just doing a long-term let.

-Mm-hm.

How are you going to go about doing that as a business?

I've approached a holiday letting agency,

-and they're actually going to come on Monday.

-Right.

So we're going to listen to her and get her advice and go from there.

-But I just think it lends itself to being a holiday let.

-Right.

And what about the management of the property?

Cos obviously you have got things like changeovers and cleaning,

and looking after the holiday-makers' needs.

Initially I'm going to do it myself.

I've also got two daughters that will be more than willing

to come up and help for a bit of pocket money!

So, no, we're doing it ourselves, definitely.

-And because you live close, that's not too much of a chore.

-Yep.

# Walking the dog

# Just walking the dog

# But if you don't know how to do it

# I'll show you how to walk the dog... #

Linda and John reckon that a holiday let can work for them.

They know the area well, along with their two daughters

and dogs Lolly and Tessie.

But will John have his work cut out before they can let out the house?

Looking around, there's not a lot that can be done with the kitchen.

It's very small, but there's not a lot can be done with it.

-The bathroom, almost fully take that out and retile it.

-Really?

-Possibly put a new suite in.

-Really?

-It definitely needs a new floor.

-Yep.

Yeah. Down here we've discussed the possibility of putting in

-a wood-burning stove.

-Oh, wow.

-A wood-burning fire.

And decor-wise, upstairs, that's got to change.

Yeah, we'll definitely decorate up the stairs.

Obviously put new ceilings up.

The ceilings look a little bit worse for wear.

-So we'll re-plasterboard those.

-Right.

It strikes me that you are actually looking for work where

-there isn't any necessarily to do.

-I know!

It's fine. Leave it as it is.

I know! But we do that all the time.

It's almost like you can't accept that it's...

I can understand where you're coming from. It's like,

"Darn it, there's nothing to do!"

Well, when we came here initially we thought we had a zero budget,

but now we've had a bit of a look around...

You start finding things, don't you?

-OK.

-And then out the back definitely needs some tender loving care.

We want to make it a nice patio area

so people can sit out there in the summer.

-Obviously the dogs will be on there.

-Right.

-Make it a dog-friendly property?

-Yep, definitely.

-Definitely, yes.

-So, what is the budget now?

-I wouldn't have thought more than £1,000.

-Right, OK.

-You were talking about putting new ceilings in.

-Head to tail?

-Yeah. I'd be doing all the work myself anyway.

-OK, fine.

-Cost-wise, it wouldn't be a lot.

-Right. And the timescale?

-You seemed surprised.

-I know, I know.

I think you'll probably triple that by the time we're finished. MARTIN CHUCKLES

The timescale, this is a bit of a tricky one,

because we're coming up to the season now really for rentals.

And we're quite busy at our own work.

It'll probably be the end of the season before we actually

get round to doing anything.

Linda and John are going to resolve this time dilemma by renting

the house out at a reduced rate until it meets the standards.

A very sensible move in my book.

They then aim to do the major work, like the bathroom,

after the season is over.

If this holiday let goes well,

would you look for another holiday let?

I think it's basically, see how this one goes, and then think from there.

It's a complete new venture, this, for us, isn't it?

So we'll see how it goes. But we'll give it 100%

Well congratulations, both of you.

-We look forward to seeing how it all turns out.

-Yes, thank you.

Definitely.

So, a holiday let. It makes perfect sense when you think about it.

And, you know, as I said when I first saw this place,

it really could be left exactly as it is.

And sometimes it is OK to leave well alone.

Do John and Linda really need to do anything at all? I don't think so.

What will they do? You can find out later in the show.

Well, there's been plenty of time for our buyers to start

-work on their properties.

-But have they actually done anything?

-Or have they been delayed?

-Time is money. Let's go back and find out.

Now we're back to Lambeth, south London, where a tired,

two-up two-down terrace was in need of some TLC

to make its beauty shine through.

It was purchased by Fiona for £475,000,

and this big challenge was only her fourth property project.

However, she reckoned she'd done well, as the poor condition

and ominous cracks may have deterred other bidders. But not her.

You can see from this house, it's pretty sad at the moment.

But watching something come back to life just fills me full of joy.

You see, that's exactly how I felt when I walked into here.

A lot of people are put off because of the state of it.

-But you know, it's a blank canvas for somebody.

-Yes.

So, how has that blank canvas turned out?

Well, 13 months ago this is how the kitchen looked.

Fiona planned to extend it sideways.

Well, Fiona's done it.

Not only has she made a fabulous kitchen,

she's also created a light and airy, spacious high-quality room.

The house now flows right from the lounge, which has been knocked

through into the smaller second room right to the back of the house.

# A room full of sadness

# A broken heart... #

You can hardly recognise it!

And the magic continues up into the loft space,

where Fiona picks up the story.

I've created a second floor with a mansard roof

with a lovely master bedroom with four windows - two in the roof

and two out to the front - and an en-suite shower, which is

I think my favourite room in the house now, actually.

But has it all been plain sailing?

To improve the property, we had to literally take it back to the

bare walls and re-plaster, repaint, reconfigure a couple of the rooms.

The third bedroom was originally the old oversized bathroom.

Now, a new bathroom has been created

between the two first-floor bedrooms.

Fiona initially had a very ambitious timescale of three to four months.

So why did it take 13 months?

The planning process was arduous.

Planning is never easy, and you have to really stick to your guns.

The mansard actually was fairly easy, although I think partly

that's because there was already a mansard roof next door.

But the rear expansion took three rounds of application.

So it was eight months before we could actually start

any work on the rear of the property.

And also we didn't realise that there were drains underneath

the property, which needed to be moved back,

so you have to apply for permission to do that also.

So that's why it took longer than anticipated.

The build itself wasn't difficult.

It's just the planning that takes the time.

I remember feeling that several rooms in the house

were wanting to go their own way.

We did investigate the crack,

and the structural engineer was absolutely happy that we just

needed to basically knit the wall back together.

As he said, buildings are moving all the time, and as these properties

are so old, naturally over the course of time things like that happen.

But, yes, it was just a case of knitting it back together.

And a fine piece of knitting it is, especially in the creation

of the ground floor open plan space, which stretches from front to back.

But not without its costs.

Added to the £475,000 Fiona paid at auction for the house,

she estimates the renovation cost upwards of £100,000.

We asked two estate agents to give us their opinions.

It's a fantastic property. The layout is really good.

I can't think of any reason why the layout wouldn't work

for a young family.

'I'd say the extension they've done at the back is fantastic.

'It brings a lot of natural light into the property.'

'Having a wander around the property, I think that the finish

'is absolutely superb.'

Great natural light throughout the property,

and there's a great flow throughout the property as well.

A really good finish.

The market at the moment in this area is fantastic,

both on the lettings and sales side.

There's a huge amount of regeneration in the area

which has had a huge effect on capital values and rental values.

The local market at the moment is extremely high. It's unprecedented.

What we have at the moment is people coming from Clapham

'and Battersea, which are neighbouring areas.

'The market here is extremely, extremely hot.'

The finish is fantastic. They've spent a lot of money on details.

The flooring is fantastic quality and the lighting is also great.

I would probably think it's more in line for the sales market

as opposed to the rental market.

The finish is quite high, and probably not needed as much

for the rental market in this particular area.

So we are agreed it's fabulous.

Initially I had a small concern

that she was over-developing a house in this location.

But given the quality of the property, and the changes

in the market, well, it now looks

like things have moved on, big time.

Fiona spent £100,000 upwards on this property,

but I don't think there's any doubt she's going to make a profit

on an approximate spend of £575,000.

I would say the current market value of the property is £1.2 million.

If this property was to be available to the market for sale,

I would expect them to achieve in the region of £1.2 million.

Those values are about right, I think.

They're what we expected it to be. So that's very good news.

A selling price at £1.2 million would give Fiona

a profit in the region of £625,000, minus taxes and expenses.

The agents think the rental for the property would be

between £2,600 and £2,700 per calendar month.

As rental values I think they're lower than I would have expected.

But as we're selling it's probably not too relevant, which is good news.

This really is a fabulous renovation,

and Fiona can be rightly proud.

She saved a dilapidated and cracked up old house

and made a...cracking profit.

She said she loved breathing new life into properties.

Does she still feel the same?

Oh, I love the way the property's turned out. It couldn't be better.

It's exactly how I imagined it

when I first walked in on a very rainy February morning,

and just thought, "Wow, there's so much potential in this little house."

And it's been amazing to watch what was a very tired,

dilapidated two-up two-down turn into a lovely, bright, airy,

three-bedroom, three reception room house.

It's fantastic.

Well, I've got a feeling we're going to be seeing Fiona

again at the auctions.

Personally, I can't wait.

Back to Amble on the beautiful Northumbrian coast now,

where Linda and John bought this perfect two-bedroom terrace house

for £77,000.

And I mean perfect.

Well, I thought it was.

But Linda and John had a list of things they thought needed doing.

Everything from creating a dog-friendly patio

to re-doing the bathroom.

It strikes me that you're actually looking for work where

-there's not necessarily any to do!

-I know!

-It's fine! Leave it as it is.

OK, so they didn't listen to me.

I'm glad.

As I said earlier, I do love a shed.

But I like this smart patio area better. What about inside?

Linda, lead on.

OK, into what we call the master bedroom in here.

We've done quite a lot of work.

We've stripped the walls right back to the bare.

It's all been replastered. The ceiling's been replastered.

As you can see, there's been new furniture put into here,

the new bed, new carpet.

New curtains, voiles, radiators.

We've replaced everything.

That's true of the second bedroom too.

Much more in keeping with a holiday let.

Downstairs, the lounge was given a lick of paint, a table

and chairs and a new kitchen.

The kitchen now has a washing machine, cooker, microwave

and fridge in the bijou space.

That does all look great,

but what about the bathroom that John was determined to get rid of?

I really liked the original Art Deco suite. I hope they've reconsidered.

The biggest transformation in the house is probably the bathroom.

-Oh, well.

-We've totally stripped it back down to the bare.

My husband was insisting that he wanted a separate shower

cubicle put in, which he got. We've got a brand-new bathroom suite.

You can see that the bath is a lot smaller to the last one that was in.

The radiator, which was over on this side here, my husband decided

it would look better over this side, which, fair enough, it does.

Tile-wise, we were just going to tile halfway up and then paint,

but as usual, overboard, we decided to tile the whole lot.

But it looks great.

For a holiday let, the standard of fittings is, well, fitting,

because after all, the bottom line is all about attracting visitors.

# I love it when you call

# I love it when you call I love it when you call... #

The couple hadn't quite agreed on the budget.

John thought £1,000, and Linda thought £3,000. So who was right?

We reckon it's about 13,000 that we've spent altogether.

And that's including the labour cost as well.

Well, £13,000 is a significant amount more

than both of their estimates.

But looking at the quality of the finished, I'm not really surprised.

So, what happened next?

We gave it to a holiday company who let it out, we were really lucky,

for the whole of the season. So it's good news, really.

So, what type of holiday-maker does it suit?

A lot of walkers. You know, people with dogs.

We get an awful lot of people come here for the coastline,

for the bird-watching as well.

Northumberland has been described as a birder's paradise.

One of the big draws for bird watchers are the boat trips

to view the colony of scarce roseate terns

which breed on the nearby island of Coquet.

It's the agents' turn. Now, what do they make of this little nest egg?

The bathroom's really nice.

It's very spacious and it's really nicely fitted out.

I like the size of the rooms downstairs,

the lounge downstairs. A nice, big, open lounge.

They've made the most use of the space in the kitchen.

The finishes have been pretty good as well.

So there should be a lot of keen interest in the property.

Remember, Linda and John paid £77,000 at auction

and John's materials-only budget of £1,000 has gone over by £12,000.

So that makes a total spend of £90,000.

If they were to sell, are they Amble-ing towards profit?

If I was to market this property, I would market it for £110,000.

On open market I would probably put it on the market

for about £125,000, looking to achieve anywhere from £115,000.

If someone came along and offered me £125,000,

I would definitely be selling.

Hardly surprising.

That would mean a possible profit of 35,000, less the usual taxes

and expenses. What about a permanent rent?

On the residential rental market I would expect this to achieve

approximately £475 per calendar month.

The rental market is pretty buoyant.

You should be able to achieve £475 per calendar month.

-That would equate to a yield of 6.3%.

-I think that's very good.

It's not something that I would consider,

but I do think it is very good.

And, being in a seaside town with all its attractions

means there is one other option open to them.

I think during the high weeks you should be achieving

about £500 per week.

I think you'd be looking at around about £550 per week

in the peak season.

So, on average, a holiday letter is paying £50 a week more

than a permanent letter pays per calendar month.

But then again, holiday lets are seasonal. What do you think, Linda?

I think that's wonderful. It's more than we're getting at the moment!

Linda and John have been very lucky to be fully booked in their first

season, so is it something they would consider doing again?

We've loved the house. We still do love the house. We love the area.

Amble is a fabulous holiday destination for anybody looking

to come on a break up here.

We would definitely do it again.

I mean, I know we'll buy another one at auction, cos we love it.

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

We'll be back next time with more stories from the auctions

to inspire you, or warn you.

We look forward to seeing you then for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.