Episode 33 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show.

Now, Lucy and I find property completely absorbing.

Yes, but in order to do well,

you've got to make sure you buy at the right price.

And that can be a tricky thing to do.

But one way to possibly stack things in your favour

is to buy your next property at auction.

Well, you do need to do your research

before you buy at auction,

but once that's highlighted a particular property,

you could get yourself a real bargain.

I wonder if any of today's properties

turn out to be good deals.

Here's what was bought.

A detached three-bedroom house in Mid Glamorgan has its secrets.

Come in here and...

Oh, dear!

A two-bedroom sideways cottage in Kent

makes for a case of low-flying neighbours.

The neighbour's house flies over this house.

And this two-bed terrace in Raynes Park, London

has some interesting period patterns and features,

which might be an acquired taste.

Would you keep that? I actually like that.

All of 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.

Sold.

This may look like a sleepy, little town nestled

in the South Wales Valleys, but there is a lot going on in Bridgend.

Situated halfway between Cardiff and Swansea,

it has become a busy centre for several companies

that have factories here, which brings in much needed work

and creates a busy town as well as a great commuting base.

Well, situated on the edge of Bridgend

on a fairly modern housing estate

is the property I'm here to see and this is it.

It's on a corner plot, which is good news.

Three-bedroomed detached, that's also good news.

Guide price?

Yeah, £98,000 plus, also good news.

Does it look as good inside?

I'll bring you the news.

So, expectations are high. What have we got?

A little entrance area here

something to hang your coat, which is good.

Stairs up to the bedrooms and the bathroom.

Into the sitting room.

Not in the best of conditions,

but it's not a bad size space.

So, through into the rear where...

Right.

Hmm. That's a bit of a shame.

I wasn't expecting that.

Something really serious is going on with this roof.

The floorboards look like they've got some serious damp

and that's not just... That's wet.

That's...that's not just a few days of wet either.

That's long-time dribbly, watery things going.

Maybe, pipes have been leaking and nobody's known about it

until the ceiling collapsed,

which would probably be a bit of a giveaway. But...

That needs sorting out.

But into this area here, which is the kitchen.

It's like the front's OK. It looks OK from the outside.

And then you come in here and...

Oh, dear!

It's all gone a bit pear shaped.

The ceiling issue needs further investigation and the kitchen...

Well, it's definitely seen better days.

It's basically a really nice house,

but it's in need of a full refurbishment at least down here.

So, let's have a poke about up here

and see if we can find what's causing that problem downstairs,

and actually you don't have to go very far.

Straight into the bathroom and the loo.

And down here...

the outlet from the bath. Lots of pipe work.

It's too much of a coincidence that the floor there is all wet.

There's probably just a simple, leaking joint

on one of those waste pipes.

Over time, drip, drip, drip, drip.

If it's not monitored,

well, you can see the kind of damage that can ensue.

My only concern is how bad are those floorboards, you know?

I definitely want to have them checked out.

It may well be that they've rotted

and need replacing and that's going to be expensive,

but up here, in terms of space, it's not bad.

The whole house is quite nicely proportioned.

Three bedrooms. One there, a smaller box room there

and then into the front bedroom.

Nice and bright in here.

It has some built-in units you probably want to get rid of.

The whole house just needs a real thorough refurbishment.

And as long as you know what you're taking on...

it's no biggie...

-ish.

-MUSIC: Bargain by The Who

-# I call that a bargain

# The best I ever had... #

Well, that's maybe going a bit far.

# The best I ever had. #

On the downside, there's quite a lot of work to do,

but on the upside, this being a corner plot,

the garden is a reasonable size

and despite the dubious double-decker decking,

the single garage and shed provide plenty of places to tinker away in.

But at a guide price of £98,000, I think it's a pretty good buy.

We asked a local property expert for his opinion.

This property being built in the 1980s offers a traditional layout.

It lacks what new houses have now, which are en suite bathrooms

and downstairs loos.

However, due to the location and the size of the plot,

it would still offer a good purchase to a new buyer

once it's been modernised.

The upgrade cost of this property

should be somewhere in the region of £12,000 to £15,000.

Should there be more excessive work due to the dampness and timber rot

then it could end up approximately £20,000.

So, adding the best-case scenario to the guide price

brings you to £110,000

and what could you get in return for this investment?

In my opinion,

the selling price for this property after modernisation,

would be somewhere between £150,000 and £155,000

and for rental, it should achieve £600 to £625 per calendar month.

So, a bit of restoration to be done,

but once that's completed, I think a good little house here.

In a popular location and at that guide price...

yeah, it would have attractive a lot of interest

when it went under the hammer.

Detached house with three bedrooms and bathroom, lounge,

kitchen, dining on the ground floor.

Nice property there, keenly priced.

Where are we starting, please?

I know. Starting at £100,000, somebody?

100. Make it 95. Make it 90, if you like.

Got to be 90 to start. Thank you. I've got you there, at 90.

And 1 now I'm looking for. I've got 90. 91. 92. 3? 93. 94?

94. 95. 96. 97.

98. 99. 100.

The £98,000 guide price is long gone. We rejoin at 122,000.

At 122 I've got you seated here for the first time at 100...

Where are you?

122,500. Thank you. 122... 122,500. 123 now?

123. 123,500? 123,500. 124?

124, no.

At 123,500 on my left-hand side for the first time,

second time, third and last time at 120...

124. New bidder again.

124,500? You going to let it go?

£500 you could have one more go? Well done.

125 back to the glasses... No, he shakes his head.

At 124,500 then, sir, for the first time, second time,

third and last time.

Yours, thank you.

Hiding herself behind bidder Richard was his partner Linda.

They own a limo business, which Linda runs and they also own a gym

and they already have a small property portfolio.

I caught up with them back at the house.

-Linda, Richard, lovely to meet you both.

-And you.

-Nice to meet you.

Congratulations. Tee hee hee. Why did you say it like that?

-You went, "Hee hee...oh."

-Really?

-Have you been in there?

-Yeah.

-Hm.

Have you?

Only this morning.

-Only this morning?

-Only this morning.

So, what... How... What do you think?

Erm...mess.

A lot of work. Loads of work.

Mountains of work.

But it was his bright idea not to view it

and now it's come back to bite him.

So, why didn't you view it, then?

We own one a couple of doors up

and thought it would be in the same condition.

Clearly not.

So, is it, seriously...

distressing or just mildly annoying?

Mildly annoying. A little bit more money.

Yeah, but that's his fault, so... You know.

-So, will he pay for this?

-Yes.

-Military terms.

-Emotionally and financially.

-Yeah.

Oops. Looks like Richard's in the doghouse.

Thankfully these two have renovation experience, which should help,

but it's not the first time Richard's taken a risk

at an auction.

-We like auctions.

-Do you?

-He does. Yes.

-Yes.

-In what way?

-In every way.

-If anything's for auction, he'll...

-Buy it.

..go on any site and he'll buy something.

-What kind of things?

-Anything.

-What do you mean anything?

Clothes...

-Sledges. Snow sledges...

-Snow sledges.

..for the snow this year that we haven't had. 4,000 of them.

-You bought 4,000 sledges?!

-No. He! He bought them.

-Right, right, right, sorry. You bought 4,000 sledges?

-Yes.

-Hoping we'd have some snow.

-He sold four.

-He sold four. You bought 4,000...

-Mm.

-..and sold four.

-Mm.

-But, so, you hope next year there might be some snow.

-Hopefully.

MARTIN LAUGHS

-Or a nice warm sun. Some sun for sand sledges.

-Sand sledges!

Now you're thinking outside the box, aren't you?

-Well, we've got sand dunes a couple of miles out of Bridgend, so...

-Oh!

Very good.

-SIGHS

-Well, what can I say

except if it snows this winter, you'll know where to come.

But Richard is obviously someone, who takes setbacks in his stride.

A useful trait to have when tackling this property.

So, the house, then, tell me what you're going to do to sort it out.

-Rip everything out.

-Clean everything out.

-Yeah.

-New kitchen.

Ceilings, kitchen, bathroom,

flooring and just...

strip all the wallpaper. Probably not going to do it, mind you.

-Right.

-I haven't got time.

-You're going to get somebody in?

-Yeah.

We know a lot of people who'll do work for us, so...

-I know, you know, all the local boys.

-Right.

So...so, what's the budget for the work?

Erm, I estimate about £5,000 to do the inside.

Right. Does that include the kitchen and the bathroom?

Kitchen, bathroom and all the decorating.

Right. And labour?

-Yes.

-I think he's...

joking. I think he's one to have a rude awakening.

-No.

-Right. Five grand, then. And how long?

I did originally estimate two weeks.

-Oh, for goodness' sake!

-Yeah, but then that's before he saw it.

It's going to be a month. It's going to be a month, now.

-It's going to be two months.

-What planet are you on?

It's going to be one month and that's it.

-No, it'll be two months.

-One.

MUSIC: Let's Call The Whole Thing Off by Fred Astaire

# You say 'ee-ther' and I say 'ai-ther'

# You say 'nee-ther' and I say 'nai-ther'

# Ee-ther, ai-ther

# Nee-ther, nai-ther

# Let's call the whole thing off. #

Well, Richard's certainly, shall we say, optimistic,

but Linda seems to be able to keep his feet on the ground.

The plan is for Linda's daughter to live in the house

when it's finished be that in one or maybe two months.

Well, listen, congratulations. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

-Thank you.

-Nice to meet you both.

Just a classic. Not seeing it

and assuming it's going to be like every other property around here.

Well, there you go.

Learned some lessons, perhaps, from that.

How will they get on? Can't wait to see.

You can find out later in the show.

This is the quaint little village of Wingham in Kent.

-MUSIC: Little Village by Van Morrison

-# Little village, baby,

# Ain't large enough to be a town... #

A college was founded in Wingham in 1286 by Archbishop Peckham

and many of the buildings date back to that time.

The period properties and the proximity to Canterbury and Sandwich

means that Wingham is a sought-after location for house hunters.

I'm here to see this rather lovely looking period cottage today.

It's Grade II listed.

It's got two bedrooms and I've got to say it looks really cute!

But one negative straightaway

is that there are double yellow lines right here, right outside

and although you can park in nearby roads, that is never ideal.

Let's go inside.

The cottage is very cute.

It's everything you'd expect of a listed property.

Lots of character and it had a guide price of...

-SHE SHOUTS:

-£95,000 to £100,000.

Ha-ha! Its location might be the sticking point.

With no garden between the house and the road,

the traffic that thunders past is very close.

But it's not as bad as it first seems.

The outside of this house is really deceptive.

So, here's some geography.

The front door and the hall are the only parts of the house

that are near the road.

In fact, the front door is best thought of as a side door

because the property runs at right angles to the road

behind the front facade. Quirky, eh?

-MUSIC: It's A Mystery by Toyah

-# It's a mystery

# Oh, it's a mystery

# I'm still searching for a clue... #

Feels really spacious. Nice high ceilings.

You've got this lovely feature. Big brick wall.

Downstairs bathroom, bit of a negative,

but there's so much light coming in here.

The proportions are really good. I mean, look at this!

It's a wonderfully, bright, large,

open, spacious room

with these lovely doors leading out to the garden.

Got a little fireplace there.

You know, once you've done this property up,

it could look fantastic because there's so much character.

I mean, look at this lovely, wide doorway. These big, thick walls.

And that's a good thing

because you can't hear a lot of the traffic noise.

The kitchen, again, spend a bit of money in here,

what a wonderful place to cook.

You can even fit a table in here.

Upstairs there are two double bedrooms

and the windows look over what I will call the back garden.

But I guess, if you're looking from the front road,

they would be on the side if you get my meaning.

There's an upstairs loo, but no shower or bath,

so you'd have to traipse up and down in your towel.

Not ideal.

I think this could be a decent wet room, which would be more appealing.

This property actually lies behind the neighbouring house.

So, all the windows you saw at the front

are not part of this property and next door's bedrooms,

well, they actually go over the top of this hallway.

This is known as a flying freehold

as part of the neighbour's house flies over this house.

So, that building relies on this property for support.

Now, the main problem is that mortgage lenders

aren't keen on properties with flying freeholds.

So, it may be harder to raise the finance

in the future to buy this house.

Wow! This is a surprisingly large garden and Sh!

It's surprisingly quiet. No big, old juggernaut noise. Fantastic!

I mean, look. There is so much room here.

Even if you wanted to extend, you could,

but remember it is a Grade II-listed building

and Grade II listing covers the whole building inside and out.

So, you will need listed building consent for any alterations

that you do that may affect the character of this cottage.

So, no knocking down walls, painting over brick work,

changing the old windows, putting up burglar alarms

without getting the go-ahead from the council's conservation officer.

If the local conservation officer isn't happy with any changes

you intend to make to a listed building,

well, you can be forced to undo all of your hard work.

You can even be prosecuted and face criminal charges.

So, what would a local property expert make of the sideways cottage?

Is it a worthwhile renovation project for prospective buyers?

It's worth trying to keep this house within the first-time buyer

and buy-to-let sector of the market,

which means not spending too much money on it.

But worth...definitely worth improving.

Bearing that in mind,

what sort of price would you market this house for?

I think once improved and renovated and in nice order,

this would enhance the value to about £140,000, £150,000.

And what about a possible rental income?

I'd like to come back and see this when it's improved,

but when renovated, this will let for probably £600 per calendar month.

This property does have a few issues.

It's listed and it's in a conservation area,

so that may affect what you're allowed to do here.

There's a flying freehold, there's double yellow lines

and it needs modernizing,

but it's such an adorable, cute, lovely, character cottage

in a sought-after location.

And I can even see myself living here. I love it!

So, I think it's a property that's always going to attract buyers.

Let's find out who ended up bidding for this one at auction.

Charming period cottage. Sought-after village location.

Start me at 95,000.

Unbelievable.

90,000 to start me, then?

90 I have, thank you. 92, do I see?

After a sluggish start,

interest increases taking bidding up to 108,000, where we rejoin.

108? 108 is bid. And 110?

No. £108,000 I have.

110, will you make it?

110 in a fresh place. And 112?

112. And 114?

113. 114?

114. And 115?

115. And 116? No?

At £115,000 gentlemen's bid for the first time.

115,000 for the second time.

115,000 for the third and final time.

At £115,000 are you all done?

GAVEL BANGS

That final bid of 115,000 was made by Malcolm,

who bought it jointly with his daughter Rachel.

Malcolm and Rachel have been investing

and developing properties together for the last five years.

I met Rachel back at their new property.

Rachel, congratulations. What a beautiful cottage you've got here!

-Thank you.

-Are you absolutely thrilled?

-Yeah.

-I'm very pleased we got it.

-So, why did you want to buy this?

Well, I'm always looking for something

when the auction catalogue comes out

and I look for anything that's in the area

that looks like it might have potential to make a difference to.

That's going to be a nice place for someone to live.

Something that I can do something to and came to look at this one.

And immediately saw that it was really rather special.

Yeah, I think it's very special,

but it is listed and that will put people off.

How do you feel about that?

Well, I have bought a listed property before

and done quite a lot of work to it,

so, although there are various issues involved with that and the timescale,

I'm not as frightened of that as I would have been a while ago

having dealt with that, so...

I mean, obviously, we all look for ways to add value to properties

and a lot of that comes with knocking down walls,

adding extra bits on.

-You've got to be very careful with listed properties.

-Yeah.

Are you going to be doing much of that here?

No, not a lot of knocking walls down.

Really it's a lot of TLC because you can see it's been...

it's been allowed to get a little bit tired.

I'm going to try and squeeze a shower in upstairs into the existing,

erm, cloak room up there. But mostly it's...

it's not really a question of knocking walls down.

It's just making good.

-What about the flying freehold?

-Well, there is that, too.

-You see, I think a lot of people would be put off by that.

-Yeah. Yes.

There is that and some people will be a bit scared by that.

It doesn't worry me unduly.

The listed property I had before had a flying freehold

and it wasn't a problem.

Erm, it's just the nature of the age of the property, really.

You get some like that. We'll see, when I come to sell it

whether that proves to be a sticking point.

Rachel's experience will hold her in good stead

for developing this property and as a mother of four children,

I'm pretty sure she's a good organiser.

So, what are her plans?

I mean, the layout is going to be fundamentally the same.

I'm going to try to keep it very, very light.

So, keep it simple, try and keep it quite natural looking.

The kitchen will probably be quite cottage-y style,

but contemporary at the same time.

-So, you're going to keep the bathroom downstairs.

-I think so.

I did toy with the idea of kind of just making it

a cloak room downstairs and maybe putting a shower in upstairs,

but actually, I think it's useful to have a bath somewhere.

You wouldn't get one upstairs.

And if you've got small children, often people do like to have a bath.

Rachel's planning to get the work done in around six months.

So, what about the money side of things?

Well, I've set myself 20,000 as a kind of maximum budget,

so we'll have to see how that goes.

-I should be OK I think.

-Yes, that's quite interesting

because obviously you can't you can't replace all the windows,

so you have to work with what you've got. And with the windows,

you're going to have to take a lot of time and effort

to try and get those looking good.

Yeah. I mean, it's labour with restoring rather than buying in.

That's where I come in really.

I think I'll be there stripping paint,

and, yeah, filling, sanding forever.

This is the fifth...the fifth house I've taken on, so... Yeah. I...

And I do do all that kind of stuff as much as I can

to try and save money, really.

Well, I am really looking forward to seeing what you do.

What the Rachel touch is going to be here.

Lovely meeting you today and good luck with this property.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Rachel already has quite a few years

of property developing experience under her belt,

so she doesn't seem worried about the work that she needs to do here.

But period properties like this one,

they have a tendency to throw up unexpected problems

once work commences,

so will these renovations go smoothly

or will there be a few hiccups along the way?

You can find out how Rachel gets on later in the programme.

In Raynes Park at the bottom of a huge 18-foot garden,

there's a nice surprise.

There is an access. Fantastic!

There's no surprises in Kent.

When it comes to renovating a listed building...

I spent more than I anticipated.

Back now to Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan

where this modern three-bedroom detached house

was bought for £124,500 by Richard and his partner Linda.

Richard thought the restoration would be quick.

-I did originally estimate two weeks.

-Oh, for goodness' sake!

-Yeah, but then that's before he saw it.

-It's going to be a month now.

-It's going to be two months.

-What planet are you on?

It's going to be one month and that's it.

To be fair he was going to get help from friends and colleagues

and was budgeting to spend five grand on it,

but I don't think that was going to be enough

especially when you consider what needed to be done.

MUSIC: Give A Little Love by Tom Jones

# Whoa! You've got to give a little love... #

To the lounge.

# Give a little love... #

-To the kitchen.

-# Go on, just do it

# You can't abuse it

# Give a little love... #

To the bedrooms.

# Give a little love

# Give a little love... #

To the bathroom.

# Give a little love... #

To the garden.

# Give a little love... #

To the decking.

# Give a little love. #

Even to the bargeboards.

Richard thought a five grand budget. Linda disagreed.

Richard thought one month. Linda disagreed.

MUSIC: I Feel It In My Fingers by Wet, Wet, Wet

# I feel it in my fingers I feel it in my toes... #

So, who was right? Well, 15 weeks later we're back.

# Love is all around me

# And so the feeling grows... #

The kitchen has new units and it's been replastered.

# It's written on the wind

# It's everywhere I go... #

It's fantastic!

# Oh, yes, it is!

# So, if you really love me

# Come on and let it show

# Whoa oh... #

The old bathroom with the sodden floorboards

and the cistern that matched a bit better than the toilet seat

is long gone.

We found out where the damp was coming from.

It was the bath wasn't connected properly

and over a period of time had rotted the ceiling and the floor.

The kitchen sink wasn't attached to outside either.

The water was obviously running on the floor,

-so we had to redo all of that, didn't we?

-Yes.

The garden needed severe maintenance.

We took most of the decking up, reframed it

and then put it all back down.

We had a wall that was leaning over a foot at the top,

so, we took the wall out completely

and just tidied the garden up in general, then.

The garden is looking lovely and upstairs the dark, dank bedrooms

are now crisp and bright and Linda's daughter has already moved in.

And downstairs the lounge is homely and comfortable, too.

So, as I thought when I first saw it,

a lot of work has been needed here.

And it's taken four weeks more than Richard's one-month estimate.

So, did the £5,000 budget need to grow, too?

The budget's...

Gone up to 14,000.

But then we put a new central heating in.

We couldn't just have it fixed.

We had a new kitchen and we didn't...

buy a particularly cheap one. We went to a well-known manufacturer.

-Mid-range.

-And...

the bathroom suite, Richard won't just go and buy the cheapest.

He's got to buy something a bit different.

So, let's see if it's all been worth it

by getting some valuations from a couple of local estate agents.

Richard and Linda paid £124,500 at auction

and have since spent about £14,000 including fees.

So, the property needs to be worth more than £138,500

to make a profit not counting for taxes and fees.

This is my first visit

to the property. I think the property has been

refurbished to a very high standard throughout and well presented.

I saw the property prior to the work being done

and I think they've done a very nice modernization job

internally and externally.

If the property came on the open market,

I would be looking to market it at £155,000 to £160,000,

and hope to achieve close to the asking price.

In my opinion, this property would likely sell for around 160,000.

I'd recommend an asking price to the vendor of 164,950.

We have had a very buoyant market in Bridgend this year,

and therefore, should the interest be enough, then there is

a chance we could achieve over 160,000.

Yeah, we was hoping for £160,000.

We would be happy for 160.

Yep.

It would be worth all the hard work.

That would mean a potential pre-tax profit of £21,500.

But that's not what this house is about.

Linda's daughter is happily living here,

so it has been worth all the hard work and the pain.

Linda lost a fingernail, after it got infected,

by stripping wallpaper.

Wearing gloves would be her tip.

And as for Richard, he has got a buying-at-auction tip.

Go and see it, do your sums.

Don't get carried away on the bidding.

-Who, me?

-Yeah, you.

It wasn't me, was it?

Time we left.

I'm in the South West London area of Raynes Park,

eight miles from Central London.

It is a well-known commuter town.

But what has been forgotten is its heritage in the sport of kings.

# Help me, Papa Papa, who's riding your racehorse? #

In the 1800s, the local gentry used to hold

a steeplechase from West Barnes to here, in Raynes Park.

Well, nowadays, it is local families who are rushing here

because you can get, for the price of a two-bedroom

flat in Wimbledon, a property similar to this.

It is a three-bedroom terrace at a guide price of 300,000 quid.

Let's have a look.

Off-street parking is a possibility,

but you'd need permission for a dropped curb.

And the hard standing would have to use a porous permeable

membrane to prevent flooding.

The house looks pretty tidy, with new UPVC windows.

I wonder what else we've got.

Wow! I'll tell you what we've got. That's a really nice surprise.

The moment you walk in through the front door, just a lovely space.

Now, I know some people would argue this is

a bit of a waste of space, but actually, it's not.

It is somewhere where you hang your coat,

you put your kids' bikes, your shopping when you come in.

It's brilliant. Um...

But you do get a feeling, the moment you walk through

the door also, this is pretty much as it was when it was built.

It has that very sort of untouched feel about it.

But anyway, entrance hall area here. And then through into your lounge.

It is a nice size. I'd like to see these, obviously, modernized.

But it is a good sized space.

One of the great things is, it has been made into a kind of open

plan feel, so you've got the lounge there, you've got this,

which was probably separate, a dining room at some stage.

Knock through to get this really nice dual-aspect room.

Again, another fire. A bit of a feature fireplace.

Would you keep that? I actually like that. It is a real solid house.

Yeah, great start.

But this is where it starts to go horribly wrong. The kitchen.

I am all for original features, but these are just too antiquated.

This really needs an update.

New units, more worktops and it is small for a family house.

Upstairs, and you've got two good sized doubles and a single.

Really nice, you've also got that roof light letting

loads of light down into the stairwell there, which is good.

And classic design for the era - a separate loo and bathroom.

Now, that brings me onto one of my all-time favourite subjects -

do you convert this into just one bathroom with a loo in it

or do you keep it separate?

Now, I've always come down on the side of keeping it separate -

that means somebody can be having a shower

and you can still use the toilet.

Well, a viewer wrote to me and said, "You haven't considered one

"thing, Martin, which is that if you do that, you have to make sure

"that there is some kind of facility for washing your hands in the loo.

"Otherwise, it is not very hygienic."

And she is absolutely right.

So, with that proviso, I'd still keep it separate.

All three bedrooms are a good size, but I'd definitely be looking

at getting rid of all the patterned frenzy that is going on here.

Plain carpets and neutral wall colours will make it all seem

much bigger.

Yes, it all needs to be updated and simplified.

Well, at the rear of the property, nice you've got these patio doors

leading out onto a little bit of a patio area.

But I think you could do so much more out here.

And it is almost like the neighbouring properties are giving

you a clue, because they have built extensions.

Single-story and within permitted development,

you could do that up to about three metres.

If not an extension, then maybe a conservatory or something like that.

But it gets better. You've got a really, really nice garden here.

It goes all the way to the back there.

And again, you can see a couple of neighbours have actually

built sheds, workshops or whatever they are. A nice thing to do.

You've certainly got a large enough garden to do that.

And it gets even better. At the bottom there, there is an access.

Fantastic!

And even better still for all those keen gardeners,

it's also south facing.

There is plenty of room to grow both the garden and the house.

The question is, will a bigger house mean a much bigger profit?

A local estate agent came along

to give us her thoughts.

I think that this property

could certainly benefit from an extension downstairs

and to go up into the loft.

And that would certainly enhance

the value of the property. You certainly wouldn't be losing

money by any means.

And I am wondering what rent the property could

generate as it is, or if it was extended.

Rental wise, the house renovated as it stands, as a three-bedroom,

I would think would probably bring in around about £1,600

per calendar month.

If it is renovated into a four-five bedrooms,

you would be looking around about 2,200 per calendar month.

How would the figures stack up if you were to extend?

I think the property as it stands, if it was carefully renovated,

would produce a price of around about £425,000.

If you do go up into the loft,

making a family bedroom with an en suite, and extend downstairs to

make a large kitchen-diner,

then you would be looking around about £480,000.

A three-bed terrace with lots of potential for expansion,

for enhancing its value. A great auction purchase.

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

Nice, appealing, three-bed, mid-terraced house.

Handy location - Raynes Park-SW20.

340 anywhere?

300? I'm not going to go much below.

300 down here.

305?

305 with you.

310.

315.

Two bidders then take the price up to £347,000, where we rejoin.

347.

348.

349.

349 at the back.

350?

349, standing up, first time.

Second time.

Third and last time. Have you all done?

Sold, 349.

The final bid for the house in Raynes Park was

made by London-based property developer John.

Now, John has appeared on our show before.

Back in 2010, Lucy met up with him in Tooting,

where he'd just bought his second investment property,

which he did up and let out to medical students.

A few years down the line, and John is obviously still buying houses.

# Freedom!

# I'm free to do what I want

# Any old time. #

I caught up with him to find out

if he was still enjoying the world of property.

-John.

-Hi.

-Welcome back to the show.

How has it gone since the last time we saw you?

-Well, I'm doing it full-time now.

-Wow.

I took redundancy last year and thought, "What shall I do next?"

And thought, "Let's try and do this 100%."

-What prompted that?

-Because I enjoy it.

-Right.

I don't know if I'm particularly good at it in terms of margins

-and stuff.

-You made money?

-Yeah, I've made...

Obviously, I've made a living out of it. It's been good. I enjoy it.

I always admire people who actually make that leap.

I mean, it is a bit of a big step, isn't it?

Yeah, it is a huge undertaking, and you don't kind of realise

until a few months down the line

when you're not getting that salary every month and you sort of thing,

"You know, I really do need to make some money now."

Yes, that can be the downside - keeping the money coming in.

John is free to do what he wants to some extent,

as long as he remembers he's the boss now.

# Payday has come in

# And I've got those payday blues. #

A property developer has to keep on their toes by planning ahead,

not just selling on once it is completed,

but also looking for the next opportunity.

John is refurbishing a house in South London,

whilst also taking this on. And he has just sold a property.

It might mean some freedom, but it is also full on.

So, onto this house, why this particular property?

Well, this one in particular, it's really near to where my builder,

Leo, lives, who I've worked with now for a few years.

He's been saying to me for a while, "SW20, SW20."

And he finally got me over to look and this one came up,

so I thought, "Let's go and have a look." So... I had a punt.

-Tell me what you liked about it.

-Well, really the space.

I like the fact there's access at the back, through the rear

garden, so there's potential there to perhaps do a garage or a studio.

I'm not sure if we're going to do that yet.

I like the fact that we can probably reinstate this room to a front

reception. I want to knock through the kitchen and the dining area.

I think it is going to a really nice kitchen, family dining space.

Maybe extend further out the back.

And just do the loft conversion to make it the four bedroom,

two bathroom that I wanted to be,

to try to get the money back at the other end.

# You got to earn it Earn it, earn it

# That's what you gotta do now. #

John started redeveloping properties to rent,

but has now moved on to refurbishing them for the resale market.

I've got no interest...

After the Tooting one, which I let for a couple of years,

-it made me realise I don't want to be a landlord.

-Right. Why?

-Just not interested.

-Really?

No, I don't want to be waiting for a phone call, "My boiler is gone,"

-you know.

-You can always get an agent.

Yeah, I could, but I don't want to do that either.

I'm too tight to get an agent, that's the trouble.

I just don't want to. It doesn't appeal to me.

I realised that doesn't appeal to me.

I don't want a portfolio of properties.

So, return the house to its former glory,

and do a nice job on it.

What's the budget for sorting this place out?

Probably looking around about 60,000, I would think.

-If I want to do the loft plus a small extension.

-And when it is done up...

You've obviously looked into the market to see what it would

be worth, with a loft conversion, done up. Any ideas?

I had one agent saying in excess of 450.

I've had other agents saying nearer 500.

I want to talk to some more agents in the area to find out.

John wants more valuations so he can assess the property's potential.

He is planning further research to establish if just doing

an extension is more profitable than also going up into the attic.

It is the business side of property development.

Either way, he can't start here yet,

as he needs to finish another property first.

He hopes to complete here within six months.

Being his own boss, it is all about the...

# Money, money, money, money

# Money! #

And do you get practically involved?

By looking at these hands, no, not really.

Um, I will go into the builder's yards, I'm sourcing the materials.

And I'm learning loads from it because before, you know,

if I had to go and get three lengths of two-by-four, I'd be like,

"Whatever," but now I know what it's for, how much it is costing me

-and where's it going to go.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you.

-I look forward to seeing how you get on.

Thank you very much.

John making that big leap from doing it part-time to becoming

a full-time property developer. Interesting project here.

Will he extend out the back? Will he put that dormer in?

He's doing the right thing by asking the advice to people who sell

houses around here to find out if it is worth it.

Well, will he do it? We'll find out later in the show.

Well, months have gone by since we last saw those properties.

Do they look any different now? Has the money been well spent?

Let's go back and find out.

Time to catch up with this lovely

and quirky Grade 2 listed cottage in Wingham, near Canterbury,

bought by Rachel and her father, Malcolm, for 115,000.

The plan? To do it up and sell it on.

But I had concerns about the bathroom's location.

-So you're going to keep the bathroom downstairs?

-I think so.

I did toy with the idea of kind of just making it a cloak room

downstairs and maybe putting a shower in upstairs, but actually, I think it

is useful to have a bath somewhere. You wouldn't get one in upstairs.

And if you have got small children, often people do like to have a bath.

Yes, I like a bath, too, but pamper suites went out in the '80s.

I hope this one is out of the cottage now.

Rachel had a six-month timescale to fit round looking after

her four children, but it is two years on.

What has been happening?

Well, the house has been rewired, re-plumbed,

re-plastered, redecorated and the outside painting has been redone!

# You cut me down to the bone

# Now you're dancing

# All over my soul. #

The largest bedroom is much improved,

with period features and restored sash windows.

The second bedroom looked like it belonged in a '30s movie.

Now it is much brighter and fresher, but it is narrower than I remember.

Rachel got permission to move a stud wall just enough to get

the bathroom upstairs.

What's more, it's white! As it should be.

# Take me home. #

Downstairs, in the room it came from, there is

now space for a large cupboard, shower and closet.

# Take me...

# Take me, take me

# Take me... #

Not much could be done about the layout of the old kitchen,

with the stairs coming down on one wall, doors on two more walls

and a huge fireplace on the remaining wall.

Once Rachel had stripped the paint and plaster, she discovered slate

underneath, and so laid flooring to match this giant feature.

Being a listed building, I doubt permission would have been

given to remove a feature like this to make more space for kitchen

units, not that Rachel would have wanted to get rid of it.

She's carefully restored original features all over the house.

It's probably one factor that has delayed her schedule.

I said six months to finish it when we first bought it.

There have been an awful lot of things that have happened

since, like buying another house and doing it up in the middle,

moving house and all sorts of stuff going on with

the children that just took my time away from this.

And also, we decided to do more work than we were going to originally

and put a bathroom in upstairs, and that involved planning

and listed building consent, structural engineers and all sorts.

So that inevitably took a bit longer than we thought it was going to.

The structural engineers' report meant there'd be changes downstairs,

too.

We had to put an extra joist or two in the ceiling

because of the weight of water in the bath

and we also had to then lower the ceiling in the living room.

Although the joist is still exposed,

they're not exposed to their full depth,

and that meant that it's half-hour fireproof now,

which is much better anyway.

But moving the bathroom and strengthening the ceiling

will have increased Rachel's costs, so how's the budget turned out?

I spent more than I anticipated.

I think originally I had said about £20,000,

and it has turned out to be about £30,000.

It is such a lovely house that you don't want to just put

a cheapy floor down in the kitchen, all that kind of thing.

So you do need to spend a little bit more money than you thought

you were going to.

The kitchen floor, I bought these slate tiles that I love and

I want to have them myself now, so...

Rachel reckons she would have completed within her original

timescale were it not for the disruptions and delays

in planning, etc.

Apart from the craft trades, she did most of the work herself.

So all the windows were stripped back.

I had to burn all the paint off just about all of them.

And then, there is quite a lot of repair work been done.

There's bits of extra wood that had to be in places and filled.

And then painted, obviously.

I had someone paint the outside and I did the inside.

And they look good, I think.

They...they've still got the feel of old windows

rather than a modern replacement.

And I'm glad we did it. I am very pleased with them overall.

Having transformed the cottage,

has Rachel changed her plans about its future?

I am still planning to sell the property.

I enjoy the renovation side of things

and I want to move onto the next one, so that is the plan.

To find out if Rachel can sell

and move on, we invited two local

estate agents to give us

their thoughts and valuations.

Has Rachel added significant value to the £145,000

she has already spent on her charming cottage?

I think the refurbishment has been done very well.

Great improvement on what it was before.

And I think it will prove quite a popular property.

I like the slate floor in the kitchen.

And the garden has been massively tidied.

And the whole thing is brighter and sunny and very homely.

If some more work had been done in the kitchen

and it had some more cupboard space, it would have increased its appeal

and I think it probably could have added maybe another 5,000 to

its value, and maybe only cost them £1,000, £1,500 to do the works.

Moving the bathroom upstairs is a very good thing to have done.

It makes the property far more saleable.

People are always concerned when they have downstairs bathrooms.

So it is going to enhance the saleability here.

I think the value here now is going to be an asking

price in the order of £195,000 £200,000.

I think in its present condition, with the refurbishment works,

it should fetch somewhere in the region of £185,000 to £190,000.

Those valuations mean a possible profit of between £45,000

and £55,000.

Oh, that's good. I like that.

Yeah, I... Cos originally, I said 160.

And then I thought, "No, hopefully, it will be a bit more."

But that is nice. That makes it worth doing.

And I don't think anything would deter our Rachel.

Flying freehold, Grade 2 listed, lots of Georgian windows to

strip and repaint, I predict we'll be seeing her again soon.

Back now to Raynes Park, South West London,

where property developer John intended to refurbish this

rather promising three-bedroom house that he bought for £349,000.

John had plans to turn this house around

with a £60,000 budget, but he was determined to take his time,

finish off another project, gather plenty of advice

and crunch some numbers before starting to return this house

to its former glory.

The big question was, would it be a ground-floor extension

and/or a loft conversion?

However, having recently taken redundancy to be a full-time

property developer, he had learned one valuable lesson.

You don't kind of realise until a few months down the line,

when you're not getting that salary every month, and you think,

"You know, I really do need to make some money now."

12 months later, we are back to find out

if John has got some paydays coming.

That pokey kitchen with its dated units

and appliances has been opened up into the lounge.

In the ground floor, um, we've taken out the archway, which is

a 1970s archway. We've reinforced with a steel beam here.

We've got new oak flooring throughout this area, which

leads into the dining room.

And then leads into the open plan kitchen,

which is a high-gloss kitchen with grey quartz work surfaces.

Knocking down walls is only half the story with a good renovation.

John's bright, neutral colour scheme and attention to quality detail,

like the oak flooring, unified the three old rooms perfectly.

# I don't want anything more

# Than to see your face When you open the door. #

I think this part of the house is a really good part of the house

because it's great for families and open plan living.

It seems to be the way to go now.

John decided the way to go regarding a rear extensional garage

was not to bother.

I spoke to a few agents.

And their thinking was that it was better to maximise

the house by doing a four-bedroom house with two bathrooms

rather than extend out the back.

Because I had to look at margins and costings,

and it wouldn't have paid for me

to do the extension at the back of the house plus the loft conversion.

Speaking of the loft conversion, it does look like money well spent.

It has created this spacious, bright master bedroom,

a fantastic Juliet balcony, that isn't overlooked,

and much sought-after en suite facilities.

It is clear the standard of finish continues

right from the bottom to the top of the house.

And I see, despite my earlier bid for keeping the loo separate,

John has come down on the side of combining everything

into one bathroom.

The bathroom was originally a separate WC and small bathroom,

but we have now knocked those into one room and created one large family

bathroom with a power shower over the bath and wall and floor tiles.

John's builder, Leo, has done an amazing job.

But this project has taken 12 months.

One of the reasons was that, at one point,

John nearly sold the property without doing any work to it at all.

However, that fell through and he went back to his original plan.

And I'm glad he did, because this is great inside and outside.

At the front of the property, we've created a driveway.

We're just at the last sort of minute proposals with the local

council to drop the curb, that's all going ahead,

so people will be able to drive up and park at least, I think,

two cars on that driveway.

You've got a nice herringbone brick paving,

which I think has come out really well.

John's herringbone bricks are laid on a layer of hard-core

and sand, which means water can easily drain through.

At the back of the property, we've decked. And also, we had some bricks

left over from the front that we've actually put out there.

The rest of the garden I've kind of left for the new people who

will buy to do what they want with it.

John said he planned to spend 60 grand

if he built a small extension and went into the attic.

Has his budget changed along with the plans?

I think we spent around about £90,000,

and that includes everything, from the kitchen fittings to new

flooring and, obviously, the loft conversion as well.

So it is kind of more spend than I thought originally,

but I think we've got a really great property

and I think, with the market rising, it's been OK.

Let's hope so, John, because if you add that to his purchase price,

he has invested £439,000

in this property.

We asked two local agents to put a price on living

in this refurbished property in Raynes Park.

I like the open plan ground floor.

I like the fact that everyone can, you know, be altogether.

I also like the fact that you've got three really good sized bedrooms.

You're always going to have that smaller fourth bedroom,

but you've got three good doubles and a lovely master suite.

And nice views out either side.

How about John's block-paved drive

when he gets his planning consent for the dropped curb?

Will that add much value?

I think by dropping the curb on this property,

it would increase the value and also the saleability.

Although the road

is easy to park on, you do have buses going along,

so a lot of people are going to want to get their cars off the road.

Now, it only costs about £1,200 for the Council to drop the curb,

but I'd say it would be adding a good £5,000 to £6,000

onto the property.

Any family that move into this property,

looking at the space that you have upstairs with

the accommodation on the first and second-floor,

they might think that the house is a little bit top heavy,

so they might want to put a ground-floor extension onto

the property and give themselves that bit more space to

really have as a family room,

as opposed to just having that one open plan room downstairs.

So, how will all this translate into cash?

Will his £439,000 prove to have been a good investment?

Placing the property onto the market in today's climate,

you could achieve a strong price for this house.

We'd be suggesting marketing at a figure of £625,000.

But buyers could comfortably go past that level

if you've got the right interest.

I would say you'd look to market this property

at around £600,000 mark.

and possibly achieve a little bit more if the interest is there.

But 600,000 should be a comfortable figure that should be achievable.

That could be a possible profit before tax and expenses

of between £161,000 and £186,000.

Not bad for five months' work.

I think those values are probably slightly under what I'm thinking,

and I've obviously spoken to a couple of agents,

and the resale values they are looking at are 680.

I know one around the corner that has been modernized recently has

gone for 679, and it is pretty much the same as this.

Nearly £80,000 more.

Now, we know you're not interested, John, what about rental?

Placing this property onto the rental market, you'd be

looking for a return of approximately £2,000 per calendar month.

I think this house should be able to achieve around the £2,000 to

£2,100 per calendar month.

I think those rental figures are pretty good.

That'd be a good return for somebody who wanted to do that.

I'm not in it for rental. I've done that before and it's not for me.

I don't want to be a landlord.

And who can blame him?

If he gets top price for this Raynes Park property, he'll have

earned £48,000 a month over the five month restoration period.

Nice life!

# Park life! #

Well, we hope you enjoyed seeing today's properties

and perhaps learnt something along the way.

Look forward to seeing you next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-We'll see you then.

-BOTH: Goodbye.