Episode 4 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Now probably like you, Lucy and I are fascinated by property.

We love it! It is our job but we'd probably love it anyway.

Yeah, that means every single aspect of it.

I know I'm always on the lookout for a bargain.

Now one way you can find one of those is to

visit your local property auction.

There are property auctions throughout the whole country

so you are really spoilt for choice.

You are but let's see what made our buyers part

with their cash on today's show.

'Wall-to-wall surprises for us in this show. I'm pining in Stoke.'

Wow! Half a Scandinavian forest has died.

'Here in London, I'm at a three-bedroomed semidetached

'with a wandering wall.'

Oh, dear! This is a real concern.

'Guided at £37,500, this flat in Glasgow needs a lot of work

'but at least the bathroom's modern.'

That's going to save you a good chunk of money.

192.

'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.'

You bought it.

The Goldenhills area of Tunstall in Stoke-On-Trent

is full of good solid houses built for the workers

in the Victorian ceramics industry.

And it has a very nice rural vibe combined with good transport links.

But to get to the property we're interested in,

it's a short stroll from a conveniently placed pub

along this rather rough looking route

which is listed in the particulars as an "unadopted road".

Hmm. More of that later.

Well, up for the auction was one of these Victorian terraces.

Guide price, £25,000 plus, which is really attractive,

as is the location. I mean, pretty much surrounded by open countryside.

Absolutely glorious.

House itself looks like it's seen better days but then,

like the rest of this terrace,

it was built in 1897 so it's had 116 years of wear and tear.

Let's see what it's like inside.

So if you ever did decide to come inside

and away from that beautiful view, what do you find?

Wow!

Well...

half a Scandinavian forest has died.

The wall coverings in the lounge here... Fantastic.

Cladding gone bonkers. I love this!

What goes through people's minds when they do this kind of thing?

Can you imagine? "Here, Bert, shall we clad round the radiator or should

"we just take it off and...no, let's clad round it."

Beautiful job. But anyway, it's not a bad size

and you've got an open fire which is good.

More wood this way, perhaps?

Yes, yes, yes. Well, it's not a bad sized room though.

Rear sitting room here but look at that.

Another DIY classic. You can imagine them talking, can't you?

"Oh, Bert, we got any more of that cladding? What, no?

"I won't worry about it."

Fantastic. Oh, hang on a minute.

All this larking around, there's something a bit more serious here.

This floor, something seriously going wrong.

There's a bit of a dip it in there, you can see it's got this

sort of boarding over the top of it,

that is probably concealing some serious problems under there.

So, excavation and exploration required.

But through there into the kitchen and it's not huge.

In fact, it lets the house down in some ways.

It certainly needs some major renovation and then onwards through

to the fairly traditionally located bathroom and loo.

So, hmm. What are we thinking?

Well, for that guide price, it's still pretty good.

Yes, that £25,000 plus guide price was definitely there to draw

the buyers in and help them look beyond the disrepair

and state this property is currently in.

Let's face it, nothing is going to be kept.

New doors, windows, kitchens, bathroom, floors,

the list goes on...

and on...

and on.

And the Swedish sauna look?

Well, you wouldn't keep that, would you?

So upstairs and fairly traditional lay out.

One bedroom to the front that way, one bedroom to the back that way.

Ah.

Who needs a vacuum cleaner

when you've got a lawn mower in the bedroom?

Perfect. Erm...

it's a good sized room though, as is the back.

Just needs, like the rest of the property,

a bit of, well, titivation.

But, yeah. Not bad size, looks like there's been a few things

going wrong with the ceiling.

Historical ingressive water by the look of things.

But one lovely thing at the back, as at the front,

great views out on to that open countryside.

Er...that's a bit weird.

That's the kitchen down there and there's a wall there.

Erm...so why isn't there a door there?

I would've expected an entrance into another room.

What's that all about?

'Hmm. Time to investigate.'

OK, so that's the kitchen and that's the wall I could see

from upstairs in the bedroom there and there's a room there.

It looks to me like it's attached to the neighbouring property.

Now in this part of the country,

occasionally this was a construction style.

So that house there would be a three-bedroomed property

and its extra bedroom would have been built as a flying freehold

over this property and then this is a two bed.

It's very, very unusual. It's something I've not seen before.

It's not intrinsically a problem

but it's definitely something which the legal documentation just needs

to be looked at carefully to make sure exactly what's going on there.

Yes, a call to a lawyer could be in order just to check

who's responsible for what.

Is the upkeep of the roof down to you or next door?

What happens if a pipe bursts in the bedroom and damages your ceiling?

It all just needs to be clarified.

Another thing you definitely need to get your lawyer to look over

is the unadopted road issue.

A private or unadopted road is, by definition,

a highway not maintainable at public expense.

So you and your neighbours could find yourselves responsible

for the costs involved.

'But there are compensations outside.'

That really is what's going to sell this house.

'But what does a local property expert

'make of what's on offer here?'

The property is in need of complete refurbishment

starting at the roof and working right down to the ground floor.

Flying freehold at the rear of the property may cause problems

if respective buyers are wanting to extend the property.

'Yes, there's no doubt a full schedule of work needs to be

'carried out here.

'But with a house guided at £25,000 plus,

'what kind of values might it command once fully renovated?'

If the property was refurbished to a reasonable standard,

I would expect to achieve somewhere in the region of £65,000.

So potentially good resale return. What about its rental potential?

If placed onto the rental market and in good condition, this property

would achieve somewhere in the region of £325 to £350 per calendar month.

Well, there's work to be done but a nice enough little property

at a great guide price and in an unquestionably lovely location.

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

Lot number two is the mid terraced house.

Two bedrooms, two receptions, garden views.

Can we say 20 again to start?

20 bid, thank you. At £20,000. 21 anywhere?

21. At 21.

22? 22.

23. 24.

25. 26. 27.

At 27,000. 28?

A half, you're saying? 27 and a half.

Another half to 28?

New bidder. 28 and a half?

New bidder at the back. 28 and a half. 29?

At the back. 29 and a half?

29 and a half. 30 at the back.

30 and a half?

30 and a half. 31? 31.

31 and a half? 31 and a half. 32?

32 and a half at the back. 32 and a half. 33.

33 and a half. 34? 34 and a half.

35.

35 and a half?

35 and a half. 36.

Another half?

Sure? 36. Lady's bid, no mistake.

36 then for the first time.

36 for the second time.

Third and final time, £36,000.

You bought it.

'And so for £36,000 the two bed terraced property

'in Goldenhill, Stoke-On-Trent

'was bought by Daryl as her second property development project.

'She joined me back at the house with her builder, Chris.'

-Daryl, Chris, great to meet you both.

-And you.

-And you.

-Congratulations!

-Thank you.

-Well, interesting property, hey?

Oh, very.

Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

It was the outside. It was the location that attracted me to it.

Cheap property in rural location.

-So, have you bought it for you to live in or what?

-No, no.

It's to be, depending on the market,

it depends on whether I sell it or rent it.

-Right.

-But it's going to be done up to initially sell.

-Right. Is this what you do?

-No.

-I actually work for the ambulance service.

-Oh, great, as a what?

-Ambulance technician.

-Right, does that mean you actually go out in the

-ambulance and...

-Yes, we do. Part driving, part attending.

-Wow.

-But just wanted to diversify a bit, really.

Did your first property go OK?

No. Well, not really.

I viewed it. I read all the legal documentation.

I'd not bought a property before so I bought an end terrace property.

It had got damp in it, I thought the damp was because of the roof

which had been replaced and it turned out it wasn't.

It turned out that the end terrace was a problem.

So that was my fault, you know, inexperienced eye. You pay for it.

So how much did that cost you that you weren't expecting approximately?

-Another £2,000 or £3,000.

-Ooh, ouch.

Did you still make money on it though?

-I didn't buy it to sell.

-Right.

-I bought it to rent out.

-Right.

So that didn't really make any difference.

-I will get my money back.

-So where does Chris come in to all of this?

-Chris was introduced by a friend...

-I took over halfway through

-the project.

-Yeah.

-I took over everybody else basically.

Right, so is Daryl just a client here or is there more

going on in terms of a business relationship?

Well, we started to build a relationship now, as a business

-relationship and obviously I've done a few contracts for Daryl now.

-Right.

Whether it be sort of on her own house or her mum's house.

With the last property she bought as a rental

and now we're sort of on board with the rental properties

and whatever else she decides to do.

'So while Daryl might work for the emergency services,

'it was Chris who to her rescue on her first property project.

'Let's hope this one is a bit more straightforward.'

So talk me through what you'd like to do to it, Daryl.

I think it's going to be gutted. Cleared out first of all.

-Kitchen is going to be made bigger.

-How?

-We're taking the little porch out.

-OK.

Little porch area with the cupboard. Blocking up the back door.

-Relocating them. So French doors into here.

-OK, right, fine. Rewire?

-Rewire. New boiler.

-New central heating.

New skirting boards, new doors, obviously decorate. New carpets.

And we will be taking the wood off the walls in the front room...

with the inset radiator.

So what about the floor because

obviously it's a little bit bouncy, isn't it?

Yeah, we've got a few bowed floors there.

We've obviously got to uncover what's underneath there.

OK, so how much is all that going to cost then?

-We've got a budget there for about £25,000.

-Oh, wow.

-Yeah.

Double the cost of almost what you paid for it.

I want someone to walk through that front door and either say,

"Yes, I want to buy it." Or, "Yes, I want to rent it."

I don't want it hanging around on the market for months and months.

Wow indeed.

I think a £25,000 spend here will really make this place top spec.

But having already paid £36,000 to purchase the house,

that would take Daryl's total spend here to around £61,000 for a house

the agent thought might be worth around £65,000 when finished.

Doesn't sound like much of a profit to me. Hmm.

-So what's the timescale?

-We're looking at about 12 weeks.

-OK.

Unless we get any unseens.

-Yeah, so you're putting quite a few men on this, are you?

-Yes, we are.

We'll probably have a group of, say, four of us on this initial soft strip

just to get everything bared out and then review it again from there.

-Well, listen, congratulations!

-Thank you.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you very much.

-Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

Thank you very much.

Well, Daryl and Chris certainly seem to be developing a good business

relationship and finding a good builder is certainly

one of the key things to being a successful property developer.

However, £25,000 budget to sort this out?

Seems a little bit OTT for me, what are they going to do for that?

You can find out later in the show.

I'm in Tottenham in north London today.

And if the local football club achieve their goal,

then this part of the city is set to transform beyond all recognition.

Now the club are proposing to build a brand-new stadium

and a significant number of new flats in the immediate area.

Now the development will cost a staggering 400 million

and that's not all.

The local council have pledged nine million pounds to help

with the regeneration effort.

So with all that money pouring into the area,

I have most definitely got the hots for Tottenham.

# Well, we're hot shot Tottenham

# We are the Super Spurs

# Everybody knows we're the football connoisseurs

# We're Hot Shot Tottenham... #

As well as the stadium and new housing, the regeneration project

will also see a refurbished heritage square,

a public space for community events and improved transport links

and there's something else to cheer about the property I'm here to see.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the price of

today's auction lot.

Are you ready?

Well, it's a house, it's in London

and a guide price, £175,000.

That's still a fair amount of money but for a three-bedroomed semi

in London it's impressive, I reckon. Is there a catch?

Well, the front door is very tight here.

If you come in and you want to turn right, it's a bit of

a sort of squashed manoeuvre so if you turn left,

you've got the sitting room and, as you can see,

it's all under the insulation at the moment but it is a great size

and the interesting thing is they've knocked through these two rooms here

under the stairs to create this little walkthrough,

which I really like, into the second reception room.

It's fantastic. It's a really good space for a dining table in here.

I think this would suit a family very well.

But looking through there, the kitchen, look.

Disappointingly small and, as you can see,

obviously it needs replacing.

But this area, through here, certainly makes up for that.

The fridge freezer being placed in this other room tells you

everything you need to know about what a tight fit that kitchen is.

Having to access the fridge in another room isn't exactly

a convenient solution but that front lounge is small

so you wouldn't have a lot of living space.

Let's take a look and see if upstairs is any better.

Well, that would be a big fat no.

This is meant to be bedroom three

but you wouldn't be swinging any kittens in here or in here,

the second bedroom where a bed might be all you can get in.

The master bedroom at the front is a good size

but it doesn't really make up for the tight squeeze at the back and

I think there might be a better way to create a bit more space.

If you come outside, well, the solution is plain for all to see.

Extensions! Now your neighbours have done it so why shouldn't you?

Now a single storey extension will do the trick

and if you stick within certain measurements

and height specifications, well,

you could be within your permitted development rights.

That means there is no need to obtain planning permissions,

they can be costly, they can be time consuming

and it just enables you to crack on with the work immediately.

Perfect.

Of course, a single or double extension is going to make

a dent in your budget

and there's another costly problem just around the corner.

A wonky wall!

Oh, dear. This is a real concern and it was going so well.

It's clear to see that this external wall, the flank wall here is bowing.

Now that could have huge structural implications,

it could also have a serious impact on your budget too.

Paying for a survey before going to the auction is a must here.

Fail to spot this issue,

you could be in for a very big nasty surprise.

# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

# It is not easy... #

So the pennies are piling up here.

What seemed like a pretty good bargain by London standards

might not turn out to be.

I think you'd really need to try and get this for something near that

£175,000 guide price, given the work that's needed

but at least someone's made a start.

Time to find out now what a local property expert thinks.

Well, obviously it needs complete refurbishment.

Talking kitchens, bathrooms.

I think, ideally, an extension, possibly single,

maybe double storey would obviously add to its size.

Once some work was done on it, what does he think it would resell for?

Without an extension, I certainly think we'd be looking

at probably selling this house for somewhere in the region of £250,000.

Possibly a little bit more if it was a nice kitchen and a nice bathroom.

If the property were extended, two storey, configuration better,

I would certainly be thinking £300,000, £310,000,

possibly even £320,000.

With the lay out unchanged, this property could rent for

around £1,100 per calendar month but what if that extension was built?

I think extended we could be looking

as much as £1,400 to £1,500 per calendar month.

The bowing wall will undoubtedly put people off

and I hope whoever took this on had a full and thorough survey.

Let's find out who wanted this north London property

when it went under the hammer.

Three-bedroomed, end of terrace house,

in need of modernisation, who would like to give me a start on this?

We're at 180.

Thank you. 180 I've got. How much?

182. 183.

184. 185.

186. 187.

188. 189.

190.

191.

192. How much?

194, if you want. 195 at the back.

196.

Have a think about it. Back of the room, bid's £195,000. Anybody else?

If not, 195 for the first.

196. 197.

198. 199.

200,000. 201.

Is that one more? Still cheap. If not, it's with you, sir.

Bid's £200,000 against the gentleman in the back on my left.

200 for the first.

200 for the second.

You're 201, nearly. 202.

203. 204.

205.

He's out. It's with you, behind the pillar.

Anybody else?

205. One more?

No? If not, 204 for the first.

204 for the second.

204 for the third and final time.

All done? Sold, 204.

'And snapping the house up for 204,000 was Graham.'

Graham's an electrician and bought the property with his pal Ian

who's a builder and an emergency plumber so with those trades behind

them, they seem like the perfect pair to purchase this property.

# I'm a working man

# I'm a working man... #

Ian, Graham, congratulations. Now, Graham, you were bidding on the day.

-Ian, were you there?

-I was there but I was tucked around the pillar.

-So why were you hiding away in the background?

-He wanted the limelight.

-So what's your background, guys?

-Known each other since school days.

-Yeah.

-Probably 11, 12.

-Yeah, about 11.

-From the age of 11?

-Yeah, yeah.

-From kids!

-Yeah, desk in front of me.

Poked him with a pencil and that was the first meeting.

And what brought you to the auction room then?

Just wanting to invest our money. It was dwindling away with no interest.

We wanted to invest in a property.

We both had some money but not enough to get into a property this size

so put them together and it worked for us.

# Remember the days of the old schoolyard

# We used to laugh a lot... #

'From school pals to business partners,

'they'll certainly go to the top of the class for this.

'Their first venture together even though they went almost 30 grand

'over the guide price, it's still a great buy by London standards.

'Unfortunately the boys get a fail from me for the homework though

'because they didn't do any.

'They only decided to go for this one the night before the auction.'

We had an eye on about three properties that were

within our budget and then we saw this one and thought,

-"Wow, never thought about Tottenham."

-So we only managed to get

an external viewing the night before the auction.

What you mean is you didn't get a chance to come inside

-and look around?

-We didn't come inside and look around.

-You peered through the letter box?

-Absolutely, yeah.

I'm not going to tell you off because I know so many people do

that and if you don't have the luxury of the time, you've just got

-to make that rash decision.

-Yeah.

Do you feel a little bit regretful that you didn't have enough

-time to view this prior to the auction?

-No, not really.

We're both very happy with the property.

So when you came into the property for the first time

and you did have a good look around, what did you think?

-Excited, yeah.

-Yeah, we both liked it.

It was in a lot better condition then we had imagined it to be.

Apart from cosmetic stuff, you know, it's not that bad condition.

We've got an issue with the flank wall where it's got a bow in it

so we may need to take that down

-and rebuilding that.

-What's involved there?

Really it's just to take the flank wall down, keep the two back

and front walls so we've got something to work off.

Take down the centre of the flank wall

as low as to where the bow starts,

it's usually just above the street door there and then to rebuild it.

If you get a team of bricklayers together, three bricklayers,

one labourer, that's only a three day, four day job.

-So tell me what is your budget?

-£25,000.

-Yeah.

And what's your timeframe?

-Six months.

-Yeah, six months.

# A working man

# Doing the best I can

# I'm a working, working man... #

'Graham and Ian plan to sell this house on once they've got it sorted

'and if you thought rebuilding a flank wall was a big challenge,

'well, the two friends have decided to build

'a two storey extension as well!'

Ian, my first thoughts when I saw this property was, "Yes, definitely.

"An extension, ground floor, open the space up."

But to go double storey, that's quite a brave move, isn't it?

Is that because obviously by being a builder,

you can save on the labour costs?

Yeah, that also but also there's not a lot of difference

between a single storey and a double storey.

Let's face it, if you're going to put a single storey,

you've got to put a roof on it.

If you're going to go two storeys, you only have to build up two more

walls and put a roof on that so cost wise it's not that much different.

-And it's so worth it because...

-Absolutely.

-..then you can have

an extra bedroom, an extra bathroom, you can do so much more.

Ian, I am so going to keep my fingers crossed for you.

I hope you get the permission and I just wish you and Graham,

all the luck.

-Thank you very much.

-Hope it works out.

-Thank you.

So how will these schoolboy chums get on with their first project?

Will they manage to obtain the green light

for their double storey extension?

And will Ian and Graham still be friends when we come back?

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

'Coming up, we'll be finding out how the owners of this Glasgow

'property almost doubled its value after renovating it.'

'In Tottenham, Ian talks up a terrific transformation.'

We're very, very pleased with the way

this part of the property has come out.

It was just outside Stoke-On-Trent in the lovely rural

area of Goldenhill where we first saw a Victorian two bed mid-terraced

house built in 1897.

It did seem that age had caught up with it

and not only was the place in quite a dilapidated state,

there were some decor choices that weren't quite what you'd expect

in a period property.

And with signs of damp and disrepair,

it desperately needed some work before it fell into rack and ruin.

# Save me

# Somebody save me... #

'Answering the call was ambulance technician Daryl who bought it

'for £36,000 at auction as her second property development project

'and she was hoping with help from her builder friend

'Chris that she could not only rescue the house

'but make it better than it had ever been.'

-We've got a budget there for around about £25,000.

-Oh, wow.

-Yeah.

Double the cost of almost what you paid for it.

I want someone to walk through that front door and either say,

"Yes, I want to buy it." Or, "Yes, I want to rent it."

I don't want it hanging around on market for months and months.

She was hoping to give this place the wow factor

and make the house so amazing it would be instantly snapped up.

And now, just over four months later, we're back with Daryl

and Chris to see how they got on.

Well, there might be no actual curb

but its curb appeal is certainly streets better than it was.

With new windows, doors, rebuilt porch and front wall.

Signs are promising and inside...

..would you believe it?

It's a far cry from what was previously here with

both the front and back lounge brought bang up to date.

And the kitchen?

Well, they've certainly splashed some cash here

and given it some sparkle.

Well, if you remember the last time we were in the kitchen

we discussed what we were going to do with the general lay out which

was removing the backdoor.

Put some steelwork in, removed the wall

and also we've actually lowered the ceiling as well in this room

and just gone for a clean look all the way through.

So the kitchen's greatly improved

but what about the tired bathroom just behind it?

That's much better.

But if they've removed the old backdoor,

how do you access the garden now?

Well, as we come through the kitchen, we come into the rear living room.

If you remember rightly there was a window there.

We've now taken the window out and we've put the French doors in

which I think work really well.

We've almost made the most of the light

and obviously the access to the rear garden.

And it's now a nice family friendly garden

that you step out on through those French doors.

While upstairs those two double bedrooms are now crisp and clean.

So has Chris delivered the house Daryl wanted?

I think it's wonderful, I really do.

I think he's done a cracking job of it.

He couldn't have done any better.

This is an impressive job carried out by Chris and his team

of builders and they've certainly made the house more appealing.

But undoubtedly one thing that has improved first impressions is

getting rid of all that lovely wood.

This room, when I first bought it, was very tired.

Wooden panelling all over the walls, tatty fireplace.

Chris has plastered, recarpeted, put a nice fireplace in

and he's built these cupboards, one each housing the electric and gas.

But he's matched the handles with the kitchen

and that little touch, it just really brings the house together.

It makes it really nice and cosy.

But it wasn't only the wood you could see that had to go.

Remember those bouncy floors?

# Bounce... #

Took the floorboards up, had a look at the job,

we discovered there was a lot of woodworm, dry rot in the joists.

I was oblivious to all this until a phone call,

"I think you better come down, have a look at these floors."

Because it was a bigger job than we thought it was going to be

so I came down and took one look and walked back out again, I think.

Well, Daryl might have decided the best approach was to run off

and leave Chris to sort it out

but there was no hiding the fact that it would effect

the timescale and in fact it added another two weeks

to their original 12 week schedule.

But did it effect Daryl's budget?

-It was initially 25 and we've come in...it was about 24.

-24,000, yeah.

-Yeah.

-And that's including the under floors as well...

-Yeah.

..so which was something that wasn't priced in with the job.

'£24,000 on top of her £36,000 purchase price

'nicely rounds off Daryl's total spend here to £60,000

'and there's no doubt she's now got a greatly improved house.

'But what did two local property experts think?

'Was it money well spent?'

Very impressed. The owners have done an excellent job.

It's fully refurbished throughout, it's in show home condition.

I'm very, very impressed with the refurbishment to this property.

In particular, I'm very fond of the kitchen, especially the

metallic tiles that they've put in there.

I like the kitchen and the bathroom.

I also like the French doors opening out onto the garden.

Got good views from the front and the back

and also they've made a really, really good job of the garden.

Daryl's determination to create a lovely high spec house here

has definitely paid off and the agents are clearly impressed.

So has Daryl made the right call in spending a total of 60 grand?

I would suggest an asking price between £70,000 and £75,000.

I would be looking at putting this property on the market

somewhere in the region of £70,000 to £75,000.

Well, that could see a potential pre-tax profit of 10,000 to 15,000.

But what did Daryl and Chris make of those values?

'I think that's awful.'

-I went to another estate agent last week, wasn't it?

-It was last week.

They came in and valued it at £103,000

and it's on the market for £103,000.

Well, very differing points of view there which can often be the case

especially in high spec renovations like this one

and anyway, since we visited Daryl's plans have changed

and she's decided to put the property on the rental market.

Well, since we've started this project between us,

we've decided that we're going to try a joint venture so halfway

through this job we've been out and looked at numerous properties...

-We have.

-And we had a phone call the other day to say we're received

an offer on a property so that's where we're going to go next.

So from that classic Victorian property,

let's travel even further back in time to the 6th century in fact,

when Glasgow was founded by St Mungo.

It's the UK's third largest city

and it's famous due partly to its shipbuilding past thanks to the

River Clyde which winds it way through the heart of the city.

# You can call me Clyde

# Love for you to call me Clyde

# Call me Clyde with pride

# Cause I'm proud to be a Clyde... #

Well, the property I'm here to see

is five miles east of the city centre and

it's described in a way I've never heard a property described before.

Lower cottage flat.

Very unusual. Guide price at £37,500 plus.

It's in this quiet little cul-de-sac. Let's take a look.

OK, so it's not exactly a traditional looking cottage

but it has got allocated parking which is a great bonus.

So what's it go to offer inside?

So being a cottage, I'm expecting beams and an inglenook fireplace.

Let's see what we find.

Well, entrance door there, obviously, your bathroom there.

Down a little corridor to your two bedrooms.

Well, actually, the lay out actually making a lot of sense.

The two bedrooms, a pretty good size, as is the lounge.

I mean, it doesn't look that massive from the outside

but once you get in here, yeah, it's a perfectly liveable space.

A nice size room here and then through into your kitchen.

Now it's obviously in need of...oh, hello, what's that?

Oh, yes, a breakfast bar. Well, actually, that, I think

is actually quite pleasant to have that there.

Not quite big enough for a table and chairs

but that certainly works well.

Units, I don't think they've been replaced since the place was built.

So put new kitchen units in here, new floor, all that sort of stuff.

And again though, it's not big but it's just a really useable size.

Yeah, it's a good start

but no inglenook fireplace

or beams.

There is room to play with here but it's nowhere near the idyll that

the word cottage implies but maybe one day.

# Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... #

So most of the flat then in need of a jolly good refurbishment.

And then, great surprise, you come into the bathroom here

and obviously someone's done something relatively recently

because it's a nice white suite,

good sized bath with a shower above, nice new tiling.

That's going to save you a good chunk of money.

And talking of chunks, there's a good chunk of garden out the back.

One of the benefits of being a ground floor flat is that

you've got a bit of garden.

Most of it's laid to paving, bit of grass at the end there

but it is, at least, a nice outdoor space.

But while I'm out here, let's talk about wheelie bins.

As I travel the country, they seem to be getting more and more

and more and more prolific.

But in Glasgow, they've come up with something new.

I've seen green ones, I've seen blue ones, I've seen brown ones

but I've never seen a purple wheelie bin before.

Fantastic.

I love it and it looks like it could eat up a lot of rubbish

but let's hope that's all.

# It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater

# One-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater

# It sure looks strange to me

# One eyed... #

'But will a local property expert have an appetite for this property?

'Let's find out.'

First impressions of the property were fine.

Fairly standard property in this area. Two bedrooms, garden,

very, very attractive to the family type of buyer.

Within the rental market again, the garden certainly benefits

when we compare against the rest of the rental stock in the area,

a garden is a big plus point.

I would feel that in the current market rental would be the best way

to go forward with this property.

I would expect the property to achieve between £450 to £475

per calendar month.

And what if the new owner decided to resell it?

On a resell standpoint with the property being refurbished, I would

expect to achieve between £55,000 to £60,000 for this property.

Well, it's not huge but it packs a lot into a small space

and could deliver a very good yield

if you can get it for anything like that guide price.

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

37 and a half is your guide.

It's got to be worth 30. 25 then?

Need a bid. 25 anywhere? 25 here.

At 25...just beat you to it, sir. 26.

Can I say 26?

27. 28.

29 and 30.

30, sir. 30 I'm bid and one.

32.

32 I'm bid.

33. 34.

34 I'm bid.

35. At £35,000 I'm bid now.

36.

36. 37.

Shake of the head at 37.

With you, sir, on the back row at £36,000.

At £36,000 and I'll be done.

Selling it. Here to sell. Take a half.

36 and a half. 37. Half?

Shake of the head. With you at 37.

At £37,000 then.

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

Second time at 37. Are you sure?

At £37,000 then, selling it. All done, all out.

Well done, sir. Can I have your paddle number, please?

'That final bid of £37,000 was from Scott.

'He and his wife Lesley already have a rental portfolio.

'Lesley works as a teacher with children with disabilities

'and Scott works in the oil and gas industry.

'So let's find out what it was that fuelled their interest

'in this property.'

-Lesley, Scott, good to meet you both.

-Good to see you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy the flat.

Well, we've got a few properties

-and Lesley had spotted this one a few months ago.

-Spotted it how?

-Just trawling through the internet...

-Yeah, yeah.

I just like looking so...

So I wasn't sure about it at the time.

We've got another one that we're just finishing off at the moment.

But then this one came to the auction

and we hadn't bought at auction before.

-Ah.

-But we thought we'd go along and see how we got on.

Why were you a little bit reticent?

A different kind of area...the other properties are in much more

-sort of modern...

-Yeah.

-..owner occupied areas.

'Lesley was tempted to look at what was a new area for them

'because she'd been tracking this particular property for a while.'

I saw it actually when it first came on the market with the agent.

-Right and how much was it when it started out?

-47 and a half.

-Right.

-Yep.

-We had a quick look before the auction

like the day or two days before, we came and had a look around

-so we knew what we were getting into.

-Mmhm.

-Bright colours, basically.

-Very loud.

-But we can tone that down.

-Yes.

-What are you going to do to the place?

The main thing is going to be the kitchen.

The bathroom is not too bad

but there's some changes that we'll need to make.

Obviously the painting and decorating needs to be completely changed.

-The...

-I'm glad you said that.

All the floor coverings need to be replaced.

There are some fitted wardrobes that we'll pull out

and get it back to, you know, just the bare rooms.

We need to also look at the back and front doors.

We need to speak to the factor.

If we can change them the way we might change them.

And a couple of windows, we'll probably need to do the same thing

-with the...

-Just to explain, the factor,

not a term that's used in other parts of the country.

In Scotland, what does factor mean?

They basically look after the general areas.

So there are four buildings in this block

and then there's a lot of communal ground

so you pay a monthly fee to the factor and they take care of it,

they cut the grass, paint the fences and then

if there's any problems with, you know, slates on the roof,

then they come and apportion all the cost to everyone.

-Right, so it's like a management company?

-Yeah.

Basically to make sure that anything that has to be done gets done.

So somebody can't opt out of fixing the roof

-if the roof needs fixed then...

-Yeah.

-..it's for everyone's

benefit if someone takes charge.

And if you buy into property in this little sort of community,

you have to pay a certain amount of money per month.

-Yes.

-What is that a month?

-It's less than £50 a quarter.

-Oh, oh, wow.

-A quarter so it's very cheap.

-It's a nominal amount.

-So what's the budget for the work?

We think it'll be around £5,000 and we'll put an extra £1,000 by

-just in case we've got some windows or doors too.

-I'll rein him in.

I've made a list, I like to make lists

and I've got lots of lists and more lists and more lists.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

'She'll be keeping him in check them.

'So what kind of schedule will they be trying to stick to?'

'I would think about four weeks.'

-Maybe six at the outside.

-I say a couple of months.

-Double you're saying and you're saying half?

-Yeah.

-I think that's more realistic.

-I think...

Have you two talked about this project by the way?

-Hello, can I introduce Scott?

-I'll make the decisions.

-Oh, really?

-On this one.

-When I tell him to.

And then is the plan to sell it on or to rent it out?

No, we'll rent it out.

At the moment, if you're, it's sitting with money in the bank

you're getting virtually nothing back in interest.

Whereas with renting this out you'll get quite a few percentage

-points more than you will if it's sitting in the bank.

-Definitely.

-Good. Well, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

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

-Yeah.

-Nice to meet you both.

-Yeah, thank you, Martin.

-Good stuff, thank you.

Well, it's a good little property.

How will Scott get on crossing off all of the things on Lesley's list?

And will they do it on that £5,000 budget and fitting a new kitchen?

Hmm, seems tight to me. You can find out later in the show.

Well, there's been plenty of time for our buyers to have started work

-on their properties.

-Yes, how have they got on?

Have they managed to achieve what they hoped for?

Let's go back and find out.

Now back to Tottenham in north London where this three-bedroomed

semi sold at auction for 204,000.

It was in need of a lot of work to make it habitable

but new owners Graham and Ian who'd been friends

since school weren't going to stop there.

They had plans not just to build a single storey extension out

the back but a double.

Is that because obviously by being a builder you can

save on the labour costs?

Yeah, that also but also it's not

a lot of difference between a single storey and a double storey.

Let's face it, if you're going to put a single storey,

you've got to put a roof on it.

If you're going to go two storeys,

you only have to build up two more walls and put a roof on that.

So cost wise, it's not that much different.

So a builder who is happy to build walls including this rather

bowed one on the side of the house.

They gave themselves six months and 25 grand to spend on the renovation.

It was a much lengthier 18 months later on

when we came back to see what had happened.

# Anything can happen

# Anything can happen... #

Wow! What a change.

The whole place is light, bright and fresh with a neutral colour scheme.

New flooring throughout and every room has been redecorated.

The biggest change has been that new extension which has created

two extra bedrooms upstairs and a kitchen diner space downstairs.

Ian talks us through the changes.

What we tried to achieve was to create a good sized family area

where you've got a good sized family kitchen come dining room.

Keeping the kitchen in this horse shoe shape here meaning that

it's enclosed.

If you've got small children, you can gate off this area,

stopping them from getting into this area too easily.

We're happy with the kitchen design itself and the units

and what have you.

Coming into this dining area which is the real gem of this property,

this dining space here. You know, it can be anything.

It can be a dining room, it can be a family room, double sofas,

what have you.

We're very, very pleased with the way

this part of the property has come out.

Ian is right to be pleased.

This is an amazing transformation

but various issues including it taking ten months to get

planning permission has meant it's taken a much longer time than

originally planned.

As things developed, Ian and Graham had a difference of opinion

over the way the property should be renovated

and so Ian took charge of the works without Graham's input.

So what we decided was that we would,

I would continue with the project to the very end

and then once it's sold, we'll split the money, go our separate ways.

Tackling a big project like this can test friendships.

So does Ian have any advice on this?

Anybody thinking of doing it out there,

go for it because you really haven't got anything to lose.

But one thing I would say that you need to put in place is,

talk to your solicitor about a deed of trust.

The deed of trust,

what that does is they set out which partner's going to be doing what.

So it's going to be a 50/50 split on the work load and the money load.

That way, if things do start to go a bit pear shaped,

you've got something to go back on.

# Good advice

# Good advice... #

Although they've had their differences working together,

they didn't let it hinder the work

and it's not just the extension they've been busy on.

Upstairs, there's a fabulous en suite taking advantage

of the added space from that second storey of the extension.

Previously, the bathroom was very small, very badly laid out.

By getting the permission for the two storey extension meant that

we could make it into a good sized family bathroom,

it does justice to the house.

Ian has made a lovely job of the work here

and it wasn't just inside, there was that bowed gable wall to deal with

which admittedly, he hadn't been phased about.

No lender is going to borrow money on this property with that problem

so we had to take it down.

By using the bricks that we had we could rebuild it and

now when you look at the side of the house you wouldn't really be

able to tell that any work had been done here at all.

Ian reckons he's done about 90% of the work himself.

After all, he's been a builder for 35 years.

He had a 25 grand budget to play with so has he kept to that?

Costs can spiral so in the end I think we spent around 96,000,

something like this.

But...I think it's worth it, you know? Because you're not going

to achieve, there's no point cutting corners.

If you're going to cut corners, you're going to cut quality

and if you cut quality, what's the point of doing a project?

It's a massive overspend but remember they were unsure

whether it would be a one or two storey extension originally

when they gave us their budget.

'It's time now to find out if it's been worth the time and investment.

'The house was bought at auction for £204,000

'and they've spent 96 grand renovating and extending it.

'That's a total of £300,000.

'What did two property experts make of it?'

Think the lay out's great.

It gives it a wow factor as you actually enter the property you're

moving into that big family kitchen area that leads out to the garden.

Fabulous summer room.

Bedrooms are generous, en suite, quality.

I like the kitchen dining area because it's of a good size

and it overlooks the garden which is always a plus point.

I think extending the property was an absolute must.

It's created significantly more space.

It brings a lot more light into the back of the property

so I think, yeah, absolutely, the right decision.

Personally I think the lay out is of a unique standard

and I think definitely it will work for this kind of market.

On to values then. What do our experts think this could resell for?

Bearing in mind that it was bought at auction for £204,000.

Has that £96,000 spend on it,

bringing it in at a total of £300,000, been worth it?

I believe this property will resell at around about £420,000.

I would expect this property to sell for probably something in the

region of £425,000, escalating to possibly £450,000 on a very good day.

They're very good figures, you know, when you consider what we bought the

property for and the amount we've spent on the property so, yeah.

We'd been happy with that kind of...if we achieved that kind of

price then, we're happy with that.

I would hope they'd be happy with those figures given that they

intend to put this house on the market.

That top valuation would give them a possible profit of 150,000

minus any taxes and fees, of course.

So despite the trials and tribulations of this project,

that's not bad at all.

Is he prepared to do it again?

If I can achieve, let's say, one house,

possibly two houses for my retirement

so that I can then live on the income from the rental values

of them properties which is why I'm not interested

in renting this property.

I need to move on to build up the funds to continue as I am

and until I get to situation whereby I can look to retire

or slow down at least.

Back now to Bonnie Scotland

and Glasgow on the banks of the River Clyde.

'Scott works in the oil industry

'and wife Lesley works as a teacher with children with disabilities.'

They bought this two-bedroomed cottage flat for £37,000.

The couple were planning to spend four to six weeks

getting the flat ready for the rental market.

So what's the budget for the work?

We think it'll be around £5,000 and we'll put an extra £1,000 by

just in case we've got some windows or doors to look at.

I'll rein him in. I've made a list.

I like to make lists and I've got lots of lists and more lists

-and more lists.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

-What do your lists list?

My list lists everything. I have lists for my list.

I'm one of those people who lives life with lists.

So there's great satisfaction in ticking off jobs on a list

-when you've done them?

-Yes, there is.

-Wahey!

-Yes.

'Well, six weeks after our first visit, we're back to see

'if Lesley has ticked off everything on her list.

'Or maybe it's just Scott who's ticked off.'

# Well, yo, are y'all ready for me yet?

# Pump it up, Prince

# Well, yo, are y'all ready for me yet?

# Pump it up, Prince

# Well, yo, are y'all ready for me yet?

# Pump it up, Prince

# Well, here I go, here I go, here I go

# Boom, shake, shake, shake the room

# Boom, shake, shake, shake the room

# Boom, shake, shake, shake the room

# Tick, tick, tick, tick, boom!

# Boom, shake, shake, shake the room

# Boom, shake, shake, shake the room

# Boom, shake, shake, shake the room

# Tick, tick, tick, tick, boom! #

A tick in every box, I'd say.

With a smart new kitchen and a general freshen up throughout

the flat is looking shipshape.

But still, it hasn't been a totally straightforward renovation.

'We pulled out the kitchen

'and we then realised that we had a problem with the floor.'

Every time you were walking through there you were doing the bouncy.

So we had to lift the floorboards

and it turned out that the joists also had to be replaced.

With the bouncy joists replaced,

the new kitchen could go in and it's looking pretty good.

There was also extra work replastering

after lumps of plaster came off

stripping back layers of old wallpaper.

The windows were sealed shut with layers of old paint

and then there was the back garden to tackle.

It was like a jungle, you know, the weeds were this height, nightmare.

So I had to start off as you go through, pulling out all

the initial weeds then digging them out, then hoeing them out.

-Erm...

-Weedkiller.

-Weedkiller, that came next.

-Mmhm.

Then sand it all then Scott came out and passed comment that it

-looked like a sand pit...

-Mmhm.

..then walked back into the kitchen again.

-Then you cut down all the grass.

-Cut down all the grass...

-Strimmed the grass.

-..and then restrimmed it. I was a bit concerned

about what I might find buried in the back but we got there.

And then finally finished it, really pleased with myself.

Went out the back the next day when we arrived and there were

these clumps all over the back garden where I think pigeons

have come and started to dig up all my flowers so at that point I was

ready for weeping but sorted it again so no, I think it's worth it.

And I'm delighted to see that the purple wheelie bin

still has pride of place.

But how did they get on with all of Lesley's lists?

Every day I would write another one with a list of things to do

and what we were to buy and then some point during the day

we'd lose that one, have to write another one and so on so forth.

So I had pockets full of sticky notes.

-Scott was a bit more modern, he was doing it on his phone.

-Yeah.

But we still ended up, we would sit outside, you know,

various DIY shops saying, "What are we to get? What are we to get?

"Got a list somewhere." I was like...

-So...

-But we got there in the end.

-Yeah, we did get there in the end.

There's always something you forget, you know, even when we had the list.

-Yeah.

-We'd forget things.

-Or the sandwiches or the flask or something.

-Yeah.

-Nothing important.

'Well, with or without the help of those lists,

'Scott and Lesley have more or less kept to their schedule.

'But what about the budget?'

We have ended up around £6,700

and that was mainly caused by the floor in the kitchen,

having to take all that out and the joists but, all in all,

we're fairly happy with, you know, the total budget of £6,700.

A spend of 6,700 on top of their purchase price of 37,000

brings their total spend here to 43,700.

We asked along two local estate agents to get their thoughts

on the renovated lower cottage flat.

'I think the refurbishment of the property's

'been done to a high standard,'

fixtures and fittings are of a really good standard and that would

reflect through on the final rental price that would be achievable.

The decor is neutral throughout.

The carpets, flooring are to a lovely standard and I think,

you know, anyone coming in to see this place will be well impressed.

'And if Scott and Lesley were to think of selling the flat on,

'what do they think it might fetch?'

I would say in the current climate this house is worth

approximately £60,000.

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

'Those valuations would give a profit,

'before tax and expenses, of just over £16,000.

'But Scott and Lesley plan to rent the property out.'

'I would certainly be very, very confident of achieving'

a rental price of between £450 to £475 per calendar month.

I would expect to rent for around £475 per calendar month.

'Those rental valuations would give Scott and Lesley

'a very healthy yield, around the 12 or 13% mark.

'So what's next for these two? Another property auction?'

We're off on holiday next week for two weeks.

Get a bit of sunshine and then I'll probably go back to my day job.

Erm...

-but if something came up...

-We'll keep looking.

-Yeah.

I think we will go back to auctions again if we could get another

-bargain like that, I would certainly go back to...

-Yeah.

-..the auction.

-Yeah, worth a punt.

-Mmhm.

Well, that's it for today,

join us next time where we'll have more stories to inspire or warn you.

-Look forward to seeing you then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.