Episode 75 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the programme. Martin and I love property.

In fact, we're fascinated by it and even though we think

we know lots about it there are always new things to learn.

There are. But securing a really good deal is not always easy.

The best bargains, well, there's loads of competition.

One way you can stack things in your favour, though,

is by visiting your local property auction.

Property auctions can be full of fun but also full of drama.

Yes, you think you're just about to make the successful bid and then...

Ah! Somebody comes in at the last minute and outbids you.

But that's what it's all about.

Let's see what and where things were bought on today's show.

In Springburn, Glasgow, a beautiful flat but where's the kitchen?

That's situated there.

It's a no-no.

In Hounslow, a huge property with hidden problems.

This house is lovely!

Oh, dear!

And in Tipton, a good bungalow, a really low guide price

except, yep, you guessed it!

How bad could it be?

Ah. Right.

All these properties were bought at auction

and we'll find out who got them and how much they paid

when these homes went under the hammer.

Two, three...

This is Springburn, an area three miles from Glasgow city centre.

This area had a real industrial heyday when the St Rollox works,

established in the 1850s, had a quarter of the global trade

in steam train locomotive manufacture.

And there are still remnants of Springburn's glory days.

Built in 1900, the Winter Gardens behind me here

was a Victorian glasshouse which really symbolised

the last vestiges of industrial power.

And, also, philanthropic spirit

which existed in this part of Springburn and the good news is

it looks like they're saved.

That's thanks to a campaign by local people who have formed a trust

and who, with the council's help,

hope to redevelop this fantastic structure.

Well, just a stone's throw from the park

and the Winter Gardens is the property I'm here to see.

It's a flat in this pretty dramatic-looking building.

Beautiful local sandstone.

Guide price was £50,000 to £70,000 quid.

Let's take a look.

This two-storey block is a little unusual in that the normal

sandstone flat in Glasgow is a tenement with three or four floors.

Quite a traditional entrance with these stone stairs.

The close, as the shared entrance is called in Scotland,

looks well-maintained which is also another good point.

And don't you love those wrought iron banisters?

Love the height of these doors!

Absolutely amazing!

And it looks like the ones in the flat itself are like that, as well.

Not quite as high.

It's a plus point, it really gives a great first impression.

The only negative is trying to get new ones of these

is going to be an absolute...

Well, it's going to be a search.

HE CHUCKLES

So, yeah. Strip these ones back, they would look beautiful anyway.

But, basically, this big, large central area

off which all the rooms are situated.

Three bedrooms, good-sized one there with very high windows.

We like that. A massive bedroom there, that's good.

Bathroom, we'll come back to that in a second.

Huge room there. I guess that's your living room.

One, two, three and four... Yeah, that's your living room.

And, then, through here where it all starts to go a bit strange

cos you might have noticed the one thing I haven't mentioned so far

is a kitchen.

Now, that's because that's situated there.

When the rest of the house/flat is so beautifully proportioned.

I say house, you see, it's as big as a house, isn't it?

When the rest of the flat is

so beautifully proportioned, that kitchen just doesn't work.

And the fact that, I guess at the moment, it's situated

off this bedroom, it's a no-no.

Now, there have been plenty of dodgy en-suite bathrooms

on Homes Under The Hammer but I think this could be

our first en suite kitchen.

# Why did you do it?

# Why did you do that thing to me? #

At least there is lots of room to remedy the problem, including

several large cupboards that could be converted into a kitchen.

Or another option could be turning this bedroom

into a kitchen/dining/living space.

So, there's so much about this flat I love

and then the bathroom, which I've come back to, is just horrible!

It's thin, it's claustrophobic, it just doesn't work.

Now, these are not stud partition walls. It's all pretty solid.

So, playing around with the internal layout

is going to take a bit of effort.

You're also probably going to have to apply for

some kind of permission to do that.

But something's got to be done. Maybe, I don't know,

putting the bathroom in one of the bedrooms, making it an en suite.

Maybe moving that kitchen into one of the bedrooms,

jiggling things around. You need to sit down with a piece of paper

and maybe even make little models, play around with it

and see what's going to work because, in principle,

it's an amazing flat, it just needs that little something

to make it absolutely perfect.

# I've really got to use

# My imagination Yes, I am. #

Of course, moving kitchens and bathrooms about doesn't come cheap.

You'd have to make sure you don't spend more on the flat

than it's worth. But I think once solutions are found,

this could be a nice family home.

Especially since out the back there is a sizeable communal garden

which is clearly very well looked after.

For a guide price of £50,000 to £70,000 this property,

whilst it has its issues, ticks lots of boxes.

But what does a local property expert make of it?

There's two options.

You could either leave it a similar layout and create the back room

and make it into a dining/kitchen, a fabulous dining/kitchen.

So that would then give you

the accommodation of a lounge to the front, two bedrooms,

double bedrooms, fabulous big dining/kitchen and a bathroom.

Or you could do the second option,

to change the back room into a bedroom

and create an internal kitchen and maybe have an en suite to the rear.

Great ideas, but which would she recommend

and what could be the valuation?

Two-bedroom dining/kitchen would be the preferred.

I do believe that that would be the more saleable option

because that would be more desirable

and I would value that in the region of £100,000.

And how about rentals?

The two-bed dining/kitchen option, I think it would fetch

in the region of £550 to £595 per calendar month.

I see, typically, professional young people that work

in Glasgow city centre living in a property just like this.

Good one to go for.

Let's see what happened when it went under the hammer.

Guide on this is £50,000 to £70,000.

We've all seen it in the catalogue.

Who's here to bid on this? 60 to start, then. At £60,000.

55, then.

50? Need a bid, can't sell it I'll move on.

At 50,000, 50 here.

51, 52,

53, 54,

55, 56,

57, 58.

58 I'm bid.

59, 60.

At 60 I'm bid. One, two...

With you, sir, seated in the middle at £61,000.

Back in at 62. 63 may I see? And four, madam?

Shake of the head at four. With you, sir, at 63.

I'll take a half if it helps.

With you, sir, at 63.

First time, are you sure, you don't look it?

Second time at 63, are we done?

With you, then, sir, in the middle at £63,000, all-out.

GAVEL BANGS

Well done, sir.

Can I have your paddle number, please? 302.

After a hard-fought battle, the successful bid of £63,000

went to Tom and his wife, Leslie.

I met them back at this three,

or should that be two-bedroom flat to find out what they had planned.

-Leslie, Tom, good to meet you both.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Congratulations.

BOTH: Thank you.

Nice flat. Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

It's getting to the stage now of, basically, what we're looking for,

an investment for pensions and for the future.

And, obviously, this cropped up. So decided to take a chance.

Right, lots of properties crop up though, so why this one?

Been working away from home up until very recently

and now I'm basically back based in Glasgow I've started looking

-and this was the third one I actually looked at.

-Right.

-And the first one I actually went to bid for at auction.

-Great.

-And what did you like about it?

-Just very unusual, very big.

It's not a normal tenement building.

And I think it would make a really good home for someone.

And what are your thoughts?

I really like it. I like old tenement properties.

Obviously there's a lot of work to be done on it

-but I think there's a lot you can do with it.

-Right.

So, tell me about the possibilities.

Well, just now there's only a very small kitchen out the back

either through a bedroom or a dining room.

So it can either be made into a kitchen/diner, which would take away

a larger bedroom. So I'm thinking of either moving the kitchen

and putting it in, there's a big large cupboard in the hall

and there's another cupboard in the room, knock through the wall,

-make that a kitchen.

-Wow. From two cupboards?

-Yes.

If I can get permission to get the window out onto the gable end.

If not, I'd maybe look at putting a skylight in.

Or the other alternative

is use the small third bedroom as a kitchen...

which should then leave you with two large bedrooms

and make it into two bathrooms.

So, what have you bought it for?

Have you bought it to rent out, sell on, what's the plan?

-I don't think we've decided yet, have we?

-No. Probably rental.

-Do you know what you might achieve?

-No.

# And soon you will find that there comes a time

# For making your mind up! #

OK, so Tom and Leslie have preliminary plans

for the restructuring but these two renovation novices

seem pretty unsure about whether to rent or sell.

They'll need to put in some research to figure that one out.

Hopefully, they'll be a little more definite about the budget.

The budget, I reckon, will be between maybe 13 to 15,000.

So, what's the timescale for the work?

Obviously we've got other work commitments and suchlike,

-but I would hope to do it within three to four months, maximum.

-OK.

-So, who's going to do the work?

-Myself.

-Really?

-Are you qualified in things or are you handy?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, I'm an electrician.

-Oh, useful.

Yeah, I like to do a bit of dabbling and joiner work and suchlike.

I've got other members of family, and suchlike,

and my wife's a very good painter.

-And since these are very big rooms there's a lot of painting.

-Wow.

Is that right, you're going to be...?

-Yeah, I'll be doing a lot of painting.

-Right.

And in terms of future projects, is this number one of many, or?

I don't know, we'll see how we get on with this one. And...

Maybe.

Listen, congratulations. Good luck with it.

-Look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you very much.

So, a few decisions yet to be taken by Tom and Leslie.

And it's all going to come down to what

they plan to do with the property in the end

and whether there is demand for whatever that decision is.

You can find out what happens later it in the show.

Hounslow in west London is often seen as a cheaper alternative

to its wealthy neighbours like Twickenham and Richmond.

But it's also the home town of pop royalty, Phil Collins.

And with property prices on the way up here, will today's lot

be another day in paradise?

Will we find great property against all odds?

Let's take a look at me now!

When a property is described as substantial,

it's fairly safe to say you're going to have something pretty sizeable

on your hands and this rather attractive semi

certainly stands out. I mean look!

That is an attractive house. It's got stained glass, little portico.

Now the guide price was £440,000 and it's three floors.

They're currently arranged as two flats. Will it be two for one

or double the trouble? I'm going to head in and find out.

Stepping into this hallway, I am delighted to say, so far so good

and I've only got in the front door.

But it really is quite lovely. I mean look at the stained glass,

as I said. And there's character here because you've got these

wonderful corbels. It starts off in this flat, goes through

the ugly partition wall into the upper floor flat, the other side.

And standing here, it's quite magnificent to see all of it.

Really lovely ceiling. Bedroom down here, which is a great space.

Nice doors in there. Really beautiful. It just feels light

and airy, this property. Another bedroom here.

Into a really spacious lounge. Not keen on these doors. Flat.

Look, there's no panelling, no detailing. Really ugly.

And talking of doors, look, you only need to look over here.

Let's get rid of this ugly, corrugated...

-SHE GRUNTS

-..plastic!

Look at that!

I mean, there's a whole set of them. Look, there and here. Wow.

I'm not so sure about the conservatory out there,

that could do with coming down and being replaced.

You've got high ceilings, cornicing.

Sadly, there's no ceiling rose, but there's a lot going on.

My imagination's going a bit wild with this place.

I really like it.

# That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh

# I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh... #

Oh, yes, and what's not like?

Fantastic original features which, as you know, I love,

beautifully detailed doors and plenty of space as well.

From the lounge, you'll find a good-sized kitchen

where the appliances might need updating, but the units...

Well, they definitely do.

And off the kitchen is a bathroom which will need upgrading as well.

But everything is in the right place for renovation.

The upstairs flat is across two floors.

There's a handy box room

and two fairly good size bedrooms with hand basins.

But there's also a decent bathroom and the lounge...

Well, it's pretty spacious, too.

This house is lovely.

The proportions up here are fantastic.

What an amazing kitchen-diner.

I could really imagine myself eating in here.

You've got character, lovely fireplace, cornicing.

What's this? Little cupboard...

Oh, dear!

That is a crack that goes all the way up there

and all the way along there.

That's something that whoever takes this property on

needs to get checked out. They'd need to have a survey.

Yeah, leaving that aside for the moment,

there's one more flight of stairs and two more bedrooms.

Again, there's some charming features.

This upper flat is simply huge.

And it seems like a lot of property for that guide price of 440,000.

But will the outside be as good?

Outside, bit disappointing, isn't it? Because this is the back garden.

It's disappointing because, in the past, some of this garden

was actually sold off by a previous owner for a development.

Now, I've said it before and I will say it again,

any outside space is a bonus in London, but what's not a bonus?

Airplane noise!

# Next plane to London Leaving on runway number five... #

Being right in the flight path can really put some buyers off,

but thankfully, the path does change during the day,

giving you some much needed peace.

But cleared for landing now is a local estate agent.

What would he do with the property to get the best value out of it?

I would try to keep the two flats on the ground floor

and the first floor and try to introduce a third flat in the loft.

If I was to create a flat on the second floor,

I would try to get a planning permission for a two-bedroom flat

with a dormer extension.

Otherwise, we would like to keep it as a one-bedroom flat.

The agent thinks there is potential for three flats.

Now, what kind of sales figures could they achieved?

Once this property has been refurbished,

I would value it somewhere between £280,000 to £300,000

for the ground floor two-bedroom flat

and the first floor two-bedroom flat.

And depending on the conversion upstairs,

if it was a one-bedroom flat,

I would value it somewhere between £180,000 and £200,000

and a two-bedroom flat approximately £250,000.

At those top valuations,

you could be looking at £800,000 worth of property.

But Hounslow is also a strong rental area

and the agent believes that, for all three flats,

you could achieve a top rental of £3,850 per calendar month.

Yes, there is work to be done here, but it's a big property

in a popular rental spot and, well, I think you'd be off your trolley

not to like this one...if you've got your earplugs with you, of course.

Did this property take off in the auction room? Time to find out.

A substantial building, this.

Details as you see them in your catalogues.

What shall we say for it?

It's got to be about 450 to start, I'm sure.

I am, thank you, 450 is here.

455, somebody?

455. 460. 465. 470?

470, 475, 480?

480, 485, 490?

495, 495, then with you on my right.

500 anywhere else?

500, he was stood first.

Bidding was locked between three potential buyers

who could not be separated.

We rejoin the bidding at £550,000.

£550,000 is here.

555, if you're quick.

Otherwise selling here at 550.

For the first.

550 for the second.

Third, final time - 555.

560. 565?

560, once, twice, third and final - 565.

570? 575.

570,000, once, twice.

Third... 575.

580? 580. 585?

580 here once, twice, third, final time.

Thank you. Now it is yours at £580,000. Well done.

Wait a minute. I know that face!

It's Daniel, who we last saw buying and renovating

a dangerously derelict property in West Ham.

And he had a little help from his friends.

# Rover, Rover, let me in

# You're my best friend. #

No pooches in sight today.

But Daniel might have something to get his teeth into here,

having paid £580,000 at auction.

-Daniel, it's wonderful to see you again.

-Nice to see you again, Lucy.

Was it three years ago I saw you?

It was three years ago that we did this same process

with a property I had an West Ham.

Since we last saw you, I've bought five properties

and what I've started doing is buy them in this area.

I'm from Hounslow, I live in Osterley and so it's better buying here,

keeping an eye on the properties.

Wow. Let's talk about the house

and let's talk about what you're going to do with this property.

The ground floor, we are going to put into a three-bedroom.

I'm going to put an extension out to the rear of the property.

OK, so you want an extra bedroom and an extension down here.

-And an extension.

-So let's go up to the next level,

which is currently a rather spacious one-bedroom flat.

On that one-bedroom, we hope to do interior movements to it

and we're going to put it into a two-bedroom apartment.

A separate apartment from the first floor.

To really shake it up, it's the interior, lovely bathroom.

I saw the possibility that we could look at the very top floor

and the potential is to put in a dormer to the rear of the property.

We would hope to put in planning for a two-bedroom lovely property

up there, lovely kitchen, looking out onto the...

lovely Hounslow, I suppose.

-So it's all looking lovely.

-It's all looking lovely.

We hope all that goes through.

# You are my lovely one... #

So three flats in Daniel's plans and if planning doesn't get in the way,

he thinks it will take six months and his budget is 100,000,

with a handy £20,000 contingency to top up.

So you are going big, big, big.

More space, more bedrooms, bigger, better, bigger, better.

After the impression you put on me after our last talk,

-that's the way to go.

-Don't go blaming me for that!

It's such a lovely house. You don't want to destroy it.

I want to give it character, a nice three-bedroom,

bring up the whole standard, new kitchens and so on.

I mean, you say give it character.

The one thing I do love about this property is, of course,

the beautiful sash windows. I love those back doors you've got.

But be really honest with me, come on.

Are you going to be keeping things like that?

What I want to do is put into this property.

It's not necessarily on saving money, it's putting character.

And I think we're pretty close to Richmond today,

hopefully we'll get a bit of Richmond factor over to Hounslow.

Daniel... Daniel, I love your positivity.

You're bringing the Richmond factor to Hounslow.

I'm thinking you're bringing the airplane factor to Hounslow,

because all I could hear for the first half-hour were

the airplanes landing almost here.

I've been living here for so many years and I don't notice them at all,

except I did have my mother over recently from Dublin

and she was up in the top room and about six o'clock in the morning,

she woke up screaming. She thought the plane was going to land.

Other than that, I never knew, never notice it myself.

What I love up there is that amazing kitchen-diner.

You've got a wonderful space up there.

But what I don't love is that humongous crack

that's in the corner of the room.

It literally looks like the wall is coming away.

What can you tell me about that?

At one stage, you might have had a little bit of movement.

Got the survey, looked at it myself, it's structurally...

there's no problem on it. It was just the far corner.

So it does have history of subsidence?

It does have a history of a slight bit of movement.

Subsidence!

-Slight bit of movement!

-Movement is subsidence!

-Yeah.

You said movement... You say to-MAH-to, I say to-MAY-to.

I say subsidence, you said movement! Put it there.

Listen, Daniel, it's been so brilliant meeting you.

I'm sure our paths will definitely cross.

Maybe in a few more years, who knows? But keep on buying.

I'll be really looking forward to coming back to seeing it.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

It's always lovely for me to see

old familiar faces who have been on the show before.

And Daniel has got lots of exciting plans for this place,

but I've got a sinking feeling the "movement",

as Daniel likes to call it, could be more than he bargained for.

Join me later on in the programme to see

if he does bring the Richmond factor to Hounslow.

Coming up, a bungalow with dizzying decor in Tipton.

Whoa!

-ECHOING:

-Whoo-hoo-hoo!

But in Hounslow,

has Daniel's quality of finish finished off his budget?

For the product to finish, you always find an extra bit of money.

We return to Glasgow now and to the north of the city

in the former industrial area of Springburn.

The property I was here to see was this beautiful sandstone flat.

Inside, huge rooms, high ceilings and delightful doors.

What could go wrong?

You might have noticed the one thing I haven't mentioned so far

is a kitchen.

That's because that's situated...there.

When the rest of the flat is so beautifully proportioned,

that just doesn't work. And the fact that I guess at the moment

it's situated off this bedroom...

it's a no, no.

# No, no, no, no, baby No, no, no, no, you gotta try... #

No, no-one wants a bedroom off the kitchen...

Or was it meant to be a dining room?

Well, the flat was described as a three-bedroom,

one of which was a good-sized double.

And one a rather narrow single.

So would it be better as a two-bed

and just forget about the en-suite kitchen?

One to mull over.

But while the kitchen configuration was bad,

there was worse to come.

The bathroom is just horrible.

It's thin, it's claustrophobic, it just doesn't work.

But something's got to be done.

Maybe putting the bathroom in one of the bedrooms, making it an en suite.

Maybe moving that kitchen into one of the bedrooms,

jiggling things around.

In principle, it's an amazing flat.

It just needs that little something to make it absolutely perfect.

And to make it a perfect pad were property apprentices

Leslie and Tom, who paid £63,000 at auction.

With a budget of £13,000 to £15,000

and a timescale of three to four months,

the couple weren't sure if they'd rent or sell the flat,

but they were sure that they could do all the work themselves.

-Are you qualified in things, or are you handy?

-I'm an electrician.

Oh, useful.

And, yeah, I like to do a bit of dabbling in joiner work and suchlike.

I've got other members of family in suchlike

and my wife's a very good painter.

And since these are very big rooms, there's a lot of painting.

So when we returned six months later,

had they turned a top floor flat into a top property?

I am really impressed with the changes to this flat.

And even though there are still some final touches to be added,

the transformation is terrific.

Unfortunately, Leslie couldn't come along to tell us

about this first project of theirs,

but how did Tom feel about it and what's been happening?

Glad to be nearly at the finish line.

We basically changed the layout.

The kitchen moved so it was in the small extension.

At the back, we decided to make that into an en suite

and make the dining room into a double bedroom.

The bedroom, dining room, whatever it was supposed to be

that had the kitchen off of it, did not work at all,

but it really does work as a good-sized double en-suite bedroom.

Also an en suite gives you some flexibility

if you're renting to sharers.

And the large pink double bedroom?

Well, it's still a good-sized double bedroom. It's just not pink.

And what about the narrow third bedroom?

Single bedroom we made into the kitchen.

We altered the bathroom slightly, just to make it a bit more spacious.

The space works much better as a galley kitchen.

Maybe even a little table could be fitted in there.

Anyway, it feels bright and modern,

while the narrow, claustrophobic bathroom

that I hated is now much better.

With a reconfiguration, it now feels spacious and very user-friendly.

The front living room, with this large bay window,

is just the cherry on the cake in this fantastic flat.

And they've done fantastically well with the budget, too,

coming in at just over £12,000.

Taking six months to complete due to other work commitments,

did Tom manage to spend a lot of his working time here?

We did do all of the work ourselves, apart from the plastering,

just between family and friends.

Pulled in a lot of favours.

Have the couple made up their minds if they'll rent or sell?

Obviously, because of the finish in the property,

I could be persuaded to move into it myself.

Before you start moving all your things in, Tom,

let's ask two local estate agents what they think of the flat,

starting with the agent who saw it the first time we visited.

Fab. What a difference. A real turnaround in the last few weeks.

I really like the idea of the en suite to the master bedroom,

cos that's not the norm for your traditional build, so a great idea.

That'll do them well.

First impressions of the property, very nice.

It's nice, bright, the rooms are big.

It's been configured very well.

Certainly a property I'd love to show my clients around.

Bought for £63,000 at the auction,

and costing £12,000 in renovation,

Tom and Leslie's total spend here is £75,000.

Time to find out which will be more profitable, renting or selling.

If this property was to go onto the market,

I reckon it would sell for £100,000.

If it was to be rented out,

I reckon they'd be looking to achieve £595 per calendar month.

This property would sell for in the region of £105,000,

or rental market, £650 per calendar month.

Taking the top retail estimate of £105,000,

Tom and Leslie could make a pre-tax profit of £30,000.

But a top rental of £650 per calendar month would give them

a healthy yield of 10.4%. Not bad.

So what does Tom make of the valuations?

It's roughly around about what I'd imagined.

I know there's a ceiling on these properties, so, yeah, seems OK.

I think he's slightly understating that. Better than OK, I'd say.

-Any other advice for newbies?

-Go for it.

Just go in with your eyes wide open and do as best as you can.

After watching the programme for years,

decided to move on to having wee go at it.

And we've done it.

Now, from a Scottish town that was at the hub

of the steam engine industry to one in the Midlands.

Situated between Birmingham and Wolverhampton,

Tipton was home to the world's first successful steam pumping engine.

The town is also home to one of the Black Country's

most striking buildings,

funded by Victorian philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

The aptly named Carnegie Centre was the town's first library

and opened in 1906.

# How do I get to Carnegie Hall?

# How do I get to Carnegie Hall?

So, how do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Well, I think it's three miles, sort of, that way.

As opposed to the property I'm here to see,

which is about 20 yards that way.

It's a two-bedroom bungalow, guide price £39,000 to £44,000.

It sounds all right. Let's take a look.

Well, the front garden may need a little tidying up,

but there is, by the look of it, relatively new double glazing.

And a rare beast such as a bungalow,

for what was a guide price of £39,000 to £44,000.

# Too good to be true

# Too good to be true... #

I'm still thinking about that guide price.

Really, really low.

So, how bad can it be?

It looks all right. Well, dated, but...

Ah.

-Right.

-HE CHUCKLES

That's not good.

I'm treading very gingerly here,

but this floor looks like it wouldn't take a lot to actually...

Oh, my!

..fall through. That is bad. Oh, wow, look at that!

See those holes? That's wood worm.

Those little devils have been munching away merrily here,

haven't they? Look at that!

Wow. The floorboards have gone, the joists have gone...

I'm going to have to tread very carefully. How far have they spread?

It also feels really damp. Damp, wood worm...

This is a textbook of disaster, isn't it?

Now, OK. OK, so you've got a front bedroom there...

A living room there. More holes in the floor.

Those little blighters have been chomping their way

through the entire house. Kitchen...

OK, that's there.

HE LAUGHS

Bathroom.

I think that's pretty serviceable, I quite like that(!)

Yes, toilet. Mm-mmm, lovely(!)

And then through to... I guess this is your second bedroom.

Whoa!

-ECHOING:

-Whoo-hoo-hoo!

Love the wallpaper(!)

That is definitely psychedelic.

Looks like relatively new radiators.

Really bad plumbing. But apart from that...

I was going to say, "Apart from that, there's nothing else wrong."

Apart from the crack.

Let's just have a quick review.

Really bad wood worm.

Rotted it all the floorboards and the joists.

Damp. Large crack...

I get the guide price now.

# Now I get it

# Just switched on the light

# What I saw made me turn around in fright. #

Yep, this is a strip it all out

and start again job.

There's nothing worth keeping other than the walls and the windows,

and even the relatively new radiators will need checking out,

as will those cracks and damp.

I'd definitely want a full structural survey here

and then you might get a better understanding

of what you're taking on.

So, out of the door at the side of the property

and through this little lean-to,

which needs to be taken down before it falls down,

and you come to the back garden.

And what a pleasant surprise this is.

Now, it's terribly overgrown,

-but somewhere...

-HE CHUCKLES

..underneath here

is the makings of a really nice sized plot.

Garden here, bit of grass,

vegetables at the bottom,

it's lovely.

Actually, a real surprise and a huge bonus.

# Hallelujah!

# Hallelujah!

# Hallelujah, hallelujah

# Hallelujah! #

Phew! At last, something positive to shout about.

And, you know, despite the large amount of internal work,

this is a well situated bungalow on a good plot.

And those factors alone make this interesting.

So, what can an agent from the auctioneers who sold it

tell us about this property?

The bungalow's situated in a mainly residential area.

It's got good communication routes,

M5 and M6 are within close proximity,

and it's got excellent bus routes to Wolverhampton,

West Bromwich and other little local towns in the area.

Nothing wrong with its position

but clearly there's plenty wrong with the bungalow.

So, what kind of outlay might we be looking at to make it

right for the local market?

To get the property back up to standard,

I think it would depend really

on who was intending to buy it and do it up.

I think if you were going to employ somebody to do it for you,

then you're probably going to spend something in the region of

£15,000, £16,000.

If you were a small builder who bought it as a development project,

then probably £9,000 or £10,000.

OK, so as one would expect,

a reasonable amount needs to be spent here.

But this property was guided at £39,000 to £44,000,

so could it still be a good investment

on the rental or resale market?

Depending on how they finish it off,

I mean, if it's finished off to a reasonable standard,

then I would imagine that on the open market

the property would realise something in the region of

£90,000 to £100,000.

If after they've finished modernising the property

they decide to rent the property out,

then I would imagine a rental in the region of

£450 to £500 per calendar month, would be appropriate.

Well, on the face of it, it is a very attractive guide price

but when you step inside and see the amount of work that needs

to be done, well, that definitely needs to be factored in.

Is it still a good buy? You need to do your numbers.

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

Lot 22, our next lot,

is two bedroomed,

freehold

bungalow.

Where are we going to start? 50,000, am I bid?

At 50. What a buy this will be, sir, and thank you.

At 50,000, I have that on my right.

Is it 60 now? Is that 60, sir?

You're 55, sir. Are you 60 at the back, sir?

Thank you, at 60.

Do you want 65 on the aisle?

No? New bid at 65, thank you.

Is it 70 now?

At 65,000, do I have 70 anywhere?

66. Tell him if it's ones on the phone, it's got to be quick.

66, is it 67?

67, 68?

I'm going to sell.

68, 69, sir?

70, is it?

Selling at 69.

70, 71?

71, is it 72?

No. Could be the killer blow then.

Let me see your number.

Number 495 on sale

at 71,000,

one, two,

three. You've done it, sir.

The last bid and your only bid has done it.

£71,000.

And so with that single bid of £71,000,

the two bed Tipton bungalow was bought by Muhammed.

Muhammed works as a machine operator

and this is going to be a joint project with his cousin Assad.

I met them both back at the property to find out more.

-Assad, Muhammed, nice to meet you both.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, too.

-Congratulations.

-Thanks.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this bungalow.

Basically, it's for investment.

It's a nice location, large garden as well.

And how does it work between the two of you?

He's a plumber,

he knows how building works...

-Handyman, you can say.

-Right, good.

So, your job is going to be sorting this place out?

-My job, yes.

-So, did you see it before you bought it?

-Yes.

Yeah, and what did you think?

Actually it will need everything new,

new plaster, new floors,

rewiring, new kitchen,

new bathroom, new doors, like everything.

You will see much difference when you come back after a couple of weeks.

Good. A couple of weeks?!

-Yeah.

-Six to eight weeks...

Six to eight weeks, OK.

And how much will the work cost, do you think?

-About...

-Over 10,000.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Is that with you doing a lot of the work yourself?

-Then we can save some labour money.

-Yeah.

-You know.

Well, you have to admire their confidence

but this is as comprehensive an internal refurbishment

as you're likely to get.

I hope they haven't bitten off more than they can chew.

The idea is then to sell it on or to rent it out?

What will make you decide?

-He's going to make decisions.

-Is he? OK.

We'll try to sell first.

If we can't sell in two months,

then we'll try to rent it out.

And is this the sort of thing you do a lot?

Have you done this kind of thing before?

-This is first experience...

-First experience? Wow.

But you've got experience in...

I've been working the last 12 years, you know, building work.

But in property, own property,

-the first experience.

-Right.

-I bought up my commercial shop as well, with three-bedroom flat.

-OK.

It was repossessed and he done everything inside.

-Did he do a good job?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-Thanks.

Good luck with it and we look forward to seeing how you get on.

Well, Muhammed and Assad don't seem too fazed by the challenge ahead.

£10,000 budget though,

if you were getting somebody in to do the work,

I don't think you could do it for that,

but as they are doing a lot of the work themselves,

fingers crossed they'll do it on time

and, of course, within that budget.

You can find out how it all turns out later in the show.

Well, we've checked out one property,

what about the other two, Lucy?

I'm sure there'll have been some unexpected surprises, Martin.

Let's find out.

# London, quieten down

# I need to make a sound. #

Back to Hounslow now in south-west London.

Musicians Phil Collins and MIA cal this home,

but the regular soundtrack is aeroplanes,

as it's right on the flight path of Heathrow.

Earlier, I was reaching for the sky myself in this three-storey,

two flat property.

Guided at 440,000,

it was full of character and features.

Look at that, I mean, that... There's a whole set of them.

Look, there and here.

You've got high ceilings, cornicing,

my imagination's going a bit wild with this place.

I really like it.

And the person who also liked it enough to buy was Daniel.

We were old friends as he'd been on the show before.

Daniel, it's wonderful to see you again.

Nice to see you again, Lucy.

Was it three years ago I saw you?

It was three years ago that we did this.

What I've started doing is buy them in this area.

-I'm buying here, keeping an eye on the properties.

-Wow.

Daniel paid £580,000 at auction

and planned to use his property know-how

to turn this from two flats to three flats,

one three-bed

and then two two-beds on the first and second floor.

So, nine months later,

has everything gone to plan?

Well, I think this is a wonderful transformation

and the only compromise Daniel has had to make with the planning

is the ground-floor flat is a two-bedroom flat

and not a three, as he'd hoped.

But despite that, he's created three lovely flats

and there is so much to see here.

So I'm glad Daniel has come along to talk us through it.

This is flat number one.

We went and we extended the bedroom here and made a larger bedroom.

And the kitchen here, we put new fittings

and new windows in the kitchen.

The bathroom, as you see, it's all new fittings here.

And this was an extension to the house.

I went and got new windows, lovely tiles, and it's a lovely

breakfast area for the people in the flat,

going straight out to the garden.

I'm very pleased with the end, in here.

We went and we found these tiles. You can see, they look like originals.

We got it here, and we put it into the hallway as well.

I am disappointed those beautiful sash doors have gone,

but that was due to the cost of fixing or replacing them.

Daniel has followed through on his promise to add character with

these tiles. The first-floor flat has a lovely, open-plan living area.

The original two bedrooms have been spruced up,

while there is a glamorous-looking bathroom in this flat as well.

And the cracks in the wall were, thankfully,

not a sign of anything too sinister

and were expertly dealt with by Daniel's building team.

So, one more flat to go.

This is the top-floor apartment.

As you can see, we have built this large dormer into the roof.

We have succeeded in making a lovely two-bedroom apartment,

and this is the living-kitchen area, of the two-bedroom.

As you can see, it's a lovely finish.

By extending and adding the dormer, I think

he will have added real value.

But, in doing so, did he overshoot his budget,

which was 100,000?

And let's not forget, he had a £20,000 contingency.

We went into that contingency.

It was 110,000 and 20,000 of costs, interest, solicitors' costs.

We went and extended out into the roof.

That probably took the extra bit of time and it took my extra funds,

so I don't feel it's, for the product, the finish,

you always find an extra bit of money.

Daniel went over budget, spending 130,000,

and he went over his timescale by three months.

He wants to sell all three flats, and the only way to know

if he will make a profit is by asking two local estate agents.

But first, let's find out which one of the three flats is

best in the experts' opinion.

The prime flat would be the one with the garden.

It's always going to be the premium one, because

if you've got friends, family around, you can have barbecues.

The disadvantage that the first floor and the second floor have

is that they haven't got access to the garden.

Luxury living throughout.

I mean, the chap that's finished these properties has done it

to a really good standard throughout the whole property.

130,000 to renovate, 580 grand at auction,

that makes Daniel's total spend £710,000.

So, what is each flat worth? Will he make a profit?

The ground floor flat comes as a premium,

because it has a garden, etc, and slightly larger living

accommodation, so you'd be looking at a premium price of £360,000.

The first and second floor flats, they are about the same sort of size

and level, so I would say you're looking at around £350,000.

I would value the flats at £360,000.

The first and second floor flats I would value at £350,000.

Well, that doesn't happen very often. The agents both agree

on the figures!

So, a total value for all three flats of £1.06 million.

Daniel's pre-tax profit could be £350,000.

Oh, my gosh! I'm shocked at that. It's way above...

If I got those sort of offers, I would take it, straight away.

A potentially poochy, oh, I mean peachy result for dog-mad Daniel.

He has recently had some additions to his household.

# And they call it puppy love... #

Since I last met you, I had a lovely Bichon, and they had two pups.

I hope you don't mind, but one of them is called Lucy, after yourself!

Lovely character, bossy, tells the other dogs what to do.

I'm not saying it's anything associated, but...

Lovely, as you, you see.

Oh, you absolute flatterer, you!

But of course, my bark is worse than my bite. Ruff!

Back to Tipton now, where I went to see a two-bed bungalow

guided at an astonishingly low £39,000 to £44,000.

The outside looked a little tatty, but I thought...

How bad can it be?

Well, apparently, THAT bad.

Those holes, that's woodworm.

Those little devils have been munching away merrily here,

haven't they? Look at that.

Damp, woodworm, this is a textbook disaster, isn't it?

HE LAUGHS

And it didn't stop there because, in addition to the woodworm,

there was no toilet.

A kitchen about which, well, the less said the better,

and some very interesting wallpaper.

But at least the psychedelic pattern hid the cracks in the wall.

Stepping up to the challenge, though, were cousins Muhammed

and Assad, who paid £71,000 for it.

Assad is a builder, thank goodness, because this is no job for novices.

But this was to be the cousins' first project together.

And what a doozy!

# Yeah, yeah

# Do you remember the first time?

# I can't remember a worse time... #

Actually needing everything new.

New plaster, new floors, rewiring, new kitchen, new bathroom, new doors.

Like, everything.

You will see much difference when you come back after a couple of weeks.

-Good! A couple of weeks?

-Six to eight weeks.

-Six to eight weeks, OK.

Three months later, we've returned to see

if this bungalow has been brought back from the brink.

What a transformation!

I especially like the most welcome feature -

flooring you can actually stand on without falling through.

Muhammed and Assad certainly had challenges with this first

project together. The woodworm being the most worrying.

So, how did they get on?

The floor was quite damaged, you know.

It took time to replace all of it.

We changed the joists, floorboards, skirting board.

But there was even more work to be done.

We put in new electrics throughout,

and central heating, new floors, new doors, a new kitchen, new bathroom.

Outside we are completing the back garden.

We created a new room in the loft.

It was a lot of work.

Flooring the loft creates valuable storage space

which, in a bungalow especially, makes a lot of sense,

since you're often slightly tight on storage.

And I'm willing to venture it will add a bit of value, too.

As we all know on Homes Under The Hammer,

bathrooms and kitchens are really important in the property market

and generally, what you spend on those,

you'll get back in returns on your investment.

And Muhammed and Assad have done a great job on both these rooms.

Yeah, basically, there was a bath here. We moved the bath, yeah?

There was the window on that side.

We moved the window this side and put the shower on that side.

There was toilet here,

so we moved toilet from this side to that side and we put the sink here.

The sink was here, it was so tight, this side.

We put new tiles as well, and basically it looks more special

and nice now, it has more room now.

And new radiator as well.

All this took three months,

a bit over their original six to eight week timescale.

Have they similarly gone over their budget?

Our original budget was 10,000.

It's nearly 15,000 now, it's just for material.

We didn't include the labour.

We are over 5,000, but we are happy with it.

We have done a great job, you know? Everything's new now.

So that's, like, it's a little more.

It's time for two local estate agents to have a look

and tell us what they think of this investment project.

Will this first joint venture be a profitable one?

First, the agent from the auction house who sold it,

and he remembers it well.

Having seen it before they bought it, to what it's like now,

I think they've done exceptionally well.

They've turned it into a residence that would be fit for anybody.

From the perspective of selling it, the benefits, primarily,

are that it would suit elderly people as well as first-time purchasers,

so you've got a bigger marketplace to aim at.

These properties do lack little bit of storage,

so doing the attic and putting a proper ladder in also helps.

They intend to sell the property on, so what do the agents think

the cousins' £86,000 investment could make for them?

Bearing in mind the agent who visited first time thought

a refurbished two-bed bungalow would make £90,000 to £100,000?

So, have they managed to beat this figure?

I think, on the open market, this property is worth £125,000.

On the open market, I would expect the property to achieve

something in the region of £120,000 to £125,000.

I think the change in price is that they have made a good job of it.

When I first came round, it really wasn't very good at all.

But they've done a really nice job.

Muhammed and Assad's hard work has paid off

and that top valuation of 125,000 could mean their hard work has

paid off to the tune of a pre-tax profit of £39,000.

That's good!

That's a good feeling.

That's over 10,000 we are looking. Got to change that price!

As first projects go, I would say this has been a very successful one

for the guys, but most importantly, have they enjoyed it?

It has been, yeah. Having fun, the full day, having tea, you know?

It's been a lot of fun, yeah. I like this. It's been a pleasure.

Well, that's it for today's show, but we'll have more bungalows,

houses, semis, whatever for you next time,

here on Homes Under The Hammer.

-We'll look forward to seeing you, then.

-Goodbye for now.

-Goodbye.