Episode 21 Homes Under the Hammer

Welcome to the programme.

Whether you are a long-term investor or a first timer, bagging

a property at an auction, well, it can pay off as a great investment.

Yes, but it's not easy money.

There are pitfalls and you need to go in with your eyes open.

So how do you prepare for the best and the worst?

Well, we might just be able to help you there.

One thing I love to find out is exactly why people decided to

buy at auction.

Yeah, that's right, Lucy, and who bought today's auction lots?

Yeah, let's find out.

It's daughter and dad's day today on Homes Under The Hammer.

And this dad is raring to go.

Buy yourself an apartment, get in there and get it done.

Another daughter in East Ham, London, gets a hand from Dad filling

skips at her three-bed mid-terrace.

All the rubbish I cleared myself.

At this two-bedroom flat in Bournemouth, Dorset,

it's time to call in the help of, you guessed it, Dad.

That's what we are here for, at the end of the day.

All of these properties have been sold at auction.

We will find out who bought them and what they paid for them

when they went under the hammer.

Your bid...

In 1807, the village of Mow Cop saw the birth of a new religious

movement called Primitive Methodists.

They may not be very well known today,

but what they started here went on to play an important role in the

early trade union movements as well as the creation of the Labour Party.

In fact, Mow Cop, which straddles the Cheshire-Staffordshire

border, is a town steeped in history,

and not just popular with tourists,

because it is a short commute to either Stoke-on-Trent or Manchester.

Located in this lovely old mill is the property that was

up for auction.

Now, it's described as a two-bed duplex apartment with a

guide price of £45,000.

So all very straightforward.

But hold on, what actually is a duplex?

Well, it can be a little confusing as it can be used in different ways.

So I think I'll just need to see what it's like when I get inside.

But I am thinking it's on two floors.

From the outside, the building is full of character.

The conversion into multiple apartments is sympathetic

to a past life as a mill.

Inside, and the communal hallways are well-kept, which is

another really good sign for the duplex itself.

Seeing how this property is laid out is what I'm most interested in.

At this precise moment.

Well, you walk into the hallway

and I can see two really good-sized bedrooms.

So it's a bit upside down, topsy-turvy.

You've got a bathroom through here.

The stairs are obviously going upstairs to the sitting area.

So this is duplex living. It's quite interesting, actually.

Because I'm gathering they've done it because of the views.

But it's like a little self-contained house almost.

So this is one of the bedrooms.

And what really gets you as you walk in here is a pungent smell of damp.

And you only need to look up to see all around these doors here.

It's quite wet to touch and it's really, really smelly.

I'm not sure whether lots of water has got in underneath

and above or whether it's just condensation.

But I think there has been some moisture in this room.

I would certainly get an expert to have a look at this.

You've got lovely views out there. I wonder what it's like upstairs.

It's quite strange when you walk into this building,

it does not feel like it's a converted mill.

The only thing that sort of tells that tale is this bit of beam

up here. It feels quite modern,

quite luxury and it's actually in quite good condition.

Apart from that.

So, one potential problem to look into, but plenty of positives.

The two bedrooms are great sizes and light and airy with it.

The bathroom could do with updating, but it's also a decent enough size.

Time to head upstairs to see what else this duplex has to offer.

And at the top of the stairs, the living area.

So this is what duplex living is all about.

And I can completely understand why you would flip over,

bedrooms downstairs, living room upstairs, because look at that view.

It's even better than downstairs. It really is stunning.

And the good thing is, when you come up here, you don't

have that real pungent smell of damp, which tells me

there probably isn't anything wrong with the roof.

You can see a few condensation marks around those windows,

so I'd certainly get this looked at.

But look, you've got an amazing, big, old original beam.

Beautiful. That would look nice sanded back.

And then round here, look.

Ooh, I do love a latch.

The kitchen! How sociable is this?

I'd be inclined to maybe lower this wall a bit,

add a little breakfast bar area around the front.

But it's really nice to be chatting to your guests.

It's quite spacious in here as well.

And I think one of the best things is, for me anyway,

there is an upstairs loo!

So it will save you trotting down the stairs in the middle

of the ad breaks. It's got everything.

# Because you're gorgeous

# I'd do anything for you... #

Yep, a few home comforts and I'm happy.

And this property is ticking a lot of my boxes.

It's spacious and bright.

And as long as that damp isn't too serious,

there isn't a lot to be done here.

And at a guide price of just £45,000, this apartment in a

converted mill, I'm sure, will be setting pulses racing.

We asked a local property expert along to see

if he could have a mill about.

The property is in beautiful condition.

It's got lots of original features.

It's in keeping with the style and age of the property.

The layout is a little bit unusual,

especially with having the bedrooms downstairs.

Most people would expect them to be upstairs.

It is something that is becoming more common, and I think

we are going to see a lot more of it in the future.

Once refurbished, we'd be expecting an asking price of around £75,000.

And a rental price of £500 per calendar month.

You've got yourself a beautiful location here. Solid old building.

It's got tonnes of history. What is not to like about this duplex?

But I guess country living might not be for everyone.

And there is that damp to think about.

So who was wanting to take on trouble at mill

when this property went up for auction?

It's a two-bedroom, first-floor duplex apartment.

It does need some refurbishment.

In a desirable village location. So what should we say for lot 67?

38 then. 38 bid. Thank you. At £38,000.

After a hesitant start, the bidding quickly passed

the £45,000 guide price until reaching...

£57,000 for the first time.

£57,000 for the second time.

Third and final time at £57,000...

You bought it, well done.

Just out of shot, the successful bid of £57,000 was made by Emma.

She's a college lecturer who bought the two-bedroom flat with her

partner, to make it their home.

I caught up with Emma at the mill to discuss their plans.

-Emma, lovely to meet you today.

-Nice to meet you too.

Look at the views. I mean, look where we are.

It's stunning, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

-Was it that view that sold it to you?

Yeah, I mean, we loved the building as soon as we walked in.

But coming up the stairs into this room, looking at the beams,

and then we saw outside.

We both got butterflies. We were so excited, yeah.

How much research did you do?

Obviously, you'd seen the property before, so you knew a bit about it.

Yeah, we came and viewed it a couple of times before the auction.

We came and saw it in the morning. We were so excited about it.

Went back and told my dad. He rang my mum at work.

She took an hour off and we came up and viewed it again.

The estate agents were brilliant.

And then we actually viewed it again before the auction,

just to make sure. But we did loads of research on it.

With it being on the border,

we weren't sure whereabouts we were going to be living.

Part of the front is on the Staffordshire border.

And then the rest of it is in the Cheshire side.

So it's half Staffordshire, half Cheshire.

And isn't there a bit of a funny story about one of the flats

-here that used to be a pub?

-Yeah.

I believe there was an old pub which was licensed in 1860

called The Odd Fellows Arms.

The bar ran through the border so on a Sunday evening,

going to have a drink, they'd ring the bell for end of closing time...

-On which end?

-On the Staffordshire side.

Then all the punters would move over to the Cheshire side

so they could carry on drinking for an extra half hour.

That is classic! Sadly, that pub is no longer.

No, it's now a flat, one of the apartments.

# You just keep on pushing my love

# Over the borderline... #

Sounds like my kind of pub.

Shame it's not here any longer.

But you know what they say, where there's a mill, there's a way.

Time to find out Emma's plans.

What are you going to do to change anything, though?

Because you could just literally freshen it up.

Or are you going to be making any drastic changes?

Structurally, no.

We are limited, with it being a leasehold, of what we can do inside.

But we will be putting new kitchen units in,

depending on how bad a state the carcasses are in when I have a look.

Probably re-hanging the doors. New kitchen worktops.

Flooring all the way through. Big clean and paint.

There's not really that much, you know, that needs to be done, really.

What about all the natural-looking woodwork?

Are you going to be painting that or leaving it?

I like them as they are. It's something we will discuss

and see what kind of theme we want to go with, and what

colours we are going to take.

But I quite like the latch doors and the colour of all the skirting

and the architrave at the moment.

-It certainly gives it that sort of cottagey feel.

-Yeah.

-And that beam!

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

We go away to cottages all the time and we always say,

"We should get a cottage." This is kind of like the next best thing.

We are in a mill with brilliant views.

We want to try and get them back to the original colours.

Make a feature of it so when you come in,

like when I did the first time, people look at it and say wow.

The only downside that I can see is the damp around the windows.

Is it condensation? It does smell...not so great.

Yeah, it's quite murky, isn't it, the smell?

The day after the auction, we came in and opened the windows

and the smell has gone down loads. We put all the windows on vent.

The property was empty for two years before it went to auction.

And all the vents were closed. I don't think that's helped.

So we are going to give it a good clean and see what it comes up like.

You've got to think,

is that problems with the roof or is it condensation that's been

trapped, that can't get out because of lack of ventilation?

The builder downstairs has just finished on his.

He says that the seals underneath have been screwed in the wrong

way, so when the rain falls through, it's actually running underneath the

windows. It's just a case of turning those around.

Gosh, having the seals screwed in the wrong way

-can just cause so much damage. That is so annoying!

-I know.

He might be wrong, but we're going to have a look at that.

It seems quite plausible. He's a builder and he's renovated

a couple of properties. We'll have a look at that.

Great to get advice, but Emma is no slouch herself,

having renovated the property she is currently living in.

Plus, she will be enlisting the help of her dad,

who owns a cleaning business.

Very handy for this pongy pad.

She and her partner have a budget of 3,000

and hope to have the property ready in eight to nine weeks,

although there are still a few little things to iron out first.

What about those windows? How good a nick are they in?

Do you think you might have to change them?

Will the management company be in charge of replacing the windows?

That's something we are going to have to find out, yeah.

I believe the outside of the windows is theirs.

The inside of the windows is ours.

So it's one of those things we are going to have to speak to the

agency about it and see what they say.

-That is the only downfall of buying a leasehold property.

-Yeah.

You are not completely in control of your own walls, bricks

and mortar, doors, everything else.

I've never had a leasehold before, so it's something new that I've

really got to get my head round and have a look at what it all means.

Cos it's just jargon at the moment.

Emma, I can see how excited you are and I am really excited

myself to come and see what it's like when it's been done.

-You are very much welcome back.

-Congratulations.

-It's been lovely meeting you today. Well done.

-Thank you.

Emma is clearly so happy with her purchase and the price she paid.

But it's important to get to the bottom of that damp

and who is responsible.

Then she can kick back and enjoy that view.

Once she's decided what county she lives in, that is.

Join me later in the programme and you can find out how she gets on.

Well, Lucy, your mill might not know where it is,

but there is no doubt I know where I am.

I am in East Ham, in the London borough of Newham,

an area that is on the up.

Its affordable housing, sense of community

and leafy surroundings mean you'd be a little nutty not to invest here.

I'm on a really pleasant residential street. Tree-lined.

Nicely maintained houses.

The property I'm here to see sounds appealing.

£245,000-plus was the guide price for a three-bed mid-terrace.

But a fantastic bit of auction spin in the catalogue.

It says that it is in need of modernisation.

But that gives the prospective purchaser the ideal

opportunity to carry out works to their own specifications.

You've got to love it, though.

-# Why do you build me up

-Build me up

# Buttercup, baby Just to let me down... #

Nice inner door.

That would be really lovely stripped back.

I bet that's beautiful wood underneath there.

But into the property and straightaway, yes,

that modernisation expression definitely springs to mind.

We've got polystyrene ceiling tiles, they've got to go.

A few nice original features.

Bit of the plasterwork is still in existence.

That is something which I would definitely remove.

I don't think that helps with the flow at all.

You'd expect that to be a corridor.

It's been blocked up, which I don't think works particularly well.

You've got your stairs up to your bedrooms there.

Through into the main living area. And it's a nice-sized space.

Big bay window there, which is good.

Got a gas fire. Obviously been knocked through at some point.

But it does create this really lovely living space.

With sliding doors at the end there. Lots of light coming through.

Um, yeah, good, good.

The decor needs a full overhaul, but with a bit of elbow grease,

this could be a really attractive space.

In the kitchen, you start piece together

why whoever it was blocked off that little corridor.

Because they were trying to create at least a bit of usable

kitchen space. You've got all these doors going on at the end there,

which doesn't really work. I guess that was the only way of doing it.

But in itself, I don't think this works.

A kitchen being the heart of any house, I think

you really want to spend some time in here sorting this out.

Maybe take that wall out to create a really nice sort of

through-kitchen/living space.

One thing that is pleasant, though, is coming out of the rear

of the property, there is this, like, conservatory affair.

I'm not quite sure how permanent it is,

but it's a nice usable space and it leads out onto the garden.

So... All this needs a bit of playing around with, doesn't it?

Thankfully, there is space to do that.

And creating a more practical kitchen should be

top of anyone's to-do list.

Hopefully, the layout upstairs won't require any jiggery-pokery.

So upstairs and good news, you've got the bathroom and loo here.

Although it doesn't actually have a bath in it, it's got a shower.

It looks like it would be tight

to actually get a bath in there, which is a bit of a shame.

Just part of the general refurb you are going to have to

do on this property.

But a rear bedroom there, looks to be a half decent size.

Front... Well, the first of two front bedrooms.

It's more of a box room.

Although they have got a sink there, which is a little bit strange.

Then into the other...

HE LAUGHS

..bedroom at the front.

I'm laughing just because, aren't bedrooms are supposed to be

peaceful places where you relax and prepare for sleep?

I'm not sure I would decorate one with this kind of wallpaper.

Each to his own, though.

# Flowers in the window

# Such a lovely day

# Let's watch the flowers grow... #

Some work to do here too.

Even if flowers are to your taste.

But with two well-proportioned double rooms

and a single bedroom, it is looking good up here.

Although there was something peculiar that I spotted earlier.

So here in the back bedroom... It's not a bad size.

But that's not what's caught my eye. It's this.

-HE TAPS

-It's a chimney breast.

What's odd about that? Hmm.

I'll tell you what's odd about that.

Follow me downstairs into the lounge.

Uh.

This is where it should be.

But obviously, what's happened is

they've taken the chimney breast out here but left it up there.

The danger with that is, you've got the weight of all those bricks

and what's on the roof, the chimney stack itself, all resting

probably, my guess is, now on the floorboards or the joist there.

Unless somebody has put structural steel in there to support that,

at some point...

That's going to cause a real problem.

# And the walls kept tumbling down

# In the city that we love... #

OK.

So maybe that has jumped to the top of the rather long to-do list.

A bonus here, though, is the good-sized garden.

And looking at neighbouring properties, a lot of them

have added dormer extensions

which, though costly, could add value to this property,

which has a guide price of £245,000-plus.

We've asked along a local estate agent for his opinion.

I think work internally with the property,

it'll need a full refurbishment.

Plenty of decoration to be done. New kitchen, new bathroom.

I like the fact that it's got the conservatory to the rear as well.

I think there is the option of putting in a loft conversion as well.

There's two different variations to the work that we could do here.

Doing it as a normal refurbishment property, I think

you would probably spend around about £25,000 to £30,000 on the property.

Doing it with a loft conversion, I think

you'd be looking to spend somewhere around about £45,000 to £50,000.

Either way, the costs are pretty high.

But if you were to do a full renovation,

what kind of returns could you expect?

With a full refurbishment,

price-wise you would be looking at around about £325,000 to £330,000.

In a rental market, you'd achieve between £1,500

and £1,600 per calendar month.

With a full refurbishment including the loft conversion,

you'd be looking at roundabout £375,000 to £400,000.

And with the rental market,

you'd be looking at roundabout £1,750 to £1,800 per calendar month.

There is obviously work needed to sort this one out,

but financially, I think it's worth it.

It's a good house in a nice location.

So let's see who fancied it when it went under the hammer.

Our cameras didn't catch the auction, but it was a popular lot

that eventually went for £267,000.

# Your daddy knows best... #

The successful bidder was property developing aficionado Harendra,

bidding on behalf of his daughter, Forum.

Forum works for a multimedia company,

and this was her first venture into renovation.

I met her back at her new purchase with brother Jigar,

who works in finance but also develops properties.

-Jigar, Forum, lovely to meet you both.

-Pleasure to meet you.

-Hi.

Congratulations. Tell me why you wanted to buy this house.

My dad has been in the property business for quite some time now.

He was hoping to get me started, so this is my first property

-that he helped get.

-Wow!

Yeah, we are hoping it will be the first of a few more in the next

few years or so.

Fantastic. Have you got an interest in property then?

This is the first one for me. I haven't really been involved.

Hopefully, seeing as this is in my name, I'll start now, yeah.

And what is your involvement in the whole thing?

Previous ones that we have invested in have been for myself.

So, on this one, I'm just helping out.

I reviewed the legal pack and I'll hopefully be taking

a proactive role in the redevelopment of the premises.

Great. Did you have some input in terms of which property was chosen?

No, I didn't. It was all down to my dad, really.

-I only just saw the place a few days ago.

-Wow.

-Yep.

-What did you think when you walked in?

I think it needs a lot of work.

Hopefully, once we refurbish it, it will be nice

and a good home for someone.

Do you know what's being planned in terms of the property?

The major work that we plan to carry out is obviously the place

needs central heating.

Which is a big requirement in this property.

As you can see, the entire decor of the place - wallpaper, carpets,

-ceilings - they all need to be cosmetically uplifted.

-Mm-hmm.

From a structural standpoint, we plan to move the kitchen from its

current position into what currently looks like a conservatory area.

-We want to make that a more permanent structure.

-Wow.

Once it's a more permanent structure,

the kitchen can move into there with a nice open diner.

Possibly some skylights for some nice lighting.

And then the current kitchen area can become a wet room or

a downstairs bathroom.

That's the major structural part, the other structural part is the

chimney, which is a consideration from a safety standpoint.

It seems that there is a chimney upstairs without support downstairs.

That we are going to consider.

And the big question mark, it depends on builder

review on cost, is whether to do a loft conversion or not.

We've got an opinion that we could potentially get two bedrooms

upstairs if it's done right.

So it depends on the cost

and whether it's going to come out profitable or not.

What the timescale for the work?

We anticipate, hopefully, two months.

That's without the loft conversion.

If the loft conversion seems financially feasible, then

-the appropriate time longer.

-Right. And what's the budget?

Let's assume we are not going to do the loft conversion to start with.

Without the loft conversion, we are looking maybe £15,000 to £20,000.

Upper side, 25.

Depends on the builder's estimates, really, which we have yet to get.

You can certainly tell that Jigar works in the finance industry.

It looks like decisions will be made with a keen eye on expense

and profit. But will they be picking up the paintbrushes?

In terms of actually getting hands dirty,

are you going to be here stripping wallpaper and painting?

-Probably not.

-You've got to answer for her, or do what she says.

Probably not. I think someone will probably be in to do all of that.

Right, and will you be here getting your hands dirty?

Um, probably not much.

I have done in some properties in the past, but us being busy

in our day jobs, we'll be getting...

We have builder contacts from our other properties

who will be getting involved.

-Congratulations, good luck with it.

-Thank you very much.

-We look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you.

Dad doing a great job of setting the whole family

up in the property developing world.

And hopefully Forum's first project will be a success.

I'm sure Jigar will help make that a reality. How will they get on?

You can find out later in the show.

Still to come, my tip for Bournemouth barbecues.

Big glass double doors out, into the back garden,

and you've got your outside inside, or even your inside outside.

And in East Ham, work is complete, but the truth is out.

This is the one where we did it all. And in that extent, Dad did it all.

Back now to the picturesque village of Mow Cop,

on the Cheshire-Staffordshire border,

where earlier a two-bed duplex apartment in this former fustian

cloth mill was bought for £57,000 by Emma.

She planned to refurbish and move in with her partner,

but one problem needed urgent attention.

Is it damp? It does smell...not so great.

It's quite murky, isn't it, the smell?

The day after the auction, we came in and opened the windows

and the smell has gone down loads. We put all the windows on vent.

The property was empty for two years before it went to auction.

All the vents were closed. I don't think that's helped.

The windows may have been lacking in appeal,

but Emma was keen on the original beams.

-That beam...

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

We go away to cottages all the time and we always say,

"We should get a cottage." And this is kind of like the next best thing.

We're in a mill with brilliant views.

We want to try and get them back to the original colours.

Make a feature of it so when you come in,

like when I did the first time, people look at it and say wow.

And who could blame Emma for wanting the wow factor

in other parts of the flat?

But we will be putting new kitchen units in,

depending on how bad a state the carcasses are in when I have a look.

Probably re-hanging the doors. New kitchen worktops.

Flooring all the way through. Big clean and paint.

Emma estimated two months for the work.

To see how she's getting on with her topsy-turvy duplex life, we are

back eight months later.

# Angels watching over me

# With smiles upon their face... #

Upstairs is much brighter and damp-free.

And I'm pleased to see the addition of a lowered wall and breakfast bar.

Emma had thought she might have to replace the kitchen units,

but when it came to it, re-hanging the doors

and fitting the new worktop brought it bang up-to-date.

The more open plan aspect makes a huge difference

to how this flat looks.

# I'll tell you why

# I'll tell you why... #

Before, when you went down to bed, it looked like this.

And now...

# I'm upside down

# Just upside down

# Ain't got no pay

# Ain't got no pay

# I ain't got no room

# I ain't got no room

-# I think I like

-I think I like

# Living upside down

# Living upside down... #

Both bedrooms are a good size and now the former blue bedroom,

with the beams resplendent in their natural colour

and brighter paintwork, is worth hanging the bunting out for.

# Got to see the world a little differently

# When you turn it upside down... #

I'm not usually a fan of a downstairs bathroom, but when

the bedrooms are downstairs too, that's exactly where it should be.

And Emma has done this one proud.

# I'll tell you why

# I'll tell you why

# What I have found

# What I have found

# That I'm no fool

# That I'm no fool

# I'm just upside down... #

Original features restored and intact, including those latches.

Time to ask Emma and her father, Kevin, how she likes...

# Living upside down

# Living upside down. #

Since the last time I saw you, I am pregnant now, so I'm having a baby.

It's due in a couple of months' time.

So that's slowed everything down.

But obviously it's going to be a big life change.

Congratulations! That's lovely news.

But with a baby on the way,

is Emma still sticking to her plans to move in?

We think we are going to rent this one out,

but it's really difficult because we do absolutely love the location,

we love the apartment, so it's difficult.

In realistic terms, we are going to have to rent it out.

It's going to be too difficult with two dogs, a baby, shopping,

trying to get up the stairs.

Exactly how did you get on with curing the damp?

Because we are kind of against the elements up here, when it was

raining in, there were enough trickle vents, I think they might be called,

for the water to be caught in and kind of go out.

We had some more of those holes put in.

A bit like a plug in a bath, basically.

Just to get the water going out rather than back in.

-It was overflowing.

-It was holding the water, basically.

-Yeah.

And as you said, we have had vents re-drilled

so it shouldn't be a problem from here on in.

How did the pregnancy affect the original eight-week timescale?

I'd probably say about ten to 12 weeks, hasn't it?

So not much over, really.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Stop, starting.

But if you were going to put it all together, it's, well,

five months maybe, six months?

What about the budget?

The budget was originally £3,000, which we thought would be quite easy.

We have met the budget, but we have...

I wouldn't say we've taken any cuts,

but in terms of laying the flooring, originally,

we were going to pay someone to do it, we have done it ourselves,

a lot of the tiling we've done ourselves, we've reused some of

the old tiles from my house that were left over from another refurbishment.

So that has cut down on costs a lot.

We've also been quite resourceful in... Things that were here

that we took out, we've sold.

So that has, again, helped bring the budget down.

So in total, we've come just under the £3,000.

-So we are really pleased with that.

-Yeah, tremendous.

Well, that is very impressive.

So over to two local estate agents to find out

if Emma could turn a profit.

Add the £3,000 refurbishment costs to their purchase price,

and the total spend to date is £60,000.

First, the opinion of the agent who saw the property

before it was refurbished.

If the property was going on the residential market,

I would expected to achieve around £120,000.

If we were to sell the property,

would look to market it at a figure in the region of £120,000.

-Oh, yeah.

-I think, wow!

Really good, yeah. Really pleased with that, definitely.

Yeah, really, really pleased.

No wonder she is pleased!

That would give Emma a profit of £60,000 before taxes and expenses.

But the plan now is to rent, so what about those figures?

If the property is going on the rental market,

we would look to achieve around 575 per calendar month.

If we were to rent the property, I would look to market it

at a figure in the region of £575 per calendar month.

-575, can't be bad.

-I think we're looking somewhere along that line.

-Yeah, really pleased.

-We're hoping.

If you think you can get, you know, a house for that kind of money,

we can get it here for our little apartment, up here in Mow Cop.

Yeah, really, really pleased.

Yes, good news again.

That rental value gives her a yield on her investment of 11.5%.

So are there any tips for would-be developers out there?

If you want to do a fitness regime, I would say,

buy yourself an apartment and get in there and get it going.

Bournemouth, in Dorset, boasts seven miles of golden,

blue-flagged beaches.

It is just over a couple of hours away by road from the capital and has

its own university, always a bonus when it comes to the lettings market.

Five minutes' drive from the centre or ten minutes by bus is

the suburb of Charminster,

popular for its cosmopolitan bars and restaurants.

The property I'm here to see is a two-bed, ground-floor flat with

a guide price of £125,000.

Now, it is looking a little bit tattered from the outside,

but one of the bonuses is there is off-street parking,

and it is always, always good to have that.

The main entrance to the property is through this porch,

which has obviously been added at a later stage.

It is not a unique feature,

as many properties in this vicinity have similar arrangements,

something you often find

where larger houses have been divided up into flats.

Wow, lovely and bright.

And a lovely sense of light as well. This must be the first bedroom here.

What a nice size bedroom.

And that window is lovely, brings in all the light from outside.

It is a good start. It is a good start.

Into here, bedroom number two, which is even bigger. Again, lots of light.

And they've had some of the lovely detail on the ceiling as well,

which is lovely. Fireplace over there.

And over here, to the sash window.

Might need a bit of repairing,

but if they are in working order....which they are...

A little bit rattly. Maybe just restore these windows,

lick of paint, and you've got a lovely, lovely room here.

So a quick recap.

There is the slightly unconventional entrance

shared with the upstairs flat.

Then two very well-proportioned bedrooms with original

features like the fireplace, sash windows

and mouldings on the high ceilings, but it doesn't stop there.

Coming to the back of the property, toilet there,

into what would have been the lounge/living area.

Bit of a whiff of damp as well in the corner, I can see.

I am a little bit disappointed with this.

I expected it to be a little bit grander. It is a bit dingy.

It would have been the lounge or the living area.

But not quite as grand as the front.

There is a bathroom at the end.

And, yes, the kitchen here, which is in decent condition.

And what you could do, what I would do,

is I'd be inclined to knock this wall through, have a

nice kitchen/dining area, dining table just there.

And look at that, it lends itself perfectly for big glass double doors

out into the back garden.

And you've got your outside inside. Or even, your inside outside.

Another benefit from removing the dividing wall between the living

space and the kitchen would be to increase the light.

A new room with two patio doors

and a window would be a much brighter space.

# He's a spacer... #

On the plus side, there is also the bonus of having a

separate toilet and bathroom.

And I suppose to some, the lighting might be a little bit, well, disco?

As for the damp, time to look for the clues.

If you are viewing a property and you can get outside, have a

look back at what you are looking at.

Now, in this occasion, you've got blocked guttering up there and

there looks to be some kind of leak down there, within that guttering.

So that you would have to factor up within the your budget, no question.

But on the plus side, you've got all this space out here.

I can see a nice lawn. I can see table and chairs.

For me, a nice big barbecue there for those big burgers.

Also, whilst you are outside,

take the opportunity to check out the state of the house's pointing.

As you can see, it is in a bit of a state.

But even so, I don't think it is too bad for the guide price

of £125,000.

Let's find out if a local estate agent feels

it is a worthwhile bet.

The property, I believe to be a great opportunity for somebody to

redevelop and to modernise.

I think that there is lots of potential here.

And what about the damp?

I think the damp is probably being

caused by a lack of ventilation along the bottom of the property.

And I also think that maybe the damp-proof course has failed,

and that maybe should be looked at.

And if you were to let out, what sort of rent would you expect?

For a standard letting,

the property would rent for £750 per calendar month.

And if selling on after renovating?

For resale purposes, if this property was fully modernised,

I would value the property at £185,000.

This property is a bit of a tale of two halves.

The front is light and bright, but as you move towards the back,

it becomes a bit of a disappointment. But there is definitely potential.

Let's see who has seen that when it went to auction.

We are here at £125,000.

Anyone would like to start at 125?

125?

120?

120, I'm bid. 125, can I say?

120. 125 now. Back of the wall.

At 125. 130, sir?

130. 135.

2.5, perhaps? Whatever.

2.5? 132.5. 135?

135. 137.5?

No. Head down.

At 135, and I call it for the first time to be clear.

At £135,000, seated, for the second.

Third and last time, calling at £135,000.

It is your bid.

It is your purchase. Congratulations.

Could we have your bidding number, please?

The successful bidder was Keith.

He was bidding along with his wife, Val, for their daughter, Danielle.

Having been a builder for over 30 years,

Keith has done lots of renovation work but usually for clients.

I met Keith and Danielle to get the story behind this property.

-Keith, Danielle, nice to meet you.

-And you too.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Had you seen the property before? Did you know what you want?

Yeah, we came and did a viewing a couple of weeks before

and then Dad came back and did a second viewing as well.

Danielle, tell me why you bought this particular flat.

This is going to be intended for my home.

I'm going to be living in this one. So not for any other purpose.

How long have you been looking for your perfect property?

I've been looking about six months,

and I probably looked at about 18 properties, roughly.

And so quite a few.

I saw about two or three that we were quite serious about,

but it didn't work out. And so...

But this one was ideal, so it had everything I was looking for.

Good location as well. So it's perfect.

So having seen 18 properties, you must have actually, you know,

-found out what your tastes were, what size you wanted.

-Yeah.

-Does this fit the bill?

-Absolutely.

I think it has got enough space to sort of see me

through for the next few years

and there is a big enough garden to do an extension if you want to.

And it is a great location as well, so it is perfect.

Good. And, Keith, what was the auction experience like?

-Have you been to many before?

-I have been, yes. It was...

It can be daunting, but it was OK. We knew what we wanted.

We knew what were going to pay, hopefully. Pleasantly surprised.

So, tell me how you are going to be involved.

I know you are an expert in this field. So what is your role?

Well, officially, I will be project manager,

but I've got two ladies who might outvote me on some choices.

So it is just the fiscal side of it that I will probably end up

looking at and getting value for money in what we actually do.

We've got three stages of work to do.

First will be to tidy up everything.

Next, we end up with an extension.

Not too big because we want to reserve some garden.

And the extension will be...?

It will be a lounge on this room, hopefully a lounge/kitchen/diner,

depending how far we go out.

And then there are a few damp issues, are they a worry to you at all?

Not really. We've got damp in here. I put a meter on prior to buying.

The same, proofing, that's another issue.

The wooden floors up top, it's quite noisy.

We have high enough ceilings, but it will be a shame,

we may lose some of the mouldings in the actual rooms.

And we'd then introduce new lighting,

brighten the property up a bit.

Keith is right, it would be a

shame to cover up the ceiling mouldings

and the cornice work - they give so much character - but it is

a case of needs must when there is just floorboards between two flats.

Soundproofing has to take priority.

And those windows at the front, you've got some lovely, big,

bright windows, lots of light coming in.

We are going to renew those totally.

And then there is a lot of pointing that needs to be done in the front,

pointing on the outside. Gutters, fascias... But it's all there.

The structure of the property is quite good.

-No, it seems to be pretty sound.

-Yeah.

Tell us about the financial side of the flat itself, who owns the flat.

It is all in my name, but Dad gave me the deposit,

so that's where he gave me a sort of a kick-start from that direction.

That is what we are there for, at the end of the day.

I've got a son to do the same for. So it's not just this one.

So, tell me about your timescales, Keith,

to go from as it is now to what your daughter would like.

Well, the first stage, probably three months.

We then add another two and a half, three months on for the extension,

for completion.

So probably the whole ballgame is going to be six months.

Keith is planning three stages of financing -

£10,000 to £11,000 for the initial work,

Danielle then wants to buy the freehold which is estimated

at another £11,000 to £12,000,

and once she owns the freehold,

structural work like an extension will be much easier to organise,

which Keith reckons would add a further £12,000 to £14,000,

giving them a ground total refurbishment budget of between

£33,000 and £37,000.

So the interior of the house, what are your ideas?

Are you going to go high spec, low spec, middle spec?

At the moment, the bathroom....

The only thing that is really essential in the bathroom is

to have a shower put in.

Apart from that, there is a lot of things just tidying up, really,

in there. It is quite a clean bathroom as it is.

And the same with the kitchen.

It is not essential to have anything really changed in there.

Probably just a lick paint, so that shouldn't be too much work.

I want it to look nice for her.

I don't want any phone calls, more bills in 20 years' time.

-We'll do it once and do it right.

-Exactly.

-Any additional cost, you want to try to get it done...

-In one go.

..in one go. And the back garden? Any plans for the back garden?

-Yeah, well...

-It just needs a lot of tidying up at the moment.

And I think maybe just that.

We can have a look and see if we need any lawn. Aren't we?

-It has to do with the extension.

-Yeah.

Once we've done the foundations, we may have built-up flower borders,

which we can do with sleepers to actually save taking soil

out from the house, keep your costs down, easier for maintenance.

Patio area.

We'll work it round the sun. And easy maintenance.

Danielle and Keith, been lovely talking to you.

I wish you all the best. I hope it becomes a lovely home for you.

-Thank you very much.

-Good luck, Keith.

-Thank you.

It's great news that Danielle has found her first property,

but there's still a lot of work to be done until she can call it home.

But luckily, she has got father Keith to help her along the way.

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

Well, it is really fascinating

to see how people renovate their properties.

Yes, we have seen one now, so how about the other two?

Let's find out how they got on.

Back now to the London suburb of East Ham,

where previously, I saw this three-bedroom, mid-terraced house.

Brother and sister team Jigar

and Forum's father

bought the house on behalf of his daughter for £267,000.

It is Forum's first foray into property development,

and I wonder if she'd take to it like her dad, who is a veteran.

So, have you got an interest in property, then?

This is the first one for me. I haven't really been involved.

And hopefully, seeing as this is in my name, I'll start now, yeah.

Although it is in her name, Forum wasn't planning to live here.

She is hoping to attract the rental market to the house when completed.

Brother Jigar has had more experience

in the field of renovation,

so he is helping out with the vision for the project.

From a structural standpoint, we plan to move the kitchen from its

current position into what currently looks like a conservatory area.

We want to make that a more permanent structure.

Once it is a more permanent structure,

the kitchen can move into there, with a nice open diner.

And then the current kitchen can then become a wet room

or a downstairs bathroom.

Eight weeks later, we are back to see what Forum's brother

and father have managed to conjure up.

# Oh, oh-oh, oh

# You don't have to be there, babe

# You don't have to be scared, babe

# You don't need a plan

# Of what you want to do

# Won't you listen to the man That's loving you

# Oh-oh, oh, oh. #

The old conservatory has a much more permanent structure, making

room for a bright kitchen/dining area with a small sitting room off.

As planned, the old kitchen is now a fully tiled bathroom.

For me, a downstairs bathroom can sometimes be a compromise too far,

but the break into the roof space,

like some of the neighbours have done, didn't happen.

So the downstairs bathroom is understandable.

And with plans to rent out, a downstairs bedroom to go

with the bedroom is an attractive proposition, according to Dad.

# Won't you listen to the man that's loving you. #

Upstairs, the box room makes a cosy single bedroom.

And I'm pleased to report the front double bedroom has left

the flower power era behind and gone neutral.

The toilet and shower room have been tidied up too, with a tiled floor

and a heated towel rail.

Everything is much brighter and more practical,

thanks to a builder the team knew and dad, Harendra,

who project managed and lent a practical hand.

All the rubbish, I cleared myself.

That was the most part of enjoyment.

Harendra must've got a lot of enjoyment, then,

when it came to removing the chimney breast in the rear bedroom.

Structural work like that was new territory for the team.

Everything else has been either, you know, an improvement to the

kitchen or an improvement to the bathroom, cosmetic sort of changes.

But this is the one where we did it all. So I mean...

In that extent, Dad did it all.

Yeah, dads are useful like that sometimes.

And allowing for the Christmas period, this was all

completed in two weeks less than the original eight-week timescale.

So, how come?

I think we just probably overestimated

because of all the structural work that was put in.

Did the shorter refurbishment have a positive effect

on the £15,000 to £25,000 budget?

The whole project ended up somewhere...

£26,359.

Dad puts the overspend down to the laminate floor.

So it is it all money well spent?

To see if the finances stack up,

we invited two estate agents to view the property

and give us their thoughts.

First, the agent who saw the property before the refurbishment.

I am suitably impressed with what has been carried out.

The additional extra bathroom downstairs, I think,

is a very good benefit.

The building of the extension to the rear is also

very good to the property, where the new kitchen now sits.

I like the fact that it has

a shower upstairs, a shower room. And a separate bathroom downstairs.

I like very much the extension at the back where the kitchen is,

with the dining area.

And it is nice and finished to a reasonable standard.

The original plan was to rent out, but Forum likes the end result

so much, she is now contemplating moving in herself.

They paid £267,000 at auction,

and with refurbishment costs of £26,359,

the total spend is £293,359.

So what sort of rental income could be achieved?

As a rental valuation, I believe the property will realise

a figure somewhere in the region of about £1,750

to £1,850 per calendar month.

I would re-let this property

at a price between £1,750 per calendar month

to £1,850 per calendar month.

We had the opinion that it might go for about 1,600.

Well, the top figure of £1,850 gives a yield of just

over 7.5%. Not bad. What about resale?

I would advertise this property

in between £320,000

to £350,000.

For resale value, I think

we'll be looking at somewhere in the region of £330,000 to £350,000.

Again, taking the top figure, that gives a potential

profit of more than 56,500, less the usual taxes and expenses.

So how is the family with that figure?

That is around the figure that we were expecting to be about,

between 330,000 to 350,000.

Dad is the seasoned property developer,

has he any tips for would-be developers?

Put your savings in a property and you never go wrong.

Hm. Well, I'm not sure everyone would agree with that.

Time now to return to Bournemouth, on the south coast...

# The seaside needs us more than ever. #

..where earlier, the two-bedroom, ground-floor flat of this

large house conversion was bought by Danielle,

helped along by her dad, Keith, who owns a building firm.

I do like it. Love, that's what I get. It's love.

She paid £135,000 at auction and plans to live here,

which ended a long search.

I've been looking about six months,

and I have probably looked at about 18 properties, roughly,

but this one was ideal, so it had everything I was looking for.

Good location as well, so it's perfect.

Dad Keith runs his own building company,

so he had plenty of plans in place, starting with the windows.

We are going to renew those totally.

And there's a lot of pointing to be done on the front,

pointing on the outside. Gutters, fascias... But it is all there.

It's not... The structure of the property is quite good.

And there are a few damp issues, are they a worry to you at all?

Not really. We've got damp in here.

I put a meter on prior to buying, and that's not too bad.

We can deal with them.

Keith gave himself a timescale of three months to tidy

everything up and sort out the damp problem.

We are back six months later to see the result.

# Is it real?

# Real, real, real love... #

What was the largest bedroom is now Danielle's lounge.

The neutral pastel tones make the most of the natural light.

The second bedroom has also seen changes.

Before, the paint work needed a lift and the wooden windows a lot of work.

Now everything feels better.

# You give me that feeling

# You give me that You give me that feeling!

# Oh, before you I was searching for a rarity

# Oh, you've shown me things I never thought that I would see

# It's in the way you love It's in the way you love

# And I can see that this is real... #

There is a fine dining area thanks to the new colour scheme

and laminate floor.

# And now I can see

# Is it real

# Real, real, real, real love

# Real

# Is it real, real, real, real love?

# You give me that feeling You give me that feeling

# You give me real love

# You give me that feeling! #

The old lighter laminate is gone, with a new darker and warmer colour

running through the dining area into the hall.

The remaining rooms are largely unchanged,

apart from the new tiling on the cooker splashback.

Time to find out Danielle and, Keith, her dad's thoughts

and future plans for the flat.

# You give me that love, real love

# You give me that love Real love! #

With the kitchen and the bathroom, I was fortunate enough that the

suite was quite modern, so I haven't actually had to update those.

But it just mainly has been tidying up

and continuing to sort out the damp.

Which turned out to be a bigger problem than they first thought,

resulting in all the wood floorboards needing to be replaced.

But not before Keith had tackled the problem at source.

I had to go round at three-foot spaces all around the outside

of the house - dig out, clean cavities.

And then on the inside, previous repairs had not been done correctly.

This had meant that the plaster had plastered down the walls

and gone over the damp course.

So basically, the damp course was useless.

And when Keith had sorted that out,

he had a weightier problem in the hallway.

The dividing wall that must have been put in perhaps 30 years ago was

built in heavyweight breeze block and was built on the floorboards.

Floorboards are no foundation for a wall,

and the situation required an intuitive approach.

A metre of concrete underneath, block the wall up

and then point it, and then take the old joists out, put new ones in.

All this work, some of it unexpected,

must have had an impact on the budget.

-You know, we ended up somewhere around about 14,000.

-Not bad.

The original budget for this phase of work was £10,000 to £11,000.

And the 14,000 spent so far does include the 1,500 of solicitor's fees

to obtain the freehold,

which is technically part of stage II,

so a £1,500 overspend so far.

And what about the three-month timescale?

These works in here have been extended on

because we have done them ourselves.

I mean, Danni has done some labouring - hedge cutting,

dragging everything through from the back garden to the front to

be taken away because we can't have a bonfire here.

I don't have access to this garden, apart from through

the neighbour's house, so we had to pull a lot of the bushes out,

drag them through the house and through the old sash windows,

so the garden actually needed doing before the house.

Then that took us up to about the three-month period,

so that already hit the original timescale.

And now it has taken another about two,

-three months on top of that to complete everything.

-Could be.

With some of the work being invisible - new joists,

concrete foundations

and sorting out the damp proofing -

is the work going to make much of a difference to the

value of a property?

To find out, we called in two local estate agents.

Add the £14,000 refurbishment spent so far to Danielle's purchase price

of £135,000, and you get 149,000.

So has Danielle made a wise purchase on the flat she bought to live in?

First up, the agent who previously saw the property.

I would be looking to put this property on the market for £205,000.

I would place the property at just under £200,000.

Probably 199,950 asking price.

And I think you would get very close to £195,000.

At the top valuation, Danielle stands to gain a potential

profit of £56,000, minus the usual taxes and expenses.

How does she feel about that?

I'm really happy with that.

I think it's a little bit higher than what we expected,

so, yeah, I'm sure Dad will be pushing me

to put it back on the market at some point in the next year or two.

Well, property isn't all about investment. What is living here like?

I am really pleased with the whole flat overall.

It has come out really well. It is exactly as I wanted it.

Now that I have got it and put all the personal touches in to

make it mine, I'm really pleased with it.

Join us next time when we'll have more from Britain's auction rooms.

-Yes, don't miss it.

-See you then. Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

-Bye.