Episode 25 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello! It's amazing how you can start off by dabbling in property

but it can quickly take over your life.

-MARTIN:

-Why, yes. There are certainly lots of ups.

You're your own boss and you get to spend more time with your family.

Absolutely. So, if you can get a property at the right price, well,

why not pop down to your local auction house?

Now, I know we say this a lot but doing your research is key

-when looking to buy a property at auction.

-It certainly is.

So, did today's buyers follow our advice?

-DION:

-I certainly hope so.

Let's take a look at what they bought.

In south London, the windows in this Grade II listed building let the outside in.

They're single-glazed. You can hear the traffic.

And in this Welsh terraced house,

there's an inside window that really needs to be chucked out.

That needs to be opened up, doesn't it?

-DION:

-But the windows in this West Midlands flat are definitely

on the right track.

Let's hope these double-glazed windows do the job.

Yes, they do.

All these properties have been sold at auction.

We'll find out who bought them and what they paid for them

when they went under the hammer.

Sold.

This is the Elephant and Castle in central London.

The area's unusual name derives from an old coaching inn

that sat on this site.

This part of London is currently undergoing a multibillion pound redevelopment scheme.

There are big plans for a huge new shopping centre

and thousands of new homes.

Now, the Elephant also has excellent transport links.

You've got Tube, rail and bus

all connecting the area to the City and further afield.

So, it's no wonder that this area is certainly one to watch.

# Gonna get myself I'm gonna get myself

# I'm gonna get myself connected. #

Being connected is the one thing you won't have to worry about living

in this area and if you prefer to travel under your own steam,

it's only a 30 minute walk to the centre of London.

Well, the property I'm here to see is a studio flat and it's in this

large, big old complex here.

Now, this building was designed by a Hungarian modernist architect, Erno Goldfinger.

And that was back in the '60s and it was once government offices.

And that was before it was converted now into residential use.

Now, some may think it's a bit of an ugly eyesore.

But it's actually Grade II listed

and it's held up as an excellent example of post-war architecture.

Interesting. Well, let's head inside and really take a closer look.

Despite sharing his name with a Bond villain,

Goldfinger's creation is mercifully free of missile silos,

moon buggies and tanks full of hungry sharks.

What was originally the Department Of Health

is now a complex housing over 450 apartments,

all housed in interconnecting blocks surrounding a central courtyard

in which sits an Oriental style communal garden. Very peaceful.

Now, the flats share other facilities -

a 24-hour concierge service, ample on-site car parking.

There is even a pool and a gym

although the pool is undergoing refurbishment at present.

Up for auction at a guide price of £210,000,

the studio flat I'm here to see is on the second floor

and you can choose to either take the lift or the stairs.

So, first impressions on the inside, well,

straight away to the right here there's a little bathroom.

You've got some storage... Oh, wow!

That's a big boiler. My goodness.

I'm just wondering if you could relocate that or get something

a bit smaller because it eats into all the cupboard space in there.

And, yeah, well, there's studio flats and there's studio flats.

And this is a small studio flat. You've got storage here.

And talking of storage...

storage heaters so I don't think there's any gas in this building

so you've got to contend with storage heaters but there

are some really good ones these days and they do work really efficiently.

So, well, it's not the biggest room I've ever seen

and round here the kitchen.

It's as if this wall is in the way.

I'm just wondering if this space could be reconfigured.

But I think what I like about the property is this.

Just have a look out here. Now, look.

You really, really know you're living in London living here.

You look out of this huge window - which by the way,

if you don't like these, tough, you can't change them,

this building is Grade II listed

and these windows are here to stay - they're single-glazed,

you can hear the traffic.

You can also hear and see the train.

You can see London red buses, you can hear sirens, I mean,

this is what it's like living in the heart of London.

Takes about 30 seconds to get to the Tube station, there's all

the bridges out there, there's nightlife, it's all going on.

I mean, this really is a fantastic community

if this is the type of London living you want.

So, that's about it.

A loo with a shower, kitchen area and a living room/bedroom.

# I'm coming up! So you better get this party started. #

But if you're the kind of person who shouts, "Party back at mine,"

then this could be slightly undersized for your needs.

But if you just need a place to eat or sleep

that's close to the heart of London, this is ideal.

Now, before you get too excited about London living, there are

a few things to consider when buying a flat in a tower block like this.

Getting a mortgage, well, it can sometimes be a bit tricky.

A lot of high-street lenders,

they prefer flats in buildings of five floors or under.

And this building, well,

it's definitely well over that.

As well as the height of the building,

there's another factor to consider when trying to secure a loan.

Size does matter when it comes to mortgages.

Now, a lot of companies will not lend on studios, full stop.

And others specify a minimum square footage requirement,

commonly around 30 square metres.

So, if you need a mortgage to be able to buy a flat,

especially a studio flat like this,

you're going to have to do your research and never assume

mortgage lenders will love your new pad as much as you do.

With a leasehold property, it's important to check the duration

of the lease as this can impact on the range of mortgages available.

In this case, there is 980 years left to run.

Should be OK there, then.

So, let's hear what a local property expert

thought of the accommodation on offer in this '60s tower block.

Good property, plenty of scope for improvement.

I personally would put... Look to potentially put a wall bed in.

Just because it gives the option, the fact that you're not actually

sort of eating or potentially entertaining within your bedroom.

I think that that's key.

The kitchen and bathroom, obviously, could be upgraded

and you'll get the benefits from those.

And with rental properties being popular in London,

what could the new owner expect to achieve?

You'd be looking in the region of £1,100-£1,200 per calendar month

depending on the level of spec. In terms of sale value,

you're looking anywhere from between £250,000-£275,000.

You'd certainly be living the high life if you buy this studio flat.

But the apartment, well, it needs to be dragged out of the past

and made so much more up-to-date on the inside.

But you might also need to do your research to find a mortgage provider to buy the property.

So, let's find out who bid for this bijoux apartment

when we head to auction.

First-floor self-contained flat, gated parking,

communal leisure facilities. Great investment block, this one.

Where do you want to start me? Shall we say 180?

£180,000, I thought so, thank you. 180 I'll take from you.

Can I say 182?

182, 184,

186, 188,

190...

Well, this was a popular lot with the bids coming in thick and fast.

We rejoin the auction at 222,000.

222?

Yes, no? 222? 222.

223, 224,

225, 226?

Shaking your head at me. 226, come back in.

Otherwise, at the front, at £225,000 I have.

It's against three of you now. 226, another thousand?

Otherwise 225 I have.

For the first, be quick,

225 for the second...

Third and final time, we all done at £225,000?

Sold.

Last man standing was Harry from nearby Purley who, with that final

bid of 225,000, walked away with his first ever auction purchase.

So, what's he going to do with it? We met up with him to find out.

# Come on! #

-Harry, congratulations.

-Thank you.

If anybody wants to know what it's like living in the centre

-of London, this flat says it all, doesn't it?

-Sure does.

I mean, you look out of the windows and you can see the red buses.

It's really London living here.

You can see a train station just round the corner.

You can hear the train station.

So, why did you want to buy this property

-and how well do you know the area?

-I know the area quite well.

I think when we were young we used to pass Elephant and Castle quite a lot.

Plus my son is living on the seventh floor.

-Your son is living in the building?

-In the building.

-Already?!

He's renting it.

-Any chance your son might want to have this flat for himself?

-Not yet.

He's got another one year to go.

Despite his son living in the same building, Harry was blissfully

unaware of its listed status and the restrictions that go with it.

When we bought the property I did look at the windows

and think, "Oh, the windows are the same type."

So, I had something going there that we won't be able to change the windows.

-You can't do an awful lot to it.

-Not a lot.

Does it bother you that you can't change the windows because

you can hear the traffic and you can hear the train?

Not really, because I won't be living here.

-So it's not going to bother you!

-Not really, no.

Harry has formed a partnership with his friend Rajesh

in order to take on his first project.

With a career history that includes being a newsagent,

a dry cleaner and selling parts for motorbikes,

is property development slightly outside his comfort zone?

-We built a hotel in Goa in India.

-Wow.

And that's a 105-bedroom property. So that we started from the project, up.

I wasn't much involved in it, though I was monitoring things,

-but physical, no.

-I mean, gosh, a hotel to a studio flat!

This is going to be so easy for you, isn't it?

Different people, different countries so, attitude

and tradingwise are different.

-But do you feel confident?

-Oh, yeah, definitely. No doubt about that.

So what are you going to do to really turn it around

-and make it worth more money?

-It needs to be...

We're going to change the layout up here.

Going to knock the kitchen and bathroom down,

we're going to turn it around. Put the bathroom on that far wall.

Kitchen backing onto it. So, that way I think

whoever buys this property will get slightly bigger area.

-Because at the moment it looks a bit cramped.

-Yeah.

-It'd be nice to have a more open-plan kitchen living space, wouldn't it?

-Correct.

And have you checked out whether or not you can move certain walls

and move and change and change layout?

I haven't checked that but I think...

When I got the builders in, it's all stud walls here.

-So, I think it shouldn't be much of a problem.

-Right.

Being an old office block.

Sometimes it's all dependent on the freeholder

and getting the permissions.

-OK. Something I need to check up on that.

-Yeah.

You might need to check

because that's really vital just to make sure you do get permissions.

-Yeah.

-So, how much are you intending on spending here?

-Oh... Top end, we're looking at about 15,000.

-OK.

But about, I think, if I can do it at 12,

-but we don't want to cut the corners.

-OK, £12,000-£15,000.

And how long do you think it's going to take you to convert this?

I'd be looking at about four weeks.

And are you going to be involved in the work?

-Workwise, no physical work, no.

-So, you've got guys in to do it?

Guys coming in.

How much would you like to market this property for,

how much do you think you could get once you've done your work to it?

-I think we should get at least 280.

-Wow.

I can't wait to see what you do to this place.

I hope you clean the windows, for starters.

Yeah, get my son to come and clean it.

We'll be back to see how you get on soon. Thank you very much.

-You're most welcome.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Buying this little studio flat at auction and doing it up,

well, it could mark the start of a new property developing career for Harry.

But how will his first project go and will it run smoothly?

Join me later in the programme and you can find out how Harry

gets on with his little Elephant and Castle flat later in the programme.

Built into the side of a mountain,

Pontygwaith in south Wales is certainly not lacking in amazing views.

As with many of the settlements round here,

it's an old mining village.

The name itself, Pontygwaith, actually means bridge to work and the bridge

in question still remains and is a Grade II listed structure.

Isn't it lovely?

Well, just a short walk from the main shopping street

is the property I'm here to see. £19,000 plus was the guide price.

For this. It's a two-bedroom mid-terrace. Let's have a look.

So, with that low guide price... Oh, squeaky door!

..I guess your expectations have got to be set fairly low.

But, you know what? It's not a bad start. Little entrance area there.

A porch, keep the noise and the cold out.

Front living room, a few nice little features,

I like the little alcoves.

Definitely a dated fireplace, but, I don't know,

it has a certain charm to it.

-Doesn't smell too damp although...

-HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

..having said that, some fairly serious signs of damp there.

Stairs up to your bedrooms there. Into your rear sort of sitting room.

And somebody's gone partial way to creating a knock-through.

That needs to be opened up, doesn't it? More signs of damp there.

But it's a reasonable size space and you've got the open fires.

Doesn't look like there's any central heating

so that's something you're going to have to budget for.

But then through to... What?

What do you think?

What's bound to be here? You know, it's a k-k-kitch...

No, it's not. It's not the kitchen.

This is where you'd expect the kitchen to be, isn't it?

But no, it's like a third living room area.

The kitchen is actually out there

in what looks like a sort of extension bit.

What were they thinking?

Clearly, your first job is knock down that wall or use

that as some kind of utility room, convert this into your kitchen.

Pretty obvious. The good news, though, doesn't look like there's

a bathroom down here which means there might be one upstairs.

Well, the downstairs layout is not quite what I expected,

with three reception rooms

and the kitchen tucked away at the very back.

Obviously, that damp does need to be checked out but I can see

the potential to create a lovely big family dining-kitchen.

Well, upstairs, what have we got up here? Two reasonable sized bedrooms.

That one, well, it's not a bad size.

You'd want to put double-glazing in, for sure,

because there's going to be some road noise.

The other one, slightly bigger.

But, you know, pretty decent for the size of house.

What you don't expect is...

the bathroom.

For a start, it's where you'd hope it would be, as in upstairs.

Secondly, it's a really good size.

# Guacamole

# Guacamole. #

The avocado bathroom suite may well have passed its heyday

but what is in fashion is finding room for an extra bedroom.

I'm just going to contradict what I said earlier

but you could move the bathroom downstairs and create a third bedroom

there which would definitely make it more appealing to families.

Or save yourself the hassle of replumbing and expand

it into the loft upstairs, provided it meets building regulations.

Something to think about. But let's have a look outside first.

Well, through the kitchen and out the back

and you've got a real hotchpotch.

Not only have you got this sort of totally dreadful kitchen bit

itself, an extension which was obviously built to house that

little room which should have been the kitchen.

From here you can also see the state of the roof.

The bit where there should be lead going in to the main part

of the property itself, that's going to cause a problem with damp.

That probably explains why all those walls are so bad.

But you've got this area here which is...

We've got a downstairs loo, you've got a little storage area.

I mean, it could be quite useful but at the moment it's a bit of a mess.

But then up those stairs to a completely bonkersly overgrown garden.

Well, at least you've got the space...

looking on the bright side.

# And...

# Always look on the bright side of life! #

Keep laughing as you go because, with a 19 grand guide price,

and potential to expand out here and upstairs,

this one could certainly put a smile on your face.

But it's always worth remembering that it can be very difficult

to get a mortgage on properties under £20,000.

Let's hear what a local property expert makes of this two-bedroom

mid-terrace.

My first impressions of the property are that it does need

extensive renovation.

I would estimate you'd have to spend between £25,000-£30,000

to get it into a really nice condition.

Get it at anything like the guide price

and that could be a total £49,000 spend.

What would the agent do to add value?

If this was my house, I would possibly look to bring

the bathroom back downstairs to utilise that room as a third bedroom.

To get the full value of the property.

Obviously, you'd have to make some sort of allowance to put

the bathroom downstairs

but with the additional room to the rear I think you could do that.

So, what price could it attract for resale as a two-bed?

Once renovated, I would look to put the property on the market

for the £65,000 if it was left as a two-bedroom property.

And a three-bed?

I would look to put the property on the market for...

..£75,000.

So, maybe £10,000 extra with that third bedroom.

The agent also thinks the loft conversion,

should you get planning permission, is a good idea.

So, what would an extra bedroom do to rentals?

If the property remained as a two-bedroom property

you should be able to achieve around £375 per calendar month.

If the loft extension was carried out

then you should be able to achieve between £400-£425 per calendar month.

Well, there's obviously work to be done.

A bit of the roof to sort, that damp issue

definitely needs addressing.

But other than that, for that guide price,

I don't think you can go too far wrong with this one.

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

Lot number ten, we have a telephone bid.

Start me at 19, start me at 15, if you like. Put a hand up at 15.

Thank you, 15 over there. At 15. At 15, now. 16 can I see?

16, 17,

18, 19, 20?

20? 20, no. At 19 I've got.

At 19. 20 now I'm looking for.

20,000, thank you. 20. 21, do they want to on the phone?

21? 21, 22?

22, 23,

24, 25? 25.

26, 27,

28?

28? At 27 on the telephone...

28, thank you, 28.

29 to you.

30, do you want to? 30.

31 now? 31?

I've got 30 there right at the back in the centre.

At £30,000, you're out on the phone.

At £30,000 then for the first time,

second time,

third and last time at £30,000...

Sold. It's all yours, well done, number?

At £30,000, the successful bidder obscured at the back is Cezar.

Originally from Romania, Cezar has lived in the UK for seven years

and this is his first property auction buy.

I went along to meet mighty Cezar

and find out his plans.

# Oh, hail, Caesar

# Hail!

# Hail! #

-Cezar, good to meet you.

-Thanks a lot.

-Congratulations.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this house.

It was very cheap, really.

That was the only reason.

And, also, it's very easy for me to travel from London,

I live in West London.

I jump on M4 and I'm over here.

I love that! Very easy to get here.

I thought you were going to say you lived...worked in Cardiff or something!

-You're from London.

-I am.

So, compared to the prices in...

-well, any part of London, this must just seem ridiculously cheap.

-Yes.

-It's true.

-Right.

-Have you done property before?

-No.

I just have a team and we do refurbishment

and stuff like that, locksmith, handyman jobs.

Right. So that's what you do?

-So you've got a bit of DIY, slightly more than DIY experience.

-Yes.

So did you know the area before you bought the house here?

-No, not really.

-Had you been before you bought it?

I'd just seen it from outside, really, for a minute.

-Before the auction - in the same day.

-Oh, wow.

It looked like a very solid house and I decided to go for it.

-So when was the first time you saw inside?

-Today.

-Oh, today, wow!

-So, what do you think?

-It's very good, looks very good.

Yeah, easy to do, no major problems.

We'll see.

So tell me what you are going to do to sort it out.

First of all I'm planning to have a boiler, a combi boiler installed.

That's the main.

After that I'm going to stay in the property

cos I can travel to London every day.

It will be from Monday to Saturday, so we need heating.

-Just planning to knock a couple of walls down.

-Which ones?

-One between the two rooms in front.

-Oh, yes, OK.

All the paper...peel off,

plastering...

Bathroom, a new bathroom.

It's a big bathroom, so maybe we can go for a shower, as well,

in one of the corners instead of the boiler.

A new kitchen.

How are you going to integrate that little area which is currently the kitchen?

I'm just planning to knock the wall down between the kitchen and the room next door.

Some...steel supporting beams and stuff like that.

So probably can open it up.

We'll see, I have to think about it.

-And then put a new roof on that area?

-A new roof, yes.

Well, that would be very nice.

With this knocked through and that knocked through, that would be terrific.

-What about the damp?

-It's probably rising damp.

I'm not very good at this,

but one of my guys is very good at dealing with this kind of stuff.

So Cezar is keen to reconfigure the space in here

and thinks that it should take three months.

And he does have one other major layout change in mind.

He's going to expand into the loft.

We just have to have a chat with a local agent, something,

-see what they can...

-And if it's worth doing...

And who's going to do the work?

Mostly myself, probably a guy or two.

And how are you going to work that with your full-time job?

Um...

Now it's a little bit hard in the winter time, with building jobs

and stuff like that, so probably going to concentrate on this one.

-Were you happy with the price you paid at the auction?

-It's OK.

I can pay less, but...

That's fine. £30,000 is OK.

So what's the budget for the work?

-£10,000 I guess.

-OK.

-Yes.

That's quite a lot of knocking around walls and things

-for that money, but...

-Yes.

-But you doing the work, then it's going to be a bit cheaper, eh?

-I think so.

So £40,000 will be the amount of money you spend

if you stick to that budget.

How much do you think you might be able to sell it for?

I'm not sure yet, probably between 70,000 and 80,000,

I think.

And then, if it goes well, will you buy more in this part of Wales?

I preferred this area, very nice area and I hate London.

So I'm looking for an area to move on in the next couple of years.

Well, listen, congratulations, good luck with it.

Look forward to seeing how you get on.

Thank you.

So travelling a long way from home for his renovation project.

He has got a lot of work on,

so will it be salad days for Cezar when we come back?

You can find out later in the show.

Still to come...

In the West Midlands, I uncover a potential problem.

As I pull it back, I can see the signs

of a leak of some sort...

And back in Pontygwaith, we found out what Cezar did with all his living rooms.

It was a massive job.

I think it looks nice.

It's time now to return to the hustle and bustle

of the Elephant and Castle in London.

# Towers of London

# When they had built you

# Did you watch over the men who fell? #

Earlier I got a taste of the high life in this 1960s

Grade II listed tower block.

Yes, well, there are studio flats and there are studio flats.

And this is a small studio flat.

Not the most spacious of properties, I'll admit,

but somewhere to hang your hat, brush your teeth

and rest your weary head after a day at the office.

Being a listed building, well, there wasn't much you could change.

These windows are here to stay.

They're single glazed, you can hear the traffic.

You can also hear and see the train

You can hear sirens,

I mean, this is what it's like living in the heart of London.

Well, traffic noise wasn't an issue for Harry,

who brought this bijou residence for £225,000.

Does it bother you that you can hear the traffic

and you can hear the train?

Not really, because I won't be living here. SHE LAUGHS

Teaming up with a business partner,

Harry's plan was to refurbish quickly and then sell on.

It's been almost two months since we were last here,

so what's Harry been up to?

Well, it looks like Harry has been a busy boy.

This is looking very nice indeed.

Who better than the man himself to give us a guided tour?

Oh, I don't know if you remember when you came in last time,

there used to be an old storage unit up here...

So we have taken that one out,

taken the old storage units out from there to create more space here...

Fitted a brand-new bathroom,

new shower, new cubicle, sink, toilet.

And we've put in a brand-new bed,

which turns into a study kind of area.

So whoever comes in, they can just walk in tomorrow morning

and start living.

And I'm quite pleased with the work which we carried out.

Harry's plan of reorganising the internal space

was met with firm refusal from the building's owners -

a hazard when buying leasehold properties such as this.

This space-saving bed IS one of the few things allowed,

but he did manage to take down the partition wall in the kitchen.

There used to be a small wall coming up, taken that out,

put new cooker in there,

new washing machine, integrated granite top,

so it gets more light within the unit itself.

And I think it's turned out quite great.

My wife is threatening to come and stay here!

Well, your wife obviously has impeccable taste, Harry,

but she'll have to join the queue,

as I suspect she won't be the only one knocking at the door.

# Someone knocking at the door

# Somebody ringing the bell. #

Harry kept to his budget of £15,000

and his builders managed to keep to the original schedule,

completing the job in four weeks.

Yes, it may be small, but I think you'll agree it's perfectly formed.

Time to get some opinions.

And valuations from two local estate agents.

One at a time, fellas.

Really nice. Very, very bright and airy.

The buyer has done a remarkable refurbishment on the property.

Has used the space really, really well.

Studios in this area particularly,

demand is very high both from investors and, obviously,

first-time buyers as well due to its proximity to the city.

Yeah, it's very, very contemporary.

Very minimalistic, which is what people like.

They don't want to have to come in somewhere and just completely redo it.

They want to just come in, put their suitcases down and live.

With £225,000 going on the purchase and then

a further £15,000 on renovation, Harry's total spend is 240,000.

Now, his intention is to put up the flat for sale.

But if he did decide to rent it out,

what's the going rate in this area?

I think at the moment, in this market, the vendor could

realise a figure of around about £1,150 per calendar month.

In terms of rental,

you'd be looking aroundabout £1,100 per calendar month.

Wow, living the high life, well, it doesn't come cheap.

So, what about sales values?

In terms of the property value since the work's been done,

I would suggest a marketing price between £275,000 and £285,000.

I would value this property at between 265 and £270,000.

With £20,000 between the lower and upper valuations, it could mean

a pre-tax profit for Harry of 25 to 45,000.

Already got an offer on the table at the moment of 280.

I think my target is the upper end, 285, actually, tomorrow morning,

if somebody comes with the offer of 290, I'll shake their hand

and walk away from it.

And has this hassle-free project whetted his appetite for more

property development?

The idea is to follow up with another property.

If I can catch hold of one.

Especially if I can get a property in this particular

block, it would be ideal.

Cradley Heath is seven miles from Birmingham and was

famous in the 19th and early 20th century for chain and nail making.

In 1910, women held a strike to protest against poor working

conditions and this statue commemorates their iron will

that changed the lives of thousands of workers.

So, just a 10-minute walk away from Cradley Heath town centre is

the property I'm here to see.

Has a guide price of in between, which I think's a steal,

60 to £65,000. It's a two-bed flat.

It's close to all the schools, a bus station,

a train track which is right there and the M5.

Let's hope it's made of steely stuff.

And anyone buying this flat will have to have the mettle to

climb to the second floor, which wouldn't suit everyone.

Really nicely kept communal areas on the way up to the flat.

Bright hallway which is a good start.

Small kitchen, down this bright hallway to a really big

lounge actually for a two-bed flat.

The window looks a little bit small for the size of that room

but still a bit of light coming in there. That's the bathroom.

We'll come back to that in a little while and the two bedrooms.

Bedroom one here, bedroom two there. Single bed in there not a problem

and the double bed in here overlooking Cradley Heath out here.

OK. Train tracks are very,

very close but a nice view over Cradley Heath all the same.

Let's hope these double glazed windows do the job.

If we listen carefully...

Yes, they do.

# Don't change a thing because you are a dream

# and I want you just the way you are... #

Well, that's not entirely true.

I would change the decor, spruce it up a little bit

and I want to give these carpets a little clean too.

But otherwise, not much to do.

However, I did say we'd come back to the bathroom.

OK, into the bathroom.

Now, this is the only place in the flat

I can see would need some immediate work done to it.

This piece of the bath is falling away

and as I pull it back I can see the signs of a leak of some sort

maybe coming from pipework or even from the shower.

The sink's a little bit wobbly as well so just start again in here.

Put a new bathroom in and I think you'd be off and running

but it wouldn't take you long and wouldn't cost you much.

Shaky sinks and broken baths are really the only things

you need to fix in this flat

and that guide price of £60-£65,000, what's not to like?

But will a local estate agent share my optimistic opinion?

First impressions of the property, I think it's a nice apartment,

quite spacious.

In general, in not bad condition, but could do with some painting

and cleaning of carpets.

I would estimate that you need to spend between 1.5 to £2,000.

Any negatives the estate agent can see?

This particular property is very close to the train line

so you are going to have some noise from when the trains go by.

Also, the fact it's on the second floor, it will limit the people

that would be choosing to purchase or rent this property out.

There may be noise from the trains but one silver lining is,

the local train station is right around the corner.

And it will get you to Birmingham in no time at all,

making this an ideal commuter property.

So, what might such a buyer pay for the flat?

Once renovated, I would say that this property would achieve £75,000.

Not a huge amount of profit there for resale but what about rental?

This property could achieve £450 per calendar month.

So, wouldn't take much to get this flat back up to standard,

fix that leak, get those carpets cleaned

and spruce it up with a bit of decorating.

I don't think it would take much to get this place ready for rental or even sale.

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

133, staying in the West Midlands we've got a self-contained

purpose-built second-floor flat start me at 50

for lot 133, opening at 50, please, 50, anywhere?

No? 50? Are you bidding? Scratching? You're bidding.

50 I have. 51 anywhere?

51. 52? 52. 53? 53. 54?

54. 55? 55. 56? No. 55 then.

56 anywhere else? 56. Seven? Seven. 58?

By the camera? 58. 59?

Yes, sir, thank you, 60. 60 I'm bid.

61? No. 60 by the camera, 61 anywhere?

First time at 60 then. Second time at 60.

Third and last time at £60,000.

Cradley Heath. Against you there. All done?

Sold at 60. Got it.

So, from the bottom of the guide price of £60,000, Gurprit

snapped this up for him and his business partner.

Together they have a growing property portfolio

as well as running a small transport company.

I met local man, Gurprit, back at his new property, to find out his plans.

-Gurprit, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Congratulations as well, pal.

Why, why this particular property?

It was going cheap. HE LAUGHS

At auction, when you went,

did you go alone, with your business partner?

No, I went on my own. Yeah, he was busy running the business.

-Ah, making the money elsewhere?

-That's right. Yeah.

And tell us, did you go for anything else?

Just for this one in particular or was there a list of them?

Well, there's this one and there's one in the next block

and fortunately I managed to get them both.

So, do you look, do you look in this area only

when you're looking for property?

Just not too far from home and this is about the first,

I'm only 10 or 15 minutes drive from here, so...

Two purchases locally in a potentially strong rental area

makes sense for Gurprit's business.

Buying locally has its advantages.

Nobody knows home better than you.

It's often easier to find a tenant and if you need to do any jobs,

big or small, you're just around the corner.

# There ain't no place That I'd rather be....

# Next to you Next to me. #

Although I think this place doesn't really call for a lot of work.

So, tell us what you're going to do. What do you have to do?

There is very little to do. Cleaning of the carpets.

Um...the bathroom just needs a little bit of inspecting, there's

been a leak and very, very little else really.

-I think it's going to be a quick turnaround?

-A quick turnaround.

Straight...rent it straight out.

So it's not your full-time job this, is it, your property developing?

-No, no, I'm a white van man.

-You're a white van man?

That's what I do, yeah. We're a small tran job, yeah.

And this is just a bit of a...?

Yeah, this, this, again, this, I was attracted to this property

because we're quite busy at work and haven't really got the time to be,

you know, getting stuck into the renovations because we have had properties

where we've had to do a bit more work and it takes a lot of time up and at

the moment builders are a bit thin on the ground because they're all busy.

And, um, I just thought this was a nice quick turnaround,

get it rented out and it shouldn't be too much of a headache.

It's pretty close to coming back and seeing the finished article,

-this one.

-Yeah.

-I can't see anything.

-We'll be done in a week.

And what will you spend on it? What are you hoping to spend on it?

Hoping just a few hundred pounds really. HE LAUGHS

Rent a carpet cleaner and that's it and, um, the odd lick of paint.

Just investigate, as I say, the bathroom, just to see

if there's any plumbing issues.

It shouldn't be, it should cost just a few hundred pounds.

So, Gurprit, how are you managing to cram this into your busy

life as well, because you're full-time with your white van man business?

That was the, that was the attraction to this property in particular

because it's such a quick turnaround

and at the moment we are busy at work

so can't afford to be too far away from my desk or on my steering wheel

so, so, that's why I thought just do this quick

and get back to the day-to-day.

That's what pays the bills really.

A few hundred pounds and seven day's work.

Ideal for Gurprit, so he can concentrate on his day job

which is running his transport company.

Erm, well, I've always had a keen eye for property.

I mean, I lost my father over 30 years ago

and he used to say you'll never go wrong in property.

Unfortunately, both myself

and my business partner were made redundant in the early 2000s.

We were able to, with funding,

buy the premises where we work from and we managed to rent that out

and we get a good return on that from a blue-chip metal recycler

and it's that that's allowed us to go back to the banks and lend against

it and buy a couple of properties and it's gone on from there really.

So you're sort of doing it in stages, aren't you?

You sort of made sure that the backbone's nice and strong.

-That's right, yeah.

-And built from there?

Yeah, and we were fortunate in 2008 when the wheel fell off it's axle

that the banks were...agreed to lend to us

against our existing property, our commercial property

and that allowed us to buy a couple of houses.

And will you deviate from the renting?

Will you maybe buy for even yourself or will you buy to

sell at any time or does it depend on what's out there?

It's depending what's out there. If I can get a good price to sell it then everything's for sale.

-Yes, at the right price. Including footballers.

-Yeah, absolutely.

And I know you're a Villa fan.

-And they need some players at the moment.

-Yeah, they do.

Could do with you putting your boots back on really, couldn't they?

Mine have got cobwebs on now. I'm steering clear of that.

-You're doing better than some of them.

-Good luck, pal.

-See you soon.

-Cheers.

I think Gurprit's onto a winner here.

Two-bedroom flat for only £60,000, in this condition?

I don't think it's exactly going to test his mettle, do you?

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

So, we've seen how one of today's properties turned out.

Yes, it's time to see what happened to the others.

But is it time and money well spent?

Pontygwaith was the Welsh valley village I visited earlier where

I saw a two-bed mid-terrace guided at £19,000.

# I'm not free but I'm cheap. #

With such a low guide price I didn't have high

expectations for the property.

It was in need of total modernisation

but it was the layout that flummoxed me.

Front living room into your rear sort of sitting room

but then through to, what, what do you think?

Well, it's bound to be here.

You know. It's a ki...ki...no, it's not. It's not a kitchen.

It's like a third sort of living room area.

The kitchen is actually out there in what looks like an extension bit.

What were they thinking?

Cezar was thinking about profit

when he purchased this at auction for £30,000.

The locksmith and keen DIYer was roaming pretty

far from home for this renovation.

I live in West London so I just jump on M4 and come over here.

-You're from London?

-I am, yeah.

I prefer this area because very nice area and I hate London, so I'm

looking for an area to move over the next couple of years or so.

Well, Rome wasn't built in a day

and Cezar knew there was a lot of renovation ahead.

Four months later and we're back to see what changes Cezar has

made to the property.

# I.... I got work to do

# I got work, baby I got work to do

# I got a job, baby I got work to do. #

Although it's not quite finished yet, the results are impressive.

How did Cezar get on with his three living rooms?

We opened up like, 2.5 metres or something.

We didn't want to open up the whole space.

It was a massive job so we just left an open space.

I think it looks nice.

So, as promised, Cezar has knocked two living rooms into one.

A much more sensible solution. And what about that kitchen?

The old extension, it was a broken beam into the ceiling which

we replaced and put a new kitchen in.

As I hoped, he moved the kitchen into the third living room.

Downstairs had a lot of damp. Is that fixed?

Damp, especially in the second reception room

was from the leaking roof on the extension.

Soon as we fixed that leaking problem, the damp disappeared.

# I got work to do

# I got work to do I got work to do

The garden was overgrown and messy. What happened there?

The garden we worked for about two days,

it was like a small forest in there.

Very, very hard work.

We just have to do some more cleaning or put some grass in there maybe.

We'll see.

# Work, work, yeah Work, work

The large bathroom has stayed put

but it has been modernised, complete with a separate shower unit

and thankfully, that avocado suite has been confined to history.

Possibly, we wanted to keep the bathroom upstairs,

not to move it downstairs like some of the people said or recommended.

So we put a boiler in there. Just installed everything

like a shower, a new bathtub, toilet, sink, some laminate.

It's very good.

The two bedrooms are looking much smarter now,

so what's happened in here?

For the bedroom, all the walls have been re-plastered. Dry lining.

And the plaster's on top.

# Got so much work, yeah Got work to do

This property has been totally revamped and is looking great

but what about that loft conversion Cezar was keen to do?

# Work, yeah, yeah

And he did it but this hard worker isn't quite satisfied.

For the loft, I built some stairs, which are not very good, I think.

We're just going to change those with new ones to meet

building regulations. The loft, I think it's a very, very nice room.

# I got work to do Work to do, work, work, work

I'm a little exhausted just listening to all these jobs!

He didn't do all this himself, did he?

# I got a job my darling

# I got work to do Work to do. #

I've done the boiler myself for the first time,

all the pipework, all the radiators, everything.

We called out a gas engineer to connect the gas for us.

I fitted the bathroom, everything in the bathroom, myself.

The kitchen, floor, pretty much everything except plastering.

I'm not very good at plastering, so...

Cezar is over his timescale by a few weeks and thinks another

two weeks will be needed to finish, but is he over budget?

Initial budget was £10,000

so we ended up spending about 14,000-15,000.

Mostly because of the loft conversion.

And we also had to pay for four skips.

Hard work over. Well, almost, but now it is time to invite

two local property experts to give their thoughts and I'd also like

to know if that loft conversion will add value and will the values be

enough for Cezar to make a profit on his £45,000 outlay thus far?

This is my second visit to the property.

The renovation work has been done to a very good standard.

The layout has been improved in my opinion.

I think, opening up the two reception rooms

will make it a lot more appealing to potential buyers.

Yes, definitely, adding the loft room will add some value to the property.

The loft conversion probably won't be classed as a bedroom due to

building regulations, stipulations, given the stairs and doorway.

Yes, even Cezar admitted these stairs probably won't meet

building regulations, meaning he can't resell this as a three-bed.

Always best to work with your local planning department

on such conversions.

With Cezar looking to sell the property,

he will be keen to hear those all-important valuations.

On the sales market,

we would hope the property would achieve between £65,000 and £70,000.

On the rental market, between £395 and £415 per calendar month.

If I was to put the property on the market today,

I would expect it to achieve around £65,000.

If I was to put the property on the market for rental purposes,

I would expect it to achieve around £400 per calendar month.

With that higher rental valuation of £415 per calendar month,

Cezar would have a healthy 11% yield. While reselling at £70,000

could bring him a £25,000 profit before the usual taxes and expenses.

I think they are very good, especially the first one, 65 to 70,

it is exactly what I had in mind.

I am not really interested in going rental

so the plan is to put the property up for sale.

Six days a week, living far from home was the downside

to this project, but could he be tempted to do it all over again?

If you ask me now - no. Maybe if you ask me in a week's time - yes.

We return to Cradley Heath just outside Birmingham where I saw

a two-bed flat guided at £60,000-£65,000

and first impressions were strong.

Right, hallway, which is a good start. It is a small kitchen,

a bit of TLC, you could turn that round.

But surely, being close to train tracks, that would be a problem.

Let's hope these double-glazed windows do the job,

if we listen carefully.

Yes, they do.

# It's all good. #

But it wasn't quite all good.

I finally found some work to do in the bathroom.

This piece of the bath is falling away and as I pull it back,

I can see the signs of a leak. Just start again in here,

put a new bathroom in and I think you'd be off and running.

The property was a sideline for self-confessed white van man,

Gurprit. And this £60,000 purchase at auction

was one of two purchases he made on the day.

But this one had so little work needed, I thought...

It is pretty close to coming back and seeing the finished article,

-this one.

-Yeah.

-There is nothing here. I can't see anything...

-We'll be done in a week.

-And what would you spend on it,

-what are you hoping to spend on it?

-Hoping just a few hundred pounds.

-Really?

-Rent a carpet cleaner and that's it.

MUSIC: 'Pompeii' by Bastille.

All in all, clean the carpets, touch up the paint

and a few odd jobs to do.

So when we went back just over a month later,

we weren't expecting huge transformations.

# But if you close your eyes

# Does it almost feel like Nothing changed at all?

# And if you close your eyes

# Does it almost feel like You've been here before? #

And that's because the flat didn't need a big overhaul

but time to find out from Gurprit what work he did do.

What we've done here is, we've given the whole flat a lick of paint,

freshened it up.

New taps in the bathroom, sink and bath.

New tap and sink in the kitchen.

There were a couple of lights weren't working, the electrician has

solved the problem, I'm not sure if he put a new light in the bathroom.

Other than that, the boiler service. We have cleaned the carpets,

we had a carpet cleaner in to clean the carpets.

So, who did the work? Did Gurprit get in and get his hands dirty?

Just a couple of fellows we use regularly on different jobs.

They happened to be free and a general builder and his labourer.

I come and go all the time they are here

and I am a bit of a gopher and I go and get whatever they need,

paint and bits so they can just come straight in and get the job done.

I helped take the kitchen sink out, that was about it.

Got underneath, just gave them a hand getting the kitchen sink out.

I put in about 20 minutes' physical work.

So, nothing but the kitchen sink, hey, Gurprit?

It took five days in total to finish the work

but how much did he end up spending?

Did he stray above his intended few hundred quid?

It's been about £1,000, yeah.

It was about that.

Gurprit is looking to rent the property, but as a landlord,

he has certain obligations to fulfil before tenants can move in.

By law, landlords are required to have an annual inspection

of gas supply and appliances

and it must be done by a registered gas engineer.

The record of this safety check should be kept by the landlord

and the tenant should also be given a copy.

The landlord responsibilities are just the gas safety check

on the boiler which has been done and we have serviced it as well.

We have had a look at the electrics, we haven't got a certificate

but we just made sure everything works really, with the electrics.

There is no obligation to put a full certificate or anything like that.

And with that work done, Gurprit has lined up a tenant.

Will the agents be impressed with his budget renovation?

Let's start with the agent who saw it when we first visited.

Overall, I think he has done a good refurbishment of it.

Very tidy, clean. Nice, neutral colours.

So, overall, I think he has done a good job.

I think it is nice. Neutral colours, it is quite well presented.

The flat was already in good condition

but in the opinion of the estate agents, was there anything

that Gurprit could have done to increase the value?

I think it is worth replacing the carpets for rental.

I think by replacing the carpets, we would probably

get at least £2,000 to £3,000 increase in the selling price.

So changing the carpets would add value.

Something for Gurprit to think about

if he considers selling the property.

So what are those sales prices

and can Gurprit make a profit from his £61,000 total spend?

I would expect it to achieve in the region of £80,000.

If I was advising an investor, I would certainly recommend

keeping the property to rent for the next two or three years

in line with trends in the current area.

This property could achieve between £75,000 and £79,000.

I feel very pleased with that, yeah.

But a potential £19,000 pre-tax profit isn't enough

to change Gurprit's mind.

He wants to rent for the long-term, so what rental figures

can he expect and does it match up to what he is already achieving

with his portfolio in the local area?

This property could achieve for rental, £500 per calendar month.

I would expect to achieve around 525 per calendar month.

Yeah, I am pleased with that.

We have put the other one out to rent at 495

and within a week it was rented out.

We would prefer not to be too greedy on the rental side

so we would prefer to have some longevity with the tenant

and we're a bit fussy as to who we would give the property to.

£25 a month is not going to make a lot of difference.

We'd rather do it a little bit cheaper

and have somebody for the long-term.

At a top estimate of £525 per calendar month,

Gurprit could make a 10.3% yield.

But he is right, better to have a good tenant

than a little extra cash,

as the difference in yield for his rate is just 0.6%.

Gurprit has a growing rental portfolio and

when they're as easy as this to turn around, he must be a happy man.

Quite happy, particularly with those valuations.

I mean, it's a result, really, isn't it?

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

We hope you enjoyed seeing what today's buyers did.

And picked up some valuable information along the way.

So make sure you join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammers.

-We will see you, then.

-Goodbye.