Episode 51 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello, and welcome to the show.

Now, if you want to head somewhere where there is a huge

number of properties available for sale all under one roof,

then head to your local property auction.

Yeah, you might be able to bag yourself a decent deal as well.

Yes. Now, auctions have become so popular over the years,

so why not think about buying your next property under the hammer?

If you are a seasoned property developer,

you might have some tricks of the trade up your sleeve.

Yes, but let's not forget first-timers who have still got

a lot to learn.

Yes. We see buyers from all different backgrounds,

but which properties did they go for today?

Will this Chingford three-bed semi turn out to be the apple of my eye?

Added bonus of an apple tree just there now.

My choice is always apple crumble.

And I'm dazzled by the decor in this one-bed flat in Brighton.

So, here we have the one-bedroom property. Oh, hello!

And in this Derby terraced house, are my eyes deceiving me?

That is actually a first.

I've never seen a sliding patio door in the middle of a room like that.

That is brilliant.

All 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.

Sold, 280.

Believe it or not, this is Chingford in north-east London.

But with its leafy streets and lovely parks,

it feels a long way from the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

It has a lot to offer as a residential area.

One negative is the lack of a Tube station,

but there are overground trains that go into Liverpool Street station.

So, if this is the kind of London living you are after,

Chingford could be for you.

The property I am here to see is a three-bed semidetached house

just a short walk away from the local amenities

in a very popular residential area.

OK, here it is. And it looks neat to me. And tidy.

And the guide price may surprise you - £250,000-plus.

Let's take a look.

Not quite love at first sight, but a promising start.

The lack of off-street parking shouldn't be

a problem as there are no parking restrictions on the road.

It's nice to have a grassy area out front

but it does mean a longer walk to get your shopping in from the car.

Nice space in the entrance hall. There's a small porch just there.

Stairs here. Now, I'd be inclined to change the stairs

or just fill in the gaps.

Not good for children, quite dangerous.

Kitchen in here which looks to be a nice size. Just needs modernizing.

Through into the two rooms that are made into one.

With quite a small gap here.

I do like a bigger gap if I'm going to have two rooms made into one.

Radiators, so central heating is in. Electric seems to be OK.

Get everything checked.

But you've got two big windows on either end

so lots of light coming in here.

Not too bad so far.

Upstairs there are three bedrooms -

not the largest I've seen - and a modest-sized bathroom.

But the layout works, unlike downstairs.

The more I think about this gap on the ground floor,

the stranger it seems.

# Ain't it strange?

# Ain't it strange? #

Would it be better as two separate rooms?

Or perhaps open the kitchen up into the back room

and make an L-shape, allowing the open-plan dining area.

While you ponder that, I'll take a look at the back of the house.

Just like the inside of the property,

the garden just seems to need a little bit of TLC.

Get the grass cut down maybe.

But always have a look back at the property.

Check the guttering, check the slates.

On this occasion, it looks OK.

Now, added bonus of an apple tree just there now.

Apple crumble, apple pie - it is your choice.

My choice is always apple crumble.

# And I'm good at cooking crumble... #

Here is a man with more than just apple crumble on his mind.

This local property expert is here to give us his opinion on the property.

Will it be Golden Delicious or a bit of a crab apple?

This property is a very good property.

It does need a little bit of redecoration,

but other than that, it should be ready to sell or rent.

If you did have a bigger kitchen by cutting into the walls

and making it L-shaped, it would make it more beneficial.

It is suitable to either resale or to let out.

But my personal opinion, to rent out would be more beneficial.

And what sort of valuations would he place on this house?

Once this property is renovated, this property could

resell from anything between £300,000 to £310,000.

And for rental?

Once this property has been renovated,

it can achieve anything between £1,400 to £1,500 per calendar month.

Yes, it is in need of modernization, but at a guide price

of £250,000-plus, you do get a decent house with a sensible layout.

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

Three-bed semi. So, who would like to kick off on this? 250?

250.

Not going to go much below 250. 250 anywhere?

If you are here you better... Oh, sorry. 250. Sorry, it's those hands.

I don't see them.

Make sure you catch my attention.

The bidding was slow to get started on this property.

The priced edged up in £1,000 increments.

We rejoin with the bid standing at £278,000.

278?

279?

279. 280, round it off to 280.

One more crack? Yeah? 280. 281.

Have a think. 280 in the front. 281 elsewhere?

Down here at £280,000, anyone else?

At 280, first time, second time,

third and last time, if you're all done.

Sold, £280,000.

That happy lady sitting with her dad was Sabia,

who bought the house with her sister, Nasreen.

The girls met me back at their new property to tell me their plans.

-Sabia, nice to meet you.

-Hi.

Nasreen, nice to meet you, and congratulations.

Tell us about the auction experience. How was it?

It was quite nerve-racking.

-And you didn't go? Couldn't make it?

-I couldn't make it, I was at work.

Ah, busy, you see.

-Are you happy with what you have got?

-Yes, we are. We are really happy.

So, have you ever done anything like this before with properties?

Not us, but my dad has.

He owns a few other properties that he has refurbished.

Ah, so you've got some experience in your dad.

What made you want to get into property?

Well, it was all of us brothers and sisters that wanted to get

involved in the property market, follow what my dad's been doing.

-So, Dad is a top man?

-Yeah.

-And you've got brothers and sisters?

What other brothers and sisters have you got? Give them a name check.

-Shanaz, Noreen, and Rashid.

-Good, you gave him a name check.

They are now famous.

# Fame, makes a man take things over... #

Many hands will hopefully make light work.

And with dad Liakat overseeing the project,

his experience should prove invaluable.

So what are they planning to do with this place?

-The property is in good condition.

-Yeah.

So what we're looking to do is just sort of clean it up,

get rid of the wallpaper, paint it over.

With the kitchen, we are looking to make it open-plan,

like a kitchen-diner.

-Ohh.

-And just make as much space as we can upstairs.

-So, you might...

You're going to knock the wall down?

-Yeah, thinking...

-Options.

-Yes.

You've got plenty of options cos you could knock the wall down or

-put a door there.

-Or we could just keep it as it is.

We want to try to make as much space as there is.

OK, put in a new kitchen.

And who has got the eye for the decor?

THEY LAUGH Not sure? You sharing the responsibilities?

-We'll probably share.

-Will you do some of the work yourself?

We do get involved yourselves?

Well, my dad has got his builders so they are going to do

most of the work, and then I will probably do finishing touches.

OK. And yourself, Nasreen? Will you get involved yourself?

-Just probably help with the finishing touches.

-Painting?

-Yeah.

-You want to get down and dirty and get involved?

-Maybe.

-Yeah?

And upstairs, what about upstairs? Are you going to change anything?

The rooms are quite small, so what we're going to do is we are just

going to try to make as much space as we can, take out the wardrobes.

OK. And the stairs?

We might fit in new stairs

just because the stairs we have now are quite old.

OK. The whole staircase or fill it in,

cos you've got gaps in between the stairs.

We might fill it or might change the whole staircase, but...

-I suppose it's a good idea to speak to your dad about that.

-Yeah.

-And the builders.

-Yeah.

-Are they ready to come in?

-Yeah.

-They're ready to come in next week.

-Wow. You are not hanging about, are you?

-No.

So, the renovation project is about to get off to the best

possible start.

But I am wondering - have the

girls done much research into this property before the auction?

Well, a week before the auction,

my dad did actually go to see some properties

and I thought this was one of the houses that he came to see.

But I found out after we bough it that he didn't.

-So, you hadn't seen the property before you bought it? BOTH:

-No.

That's one of the Hammer rules, you have to view the property

and look at the legal pack.

Now, that is an official telling-off for both of you.

So, when you first saw the property, what were you thinking? You happy?

-Was your dad happy?

-Yeah, he was really happy with it.

I thought the rooms upstairs would be a bit bigger, but overall,

I was happy with it.

-Well, now you have got it.

-Very happy.

-You'll turn it around. You're very happy?

-Yeah.

That is good to hear. Will you live in it?

Are you going to sell it? Rent it?

We are looking to rent it out but we might...

We're going to think about it once it is done.

Maybe to resell or...

OK.

And your budget, how much are you looking not to spend,

or how much are you going to spend?

We are thinking maybe ten to...

Maybe 15 to 20.

£15,000 to £20,000.

OK, and tell me about how long you would like that to take.

-Within two to three months, we're thinking.

-OK, that's good.

Tell me a little bit about what you both do.

Nasreen, what do you do away from property?

I'm a physiologist. A work in a hospital.

I look at people's brain activity for a living.

Really? Don't look too closely at me.

You never know what is going on in here. That's an amazing job.

-How long have you been doing that?

-Six years now.

Wow. And yourself, Sabia?

I'm currently studying to become a legal executive

and I am specialising in conveyancing.

Wow. Far too brilliant for me.

OK, there is an apple tree outside. Apple crumble or apple pie?

-Apple crumble.

-Apple pie.

-Apple crumble. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Nasreen and Sabia got lucky with their first project,

but they did break rule number one.

They didn't view the house first.

Now, will it be apple pie or will it be apple crumble?

Oh, and the house. How will they get on?

You can find out later on in the programme.

Well, today I am about 50 miles

south of London in the beautiful seaside city of Brighton.

Alternatively known as London-on-Sea.

Now, I'm not quite in the thick of it all here,

but I'm about 20 minutes from the centre in the Elm Grove area.

It is ideal for somebody looking for that little Brighton escape.

# Brighton

# Brighton

# All your lights are shining. #

We are about a 20-minute walk from the beach

and about a 15-minute walk from Brighton station

and the property I am here to see is this.

And it's in amongst this really nice row of terraces.

It is a one-bedroom flat, apparently with a nice, long lease

and the guide price, £100,000-plus.

I like the look of it already.

So, the first thing you notice walking into this flat is

the devastation on this wall.

Unfortunately, there is loads of plaster down here on the wall

because it is damp. You can really, really smell it.

And when you look up there as well, there's a huge problem area.

I'm not sure whether water has been leaking from the above

or coming in from the exterior wall.

But whatever, that needs to get sorted.

So, here we have the one-bedroom property. Oh, hello!

Don't you love that '80s wallpaper? I think mine was just like that.

But, mm, there's a sink in the middle of the room that is

doing absolutely nothing at all, so that has got to go.

And, again, you've got some flaky paper up there.

Not sure whether it is another area of damp,

something I'd like to look into.

And through here, we've got

a bit of a useless cupboard with a big water tank.

That could go to free up some space in there

and you could perhaps put a combi boiler in the kitchen.

And a rather small bathroom with only a shower in it.

That is a really bugbear of mine.

If you can get a bath in with an overhead shower,

I think that is what you need to do in a one-bedroom flat.

And this is the lounge area. Now, it is disappointingly small.

You don't expect it to be massive with a one-bedroom flat,

but I am just wondering how we can improve on this space.

Let's do the wall test.

-KNOCKING

-Yep, nice bit of partitioning.

You know what I'm going to say, don't you?

Let's bring that down because through here is the kitchen area.

It's not fantastic, but when you take this wall away

and you have a nice bank of shiny, gleaming kitchen units,

I think that would really add to this space.

You'll also get more light in from this window.

So, there is a lot you can do to improve it and I think it

will be a great place to live, easy to rent and easy to sell on.

Yes, trust me - the Brighton property market

is one of the hottest in the country.

So, although this flat might not look terribly

appealing at the moment, once renovated,

you shouldn't have any trouble selling or renting.

But just in case you don't believe me,

here is a local property expert to back me up.

There always seems to be a demand for properties within this

catchment. It appeals to the young and the old alike.

We've got the universities just north of us, we've got the mainline

station just south of us, so if you are working and you want to

get into London all you want to get into the city, it is great.

If you are a student, you want to get universities,

it is absolutely ideal.

So, it is one of those rental properties that just

sort of hits all the buttons, really.

So, it can't be faulted on location.

But what about the accommodation itself?

Lots of potential. There is a wealth to do.

Firstly, I would take this wall out between the lounge

and the kitchen because it seems to serve no purpose whatsoever.

Make it a much more social space, much more entertaining.

Sort of make it into a much more usable room.

Revamp the bathroom.

Perhaps make that into a wet room cos that would

sort of sit quite nicely with the Brighton market.

And maybe do something with the bedroom, take out the chimney.

But that is just to increase the size a little bit.

With a guide price of £100,000-plus,

I'm wondering how much extra value could be added to this flat.

What could it sell for?

Sales-wise, probably something between £175,000 and £185,000.

And what about rental value?

You are probably looking at something around

£750 per calendar month up to about £800 per calendar month.

Well, once the damp gets sorted and the layout gets tweaked,

I think this one-bedder could have all the ingredients

to BRIGHTEN somebody's life up.

Let's go to auction and find out.

First lot, self-contained flat. A lot of interest in this one.

Where do you want to start me? Shall we say 90?

90,000 opening bid. Yes, thank you. Opening bid of £90,000.

92 anywhere now? 92.

I'll take 94, 96, 98. 100,000.

Brighton's popularity was evident at this auction,

with bids flying in from all corners of the room.

The price crept up steadily.

We join the bidding at £140,000.

140. 142. 144.

No? I'll try and help you, 143. I will take 1,000.

143, thank you. 144. No?

Sure?

It's at £143,000 straight ahead of me.

144 anywhere else? Are we all done on this one? 144 new place.

Standing next to you. 145?

You can almost punch him. 145. 146.

146, sir? 146. 147. 147, 148.

148? Otherwise at 147. 148, 149.

Sure? It is currently at £148,000. Another 1,000?

Sure? We are all done at £148,000 with you, sir, then for the first...

Give you a last chance. 148 then for the second.

149 in the new place in the aisle. Try not to leave it so late.

150 now.

Round it up. Thank you, 150. 151.

Sure? Standing then at £150,000.

Got to be quick then for the first...

£150,000 standing up then for the second...

Third and final time at £150,000. Are we all done?

Sold.

# I want the whole world to celebrate. #

Well, that final bid of £150,000 was made by David,

who owns a local buy-to-let property business.

This purchase took his total number of properties to 21.

So it is quite appropriate he should get the keys to the door.

I met David and his builder Sean back at the flat

to share in the celebrations.

David and Sean, congratulations.

Now, David, you have actually bought this property, haven't you?

-That's right.

-You went to the auction?

-Yeah, I did.

-What was that like for you?

-It was pretty cool. I've been to a few

-before. It was the first one I've bid successfully on.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-What sort of a price to do put in your mind that you'd pay?

-150.

And that is what it came in as.

I only kind of started bidding at the last minute.

I didn't want to raise up the price so I went to the back,

saw what was happening, and then I just sort of bid at the end.

Is that your special auction tactic?

You thought, "I'm not going to get involved too early,

"I'll just sit back, hold tight and just pop one in at the end."

That is what I did, yeah.

-So, were you happy when the hammer went down?

-Yeah, I was.

I was a bit surprised as well cos I thought it would keep going.

But I was quite happy that it did settle at my exit price.

So, do you think you can add a certain amount of value to

-this property?

-Yeah, I hope so. We have got a few ideas.

We'll stretch it out, make it a bit better.

I mean, working on some finishes.

And that is where our lovely man Sean comes in.

Now, how do you guys know each other

and what is Sean going to be doing with this project?

I've worked with Sean on a few of my projects.

He is a great tradesperson. He can bring in the technical expertise.

He kind of puts my ideas into practice. That's where he comes in.

Well, anybody with a pencil behind their ear I trust straightaway.

So, Sean, I am loving your work.

So, tell me what you see or what you think you can do to add value

to this place. Or just to make it better,

-cos it just doesn't have a great flow at the moment, does it?

-No.

I mean, generally, it wants obviously decorating.

There is some plaster work to be done.

We're going to take this wall out up to this high

and open up the kitchen, bring it in so it is more of a kitchen-diner.

And just generally, you know, make it look and feel a lot better.

-Whose idea was that, then?

-Mine.

-That was your idea.

-Yeah.

-But you just get to do it.

-THEY LAUGH

I doubt Sean will be phased by anything he has to tackle in here.

But what about in the stairwell?

That damp could be caused by any number of things

and it looks quite bad to me.

Tell me about the damp problem, Sean.

I know you're not an expert, but are you worried about that,

and what do you think it is?

I've yet to have a look outside, see if there's any problems outside.

But hopefully we can treat it, plaster and make it look good.

And then paint it.

Hopefully it should be, you know,

look a lot more welcoming to coming in, initially.

So, how long is it going to take you, do you think,

to get this place in tiptop condition ready for the market?

It is probably a week, week and a half, probably.

One week and a half? Right, give us that pencil.

-Give us that pencil. Can I write on your wall?

-Yeah, go for it.

One week and a half.

That is what I want to work towards, OK? It's on the wall.

-You have got a week and a half to do this.

-Thank you very much.

-That is a challenge.

-Right.

-Shouldn't have said that!

-ALL LAUGH

What sort of budget have you got?

It depends on what contingencies we hit, really. If...

Basically it is about £3,000. If we've got put in a new boiler,

it will go up to £4,000.

And what are your plans?

I mean, do you want to sell this as quick as you can or do you

want to let it out?

We'll probably do buy-to-let for two years and then we will flip it

and do some more finishes on it just to flip it.

Do you think one-bedroom flats

are hard to come by in the Brighton area?

I mean, was this a bit of a steal even to find

-one of these at auction?

-Yeah. There is not much supply at the moment.

Everyone is chasing these kind of properties,

so for the amount it costs to do it up, it's, you know, cost effective.

Well, guys, I am really excited. I've set you the challenge.

One week and a half, £4,000.

-You got it.

-Can't wait to see it!

-OK.

-Lovely to meet you, David.

-Nice to meet you.

-Sean, thank you.

Congratulations.

Properties like this are quite difficult to come by in Brighton,

so David has done really well to get it.

A week and a half, £4,000 budget,

a tin of magnolia and Sean.

The writing really is on the wall. Or is it?

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

-MARTIN:

-Still to come, in Derby, I talk to the animals.

Pretty much what you... Shush! ..expect.

-It did...

-DOG BARKS

It did as well for a second.

And never mind Dolittle, in Brighton we find out

if David managed to do much in that week and a half.

Our next stop is Chingford,

where earlier I visited this three-bed semidetached house.

It was brought to auction at a guide price of £250,000-plus.

The whole house needed modernizing, new kitchen, new bathroom

and perhaps new stairs.

But aside from the smallish bedrooms, there was

nothing really that was setting alarm bells ringing.

In fact, I quite liked it.

You've got two big windows either end,

so lots of light coming in here.

Not too bad so far.

Best of all, in the back garden I found a fruit machine.

Well, sort of.

Apple crumble, apple pie - it is your choice.

My choice is always apple crumble.

This tasty property dish was bought by sisters Sabia

and Nasreen for £280,000.

Their plan was to renovate and then put it on to the rental market.

It sounded like the whole family would be lending a hand.

It was all of us brothers and sisters that wanted to get

involved in the property market, follow with my dad has been doing.

With a timescale of three months and a budget of in between £15,000

and £20,000, would this turn out to be a straightforward renovation?

Well, eight months later, we are back to find out.

Hang on - an attic extension wasn't in the original plan!

What prompted that decision?

Ladies, tell me more.

The idea of it was at the back of our minds

but when the builders were doing the work, we just thought,

"Well, it is a messy job anyway renovating the house,

"so we might as well just get the loft done."

And with two brand-new bedrooms plus a shower room,

what was a three-bed house should nearly now have five.

But there are only four and therein lies the tale.

# Well, we know where we are going

# But we don't know where we have been... #

Extending upwards meant that the new staircase had to be added.

To make space for this, the bathroom was moved into the boxroom.

However, all was not as it seemed.

# We're on a road to nowhere... #

We got our builder to inspect the house to see what work needed

to be done. And then he felt like there wasn't something

right about the bathroom.

So, he wanted to check the piping connections, so when he removed the

sink, first of all, he noticed that it wasn't connected to anything.

There was just a hole at the back.

And then he took off the bathtub

and then he noticed that, again, it wasn't connected to anything.

So the room which was just in front of the stairs, he removed

the flooring and then he saw that all the connections were there.

So that's where the bathroom should have been.

# We're on a road to nowhere... #

I guess the lesson here is -

don't always assume the plumbing has gone where you'll expect.

# We are on a road to nowhere. #

After all the excitement upstairs,

the ground-floor layout remains pretty much as it was.

Except the girls have filled in the gap

and created two separate reception rooms.

This is a far more sensible use of space.

The kitchen has been completely modernized,

but they decided against opening up the wall to create the kitchen-diner.

But I'm glad to say they have closed off the open-tread staircase.

That is much safer.

Changes in the back garden too, with a brand-new outhouse sitting

exactly where the apple tree used to be.

Girls, what have you done?

The apple tree is no more.

My mum was upset by it.

The apple tree has been axed and I can't believe it.

And I can't quite believe what a great job has been done here.

Obviously, the original £15-20,000 budget hadn't

allowed for the attic extension, so how much did they spend?

With the loft, in total, it came up to just over £52,000.

We all know an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

But you may not know the best way of attracting estate agents is to

build a loft extension and then invite them

along to give your property valuation.

The property has been developed to a high standard,

and what they have done with the loft conversion is brilliant.

It is a good idea and it got extra room, obviously, as bedrooms.

And the shower room is brilliant, so, yeah.

The separation of the front room and the backroom is not a bad idea

because you can have a separate room if you've got a family with young

children and you can have your own space for yourself as well, so, yes.

I think the house is brilliant. It is a really nice home.

It's warm, it's big, it's nicely refurbished.

So, I really like the house.

And so to values, is there a ka-ching to be heard in Chingford?

This property could rent in between £1,700 to £1,800 per calendar month.

I think this property would rent for £1,700 or £1,800

per calendar month.

That is round about what I was thinking to begin with anyway.

So that is good.

Having spent a total of £332,000 on the purchase and renovation,

if they were to rent the house for £1,800 per calendar month,

it would generate a yield of around 6.5%.

What about sales?

This property, as it is, as a four-bedroom house,

can sell in between £410,000 to £413,000.

I think the property would actually sell for £430,000 to £440,000.

That is really good.

I didn't really expect it to be that high, but that is very good.

It is really good, yeah. Surprised.

Hmm, if they manage to sell the house for £440,000,

they would earn a pre-tax profit of £108,000.

So it looks like the girls and their siblings have a decision to make.

In terms of selling, it is a good idea,

but again, I have to speak to everyone to see what they think.

I'll maybe sell later on.

I think we are going to take a little break for a while

and see how things go just with this property in terms of renting

and then we will think about what the future holds.

-MARTIN:

-Today, I'm just south of Derby city centre

in the suburb of Normanton.

It is a mainly residential area with a diverse ethnic population.

Normanton even gets a mention in the Domesday Book

when the settlement was known as Normanstune.

So, this is Normanton, about a mile and a half from Derby city centre.

I'm here to see a very traditional mid terrace.

Guide price £75,000-plus, three bedrooms, let's have a look.

Oh, that is nice.

The moment you walk through that front door to be

greeted by this beautiful bit of ceramic tile work.

Absolutely gorgeous.

I wonder if there's any other bits of original old stuff

that we can find.

Well, hopefully so cos actually some of these houses in Derby were

actually quite grand in their day.

And so you might just find a few little indications of that.

Little corridor there through into your main living areas.

A front sitting room here,

and then linking the rear sitting room with our front sitting room...

Eh...

HE SIGHS

What on earth were they thinking? Anyway, into the rear sitting room.

A very old-looking gas fire, probably can get that replaced.

(I still can't believe that.)

That is actually a first.

I've never seen a sliding patio door in the middle of a room like that.

That is brilliant.

But as you head into the property, you find this, which kind of

helps the whole place redeem itself, a really nice-sized kitchen.

How about this?

You can imagine this being, you know, done out nicely,

place for maybe a sofa there or a telly.

A real living environment. Yeah. OK.

That weirdness in there aside, I like it.

This house certainly has a lot going for it so far.

Really well proportioned rooms, and on first look,

not much work needing to be done.

But hands up if anyone in Derby would like to buy

some second-hand patio doors, because otherwise,

these boys will be ending up in a skip.

# I can't go for that, no

# No, no can do

# I can't go for that, no. #

Well, at the rear of the property,

the actual garden itself is quite pleasant. It goes to the back there.

Looks like there's some sort of access. Not big enough to get

a car in, which is a bit disappointing.

From the back here, roof looks in reasonable condition.

-DOG BARKS

-The extension...

Yeah, all in all, it is pretty much what you... Shush! ..expect.

It did...it did as well for a second.

HE LAUGHS

# Ain't no big dog coming to bite you... #

There are a few other bones of contention out in the back.

That shed, or what is left of it, doesn't look particularly solid

and I can think of a better location for a bathroom sink.

But if you can't see the potential in this place, you must be barking.

So, upstairs, three good-sized bedrooms and a bathroom.

Everything you could want. In fact, this house is just...

It is spot on for what it is.

And whenever I see houses like this in the North,

Derby here for instance, it just really highlights that whole

North-South divide which still very much exists in property prices.

I mean, £75,000 for this.

A similar house for this in the South East,

you are going to be paying, I don't know, 500... £550,000, £600,000 for.

Seven times as much.

And in central London, I mean, the mind boggles.

What, 1.5, maybe £1.8 million.

So, based on doing this whole property investment thing

for yield, as in how much are you going to get from rental

compared to what you have to pay, £75,000 is going to rent for, what?

£500, £550 a month.

Yeah, £1.8 million property in London is going to have to rent out

to get the same yield at around...

£13,000 a month rent.

You're not going to get that, are you?

Just food...food for thought.

While you chew that one over,

we asked the agent from the auction house who sold it to feast

his eyes on what I think could be a pretty mouthwatering opportunity.

My first impressions of the property is, actually, it is quite good.

It's got two large interconnected living rooms, you've got

a sizable kitchen, three good bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.

These were good family houses and they were very much in demand

by owner-occupiers turning the clock back quite a long way.

But from a rental point of view, they are good and there isn't really

a lot that you need to do to this place to be able to rent it out.

And what would be his valuation for this three-bed terraced house?

Once brought up to a good standard,

this will have a value of about £95,000.

In terms of the rental market,

you are looking at £550 per calendar month.

So, a bit of updating and renovating required, but intrinsically,

nothing too much wrong with this one. Yeah. A good solid property.

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

We are on lot number three,

large passaged house with three double bedrooms.

Start me where you are with this one. May I say 75 for this? 75,000?

75, start me at 72.

72,000, who has got 70 to kick it off?

70,000? Thank you. 70 I have.

71 is bid. At 71,000. 71, 72.

At 72,000. 73, 74.

At 74,000. And five.

75. 75 on my right. 76, quickly.

At £75,000, one more.

At 75,000 for the first time.

At £75,000 for the second time.

Third opportunity, all done.

Got you at 76. At 76. 77. 77.

77,000. 78. 78 is bid.

500. 78.5. 79.

79. At 79. One more?

Against you at 79. 500.

79.5. 80.

It's worth another shot.

£79,500. All done?

For the first time at 79,500.

Second time at 79,500. It is against you, no mistakes.

Third opportunity at £79,500.

That is very near to where I can sell it, but not quite.

I am withdrawing it at 79,500.

I can sell it to you at 80,000, madam.

That is my minimum figure.

Yes? No? No, OK.

It was Rosie that turned down the auctioneer's final offer.

But after some behind-the-scenes haggling,

she managed to seal the deal for £79,000.

Rosie and her husband Conrad own several buy-to-let properties

and I met up with them back at the house to chat about their plans.

-Rosie, Conrad, good to meet you both.

-Good to meet you.

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

Basically because it seemed to be a perfectly nice house,

in a respectable locality.

And basically, who can go wrong with a three-bedroomed

Edwardian/Victorian house?

It's lovely. Have you invested in this area a lot?

Not in this area a lot.

We've got odd hotchpotches around the place

from the southwest to the southeast to Derbyshire.

But I have the sin of being a supporter of the local

-football team.

-Oh, well done.

It is my ex locality, so that is the other reason

we have sort of come back and pondered around here.

Right. So it this just going to be a pad

that you can use for match days or what?

I pondered that but it actually has to earn some money.

THEY LAUGH

So, it is not going to be a match day crash pad then.

But what is it for?

So, it is either going to be a tart up or titivate for a rental

or something a little bit more substantial.

If we want to, perhaps, fulfil its potential.

Rosie works in finance and Conrad has his own surveying practice.

Being a surveyor, you would be forgiven for thinking that

Conrad would have had a good look at this property before the auction.

I didn't even see it before she bid and bought it.

-So that is trust for you, eh?

-That is trust.

But you have got all the expertise you need.

Surely you've got to wheel him in and...

No, because we have done it often enough, so, you know...

He says what you've got to watch out for is the roof,

and this, that and the other.

But one thing I have got wrong here is that we've

-got trees in the garden.

-Ah.

And trees in the garden, we are learning,

are actually quite often quite a big issue.

So I've got to remember next time round to think about the trees.

So, how does it work between you two then as a property team?

Are you the finder and you are the...? I mean, how does it work?

That tends to be how it has worked out.

That I find them and because, on the whole, the ones that...

Yes, I'm the dogsbody.

Very definitely the dogsbody.

But I'm just intrigued you've got this amazing resource there

and you didn't bring him in to see it beforehand.

-It's not necessary.

-What you mean it is not necessary?

Not necessary. When you're looking at a house,

she knows what to look at.

Look, there's a crack in the wall upstairs. OK? Erm...

But that is not going to be a problem.

But how do you know it is not going to be a problem?

Because I've typed up enough of his survey reports that

I am pretty clear on what is a problem, what hairline cracks we

have to worry about, which are vertical and which are horizontal

or whatever. In fact, the other day he asked me about something and I

said, "Well, it was probably a garage."

And the whole survey report went on an analysis of what I suggested.

Really?

-So, it is...

-She does have her uses.

-Yeah, I'm sure she does.

Tell me what you're going to do then to sort it out.

-Refurb the kitchen.

-It's a big space, the kitchen, isn't it?

It is a very big space, yeah.

We've got a debate going on because there's actually an outside loo.

We're trying to determine whether we actually just nick a bit more

of the kitchen, turn the outside loo into an inside loo,

which is always useful to have one downstairs.

And it has only got a small bathroom upstairs and the room

up at the front is large enough to put in a shower and an en-suite.

So, what is the budget?

-About 10% of cost.

-10% of cost?

Well, that is roughly what...

You shouldn't be spending too much more than that.

Really? Is that another rule of thumb?

Erm... We've been caught on things not playing by that rule of thumb.

-Because otherwise you are dependent on a market going up.

-Right.

And the market here is reasonable

but it is not going to go shooting up.

And you find that people are literally buying buy-to-lets

on the basis that capital value isn't going up.

You realise that things are beginning to look

a little bit suspect, so you don't want to pay too much.

We are not going to get too much more by way of rental

if we spruce it up too much, but just balance the books.

OK.

And what is the timescale for sorting it out?

Well, I said three months and he said, no, two months.

-But I think judging by what we've...

-Three months.

He is now agreeing with me, three months.

MARTIN LAUGHS

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-BOTH:

-Thank you.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you.

We look forward to seeing how you get on.

Well, Rosie and Conrad obviously having great experience

when it comes to properties and the world of surveying, for sure.

Though it would actually make perfect sense for Conrad

to have a look round them before they actually buy them.

I like the plans they've got for this house.

It is already nice, I think it is going to

be really impressive when we come back.

You can see how it turns out later in the show.

You've seen what one of our buyers has been up to,

-but what about the other two?

-Yes, did it all go to plan?

-Cos we know, ahem, it's not always the case.

-That is true, Martin.

Let's find out how they got on.

We're back at the seaside in Brighton, East Sussex.

A town were thrills and spills are practically guaranteed.

Away from the excitement of the seafront

and in much need of a bit of pizzazz

was this modest one-bed flat

with a guide price of £100,000-plus.

Although limited in size, there was scope to change the layout.

Let's do the wall test.

Yep, nice bit of partitioning.

You know what I'm going to say, don't you?

Let's bring that down because through here is the kitchen area.

It is not fantastic but when you take this wall away

and you have a nice bank of shiny, gleaming kitchen units,

I think that would really add to this space.

Where do you want to start me? Should we say 90?

After a ding-dong of an auction,

it was David that emerged victorious, paying

£150,000 for what was his 21st property in the buy-to-let market.

Together with handyman Sean,

they weren't in the mood to take their time.

So, how long is it going to take you, do you think?

Probably a week, week and a half.

All right, give us that pencil. Give us that pencil.

-Can I write on your wall?

-Yeah, go for it.

One week and a half.

-You've got a week and a half to do this.

-Thank you.

-That is a challenge.

-Right.

# You've got to beat the clock

# You've got to beat the clock

# You've got to beat the clock... #

So, the challenge was set - one week and a half

and a maximum budget of £4,000.

Ohh, the tension!

# You've got to beat the clock. #

Four weeks later, the cameras are back,

not only to see what David and Sean have done to the flat

but to hear if they managed to keep to the bargain.

Time to reveal all.

Now, isn't it funny how removing a small wall can make such

a difference to a room?

With light flooding in from both windows and the fresh decor

and new tiling, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a new kitchen.

Well, with a tight budget,

David wasn't going to fritter away cash unnecessarily.

We've retained all these cabinets because, you know,

they are OK for letting.

We've put in oak worktops and we've put in an oven

and a fridge as well as we've put in a lino floor,

which is a wood effect.

And the main sort of feature of this area

is the worktop kitchen/breakfast bar.

A similar economic strategy has been employed in the shower room.

New flooring and a new sink unit aside,

things are pretty much as they were.

Happily, the bedroom that had been abandoned in the '80s

has been relocated to the 21st century.

So far, so good.

But how did David set about tackling the damp in the stairwell?

That was just historic staining.

There wasn't really a damp issue,

so we've just over-boarded and plastered.

We've had a few rainy nights and it seems fine.

With the damp taken care of,

this place is ready for the rental market.

David had set his budget between £3,000-4,000,

but that would all depend on the viability of the boiler.

The boiler wasn't fit for purpose.

We condemned it and we've gone over to using the immersion heater

for the water and electric for the heating.

We got away with around £4,000 in the end.

There were few contingencies with the extra plastering

and putting in heaters because of the boiler issue.

But it was pretty close to what we expected

and we were pretty disciplined sticking to that budget.

Being strict with the budget is one thing,

but remember my scribble on the wall?

How strict was he with the 1.5-week schedule? I want to know.

# I can read the writing on the wall... #

Probably all in all it was two, two and a half weeks.

Some issues with scheduling, people not coming in on time

and that delayed us a bit.

But, all in all, it was pretty close to the scheduled time.

In fact, David's main man Sean had to move on to another job

and his place was taken by another handyman, Sid.

And David wasn't adverse to a spot of grafting either.

I was pretty hands-on.

I'd come in, pick up a paintbrush and do some touching up

and just directing people and trying to schedule everything

and making sure everything was running on time to the schedule.

With 21 properties under his belt, I think it is

safe to say David knows what he is doing.

What is the secret to his success?

The budget, it is really kind of having the discipline to

stick to what you must do compared to what you want to do.

You know, there are some finishings you want to put in aesthetically

but you have to stick to this budget to make it cost-effective.

Hm, sound advice there.

And here are two local property experts we've invited along

to tell us what they think of David's project.

It definitely looks a lot fresher and cleaner.

And saying that,

more appealing to anybody to come in to make it a home.

The way that the owner has done it, opened up the kitchen area here

is really good for the rental market.

So I think it would be very popular indeed.

David bought and renovated this flat to put up for rent,

so what could he realistically expect in terms of rental income?

As the property stands at the moment,

sort of unfurnished, it would be somewhere between £650, maybe up

to £700 per calendar month

depending on who's looking at the time.

For the rental market,

we should be looking at a figure of £850 per calendar month.

It's quite a spread. I think in the middle,

something like £750 would be realistic.

Well, having spent a total of £154,000, a rent of £750 per

calendar month would give it a return of almost 6%.

And what about resale values?

I'd look to put it on the market at £180,000 to £185,000.

I think a residential sales value for this property is going

to be something in the region of about £175,000.

Based on those values, David could emerge with a profit

of between £21,000 and £31,000 before tax and other expenses.

Has that changed his plan?

Well, the market is going up as you know, so we are going to hold

it for a year and probably sell it in the next year, next tax year.

-MARTIN:

-It is time to return to Normanton in Derby

and this mid-terraced three-bedroom house

which was up for auction at a guide price of £75,000-plus.

# Middle of the road... #

It may have been in the middle of the road,

but inside, what was this stuck in the middle of the living room.

That is actually a first.

I've never seen a sliding patio door in the middle of a room like that.

That is brilliant.

Ha, or not.

Thankfully the rest of the house followed a more conventional

design and with generous room sizes

and plenty of scope to add value, I sensed a bit of an opportunity.

This house is just... It is spot-on for what it is.

It was married couple and buy-to-let investors Rosie

and Conrad who paid £79,000 for this place.

Although Conrad is a building surveyor,

it was Rosie who picked it out and bid for this auction lot.

Got you at 76.

Dare I say he left the whole lot to Rosie?

# Whole lotta Rosie... #

I've typed up enough of his survey reports that

I am pretty clear on what is a problem, what hairline cracks

we have to worry about, which are vertical and which are horizontal.

I don't reckon these two will crack under the pressure

because they have supreme confidence in each other's abilities.

And so, with a timescale of three months

and a budget of around £8,000, I left them to get on with the job.

We are back six months later to see if Rosie

and Conrad have worked some magic in Normanton.

Rosie and Conrad have made such a difference to this place.

Taking pride of place is the beautiful new kitchen

and they managed to bring the outdoor loo indoors.

Best of all, not a patio door to be seen.

Well, this is where the patio doors were. We've...

..blocked the opening, as you can see.

And created the two reception rooms.

Yes, it is actually a relatively straightforward job

and I think it was one of the first things that we actually did,

so we are quite happy with it.

Yeah, it was painless. Painless and highly necessary.

With two reception rooms, the ground-floor space feels

more in keeping with the overall size of the house.

Upstairs, the bedrooms have been redecorated and carpeted,

freshened up and ready to be furnished.

The biggest change upstairs is in the bathroom, which has been

enlarged thanks to some space donated from the back bedroom.

It feels now like a family bathroom and the third bedroom is

still of an adequate size to put a double bed in it.

And did the cracks in the wall prove to be problematic?

We did a proper repair. Stitched across them and...

So they will hold together and that will not reopen.

It hasn't reopened since it has been repaired.

And I'm confident it won't.

In the back garden, asbestos in the shed roof was a factor

they hadn't anticipated,

and its safe removal added time to the outdoor work.

But with the garden now clear, it is ready for a bit of landscaping.

Having set themselves a three-month timeframe,

how good was their time management?

We did have a joke whether it would be two or three months.

In reality, we actually started it a month later than we were

because, compared to when we were last getting works done in Derby,

everybody that we were planning on using was actually incredibly busy.

But in reality, it has only taken us about three months

if we put it in terms of how many days a week are allocated, etc.

And for us, we were a little bit sort of slower because we were

held up quite often on the M1 due to 21 miles of road works.

So, just don't feel quite so inspired to come up so often.

Rosie and Conrad were aiming to spend 10% of the purchase cost,

which worked out at around £8,000.

Was that sufficient to get the job finished?

Due to various people deciding that they were going to

replaster walls, which took a lot of time, etc,

we probably ended up probably spending 20% more than

we needed to, which is about the order of about £10,000.

Oh, dear. Conrad, looks like you're in the doghouse.

With a total spend of £89,000,

Rosie and Conrad have created a very appealing family home.

But will they add this to their rental portfolio?

I think the jury is out.

It's only just gone up for rental,

so let's see what interest we get, what levels of rent are viable

and if that is not going to work best that way,

we will put it up for sale.

Well, there's only one thing to do

when indecision rears its ugly head - bring in the estate agents.

Perhaps their expert valuations will provide some clarity.

Good layout, nice and spacious accommodation.

Three double bedrooms

and also I like the way they have managed to incorporate

a toilet at the back of the kitchen,

which will appeal to the families.

The standard finish on this house is quite interesting

because initially, there is almost a wow factor,

which - when you're selling a house - is what you want.

When you look closer, the finish of the paint work and the wood,

the second fixing is really poor.

A black mark for decoration then, but will it affect the valuations?

On the sales market,

I would expect this property to achieve a price of around £100,000.

I would recommend a sales valuation between £110,000 to £ 115,000.

Nothing controversial about it whatsoever.

There's one across the road on for 110,000 and we know that

other ones down the road have gone for less than 100,000.

Achieving a sale at the top valuation of 115,000 would

mean a potential pre-tax profit of £26,000.

Not bad for a few months' work.

But, as Rosie and Conrad are already offering the house for rent,

will the estate agents' figures match their expectations?

I would recommend a rental valuation of £525 per calendar month.

In my opinion, if this property were to be offered on the rental market,

it would achieve a rental price of around £525 per calendar month.

With the house fully redecorated, re-carpeted,

with the kitchen as it is and the bathroom downstairs loo,

we would be expecting towards the upper level of the rents

that have been quoted.

A monthly rent of £525 would represent a return on investment

of 7%, an amount that leaves these two buy-to-let veterans satisfied.

But did they learn anything new from this project?

Yep. We have learnt who makes the best egg mayonnaise sandwiches

and who does the best cream cakes.

We hope you have enjoyed the show

and maybe picked up a few tips along the way as well.

Could you be tempted to follow in the footsteps of our buyers?

Well, there are plenty more properties and auctions out there,

so make sure you join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

-Bye-bye.