Episode 59 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello, welcome to the programme.

You don't have to have years of experience

to become a seasoned property developer.

No, but if you ARE new to the game,

make sure you know about the pitfalls before you start.

And while you're doing your research, why not pop along,

cos it might just suit you buying your home under the hammer.

Believe me, once you think you know everything about property,

that's the time when something just crops up that you weren't expecting.

Will that happen today? Yes, I think it will.

Yes, let's see the three properties

that went under the hammer on today's show.

On today's show,

there's a big surprise for these developers in Kent.

He more or less rang us up and said,

"Oh, actually, I've just won the bid."

Hopefully, there'll be no nasty surprises

for this developer in Stoke-on-Trent.

The legal pack's quite good actually.

Anybody would be a fool not to read them.

And in Newport, Wales, there'll be a pleasant surprise

for the new owner of this house.

One thing strikes you more than anything else

and that's the incredible view.

All these properties have been sold at auction.

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

-when they went under the hammer.

-You bought it. Well done.

MUSIC: Walk On The Wild Side by Lou Reed

Today I'm in the southeast of England.

Oh, the beautiful county of Kent,

full of fields, farms and open countryside.

A wealth of crops are grown in this county, from fruit to hops,

and the majority of land is still agricultural,

so it's no wonder Kent is known as the Garden of England.

I'm between Leybourne and West Malling,

but looking around this countryside surround,

it feels like I could be miles from anywhere.

# Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side

# I said hey, honey, take a walk on the wild side... #

The property I'm here to see is tucked away

down this little unpaved road here.

It's a large detached two-storey building. It's here.

It may look like an ordinary house, but it was last used as offices

and it had a guide price at auction of £245,000.

Ooh, dear.

The interior really is a world away from what's going on out there.

It's so corporate and officey.

Look, whiteboard, noticeboard, strip lighting,

hard cord carpets, magnolia walls...

It really does have that sort of worky, officey feel to it.

You can tell that this was obviously a business until recently.

But it must have been a home once upon a time

because a fireplace like this...

Well, it looks like this would have been somebody's dining room.

So, I think you could convert this back.

It would be a fantastic place to live

because all I would do all day would be to look out there.

Look, horses in your front garden - how lovely!

# Ride with me

# Ride with me... #

Well, if I can tear myself away from those lovely horses,

we can take a trot around the ground floor.

There's a second reception room, a handy downstairs loo

and a sizeable kitchen.

Yet again, though, it's not quite the country range you'd imagine.

Still, with a larder that looks like this,

no-one's going to steal your chutney!

Well, a little bit disappointing outside.

A bit on the small side,

although there is a possibility you could extend to the side here

because there is a fair bit of space.

But even though you listen, you can't hear anything.

Beautiful countryside, birdsong.

In the faint, faint distance, you can hear a slight hum of the M20.

It's not annoying, but you definitely know it's there.

At the moment, upstairs, there are five smallish offices

which, if I were to guess,

would have been three sizeable bedrooms at one point.

But there's no bathroom, just a separate loo.

Having looked around and taken into account the out-of-the-way location,

I think this property is best suited to being converted

back from offices into a lovely residential home.

It would be quite a straightforward conversion.

You'd need to put in a bathroom or a few bathrooms somewhere

and, of course, a nice kitchen downstairs.

Due to changes in the planning laws, back in 2013,

you wouldn't even need planning permission to make the change here.

All the work could be done

under the current permitted development rights,

so that's really good news for this property.

However, there is one possible issue which should be investigated.

The access road to the property is this little lane along here

and it's lovely. But here's a tip.

You really should check whether this is an adopted road,

which means it's owned and maintained by the local council,

or if it's a private unadopted road.

If it's unadopted, it means it's likely

that you and other properties along here

are responsible for its upkeep and not the council.

You can find out if that's the case by checking your title deeds

or from the local authority.

But if this is an unadopted road,

you'll have to occasionally grab the shovel

and fill in any potholes for yourselves.

# Dig yourself, Lazarus

# Dig yourself, Lazarus

# Dig yourself, Lazarus Dig yourself... #

Still, I don't think a little digging is too much to ask,

especially if you can get this

for anywhere near its guide price of £245,000.

But what does an estate agent think of this house

with an unusual interior?

We've asked one along to find out.

In its current form,

it's really only three reasonable size bedrooms

and I would think, for the location and the neighbouring properties,

if you could bring this up to, say, a four, maybe five-bedroom spec,

by putting a sizeable double-storey extension on the side,

you could be looking as much as £650,000 to £700,000.

So, it sounds like that extension I mentioned

really should be considered an option.

But what value would he put on the property

if it was modernised but kept in its current layout?

I would imagine, if the property remained as it is now

and, obviously, completely renovated,

I think you're looking at somewhere between £500,000 and £550,000.

So, this used to be a house, now it's offices

and I think the best option is to go back to being residential.

Just look around you - little Shetland ponies and horses

and green fields. It would make a fabulous home

and I think that a family would love living here.

Let's find out who bought this big old building at the auction.

A substantial freehold two-floor detached building

requiring modernisation. Lot 63.

Where do you want to start me?

Shall we say nice and low, £200,000?

Any takers at 200? Yes, thank you. £200,000 I have.

210 in the aisle? 210. It's in the aisle at 210 now.

220? 220 by the wall, while you were thinking about it.

230? 230. 240? 240. 250?

250 with the lady in the new place. 250. 260, sir? 260.

270. 280?

280. New place, standing. Thank you, 280.

290, madam? 290. 300. 310.

320. 330?

No? 325, try and help you out? 325 anywhere else?

325, new place. 330, sir?

No. New bidder. £325,000. 330 anywhere else?

Are we all done? £325,000 for the first,

second...third and final time.

-At £325,000. Sold.

-HE BANGS GAVEL

That final bid of £325,000 came from Kent-based restaurateur Aftab,

who was at the auction representing his three other partners.

I met up with Aftab and one of the missing trio, Anhar,

to find out what they had cooking for this place.

Congratulations, guys. Lovely to meet you both.

Now, Anhar, who found this and how have you ended up buying it?

We all found it. We liked the property.

-There's four of us and we decided to do it as a group.

-OK.

On the auction day, we were all supposed to go

but we were all a bit tied up, so Aftab went to the auction thinking

that we were going to be there behind him, but we didn't turn up.

So you were there on your own?

I kept looking at the back to see what time they're coming

and they wasn't behind me.

He more or less rang us up and said "Oh, actually,

"I've just won the bid." I was like, "Oh, really?"

So, lucky for you, he did bid

and you did get it at a fair price, didn't you?

Less than the figure they told me.

-They told me £330,000 but I got it for £325,000.

-So there you go.

He got some spare change as well, which is fantastic.

-I think Aftab did well.

-Yeah, you did well.

-My first time.

-And his first time.

-First time. Look at your prize.

# Do you remember the first time?

# I can't remember a worse time

# But as long as you save a piece for me, oh, yeah... #

Well, that's not an experience Aftab will forget in a hurry.

Let's hope he doesn't disappoint them with this property.

But how did the four partners end up working together?

-We are all in the restaurant trade.

-Not together.

-Different restaurants.

You all have different restaurants? And how do you all know each other?

In the Kent area, all the Indian restaurants tend to know each other.

-Do they?

-And get-togethers and stuff like that.

-So, there's four of you.

-Yeah.

-Who's going to play what role and do what?

You've already done your fair share, Aftab,

so I don't think you need to do any more.

Aftab lives local, so it's easier for him to gain access

-and let builders in.

-Yeah.

Rather than everybody having too many ideas,

I think it's just me and Aftab.

We're just going to go round with the builders,

get ideas and we're going to take it from there.

-What do you want to do with it?

-Um...light refurbishment.

I don't want to go over the top,

in terms of spend money on extensions and stuff like that.

Kitchen, bathrooms, clean out inside, painting, decorating.

Outside - touch-up, gardens. Put it straight back on the market.

So what sort of budget have you guys got to spend here?

Looking at around the 30 mark.

Yes, the doors are well and truly closed on this business

as Aftab, Anhar and their partners have decided

that this should become a residential property again

and I couldn't agree more.

£30,000 seems like a decent budget

but there's a fair amount of work to do here.

Just out of interest, how much do you think

you would like to market this property for once it's for sale?

-Round about £550,000 to £525,000.

-Have you done your research?

We have. I asked the estate agent

and they say the house will sell for £500,000 anyway.

One of the things I've been speaking to Aftab as well

is do we actually want to do anything to it

or do we, if we get a good margin, sell it as it is?

Whoever buys it, let them do it to their taste.

So we might come back and you might not have done anything.

-Anything, and just sold it.

-That's going to be really boring for us!

I would like to do the works, but whatever we do,

somebody else, it might not be to their taste.

-They'll probably rip it out and do it again.

-Absolutely.

And what is your timescale? How many months have you got?

The builders, when they get started, four weeks.

-Two to three weeks of planning.

-Two to three weeks of planning.

-And four weeks getting it done.

-Four weeks to crack on.

So we'll be back fairly soon to see, do you completely give it

-a big old refurb inside or not.

-Yeah.

What do you think you guys are going to do?

-You'll have to wait and see.

-You don't know, do you?!

THEY LAUGH

It's been lovely meeting you today

-and I'm really excited to see the outcome.

-Thank you very much.

-Lovely to see you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, Aftab, Anhar and their business partners think

they've bagged themselves a bargain here and I have to agree.

If they play their cards right

and refurbish this property as they plan,

making it into a nice family home,

then I think they could make a nice little profit.

But they did mention they might do nothing at all and just sell it on.

You can find out what happens to this house later in the programme.

MUSIC: The Boys Of Summer by Don Henley

Welcome to Hanley in Staffordshire.

Wait a minute, that's Don HEN-ley playing there.

Can we change that music, please?

MUSIC: True by Spandau Ballet

No! Now, that's Tony HAD-ley!

Honestly, you just can't get the staff nowadays!

Anyway, Hanley is one of six towns that makes up Stoke-on-Trent.

Traditionally a mining town, thanks to ongoing regeneration

and a new bus station, Hanley has terrific links to other local towns,

as well as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

As you can tell by my surroundings, I'm on an old, traditional street

with terrace houses aplenty and it's one of them I'm here to see today.

It's a two-bed with a guide price of £28,000 plus. And here it is.

And that's not the best start.

That's a sure sign that this house has had

some kind of subsidence issues. Let's take a look inside.

We're straight into the front room.

Got double glazing, which is good, central heating as well.

It has got a cold feeling. Let's see what's through here.

Into the second reception room.

There's a bit of a cupboard under the stairs, just there.

More central heating, which is good

and there's a bit of a damp patch as well in the corner.

Stairs going up to the bedrooms.

But it's a decent size second reception room.

Through here into the kitchen.

As we come through here,

the house would have stopped there, back in the day

and this extension would have been put on a little bit later.

However, the kitchen doesn't look in too bad condition.

You could clean it up and actually get away with keeping some of this.

I can see damp issues just there as well.

As we go towards the back, there's a bit of a work area just there,

into the new design feature just here in the bathroom.

You've got a bath, toilet and sink

and more damp towards the back of this extension as well.

So, a good, classic, traditional layout downstairs

with that extension adding some welcome extra space.

But that damp does concern me.

And out the back, I think I may have found the cause.

As you can see behind me, there is a bow in that roof,

which is a another sign of subsidence.

Stoke-on-Trent was heavily mined,

so this probably is the most likely cause of subsidence.

It does look as though some work has been done to address the problem,

but that bowed roof doesn't seem right

and I'd definitely get someone out to have a look at it.

On a positive side, on the first floor,

there are two good size bedrooms.

You know, with this guide price of £28,000,

with a bit of work, I think this could be a great investment

but let's see what a local estate agent thinks.

There looks as though there's possibly been

a bit of subsidence in the past.

It's not too surprising for the area and you can tell from the brickwork

at the front, there definitely has been some repair work done.

I think it would probably be best to have a specialist look at those.

So, bearing in mind there's going to be both decorative

and, potentially, structural work needed, let's get some valuations.

Once it's fully renovated, I think for the sales market,

we could look at a figure of £60,000,

and for the rental market, a figure of around £385 per calendar month.

This house could be very attractive to quite a few people

if that subsidence issue is sorted.

However, after seeing that sagging roof,

it does make me think it's a job half done.

Let's see who did their research and read the legal pack

when it went under the hammer.

Lot 28. Two-bedroom mid-terraced house, close to the city centre.

25 to start on this one.

25 bid. At £25,000. 26 can I see now?

Bid's at £25,000, seated second row.

26. 27. 28.

29? It's at 29...

There was some determined bidding at this busy auction

and the price soon moved up. We rejoin the bidding at £40,000.

At £40,000, lady's bid, standing, at £40,000.

41 anywhere else?

If not, I'm selling it at £40,000 for the first time.

£40,000 for the second time.

Third and final time...

Half? £40,500...

No? £40,500. Pointing at them now, then.

At £40,500 once then, twice then.

Third and final time, at £40,500...

-HE BANGS GAVEL

-You bought it. Well done.

The successful bid of £40,500 came from Patricia and her husband, Clive.

MUSIC: Mountain At My Gates by Foals

Patricia currently lives in Kent but was brought up in Stoke

and having recently retired,

has started a property portfolio with Clive.

I met up with her to find out what her plans were for this house.

-Patricia, nice to meet you. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Why this particular house, Patricia?

Basically, it was cheap enough and I felt that the work...

You know, we got it for a price that we know we can do the work on.

As I say, I've got two others at the moment,

so I didn't want to go too large cos I want to do that later on,

buy something bigger, but I thought price was the right thing

and we can put the value back in.

So, what work are you going to do to the house?

Well, sort the roof and the structural stuff out

and then, once we've got that done, general things like electrics

and I think the kitchen needs ripping out and putting back in,

make everything neutral and flooring and that's it.

That all sounds pretty straightforward,

but what about that other structural headache?

Some kind of subsidence issues

-you're going to have to address as well.

-Subsidence, yes, we know.

Will that eat into your budget quite a lot?

That won't eat too much into the budget

cos I've already, obviously, had that looked at very vaguely,

so I'm confident that won't be too much,

but the roof is the big issue on this one.

So, in the legal pack, was there the subsidence issue?

Yes, the legal pack's quite good, actually.

Anybody would be a fool not to read them before going to auction

and, obviously, we saw the property and we knew what the issues were.

Just two Hammer rules - you've got to read the legal pack

-and view the property.

-Yeah.

-And you've done both.

-Done both.

Well done. Did it not put you off at all when you read the legal pack

-and the subsidence?

-No, not at all.

It's Stoke-on-Trent, a lot of mining was going on in Stoke-on-Trent.

There's a lot of mine seams around.

There are issues, but a lot has settled now,

so the problems are no longer there

but, obviously, you've got to put right

-what's gone wrong already.

-Completely.

-# Don't do it

-I done done it

-# Don't do it

-I done done it

# I went and did it

# Ooh, it sure was nice... #

By reading the legal pack, Patricia has certainly done her homework

and, combined with her local knowledge of the area,

she's ready to move ahead.

She's got a team of professionals ready to start

and as for the budget...

-I'm confident we can do this for £10,000.

-OK.

And then your timescale will be what to finish it off?

Because I'm not certain about the roofing and that,

and the structural stuff, I think it's going to be about three months.

Which isn't too bad, is it, really?

No, I'd like to think six, seven weeks,

-but I think I need to give myself time.

-OK.

So what are your plans for the house once all the work's complete?

We're going to keep this one and rent it

so I'm starting to build up the portfolio now.

OK, is that what you intend to do?

Do you intend to buy the properties in these areas

and keep hold of them and try and build it or sometimes do you sell?

We are intending to do that and we want to try, this year,

-to move up to about ten...

-That's good.

-..within the next year.

Obviously, they won't all be from auction.

But we will keep doing ones that are for selling on as well.

Originally from Stoke, Patricia's spent the last nine years abroad

training teachers in China and the United Arab Emirates.

After all this time away, she and her husband, Clive,

are starting to feel the lure of their home city.

How does it feel being back in Stoke?

Obviously, our parents are still here, both our sets of parents

and all the families are here, so we've always come back and visited.

They've seen a lot more of me now, they've seen a lot more,

so my mum and dad are happy

and my mother-in-law and father-in-law are happy being here.

But we are now considering actually, eventually,

probably in about four or five years, making our way back this way.

-Ah, it's drawing you back in, isn't it?

-Nearer to Manchester for United.

-Oh, I see!

-So you are a United fan? We are.

You mentioned off-air that you got up in the middle of the night

-a couple of times.

-Oh, three o'clock in the morning in China,

-watching Chelsea vs United, European Cups and things.

-Proper supporters.

-Proper supporters.

-Good on you.

-I wish you lots of luck.

-Thank you.

-Hope it works out for you.

-Good luck, Patricia.

-Thank you.

Patricia and Clive viewed the property and read the legal pack

and weren't put off by the subsidence issue.

They've also got to tackle that roof and the damp.

Will they get it all done within that £10,000 budget?

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

Still to come, in Newport in Wales, this developer gets philosophical.

It's a bit of a rollercoaster at times.

We have plenty of downs, but you just have to roll with the punches.

But will there be more downs than ups for this Stoke developer?

More or less take the whole extension apart and start again.

MUSIC: House In The Country by The Kinks

Time now to return to the Kent countryside

and this house near Leybourne with a guide price of £245,000.

# House in the country and a big sports car... #

Hang on there, it may have been in the countryside

but, although it had been built as a house,

it certainly wasn't a home,

as it had been last used as a commercial property.

Bedrooms had been divided into small offices

and although there were loos, there were certainly no bathrooms.

But that's not to say it had to stay that way.

I think you could convert this back.

It would be a fantastic place to live

because all I would do all day would be to look out there.

Look, horses in your front garden - how lovely!

It was bought by a team of restaurateurs for £325,000.

But although there were four of them working together,

poor Aftab had been left on his own to go to the auction.

-£325,000. Sold.

-HE BANGS GAVEL

-Still, he seemed to do a good job.

-I think Aftab did well.

-Yeah, you did well.

-My first time.

-And his first time.

First time. Look at your prize.

# The winner takes it all... #

Of the four partners,

Aftab and Anhar were the two taking control of the project.

They had a budget of £30,000

and a timescale of around seven to eight weeks

and they were so confident they'd got a good deal at the auction,

Anhar even thought about flipping the property

without doing any work at all.

Well, five months later, we've returned.

Maybe this house will be a new country home

or maybe the guys will have just sold it on.

MUSIC: Love Story by Taylor Swift

Oh, what a relief!

I'll be honest, I would have been so disappointed

if the guys had just flipped this. It had so much potential

and that potential's been realised by the hard work of Aftab and Anhar.

Let's hear what they've done.

Refurbished the whole property -

electrics, plumbing,

created a new bathroom,

um...plastering, painting,

lighting - you name it, everything's been done on the property.

All we need to do now is to sell it.

Well, I can't imagine that's going to take them long.

Upstairs, those five small offices have gone

and been replaced with a new family bathroom

and three great bedrooms, one with an en suite.

Finally, this house has an interior that those views deserve.

So, what made them decide to do all the work?

Looking at the local market, looking at our competition,

with some of the newer developers in and around the area,

we just felt we had to up the standard of work we're doing here.

It's a nice building from the outside

but internally, we have gone for a more modern, crisp look.

Yeah, generally quite pleased with it.

MUSIC: Enjoy The Silence by Depeche Mode

It's always wise to learn as much as you can about your market.

The house was bought by four partners in total,

so how did they get on working together?

The others are silent partners.

Aftab's been the main guy, in terms of being onsite.

Well, I've been getting the builders, the plumbers,

everyone, to carry out the work on this property

and any change, I always ring up Anhar

and say, "Look." And he says, "It's fine, just carry on."

I feel sorry for the builders with Aftab here.

Poor old Aftab!

First he was left to buy the property himself

and now he was the one overseeing the project.

Still, I get the feeling he quite enjoyed

the silence from the other partners,

so he could just take charge and get on with things.

The partners knew each other from running restaurants in the area.

So, how was it juggling two jobs?

It's been fine for me. Um, I don't know about Aftab!

Well, it's been hard for me,

but I took extra staff in my restaurant

and so I've been more here than been there.

When you're spending £100,000 on a property,

there's a lot of poppadoms to sell, to be honest,

otherwise it's not going to happen on its own.

Wait a minute - £100,000?

We originally budgeted for about £30,000, but that was a basic,

before we actually showed any builders or anything like that.

But having a look at the local area

and what the property actually demands,

we've more or less touched about £100,000 on this.

All I needed to say was I just need some more money and that's it.

That was the problem! Text message, not even a phone call, text message!

"Another 15, please, this week."

I was like, "God, I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him!"

Well, I'm sorry about this,

I'm just going to have to drop a text to Martin and Dion.

I mean, if it's worked for Aftab...

Anyway, that £100,000 was on top of the £325,000 they paid at auction

and the work took a total of four months.

So, will it have all been worthwhile?

We asked along two local estate agents to get their opinion.

It's super. They've done a cracking job. A very high standard.

Lovely fittings, fixtures. Decorating's good. Very good.

The final project is marvellous.

They've really worked hard, in very good taste,

spent, I would say, quite a lot of money, but it's well worth it.

The property is delightful.

With a total spend of £425,000,

do the four partners still stand to make a profit?

If it were to rent, I would say about £1,700 per calendar month.

Should they decide to go to the rental market,

then I would hope to achieve £1,650 per calendar month.

I believe this property would sell for £550,000.

In the current market, I would expect to achieve around £550,000.

I'd be happy with something mid-range - £575,000, £580,000.

But it's on the market now and we'll just wait and see.

That valuation would give Aftab, Anhar and their two other partners

a pre-tax profit of £125,000.

And it sounds like this could be the first of many,

if Aftab gets to take control again.

Yes, we will, because we are already looking to go into auction.

I was quite happy with the result on this one,

in terms of the group working together,

Aftab being onsite and taking care of...

I'm quite happy with that scenario, to be honest.

MUSIC: Dance The Night Away by The Mavericks

The attractive coastal town of Newport in southeast Wales

has been a port since medieval times

when the Normans decided to build a castle here.

Legend says that in times gone by,

in order to defeat the warrior that defended the castle,

you'd have to move in time to the rhythm of the minstrels' music.

# I just want to dance the night away... #

Yes, well, on a more serious note, Newport's still incredibly popular,

thanks, in no small part, to the views across the River Usk.

Just a 20-minute walk from the centre of Newport,

with all its good road and rail links,

is the property I'm here to see.

Three-bedroom detached,

had a guide price of £95,000 plus. Let's take a look.

So, in through the side... Whoa...

Always a good design, that.

In through the side entrance of the property,

straight into the kitchen and well, you know, it's not bad, I suppose.

I'm lying, aren't I?

No, it definitely needs complete refurbishment.

The house itself is 1930s.

Some of it looks like it hasn't changed too much in that time

but there's some nice features still there.

I like those stained glass windows at the end of the hall.

That's the main entrance to the property,

but I bet that's the one you end up using all the time.

But a classic design of its type.

This living room, split in two by these folding doors.

Does that remind you of a house you lived in

when you were a child? Or maybe you've got one of these still.

Yeah, very of its type, as are the fireplaces.

It's...yeah...a bit of a time warp, to be honest,

but how are we going to bring it bang up to date?

I think open it up as much as possible.

That wall there, to my mind, has got to go.

Create yourself a really big kitchen-living area here,

maybe even some doors out onto the garden that way,

and then the ground floor is getting sorted.

There's certainly a lot to play with. Let's carry on looking round.

# Anything could happen

# Anything could happen

# Anything could... #

There's certainly plenty to reminisce about here,

but this place has potential in spades and real scope to add value.

There's that kitchen-reception room, begging to be opened up

and the option to extend as well. So, plenty to think about then.

Let's see what else is on offer.

Upstairs, and pretty much like downstairs - that feeling

of the place just needing a bit of modernisation is definitely there.

But good space again.

Three nice-sized bedrooms - smaller one there,

larger one towards the front and another one towards the back.

Bathroom with separate loo, again in need of modernisation, I think.

Turquoise, in terms of the bath, is slightly yesterday.

But do you keep them as two? Can you knock those together? Probably.

My thoughts are to keep it separate, but I think you know that already.

But coming upstairs here, one thing strikes you

more than anything else and that's the incredible views

that this house's location gives.

From the front, views over Newport, and then towards the back here,

surprise, surprise - actually, a pleasant surprise -

fantastic views over this local park.

Those views are a real selling point but it's time I tore myself

away from that lovely horizon and looked a little closer to home.

So, quite an interesting design to the garden

at the sort of back/ side of the house.

The main part of it accessed

via this fairly narrow little passageway here.

You've got lots of concrete. It needs sorting out, obviously.

It could be quite pleasant. You've got a little greenhouse etc.

Part of the problem is created by this absolutely enormous garage,

so one of the things you could contemplate is knocking this down

to give you easier access and maybe create a bit more garden.

Well, garden's all well and good - I love gardens for sure -

but I think that the extra space which this garage provides,

not only for protecting your car, also a workshop area,

maybe even an office or something you could build into that.

On balance, I think that needs to stay.

This house certainly gives you options

and with that £95,000 plus guide price,

you've probably realised I think

this could be a good investment opportunity.

We've asked along the local auctioneer who sold the property

to find out what he thinks.

The house is a great auction property.

It's an honest house, a house that you come in

and say, "Yes, it needs this and that doing,"

but there shouldn't be any hidden secrets here.

So, we agree on both counts.

This is a good house but it's going to need work.

How much does he think it would cost to bring this house up to scratch?

I think you could easily spend £25,000 on this house.

You could spend a bit less than that, perhaps,

if you did a lot of the work yourself.

You could spend a lot more than that if you decided to go top spec,

but I would think about £25,000 is pretty fair.

And once that money's spent, will there still be profit to be made?

Let's get some valuations.

If somebody were to sell this, they'd be looking to sell it

in a modernised state for between £170,000 and £180,000.

But if they were to rent it out,

they'd rent it out for about £700 to £750 per calendar month.

So a substantial house in a nice location

and one that you could really add value to,

so maybe this is a buy it, do it up and move it on scenario.

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

Lot number 39. Needs some updating.

Good views towards the front. Off-road parking and garage.

Start me at around £100,000, somebody. 100?

Make it 90 then if you like. Wave a hand at me at 90. Thank you.

At 90, I've got you there. 90. 92 behind? 92. 94?

96. 98. And 100?

100. 102. 104...

Well, that guide price of £95,000 plus was passed in seconds.

The bids keep coming thick and fast

and we rejoin the bidding at £120,000.

120. 121.

122. 123. 124.

125. 126.

127. 128?

No. At 127. £127,000, on my right-hand side then.

First time, second time, third and last time, at £127,000.

-HE BANGS GAVEL

-Well done, madam. Your number is 92.

And that successful bid of £127,000

came from full-time property developer Rhiannon.

Rhiannon has a small portfolio she's developed in the four years

since leaving her job as an architectural technologist.

So, can we expect some major architectural changes here?

I met up with her back at the property to find out.

-Rhiannon, great to meet you.

-Nice to meet you as well, Martin.

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

I really liked the style of the house and the positioning in Newport.

-The views are fantastic.

-They are.

This is a new direction for us

-because we normally do them up to rent them.

-OK.

-But this is to sell on.

-Right. "We" - is that you and...?

-My husband.

-So is it a family business, if you like?

-Yeah, yeah.

What you do all the time or have you got other jobs?

-My husband's got another job. He does architectural plans.

-Great.

-He's self-employed.

-So what kind of projects do you normally take on?

What do you normally look for?

The last project we did was a three-storey house

and we turned it into flats upstairs and offices downstairs

-and I was looking for something a bit smaller.

-Right.

# Little bitty pretty one

# Come on and talk to me

# Lovey dovey lovey one

# Come and sit on my knee... #

So this will be a little bit smaller than past jobs

but it could certainly still make Rhiannon a pretty penny

if it all comes together.

Was she happy with what she paid at the auction?

-I think I would have gone to £130,000.

-Right.

That was my top whack.

-You got it for within your budget, which is the main thing.

-Yeah.

-You obviously still enjoy doing this.

-I do enjoy doing it.

-It's a bit of a rollercoaster at times.

-Have you had any downs?

Oh, yeah, we have plenty of downs

but you just have to roll with the punches, don't you?

The finance for this place has been the down, so hopefully,

-the renovation will be the...

-What was the issue there?

The mortgage fell flat because of the six-month rule.

The property had been bought by the vendors four months ago

and the company that we're getting a mortgage with wouldn't remortgage

-if it had been sold within six months.

-Wow.

-So, it...

-It caught you out then?

-Yeah, well, it did a bit,

but we're going to raise finance from a bridging loan.

That six-month rule is something to watch out for,

as it is definitely becoming more prevalent.

Basically, some lenders will not issue a mortgage on a property

that's been owned by the previous owner for less than six months.

With the relatively quick completion time of auction purchases,

it's certainly worth knowing

to make sure you definitely have your finances in place.

Rhiannon got round the problem with a bridging loan

and now she has, what are her plans for this house?

Strip the place out, remove the garage, tidy the garden,

decorate throughout, new flooring and replace the kitchen and the bathroom

in a manner that suits the house.

Possibly a small kitchen extension,

so you can get a kitchen-diner in there and put nice lights in.

-I like a bit of bling on the ceiling.

-A bit of bling!

-Yeah, so...

Any walls coming out? Walls between the kitchen and lounge?

No, I'm not going to take that out.

I did toy with it, to make a kitchen-diner,

-but it'll be either that or the extension, one or the other.

-OK.

-And take the garage down.

-The garage is going?

-Yes, the garage is going.

-To be replaced by what?

-That's the access to the main area of the garden

and it's obscuring it from the house quite a lot,

so just take it down and get rid of it.

Well, I'm glad she's not ruling out that open-plan kitchen,

but I had better say goodbye to that garage.

Rhiannon will get professionals in

to handle any building, electrical and gas work,

but as a full-time developer,

she intends to do most of the decorating work herself.

She's allocated herself a budget of £15,000 to £20,000,

but what about timescale?

Depending on whether we do the extension, four to eight weeks.

Great. Congratulations. Good luck with it. Really nice to meet you.

-I look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you very much.

Well, amongst other things,

it was that view that did it for Rhiannon,

but if it's brought her to this house,

then all well and good, cos it is a good property

and I'm sure she'll make some money out of it

if she can stick to the budgets

and sort the renovation out in a timely manner.

How will she get on? You can find out later in the show.

Well, one of our properties has been picked up,

dusted down and headed off in the right direction.

It has, but what about the other two?

Yeah, let's see what happened with those.

We're back in Hanley in Stoke

to see this two-bed terrace with a guide of £28,000 plus,

and whilst I always try to look on the bright side,

alarm bells were ringing before I even got inside.

And that's not the best start.

That's a sure sign this house has had some kind of subsidence issues.

# If we sink, we lift our love... #

Well, I hoped for any buyer's sake, that the sinking had stopped,

but even then, the damage was there for all to see,

especially if you glanced up at the roof.

It was Patricia, along with her husband, Clive,

who bought the property for £40,500

and they weren't fazed by the problems.

After all, they'd done their homework.

So, in the legal pack, was there the subsidence issue?

Yeah, the legal pack's quite good actually

and anybody would be a fool not to read them before going to auction

and, obviously, we saw the property and we knew what the issues were.

Just two Hammer rules there - you've got to read the legal pack

and view the property.

-Yeah.

-And you've done both.

-Done both.

-Well done.

# Take care of your homework, fella

# If you don't somebody will

# Whoa, yeah

# All right... #

She'd given herself a healthy budget of £10,000

and a timescale of just three months,

but adding some damp to treat and a complete modernisation,

Patricia still faced an awful lot of work.

Three months have passed. Has the work been done?

We returned to find out.

-# Modern love

-Walks beside me

-# Modern love

-Walks on by

-# Modern love

-Don't believe in modern love... #

Well, from the outside to the inside, from top to bottom,

it's been fully modernised and I'm moving it.

But let's forget about looks just for a second.

Is this house going to sink into the ground any time soon?

We've obviously had a lot of subsidence.

It's an area that has mine shafts nearby.

The underpinning, we've had it all completely checked,

so everything is OK with that now.

But the roof was causing a lot of issues.

Ah, yes, about that roof. Was it as troublesome as it looked?

We had a lot of issues with the roof

as we had damp all the way round the ceilings,

we had water running down the walls,

most of it being caused by, basically, tiles being loose,

and we also needed to fit in all the new timbers and refelt it

and tidy up on the top and it's solved the problem.

Fixing a roof can be a big and costly job but it has to be done.

Now that it's watertight, there's no damp getting in,

the rooms are brighter, fresher and ready to be lived in.

But unfortunately for Patricia, unbeknown to her,

the wood structure in the extension had been attacked by a parasite.

Well, you know, I think the first big thing that went wrong

was the infestation we found.

Basically, there was a few pieces of wood holding the house up, I think.

It was so bad through the extension. We hadn't seen it.

It was completely rotten.

We had to, more or less, take the whole extension apart

and start again, so it gave us a little bit more work to do.

# I like kicking in the gutter and I'm wishing I was lucky

# Wishing I was lucky Wishing I was lucky... #

Oh, dear, it sounds like Patricia has been very unlucky.

It just goes to show, it doesn't matter how much preparation you do,

properties can still bring up some unwelcome surprises.

But I have to say that the extension feels like a brand-new build

because of all the work.

And another positive was she seemed to land on her feet

with her new builder.

He took over the whole project with me and he's kept the costs down.

As far as the budget goes,

I didn't spend as much as I was expecting

and it has taken the three months I said,

although I didn't actually start it

for a month after seeing you the first time

because issues came up with the other property

that I was doing up at the same time.

Then the effort was put in here and then the last couple of weeks,

I've been finishing off both of them.

Her initial budget was £10,000

and she ended up spending only £6,500, which is great news.

That's on top of the £40,500 she spent

when she purchased it at auction.

She's looking to add to her growing rental portfolio,

so will there still be an opportunity for a good income?

We've asked along two local estate agents

to cast their eye over the house and tell us what they think.

I'm pleased with the rendering at the front

and also the finish.

There's been a lot of redecoration

and new carpets have been put in.

The exciting points of the property is it's got UPVC double glazing,

combi boiler, it's neutral throughout,

updated kitchen and bathroom.

It would bode well in the property market at the moment.

Let's see if it bodes just as well for Patricia.

Time for those all-important valuations.

If we were to sell the property,

I would recommend a figure in the region of £60,000 to £65,000.

In today's market, I would suggest

that the property was worth in the region of £55,000.

If I was to let this property,

I would recommend a figure in the region of £395 per calendar month.

In today's market,

I would suggest the property would rent out at £375 per calendar month.

I knew that the price was going to be £365, £385,

so it's spot in the middle.

Those top valuations would give Patricia and Clive

a pre-tax profit of £18,000 if they wanted to sell.

Or if they still intended on renting,

they could expect a yield of over 10%.

After this success, the couple intend adding to their property portfolio,

but will that involve more trips to the auction?

Definitely. It's the fun part!

It's back to Wales now and the coastal town of Newport.

With a guide of £95,000 plus,

this 1930s three-bed house was stuck in a bit of a time warp,

needing a complete redecoration

and, I thought, a bit of a layout change too.

However, it did have one of those money-can't-buy features.

And that's the incredible views that this house's location gives.

From the front, views over Newport and then towards the back here,

fantastic views over this local park.

# I've got a room

# I've got a room with a view... #

And it was those views, along with an opportunity to add value,

that attracted property developer Rhiannon

and she bought the house for £127,000.

There was a lot to do to this place to get it up to scratch

but Rhiannon wasn't fazed.

The last project we did was a three-storey house

and we turned it into flats upstairs and offices downstairs

-and I was looking for something a bit smaller.

-Right.

# That's a good little thing

# It's a good little thing

# And it's a good little thing Let's get this right for me. #

Play that thing for me, boy.

It may be smaller than some of her other projects,

but with a budget of £15,000 to £20,000

and a timescale of four to eight weeks,

could this house prove to be a profitable venture for Rhiannon?

Six months later,

we've returned to Newport to meet up with Rhiannon to find out.

MUSIC: Harder Than You Think by Public Enemy

The dated decor in this '30s house has gone

and though the bright, neutral paint and some of the furniture

brings the styling bang up to date,

Rhiannon has cleverly incorporated many of the original features,

such as the doors and the fireplace.

It looks so much better but it almost didn't happen at all.

To cut a long storey short,

there was hurdle upon hurdle with the finances and buying at auction,

you're on a time limit and it's all very pressured

but we'd overcome one hurdle, another one was put in our way.

Overcome that one, then another one,

and it did look like I was going to have to get a bridging loan

but in the end, just got a normal mortgage and it all went through OK.

Yes, dear viewer, I think there are two lessons to learn here.

Number one - do everything to make sure your finances are in place,

as the turnaround time on auction properties is normally 28 days

or sometimes less. And number two - if you do have problems, persevere.

Rhiannon's done a fantastic job

bringing this outdated property bang up to date,

no more so than in the new kitchen-diner.

I didn't think the kitchen needed an extension.

I thought with the wall down in between,

that that was enough and at some point,

you have the option of putting an extension on the side,

so I thought the open-plan area is a nice family area

and it's what people want.

And she's not even quite finished yet.

The next part of this will be taking half the garage down

and decking the outside area at the back of the French doors

to make a really nice outside alfresco area.

Rhiannon seems justifiably proud of her work here

and with more plans afoot, it does make me wonder

if she's developed a bit of a fondness for this house.

Does she intend to sell it?

The plan was to sell the property, but now I'm not 100% sure.

I'm going to wait till the valuations come in

and see what rental I can achieve and take it from there.

-# If she knew what she wants

-He'd be giving it to her

-# If she knew what she needs

-He could give her that too

# If she knew what she wants he'd be giving it to her

# Giving it to her... #

Nothing wrong with keeping your options open.

So, having spent £127,000 at auction,

how much has the development cost?

The original budget was between £15,000 and £20,000

and it came in at £15,000, so I'm really pleased with that.

It's got a tidy profit margin on it.

Between the problems completing the sale

and inevitable delays that can happen on a large renovation,

the work took a lot longer than the planned four to eight weeks.

But then Rhiannon has kept to the low end of her budget

and should she want to, she could use the money left over

to change the garage and garden, going forward.

But for the moment, we've asked along two local property experts

to find out what they think of the house as it is.

I think the main selling points are the views,

certainly from the first-floor front bedroom,

and also the location next to the park is great.

You've got a lovely park on your doorstep,

where you can let the kids out

and watch them run around and have a great time.

I think the layout of the property works well.

Upstairs, you've got two really nice size rooms

and a good size third bedroom.

Downstairs, the windows are brilliant

at the front of the property.

There's some great views, which makes it really light and airy.

And in its current condition, what could it be worth,

were it to be sold?

I would value this property for the sales market at £180,000.

I think this property would achieve

approximately £180,000 in the sales market.

Having spent a total of £142,000,

that would give Rhiannon a pre-tax profit of £38,000.

And while that's not to be ignored, let's get a rental figure,

-as that could now be an option too.

-I think for rental purposes,

this property would rent at £625 per calendar month.

For the rental market, we have had a few other properties in this area

which have achieved in the region of £900 per calendar month

but for this property,

because of a couple of different things like the garden,

I believe it would achieve

in the region of £750 to £795 per calendar month.

As ever, property is not an exact science,

but using those valuations, Rhiannon could get a yield

of anywhere between 5% and 7% and perhaps even more,

if she were to complete the work on the garden.

So, has that helped Rhiannon make a decision?

I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do with the house yet.

I might rent it for a bit, see if the market picks up a bit

and then sell, but keep my options open.

Well, with so many good options available,

I think, regardless of the route she chooses,

this can go down as a success.

So, is it on to the next one?

Definitely. Definitely buy another investment property.

Buying at auction was a really exhilarating experience,

I have to say. It was probably...

I've never felt my heart thump like that ever before,

so yeah, I'd definitely buy at auction again.

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

-Don't miss it.

-See you then. Goodbye.

-Bye-bye.