Episode 76 Homes Under the Hammer

Now, buying property is one of the best ways

to get a good return on your investment,

but that's if you get it right.

Correct, Lucy. And I know somewhere you might just get

-a little bit more for your money.

-Where might that be?

Why don't you head down to your local property auction?

People buy at auction for all kinds of different reasons.

It might be a new home, or they're buying to sell on.

Yeah, perhaps they're looking for a rental income,

to use their property as part of a pension.

But whatever the reason, there are always stories to tell.

So, here are the properties we're featuring on today's show.

In Farington, Lancashire,

height restrictions may apply at this three-bed.

I personally could do with a bigger archway.

But lots of space to play with at this house in Telford, Shropshire.

A conversion to three bedrooms

might not be as complicated as it sometimes is.

And this loft flat in Gipsy Hill, London, is surprisingly spacious,

but you must ditch the decor.

Woodchip wallpaper, look, it's everywhere!

All these properties were bought at auction.

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

when these homes went under the hammer.

All done.

The small village of Farington, Lancashire

was once a thriving little place buoyed by two main industries,

the railways and cotton.

Now, they're long since gone, but they have left behind telltale signs

of the days they flourished here.

Walking down this street in this part of Lancashire,

I do get a sense that there may be trouble at t'mill.

Now, the property I'm here to see

looks like it would have been built to house the mill workers.

It's a three-bed, mid-terrace house with a guide price of £65,000 plus.

Let's go and see what you get for your money.

OK, we're into... straight into the lounge

but you've got a small porch way there too.

Into the living room area, which is bigger than what I was expecting.

One thing that does hit me in the face is this feature fireplace,

it's definitely an '80s feel.

My mum and dad had one of these many years ago.

You would have put your television there.

I want to say DVD player,

but it would have been a video player, I'm that old.

Central heating as well, could be nice and cosy in here.

OK, through into the dining room, through this small archway.

I personally could do with a bigger archway,

but I just wanted to show you this, down here.

It's a bit of damp, just on this archway,

so that would need to be tended to.

Oh! Knees aren't what they used to be.

And I want to check this as well,

just to make sure there's some kind of support beam in here.

I can hear that's quite hollow.

As you go to the top, you can hear the difference in the sound.

So that's good news, all sorted.

Through into the dining room,

which I think is a decent-sized dining room.

It's nice and bright.

Maybe just a few more small signs of damp, but nothing major.

I'm happy so far.

In the kitchen, it is a little bit small, but it's in good condition.

But there's something I want to show you outside.

OK, this is the extension.

It would have been put on just a bit after the house was built.

Interesting thing is here,

either side of the house they have extensions.

This side is a ground-floor extension,

which would give you a really nice-sized kitchen-diner as well.

Behind, you've got a double extension,

which would give you the kitchen-diner

and extra space upstairs as well.

So many choices.

I do like a property with options.

But the cost of extending might make turning a profit more difficult.

However, if you were to make it your home, that's a different matter.

Sometimes it's not all about the money.

# At least I've got options... #

Let's see if there are further options.

OK, upstairs we've got three bedrooms.

As soon as I looked in that bedroom, I see a hole

just above the window there.

That would have to be investigated, quite a big hole, actually.

Bedroom two is just here, which looks a nice size,

to the front of the property.

Bedroom three is here to the back.

There's a bit of damp on that wall as well,

so a couple of things to investigate there.

Down the hallway to the bathroom, to the family bathroom.

Nice pink shade in here.

But this looks like it's a chimney breast to me,

well, half a chimney breast.

They may have shaved some of the chimney breast off

to get the bath in.

But it's baffling me slightly.

I'm going to check this out.

It could be a weighty problem downstairs.

Just as I thought - there's a chimney breast upstairs

but no chimney breast downstairs.

So whoever buys this house,

you've just got to hope whoever removed this did the job correctly,

which means using steel beams or gallows brackets.

So if you are about to move a chimney breast, get expert advice.

# I'm gonna do it right... #

And we've called on expert advice

in the form of a local property expert

from the auction house who marketed the property to get his thoughts.

The property is ideal for the local market,

great property for the first-time buyers.

Great property for young families,

and it's also a very good, sound investment

for the buy-to-let market.

Music to my ears, and if you were to let out after refurbishment,

what sort of rent could you expect?

This property on the rental market would let for £525 per calendar month.

And with a guide price of £65,000,

what could the property sell for on the open market?

On the sales market, we would expect this property

to sell for around £75,000.

This traditional terrace does need a lot of work doing to it,

but I think below the surface

there's a lovely family home to be had,

but it's not without its problems.

The things that concern me the most

are that missing chimney breast downstairs and that damp.

Let's see who wanted to solve those problems when it went under the hammer.

OK, lot 61.

Penultimate lot. 55?

Need a bid.

55 here. At £55,000 I'm bid.

At £55,000. Are we done?

56? 57? Can you?

56, 58, 60.

On the last but one property of the day,

there are still several interested parties,

and we rejoin the bidding at £69,000.

Take a half, 69.5, 70.

Half, you're out. Here at 70.

At £70,000.

Here to sell in the room, then, at £70,000.

You've gone, First time, second time, third and final time and all done.

The successful bid came from Mark,

who's fairly new to the renovation game,

but an avid viewer of the programme. Good man.

He's bought with wife Carol to do up and sell on.

We met back at their new project to find out their plans.

-Carol, nice to meet you. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Mark, same to you, sir.

-Yeah, nice to meet you, Dion.

Tell me why this particular house, the two of you.

This was the right price range for us at the moment.

I've only just started doing this.

Carol, what sort of sucked you in?

I didn't see the house, Mark went off to the auction

and then rang me at work to say that he'd bought it.

But when I came along to have a look, I was pleasantly surprised.

Did he get a telling-off?

No, no. No, I do trust him. I do trust him.

So tell me what your backgrounds are.

Prior to this I was a schoolteacher,

but I was reaching a point where I thought maybe it's time to move on,

and so I took the maximum pension that I could,

and thought I'd have a go at this.

Actually I was prompted through the programme.

I was off with a knee injury once.

I'd had an operation, I was convalescing

and I watched the programme regularly and got absolutely hooked.

So we didn't miss any, we always recorded it

so we could watch them later,

and thought, "This could be for me, I fancy a go at this."

Before that, I was an engineer, so a little bit of that sort of comes into it.

And...well, I've done one and this is the second one now so, hopefully.

So, Carol, you work full time.

-No, I work three days a week.

-Three days a week.

-At the hospital.

-I'm a haematology secretary to two consultants.

-Wow.

-Busy, busy.

-And now you're going to be even busier,

-sorting this place out.

-Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I quite like getting involved in all the interior stuff.

Kitchen design, choosing bathrooms, tiles, all the decor,

all the final finishing touches.

So what needs to be done? What are you going to do?

We're going to put new windows and doors in.

This is all going to come out.

We're hoping to bring the kitchen in,

from where it is originally, into the back room here.

We're going to put the kitchen in there,

and use the kitchen as it is at the moment,

the little kitchen extension, as a utility room.

Good idea. And upstairs, what's going to change upstairs?

We were thinking of moving the bathroom,

but looking at all the extra expense involved there,

we're going to leave the bathroom where it is

but you probably noticed there is a little chimney breast.

Yes, I have noticed that.

Which doesn't appear downstairs in the back room here,

so we need to check.

We think it is supported.

That will be removed, we'll have to support it above

cos we don't want to take it out in the attic.

Which will make that room a lot bigger

and we'll fit a new bathroom in there and you've noticed the wooden ceiling probably as well.

-You may have even bumped your head on it, Dion.

-Nearly, nearly.

It's very low, isn't it? Very low in there, so that will all come down

and we'll put spots in there and things like that.

Mark, tell us about...

There's a hole in one of the ceilings in the front bedroom.

That's classic, as I often see it on the programme, actually.

Maintenance.

Apparently, quite some time ago,

a tennis ball arrived in the guttering,

and I think probably with it being a rented property, nobody reported it.

Water poured over and outside for a long time

and as we know, if that much water is pouring through, eventually something gets in,

and it has just gone on and on over a period of time and brought that in.

It is actually... The ball has been removed, thankfully,

and it is actually drying up there now

but obviously there's some work needs to be done to put it right.

It finds a way, doesn't it? Water always finds a way in.

Always find a way in. Yeah, definitely.

-And all from a tennis ball.

-Yeah.

-Just lifting it out and getting it out of the way.

-Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

What's going to be the biggest thing you're going to have to overcome on this property, Mark?

I think the damp to start with.

Although it looks quite good, you can only see traces here and there,

it is most of the way around the walls.

Thankfully, the front wall's all right,

but most of the other walls all need doing,

so that's one of the reasons that has to come out,

there's damp behind there.

Also, the units in the utility room, even there, it's damp.

So, it's everywhere downstairs, it's quite a big cost.

What's your budget going to be?

I think it will be between 10,000 and 12,000,

but you never know what you're going to come up against, contingency.

I would not expect to spend more than 15, really.

And hopefully it will be between 10 and 12.

And what about your timescales to get all the work done?

-Tomorrow.

-LAUGHTER

-Tomorrow starts.

-Tomorrow starts.

-Tomorrow starts, yes.

This will be smashed out tomorrow.

But hopefully, bearing in mind that I am here on my own,

virtually the whole time, I would think six months.

What's it like in the mornings when he's had an extra hour in bed and you're off? Off to work.

Well, he makes sure I go to work, don't you?

Yeah, but be honest as well, what are you like in the mornings?

Horrible.

I'm not talkable to till about 11 o'clock.

Do you get your breakfast? Do you have a cup of tea? Do you get anything?

I get a cup of tea and he makes me some toast to take to work with me.

And then he gets back in bed.

-Well trained, well trained.

-Exactly.

-I won't be getting back in bed now.

-Well, no, no.

-Good on you.

Listen, I wish you both well, I think you'll be fine.

-Carol, good luck.

-Thank you.

-Good luck, I appreciate that.

-Thanks for your time, guys.

-Thank you, Dion.

-Good luck.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Pleasure.

What a lovely couple Mark and Carol are.

This is only their second project.

They have got a few issues to overcome,

but I think they'll be fine.

They're a good team.

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

Telford in Shropshire is a town named after civil engineer

Thomas Telford, a man called the "Colossus of Roads"

by the poet, Southey.

That's "roads", as in the long straight things built by Romans,

rather than the Greek island, in case you were confused.

Anyway, time to tread a classic path to our auction lot.

Will it be paved with gold?

So, what was on offer at the auction?

Well, with a guide price of £55,000 plus,

it was this property here.

It's a two-bed, end of terrace.

You know, for that kind of money, it doesn't look too bad,

Let's have a look inside.

So, not a huge guide price.

But what do you get for your money?

Through the front door and, for once,

towards the left as you come in is the kitchen.

I say that because normally you come into a house

and it's the living room and the kitchen is at the back, isn't it?

Quite unusual to have the kitchen at the front, and it's a nice-sized space.

A kitchen-dining room, space for kitchen cabinets,

you'd want to replace those but that's definitely worth doing,

you'd add value to the house, for sure.

So, really nice family living space, if you like.

A bit of storage as you head down the corridor.

It's almost like the house is almost back to front,

because the stairs up to the bedrooms are there,

and then into your main living room.

And...wow! That's wallpaper and a half, isn't it?

But a nice-sized room,

and at the end, this big sort of window thing.

I say window thing because you'd want it to be patio doors, really,

out onto the back garden, so replace that with something that you could actually walk through.

Sort out the decoration, do the kitchen.

You know, it's straight away saying

a house you can add value to, but I like it.

# Hey, what's wrong with you?

# You're looking kinda down to me

# Listen to what I say

# Got to turn around

# Got to turn around

# Hey! #

What's wrong with it?

Well, the house seems to be back to front, that's what.

You could turn it around and have the kitchen in here,

patio doors straight from the kitchen into the garden, maybe.

But it could be very costly.

If you wanted to make maximum profit then I'd leave it.

But I'd definitely go for different decor.

It feels far too dark and busy.

So, upstairs and at the top of the stairs a bathroom and loo.

It definitely needs a bit of refurbishment.

And then two bedrooms.

The first one at the front of the property there,

and then down the landing here to the second one.

Now, this is a pretty big size, and

given that you've got one window over there and one window here,

naturally, this could be split into two.

Now, converting this house into a three-bed,

I think would open up the options in terms of rental

and also add value when it comes to selling.

And I think just by playing around with these stud partition walls,

you might have to move the boiler, which is in that cupboard there.

But I think a conversion to three bedrooms

might not be as complicated as it sometimes is,

so definitely worth thinking about.

A stud partition through the middle, move the boiler,

and hey, presto, Robert's your father's brother,

a three-bed at little expense.

However, eradicating the pinks and blues

and restoring this place is definitely not the hard bit.

It's the buying of it that could present a problem.

Hold on to that thought.

So, at the back of the property

there's a little garden, it needs a bit of tidying up.

But coming out here is where you discover

a bit of a potential fly in the ointment for this property,

because like many others around here,

it's built of a specific type of construction.

It's called Crosswall construction.

Basically, you've got a big concrete wall at the end there,

another concrete wall in the middle separating it from the house next door,

and then you've got the sort of construction by normal means in between.

What's the issue with that? It's reasonably solid,

however it's that classic thing with mortgage lenders,

cos it's not exactly standard.

And mortgage lenders don't like anything which is non-standard.

So, some mortgage lenders will actually not lend

on this kind of property.

As long as you know that before you buy it, you're OK.

So, my advice is to make sure you get your finances sorted

before you raise your hand at auction,

as ever, because once that hammer has gone down, you're committed,

so don't want to find out you can't pay what you've bid.

Time to ask a local estate agent his thoughts on the property.

For letting or selling purposes, redecoration throughout,

put a cheap kitchen, cheap bathroom in, new flooring throughout.

Apart from that, I wouldn't spend an awful lot more money on it.

Guided at £55,000 plus,

one way to find out if you should add that extra bedroom

is to compare values.

So, what would it be worth for sale and rental as a two-bed?

As a two-bedroom property, I would value this at £77,500.

And if you were to put this up for let as a two-bedroom property,

I would suggest a rent of £500 per calendar month.

And how about if you added that third bedroom?

For a three-bedroom property,

I would suggest a potential resell value of £80,000.

And if this was to go on the rental market,

I would suggest a rental value of £525 per calendar month.

Well, it's certainly a good price,

and if you added that third bedroom you'd certainly add value.

Only issue of course is the potential problem

with it being that slightly unusual form of construction.

But as long as you know about it then it's not a problem.

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

Lot 14, two-bedroom end townhouse. 50, can I say, to start?

49 then, we'll drop it below. 49 bid, thank you. £49,000.

50, can I see now? At £49,000, looking for 50.

50, took it there. £50,000, at 50,000.

51? 51. 52, 53, 54,

55, 56, 57, 58.

Wave, wave, wave, where are you?

In the door, gotcha.

59? 60, 61, 62,

63... No?

63. Standing in the doorway at £63,000.

64 anywhere else?

If not, I'm selling it at £63,000 for the first time.

Back in, 64. 65, sir?

Half? 64-and-a-half. Half to you, sir. 65?

65. Shaking his head.

With you in the aisle, sir? £65,000, all done.

You bought it, well done.

65 grand was the price paid by husband and wife team, Andy and Karen.

They own six rental properties in the local area,

in addition to Karen's work as a carer

and Andy's day job in construction.

Said job left Andy unable to attend filming,

but Karen came along to tell me their plans.

-Karen, good to meet you.

-And yourself.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

It just short of stood out. It was an end property,

it's got a garage opposite, and we know the area.

-So, we know it wasn't going to hold any sort of nasty surprises.

-Right.

I guess one nasty surprise it could have held,

if you didn't know about it, was the construction.

Now, what do you know about that?

It's something called Parkinson, Parkwall, Crosswall construction.

It's something to do with the adjoining walls

being of solid concrete.

It doesn't cause any problems

apart from when you come to put up pictures on the walls.

You'll need a very, very good drill.

But the other problem it can cause

-is some lenders don't like it, for some reason.

-No, they don't.

The first lender that we decided to go with did the survey

and then decided not to lend to us.

So, that was a bit scary because we stood to lose about 7,000

or 8,000 that we'd put down on the deposit when we went to auction.

So, talk me through that process in a little bit more detail. What happened?

When did you go for the mortgage and when did the mortgage get refused?

We'd already got the mortgage in place with the financial advisor

and then we paid the 10% deposit at the auction.

About two weeks later, they said that they weren't going to lend us the money,

so we had to go with another lender. Luckily, they said yes.

Sleepless nights.

It wasn't too bad. We were pretty confident that our financial advisor

would sort of sort it out for us, which he did, so that was OK.

Whew! I'm so pleased Karen and Andy got it all sorted,

but it just goes to show there can always be complications,

even if you think you've got the finance in place.

As Karen said, you can lose your 10% deposit

if you fail to come up with the rest of the money in time,

and that's usually within 28 days.

But once those 28 days are up,

it's complete, or kiss your cash goodbye.

But now they've got the property, what will they do?

So, we're going to convert the main back bedroom into two rooms.

That will involve moving this central heating boiler

that's in the airing cupboard,

then the airing cupboard will be the access into the other bedroom.

New kitchen, new bathroom, new flooring,

French doors in the front room, and decorate throughout, really.

And the decision to make it a three-bed,

is that based on the value it's going to add?

Yeah, it adds value, plus we've currently done it to

two of our other properties that we bought, that were two-beds,

and we converted them to three-beds because they're the same size.

The two-beds are exactly the same size as the three-beds.

We've got a good builder that's done it for us before

so he's just going to come in and do all the major work

and then we're going to follow up behind and do everything else.

Talk me through the numbers.

What's the total budget for sorting this place out?

-Around about £3,000.

-Three?

-Yeah.

-With everything you talked about doing there?

-Everything, yeah.

-New kitchen?

-New kitchen.

-Bathroom?

-Bathroom.

-Changing the boiler.

-Changing the boiler, yeah.

-Round about £3,000.

-How are you going to do it for that?

We know some good people in the trade, let's say.

-Wow.

-Plus, we're quite handy ourselves,

so we can do quite a lot of it ourselves.

I just have to hide the golf clubs for a couple of weeks, I think.

-Your husband's a golfer, is he?

-Yeah, and his mate, so...

I'm a tidgy-widgy bit concerned that the budget might come under par

even with the three of them tackling most of the work.

Their two-month timescale does seem realistic,

however, despite the fact that Andy and Karen

have had inquiries from potential tenants,

the couple have changed their strategy,

as they plan to sell this one on.

So, if they skimp too much, they might find themselves BUNKERED,

so I'm curious - why have they decided to sell this time?

So, everything is all sort of geared towards our retirement plan.

So, we're just trying to make a bit more money a bit quicker, if you like.

-Well, congratulations and good luck with it.

-Thank you.

I look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Nice to meet you.

-Thank you.

A good house for Karen and husband Andy to try renovation to sell for the first time.

But more than that, she has discovered the ultimate secret

to guaranteeing speedy workmanship from your workmen,

especially if they're your husband - just hide his golf clubs. Cracking.

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

Coming up, a nice one-bed flat in Gipsy Hill, London,

but a tight squeeze to get there.

Anybody moving a double bed is going to have a lot of fun.

And have Karen and Andy survived that tight three-grand budget in Telford, Shropshire?

There's a little bit more than what we anticipated.

Little bits have added up.

The property I saw earlier was in Farington, Lancashire.

A three-bed mid-terrace, sold at auction for £70,000.

When I looked around, I discovered that one of the problems

was caused by a tennis ball blocking the guttering.

The NET result was a faulty bedroom ceiling.

And that wasn't the only unwelcome feature.

One thing that does hit you in the face is this feature fireplace,

it's definitely an '80s feel.

My mum and dad had one of these many years ago.

The new owners were retired teacher Mark,

a Homes Under The Hammer fan, and his medical secretary wife, Carol.

This would be their second refurbishment project.

So what needs to be done? What are you going to do?

We're going to put new windows and doors in.

This is all going to come out.

We're hoping to bring the kitchen in from where it is originally

into the back room here.

We're going to put the kitchen in there,

and use the kitchen as it is at the moment,

the little kitchen extension, as a utility room.

Often seen in properties of this age,

there were damp patches throughout the house,

and a rather mysterious floating chimney breast in the bathroom,

which I hoped wasn't just resting on floorboards.

We think it is supported, that will be removed.

We'll have to support it above,

which will make that room a lot bigger and we'll fit a new bathroom.

We're back six months later

to see if this former teacher has spent his pension fund wisely.

And it looks like he has.

The back sitting room is now a contemporary kitchen

with modern units, fittings and decor.

The new patio door access to the yard is just perfect.

# Oh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah... #

The new doors free up enough space to fit in a downstairs toilet.

And I'm happy the lounge is less '80s and more modern,

with a feature wall and electric fire.

I can see Carol's touch shining through.

Upstairs, the fresh new feel continues.

Out goes the tired pink decor, and with the chimney breast removed...

..there's room for a corner shower.

Detail worthy of show house decoration.

Quality tiles and fittings make a big difference.

The remaining upstairs rooms are unified by the neutral carpet.

It makes bedroom one seem even bigger.

And bedroom two's damp patch has been sorted.

In the second bedroom,

the damage caused by the tennis ball in the guttering has been fixed.

Mark did most of the non-specialised work himself,

but the results didn't always meet with Carol's approval.

When Carol came up after I'd started,

she screamed at me that it was worse than when we bought it.

I was knocking things down and ripping things out,

ripping bits of ceiling out, ripping a wall out,

knocking this fireplace out,

and just generally ripping everything out to make it

ready for the experts to come in and put it right afterwards.

In fact, Carol's got a pet name for Mark.

He does deserve the name Wrecking Ball,

but he does put things right in the end.

MUSIC: Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus

No, thanks, Miley.

As the sign says, this is a respectable house.

But you're not alone.

Some of Carol's choices weren't welcome at first.

We did this at the last house, and I've always said that

whatever house we do, we'll put a ceiling rose in and a chandelier,

which Mark didn't agree with when we bought.

-No, I didn't.

-But I assured him it would go.

Me, I'm saying nothing, I'm not taking sides.

I'm going to sit on the fence on this one.

The project was pretty much bang on schedule,

but what about that £12,000 to £15,000 budget?

We have actually ended up spending a lot more than we thought,

and I think Homes Under The Hammer are to blame a lot for that,

because every time we've looked at something,

Carol has always said, "Don't forget Homes Under The Hammer are coming,"

so we've up-spec-ed quite a lot of things.

Well, you really shouldn't have gone to the trouble on our part.

What were the unforeseen costs?

There was a lot more plastering that was needed and things like that,

and we up-spec-ed with the kitchen and the bathroom.

We didn't know exactly what was going to happen with the bathroom,

what was happening with the chimney breast,

so that ended up costing us a lot more as well.

So the budget actually blew through the roof a little bit.

We've ended up spending £23,000.

A little bit? That's eight grand over.

That's more than 50%. Where did it all go?

We're at the rear of the house now, where a lot of work was done,

the main job being the rendering.

The whole lot unexpectedly had to come off and has been renewed,

but I think you can see a fantastic job has been done.

A lot of other work has also been done in the rear of the yard.

There's new fencing been put up, there's a new gate,

all the stones were cleared and we've put this lovely slating down.

And I think you'll agree it looks really, really nice now.

It sure does, but is it too much for the area?

We called in two property experts to find out their views.

The big question is, will Mark and Carol be able to sell at a profit?

Let's start with the agent who was here with us last time we called.

I can honestly say

there is nothing I would have done any differently to this property.

The layout is superb,

the quality of the fixtures and fittings are superb.

It's absolutely perfect for the current market of buyers.

I think the selling points of this property

basically are in the finish and how it's presented.

Obviously, we're in a really good area.

The home offers good accommodation for families,

first-time buyers and actually investors.

But I think the finish and how the property has been done

will be the main benefit to this home.

That's all well and good, but has it cost too much?

£70,000 at auction, plus a whacking 23 grand makes a total of £93,000.

What's its current market value?

OK, if I was looking to put this property on the market today,

I would look to achieve a figure of around £110,000.

I would put this property on the market for around £110,000.

That's a potential profit of £17,000,

minus the usual taxes and expenses.

The values are absolutely bob-on,

that's what it's up for sale for, and that's what I envisaged.

As time went on, we thought we would get around about that, hopefully,

so we're quite happy with that.

So will he be back at auction in the future?

Once this one is sold, we will start to look for another

and hopefully an auction one, if we can.

Mark's definitely got the bug, so what's the appeal of restoration?

I've really enjoyed the experience overall.

I get a buzz out of the house being in the state that it was in

and the condition and the standard that you see it now.

I've really, really enjoyed doing it.

Especially the wrecking ball side of things.

Between West Norwood, Crystal Palace and Dulwich

is a London area that was historically settled by travelling people.

And being in an elevated position,

this area of London has a fairly obvious name.

# And you see your gypsy... #

Gipsy Hill has a real bustling community,

with plenty of shops, cafes and even its own brewery.

And, yes, some incredible views over London.

But the property I'm here to view is on a busy road.

And what a beautiful building this one-bedroom flat is in.

I would say the pros outweigh the cons so far, don't they?

The guide price was £225,000 plus,

and it's right up on the top and it's on the second floor.

And one last important detail - the lease has 100 years left.

So, we're inside the communal area,

but before we go any further and we discuss the flat,

I would just like to draw your attention to

how narrow the staircase is.

Anybody having to think about moving a double bed, a wardrobe,

or even a sofa up those stairs is going to have a lot of fun,

put it that way.

Yes, this might be the staircase

that puts the "flat" into "flat pack furniture".

Anyway, time to squeeze our way to the top now.

# Take me up to the top of the stairs

# We'll be lost in the darkness... #

Oh, that's a bit of a climb.

But I'm here at the top,

and here we are inside the little one-bedroom flat.

It doesn't seem little, it's got quite a spacious feel to it,

but the first thing that strikes me is this woodchip wallpaper.

Look, it's everywhere!

It's in every room!

So, let's start, we've got the kitchen, which is really spacious,

but again there's woodchip wallpaper even on the ceilings.

Really nice-sized lounge through here,

we've got a bedroom in here with fitted wardrobes.

More woodchip wallpaper everywhere, look, can you see that? Look.

And round here we've got a bathroom, which is good news,

it's painted white.

There's a lot you could do with this flat, but it's in quite good condition.

But what I do like is, the fact that you have to climb up

so many stairs and you are high up, at least you have lovely views,

and in this bathroom in particular you've got a great view out there

and you can even see Crystal Palace tower.

It really is quite a view from this surprisingly spacious flat.

I don't even mind the eaves that come with being in the loft.

No obvious problems just, well, sorting out the decor.

Now, when you view a dated flat like this,

it's all too easy to say,

"You know, just rip it all out and start again."

But don't forget, that the more money you spend on the renovations,

the less profit there'll be in your pocket at the end of the day.

And somewhere I think you could save a bit of money in this flat,

it's this place, the kitchen.

Now, it's a bit grubby, but actually I think it's in pretty good nick

and after a really good scrub and a clean,

maybe some new flooring and a new worktop,

I think you could use what's here

rather than spending thousands of pounds

ripping this out and putting in a brand-spanking-new one.

Yeah, a bit of elbow grease and scrubbing

will see this flat clean up nicely.

Oh, and one other crucial decor change.

# Rip, rip, woodchip Turn it into paper

# Throw it in the bin No news today... #

Oh, please do. You know how I feel.

I know it can seem a good idea to hide uneven walls and cracks,

but in my opinion, and it is just my opinion, no.

Get ripping and get rid of the woodchip.

Time to get the thoughts of a local estate agent on this property,

guided at £225,000.

In his opinion, what sort of person might this flat appeal to?

It's a top-floor apartment,

but that might deter a few people.

However, ideally, it's suited to first-time buyers.

It's very, very bright.

It's got great views from the top floor here.

The only downside is,

it's got restricted head height, being in the eaves.

Maybe not for somebody as tall as myself.

So, no unfit basketball players need apply.

What does the agent think the flat needs in terms of renovation?

Well, it's not everybody's first choice to have woodchip wallpaper.

When you start removing things,

there's going to be decoration that's required.

The trouble with removing it is, you don't know what's behind it.

If it works within the budget to remove it, then I would remove it.

The bathroom, the enamel is chipped on the bath,

so you'd need to replace the bath. You could possibly keep the toilet,

but it would probably work better with a nice matching suite

so I'd be inclined to take the bathroom out

and replace it completely.

And once renovated, what could this flat fetch on the sales and the rental market?

I think if the property was fully renovated to a high standard,

it would sell for somewhere in the region of £325,000.

I think the property could rent for

somewhere in the region of £1,100 to £1,150 per calendar month.

Well, if you don't mind a rather steep and narrow staircase,

and you're not afraid to tackle the woodchip wallpaper,

this is a decent little flat in pretty good nick.

So who thought it was a good one to go for?

Let's head to the auction and find out.

Good-sized one-bed, so five bids. 250 on this flat.

250 anywhere? If not 220, start at 220, go from there.

220 with you, 220.

225 anywhere?

With you, 225.

230, 235.

240.

245. It's your bid at 250.

252?

If not, it's going at £250,000.

First time, second time,

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

Sold, 250.

At 250,000, the successful bidder is Sam.

He came along with his girlfriend and co-purchaser Camille

to tell me their plans.

Sam and Camille, congratulations. Lovely to meet you both.

Nice to meet you.

So, you weren't at the auction but you were, Sam?

How was it for you?

It was quite nerve-racking, to be honest.

I turned up on the day,

went in, there were about 1,000 people in the auction room,

so I got the atmosphere and the bearings

and then waited for my lot number.

And I just remember I kept thinking, make myself prominent.

Went straight to the middle and when my lot would come up,

I put my hand up, and away we go,

and luckily I got it at a price I was happy with.

So how much research did you guys do for this flat?

I get the auction catalogue,

go through the ones I'm interested in,

and then go and visit them on the day.

And then when the legal packs come out,

I'll then go for the legal packs, make sure I'm happy with the content,

come up with budgets, speak to agents,

and then if everything qualifies then I go to the auction.

-So, this was the first one you've ever done?

-Yep.

But you had done all that research?

Yeah, yeah, we've bought and sold quite a few properties over the years,

so you get a feel for it.

And I wanted to get into property developing full time,

and a way of getting into it quickly is by going to the auction houses.

So how come you got away with being there on the day, Camille?

I was at work, and then Sam just gave me a call.

We had five properties on the day that we were looking at,

and I think this was the favourite, wasn't it?

-Really?

-Yeah.

And their favourite of the five secured for 250,000,

and not too much over the guide price.

Medical recruiter Camille and Sam have bought this flat with Sam's parents.

He's recently given up his job as a civil engineer

to do property development full time.

A big step, but he's not without experience.

Me and Camille met at university.

I studied civil engineering and when I graduated

I moved straight into the industry, worked there for four or five years,

with me and Camille doing properties on the side.

But it takes a lot of your weekends and evenings up,

and I decided that I fancied a change and I wanted to get into it full time,

so I packed up work in May and then started on this journey.

And how do you feel about that, Camille?

Are you seeing a lot less of him or a bit more of him?

More of him, actually, because the hours that he was doing before

meant that he was out at 5.50am, 6am, back very late.

So seeing more of him now.

Maybe less when he's going to be doing this property up,

but, no, it's going well so far.

-So what input are you going to have with these properties?

-Support.

-Because you're busy at work, aren't you?

-Yes, I'm working.

-You have a full-time job.

-Absolutely.

So, obviously this is now your full-time job,

-so do you help out as and when you can?

-Absolutely, yeah.

And then just my opinion on things,

but, really, it's going to be Sam and his dad

that are running with the project.

So, Sam and his dad Ray will be doing the hands-on work,

while Camille keeps a close eye on things.

So what are they planning to do?

The first thing we're going to do is get rid of all the woodchip

and have the whole place replastered throughout.

We'll be getting rid of the back boiler,

replacing it with a combi boiler.

New flooring, and then improvements to the kitchen and the bathroom,

just to bring it up to a high spec.

That is exactly what's needed here,

but let's talk about the kitchen for a minute,

because there's a lot you could work with, I think, in the kitchen.

Do you?

I think we're going to keep the carcasses and potentially the doors

and then change the worktops, handles, oven,

just to smarten it up.

Yeah, I think you might be able to get away with that.

Woodchip wallpaper, hooray.

I mean, gosh, I think they've even painted over this,

it's glossy woodchip wallpaper. So that's going to be good

but that's quite a painstaking job, isn't it?

-You'll enjoy doing that(!)

-Yep, yep.

-Are you doing that, Sam?

-Yes.

As soon as we can, I'm going to get the family up

-and we're going to have a good woodchip wallpaper stripping session.

-Party.

I bet they can't wait for that(!)

Yeah, exactly. I think everyone's going to get a room

and then we're just going to try and get it out as quickly as possible.

And hopefully it's not going to be too difficult.

And then nice fresh plaster afterwards.

Oh, Sam, you do know how to throw a family party(!)

They have a budget of £6,000 to £7,000

and a timescale of five to six weeks,

which seems very healthy for getting this flat ready to rent out.

And how is your life as a property developer now?

I mean, you've mentioned your dad.

Is he good? Is he good help for you?

Yeah, my dad is great.

Over the years, we've done quite a lot of projects on our own houses

and that sort of stuff, and he's got skills that I haven't,

so we complement each other quite well, and we have a good laugh.

So, it's good and I'm looking forward to it.

And how often do you think you'll come up to check up?

-Um...

-She's going to say it now on camera, OK?

So whatever she says, you can hold her to this.

Whenever he needs me to.

Oh, you're such a good girlfriend.

Guys, so lovely meeting you,

and I'm really excited to see the outcome, so congratulations.

-Thanks, Camille and Sam.

-Thank you, Lucy.

-Thank you.

So a new career for Sam, and luckily for him

he's got the support of Camille and his dad to help him along the way.

I think they've done well with this flat, although...well, I'm glad

I'm not invited to that woodchip wallpaper party.

I'm busy that night.

Join me later on in the programme and you can find out how it goes.

So, we've seen the first of today's property auction stories.

-Yeah, but what about the next two?

-Let's find out.

Back to Telford in Shropshire now, where earlier in the show

I saw an end terrace guided at £55,000 plus.

Right away, I thought that a new kitchen, a new bathroom

and refreshing the decor could add real value.

But I saw another way to push up the price at this two-bedder.

I think a conversion to three bedrooms

might not be as complicated as it sometimes is,

so definitely worth thinking about.

The potential was in the thoughts of several bidders at the auction.

£65,000. You bought it, well done.

And Karen and her husband Andy secured another property.

But this one wasn't one of their usual rentals,

as they planned to sell to add to their retirement fund.

But first things first, a full renovation.

Kitchen, bathroom, carpets, decor and adding that third bedroom.

So, the budget will be sizable, right?

Around about £3,000.

-Three?

-Yeah. Round about £3,000.

How are you going to do it for that?

We know some good people in the trade, let's say.

Wow.

Plus, we're quite handy ourselves,

so we can do quite a lot of it ourselves.

I just have to hide the golf clubs for a couple of weeks, I think.

-Your husband's a golfer, is he?

-Yeah, and his mate, so...

There's an incentive to get the work done,

keeping the golf clubs hostage.

But when we came back seven months on,

was the property a birdie or a bit below par?

# We're the sultans

# We're the sultans of swing

# Hey... #

Well, this is fantastic,

with new kitchen and bathroom particularly eye-catching.

And my eagle eyes tell me that Karen and Andy have swung a third bedroom.

So, how did they do that?

We originally thought we were going to have to move the boiler

from the airing cupboard, but that wasn't the case.

We just extended the landing, made that bigger

and put a false wall in and another doorway,

which saved us £750.

And money saved too. Wey-hey.

Another touch I love are the French windows in the living room.

We decided that we were going to take out the existing window,

which had a panel underneath

and put in French doors, which would open up into the garden.

We're very happy and very pleased with them. They work very well.

One way the couple planned to keep costs down,

was by having their builder do the challenging parts of the renovation

and then do the rest themselves.

So, did they stick to that plan?

Yeah, we did use the same guy, but unfortunately

about three-quarters of the way through he was taken ill.

So we had to get someone else in to finish off what we wanted doing,

which added to the timescale, really.

That's why things have taken a little bit longer

than what we anticipated.

The whole project has taken seven months rather than the intended two.

And that overrun has led to a change of plan.

The original plan was to sell this one on,

but because everything has taken a little bit longer

than what we anticipated,

we had a rethink, and we thought well, we will rent it out,

because the months were sort of passing

and we're renting it to one of our present tenants at the moment,

so she's very happy that she's moving to a nice new house.

Karen and Andy felt it wasn't the optimum time of year to sell,

but they have managed to sell the house their tenant was previously in. So, money made there,

but how did they get that three grand budget to hold up?

Roughly, just over 5,000,

a little bit more than what we anticipated

due to the fact that things have taken a little bit longer.

Little bits have added up and added on

but, yeah, we're quite happy with how it's all gone.

So, job done. Can Andy get his golf clubs back now?

If I try and hide the golf clubs, I've got no chance

because they'll always find a way.

So, no, I didn't hide the golf clubs in the end.

Well, that TEES up two local estate agents.

What do they think of the property?

Let's start with the agent who saw it before the renovation.

It's actually been done very, very well in terms of decoration.

New kitchen, new bathroom.

One particular thing which I did like

is the fact that it's been made into a three-bedroom property.

I think that's crucial in getting the maximum return.

My thoughts on the property are,

it's been finished to a very superior standard,

compared to many that I've valued in the area.

The kitchen and the bathroom are fantastic.

The third bedroom is a little bit smaller than some in the area,

but it still adds value.

But how much value does it add?

The agents both suggested rental values of £550 per calendar month,

which is what Karen and Andy are charging their tenant just now.

And that's a yield of just over 9%.

But what could that £70,000 total investment have turned into

had they plumped for a sale as originally planned?

I would suggest an asking price of £87,500.

In the sales market, I believe this property would fetch £85,000.

Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's what we anticipated in the beginning.

But we did get a valuation previous to that

and they did say sort of £90,000 to £95,000 maybe.

So, yeah, that's good.

The agents' top value would bank the couple 17,500 smackeroos,

before the usual taxes and expenses.

Karen's valuation, on the other hand, would give them a pre-tax profit of 25,000.

Unlike golf, the lower score isn't better in property development.

So what's next for Karen?

Will she be joining her husband on the course?

I'm going to have a rest and go on holiday.

I'm not going to take up golf.

We head back to Gipsy Hill in south London,

where earlier, inside this rather grand exterior,

and up on this very narrow stairwell,

was a one-bedroom loft apartment, guided at 225,000.

Everything inside was in pretty good nick.

Doesn't seem little, it's got quite a spacious feel to it,

but the first thing that strikes me is this woodchip wallpaper.

Look, it's everywhere! It's in every room!

Well, ready to start chipping away were Sam and his girlfriend Camille,

who bought the property in conjunction with Sam's parents for 250,000.

The first thing we're going to do is get rid of all the woodchip,

and have the whole place replastered throughout.

As soon as we can, I'm going to get the family up,

-and we're going to have a good woodchip wallpaper stripping session.

-Party.

I bet they can't wait for that(!)

Exactly, I think everyone is going to get a room

and we're just going to try and get out as quickly as possible

and hopefully it's not going to be too difficult.

Yeah, well, not everyone's idea of a party,

but five weeks on, Camille and Sam have reason to celebrate,

with a very nice renovation.

Well, I'm pleased to see the decor is now clean and fresh.

But it wasn't the easiest to do.

So, the flat originally was woodchip everywhere

so we removed all of that and the condition of the walls

behind that was quite poor, so we replastered

throughout the whole flat.

We've decided to keep the flat really light, bright, airy,

so the floor has the grey laminate throughout,

and really makes it feel big.

White walls, blank canvas for somebody and perfect for rentals.

From woodchip to a chip in the bath enamel,

Sam and Camille would have kept most of the bathroom suite,

but they've opted to replace the whole thing.

In the bathroom, we took out the existing bathroom suite

and tiles on the wall and on the floor.

We completely replastered throughout, put a new bath in,

new basin and sink, and painted throughout.

And the kitchen has undergone an upgrade too.

So, in the kitchen, we have completely refurbished,

so new flooring, new doors.

We've gone for the gloss white, very modern, reflects the light.

New worktops, and we have an oven that's due to arrive very soon.

Glad they followed my line of thinking

and salvaged what they could from the original kitchen.

And that will surely have saved some money too.

The original budget was £5,000 to £6,000,

however, with the boiler being an unforeseen expense,

that cost us an extra £2,000.

We have managed to save money in other areas

so I think the total has come in at just under £7,000,

so I'm really happy with that.

And they saved on trades by doing the work themselves,

with Sam's dad Ray doing the electrics,

Sam himself, doing the plumbing, and Camille looking after the design.

They managed it within their six-week timescale,

but is it all still happy families?

Working with my dad was great.

We've worked on previous projects before,

and we really get on and we enjoy it.

It's been nice actually to come together on a dedicated project

where me and him spent a lot of time,

and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

On time, on budget,

and not even a woodchip stripping party could break family bonds.

But is it a profitable venture?

Time to ask two local property experts,

starting with the agent who saw it before the renovation.

The property is a lot brighter than when I came here last.

A lot of lighting.

It's certainly made it feel more spacious

for obviously what was quite a compact flat.

The only negatives are that it's on the top floor

and the common parts are a little bit tired.

However, when you get into the flat itself, it's quite refreshing.

Having come up and seen the property,

I think it's a very nice property.

It's been redecorated very neutrally, prepared for renting.

The kitchen and bathroom both done in very simple ways

that makes it easy to manage.

The flat is actually very, very nice and they've done a really good job.

They now need to think about how they apply that

to the communal areas in the front.

Speak to the freeholders,

see who the rest of the people in the building are,

see if they can all get together, pay for it between them

and really make a nice building look fantastic.

And even before improvements are made to the building's fabric,

the agents believe the flat could sell for £320,000.

Against Sam and Camille's total £257,000 spend,

that could be a pre-tax profit of £63,000.

But with the couple set on renting, what kind of income can they expect?

The property will rent for somewhere between £1,150

and £1,200 per calendar month.

The rental market is very, very strong in Crystal Palace,

and I believe the property will achieve £1,200 per calendar month.

That's in line with what we were thinking, isn't it?

Yeah, we were hoping for £1,200 a calendar month for rental,

and we were thinking 320 to 330 for resell.

At £1,200 per calendar month,

that could bring the couple a 5.6% yield.

All money in the bank,

and just as well, as they have to start saving for a very big event.

So, since you were last with us, Sam and I have got engaged.

So it's going to be quite an exciting few months, I think, for us.

-Another property, a wedding to plan, so it's all happening.

-Busy year.

Yay! That's fantastic news,

and big congratulations from all of us here on Homes Under The Hammer.

So, have you been inspired by the people and the properties you've seen today?

Yeah. Hopefully we've given you some food for thought.

Yes, and if we have,

join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-Bye!

-Bye.