Episode 11 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show. Now, even at the best of times,

buying property can be full of delays and dilemmas.

Yeah, and if time's not on your side,

why not head down to your local property auction?

Yes, in 28 days, you can often have the keys in your possession.

So, why not buy your home under the hammer?

18 miles south of Sheffield lies the Derbyshire town of Bolsover.

Famous for its haunted castle, gold mining

and, I am told, a property that's something of a steal

for landlords looking for a buy-to-let investment.

Well, bit of a commuter's dream this one.

Just a few miles from a junction with the M1,

with easy access to that motorway network.

And on this very traditional sort of post-war housing estate...

Not necessarily everyone's choice but a lot of house for the money.

£36,000 was the guide price for a four-bedroom mid-terrace.

Can't go wrong really, can you?

MUSIC: Steal by Spandau Ballet

# You know how I feel so come along and steal. #

Through the door, little entrance area here, which is quite good.

Stairs up to the bedroom then into this little sort of ante-area.

-Wow!

-HE LAUGHS

That is bright. Gosh!

Bright green toilet.

Well, anyway, at least there is a toilet downstairs, which is like a little cloakroom...

Cloakroom if you were a lizard

wanting to take off skin or something!

But anyway, this little ante-area here and then into the kitchen.

Immediately, I'm thinking, what is this wall doing here?

Wouldn't it be great to extend the size of this kitchen

to create a really nice sort of flowing space?

Door out to the back, though, which is quite good and then into your lounge.

Wow!

Well, finally after 12 years on Homes Under The Hammer,

somebody lays out the red carpet for me.

Ha. About time, too.

In general, though, I'm not sure this is the most relaxing

colour scheme to have for your lounge.

It does, however, have complementary wallpaper.

OK, so, it's a nice size, it's got dual aspect -

it just needs a paint job.

MUSIC: Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones And His Orchestra

Well, perhaps also remove the polystyrene ceiling tiles.

They're a big fire hazard.

The fab unfitted carpet might be salvageable.

Let's see what delights are waiting upstairs.

Well, it looks like you've got central heating

but that boiler, I think, has seen better days.

But upstairs here, four bedrooms, of course,

and this extraordinary colour scheme or colour schemes -

if that's what you want to call it - continue.

So, soft of mossy green and in there...

blue, that's a blue room.

Erm, very nice.

Separate bathroom and loo.

-Er...

-HE LAUGHS

..and again, subtle colours as you might have expected.

Probably want to knock those together, I guess...

and repaint.

A moment of tranquillity amidst the rainforest of colours!

White bedroom. It actually seems quite dull in comparison.

So, maybe the master bedroom will surprise us.

Er...

No.

Remember the tune Paint The Whole World With A Rainbow?

Well, to me, this is just a bungled attempt.

MUSIC: Karma Chameleon by Culture Club

# Loving would be easy if your colours were like my dreams

# Red, gold and green

# Red, gold and green. #

So, why, you might be asking,

has the house got such a relatively low guide price?

Just 36,000 quid for a four-bedroom house,

there must be something going on. Well, of course, there is.

It is that classic non-standard construction.

Houses that were largely built soon after the Second World War

to provide pretty quick housing.

They were sort of thrown up - to coin a phrase -

by using concrete blocks.

Often, over time those concrete blocks fail,

they weren't necessarily used with the right kind of materials -

steel joists through them and bits of metal started to fail over time

and as a result, structurally they can be a bit of an issue.

However, that said, a lot of them are still here.

When it comes to getting a mortgage, that is when the real problems arise.

So, as long as you know about it beforehand

and you're not expecting to be able to get a mortgage then

they can actually be very good things to buy

because in terms of price - thank you, rain -

in terms of price, you get a lot of house for your money.

A similar house to this would probably be double if it wasn't non-standard construction.

So, if you're renting this kind of place out,

then if you pay half the amount for the property

but you get the same amount of rent you just doubled your yield.

Maybe non-standard construction is something that isn't so bad after all,

as long as you know about it.

There are plenty of precast reinforced concrete homes

in this area, known as PRCs.

And there are all sorts of non-standard construction

for example cob houses, thatched roofs and timber frames.

If you can sort a specialist mortgage out or pay cash

it needn't necessarily be an issue.

For a local perspective,

we asked along an estate agent from the area.

If it was my house,

I would look into getting a PRC company that's licensed

to do the work on the structure of the property

to make it mortgageable

because that can increase the value of it.

I think to do the work on the structure of the property,

you're looking to spend in the region of £15,000.

If done, will the work affect the value significantly?

I'd look at putting it on the market for £85,000-£90,000.

If the work wasn't done on the structure of the property,

you're looking at a 25-30% reduction

in the value of the property.

So, you'd probably put on the market for in the region of £60,000-£65,000.

Well, that is quite an incentive to get the work done.

What about on the rental market?

I think this property would achieve

in the region of £495-£525 per calendar month.

Well, the simple thing to sort out is new paint inside obviously.

Slightly more complicated is the whole issue of

the non-standard construction.

But if you are aware of it, then maybe this is a really good one

to go for cos you get a lot of house for the money, that's for sure.

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

Lot 28, a four-bedroomed townhouse that's double glazed.

Who's got 36 for it?

36, thank you.

37 at the back.

37, 38.

38, 39.

39, 40.

40,000, 41?

£40,000 is going to go, ladies and gentlemen,

at £40,000, I'm disappointed with the price

but if that's the last bid, it's going to get sold

at £40,000 against you over there.

At 40,000, once...

40, where are we? 41.

41, 42.

43, 44.

No? 44,000, sure?

At 44,000, once...

twice...

third time.

Sold at 44,000, thank you.

The successful bidders were brothers Eric and Jack from Nuneaton

who recently bought two other properties besides this £44,000 one.

I met Eric to discuss his plans for the multicoloured four-bedroom semi.

-Eric, really good to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, as well.

-Congratulations.

So...great house, good price, I think you paid.

Yeah, 44, very good price.

Well, clearly the colours didn't put you off, no.

Well, I didn't see the property before I bought it.

So, tell me what you are going to do to this one to sort it out then?

Well, first of all, obviously, everywhere needs stripping off

and, obviously, ceilings need boarding and replastering

and then new kitchen, new bathroom,

wood floor, carpet the stairs.

Just general everything really. Just bring it up-to-date.

So, what's the time scale?

-Well, hopefully, we can get it done within four to six weeks.

-OK.

Obviously, the lesser, the better.

Mm-hmm. Well, listen, congratulations. Really well done.

-Thank you.

-And I'll look forward to seeing how you transform it.

Well, how inspirational is that?

Eric having a portfolio of over 20 properties by the time he's 23 -

shared with his brother, obviously.

And you know what, maybe you're watching and you're around that age

and you think, "Well, I couldn't do that."

You know what, with the right opportunity, hard work

and a bit of a break, maybe you could.

And heading to the auctions is certainly

a good way to get you started.

It's a reasonable house.

It doesn't matter, it appears, that it's non-standard construction.

In fact, it's a bonus for Eric.

How will he and his team get on sorting it out?

You can find out later in the show.

Welcome to Wolverhampton.

It was once the industrial powerhouse of the West Midlands.

But did you know that it's also

the site of England's first automatic traffic lights?

Today, a set of modern-day lights stand in that same spot

with traditional striped poles commemorating this fact.

MUSIC: Roxanne by The Police

# You don't have to put on the red light. #

So, just a 10-minute drive away from the centre of Wolverhampton

is the property I'm here to see -

that depends on how you drive and what you're are driving, of course.

And here it is, it's a three-bedroom semidetached house

with a guide price of £75,000 plus.

But what do you get for your money round here?

I'm going to find out.

OK, we're in and a really decent-sized reception hall

with lots of light coming in, as well.

First reception room has got big bay window

and they look relatively new, as well.

Kitchen there, which I will come back to.

Into the second reception room

and a window here which is separating the two rooms.

There is one good thing about this window...

No, there's nothing good about it at all,

I am getting rid of it completely.

If you want two separate rooms, then put some double doors up,

that wouldn't be a problem.

My choice would be to open it up completely,

give yourself lots of space down here.

You would have to reposition this radiator.

I can see the perfect place in that corner just over there.

Or you can go modern -

there's lots of feature radiators you can put up the wall.

They're quite popular nowadays.

Back to that kitchen - now, it is a little bit tight in there

it's dated and it's tired so you would definitely need a new kitchen.

And while you're doing that

why not contemplate taking this wall out, as well?

Create a kitchen-diner maybe with an island or a breakfast bar.

But for modern living that would be absolutely perfect.

Loads of space downstairs, loads of light coming in as well.

What's upstairs got in store for me?

So a great little house.

Yes, it's a little dated and I'm not a fan of the goldfish effect

in the reception rooms, but there's potential for a re-fit down here.

# We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year... #

So upstairs we have got the three bedrooms.

Two decent size bedrooms, one there and one there.

And a smaller box bedroom just to my right.

And this whole house has got an interesting colour scheme and

that bathroom just there hasn't let me down in a nice shade of mauve.

But there's a lot of space in here, the rooms are spacey,

and this house, or these houses, are very well built and very popular.

The market for this kind of house is very buoyant. I'll tell you why.

For young professionals who work in the centre of Birmingham it's

only a 20-minute train journey

and just ten minutes to the centre of Wolverhampton.

It's no surprise that investors are snapping this kind of property

up as quick as they come on the market.

# The bigger the better, the bigger the better,

# The bigger the better, the better the bigger... #

Yes, both inside and outside this house has

bags of potential for improvement.

We invited along a local estate agent to

get his opinion on this cracking little three-bedroom property.

My first impressions of the property are it's quite an unusual

layout but the actual accommodation's very, very good.

The property has got gas central heating and double glazing.,

I'd finish it off and get double glazing put throughout the property.

It does need cosmetic work like new kitchen, new bathroom,

carpets, paintwork and wallpaper etc.

Many of the properties on this road in this area seem to have

single-storey extensions so this property could quite

easily have a single-storey extension to the side.

There's bit of waste space to the right between the house and the garage.

So the agent agrees with me

and thinks this property is perfect to extend at the side.

But that doesn't come cheap.

He thinks the work on the extension alone could cost

anywhere between 10 and £20,000.

Adding the cost of the refurbishment to the rest of the house,

which I reckon could easily be another £20,000.

The agent thinks with a straightforward

renovation to the house it could sell between 125 and 130 grand.

So would it be worth investing in that extension?

If the property was done up and also had the side extension,

single-storey extension, the property could be worth anything

between 130 to £140,000 depending on the level of the extension.

So on those numbers it might not be worth the time

and the hassle of the extension after all.

It all hinges on getting the property around the guide

price which is set at £75,000.

Otherwise any potential profit would start to fade away.

What about putting the house on the rental market?

The rental for the property in this area is typically

anything between 500 and 550.

It may be slightly higher than 550 with the extension but obviously it

depends what sort of accommodation comes with the extension.

Basically this is a sound and well built house.

It's got partial double glazing and central heating,

so they're the plus points. But it definitely needs modernising.

As for that window separating the two rooms.

Not quite sure about that.

But who fancied it when it went under the hammer?

So we're going to lot 25 which is a vacant freehold semidetached

property, as you can see there from the photograph.

60 to start then.

£60,000.

50 then.

Here to be sold. 50,000, sir? Thank you, with the cap at £50,000.

Do I hear 60 anywhere?

I'll take 5.

55, I'll take 60 there, sir, 60.

After a slow start the bidding soon picked up with a lot of interest.

We return when the bids have reached £88,000.

88 bid. 90 now, sir.

90. 92, sir.

92. 94.

Thousand pounds?

Don't miss it for a thousand pounds, sir. If you want it, buy it. Good.

93.

94, sir, the same applies to you.

Have another thousand, sir.

94. 95.

No?

At £94,000.

Gentleman seated here. £94,000, it is being sold.

Fresh bidder, another one at 95.

96, sir.

Have 96, sir.

96. 97.

OK. Good try.

96. Being sold.

One, two, three, I'm going to dwell no longer.

Your bid sir.

At £96,000.

-GAVEL BANGS

-And your number, sir, thank you, is 267.

With that successful bid of 96 grand, 21,000 over the guide price,

was local lad Carl.

This was his first property that he'd bought at auction,

so I was curious to see what he had planned for the place.

-Carl, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations.

Before we get started I hear that you supported, or support,

-one of my old teams.

-Yep. So that's Celtic.

Good lad, you see, you had a choice or two and you got it right.

Right, first you tell us about this house.

Why did you particularly want this house?

Well, I live just up the road and we came past, saw the signs up,

so it's something we'd been thinking about dabbling in.

So I thought I'll give it a go. So I went to the auction. First time.

And managed to get it.

Now you've got it, what are your plans for this house?

Well, the window's definitely going.

That strange thing.

My plans are to knock the kitchen, remove the wall there.

Block a couple of the doors up

and make one big kitchen/diner at the back.

I'm going to give it new doors, new kitchen, new bathroom.

I'm going to gut it and just start from fresh.

So, Carl, have you thought about extending?

Not at the moment. I want to turn it around in about six weeks because I live just up

the road and I'm having an extension done on my house at the moment.

My plan is to move into here whilst,

because we've got to move out of our house.

Whoa. Two renovations at once and a house move?

Carl clearly doesn't mind a challenge.

He's set himself a very brisk six-week turnaround.

He'll need to avoid any delays to get this one ready for him

and his wife Sharon to move into.

Carl knows a thing or two about delays,

because his company supplies labour to the traffic management industry.

So he's the one to blame for all the traffic cones.

Now Carl said this was his first project, which isn't strictly true.

I've got property abroad, I've got an apartment in Turkey

and I've got some land in the Cayman Islands which I'm about to

-start building a villa in.

-Really?

Yes, but this is my first one in England.

So, I've got to get back to the Cayman Islands.

Why the Cayman Islands?

I just, I saw it advertised and I went over, viewed the land,

saw the island, thought it was beautiful.

So I thought "this is where I want to retire."

-You're not messing about, are you?

-No, that's my next project.

-Spreading your wings.

-Yes, just a bit.

-I wish you all the best, Carl.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thanks.

I think Carl has chosen his first property in this country very wisely.

But he's put himself under a bit of pressure,

cos he wants to move in here while he's doing his own house.

How will he get on? You can find out later in the programme.

Coming up in Plaistow, East London.

Bucks and his builders are raring to go on this two-bed terrace property.

There's a team ready already.

Whilst over in Wolverhampton, Carl's first auction buy

isn't as easy as he first imagined.

Everything from day one was challenging.

Welcome back to Bolsover, the Derbyshire town

I visited earlier to check out this four-bedroom townhouse.

It sold at auction for £44,000.

A former local authority property made from pre-cast reinforced concrete.

In terms of price, you get a lot of house for your money.

A similar house to this would probably be double

if it wasn't non-standard construction.

So if you're renting this kind of place out,

then if you pay half the amount for the property

but you get the same amount of rent, you just doubled your yield.

Eric, the new owner, with his brother Jack, knows all about yield.

Their business ethos is to earn a 10% yield on investments.

I wondered how the boys got started in the property portfolio stakes.

-We sort of kind of fell into it a little bit.

-How?

He's a plumber, I'm an electrician

and we would...I'd just come back from travelling,

so I just wanted to, I wanted to get into it anyway and my dad was

lucky enough to have a bit of money to spare us to get us started.

So we've just carried on and we've done quite well.

They would certainly have to do quite well in the repainting

stakes, because the internal decor looked like it had been

inspired by this Dolly Parton song.

MUSIC: Coat Of Many Colours by Dolly Parton

So has this turned into a full-time job for you both now?

Yes, a full-time job, yes, it has been since we started.

And we've got three lads that work for us. One's a builder.

One's a joiner and the other one does everything as well,

builder, joiner.

So we've got everything between us that we need to do.

They predicted a maximum refurbishment time of two months.

Well, we're back six months later

and everything's complete apart from tidying up the back garden.

So let's see what has changed in that time for the entrepreneur

siblings and their company, which is a mere two years old.

# I'm ready, I'm ready for it... #

Well, the kitchen's ready for a chef.

And there is even integrated cooking appliances.

If I said the lounge previously had a bold colour scheme,

I don't think many people would argue.

Now it's as neutral as Switzerland.

The lads may be young, but they know their stuff.

MUSIC: Ready by Kodaline

Upstairs I'm pleased to note the removal of the wall

between the bathroom and toilet, making a more convivial convenience.

How healthy is the £16,000 budget forecast?

As it stands we're currently on £15,200.

We still have the garden to do so it should be spot on.

We called on two local estate agents to give us their opinions

and valuations.

First the agent we saw before work began.

First impressions of the property are that it's really good spec,

really nice kitchen and bathrooms.

Lovely impression, it's good finish, you can

walk straight into the property and everything's done.

So literally you can move in and just put your furniture in.

So very impressed with the finishing.

We know the brothers' company is founded on buy to let

properties, but out of interest what potential profit could

they make on a £60,000 investment if they sold?

I think on the sales market you'd be looking to

achieve in the region of 70 to potentially £75,000.

I think on the sales market this property would achieve £80,000.

They certainly seem to have added value to this house,

despite not tackling the non-standard construction issue,

with the potential profit of £20,000 minus taxes and expenses.

So could Eric be tempted?

I prefer the long-term investment.

I'm not really in it to make a quick bit of money.

OK, the boys always aim for a 10% yield. How have they done this time?

I think the rental value on this property would be £500 per

calendar month.

In the current rental market I'd expect this property to

achieve in the region of 500 to 525.

At the top figure that's a 10.5% yield,

but Eric has already got a tenant.

So what did he settle for?

The estate agent that I did go with actually managed to get 595

so I snapped his hand off.

Well, I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot more of Eric

and Jack in the future.

MUSIC: Rock the Casbah by The Clash

This is East London's Plaistow, the birthplace of Edward Harry Temme.

Now you may not have heard of that name,

but he became a member of the Plaistow United swimming club

and was the first man to swim across the Channel in both directions.

Time to find out if the property I'm here to see today will sink or swim.

Well, this street is well positioned,

there's a school just across the road, you can probably hear it.

And it's also close to local amenities as well as Newham

University Hospital, which means it'll be a popular rental spot.

Now the property I'm here to see is a two-bed mid-terrace

and it had a guide price of £195,000.

Looks rather worse for wear on the outside.

Let's test the water and see what it's like on the inside.

Oh, and not much better on the inside.

It's in a real state of disrepair, my goodness.

First reception room's through here.

I mean if you can see beyond it, loads of character,

lots of little dado rails and Bakelites everywhere.

But um, through here into the second little reception area. Goodness.

It just gets a whole lot worse. Wow. Fire damage in here is incredible.

I mean look, it's just peeling wallpaper.

You can almost smell the burning still. It's not nice at all.

So much so that the cobwebs up there are black,

they're just black hanging cobwebs. It's a very eerie room.

I mean look, the plaster is just coming off. Goodness.

Through here we've got the kitchen and the bathroom.

If you can call it that.

You really do need to start over again with this house,

it's got a really eerie feeling to it.

MUSIC: Thriller by Michael Jackson

Up on the first floor and although dated, the fire damage has not

left quite such a mark, and there is still some lovely character.

We've got two good sized bedrooms

but still no space for a bathroom that I can see.

On a positive note though, the garden is a good size,

and with a bit of tender loving care it could easily be

turned into a lovely little oasis in the city.

So certainly a lot to think about here for any potential buyer.

We invited along a local estate agent to get her

opinion on this somewhat troubled terrace house.

Having a look around, I think the house is a very good project.

It's a good investment for the area

and I could see the results in this house.

It could be an option to extend the house.

Having a loft conversion, of course subject to building regulations,

or if it's extended at the back, planning permission.

And I could potentially see a four or five bedroom house,

but with a very small garden left at the back.

Yes, an extension would compromise the back garden space.

But would it see big returns on the market?

Well, kept as a two-bed without an extension,

but with a full refurbishment,

the agent thought the house could be worth 320 to £340,000.

And rent for in the region of 1,300 to £1,400 per month.

But, if extended...

As a four/five bedroom house this property could

resale at the market price in between £410,000 to £430,000.

Also on the lettings market this property could let

out at the price range in between £2,000 to £2,200 per calendar month.

Well there's plenty of work to be done with this terrace

but it does have a lot of potential,

and it could be made bigger as well as better.

So who was ready to dive straight into the work

and make a splash with this lot?

Let's head to auction and find out.

So, move on to lot 33. Two bed mid-terraced house.

Where do you want to start?

200? There. 200.

205 anywhere?

205, on my left, 205.

210, sir.

215?

215. 220.

225.

230. 235.

With lots of interest in the property bids continued.

We returned when bids had reached £265,000.

265.

267.

269.

Back to you, 267, here.

269. 269.

270.

271.

Oh, come on, one more go. 271.

270, first time.

Second time, third and last time.

If you're all done.

-GAVEL BANGS

-Sold at 270.

And the successful bidder was Bucks.

Now you may recognise his face,

and that's because he met Martin in Liverpool back in 2009.

As well as property developing, he also owns a chain of estate agents.

He joined me back at the property to tell me

more about his plans for his latest purchase.

-Bucks, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Lovely to meet you.

So, tell me, why did you want to buy this at auction.

Um, mainly really because at auction, you know

that if you've won a property you're going to get it within the 28 days.

Cos I've sort of hunted around with estate agents

and there's a lot of vendors faffing around, not actually wanting

to sell at the price and you're getting gazumped at the end.

-And you should know that better than anybody.

-Yes.

-Being an estate agent.

Yes. So I just wanted the certainty to know that I can invest quickly

and get the project done as soon as possible.

So how many bedrooms in total are you looking at?

Initially we've tried to get six bedrooms,

six bathrooms out of this small two-bed property.

But I think it may be six or five rooms with five bathrooms.

We're not 100% sure yet,

depends on how much planning permission we get on the back.

So you're just going for maximising everything.

Just max it out, as many as much as you can physically do.

Yes this is most likely going to be a HMO property

so we're looking at all the regulations

and making sure that each room comes in at least nine square metres.

But we're looking for an en suite room in every single room,

because that's what the market demands now.

And how long do you think something like that will take you to

get done from planning permission?

Well we're going to start works immediately whilst

we wait for the planning permission,

cos as you can see there's a lot of internal works that can be done.

So we want to be efficient.

And I'm hoping to actually complete the whole process within three

-and a half months.

-So you've got a team ready on standby.

Yes, there's a team ready already.

So how much do you think it's going to cost you to do a job like this?

I mean can you price something like this up, Bucks?

Yes, you can. Systematically, you can if you put it into phases

and work out the costings. We've already done that,

we estimate between 80 to 100,000.

But we're not sure until we know how much space we've got in the back and the top.

And what sort of rentals will you be charging that single person?

Again it will depend on the square footage cos we'll work

everything out on that.

Between 600 to £800 a month.

And will you just have, you know, people applying like that

from these rooms, do you think they'll just fly out the window?

Yes, I'm pretty sure as soon as we've got the photographs done,

I'm confident we'll get it out within an hour.

Really?! Within one hour. You will rent this place out within an hour.

-Yes, through my estate agency of course.

-Seriously?!

-Yes.

That's incredible.

-You're really confident of that.

-Yes.

Bucks, it's been lovely meeting you today. Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I cannot wait to see how Bucks transforms this

terrace from a two-bed into a six-bedroom property. Wow!

But what I really want to know is will all the rooms really be

rented out in only one hour? The clock is ticking.

Join me later on in the programme and you can find out

if that really does happen.

Well, renovating property can involve some tricky decisions.

Do you go for a high-spec finish but risk blowing the budget?

Or you could go for that no frills approach,

but perhaps not attract the value you really want.

Yes, we've found out how one property got on,

but what about the other two?

Let's find out.

Back to Wolverhampton nowhere I visited this three-bedroom

semidetached house,

guided at £75,000+ that was in serious need of an update.

# Blue, blue, electric blue,

# That's the colour of my room where I will live... #

And I'm not just talking about the colour scheme.

There is one good thing about this window.

No there's nothing good about it at all,

I am getting rid of it completely.

That wasn't the only improvement I'd like to see here.

I thought the wall dividing the kitchen and the back

reception room could go to accommodate a large kitchen/diner.

This potential wasn't lost on Carl.

He snapped up his first auction property for 96 grand.

And he wasn't messing about.

Well, the window's definitely going.

That strange thing.

And then my plans are to knock the kitchen,

remove the wall there and make one big kitchen/diner at the back.

New bathroom, I'm going to gut it and just start from fresh.

So how did he get on?

We returned three months later to have a look.

Yes, as intended Carl has opened up the kitchen

and back reception room to create this spacious kitchen/diner.

It is still awaiting finishing touches,

but once complete it's going to be a great family space.

Carl didn't disappoint.

He did away with that dividing window between the two

reception rooms.

We had to get rid of that window. Without a doubt.

It just didn't look right.

It was dated, I couldn't believe that anybody would put

something like that in there.

So we've got rid of that and put the double doors in.

And I think it flows through quite nicely now.

Agreed. Looking much better I think.

He's also been busy upstairs saying goodbye to that mauve bathroom

suite and replacing it with a contemporary one in neutral colours.

The bathroom was very dated and old-fashioned,

so what we did, we stripped it out completely.

We put in a new bathroom suite with a P shaped bath and a shower over.

We've had it re-tiled.

I'm very happy with it,

it's definitely made a great improvement to the house.

He has also updated the three bedrooms which have been

stripped back to a shell, re-boarded, re-plastered

and painted, again in neutral tones.

With carpets down they are now looking brand-new.

Now the hard work's over, what was his biggest challenge?

Everything from day one was challenging. It's been quite

stressful cos of doing this house, doing my own house,

trying to run a business at the same time.

It's been a lot more stressful than I thought it would be.

Before the renovations began Carl

and his builder planned to complete the works in six weeks,

allowing him and his family to move into the house

while renovations were being done on their house up the road.

So, did all go to plan?

We were planning to turn this round pretty quick and move in

but that didn't happen cos it went a lot slower than we thought it would.

So we didn't get to move in.

Yes, that six week timescale ended up growing to three months

and Carl and family ended up staying with their mate, Cheryl,

while renovations were being done on their house.

So did that 15 grand budget hold up any better?

My budget's come in just a little bit under than what I thought.

It's come in at about 14,000.

Some good news. That takes his total spend on the property to £110,000.

But what will the property experts think?

We invited along two local estate agents to find out

if Carl is going to be quids in on his first auction property.

My first impressions of the property is that the purchaser has

obviously thought about what he wanted to do with the property.

I like the fact that you have an open-plan kitchen/diner

and that these doors open out, which gives lots of family use.

The standard of finish is very good throughout,

there are certain snaggings that need doing, like some more

plaster in the pipework within the kitchen and just overall decor.

But I think from that it will finish off quite a nice property throughout.

So let's get those valuations and see

if Carl could be on to a winner with his debut auction property.

Let's start with the rental.

I think this property would achieve on the rental market

a rental of £650 per calendar month.

I think this property could achieve on the rental market

anything in the region of £575 to £600 a calendar month.

That's a yield of 7%. Not bad at all.

But Carl's always intended on using this place to

house his employees to save him money on rent elsewhere.

He plans to hold on to the property for a few

years before selling at the right time.

So let's get those sales valuations.

I would look to put this property back on to the sales

market at a price of £152,000.

On the current sales market this property could

achieve in the region of 140 to £145,000.

Not bad, actually. They were higher than what I thought.

I was thinking more around like 130.

So, yes, quite pleasantly surprised there.

Carl's impressed and I would be too.

That top valuation could see him

pocket a profit of 42 grand before taxes and fees.

So could he be tempted to take the money and run?

I'm still going to stick to my original plan,

put the guys in here, maybe sit on it for about five years

and then see what the market's like then.

See if I want to sell then.

So after a successful first step into the property auction

-market would Carl do it again?

-Yes, I would buy another investment property.

I'm actually going to another auction in two days' time.

MUSIC: Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

We're back to Plaistow in East London where I visited this

two-bedroom mid-terrace house with a guide price of £195,000.

From the outside it was clear that this place was going to need

some attention, but on the inside...

It just gets a whole lot worse. Wow.

Fire damage in here is incredible, I mean look,

it's just peeling wallpaper. You can almost smell the burning still.

You really do need to start over again with this house.

It's got a really eerie feeling to it.

Yes. This house was going to need a lot of work.

Upstairs the two bedrooms weren't suffering from the fire

damage like the downstairs and were a good size,

but would still need a complete overhaul.

Then there was the lean-to out the back where the level of decay

was beyond words.

Yes, that is a tree growing out of a window box.

But all that didn't deter Bucks who bought

the house at auction for 270,000.

He was a Homes Under The Hammer veteran having met Martin

a few years back when renovating a property in Liverpool.

With a chain of estate agents I had the feeling that he would

know how to turn this dilapidated property into a money maker.

We've tried to get six bedrooms, six bathrooms out of this small two-bed

property but I think it may be six or five rooms with five bathrooms.

We're not 100% sure yet,

depends on how much planning permission we get on the back.

Yes, you heard right,

Bucks planned to convert this two-bedder into a five or six

bedroom HMO property, extending into the loft and out the back.

Using his team of builders he planned to have the work

complete in three and a half months and on a budget of 80 to 100,000.

Once I'm done with it you won't recognise the property

because it's going to be totally ripped out.

We returned six months later to find out how he got on.

Well, this is quite the transformation.

As intended Bucks has demolished the old lean-to,

not to mention uprooting that curious looking tree and extending

out the back into the garden to create this huge kitchen/diner.

Perfect for a house this size.

Next door is the communal downstairs shower room.

It is small but well formed with a shower unit

and finished with modern neutral tones.

Through into the front of the house,

this is the first bedroom complete with en suite.

Bucks' builders have gutted this place and it now looks

brand-new with electrics, plumbing, flooring and fresh decor.

Upstairs on the first floor the two dreary looking bedrooms have

been updated and modified to accommodate en-suites.

Like the rest of the property it's been finished to an excellent

standard. But that's not all.

Bucks has also extended up into the roof to create yet two more

bedrooms, again with their own bathrooms,

taking the total in this house to five bedrooms and six bathrooms.

This house is barely recognisable from the eerie dilapidated

shell it was before.

Well we've literally taken everything out of the property

including the roof.

The floors have been lowered as well

and the property has obviously been extended on the back.

And internally it's just been totally revamped.

Oh, yes, it certainly has.

Turning what was a two-bedroom house into a five-bedroom is no

small feat.

So what was the biggest challenge Bucks

and his builders faced with this renovation?

I think the biggest problem with the renovation or the project was

actually getting the layout correct.

Cos obviously we wanted to make sure the property appeals to renters

and also possibly for if I was to sell it, to sell it to a family.

So I think I've got it bang on.

Bucks estimated it would cost between 80 to 100,000 to complete.

But in the end it's cost him around £90,000.

So I think the total spend to date is about £365,000 including

all the fees.

How did his original timescale for the renovation pan out?

It's now taken five months, um, from the original three-month projection.

Purely due to planning permission

and making sure that we've got the correct procedures in place

with the council and building regulations.

So a couple of months over but now that's complete,

what will the experts think?

We invited along two local estate agents to see

if Bucks has turned a profit on his £365,000 investment.

Let's start with the one who saw it the last time.

This is my second time inside this property

and I can say it's completely different.

The layout is very good considering there are five

bedrooms at the moment, transformed from a two-bedroom terraced house.

So it is impressive how such a small house became such a big one.

Right now property demand in this area is at its all time high.

We have many clients looking for properties with nothing to

provide for them, so if something like this came on to the market

we'd be able to get people looking at it straight away.

So will that high demand be reflected in the valuation?

Let's start with rental.

If we would let this house as a five bedroom house then we could achieve

between £2,000 per calendar month up to £2,100 per calendar month.

If you were to rent this property out now as a five-bedroom house

you'd be looking to achieve in the region of £2,000 per calendar month.

However, Bucks originally set out to create this as an HMO.

So does it make more financial sense

if the rooms are rented out individually?

If the rooms would be let out individually then

we could achieve £110 per week per room.

If you were to let out each individual room on a weekly basis

you would be looking to achieve in the region of about £110 per week.

I think the rental figures are quite low.

I can definitely achieve way more on the rental room prices, for sure.

So despite that potential yield of just under 8% Bucks is

confident he can get more,

with experience of renting out HMO properties in this area.

But if he was to sell what kind of profit could

he make on his £365,000 investment?

I would expect to sell at the price of £500,000.

If the property was to be sold in the current market

now as a five-bedroom property as is,

you'd be looking to achieve in the region of £500,000.

Remember, Bucks had already lumped his fees into his spend

so £135,000 would be his potential pre-tax profit.

So could Bucks be tempted to sell?

The sale values don't really sort of change my mind

whether I want to sell the property or to rent it at the moment,

it all depends on what I'm going to be doing abroad

and whether I need to release equity from this property.

So I mean £500,000 is good,

£135,000 in six months or five months is great.

But again that doesn't really matter at the moment for me.

So what's next for Bucks and his growing empire?

I've got a few projects lined up abroad so I'm just focusing on them.

I'm sort of in and out of the country at the moment

but definitely I'll be going to an auction in the UK some time

in January, some time very soon to pick up some UK properties as well.

If you've never been to a property auction but always fancied it

I hope we've given you just that little bit of inspiration.

But even if you're more of an armchair property enthusiast

then you can still enjoy the thrills and spills of the property auction.

Yes. So make sure you join us next time for more

Homes Under The Hammer.

-We'll see you then.

-Goodbye.

-Bye.

-Bye.