Episode 26 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show.

Now, buying property is probably the biggest investment

you'll ever make.

Yeah, it can be really stressful.

So many decisions to make and the stakes couldn't be higher.

But if you have a passion for property like we all do, well,

it can sometimes be worth it.

So, why not think about buying your next home under the hammer?

No matter how well prepared you are,

buying a property at auction is always a bit of a gamble.

That is true.

However, you can really stack the odds in your favour

by doing your research.

Yes, so have today's buyers made the right decisions?

Here's what they bought.

At this two-bed terrace in Tunstall, Stoke,

I'm using all my senses to check for problems.

-MARTIN SNIFFS

-Smell, doesn't smell damp.

Whereas in Prescot, Merseyside,

the problems in this three-bed house are plain to see.

So, that's quite a big crack up there.

That'll have to be looked at.

And things are not quite to my taste in this three-bedroom flat

in Dagenham, London.

It is all very '70s and it needs updating.

All these properties were bought at auction,

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

when they went under the hammer.

Well done.

This is Tunstall in Stoke-on-Trent,

one of the so-called six pottery towns that make up the area.

Tunstall has in recent years seen a great deal of regeneration

with the redevelopment of new housing

and also the building of the Alexandra retail park

in Tunstall town centre.

Well, not far from the retail park

and lots of urban regeneration is the property I'm here to see.

And it's a classic mid terrace.

Guide price was £35,000 plus, let's take a look inside.

So, not expecting any great surprises with the layout,

but what have we actually got?

Well, first thing that greets you, this radiator,

so you're going to have to factor in some kind of central heating

into your budget.

But an open fire would be nice there, nice surround.

I mean, classic layout -

straight off the pavement into the front living room area.

Nice, high ceilings though, which is good.

Then through into the rear living room.

Stairs up to your bedrooms there.

Another open fire, which is good to see.

And using all my senses, as I keep on telling you.

-MARTIN SNIFFS

-Smell, doesn't smell damp.

No obvious signs of damp, which is a good sign.

It's just giving off all those indications,

it's just a good, solid little house.

Very traditional layout though.

-Through here into the kitchen.

-HE LAUGHS

Well, you're going to have to spend

a little bit of money in here to sort it out.

And then on into the bathroom.

Nothing I haven't seen before.

And you know what?

This is just a good, good, good solid little property.

# Better the devil you know

# Better the devil you know Oh-oh-oh-oh. #

Nothing we haven't seen before, including our old foe,

the polystyrene ceiling tile.

Installing a new kitchen, flooring and central heating

should be relatively straightforward in the right hands, that is.

So, upstairs, again, very classic layout -

two bedrooms separated by the stairs themselves.

They're not a bad size.

You could probably increase the size of this one slightly by taking out

the water cylinder here,

replacing that with a combination boiler

which would also sort out your central heating issues.

Um...it is what it is, but what it is is potentially

quite a good money earner.

Either buy it, do it up, sell it on, there's a reasonable profit,

because the guide price it's at compared to similar houses

in the street, hm, there's money to be made perhaps.

Or this is a classic house to have in a portfolio of rental properties.

It would deliver you a really good yield.

Yes, these kind of houses are good,

solid stock and an excellent starting place

for would-be investors.

# Let's make lots of money. #

I can't see any room to move the bathroom up here,

so no reconfiguration required, so all pretty straightforward.

At the back of the property,

a very classic extension for this kind of house.

Originally, these would have been your two-up, two-down terraces,

but over the years, the majority of them will have this sort of

single-storey thing built on the back, which is housing, obviously,

the kitchen and the loo.

It basically takes up most of the space out here, but, obviously,

provides that much-needed interior space.

Now, some people do do a double-storey extension,

you could consider that.

It would all come down to the cost of doing it

and whether you'd get that back when you came to sell.

Homework is required on the ceiling price for the area.

It doesn't make sense to spend more than you're likely to make back,

unless perhaps you plan to make it your long-term home.

A guide price of 35,000 is tempting, but you could get carried away.

We asked a local property expert from the auction house

who sold it about the property's potential.

First impressions of this property

are it does require full modernisation throughout.

New kitchen,

new bathroom, heating, some windows

and it's really a full renovation that's required.

Certainly there's lots to do.

But what could this house, guided at 35,000, make on the rental market?

Once renovated, I'd place this property

on the rental market in the region of £400 per calendar month.

Not too shabby at all.

But what if the property was sold?

After renovation,

I would place this property on the market in the region of £65,000.

If this was my property, I think I would look to renovate it

and maybe keep it for a few years as a rental investment

and then maybe assess the market in a few years' time.

Well, this may not be the most unusual house you've ever seen,

but it's classic auction material

and these kind of properties can make a very good buy

either if you're renting out or as a place to live.

So, I'm sure it was popular when it went under the hammer.

Lot number 32. 28 then.

We started at 28, 28 bid. Thank you.

£28,000. 30, going to say now.

30. 30. 32. £32,000.

34 in the doorway.

35, 36 in the door.

36,000 in the doorway.

At 36. New bid at the left now, 37.

38 in the door?

No? 37 on the front row.

At £37,000.

38 anywhere else?

If not, £37,000 for the first time, 37.

New bidder at 38.

39. 39. 40?

No? At 39, still with you on the front row, sir, at £39,000.

40 anywhere else?

If not, £39,000 once, £39,000 twice,

third and final time at £39,000...

-GAVEL BANGS

-You've bought it, sir, well done.

The successful bidder was Andy with a bid of 39,000,

just 4,000 over the guide price.

Andy is a Falklands veteran,

a former miner and is now a manager at a call centre,

so I am sure he will be drawing on his varied experiences

to help him with this project.

I caught up with him back at the house to find out about his plans.

-Andy, good to meet you.

-And you, Martin.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you. Well done.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

Well, I think it's got potential, I know the area fairly well -

the Stoke-on-Trent area -

and it's a blank canvas for me

to sort of invest a bit of money and do it up.

Is this the sort of thing you do then?

I did some time ago, but each time I've bought a house, done it up,

sold it, bought a house, mainly for my own

benefit and my family.

But this time now, me and my sister are doing it for our children.

-Oh.

-And each time we're going to sell them

and put some aside, give some to charity and then at their time,

they won't have such a struggle in life.

-So you give some to charity?

-Yes, a percentage.

Each time we move and sell, three or four a year is our goal,

aim and give a percentage to a charity.

So, currently I'm doing it for a certain charity now - Alzheimer's.

And I've done a lot for various others -

Prostate Cancer, Cystic Fibrosis.

Wow. So, can I be a little bit probing and say how much sort of

percentage you're giving?

-About 10%.

-Right.

-10% of any profit.

Oh, what a brilliantly...

Well, I just feel like I've got to give it back,

because there's a lot of research that goes into these charities

and it takes a lot of finance to do that.

So, whenever you do a property and sell it on,

-10% of your profit goes to charity?

-That's right.

What a great thing, I've never heard of anyone doing that.

Yes, it's close to my heart.

I've been doing charity events for over 20, 30 years,

so I think it was the right thing to do.

Andy is something of a philanthropist,

but why did he choose this house?

It was within budget. The guide price, I think, was 35,000

and I'd maintained to go up to 45.

And, fortunately, it was less than that,

so it left me a little bit more to do it up with.

And it's, I think, a good area.

What are the plans for this place? What are you going to do

-with it?

-There's a little bit of building work to be done,

going into the bathroom.

Take the wall out there, put the bath, new bathroom, new kitchen,

then plastering, so strip the walls down, paper-wise.

Reassess all the cabling

and then, basically, completely new fireplace,

block off the one in the front room,

new doors and then the general right the way through.

A member of my family's in the carpet business.

-Oh, right.

-So, I can run it straight through.

And then the central heating, of course.

Combi boiler in and pop the radiators in each room.

-Great.

-That's the idea.

-And what's the budget?

Budget, um...

The figures in my head are saying to me around about 5,000 to 6,000.

All in. It was a benefit or bonus, I should say,

that it's been rewired and there's new RCD units in.

And there's a new tank upstairs, but with that in mind,

I think around about that figure.

With the benefit of a small army of helpers that include plumbers,

tilers and builders,

Andy is aiming for this project to be completed

in about 12 weeks' time.

# Thank you for being a friend. #

He's hoping for a quick turnaround and an equally quick sale.

What then are his expectations?

Having looked on the internet, the local sort of price ranges...

There's a lady down the road, she's just sold her property.

..it's around about 57,000 to 60,000.

Right, so, between £10,000 and £15,000 profit then?

-Quite possibly.

-Of which you'll give...

-1,500 if it's 15. The more, the better for the charity.

-Yeah.

It may not be a massive amount, but it means something.

-If everyone did it, it would be.

-Well, that's right.

That's right, yeah.

And, then, for you, the next project, onto the next one then?

Absolutely. If this goes to plan, goes well, straight into...

The idea, the goal is, we're looking at about three or four,

realistically, a year.

And how much will you get involved in the work? Have you got

much practical experience?

-What do you do when you're not doing this?

-Oh, yes.

I will have a go at everything bar, I have to say, the plumbing,

I'm an electrician when I was in the forces, in the Navy.

I'll take doors off, I'll do all the DIY, I love it.

But the bulk of the work,

I'll kind of let the tradesmen do with the expertise.

-Right, well, congratulations. Really well done.

-Thank you.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

Thanks very much. Thank you.

Well, what a nice story.

Andy doing this place up, hopefully making a profit,

taking a sum for himself and giving some to charity.

Great story, great idea.

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

The city of Liverpool, famed for, among other things,

its contribution to popular music.

It also has some interesting suburbs.

# I found a place full of charms

# Wondrous place. #

In the heart of Prescot and only 30 minutes away

from the centre of Liverpool is the property I'm here to see.

And it's on this street that has a corner shop

and a pub just across the road as well.

And here's our house, it has three bedrooms and a guide price

of £45,000 plus...

Let's get inside, or shall we go to the pub?

No, let's get inside.

OK, in through the front door.

You've got a nice, long hallway, a bit old-fashioned.

You've got some textured wallpaper and some wood panelling

which makes it really dark.

Central heating as well.

And a little bit of movement up there.

That's actually fallen off that ceiling.

They'd have to get that sorted out as soon as possible.

That's quite a big crack up there.

That'll have to be looked at.

Stairs up to the bedrooms and into the dining room and lounge,

which is a nice, big space.

Dual aspect window.

You've got one window at the front, one window at the back as well.

Lots of light in here.

I would imagine this was two rooms back in the day,

but I much prefer it as this big, one room.

I can actually see signs of damp as well

and there's some here too.

Kitchen just here, which is a nice, big galley kitchen,

surprising how big this kitchen is and it goes all the way through

to the family bathroom as well.

And both of them look like they could be salvageable,

so that'll be handy on the budget.

Let's check out upstairs.

The back bedroom has signs of water damage on the ceiling,

probably from the roof,

but you might just be able to squeeze a double bed in here.

The second bedroom's decor makes it appear smaller than it actually is,

but I'm after that source of the downstairs cracks.

MUSIC: Cracks by The View

OK, into the third bedroom, movement here as well,

so there's something definitely going on.

Apart from the cracks and the damp, it's not bad at all.

My next mission is to find the back garden.

MUSIC: The Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini

I think it's pretty self-explanatory here, isn't it?

Well, if you get rid of all this,

you'll have yourself a nice little back garden.

Now for a professional opinion from a local property expert

we called in to give us some valuations

and a bit of background on the area.

The area this house is situated in is good for local amenities.

It's also good for local transport links

to Manchester and Liverpool.

It's an up-and-coming area for first-time buyers

because of the local amenities and the transport links.

What would it cost to refurbish it to a marketable standard?

Looking at this property

for the amount of money that you'd need to spend -

first of all, you'd have to look at the rising damp

and the structural movement, but in general,

you could be looking at up to £10,000 from top to bottom,

and then obviously look at the other issues

if there are any come up on a survey.

At the auction, the guide price was £45,000.

What would the property be worth after refurbishment?

Once the property's refurbed,

I'd be looking to put it on the market

between 85 and 90 on the current market.

Maybe 85, more realistically looking,

getting offers around 80,000.

Not bad head room for a refurbishment budget,

even with its problems. What about rental?

Once the property is renovated,

you'd be looking at a rental price of around £550 per calendar month.

The numbers seem to stack up, but with that worrying crack and damp,

I'd want to get some experts in just to check it out.

Let's see who wanted to have a crack at this one

when it went under the hammer.

So, we're on to lot number six. Got a telephone bid on this one.

45's your guide. Three-bedroom, mid-terraced house.

Let's say 40. Let's get it going.

At £40,000. 35, then.

At 35, I'm bid. In the room now at £35,000.

At 35. 36. Very close. 37. 38.

39. 40. 41.

41, I'm bid. 42. 43. 44. 45.

No? Here at 44. Are we all done at £44,000?

45 on the phone. 46 in the room.

It's against the phone now. It's against the phone.

It's in the room at 46. 47 on the phone now. 48.

Can you, sir?

48, I've got. 49.

In the room now against the phone. With you, sir, at 48. Are we done?

49. 50. 51.

Here at 50. At £50,000 first time. At £50,000 second time.

It's in the room. It's against the phone. At £50,000.

Take half if it helps.

If not, selling away, then, at £50,000.

Well done, sir. Can I have your paddle number, please?

551.

The successful bid was from Tom

who, along with his long-term partner Nicky,

have a small rental portfolio.

They met me back at their latest £50,000 investment

to discuss their plans and the cracks.

-Nicky, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Tom, same to you, sir. Congratulations as well.

-What made you buy this house?

-The area and the price, really.

-You know it? Do you know the area well?

-Erm, yeah, yeah.

I know the hospitals are close and the motorways are close

and things like that, so it'd be a good rental machine, really.

-Is that what you want to do?

-Yeah, just do it up and rent it out.

OK. What are you going to do to this property?

-I'm going to do... It needs dampcourse.

-Yeah.

It needs a couple of ceilings dropping,

plating, skimming, wallpaper stripping, skimming,

complete painting right through.

The tile's coming off in the kitchen.

It's all getting re-tiled. There's nothing up with the bathroom.

Tidy the back garden up.

Paint the stones in the front, not the bricks.

-And basically a good clean through.

-It's quite a long list, then.

-DION LAUGHS

-Yeah.

Nicky, who's going to do the work?

-Himself.

-Are you going to do most of it yourself?

Yeah, apart from the sparking and the gas.

I'll get someone in who's registered to do them type of works.

He's good, isn't he? He's keeping all the costs down. I like it.

-And I've seen signs of movement in the front bedroom as well.

-Yeah.

-How are you going to deal with that?

-Well, to be quite honest,

I just found out off one of the neighbours

that there was a leak in the street quite a few years ago

and a few of the houses were moving down,

had the fronts dropped and works done.

And they've checked all the houses for movement

because of the leak and all the works have been done.

So, I think it's just cos it's been a long time empty,

I think it's just a little bit of settlement

and the ground drying out after that,

so there's nothing that really worries me

and it's not really big cracks that's in it.

Just little minor ones.

So, what's involved with the damp? How are you going to fix that?

Well, there's a number of different ways,

but the way I'm going to go for it is hacking off a metre high

and there's different products on the market

that they use for tanks and cellars,

so I'm going to use one of them products

and then it doesn't matter how wet the wall is -

damp will not come through no matter what.

Tom is going to tank the walls by fitting a dimpled plastic sheet

behind the bottom metre of plaster.

He prefers this method to the older practice

of drilling holes in the wall's mortar

and injecting damp-proof cream.

There are several new methods you can use to tackle rising damp.

The best way to go can depend on the age,

condition and materials used in the wall.

My advice - always check with a specialist company.

# So, thank you very much... #

OK, so, while you're doing the work and getting your hands dirty,

let me try and figure out what you're going to be doing.

-What's your job?

-I'll probably be doing all the phone calling.

-Oh, OK.

-Organisation.

-I knew there'd be a balance somewhere.

-He's trying to take all the credit.

-Oh, he is. He does.

-DION LAUGHS

-I just get my hands dirty.

How long is all this work going to take you?

If I wasn't working full-time,

I'd say it'd probably take three to four weeks,

but because I'm full-time, we've got children,

my partner's part-time, I'd say two to three months.

It'll just be the odd Saturday

-and the odd couple of nights after work, really.

-OK.

-What is your full-time job?

-I'm a plasterer.

I see. Now it's all coming to light, isn't it? It's all coming to light.

-So, you do all the plastering yourself?

-Everything, yeah.

Is that why you can do the damp as well?

Yeah, yeah, cos most of the time,

it's damp work we do for housing associations.

So, probably, most weeks, I'm doing dampcourse work anyway.

I'd love to see what your house is like.

It must be spotless. SHE LAUGHS

-No.

-No? DION LAUGHS

How come that's the case?

-Cos he's always doing other houses.

-Oh, I see.

You're giving him an excuse there, by the way. You're letting him off.

We seem to do other houses better than what ours is.

DION LAUGHS Is that right?

But when I do get home, I take the kids out,

so I do spend time in the house.

So, it's either spend time with the kids or do another house,

-so something's got to give.

-OK.

-How many children do you have?

-Four.

-What are their ages?

-14, 11, seven and three.

OK, give them a quick mention. What are their names?

-Thomas, Connor, Oliver and Harvey.

-There you go.

Now you're safe cos you've mentioned them all.

How much is it going to cost you to do all the work?

I'd say between £2,000 and £3,000.

From start to finish, that's everything?

-With your damp and...?

-The lot, yeah.

Really? That's a decent budget, to be fair.

Cos apart from your damp,

maybe the cracks in the front bedroom.

I've seen a bit of a leak, as well, in the ceiling in the back bedroom.

Is that a worry to you?

I've had a look up and it seems to just be a slipped slate,

so it's not a major...

It's not as if the roof's damaged or nothing like that.

It's just because it's been a long-term empty

and it hasn't been maintained.

I don't think this will be a problem to you.

You seem to have the right answers. You know what you want to achieve.

-Yeah.

-You've got the boss there doing the phone calls for you.

-With the brains.

-With the brains. THEY LAUGH

-Nicky, good luck.

-Thank you very much.

-Wish you all the best. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Tom, good luck, pal.

-Cheers. Thanks.

Well, a relatively straightforward property,

but Tom has a full-time job,

Nicky works night shifts and they have four kids,

so one thing they don't have is lots of spare time to do up a property.

How will they get on? Find out later in the show.

-LUCY:

-Still to come, a three-bed flat in Dagenham

that just doesn't seem to know when to stop.

And I'm still in the corridor. That is how long it is.

Back in Prescott,

did Tom and Nicky find the time to fill in those cracks?

The biggest challenge was basically squeezing it into everyday life.

-MARTIN:

-We're back in Tunstall, Stoke,

to see a classic two-up two-down terraced house

that didn't seem to hold any surprises.

Classic layout.

Straight off the pavement into the front living room area.

Nice, high ceilings, though, which is good.

Then through into the rear living room.

Stairs up to your bedrooms there.

No obvious signs of damp, which is a good sign.

It's just giving off all those indications

it's just a good, solid little house.

It was a solid choice for anyone who was willing

to invest time and money as it did need quite a lot of work.

It had no central heating, polystyrene ceiling tiles

and it needed a new kitchen and bathroom,

so a classic auction lot.

Falklands veteran and call centre manager Andy

was up to the challenge of doing the work that was needed here,

and bought the property for £39,000.

He is an experienced property developer

with a novel plan for the potential profits.

Each time we move and sell -

three or four a year is our goal, aim -

and give a percentage to a charity.

So, currently, I'm doing it for a certain charity now -

Alzheimer's - but I've done a lot for various others -

-prostate cancer, cystic fibrosis.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-So, can I be a little bit probing

-and say how much percentage you've given?

-About 10%.

-Right.

-About 10% of any profit.

-Yeah, what a brilliantly...

-Yeah, absolutely.

Well, I just feel that you've got to give it back

because there's a lot of research that goes into these charities

and it takes a lot of finance to do that.

So, whenever you do up a property and sell it on,

-10% of your profit goes to charity?

-That's right.

-What a great thing.

It really is generous,

but was his timescale of 12 weeks to do the work realistic?

Well, we're back two years and four months later -

just a bit later than planned. I hope everything's worked out.

And it has. Everything here looks great.

There are some very expensive and time-consuming aspects

to this property that aren't as apparent at first glance.

The whole house has been taken back to brick,

as there were a few damp patches.

Andy thought it would be much better to make sure the whole house was dry

and then reboard and plaster everywhere.

To keep any water out from above,

the front roof has had 300 new tiles.

The old storage radiators have gone

and they've been replaced with a new central heating system.

It's taken Andy and his team much longer than anticipated.

Time for Andy to tell us more.

I think the biggest challenges were the time, going through the winter,

and working as well with our own respective jobs.

And then we found the black asbestos pipe

by removing the boiler in the back bedroom, which...

Then, we had to down tools

and remove that safely and securely by the professionals.

And it was just really time - effective time.

So, whether it be two hours here and then,

a full weekend, depending on the weather,

when we could get in and do the work that was required.

All in all, it took longer than anticipated.

However, getting there, in the end, and the end result, I think,

is justified by the timeframe.

Andy believes in doing a thorough job

and that is what he's done here.

However, time is money and adding expenses like council tax,

which came to over 1,300 quid,

as well as the obvious building costs, were a drain.

His estimated budget of five to six grand -

ooh, what's happened to that?

Estimated spend, initially...

And I think I was a little bit naive thinking,

you know, "Is this a quick fix? Is this a quick turnaround?"

And it wasn't and I had to be realistic and honest.

I'm not going to take short cuts.

Um, and that said, I would say at least double,

plus a little bit more.

Estimated 14,000, to be fair, it was.

And I'm still happy that I paid that figure,

you know, and I wanted it right.

I wanted it to be done right and the right people doing the job.

The people I've had doing that are amazing, I think.

Their work is, you know, top-notch, very good.

So, again, I think you pay the price

for the right people to do the work effectively,

and the finished article is something that I'm proud of,

and they should be proud of as well.

14 grand on top of his 39 grand investment

brings his total to £53,000.

Andy seems pretty happy with it.

Will he be equally as pleased

with the opinions of two local estate agents?

It's been a couple of years since the property was purchased.

There has been a natural improvement and growth in the market,

so I would say that's possibly a favourable situation.

That's good news,

but what are the agent's thoughts on the property itself?

For this type of property,

I think the standard of the finish is more than adequate.

It's modern, the kitchen and bathroom is decent

and, really, they're the main things that people will look for.

My first impressions are very good.

They've done, obviously, everything to a good standard.

It's neutral. It's going to appeal to everybody.

They haven't gone overboard with the quality

and it'll be very good for the market.

There is good demand for this type of property,

and either on the sales side or the letting side,

it would be easy to find a suitable buyer or tenant.

That's good to hear,

but Andy had always intended to sell this property

and use the funds for the next project,

as well as his charitable donation, of course.

The estimated value the agent gave over two years ago

was that, fully renovated, the house could sell for around 65 grand.

So, what could it sell for on today's market?

If this property came onto the sales market,

I'd look for an asking price of £59,995.

I would place this property on the market in the region of £65,000.

Sounds about right for the area, given the current climate.

There are a few properties around this area

between - top end - 65 to 70.

That's where we were looking at, to be totally honest,

but I understand, estate agents, they have the knowledge.

But we do know that a property is worth what someone will pay for it,

and with a top-end finish,

we can hope that Andy will get his top-end price.

But it demonstrates that you can't assume

that prices will always climb over time.

On the good news front,

that 65-grand valuation would get him a £12,000 pre-tax profit,

which also means that a charity could benefit

to the tune of £1,200 this time, which is amazing.

The phrase charity begins at home

couldn't be any more appropriate than here.

I've got something very close to my heart, which is the charity side.

Some people say this is a hobby, it's not my business,

but I'm just giving something back to the community

and people who deserve that.

I reckon Andy deserves some plaudits

for his inspirational approach to property profits.

I hope we'll be seeing him again on Homes Under The Hammer.

We're in Dagenham, less than a mile from Dagenham Heathway tube

and just around the corner from the original Dagenham Village

with its Parish Church and pub.

But since Dagenham officially became part of Greater London in 1965,

it's become a much more built-up and busy urban area.

This street is a 15-minute walk from the tube

and you can see it's a residential area

with blocks of flats dating from different times.

So, yes, I'm here to see a flat,

which went to auction with a guide price of £120,000.

Now, it's a three-bedder and it's on the ground floor

of this '70s building here.

But something I've noticed, which is rather unusual.

Look, there are washing lines all along the front of this building.

Ha! I've never seen that before.

# Let it all hang out. #

Well, just for your information, I'm not going to hang out here.

Let's take a look inside.

Oh, wow! What a really long, long, dark and yellow hallway.

So, down this long, long, long corridor,

you've got various rooms leading off.

A bedroom, a rather large cupboard,

two little, small coat cupboards here.

You've got a bathroom, a couple of bedrooms.

There's a lot - and when I say a lot, I mean an awful lot -

of textured painted walls.

You've got a fan effect up there.

I mean, it's all very '70s and it needs updating.

Brown wallpaper in there, lots of different types of flooring.

It really is a bit of a mismatch and I'm still in the corridor.

That is how long it is.

The kitchen, to the left, I think that's quite a good size.

A nice big, square kitchen and then right at the end,

in the orange lounge, you've got this space here.

Another little space through there,

I'm not quite sure what you could you with that.

But the good news is, if you come over here,

underneath this net curtain, you've got really good double glazing.

That looks fairly new and, of course, a little green out there.

So, ideal if you've got a little doggie

or you've got kids and they want to play outside. Perfect.

And hey, if the weather isn't good, you could get

some amount of cartwheeling done down that long hallway.

It really is the main artery of the house.

The two larger bedrooms are well proportioned and the smaller one

would suit a child or as a home office.

I do have an issue with the toilet being separate from the bathroom.

Where do you wash your hands? Well, I just prefer them to be together

or at least have a sink in the loo.

Reconfiguration is required, I think, on this one.

And I'm faced with a similar issue in the heart of this property.

So, I've had a good old thorough look around this flat

and, of course, I'm looking for ways

in which you could improve the space.

Now, I'd like to say, first of all, it is quite generous with its space,

which is a real bonus, but standing here,

I can't help but think I would rather this be

one big, open-plan space.

You'd have a nice big double aspect view here, two big windows.

And the reason I say that is because, well, first of all,

this room, what can you do with it?

I think it's too small for a bedroom.

Maybe an office. Would it really be used as that?

You've already got three bedrooms down the end there.

By simply taking down this partition,

it would just open this space up nicely.

And I think for a young family or a couple, even, it would just be

so much a nicer way to live to have one big room

rather than two small rooms.

Yes, that might be a better use of space, but as ever,

do you want to knock a wall down in a leasehold flat?

Well, if you do, you'll have to do something first.

# If you've got questions

# Ask me now. #

That's right, you'll have to ask the permission of the freeholder

of the flat if you want to make any changes here.

Now, they're likely to allow this if the property is being improved,

but they always have the final call.

So, do check first.

But would changing the layout actually be a good idea?

Time to get a second opinion from a local estate agent.

I'm keen to hear his thoughts on this one.

With a layout for the three-bedroom flat,

I would keep the bathroom separate, kitchen as it is,

the reception room, I would keep it with a split conversion,

purely because you could use the second reception as a dining area.

I guess there are two sides to every argument.

If you keep the second room,

is there any chance you could call it a bedroom?

We wouldn't be able to market this as a four-bedroom flat,

purely because the additional reception room comes off the lounge.

The flat itself is very spacious.

I would say it does require modernising,

mostly decorative finish.

Maybe it could be more cost-effective

to simply bring this property up to date

and put it on the sales market.

Once renovated, this property could achieve

a figure in the region of £200,000 to £225,000.

And what about rentals?

This property could achieve somewhere in the region

of £1,200 to £1,300 per calendar month.

Yes, it's very dated, but this is a solid spacious flat,

which seems good value for money - for London, of course.

So, who is ready to bring it into the 21st century?

Let's head to auction and find out.

Five-room Dagenham flat in need of modernisation.

Who'd like to get me started on this?

150, I've got.

152 anywhere?

152.

154, 156.

158. 160. 162.

164. 166.

168.

170.

172.

174. No? It's with you, madam. The bid is £172,000.

It's against the gentlemen here on my right.

It's £172,000. Anybody else for lot 148?

174, new place. 176.

178.

180.

182? No?

It's with you, madam. The bid is £180,000.

180 for the first.

180 for the second.

180 for the third and final time.

-All done.

-GAVEL BANGS

Sold, 180.

The bidder looking a bit relieved was Catherine.

She bought the ground floor Dagenham flat for £180,000

along with her partner, Kevin.

Now, Catherine is an artist as well as a developer

and Kevin is a stonemason.

They decided to start property developing a year ago

and this is their third project.

I'm keen to find out if it's turning into an art form.

Catherine and Kevin, congratulations.

I bet you are so thrilled to have got this.

-Definitely.

-We are, we are, definitely.

So, have you bought this to do up as a project

or have you bought this for yourselves to live in?

-Um...

-A project.

-Yes, it's definitely a project. We plan on...

-Selling it.

-Selling it, yeah.

We, you know, we try and keep flexible,

but really we need to sell it

if we are going to do another project, perhaps, afterwards.

And are you quite a good team together, would you say?

-Well...

-Sometimes.

Yeah, no, I think it works quite well considering we are together

-so much of the time.

-Yeah.

Now, I know you're a professional artist and you're a stonemason.

How do you combine those two wonderful skills in property?

Or do you never get the chance to?

-She does all the colours and designing, I do the work.

-Yeah.

So, you do all the hard graft and you do all the lovely choosing of

the pallets and the tones and the colours.

Well, except that it's all white most of the time,

is what we've done.

I'm big into white at the moment

cos it's a blank canvas for people to put their own life into.

Easy for anyone to put another colour over.

Yeah, and it's ready to paint.

But as an artist, that must be very difficult

cos I know you actually paint murals on walls, don't you?

Yes, but after 20...blah years doing that,

it's blissful to just paint walls white, I can't tell you.

# To me you are

# A work of art. #

I may not know much about art, but I know what I don't like

and I'm certainly not a fan of the textures in this property.

I wonder what an artist like Catherine makes of the shapes,

forms and lines on display here.

Although I am getting used to these ceilings cos I see them everywhere.

-No, no. No!

-They'll come back, they'll come back.

-They'll come back.

-People will be clamouring for them.

So, are you going to plaster that ceiling?

Are you going to plaster that?

-I don't know.

-We'll have to... It will depend on cost, obviously.

So, what sort of budget have you guys got for the work here?

Well...

-Depending on how much we do, but I suppose, 15.

-Yeah, about 15 grand.

-OK.

-Kitchen, obviously, needs a complete rip out and start again.

Change the toilet, the flooring, paint, the wood work,

decorating throughout.

But we might not be changing the bathroom this time.

-OK, so you might leave the bathroom as it is.

-Yeah.

Another thing I need to ask you is this little room behind,

do you think you will keep it as an extra room

or open the space up to have

a really nice double-aspect, large room?

-Well...

-What are your thoughts?

-Like to open it up.

-We would like to.

But if someone's coming here to rent, when we're passing it on,

they might want it as a fourth bedroom, which it isn't.

We've hummed and hawed already, but I mean, even if we take it down,

it's easy for somebody to put one back.

So, any other structural changes that you're thinking about making?

We applied to have the windows out

and put bifold doors in the other end.

-Really?

-Open air to that nice bit of space outside.

Now, you've got fantastic space outside,

-but it doesn't come with the flat, does it?

-No.

-It's not part of this building, is it?

-No, it's not.

-It's probably owned by the council.

-Yeah. Yeah, but...

It's a nice bit of land you can use.

Do you think you'll get permission for that or not?

Some of the others have had it, so we're just waiting to find out.

So, come on, what do you realistically think?

How long will it take you to renovate this up to your standard?

Well, we think... We were discussing it and thinking about four months.

Cos we're not sure when we can get started.

We're working elsewhere

doing up a two-bedroom house around the corner

and then we're going to have a holiday this year.

Yes, we haven't had a holiday yet, so...

-Gone from one job to another.

-Any chance of any...

beautiful murals on the walls in any of the rooms, do you think?

But it's so time-consuming.

I don't know whether it would pay, that's the thing.

Can I afford myself, really?

And someone might not like it.

-And what are you going to do it of anyway?

-Exactly.

-Yeah.

You know, one person's beautiful mural is another person's...

-Nightmare.

-Well, I'll tell you what, if there's no mural,

I'm expecting some very well-painted walls.

Guys, I've loved meeting you today.

Congratulations and I'm so pleased

that this property fell in the laps of you two

because I think you are going to make it look fantastic.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Catherine.

-Kevin, lovely to meet you.

-Cheers.

Well, it's a shame

we won't see any of Catherine's colourful murals here,

only shades of white allowed.

Still, I'm looking forward to seeing

the transformation of this dated '70s flat.

Who better to take this on than Kevin and Catherine?

Join me later on in the programme and you can see how it turns out.

-So, we've seen how one of our buyers has done.

-What about the other two?

-Will their hard work have paid off?

-Let's find out.

Earlier in the show,

I was in the city renowned for its football and its music - Liverpool.

I popped into a property in Prescot

and a very well situated auction lot it was too.

It's on the street that has a corner shop

and a pub just across the road as well.

And here's our house.

It has three bedrooms and a guide price of £45,000-plus.

Let's get inside.

Or should we go to the pub? No, let's get inside.

A stiff drink might have just been the tonic

or an ale, in my case, before seeing this place.

The property offered good space and a kitchen and bathroom

that with a bit of a clean-up could be salvaged.

There were noticeable signs of damp, though,

and huge cracks that indicated this house had been moving.

# Cracking up

# I'm getting ready to go

# Had enough. #

Apart from the cracks and the damp, it's not bad at all.

Tom and his partner, Nicky, bought this property for £50,000

to add to their rental portfolio.

I'm a big fan of doing your research and a quick gab with the neighbours

gave them some comfort about the potential movement of the house.

There was a leak in the street quite a few years ago

and a few of the houses were moving down,

had the fronts dropped and works done.

And they've checked all the houses for movement

because of the leak and all the works have been done.

Cos it's been a long time empty,

I think it's just a little bit of settlement

and the ground drying out after that.

Those cracks could be easily solved as Tom was a plasterer by trade.

He'd have the help of his son Thomas

with Nicky organising things over a two-month timescale

and a two to three grand budget.

We are now back six months on and as it's a city famous for its music,

I wanted to use my favourite Liverpool band to accompany

the family's handiwork. RECORD SCRATCHES

MUSIC: Whole Again by Atomic Kitten

It's Atomic Kitten, of course. Who did you think I was talking about?

Anyway, inside, thanks to Tom's plastering,

those cracks are long forgotten.

# Looking back on when we first met

# I cannot escape and I cannot forget

# Baby, you're the one

# You still turn me on

# You can make me whole again. #

So, this house is whole again and it's a property without damp.

There was a bit of damp in the property in certain areas

and it all got hacked off a metre high, got a membrane put on it

and I floated and skimmed with a waterproof sand cement.

So it shouldn't come back at all.

Tom also replaced fascias and guttering at the back

and flashing on the roof, so this house is now watertight.

Tom has also dropped several ceilings

and re-plastered throughout.

I skimmed the middle bedroom, I skimmed the front bedroom,

I dropped the back bedroom ceiling

and then because that part of the building is separate

to the loft of this part, it all got re-insulated

and re-plaster boarded and re-skimmed.

And while Tom and Nicky have worked quickly,

general life has put paid to their two-month timescale.

The biggest challenge was basically squeezing it into everyday life.

It took about five months mostly due to me having a full-time job.

Nicky works part-time, nights and then having four kids,

holidays and generally just life itself.

They could have been quicker

if Tom had had the help of his 14-year-old son Thomas,

but unfortunately, in a roundabout way,

the teenager came a cropper.

He did start with good intentions

and then ended up falling off a roundabout and snapped his ankle,

so didn't end up giving me a hand.

Ouch! My old traffic debut comes to mind.

Anyway, get well soon, Thomas.

But it's not the only thing to break around here.

With added costs like council tax,

they have smashed through their two to three grand budget,

spending 4,500 grand.

But are they happy with the impressive results?

Yeah, my favourite part about the house,

which no-one really noticed, is the keystone above the front door.

Cos as I was cleaning it off, all the sand cement came away

and I've reformed it, so it looks like the original.

I just like it's all done. There's no hassle now.

And now that it's done, Nicky, what's the plan?

We were originally going to be renting it out.

That's what the plan is - is to still rent it out.

In that case, you will need the opinion of two local estate agents

that we've asked along.

What do they think of the end product?

This is the first time I've seen this property

and I'm really impressed.

The main selling features of this property are certainly the location.

It's positioned close to town

and should sell very well when it comes to the marketplace.

So, when I first walked into the property,

my initial reaction was it was finished to a very high standard.

I liked the fact how it's very neutral and it's very laid out.

It would appeal to both the sales market

and the rental market as well.

Tom and Nicky have spent 54,500 grand buying

and renovating this Prescot pad.

What kind of rental valuations could they expect

and could the sales values tip them in that direction?

So, with the resale value of this property,

I'd be looking to advertise the property

at between £80,000 to £85,000.

And if you were looking to rent the property,

I'd be looking at a rental of £500 per calendar month.

If I was positioning this property onto market for sale,

we'd be looking at a figure of £85,000 and for rent,

we'd be looking at a figure of £550 per calendar month.

That top figure of 550 quid per calendar month gives them

a very good 12% yield.

What do they think of that?

-Quite happy with that.

-Very happy with that, yeah.

More than we expected.

Speaking of unexpected things, that top resell value of 85 grand

would give them a pre-tax profit of £30,500.

For four months of Saturdays,

not a bad way to spend your Saturday.

I might change careers,

become a property developer instead of a plasterer.

It looks like they will stick with the rental option,

but will Tom stick with plastering?

Before any career change, he has to down tools

and go back to the most important job in his life -

being a dad of four.

It's been an enjoyable experience, but now that it's done,

I think it's time to spend a bit of time with the kids,

-spoil the kids a bit.

-Especially the little one.

He always wants to come with you.

Cos he never sees you.

We're back in Dagenham, London to see this three-bedroom flat

that I felt was...well, a bit stuck in the past.

There's a lot - and when I say a lot, I mean an awful lot -

of textured painted walls.

You've got a fan effect up there.

I mean, it's all very '70s and it needs updating.

But all the rooms were very good sizes

although I did think of something that might work better

in the two reception rooms.

By simply taking down this partition,

it would just open this space up nicely

and I think for a young family or a couple, even,

it would just be so much a nicer way to live

to have one big room rather than two small rooms.

Of course, some things work better in pairs

and that might be the case with the buyers of this property.

Catherine and her partner, Kevin, paid £180,000 for this flat

at auction and they actually didn't mind the dated textured ceilings.

Although I am getting used to these ceilings

cos I see them everywhere.

-No, no. No!

-They'll come back, they'll come back.

-They'll come back.

-People will be clamouring for them.

So, are you going to plaster that ceiling?

-Are you going to plaster that?

-I don't know.

Well...it will depend on cost, obviously.

Well, it's time to find out if they did re-plaster those ceilings

and, of course, do the rest of the work.

They said it would take them four months to turn this project around

and we are back a whole month early to see how they've got on.

# Stop me, oh-ho-ho, stop me

# Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before

# Stop me, oh-ho-ho, stop me

# Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before

# Nothing's changed. #

Yeah, Morrissey, I could not have put it better myself.

Nothing has changed. And heaven knows, I'm miserable now.

Those textured surfaces are still there and so is everything else.

Well, nearly everything.

# Who said I lied? Because I never

# I never

# Who said I lied? Because I never. #

The carpet no longer lies on the floor.

Time to ask Catherine what's been going on

or rather, what's not being going on.

Well, as you can see, nothing has changed except for the carpet.

Well, we took away the carpet because it stank, frankly, and...

that's about all we felt was necessary, so that's...

We just dumped it.

# Why don't you come with me little girl

# On a magic carpet ride? #

Catherine and Kevin didn't have time to do anything else

as they had other projects on.

So they decided after a few months, it was worth just putting it

on the market to see if there would be any interest.

So, we thought, "OK, well, let's see what happens."

And it sold.

So an offer was made that we couldn't refuse, so we took it.

And with only the carpet to take care of, they didn't have to

don their work clothes for very long.

It took three hours' work. Good, solid, on our hands and knees,

taking up the carpet and taking it to the tip.

A little bit less than we'd imagined, really.

Washing up the floor. Yeah, about three hours.

-Yeah.

-It was hard, hard work.

-Yeah.

Hm, so not the most taxing renovation we've had on

Homes Under The Hammer.

But it has laid empty for three months now

whilst Catherine and Kevin have been on holiday

and finishing off other projects.

So, have they incurred any other costs with this

other than the agent's fees?

-Oh, well, there's some...

-Not really.

..service charge as it's a leasehold flat.

That's the costs that we've had.

-Nothing.

-You know, coming, having a look, picking up the post

and going for breakfast afterwards.

That's about it, really, for costs.

They had planned to spend £10,000 to £15,000 on the work,

but instead, they've spent 300 quid on service charges,

£210 on council tax

and a few quid on some cuppas from the local caff.

So, there is plenty of money left in the pot.

We asked two local estate agents along to tell us

if the offer Catherine and Kevin felt they couldn't refuse

was the best one possible.

And at least we have one makeover to show you

and that's the agent who came to see it last time.

Look. Before.

And now after.

I like the new look, Nitan.

Anyway, back to the task in hand here.

Let's get the agents thoughts on the property.

Not much has changed,

but the property still requires updating and modernising.

That's true, but what about that carpet?

By them removing the carpet, I think it's made life easier

for the next buyer.

Easy seems to be the byword for this particular project.

Is the other surprise that the flat has been easy to sell

in its current state?

I'm not surprised that this has still gained interest

because at the moment, the market is very hot.

There's a lot of demand for the Dagenham area.

Catherine and Kevin bought the flat for 180,000 and have spent

about 500 quid on expenses, not including cups of tea.

What if they had renovated the property?

What could it potentially sell for?

And certainly you would market the property around 235,000.

Once renovated,

the property could achieve somewhere in the region of £245,000.

On the face of it, that's a potential profit of £64,500,

but they would have probably spent their £15,000 budget,

leaving them with a potential £49,500 profit.

So, what resale value would they put on it in this condition

and have the couple missed out on a £49,500 profit?

If I was to value this property in its current condition,

I would look towards a price of around £205,000.

At the present time, in the present condition,

the property should be valued in the region of £230,000.

-Yeah, we've had an offer on it...

-Yeah.

..we're quite happy with.

-In between them two, so...

-Yeah, so we think...

It's a good profit.

-Yeah, we're happy with how it's gone.

-For no work.

In fact, the couple accepted an offer of £225,000.

That means a pre-tax profit of 44,500 quid,

only five grand less than what they would have made

if they'd have done all that work.

So, what do they make of that?

-Good timing.

-Well, you've got to be in it to do it.

-To win it.

To win it, but, you know? Yeah.

Unlikely for this to happen again.

-It's lovely too, but unlikely.

-Yeah.

-Like winning the lottery.

-Mm-hm.

Well, as you can see, property developing can be

a huge learning curve, even for seasoned professionals.

And hopefully, we've given you some insight.

Yes, so join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammer.

-We'll see you then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.