Episode 28 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello, and welcome to the show.

The markets can go down as well as up, but, ultimately,

a property's only worth what somebody's willing to pay for it.

Ah, Dion, and that's why it's so important to get your budget

-and stick to it. Otherwise, well, you can end up paying too much.

-Yes.

But one way to stack things in your favour

and get property at the best possible price

is to nip down to your local property auction.

Property auctions can be very popular.

Sometimes, it's just standing room only in there.

Yes, but it can be really exciting

-as bidders vie to be the successful ones.

-Yeah.

Will the buyers be happy with their decisions?

Let's have a look and see what they went for.

At this chalet bungalow in Drakelow, Burton upon Trent,

I might be going off track.

This would make the most fantastic space for a train set.

I choo-choo-choose another colour

for this three-bedroom semi in Croydon, South London.

Chocolate brown pebble dash exterior -

paint it over.

And at our final stop in Coltishall, Norfolk,

I have the perfect plot of land for train enthusiasts.

As long as you don't mind the odd train passing through.

All of these properties have been sold at auction.

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

-when they went under the hammer.

-That's yours now. Well done.

Burton upon Trent is synonymous with brewing

and its offshoot industry - that stuff you spread on your toast,

if you love it, not hate it, that is.

There's also some lovely nearby countryside

where the Derbyshire and Staffordshire counties meet.

Today, I'm in the village of Drakelow.

Well, all this talk of toast and ale

has got me hungry for a property bargain. And you know what?

I think I might have found one because up for auction was this -

a three-bed, chalet-style bungalow sitting in 1.25 acres of land.

Guide price was £220,000. I'm salivating.

Oh! So, what are we going to find inside?

Ooh, well, I tell you what, the carpet's in nice condition.

That's a good start.

Downstairs cupboard there. Stairs up to the bedrooms.

I did say it was a chalet bungalow, so there you go.

Large-ish sort of central area here, off which the various rooms go.

Good-sized living room there with a nice, open fire.

So, yeah, again, looks to be in reasonable condition.

Going that way towards some of your bedrooms.

And then through into a kitchen.

I mean, it's all looking OK, isn't it?

I mean, a little bit dated.

Things like this kitchen would definitely benefit

from being modernised a bit.

But lots of space and a nice-size family kitchen here.

Benefit of a utility room over there.

So, yeah, nothing to dislike so far.

There is a toilet off the utility room

and the main bedroom is a generous size.

The other two bedrooms have some minor flaws,

like the cracks in the ceiling in this one and signs of damp here.

Finally, a bathroom, but as I said, nothing to dislike.

# I'm liking everything I see

# I like it, I like it... #

So, upstairs, and this is why, you see,

it's being called a chalet bungalow -

cos you actually do have this extra floor.

And quite big it is, too. On this side, a room.

Um, shame about this thing, which I imagine is a chimney stack.

But the thing that's, well, a bit weird - look at this.

There's a kind of passageway through to this side of the property,

where there's an almost identical room.

Now, this would make the most fantastic space for a train set.

Can you imagine? Wow. Wow! What a train set that would be.

Um, if you can't afford to be quite so... What's the word?

..giving space to things which some people might not think important,

then it would make two superb dormer bedrooms, wouldn't it?

Put a dormer in here looking out across the field

and Bob's your uncle.

Yeah, well, you know, a great bit of extra value add

to what is already a fantastic place.

These spaces don't currently comply with building regulations,

but I reckon it wouldn't be too big of a job to modify it

and turn it into a living space.

Well, ideally, what you'd want with a property like this

is a bit of land, and that is exactly what you've got.

Good news. That paddock there came with the auction lot,

as did this little bit of land here. Bit of garden here.

More garden here. I mean, it really is lovely.

And it gets better because you've also got this.

It's a really substantially built garage and stables, I guess.

Well, that could be all sorts of things,

from a workshop to a garage to whatever.

Looks like it's fairly substantially built,

which is good news. And it just all adds

to what is already a very appealing property.

The bungalow stands on the site of former farm cottages,

and when originally placed with the auction,

it had nine acres of land with it. But the auctioneer who sold it

advised to sell the majority of the land as a separate lot.

So, we called him in to explain

and give us some idea of value

after alterations and refurbishments.

For most people who want some land, nine acres is too much.

An acre, acre and a quarter, acre and a half

is much more manageable.

So, the idea was to face it towards the residential market

where somebody would see its potential.

It's crying out for some modernisation.

It's crying out for some extensions. It's a perfect development scheme.

It's almost as if he's been reading my scrip. Huh.

What was the appeal of the property to the bidders?

The positives with a place like this clearly are its location.

You've got field views all around you,

you've got no noisy neighbours,

and yet, you're only two or three minutes' drive

into facilities of shops, schools and so on.

And what would this property's potential be once refurbished?

I think, if you spent some money wisely,

but simply renovate what's here,

this would have a value in excess of £300,000.

Well, it's a great house already, but it could be so much greater.

And you know what?

It would be worth whatever effort you put into it

cos you've got a fantastic location and it's just...

I could just see what this could become.

Let's see who also had that vision when it went under the hammer.

All right, so, we move on to lot 59. Start me on the guide price at 220.

210 to put it into the bidding. 210? Thank you. 210, I've got.

212. At 212.

214. 214. 216. 216.

It's nearing the end of the day,

but there's still plenty of interest in this lot.

The bids rise to where we rejoin at 272,000.

272. 274. Happy with that? 274.

276. 278. 280.

One? 281 somewhere else?

At £280,000, we're selling.

For the first time at 280... 81.

282?

£282,000, then. Going once.

Going twice. Third and last opportunity.

Sold at 282. Thank you very much. Well done.

The successful bidders were husband and wife Nigel and Jane.

They paid £282,000 to secure the property.

Nigel's a sales executive

and Jane works in accounts at a nearby brewery.

The couple have a young daughter

and I've heard a rumour that a pony is in their budget.

-Jane, Nigel, great to meet you both.

-Hello.

-Likewise. Hiya.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Fantastic.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

-Well...

We sort of half started talking about

maybe getting somewhere with a granny annexe for my mum.

And then we were looking for a plot of land, maybe, to buy,

but there's not really a lot out there,

and what is out there is very expensive.

And then we just saw this up for auction and we thought, "Wow."

-We couldn't miss it.

-You know, it's got everything we need here

and even a garage to convert, so we thought, "Yeah."

All the space we need, all the opportunity we need,

-so, yeah, we saw it and we grabbed it.

-Yeah.

-So, it's for you, for your family.

-Definitely.

-Oh, yeah.

The garage and workshop, we're going to convert to a granny annexe

and we're, all three of us, or four of us,

-going to live here...

-Oh, wow.

-..in a nice sort of family unit.

We've already engaged an architect to...

And we've got some plans drawn up. Some amazing plans drawn up.

There's going to be some really good space in there for us.

A couple of bedrooms, living space,

-kitchen, self-contained.

-Yeah, it'll be nice, won't it?

Put some garages probably at the front of the house.

You drive round the front to the garages.

-And maybe a car port.

-Yeah, yeah. We're looking to try and create

a bit of an enclosed area round the back...

-Right.

-..where the building's really...

-Yeah.

-We've got space to do that.

-Now, we are in a very rural area.

Have you spoken to the planners

-about converting that into a granny annexe?

-We've made contact

and have sent some information in

for some pre-planning advice at this stage.

We're waiting to hear back on that.

Because they could be sensitive about...

They could be, but the architect we're using

has dealt with the local authorities quite a lot,

so she knows what they're going to be looking for.

When it comes to cases like this,

I think it's a wise choice to seek out an architect

who has a track record in dealing with the local authorities.

But the garage conversion isn't the only change they're planning.

We intend to build quite a large extension on the back. Two stories.

As it stands at the moment, it's pretty much laid out

as a bungalow use, but we're going to convert the use upstairs,

-have three bedrooms upstairs, a couple of en-suites.

-Wow.

When we saw it up on the auction, we had a look at the legal pack.

-Oh, yes.

-Good lad.

-THEY LAUGH

-Came and viewed it.

-Good.

-Had a couple of viewings.

And we came round with a builder, as well,

to get a bit of inside information on whether it was doable,

-what we had in mind, and potential cost.

-So, tell me about your family.

-Tell me about your daughter.

-She's nearly six.

-Right.

-So, yeah, she's...

-She's really looking forward to coming.

-..very excited about the prospect of the pony and...

-Right.

-What does she love about the house?

-Um, probably the pony aspect.

What, the fact that she might have a pony?

-Potentially, yeah.

-Yeah.

-And the space.

Yeah, she's excited about her bedroom upstairs, isn't she?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Has she already picked her bedroom?

-Oh, yeah.

-Absolutely, yeah.

-So, who's going to do the work?

Once we submit the plans to the council,

we'll put a few tenders out to three or four companies

just to get some costings in from them.

Right. And do you have any idea of how much it's going to cost to do?

The only guidance we've had, really,

-was kind of a ballpark figure for it all.

-Around 150,000.

-150,000 to do the whole lot?

-Yeah.

Seems reasonable to me, but I'm not a builder.

Talk me through exactly what you're going to have to do to this bit.

-That wall's coming out.

-It's being pushed out that way, isn't it?

Extend the living room. And, basically,

it's just going to be this half of the house that will change.

The other half will pretty much stay as it is.

We'll extend the kitchen out

and put a nice, open-plan dining room onto that.

Nice, big, open French doors or whatever onto the garden.

-And that'll obviously reflect upstairs, as well.

-Right.

There'll be probably a third extra space upstairs.

-Yeah, cos our bedroom doesn't actually exist.

-No.

Our bedroom-to-be will be above the extension down here,

so it's just one flat space.

Then we'll get that bedroom with an en-suite in there.

-Big windows or even a balcony?

-We're going to make...

-Maybe not a balcony.

-..the windows bigger.

This house, I think, needs more light.

-It's quite a dark house.

-Yeah.

-I don't think it's just the decor.

-I think the windows are too small, so...

-Right.

..we're going to let more light in.

It's everyone's dream, probably, to build their own house.

This is probably the next best thing, I think.

You know, we've got a complete blank canvas.

The couple hope that, planning permitting,

they will have the work done in nine months.

-Bet you can't wait, can you?

-No, go on.

No, not at all. MARTIN LAUGHS

If it goes to plan, we should have a good celebration when we get here.

-Oh, brilliant. Well, I'm really delighted for you both.

-Thank you.

-Congratulations. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-We'll look forward to seeing you when we come back.

-Thank you.

Well, as Hannibal from The A-Team would say,

"I love it when a plan comes together,"

and that certainly happened for Jane and Nigel.

This place could not be more perfect

and it's great to see them so excited about it.

How will it all turn out? You can find out later in the show.

I'm in Croydon, in South East London,

near to the popular park Duppas Hill.

700 years ago, it held jousting competitions,

but, thankfully, today, it hosts slightly more sedate sports,

like basketball and football.

So, what have we got? Well, it's this - a three-bed semi.

Now, it's got a guide price of 255,000.

One problem - it's on a very busy road,

there's a junction right there and, well, that's if you can hear me.

Nothing you can do about the traffic,

but hopefully lots you can do to the property. Let's have a look.

I'd just like to say one thing.

Chocolate brown pebble dash exterior - paint it over.

Right, let's start with the property.

Well, we've got veneer doors everywhere in this property.

Got a really nice-sized room in here.

Ooh, a little bit of damp in the corner, but we'll come back to that.

Round here, we have quite a good-sized kitchen.

Obviously, the kitchen needs to be completely ripped out

and something lovely and new and shiny put in its place,

but it's a very, very good space through there.

And right at the back of the property

leading out onto the garden, you've got the lounge area.

I mean, it's so dated, it's beyond words.

Look at the carpet. You might want to change this.

You've got doors leading to outside and...

..they are really dirty.

But there's a lot you could do with this place.

It does reek of years gone by, so it needs a big upgrade.

It needs to be brought up to date.

But, actually, it's quite a big house

and it could be a really nice family space.

Yes, it reeks of years gone by, but there's a more worrying scent

emanating from the other living room.

Now, one of the biggest challenges with damp

is working out what is the cause,

and down here, I think I can take a guess.

If you look out this window,

well, you can see the garden has been raised,

and just out there is a drainpipe.

Yes, it could be that simple -

water gathering next to the house is just slowly seeping in.

Now, this should be easily rectifiable,

but my advice - always act as quickly as you can,

especially around the D word.

# Come on, baby Tell me what's the word

# Word up... #

The D word is damp, of course,

but the other word I feel is dread whenever I see this issue.

Other D words that do come in handy here

are damp-proof course and dehumidifier.

So, upstairs, it really is just a mirror image

of what's going on downstairs. One of the bedrooms... Ooh!

I think there's been a bit of a serious leak upstairs in that loft.

Maybe some tiles are missing.

But that certainly needs sorting out.

Another really good-sized bedroom towards the back of the property,

and a smaller bedroom just through there.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-And I'm laughing because

this is almost like a special room

because, look, there's a couple of little steps -

ba-doop, ba-doop - up into a rather special shower room.

Now, it is not special at all

because there's not even a bath in there,

and it certainly needs rearranging.

I'm not sure whether this originally might have been the bathroom.

I'm not sure, though, what that could be.

Was it put there because,

you know, you need special head height for the stairs?

Why are the steps there?

It needs some rearranging and sorting out

because, as it stands at the moment, it's not working.

# When I think I'm on the right track

# I take one step forward and two steps back... #

Mm. Now it all just needs a bit of a rethink,

but what can outside offer us?

With this house, you get quite a lot of land wrapped around it,

but it's all rather awkward in its shape.

So, you've got a triangular little plot

to the front of the building, this little side area along here.

The blessing is you do have off-street parking -

enough for two cars - which is great,

and then right over here at the back,

another triangular piece of land.

So, you do have outside space, which is fantastic,

but it's awkward in its shape. So, I really think

landscape gardeners had better get their thinking hats on

because it certainly does need a little bit of tweaking.

And a little bit of weeding, too, for starters.

We need a little bit of information on this house

from a local estate agent.

What are his first impressions of this property,

guided at 255,000?

Coming through the front door, and it's evident that this property

needs refurbishment from top to bottom.

So, you'd start off with maybe doing the flooring, the walls,

the central heating system. You'd have to check the electrics.

There is a possibility of doing some extensions,

and that may increase the value, but for the most part,

I think it just needs a general refurbishment.

My ears pricked up at the possibility of extensions,

and the agent proposes an extension out the back

or a loft conversion upstairs.

Would it be worth adding on to this house guided at £255,000?

Let's get some valuations and find out.

This property would sell, in a totally modernised condition,

of around £400,000 to possibly £415,000.

This property, extended, possibly with a rear extension,

you could get maybe up to the 425, possibly £430,000 mark.

And how about the resale value if you extended into the loft?

Going up into the loft would give you two extra bedrooms

and you may also be able to get another bathroom up there,

solving the problem of having that small bathroom

on the first-floor level.

So, you could get up to maybe the £475,000 mark.

I think the cost of that would have to be taken into account.

Well, it's a big house on a generous plot,

but there's certainly a lot to be getting on with here.

Let's see what happened when it went under the hammer.

Decent-sized semi. Where do you want to be on it?

Are you around 275 for it?

Should be. Thought so. Thank you. 275, I'm bid. 277?

Not surprisingly, the bidding climbed quickly

and there were two determined bidders.

We rejoin at 292,000.

292. Make it 294, somebody?

294 in front of you. 296. 298?

Yours, then, at 298,000 for the first.

298 for the second. Third, final...

300, he's back in. 302? 302. 304?

No? You're going to play that game again?

Don't leave it to the last minute, otherwise you might lose out.

There's gentleman in front of you now going at 302 once.

302 twice.

Third and final time.

Now that's yours at 302,000. Your bidder number is, sir...?

A bid of 302,000 secured the property

for the slightly obscured Artem.

Hailing from Moscow originally,

Artem came to the UK to study, and along with a business partner,

this young entrepreneur is launching into the property business.

-# Go west

-In the open air

-# Go west

-Where the skies are blue... #

-Artem, congratulations.

-Hi, Lucy.

-So, 302,000, the hammer goes down.

You've bought it. What are you going to do to change it?

This house was built in the 1970s, so it has been quite a while ago.

As you can see, there was no work done on the house since then.

You've still got fireplaces in every single room.

These ones have to go and will free up a lot of space.

-What, you mean you don't like this?

-I do like it.

-You don't like it?

I do like it, don't get me wrong, but what I was thinking that

if you just take this all out, you'll have a lot more space

and it's going to add a little bit more light to the room, as well.

It will need a lot of free planning. We will explore the possibilities

of extending the current living space, as well.

The loft is a huge space there, as well.

You've got about 3m-high roof there.

-Oh, wow.

-So, we can do a lot with the loft

and it's pretty much going to add another bedroom to the house.

So, Artem plans this extra bedroom via a loft extension,

but he's not done with increasing the size of the property yet.

There is a lush space on the side of the house.

We're probably going to take the extension

to go pretty much up to the road, about 2m away from the road,

and then we'll explore the possibility

of going slightly on the right, as well, where the driveway is now.

OK, so, more like a wraparound extension.

What about double-storey or single-storey?

Double-storey would be great,

and then we're going to solve the problem

with our small bathroom, as well. It's a lot of space here,

so there are a lot of things we could do.

Just because we simply didn't consider it yet,

and we've just purchased the house,

we'll definitely invite some more experts to have a look at it

and give us an idea.

My worry is I think an extension will be fine.

What you don't want to do is extending it outwards,

around and up and then you've got all these bedrooms.

You're still on a corner plot in Croydon

and you're attached to a house next door,

so overdevelopment is something that I would worry about with this.

Overdevelopment is definitely a concern.

Just like you said, if you add two or three extra bedrooms,

probably simply no-one would want to buy a house.

And then it turns into an HMO - a House of Multiple Occupancy.

-You've got all these bedrooms.

-Absolutely.

But we want to make it a very large, comfortable family house.

# If we're gonna do it, let's get to it... #

Hmm. He's just exploring options at the minute.

Artem would ideally like a four- to five-bedroom house

with two bathrooms, and has set aside a budget of £80,000.

Now, do remember that every house, and area it sits in,

has a ceiling price.

Adding a lot more bedrooms might not add a lot more value.

# Too much of a good thing

# You can never get enough of my good love

# Open up and let me in... #

He has a healthy budget,

and Artem plans a timescale of six months,

if they get the go-ahead for the extension.

# If we're gonna do it, let's get to it... #

But this is a big change for Artem himself.

He currently runs his own IT firm

and his second company dealing in property is fairly new.

-And how is the business going?

-Well, to be honest, Lucy,

I really enjoy working in this environment here in the UK.

I think it gives you a lot of opportunities.

It gives ability for young talents to actually prove themselves

and to show something, something they can do.

So, I really enjoy these times now

and very, very excited about the construction company.

-You are very young. Do you mind asking how old you are?

-Absolutely.

-I'm 27 years old.

-So, you're 27 years old.

-And is this your first auction purchase?

-Absolutely.

This is the first auction purchase.

The reason why I really like auctions

is because you can actually seal the deal on the day.

You come, you know what you're looking for.

I can imagine it suits you perfectly

because it seems like you are in a big hurry to get everything done,

-aren't you?

-Absolutely. No-one wants to waste time.

And, you know, with estate agents, there is a lot of fiddling about.

So, is your business partner as excitable as you?

Is he as lively and as energetic and as go-getter as you are?

I'm sure he is. I'm sure he is.

I like to speak a lot more than he does,

but I think we kind of add to each here, you know.

Thank goodness he doesn't compete with you on the talking front.

No, no, he doesn't. SHE LAUGHS

Well, I am excited to see how it all turns out,

how much you extend, how much you develop on this plot,

and what it's going to look like at the end.

I hope you take time to just breathe and enjoy it.

-Thank you so much, Lucy.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Thanks.

-Thank you.

Artem is a man in a hurry,

and in his young life, well, he's already achieved such a lot.

He's built up experience in construction,

started up two companies.

He certainly hopes to get a lot done in a short space of time here.

But sometimes, you just need to pace yourself,

and with a project of this scale,

could it be more of a marathon than a sprint?

Join me later in the programme and you can see how Artem gets on.

Still to come, a plot of land in Norfolk

on the right side of the tracks, but will I catch it?

If I run quick enough, I might get that, you know.

And back in Croydon,

we'll find out if Artem's big plans caused him problems.

Our first planning, that was a bit of a wait.

We're ducking back over to the village of Drakelow,

near Burton upon Trent.

This is where I saw this fantastic rural residence.

It was in OK condition, actually, if in need of modernising.

As well as three bedrooms downstairs,

it offered something extra upstairs.

The thing that's, well, a bit weird - look at this.

There's a kind of passageway through to this side of the property

where there's an almost identical room.

Now, this would make the most fantastic space for a train set.

But my loco-motivation wasn't on the same tracks

as the new owners, Jane and Nigel, who paid £282,000 for this lot,

which also came with a garage and workshop.

Their plan was to settle here and to make a home

for daughter Emily and for Jane's mum.

The garage and workshop, we're going to convert to a granny annexe,

and we're, all four of us, going to live here.

It's everyone's dream, probably, to build their own house.

This is probably the next best thing, I think.

You know, we've got a complete blank canvas.

Well, I can't wait to see what's happened.

They thought it would take nine months to complete,

depending on planning, but we're back 12 months later.

Is their dream house complete?

Wow! It sure is. I'm impressed.

What will it be like inside?

This fantastic kitchen/diner sits on a double-storey extension,

and is the absolute hub of the home.

Elsewhere, the fireplace and chimney stack have been removed.

Now a multi-fuel stove system provides the secondary heating.

This means, upstairs, there's space for a second bedroom and en-suite.

In that extension,

the main bedroom has vastly increased in size and splendour.

The three downstairs bedrooms have remained,

so it's now a five-bedroomed house,

although one is being used as a second lounge

with double doors out onto that lovely scenery.

Also outside was the old garage and stables,

which have now been transformed into a one-bedroom annexe

for Jane's mum Sheila.

Back in the main house,

Jane and Nigel took the advice of one of their builders

and didn't go with a third bedroom upstairs,

as they had planned. But now the work's complete,

do they think it's the right decision?

I think it would have compromised our bedroom too much

-having that third bedroom up there.

-Without a doubt.

So, now we've got all that space

-and it's just got the wow factor.

-It has, yeah.

-Well, people do literally say wow when they go up there.

-They do.

And that echoes throughout the rest of the house.

But all this must have come at a price.

Well, the original budget was 150,000.

-We've gone slightly over that, I'd say, haven't we?

-We have.

-HE CHUCKLES

-Probably more like 280,000.

Almost the same as we paid for the house.

But, you know, we've got what we wanted, haven't we?

-We don't mind.

-We intentionally went over budget.

-Yeah.

We increased the specification pretty much throughout the house.

We spent more on the kitchen than we perhaps intended.

Some of the finishes are much higher specification

than, again, were originally intended.

And that wasn't really taking into account all the patios,

the fencing, the stables, the stable block.

So, we're perfectly happy with what we've got.

This is where we're going to live, so it needs to be right.

-We're not in it to make a profit.

-No, it needs to be right,

-and we're happy with it.

-Yeah.

Well, who wouldn't be happy with this?

Jane and Nigel certainly are,

and their daughter Emily is bound to be.

But I've noticed one thing is missing so far.

There is still some work to do on the paddock, and a new stable,

but by spring, Emily will have that promised pony.

-And there may be a companion pony, as well.

-Yeah.

So, this family don't do things by halves.

Budget and ponies seem to double,

but this was always meant to be a dream home,

and they're not interested in profit.

So, we know they won't mind if we find out

if Nigel and Jane's £562,000 has been well spent,

by asking two experts to trot along and tell us.

The property's been totally transformed

from when I saw it and sold it.

You wouldn't really recognise it as being the same place

cos we've had a total makeover.

Walls have been moved, extensions have happened.

They made a terrific job out of it. I really, really like it.

I think the layout's very, very interesting.

It will suit many families in different situations,

whether they have a disabled person

or a granny annexe or teenagers,

so it's going to be very, very popular.

The general area is beautiful in the main property, as well.

I think the main selling point now is just its appeal

because of its space, because of its specification.

We've already got the location and the paddock,

and we've now got the added ingredient of an annexe,

which wasn't here before.

And if you've got a family who need that facility,

they're a bit few and far between,

so I think that's a really unique selling point.

That's high praise indeed, but will the sales figures be as lofty?

It's very, very difficult to value because it's got a unique location.

You've got all these ingredients of a paddock and an annexe,

which you don't normally get,

even with a country residence, sometimes.

But I think you could test the market

at an asking price of somewhere around 695,000.

I'm not saying you'll get that.

I think you'd probably get nearer to 650 at the end of the day,

but this will suit somebody out there

and I think they would be prepared to pay for it.

If I was to put this property on the open sales market,

I would expect the value to be no less than £685,000,

but no more, dare I say, than £700,000.

-That's really good, actually.

-That's really good.

-Yeah.

-That's kind of where we were hoping it would be.

-Yeah.

A bit higher than I was thinking, probably.

-Again, at the end of the day, we've covered our costs.

-Yeah.

But the house isn't going to be sold, so...

It's nice to know that we've covered our costs,

but we won't be moving, so it's irrelevant, in a way.

-But, yeah, it's good to know.

-It's great to know.

So, even though we've increased our budget by a considerable amount,

we've still made money on it,

so, you know, we've got to be happy with that, haven't we?

-MARTIN CHUCKLES

-That's for sure.

With a profit of £123,000,

I think it's certainly cause for a celebration. So, what's next?

-Pop a cork off a good bottle.

-Yeah.

That's what I'll do next. HE CHUCKLES

-MARTIN CHUCKLES

-Well, pour me a glass, please.

But first, let's hear what Emily thinks of her new home.

My favourite part of the house is my bedroom

because I'm going to have a double bed

and it's going to be covered in butterflies.

Just 20 minutes north of Norwich, in Norfolk,

is the lovely little village of Coltishall.

Situated on the River Bure,

this Broadland village boasts two pubs and a school.

Its tranquil setting makes it a very popular place to live,

but with few properties coming to market,

finding an opportunity to buy anything around here is pretty rare,

but I think I've done just that with this piece of land.

So, what have we got?

It's a small plot just under a third of an acre

next to what used to be the old station house,

which has been defunct since 1952.

It's already got planning in place

for a four-bedroom, two-storey dwelling

with a guide price of £125,000 to £150,000.

Here it is. It's a very narrow plot. It's been split into two.

The closer plot is the plot we're here to see.

It looks pretty perfect as building plots go -

flat, level, with good access to the site

and with planning in place for a four-bed house.

But there's something that might derail things

right on its boundary's edge.

Normally, having a train track run through your front garden

or your back garden would be a huge negative,

but I've checked peak season times

and only 12 trains run through here daily.

Now, it's not a high-speed passenger train.

It's a miniature tourist train

where you can see all the sites of Coltishall and Norfolk.

I think it's quite pretty and quite quaint.

# Oh, little train, right on time Chug, chug, chugging down the line

# Burning up the miles from you to me

# There's his whistle, so beguiling

# Watch the local yokels piling all aboard

# And off he chugs again. #

Well, you might need to wash your windows a lot,

but I reckon, for a lot of blokes, this is a dream come true -

a train set at the bottom of the garden

and a service that isn't likely to bother you,

especially if you're out at work all day.

There is also water and electricity on site,

though drains and sewage will have to be laid in.

But with a second building plot adjacent to this lot,

which will also require services,

you might be able to share the costs with the owner of that site.

This is a nice plot in a novel location.

There's enough room here for a decent-sized house, parking,

garden and you've got your privacy,

as long as you don't mind the odd train passing through, of course.

This is just waiting for someone to come along

and build a lovely family home.

It's perfect for it.

So, I think it should be full steam ahead with this one,

but now I've seen the building site,

I'm quite keen to get on a train and see the local sites.

If I run quick enough, I might get that, you know.

# Stop the train, stop the train... #

On second thoughts...

I've never ran that fast in my life. I would never get it.

But who will get on board

with taking on a large construction project?

What does the auctioneer who sold the plot think?

There aren't that many plots available

in this particular location

that come up in this sort of environment.

So, something like this,

when it does become available, normally is pretty popular.

This particular plot is likely to suit the family audience.

It's someone who's going to build for themselves

or a builder who's building for profit.

And with building costs likely to be in the region of £200,000

could a plot that was guided at 125 to 150 grand

actually be value for money?

We'd probably expect a property in this area

to sell for about £450,000 to £500,000 once it's built.

I suppose rental - probably £1,000 to £1,200 a month.

Will it be a developer that can see profit to be made here

or somebody that's looking to build their dream home?

That's what I love about plots - they're completely blank canvases.

Let's see who fancied it when it went to auction.

So, moving on to the building plot overlooking the Bure Valley Railway.

Watch the steam trains go by.

Don't mind where we start on this. £100,000 just to get me in? 100,000?

Thank you. We're in at £100,000.

At 100 and I'll take it in fives if I may. At 105 here.

110 now? 110. 15? And 20?

120. 125?

No. I'll take two from you now. 122? 124? 126?

126. 128?

Now at £126,000.

At £126,000. We're standing in the room at 126.

At 126,000, then, for the first time.

At 126 for the second time. And third time.

Congratulations. Well done, sir. So, 126,000 for lot 14.

For £126,000, the building plot was bought by Norwich-based Michael.

He runs his own car, MOT and service centre,

but has done a number of property projects as a sideline,

and once finished, he hopes to make this place his home.

-Michael, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-And congratulations.

-Thank you.

I'm going to take you from this cold morning back to the auction house.

-How was it?

-Yeah, that was good. That was exciting and exhilarating.

So, did you go with sort of blinkers on thinking,

-"Right, I want this property. This is the one I want"?

-No.

I went to the auction to look at a different property

and, funny enough, when I was at the last property,

it was then when they gave me

the brochure, and when I looked through the brochure,

I saw the picture and the drawings for this place

and thought they looked really quite pretty.

Did it sort of jump out at you thinking,

-"I can do something with that"?

-Yeah, yeah.

I'd been looking for over a year

to find a property to either knock down and do up

or something to develop,

so this being a blank canvas was, I think, ideal, really.

So, what were your first thoughts, right next to a railway line?

Well, when I first saw the auction catalogue

and saw it was by a railway line, I nearly never came out.

But it was a Saturday afternoon

and I had nothing better else to do with myself,

so I figured, "Well, just go and have a look, Michael,"

thinking that having a big steam train

coming past the house might be quite cute.

But then when I actually got here

and noticed that it was even a narrow-gauge railway,

like almost a toy railway,

I kind of figured that was really quite idyllic and pretty, really.

So, yeah, I'm looking forward to maybe looking out doing the dishes

and seeing a steam train coming past. Should be good fun.

# Looking out my window down the railroad track

# Can't you hear the whistle blowing down the line? #

Michael might become a train spotter from his kitchen window,

but what will the passengers see

when looking back from the carriages?

I'm going to go pretty much as per the plans

because that's what drew me to it in the first place.

I hope to have my garage up at this end built into the land.

It'll be quite a large garage

cos I quite like my cars and bits and pieces.

Where we're standing here is hopefully going to be

the back garden or the side garden, as it were.

I intend on having a wall coming down the side

going right to the entrance gate.

Behind me here, I envisage is where the bi-folding doors

will lead into the lounge and the dining room,

so it'll all be nice and open in the summer,

which will then lead into the house, which, hopefully,

I'm going to make as high-end as I can possibly make it.

I intend on using, like, underfloor heating,

nice sort of granite surfaces in the kitchen,

that sort of thing, open-plan.

And as much as I'm building it for myself,

I still want to build it like a family home,

so I intend to hopefully have all en-suite facilities

in all the bedrooms, of which there'll be four.

So, some grand expectations, I suppose.

So, Michael, what sort of materials are you going to use?

-Are you going brick? Are you going wood?

-Yeah, I'm hoping to go brick.

I'd like to try and keep it traditional,

like the original railway building behind us,

which is in a yellow buff-type brick,

with then some sort of black-facing bricks

to make it look nice and modern and pretty.

I envisage actually having,

rather than white window frames, actually black ones,

which I think will set out nicely against the yellow with the brick.

And also keeping some of the railway theme

with simple, silly things, like, you know, on the entrance gate,

-maybe make it like kind of a railway crossing type gate.

-OK.

-Oh, as in the gate when you come in?

-Yeah.

-OK.

So, yeah, just small touches that keep the railway theme

cos, at the end of the day, it is here.

I like Michael's plan to give a nod to the location

where the house will be built,

and though he will get involved with some of the labouring, in the main,

he will employ a team of builders to complete the project for him.

With that high-specification finish he's looking for,

what has he budgeted for the work?

Cost-wise, I imagine,

and I'm pretty loose on this one, really,

but I imagine between £150,000 and £200,000,

-hopefully, should be enough.

-To go from what we see today

to a nice, finished house that you're happy with, everything done?

Yeah, fingers crossed.

And how long are you hoping it's going to take you?

I hope to get it done within a year, yeah.

All done within a year, 150, 200 grand,

-you'll have your dream house?

-Yeah, let's hope so.

I think you'll do well. You've got all your bases covered.

You seem happy, nothing's fazed you. There's nothing here at the moment,

but we can't wait to see what you produce.

I'm really looking forward to it.

-We wish you all the best, Michael.

-Thank you.

So, Michael has got his work cut out,

but he did get this plot of land for a decent price,

so he's off to a flyer.

And I love the fact that he's keeping that railway theme

running through the whole of this project.

I can't wait to see how this looks a year down the line.

Well, we've seen how one of today's properties turned out,

but is it over? No, no, no. There's still two to have a look at.

Yeah, have these projects gone to plan?

I think it's time to find out.

We're heading back to Croydon

to see a pretty substantial three-bedroom property

with a lot of space, but also a lot of problems.

It was very dated and needed modernising throughout.

It also suffered from water damage at the back and from above.

Upstairs, the layout was also, mm, er, quirky.

Because, look, there's a couple of little steps -

ba-doop, ba-doop - up into a rather special shower room.

Now, it is not special at all

because there's not even a bath in there.

Willing to take on this house with all its flaws was Artem,

who, between him and his business partner,

have experience in the construction business,

so this project held no fears for him.

He paid £302,000 at auction for this,

and it sounds like he'll be spending a lot more.

We're just probably going to take the extension to go

pretty much up to the road - about 2m away from the road -

and then we'll explore the possibility

of going slightly on the right, as well, where the driveway is now.

OK, so, more like a wraparound extension?

What about double-storey or single-storey?

Double-storey would be great.

Then we'll solve the problem with our small bathroom, as well.

Increasing the footprint of the house was dependent

on Artem getting planning permission from the council,

who might not look favourably on a double extension on this plot.

Aside from that, I was getting worried

that he was in danger of overdeveloping this property.

We're back to see if Artem's ambitious plans have been realised.

And, yes, looks like they have.

Plus, the chocolate coloured pebble dash is gone.

I hope the changes to the old-fashioned interior

are just as impressive.

# State, state, state, state of the art... #

Wow. The added extension, plus knocking the wall through,

has really modernised this layout. And there's more.

This lovely family bathroom on the ground floor

is where the kitchen used to be.

The damp was taken care of in the front room,

and everything just looks so fresh.

Thanks to the extension, upstairs has benefited from more space, too.

Last but by no means least

is the change in that pokey little shower room.

So, where has all this space come from?

Time for Artem to fill us in.

When we initially saw this house, the first-floor bathroom

was of a tiny size, which couldn't be used by the family.

So, what we decided to do, we decided to use this space

and go into our extension on the first floor

to create a larger bathroom.

I think that the new homeowner's

going to be really happy with the size of this bathroom

and going to be enjoying using it every day.

Yes, I'm sure they will,

but has Artem enjoyed himself whilst working on this project?

It's been a really exciting nine months.

First, planning, it's taken the first two months,

and that was a bit of a wait here and there.

Once the planning passed through, we started the build.

It's taken us about six months to do it.

We did go for a top end with this house.

A lot of people were saying to us,

"This is probably not the best thing to do in Croydon."

However, every job that we do, especially with our projects,

we want to put a little bit of our personality

in the projects that we do. We do put our soul in such a build,

and that's the reason why they do come out the way they do.

A high-spec finish doesn't just take a lot of attention and passion.

It takes a lot of money.

When we initially started this particular job, we sat down,

choosing materials and the finishes that we were going to use,

and we realised that, actually,

we can invest a little bit more money into this property.

We dropped our plans of going into the loft and extending it,

which saved us quite a bit of money,

which we could spend on internal works.

Plus, we decided to go for a little bit more high-end finishes,

such as the granite worktops and slightly more expensive appliances

that were already in the house, which brought our costs slightly up.

So, we did finish above 100,000 spent on this house.

I think we got it right on the spot.

Artem has clearly done the maths

and worked out that adding the loft extension

would not equal a good return.

Has he decided if he wants to rent it

-or sell this lovely family home?

-It came out to be such a nice house

that we can't even think of renting it out,

so it went straight onto the market.

We had a really, really successful open day.

There were 24 people who viewed the house on the first day

when the house went on the market.

So, our initial plan was followed precisely

in terms of selling the property,

other than keeping it as our asset and rent it out.

Well, I think it's time we added two more to those viewing figures

and see what the local estate agents think

of the changes here.

The changes of this property are drastic.

He's changed a lot. So, when I came in,

I didn't actually recognise much of the property.

He's done a great job.

It's a lovely quality of finish. It's exactly what I recommended,

actually - go out as much as he could and go across.

I think he didn't really need to do the double-storey extension.

That would have added a lot of cost and also time to his project.

I think that it's the best house on the road bar none, really,

in terms of the quality of the work

and the amount of space available,

so people would normally come here for a much smaller house.

Having the best house on the street, well, that can be an advantage

in getting you lots of interest and a quick sale,

but there's always a risk of pricing yourself out of a particular market.

Could Artem and his team have gone over

the ceiling price for the street?

They have spent a total of 402,000 here.

I think he'll break the ceiling of the road, generally,

which is around the 400 mark, of course,

because it's such a fantastic house. It really is.

But I think he might struggle

to achieve the prices that are expected,

given the amount of money that he's put in

versus the potential returns.

Oh, dear. So, what kind of figures could we expect here?

This property would achieve approximately £500,000.

If I were marketing this house,

I would put the value at between £500,000 and £525,000.

That's a very interesting valuation

and a lot of agents are giving very, very similar valuations

on this property. Thankfully,

we've had high offers on that already.

We're getting some offers in the region of £550,000.

We don't expect it to be sold any higher than that,

but it's already great news

because it's just above the valuations that we're getting.

Even the lower 525,000 value

would give Artem a very healthy £123,000.

Well, that's great profit. So, what's next?

We just started another big development in London.

I'm really excited where it's going to go next.

We're heading back to the quaint village of Coltishall, in Norfolk.

I was there to see a plot of land

with planning permission for a four-bed house

that was quite literally from the other side of the tracks.

Normally, having a train track run through your front garden

or your back garden would be a huge negative, but I've checked.

Now, it's not a high-speed passenger train.

It's a miniature tourist train

where you can see all the sites of Coltishall and Norfolk.

I think it's quite pretty and quite quaint.

# Oh, little train, right on time Chug, chug, chugging down the line

# Burning up the miles from you to me... #

Norwich local Michael runs his own car, MOT and service centre,

and he bought this lot for 126 grand.

It certainly needed more than just a tune up,

so he'll have plenty to be getting on with.

I'm going to go pretty much as per the plans

because that's what drew me to it in the first place.

I hope to have my garage up at this end built into the land.

It'll be quite a large garage

cos I quite like my cars and bits and pieces,

whereas standing here is hopefully going to be the back garden

or the side garden, as it were.

I intend on having a wall coming down the side,

going right to the entrance gate, which will then lead into the house,

which, hopefully, I'm going to make as high-end

as I can possibly make it.

Michael wanted to go full steam ahead

and hoped to have the work completed in a year.

So, we're back one year and four months later

to see if he's reached his final destination.

# Can you meet me halfway?

# Right at the borderline is where I'm gonna wait... #

Well, to be fair, overall,

we are a little more than halfway complete here.

Inside, the house is still coming together,

so we better let Michael give us the lowdown on how things will look.

In the kitchen, my intention is for this to be the utility area,

obviously, to keep the noisy washing machines and bits out of the way.

I'm hoping to have twin sinks underneath the windows,

so you can do your dishes

and look out at the little train when she comes past.

I've lowered the ceiling here and it mirrors, hopefully,

what I intend on having, which I've drawn on the floor -

a breakfast bar area with a built-in hob and suchlike.

So, it's kind of a central area

that everyone can be in the same place,

so I'm looking forward to using that for the first time.

It should be a nice place to hang out.

It might take a bit of imagination as it is now,

but I think Michael is right.

He has also made some slight changes to the layout in the original plans.

All four bedrooms will have en-suite access

with two of them being connected

by a Jack and Jill bathroom in the middle.

Downstairs, he has widened the hallway,

where, hopefully, we should see a grander staircase than this,

but one step at a time.

A lot of work has already gone into this project,

but like a lot of trains that I've waited for,

we are running a little late.

Initially, I anticipated it taking about a year,

but then I've not put myself under any pressures

of specific timescales.

Ultimately, it'll be done when it's done

and hopefully, it'll be done correctly.

I'm actually quite happy and quite relaxed.

I've had a nice couple of guys, builders,

that have kind of taken me under their wing a little bit

and guided me through a few things that I wouldn't know

because, of course, I'm a mechanic, not a builder,

so I'm very appreciative of that.

So, I'm happy with the way it's all gone so far.

I think Michael should be pleased,

but splitting his time between managing this build

and his garage must be tough.

He still has to choose most of the internal fittings and decoration.

However, he's already put some rather unique design features in.

There's a few ideas I've put in myself

that reflect my own character, I suppose, really.

So, in the bathrooms, I've got a couple of little London scenes,

probably cos that's where I come from, so I can't help it.

And just to embrace the fact that there is a miniature railway

going through in what I would call my back garden,

I've had made some etchings for the front doors

just with the steam trains,

just to give that little nod to the fact that

it is a nice, peaceful, tranquil, unusual place to be.

For car man Michael, have all these added extras bumped up his budget?

From a budget point of view,

I've never had a specific amount to decide.

I didn't want to put myself under that pressure,

so I've more gone towards, "I will just carry on doing it

"to the best of my ability until it's finished

"or either my pot runs out."

But at the end of the day,

of course I'll add up and see what it's cost

and then I can compare that with what its value will be

and then that'll depend on whether I'm happy or not,

but I'm sure it'll be fine.

Although it's Michael's long-term home,

that pot could end up being empty,

so it's good to get a sense of what the property could be worth

before Michael overstretches his budget.

We've asked along two local property experts

to get their opinions.

I think it's come a long way

since it was a bare building plot, but, yeah,

still quite a lot of work to do.

But the nice thing about this house is its space.

I think it's a wonderfully spacious house,

particularly when you come into the hallway and this kitchen

we're standing in at the moment.

I can visualise it being really the centre of the property in the future

and I think this'll be one of those sought-after positions

-that everybody will want to live in.

-From what I can see at the moment,

the layout of this property works very well.

It's quite flexible. You've got a fantastic entrance hall.

The garden leads from the side of the lounge and living area

and the bedrooms work very well with an en-suite to two of the bedrooms,

including the master, and a fantastic guest suite to the back.

The work might not be finished,

but can the agents give us an estimated sales value

for the completed house?

I think that, once this property is finished,

if it's done to the right standard,

it could fetch in the region of £500,000 to £525,000.

Once this property is completed, I'd expect this property to sell

for around £550,000.

Well, obviously, the values have come kind of as expected,

but it's nice to hear it confirmed.

Obviously, my plan is to live in it, not to sell it initially,

but then who knows what the future holds? Never say never.

And although he's yet to move in,

Michael is already enjoying the benefits

of being able to call such an unusual location home.

Building a house next to a tiny, narrow-gauge railway

is very pleasant, and it's almost like being a big kid, really,

having a little railway station coming through your back garden.

So, it's nice, and it's nice to see the people wave as they go by,

and I had a couple of comments coming from the train, like,

"Keep up the good work."

So, yeah, it's very good. It's very good.

If you are thinking of buying your next property at auction,

I hope we've been of some help.

Yeah, and there are lots more stories where they came from.

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

-We'll see you then.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.