Episode 30 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. Welcome to the show.

Now, a lot of people see property

as an accessible way to invest in the future.

Yep. Whether you see it as a pension pot or an income,

it can really pay dividends.

Yeah, the question is, where do you find your ideal project?

Well, I think you should pop down to your local property auction

and see what's on offer.

Well, buying at auction is exciting, but you know what our mantra is.

Yes, it's research, research...

and a bit more research.

So, did our buyers take that advice? Did they follow that?

Let's find out.

The name of South London's Borough of Croydon

means Valley of the Crocuses,

and there is plenty of life springing up here.

Millions of pounds of regeneration money is taking root,

so the future looks rosy indeed for this exciting area.

Now, I'm about a 10-minute drive from the centre of Croydon,

so it's not really walking distance.

Although, being a bit further away, well,

it means that you do get a nice, quiet residential street like this.

Well, I'm here to see a three-bed mid-terrace,

and it had a guide price of £250,000 plus,

and it's this one here with that lovely mint-green door.

I quite like it, actually.

I also like that stained glass. Things are looking promising.

Well, on the inside, what delights wait?

Well, for starters, look at this bright orange carpet.

Rather unusual floor tiles.

But the house feels like it's in quite good condition.

Maybe I would sort of open up here to reveal some spindles,

because it does make this hallway feel rather closed in.

But a really nice-size reception room.

And if you can get an under-stairs loo,

I always think it's worth it,

because this is a family house, after all.

Kitchen through there, which is rather small.

You've got a second reception room here,

and something that I think works very well

is when you take the wall down and you open up the space

to have a kitchen and a diner all in one room,

and I think that would work exceptionally well in this property.

But, oh, look at these.

I love these. I'm going to just get rid of that so you can see it.

Hold on a minute.

Let's pull that back

to reveal some really, really beautiful, wooden

traditional little doors leading out to that garden.

They are so beautifully made. I absolutely adore them.

So, some really nice little features in this house.

And there's obviously no central heating in this room,

just this gas fire,

but something that I haven't seen for so long

on this programme - look down here.

It's an original little air vent. They're absolutely amazing.

Wow. Not seen those for many years.

They were used to help get the fire started.

But obviously there's a lot you can do to improve this property,

but it certainly feels loved and cared for,

and I think this could be a really nice, happy home.

Well, it's been a long time since

I last saw character features like these,

and the last time this house had a renovation

Peggy Lee was still in her prime.

# It's been a long, long time.. #

You see, you can keep character features

and bring in the modern touches with an open-plan kitchen/diner,

and you can still have the luxury of an additional living area.

Now, what can you do upstairs?

I still can't get over how lovely and clean and tidy this house is,

so what have we got upstairs?

Two really good-size bedrooms, a box room and a bathroom.

And, oh, my goodness, there's some colours going on up here.

You've got a peachy bathroom suite with a citrus-yellow bedroom,

a pale pink bedroom through there

with a bright sunglasses-orange bedroom at the front there.

So, I suppose it's safe to say that upstairs, yeah,

you've really got all the colours of the rainbow.

For me, to get the real riches out of this house,

it has to be the end of the rainbow.

You need to neutralise the decor here to have any hope of resale.

But the layout certainly works.

You can add value outside too -

not through an extension out in the back garden,

but with off-street parking out the front.

You'll need to speak to your local council and find out

whether you'll need planning permission,

which you will if you do intend to drop the curb like this.

Next, get free quotes from tradesmen and only pay them in full

when you're satisfied with the job they've done.

And finally, when your lovely, new driveway is done, well,

invite along a local agent and get your property revalued.

Hopefully it'll be well worth the time and money spent.

And speaking of local agents, we invited one along

to give us his opinion as to what this property,

guided at £250,000 plus, could be worth after renovation.

I think the desirability of this road isn't as popular

as it's in between Croydon and Thornton Heath,

however the property will still sell and will still hold value.

Once renovated, I believe this property would sell

in the region of £370,000 to £380,000.

So, despite the location,

there is good sales profit potential if you can keep costs low.

But how about rentals?

I believe if you're looking to achieve a rental figure,

£1,350 per calendar month to £1,400 per calendar month.

Well, all you regular viewers know how I love to knock a wall down,

and the good news is, well, you can do that here if you want to.

Not only that, there are plenty of other ways

you can improve this colourful terrace

which will make it blossom.

Who wanted to create a blooming, lovely property?

Let's head to auction and find out.

Unfortunately, we can't bring you the footage for this auction lot,

but I can tell you that the successful bid was £285,000,

and the successful bidder was Henry.

This is property number four for the professional developer.

So, what did he have planned for this one?

Henry, lovely meeting you today.

Nice to meet you, finally.

-Congratulations. Well done.

-Thank you. Thank you.

In the property now, walking around today,

it's in such good condition.

It's really clean and tidy.

I know it's dated, but it's really a lovely little house, isn't it?

-It is. It is a very nice house. It's well-kept...

-Yeah.

..I must say, so I was quite happy about that.

-Very nice house.

-So, did you view it before you decided to buy it?

-Yes, I did. I viewed twice.

-So you did all your homework for me?

-Every bit of it.

-So, tell me what you did.

Well, one, I read the legal pack twice,

and I viewed twice.

Saw it, liked this, and decided, "I'm going to go for it."

Why have you bought it?

Couple of years ago I bought a property for us to live in,

my family.

Done it up, realised, "I think I'm a bit good at this thing,"

so I decided then, "From now on, I'm going to start buying property."

So, I bought one and two, liked it, and this is my fourth one now.

-So...

-And that's because you think you're a bit good at it.

I think I'm good at it,

so changed up my job now, so this is my job.

So, what did you use to do?

Before, I used to build bathrooms, renovate bathrooms.

General renovations, so now I renovate properties.

So, what is it you want to do with this property?

I mean, where are you going to start?

One, I'm going to completely rewire, build a new kitchen.

I'm going to knock down the wall

between the kitchen and the sitting room,

make an open-plan kitchen/diner.

I want to put an under-stairs toilet and new doors in the back,

and just general renovation in here.

So, in other words, I'll strip it all out, get it all replastered,

get it rewired.

Everything. New plumbing if possible and new radiators.

And do you do everything?

-I do most of the work myself.

-Really?

I only work with labourers.

I have an electrician who comes in and does all the rewiring.

I have a boiler man.

He comes in, he does all the gas work on the boiler.

Apart from that, everything else I do them myself.

-So, it's purely Henry's job.

-Yes, indeed.

-Now, along here, it's a nightmare to park.

-Mm.

Everybody has got driveways

-and you find yourself parking across them.

-Yeah.

What are you going to do? Because your driveway hasn't been dropped.

It hasn't been, but I'm looking at the cost and maybe

if it can fit into my budget, I will think about it.

What is your budget?

For this whole house, at the moment it's 25.

-Ooh!

-What?

-Ooh!

-25,000.

-Do you think you can do it on that?

Oh, yeah.

Henry seems convinced that budget will do it,

and he's certainly game to graft himself to keep costs down,

and plans a three-month timescale before looking to the resale market.

Despite his confidence,

I'm sure there's one issue that he is dreading.

What about all the painting? Who does all the painting?

-I do them myself.

-Doesn't it all get in your lovely hair?

I'm a bit worried about the dreadlocks.

No, normally when I'm at work, my dreads are in a small hat.

It's all coiled up on top of the head

because the hardest problem is to clean it.

So, to avoid all the calamity, it's best to keep it tied up.

So, you can't afford to get any paint in these,

otherwise you'd never get it out.

Well, yes. It would take a long time to come out, actually.

It's been so lovely meeting you,

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

-Yes.

-Well done, Henry.

-Nice to meet you too.

-Lovely to meet you. Good luck.

-Yes.

Well, I think Henry has got some great ideas for this terrace,

and he's also right man for the job

as he can keep costs down by doing a lot of the work himself.

However, will all go as smoothly as he hopes?

Fingers crossed he doesn't drop paint in those dreadlocks.

Join me later on the programme and you can find out how Henry gets on.

This churchyard in Wolstanton, Newcastle-under-Lyme

is the last resting place of Scottish missionary and physician

Dr Henry Faulds,

who left this world broke and embittered by the lack

of recognition for his role in the ground-breaking discovery

that every individual has unique fingerprints

and could be used to catch criminals.

Well, it doesn't take much investigation,

criminal or otherwise,

to realise the property I'm here to see

sounds like a bit of a steal.

Yes.

£85,000 plus was the guide price for this three-bedroom semi

in a really desirable area.

Ooh.

Can't wait to get my dabs on this one

and get undercover as it is quite a windy day today.

Nice double door. Keep the drafts and the cold out.

Into your sort of entrance area here.

It's a nice open feel, so we like that as a start.

Stairs up to the bedrooms.

And then quite an interesting layout. I like this.

You've got a front sitting room here,

and then...a rear sitting room here. Now, why do I like this?

Well, you've got a door there, door there..

You can go round and round in circles.

I like houses that you can do that.

I mean, not to an excessive amount, but...

through here to the kitchen.

This is a family house.

It's crying out for a really big, open, family kitchen/living area,

and what you've got is this space which just doesn't work.

It gets worse cos you've got a bathroom at the back there.

Well, actually not a bathroom, just the toilet.

Walls need to be knocked down, don't they?

Possibly that one to create a really nice open-plan kitchen/living area.

And possibly that one to create a really good,

useful sort of utility area at the back.

So, things to be done.

The through-lounge dining/kitchen is ideal for modern living

and would maximise the usable space.

But before removing any walls,

have a structural engineer confirm that they are not load-bearing,

or if they are, to calculate what level of steel work is needed.

Well, upstairs, and layout.

Well, interesting. I actually quite like it.

Two really good-size double bedrooms and one smaller bedroom.

That's probably not a bad way to go.

At least those two bedrooms are a really nice size and, yeah,

sort of a box room if you needed it.

What doesn't work so well, though, is this. It's a bathroom.

Well, that's good news. It's upstairs.

What isn't here is the toilet.

So, what are we going to do? First job, move the loo up here.

Or better still, perhaps,

have a loo downstairs and add one up here,

because there is a bathroom, but it doesn't have a toilet.

That's not peachy.

Well, at the back of the property,

quite a few Heath Robinson-style constructions,

but a very steeply banked garden.

And what a great surprise it is. It's in a bit of a...

Well, it needs a tidy up, basically, but a really nice amount of space.

So, a bonus.

Just need a bit of a bonfire.

There is certainly plenty of wood supply

scattered around the garden next to the garage

and the side of the house.

In fact, the more you look around the property,

the more you see the eclectic collection

of various wooden constructions,

but somebody must have loved it at some stage.

# Can love me like you

# Sha-la-la-la, ooh-ooh

# Sha-la-la-la... #

So, also at the back of the property there is this door.

Now, what do you think this leads to?

A downstairs loo? Coal shed perhaps?

Hmm. You would definitely be wrong.

Um, it's huge,

and it sort of disappears underneath the house.

It's a bit spooky, this.

You've got this little area here, and as you continue backwards,

we're now right underneath the house.

You've got this little further area here.

It goes on even further there. So, what could this be?

Well, I don't know. A little workshop area.

Knock a few walls around, turn it into, I don't know,

a play room or whatever.

But it's just a nice little bonus.

There is bags of space down here.

It would make a nice wine cellar -

large enough even for the most voracious of wine collectors.

The interconnecting rooms just keep going on and on.

We called in a local estate agent to get her thoughts

on the property and its valuation.

The area of is Wolstanton a popular residential area.

It's got a well-regarded primary school,

and this property is close to local amenities,

which is really suitable for all families

that could potentially buy it.

Once renovated, what market value would this house command?

Once renovated, this property could achieve a price of £140,000.

Well, it's a lot of house in a nice area,

so despite the fact it does need some work,

I'm sure it would've been a very popular lot

when it went under the hammer.

Lot 79.

What's this, 75?

Madam bidding. Yeah, 75.

At 75. 80 bid. At £80,000. £85,000.

One, you're saying. That's 86.

Swiftly passing the £85,000 guide price,

bids are coming in from all around the room

and from an internet bidder,

and we rejoin the bidding at £105,500.

£105,500?

Yeah? £105,500. 106.

Do you want to go 107?

Yeah? 107.

Shaking his head. 107. Madam at the back wall, at £107,000.

£107,000 once, £107,000 twice.

Third and final time at £107,000.

You bought it. Well done.

The top bid came from Ruth, an operations manager,

as a joint purchase with her husband Ant

who's a fitness instructor.

I met the couple back at their new purchase

to find out what they were going to do with it.

Ruth, Ant, great to meet you both. Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

-To live in it.

-Oh, great.

-We sold our house back in August and we've been looking for

somewhere to live in this area, but it's all quite expensive.

We've got this for quite a lot cheaper,

-even though it needs a lot of work doing.

-Yeah.

Have you been renting somewhere for the last few months?

-No, we've been in between parents...

-Oh, wow.

-..for the past two, three months.

-Just you or kids as well?

-No, we've got a little girl as well.

-How old is she?

-She's five.

-What she called?

-Evey. Evey. Yeah.

-Nice name.

So, what were you looking for when you were trying to find somewhere?

Well, we wanted three bedrooms, didn't we?

We wanted somewhere with a drive and somewhere with a big garden,

and, you know, this has got everything

that we were looking for.

And somewhere that we can make our own as well.

Well, it was a bold move to sell first and then rely on parents,

and there is really no doubt

that it is going to be a great family home,

but there is a lot of work to do yet.

So, talk me through exactly what you're going to do, then,

to get it to how you want it to be.

Well, first of all the kitchen is too small,

so we're going to knock a wall down in the kitchen,

make the kitchen bigger.

We need the toilet moving from downstairs to upstairs.

Going to completely rejig the bathroom,

so we're going to completely change the layout of the bathroom

-and have a shower and a toilet...

-Oh, great.

-..and a sink up there.

But once you've done that,

-you end up with a place to your design and fairly new.

-Yeah.

Yeah, but we want to keep some of the old features.

I really like the door handles, and, you know, some of the lights

and things like that.

You know, the older stuff that's in here

rather than it being really modern.

-So, we want to mix it up a bit, don't we?

-Mm.

So, what about the area underneath? That's quite interesting, isn't it?

Yeah.

When we came to look at the house,

there was a door around the side with a padlock on,

-and we didn't know what was under there.

-Oh, wow.

So, we bought the house without knowing,

and then when we bought it,

Ruth came and had a look at the house

and it turns out there's a big basement down there.

-Yeah. Massive. What a bonus.

-Yeah.

So, what's that going to be, then?

-That's my space...

-HE LAUGHS

..for just tinkering with things.

Good storage area as well, and it's nice and dry as well,

-which is a bonus.

-Yeah. Brilliant.

So, were there any surprises

other than the cellar about the house?

When we came and looked round and saw the radiators

and we saw the tank in the bathroom,

we presumed that it had got central heating,

and so then to find out that it hadn't got a gas supply

has been an added expense that we didn't initially expect.

Right. It's all driven from the back boiler, then?

Yep, from the coal fire.

You see the radiators, you sort of assume somewhere there must be...

Mm. Yeah. That was unexpected, but, you know,

it doesn't take too long to get it done, and then...

-And you'll be able to get a modern, very economical boiler.

-Yes. Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah. So, that'll be better.

Ruth and Ant would like to get the house liveable in three months

and then move in and complete the rest of the jobs,

all within a budget of £10,000.

# Hard work... #

Well, we want definitely the bathroom,

obviously the rewiring,

get the heating in, get the bathroom in.

Perhaps do the kitchen while we're in here...

Oh, right. OK. Brilliant.

..and we're round a bit,

-so, yeah, it should be all right, shouldn't it?

-Yeah.

One thing you certainly don't need is shelves.

No! SHE LAUGHS

-Or doors.

-Or doors.

-Well, congratulations, both of you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Good luck with it.

-Yeah.

-We look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you.

-Thanks very much.

Well, a bit of work to be done to sort this place out,

but how great that Ruth, Ant and of course Evey

have found somewhere that can become a really lovely family home.

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

I was in Croydon, South East London earlier in the show

where I saw this three-bed mid-terrace

packed with character features

from stained-glass to patio doors to little air vents by the fire,

but it also had a cramped kitchen

and a kaleidoscope of colours upstairs.

A lot of potential for the guide price of £250,000 plus.

Obviously, there's a lot you can do to improve this property,

but it certainly feels loved and cared for

and I think this could be a really nice, happy home.

# Talk to me, baby.

# You're doing fine, Henry

# The way you jump and rock

# All right... #

And Henry was doing fine.

This was the property developer's fourth property,

and it cost him £285,000.

He planned to do most of the renovation himself

at the risk of his luscious locks.

I'm a bit worried about the dreadlocks.

No, normally when I'm at work my dreads are in a small hat.

It's all coiled up on top of the head.

And Henry's head had thought of plenty of other bright ideas

as he planned to create a kitchen/diner,

add an under-stairs toilet and complete a full modern refurb.

But could he do it on a budget of 25 grand

and in a very quick turnaround of three months

before he looks to sell on?

Well, just under four months on,

and it looks like Henry is all right.

# I will be yours

# I'll pay for you... #

The back living room has been opened up

for a sizable and luminous kitchen/diner.

Gone are the original French doors which I rather liked,

but the original stained-glass has been retained.

The house benefits from the promised under-stair toilet,

and likewise upstairs

former bathroom fitter Henry has shown off his skills.

The mouldy peach suite is now much more contemporary.

Much like the bedrooms,

where Henry has gone somewhere over the rainbow of colours

that were here to a place that is more calming and neutral.

Overall, this house has been brought into the modern age, and I love it.

# This modern love

# Breaks me... #

And I particularly like the modern feel of the heart

of this house - the kitchen/diner.

Well, before, there was a wall here.

What we did, we took this wall down

so that we could have an open-plan kitchen here.

And I'm very happy with it.

So, the door used to be here to come into the kitchen,

and I changed the door around in order to fit all the pieces in

as well as put in a beam above to support the upstairs wall.

And this is what we get out of it, which I'm very happy with.

A great modern touch,

as is the downstairs loo under the stairs.

And Henry certainly moved through the renovation in time -

just three weeks over his ambitious three-month timescale.

But did he stick to his 25 grand budget?

I was very confident I could do it within the 25,000 range.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do it within the 25,000.

I tried my best to,

but instead I went over to £28,000

to get it all finished to the standard that it is in.

Well, I think that overspend is no big deal,

given the lovely finish,

and the house should make an exciting prospect

for the resale market.

Most of the properties that I've done

I've always tried to do them to a bit of a high standard.

When the people come in

and everyone is going like, "Wow, wow, wow,"

everyone is happy and that makes me feel good.

But will two local estate agents get the wow factor?

I'll start with the agent that saw it before Henry's handiwork.

I think the vendor has done very well.

The property looks really good and I think the decision

to open up the kitchen to the diner has worked well for the property

cos it allows a lot of light to come through the patio doors

from the garden to the kitchen and living room.

I think it's a really good refurb.

I like what they've done with the kitchen.

It is compact, but opening it out does give a feeling of space.

And on top of that,

the integral appliances mean it's practical as well.

Probably the only thing it lacks is off-street parking,

which is tight on the street, so...

Henry bought this house for 285,000

and has spent 28 grand on it.

That's a total of £313,000.

He currently has it on the market for £380,000,

but could he do better than that?

I believe this property on the sales market,

we'd be looking to achieve in the region of £380,000

to £390,000.

For sales, this property will achieve £400,000.

Wow. That's very good. Very, very impressive. Very nice. That's good.

I agree, Henry. Very impressive.

£400,000 could mean a potential profit of £87,000

before the usual taxes and expenses.

Only one thing could spoil this project,

and that's the thing I dreaded.

Did any paint get in his lovely hair?

Not one bit at all because I always wrap my dreads up

into a small stocking before I start work

because it's hard to keep them clean.

So, the first thing I do, I always skim.

So, there was no paint in my dreads, Lucy. Sorry about that.

DION: Lying amid the Pennines in Greater Manchester

is the town Oldham.

During the Industrial Revolution, Oldham was known as Spindleopolis

as its booming cotton industry meant it had more spindles

than any other town in the world.

We're here in Moorside which is north of Oldham

in this residential area,

which is a mix of terraced houses and the odd detached house.

And it's one of those odd detached houses I'm here to see.

It's odd cos it's the only one in the street. And here it is.

# All by myself

# Don't want to be

# All by myself

# Any more... #

Don't worry.

This two-bed detached guided at £40,000 to £50,000

won't be lonely for too long, as I'm about to give it some company

and see what it's like inside.

We're straight into porchway.

I do like a porchway, cos it sort of keeps the cold out

and the warm in, and there's two doors of safety there as well,

which I do like.

OK, we're straight into the lounge, front room area.

We have got double glazing just there,

a gas fire and a few old original features

with the coving around the side.

Into the second reception room.

It's a little bit smaller,

and I'm already thinking to myself, "Could you knock that down?"

I'd imagine that is definitely a weight-bearing wall.

You might have to stick an RSJ in, but it's worth investigating.

Get yourself some more space.

Gas fire again. This looks like a bit of damp as well,

which has seeped in possibly through the pointing, maybe.

But if you're looking for space,

you can quite easily knock a wall down,

create a big room if it's viable to do so and if you need it.

Into the kitchen, and it's very small.

I would be looking to...

Yeah, maybe you could extend the kitchen that way,

create a bit more space in here,

or you could actually block that door off...

Excuse me.

..and you can put your outside door

just there just to create a bit more surface space in the kitchen itself.

But not a bad start so far. Let's check out upstairs.

OK, upstairs we have got two bedrooms,

the first of which is here at the front of the house,

and it's a really nice-size bedroom.

Radiator as well.

That's a good start. A good first bedroom.

So, into the second bedroom,

and again, it's a good-size bedroom.

There are a few more signs of damp,

but nothing that's really alarming me.

OK, then, down into the bathroom, which is a reasonable-size bathroom.

You would have to start again.

This looks very dated in a nice aqua colour,

but you could quite easily start again in here,

put a brand-new bathroom in, no problem at all.

But I did notice something.

This crack here, which is a significant crack.

It starts right at the bottom, goes...

..all the way...

I would imagine, as well, it's under there as well.

Now, a rule of thumb is...

I've got big hands

and it can quite easily find its way

in that significant space there.

That is something that is concerning me.

Get that checked out. First thing you do.

# And the cracks began to show

# Show, show, show, show, show... #

I think I'd want to get a structural engineer

to look at this.

There is a chance it could be as a result of movement

from way back,

but there's a chance it could be more serious.

Let's investigate a little bit further.

So, I just wanted to come out just to see if there's any signs

of that crack on the outside, and there is.

It's going from top to bottom,

and it's quite a significant-size crack as well.

What could've caused that?

I can see that there's drainage along here.

That may have hindered the house and maybe moved it slightly.

I can also see that somebody has actually tried

to fill it in as well.

And I can also, I think... Yes, somebody has actually tried to...

Well, they have.

They've underpinned it already,

so it's already been addressed, the issue.

Whether it's doing its job, we're not sure, but I would always,

always recommend you get a survey,

get it checked out cos you just don't know

how deep this is.

Apart from that, I'm quite happy with this house.

So, the guide price is 40 to 50 grand.

What does a local estate agent think it needs

to bring it back up to scratch?

It needs a full refurbishment throughout,

so new kitchen, new bathroom.

I would imagine it will need a rewire,

a new central heating system put in throughout.

Obviously, decoration, floor coverings.

There is a possibility to extend at the back as well.

It's a pretty long list and could be a bit of a money pit

if that crack is still an issue.

Let's go the whole hog.

What could it sell for once renovated with an extension?

If the property was refurbished throughout

with an extension to the rear,

I would suggest an asking price at £95,000.

And the agent thinks the rental income

will be around £425 per calendar month

without an extension.

This is a first for me - the only house on the street.

But it does have a couple of issues.

That crack down the side of the house

looks like it's been underpinned,

but I'd definitely get it double-checked.

And there's a few splatters of dump around, but nothing major.

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

Two-bedroom detached house. Need a bid. 40, anyone?

Can't sell it without one. 35 here.

At 35 on bid. At 35 on bid now. 36. 37. 38.

39. 39 on bid.

40. 41. 42. 43.

44. 45. 46?

Not sure. Here at 45.

At £45,000 it'll be done.

45,500. 46?

No. Are we all out at 45,500?

First time. Second time.

46.

And a half? 47?

Might buy it. 47. And a half?

You're out. You're in. Told you. Back in at 47,500.

48? Not sure.

With you in the back row, £47,500.

With you and against you two. First time to you, sir.

Second time to you.

Third and final time, back row at £47,500.

Oh. You just missed it.

You wouldn't miss the last bus home, would you?

Oh, dear.

And that's why you have to have your top limit firmly in your head

before you go to auction.

Someone has missed the bus there,

but successful bidder Talal jumped aboard this opportunity

with a successful bid of £47,500.

Talal is a man of many talents.

He's a property developer and was an electrician to trade,

but I've been told he has another business,

so I'm intrigued.

So, Talal, away from your property developing,

what other businesses or work are you involved in?

We manufacture coffins

and supply to different mosques and funeral services,

and that's the full-time trade.

-It's a full-time trade that's never going to go out of business.

-No.

# Why are you looking grave... #

Well, let's hope he hasn't made a grave mistake

in buying this property,

which does need a fair bit of work doing.

I want to know if he has nailed down his plans for this place.

This wall is going out. Walls are going out.

-Want to make some extension in the kitchen.

-Mm.

-New bathroom.

Maybe a third bedroom, but we're not sure yet.

-So, you mentioned a third bedroom.

-Yes.

-Where are you thinking?

-Loft. Loft conversion.

-In the loft?

-Yes.

We've got space there for a staircase anyway, so we'll try.

Talal has plenty of plans, but does he have plenty of dough?

About £15,000 to £20,000.

That's a big budget.

But just if you want to make something nice,

you have to spend money.

If you cut corners, it will be just patches everywhere,

the way it is now.

Don't want to do that.

I'm glad Talal wants to give this place a great finish,

but how long is it going to take?

If we don't do the third, the loft conversion,

then I'll say two months,

but if we do the loft, then maybe three months.

But we will be in the roundabout figure of two to three months then,

because the builders are ready.

They can crack on in two or three days' time.

Oh, yes.

And talking of cracks,

what about the large one down the side of the house?

It's not as serious as it looks because it's maybe nothing,

or maybe something far more serious, but the structural engineer

will be here tomorrow and hopefully we will get that sorted.

Good job.

So, with so much to do,

Talal is going to tackle a lot of the work himself.

I'm a handyman, so I can do everything.

-Got no problem.

-You're a dab hand. You know...

Yeah, so hopefully will be here every day.

You won't see this shirt...

-HE LAUGHS Nice clean shirt.

-Yeah, yeah.

-You'll see dirty ones every day.

-Oh, wow. Good man.

-Well, I hope your instinct is right.

-Yeah.

You liked what you've seen and you've gone for it.

-And it's right in front of you.

-Talal, I wish you all the best.

-Thank you so much.

-Good luck. Hope it works out.

-Thank you.

So, Talal is a cool customer

and any problems this house has don't seem to faze him at all,

but it's a little bit different to building coffins.

Anyway, his timescale is three months

if he builds that loft extension,

and he's got a healthy budget of £20,000.

Will he get it all finished in time and will he come in under budget?

You can find out later in the programme.

Earlier, I was wandering in Wolstanton, Newcastle-under-Lyme

to see a three-bed semidetached guided at £85,000 -

and one with an interesting layout.

You've got a front sitting room here and then...

a rear sitting room here.

Why do I like this? Well, you've got a door there, door there.

You can go round and round in circles.

I like houses that you can do that. I mean, not to an excessive amount.

# Here's to never ending circles

# And building them on top of me... #

The rest of the house was enough to make your head spin too -

a toilet downstairs and bathroom upstairs without toilet.

Well, under the house there was a spacious

and slightly spooky cellar area filled with more doors

than a conference for Jim Morrison impersonators.

And don't get me started on the salvage look of the back garden.

But Ruth and her husband Ant were keen to get started

on their £107,000 purchase as they had a pressing reason

for buying the property.

We sold our house back in August and we've been looking for somewhere

to live in this area, but...

Have you been renting somewhere for the last two or three months?

-No. We've been in between parents...

-Oh, wow.

-..for the past two or three months.

-Just you or kids as well?

-No, we've got a little girl as well.

-How old is she?

-She's five.

-What she called? Evey.

But before this was to be a lovely family home,

they had a number of issues to address -

the absence of central heating, a full rewire and, well,

just doing something with the layout -

all on a ten grand budget and in six months.

We're now back 16 months on,

and I really hope they've brought new life into their new home.

# In your new home, new life

# A new place to hide

# A new home and a new life... #

Well, there is a huge difference to the house,

and downstairs, while the living room hasn't changed,

it has benefited from replastering and thoughtful decor.

And it's the warm heart of the new home,

partly due to the new central heating system.

When we came and looked at the house and we saw the radiators,

we just presumed that there was central heating,

but then on discovering, you know, it was fired by a coal fire

with the back burner and not actually linked to the gas

was quite a big surprise.

You know, nearly £700 worth of unexpected surprise.

Upstairs in the bedrooms,

the cocoon of '60s decor has been shed

to let something more modern emerge.

And the bathroom finally has a toilet and a stylish finish too.

The bathroom was one of the biggest changes.

We had to strip everything out back down to the brick

and we bought the new bathroom suite

and Ant has actually done all of that work.

He's tiled it, he's put the bathroom suite in.

We had to have some help with the plumbing of it,

but everything else, you know,

we've done ourselves, and got a nice bathroom now.

At the back, husband has got his man cave.

Hmm, somehow I don't think that's it,

although it's nice to see a finished wooden structure in the garden.

Ant's actual personal space is the cellar under the house,

and it took a bit of work to get it into shape.

So, my husband actually pulled out 32 doors from underneath there.

I have decisions on the decorations upstairs

and Ant has the man cave downstairs for all of his stuff.

Ants are often comfortable underground, in my experience, Ruth.

The family were able to move in after six months of hard work

and have been making additional improvements since,

including a full rewire.

The kitchen remains the one part of the house that requires finishing.

However, taking the wall out has created so much more space.

In the lower part of the kitchen,

there was a toilet and also a pantry

with makeshift shelves.

So, we ripped all of that out and then knocked through

so that we've now, you know, an extra space for the kitchen.

It is now getting an actual fitted kitchen in there,

but just ran out of money at the minute for that

so that's on the waiting this.

Which brings us to their £10,000 budget.

I think we've probably stuck to about the ten grand,

because although we had extra expense with the gas mains,

we've got lots of things discounted.

The house has added so much to their lives,

but have they added value to it?

Having spent £17,000,

I'm wondering if two local estate agents

can give the family an extra bonus when it comes to the resale values.

As the property is at present,

we'd look to place the property on the market

within the region of £125,000 to £130,000.

If the works were completed, especially the kitchen area,

it may possibly feature a higher value of £140,000.

I would say in its current condition,

I would suggest figures of £130,000,

and once improved, £140,000.

Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

I mean, a lot more than what we paid for it,

you know, which is always a bonus.

But, you know, this is somewhere that we want to invest more in

and stay for a long time.

So, currently the family could stand to make a pre-tax profit

of £13,000 on the resale market,

with a potential for more once the kitchen is finished.

But this wasn't an auction story about making money.

It was about a family finding a home,

and the auction room is somewhere Ruth would advocate.

Don't be put off by going to auction

cos there are a lot of property developers there

and it is a bit scary, but it can work out really well

in the end and you can get, you know, a really nice property

and make your own mark on it.

So, yeah, definitely go ahead with it.

DION: Let's take ourselves back to Oldham again

where I saw a two-bed detached house guided at £40,000 to £50,000.

It was a very unusual street and house

because it sat on its lonesome.

# I think we're alone now

# There doesn't seem to be anyone around... #

Inside, I was glad no-one was around to see this.

Extensive damp, no kitchen, and, well,

I'd rather there was no bathroom based on this colour scheme.

One very concerning issue -

a crack running the whole length of the house.

The house had previously been underpinned,

but I was worried that it hadn't been resolved.

It didn't deter Talal paying 100 grand for it.

He was formerly an electrician,

but now he'd moved into a more unusual job.

We manufacture coffins

and supply to different mosques and funeral services,

and that's the full-time trade.

Touch wood, Talal would create a house with a cottage feel,

adding a third bedroom in the loft space

and extending the kitchen

all for a budget of 20 grand and a timescale of two months.

Optimistic in my opinion,

even if he's doing most of the work himself.

So, what have we got seven months down the line?

We have a transformed exterior Very impressive.

Inside, he's taken down the living room wall

to create an open-plan space.

That non-kitchen has been extended

and it's now a much more workable space,

with fantastic skylights to give the place a more modern airy feel.

And there is a feeling of continuity

thanks to Talal's use of one particular material.

# All turned out as great as it could

# Knock on wood

# Things are going just as they should

# Knock on wood... #

So far, so very good, and upstairs, the staircase is really stylish,

with exposed beams giving some more country comforts.

Both existing bedrooms benefit from a replaster,

and there's no more damp after Talal's fixed the roof.

The bathroom is now a third bedroom,

and Talal has stolen some more space from that bigger bedroom

to build a beautiful new bathroom.

No window in this bathroom, but don't worry.

Talal has a solution.

Everything looks great,

and Talal is the man who did just about all of it.

Everything is new.

The boiler, electrics - everything is brand-new.

The only work I didn't do is joinery, plaster and skimming.

Everything else I've tried to do it myself.

I'm very impressed with his handiwork

and really impressed by the new extension.

In this room, since you've been here,

we've moved the wall which was separating the two rooms.

We extended the kitchen,

put a new kitchen in because the old kitchen was too small.

And put some skylights in, a new patio door.

And put a new fireplace in, all new plaster, new skimming,

new flooring, new staircase.

Everything.

But what about that worrying crack?

You know, with the crack, we called a couple of experts

and they've said it's been underpinned before.

Just filled it up with the render.

It's fine now. For eight months, it didn't show up again.

The work has taken seven months rather than three,

and there's still some snagging to do.

There was a delay due to high winds and difficult weather, though,

which hampered the work on the exterior -

which I do like, by the way.

It looks unusual, but very homely. Tell us all about it, Talal.

We put a stone effect outside.

It's called rendering. It's a machine.

It's a blasting machine.

You blast it and then craft it with the hand.

It must have been pricey.

So, did he stick to his 20 grand budget?

I think the total we have spent, about £23,000.

A three grand overspend is not too bad,

and once Talal is finished, he plans to get it on the market.

So, it's time to find out if all his hard work

and attention to detail has paid off.

What do two local estate agents think of his work?

First impression of the property,

it's been renovated to a high standard.

The kitchen extension is quite good.

It adds value to the house, along with the high ceiling

and the natural light that's coming in from above.

And they've fixed and fitted the kitchen

to a very high quality and high standard.

The new layout gives a good amount of space

and even though some space

has been taken off one of the bedrooms,

it's still a decent size and there are three reasonable-sized bedrooms

in the property now.

Talal's total spend is £70,500, so what kind of figures

can he expect from the rental and resale market?

I would expect the sales value to be between £120,000 and £125,000,

and the rental value between £575 per calendar month

and £600 per calendar month.

If I was to market this property for sale today,

I'd be looking to achieve around £125,000.

The rental market for this property I believe would be

around £650 per calendar month

up to potentially £700 per calendar month.

Those top figures could mean a potential pre-tax profit

of around £50,000, or a 12% yield.

Is Talal happy with those figures,

and will it make him consider renting?

Very good. After this work, it's good profit.

We're going to sell it and I want somebody to move in here

first-hand and enjoy their life here.

Talal and Naseema have brought their sons Zachariah and Yahiah

along to admire their dad's handiwork, so now it's all done,

what advice would he pass on?

It's not easy. It's not very straightforward.

It looks nice on the TV, but realistically it's very hard.

If you don't know what you're doing,

don't even think to go in the auction.

Well, as we have seen,

property developing can be exciting but also quite a lot of hard work.

Yeah, but it can be financially rewarding as well

and a real nice feeling when you turn a property around.

Absolutely, Dion.

So, why not join us next time for more Homes Under The Hammer?

-See

-you then. Bye-bye.

-Goodbye.