Episode 43 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show. Now, buying property is a fairly

major investment decision, so it's not one to be taken lightly.

Yes, it can be stressful,

and the stakes are high.

But if you have a passion for property like us, well,

it can be an enjoyable process,

so why not buy your next home under the hammer?

No matter how much research you've done,

buying a property at auction can still be a bit of a risk.

Yes, but the more you've looked into it,

the more you've done that research,

then the more things are stacked in your favour.

Yes, have today's buyers made the right moves?

Let's find out.

First up, in Tonbridge, Kent,

a property is driving Lucy around the bend.

You've bought yourselves a right old toilet.

I've always wanted to say that!

LAUGHTER

Whilst in Wolverhampton,

Lee's business partner has a unique approach to house-buying.

Who buys a house because they have to go at two o'clock?

DION LAUGHS

And in the popular area of Kidsgrove in Stoke-on-Trent,

I find every developer's dream.

It is the worst house on the best street.

All of these properties have been sold at auction,

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

when they went under the hammer.

Sold, it's yours.

Tonbridge is a pretty market town in Kent,

with lots of shops and lovely river views.

Prices are generally cheaper than its nearby neighbours

like Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks, despite the very good schools

and equally good rail links to the capital.

Sounds like it could be a very good place to be.

Let's track down some property.

One property here is reckoned to be

the best-preserved motte-and-bailey castle in England.

Yes, Tonbridge is a historic town, but the rail link Lucy mentioned

will get you the 29 miles to London in just over 40 minutes.

Tucked away just off the High Street is the lot I'm here to see.

You might guess that it's not your standard property when I tell you

that the average price around here is a little over 350,000,

but this had a guide price of only 10,000-12,000.

I'm quite excited by that price.

Oh, no, it's a toilet.

No, I really mean it IS a toilet!

But, as toilets go, this one is making quite a splash.

Yes, Lucy, there's a ladies'...

..a bicycle park...

..gents', disabled loo...

# Yeah, here we go Looby Loo... #

-..brick built with a tiled roof...

-# Here we go Looby Li... #

..and with tonnes of parking.

You get all the good jobs, Lucy!

Public conveniences are costly to maintain,

so councils are finding them

increasingly inconvenient - ha-ha - to keep open.

So, for your money, you get one small block,

but no matter how many times I walk around it,

it's not filling me with excitement, and, quite frankly, as a toilet,

I don't think this'll ever leave you feeling flush.

Sorry. But, on thinking,

could the toilet work for another kind of commercial venture?

How about something like a hairdresser's?

There are lovely views over this river. You could sit there

looking at that while you're waiting for your hair to dry.

So, from hand dryers to hairdryers could be an option.

Ha! I see what you did there, Lucy!

Another possibility is to think outside the box.

There are residential properties close by,

so, rather than a bog-standard commercial application - ahem -

would the planners consider residential use?

Before we start to get too carried away with this idea,

there are a few things that could limit the development.

There's a river behind it,

which could restrict any additions to the existing building.

Plus, there's the flood risk that river also poses. Hmm!

There are trees surrounding the loos,

which could restrict the height of any development and, finally,

it's a narrow road which doesn't have the easiest access.

My gut instinct is the planners could take a cis-STERN view

and pull the chain if you try and take the development too far.

Meanwhile, on his way to the loo -

in a professional capacity, of course - is the local estate agent

we called in to give some valuation.

Bet he doesn't get many viewings like this one!

It is very rare

to come across toilets for sale, so this could be quite exciting

in the area to see what they renovate or what it becomes.

If planning is granted for a commercial property,

like a hairdresser's,

what rental would it be able to achieve after conversion?

As a commercial business, this probably could rent for between

£1,000 per calendar month to £2,000 per calendar month.

Not bad on a guide price of 10-12,000.

The buyer could be spending a pretty penny.

What about resale?

This property, being used as a commercial property,

could be sold on for, let's say, £75,000 to £80,000.

TOILET FLUSHES

Challenging? I think so. Profitable? It could be.

Do I like it? Yes, I think I do.

So, who fancied going to auction and taking home a toilet?

Let's find out, when this one went under the hammer.

Former public toilets in Tonbridge.

And they were convenient, but not any more now, cos they're locked.

Guided at 10-12. £10,000 anywhere?

Ten, I'm on the way. 12 now, I'm looking for.

12, may I say? 12, may I say? 12, 12...

Bidding soon eclipses the guide price and continues apace,

-until we re-join the bidding at 55,000.

-£55,000 I've got.

55,000. 56,000. 57,000. 57...

He obviously wants it as well. 57...

At £56,000 I have, for the first time.

£56,000 for the second time.

Third and final time, at 57, I'm bid.

58. 59 now.

59, do I say? 59, do I say?

At £58,000.

And nine I'm looking for. At 58 for the first time...

59. Fill it up to 60?

At 60. And one. 61?

At £60,000 for the first time, £60,000 for the second time.

Third and final time.

With you in the doorway. All done at 60. All done.

-GAVEL BANGS

-You've done it at 60,000.

-Well done, sir.

-This couple really wanted the loo

and paid £60,000 for the PRIVY-lege. Hmm!

They're locals Sasha and Avril,

who are living in rented accommodation at the moment,

having just bought an oasthouse to convert.

Sasha has his own cleaning company,

and Avril is a human resources consultant.

Lucy met with them by the side of the Medway to discuss their plans.

Avril and Sasha, so lovely to meet you.

You've brought yourselves a right old toilet.

-I've always wanted to say that!

-LAUGHTER

So, come on, then, tell me the story!

-Er...

-Sasha first saw the toilet on the internet,

and saw it was up for sale at the auction, right off the High Street.

Um, lots and lots of potential.

Sasha, tell me, what were you doing looking up toilets on the internet?

-Come on.

-I was looking for some property investment and, er...

and I wanted not a big project.

I mean, the main purpose was for our retirement.

So, come on, you guys must have some sort of idea of what you want to do

-with this place.

-Lots of things have gone through our heads.

My first would be, um... a little art gallery,

and selling art supplies, because I love painting.

And it would work within that building.

-The fabric of that building...

-Yeah.

-..could pretty much stay as it is,

-and that would really work.

-Yeah.

Now, I'm guessing that's not your number-one choice.

-No, not quite, not quite.

-LUCY LAUGHS

I mean, to be honest, um, my choice would mean, um...

I always wanted to open a cleaning supplies shop

for commercial businesses, and you don't find many of them.

So you would like to turn it into your business.

-You would like to go with your heart...

-Hobby, yeah.

..and off you go with your art gallery.

Yes, yeah. And it's so picturesque by the river,

-it would be perfect for it.

-I'm with you.

Sorry, I'm with Avril on this.

-If she pays me enough rent...

-AVRIL LAUGHS

..she can have the place. If she pays me enough rent,

she can happily rent it from me.

-MARTIN:

-Avril's plans do sound great,

and surely she can negotiate a good rent.

But the couple have also been exploring their other options,

turning it into a residential property.

I've had an architect come and look at it,

and we would hope that we might be able to extend upwards

and also outwards, the width across upstairs,

enough to create perhaps a two-bedroomed cottage.

And we're also, at the moment, talking to the council

about the land behind it to see if we can buy it.

If we could, that would give us lots of room to have a nice decking area

overlooking the river, so it could be a really,

really pretty little cottage.

I mean, two studio flats would also be a good idea.

-Yeah, that's an alternative.

-That's an alternative,

and also, again, with the balcony, with outdoor space,

-I think it might even be better, a studio, than...

-I agree.

I actually think that it's much more suited

in an area like that than one residential dwelling.

If not, my wife moves in. She goes upstairs, I go downstairs.

You can both live in the loo together!

Exactly, no? She gets the top floor, I go downstairs, no?

-And that's the perfect idea.

-How do you feel about that, Avril?

He might end up in there, but not me.

-MARTIN:

-It sounds like Sasha wouldn't mind

living in the toilets himself.

He gets dewy-eyed every time it's mentioned.

# You are so beautiful

# To me

# You are so beautiful

# To me

# Can't you see...? #

So you don't quite know what you're going to do.

What sort of budget have you got to spend on it?

Or does that depend on what you're going to do with it?

It depends. I mean, if we just do a shop out of it as it is now,

we're looking at £15,000 to £20,000.

If you'd be able to extend it to the top, £40,000-£60,000.

So we are pretty open.

And since we're looking at a long-term investment,

not as a short-term, we're pretty flexible.

We want something nice there. It's not going to be half-hearted.

And for me, personally, when I buy something,

I need to work towards it and feel a certain pride.

-Yeah.

-I wouldn't like...

-There's love for the loo.

-Yes!

-He loves it.

It's love for the loo, which I'm very happy about.

One of my clients corrected me, she said lavatory.

-Lavatory!

-She said lavatory.

-Love a lavatory.

She said, "You don't call it toilet, you call it lavatory."

Guys, how long's it going to take you to get to your end result?

Three, four months.

If we're going for planning,

we think that will be at least six weeks.

And then, again, it depends what we do.

Guys, I'm so excited.

This has been one of the fun Homes Under The Hammer properties

that I've really enjoyed doing.

And I actually... I love the lavatory too.

I think it's fantastic.

I love the materials used, I love the location.

Good luck with this and I cannot wait to see the outcome.

-Avril.

-Thank you.

-So lovely to see you.

Sasha, good luck with it.

Keep smiling.

Avril and Sasha have big plans for this little plot,

but it could drive them round the bend

if they don't get the planning permission that they need.

Join me later in the programme and you can find out

if they go for that commercial option, number one,

or a number two, residential.

I'm in the West Midlands in one of the country's newer cities,

Wolverhampton. It was one of three Millennium Cities in 2000.

It has smart shops, galleries, museums

and a vibrant student population.

Always a good indicator for a property investor.

The house I'm here to see is just here.

It's in a great location with great road links nearby as well.

It's got three bedrooms and it has a guide price of £68,000.

Let's have a look.

Wow.

Nice, big, open space here.

But I've seen a little bit of damp down there.

Even more signs of damp.

It's not a good sign as you walk through the door.

It's not what I wanted to see,

but it's a nice, big, open space.

It's got central heating, though, which is good.

And then into the second part.

Or, should I say, which would have been the second room?

There would have been a partition wall there

to have two separate rooms.

But I think it's a good idea to open it up.

It makes it nice and fresh and spacious.

It has to be said, those stairs are not pretty

in the middle of the room.

It might be possible to move them if you wanted to keep it one big area.

However, before you get your hammer out,

there are detailed building regulations on stairs.

Everything from a maximum pitch - it's 42 degrees, if you're asking -

to rules on hand rails, to the size of the risers.

So get them checked out first.

And through into the kitchen.

A nice-sized galley kitchen.

It doesn't look in too bad condition, either,

might get away with keeping this and refurbing it,

or you could just change the doors, give it a bit of a freshen-up.

But I have seen...

OK, bit of a measurement there.

Might have got that wrong as, er...

that sort of veers off into the wall.

# Made to measure

# So I thought

# I paid out for something

# I never got

# Nothing fit... #

Something's a bit off here.

Is it merely just the worktop?

Or, perhaps, it is these walls.

I think this extension's not quite as square as it could be.

The kitchen definitely needs some skilled joinery.

Through here, right at the end of the property,

you have got the family bathroom, which is a good size.

It looks in half-decent condition as well.

I'd personally want to change it,

but you might get away with keeping it,

depending on what you want to do with this property.

The downstairs is, of course, typical in these kinds of houses.

But on the plus side,

this extension means that you've got three bedrooms upstairs.

OK, upstairs we have the three bedrooms.

There's one at the front of the property there,

which looks like the master bedroom.

Unfortunately, there's more signs of damp in there.

And there's more signs along the corridor

in the third bedroom as well, which is not great.

And this bedroom separates the two.

Single bedroom, maybe.

But, look, there's more signs of damp as well.

I'm just trying to figure out where that could be coming from.

Possibly that guttering there, which doesn't look in great condition.

As you can see, it's come through into the house

and it's all breaking away.

It's even going to come away in my hand, look.

That is just all rotten.

And it's come all the way down the window

and it's rotting the windowsill as well.

We've got to the bottom of this damp issue.

But where is the rest coming from?

That's what's worrying me.

# Reasons

# I keep looking for reasons... #

There are all sorts of reasons for damp -

rising damp, penetrating damp, and condensation.

Each needs to be treated in a different way.

So if you're not sure what sort of damp it is

or what kind of problem you've got,

consult a damp specialist and see what they say,

as it could turn out to be something more serious than you think.

# That just ain't no good. #

What is good is getting the opinion of a local property expert.

So we asked one along to get her thoughts on this house.

My first impression of the property

is that it does need some work doing to it.

At the moment, the standard is quite low.

I would say cosmetic, basically, the bathroom and the kitchen.

I would have a look at the damp issues

that I've found in most of the rooms.

And if all the works are completed,

what kind of figures could we expect from both sales and rental market?

I would say, for rental figure, it would be £550 per calendar month.

For a resale, once the work has been done,

I would say approximately about £85,000.

This is a decent, solid, terraced house.

I do like what they've done with the downstairs,

making it kind of open-plan, but I do worry about that damp.

It might be a big issue, then again, it might not be.

Let's hope it's the latter.

Let's see who wanted to take on this property's issues

when it went under the hammer.

A well-presented, three-bedroom, mid-terrace property.

Who'll start me off on the guide at 68?

68, I'm looking for to get this started.

66. 66. 65. 65. 64.

64,000, thank you.

At £64,000, is bid.

65. 65 is bid.

And 6. 65, I have.

66. 66 is bid.

And 7. 67 is bid.

And 8. And 9.

69 is bid. And 70.

And a half. At 69 and a half, treat it exactly the same.

70. Thank you.

70 is bid. And a half again.

70 and a half. 71 is bid.

And a half.

72. No.

At 71,500, front row.

Are you sure? At 71,500 then, for the first time.

For the second time.

It goes, ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake, at 71,500,

the hammer's up. It goes at 71,500. Thank you, sir.

The successful bidder paying 71-and-a-half grand was Wahid,

who was there with his business partner, Lee.

I met Lee to find out why they went for this property.

-Lee, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations, pal.

-Thank you very much.

Tell me why you bought this particular property.

We didn't intend to buy it.

We got a shortlist of seven to bid on.

We lost two of the first three,

on the last hammer, so it was a bit frustrating.

But it was going on for quite some time,

and unfortunately my business partner, Wahid,

had to go at two o'clock.

Unfortunately he was getting a little bit edgy, to say the least,

sort of thing, and nervy, so he ended up bidding on a house

that he'd seen on his mobile phone five minutes previous.

No, he didn't!

So, he put a bid in,

a couple of bids, and we won it.

Unfortunately!

We weren't expecting that.

So the other ones we had on the shortlist

went well above our price anyway,

so at least we didn't come away empty-handed.

But, who buys a house because they have to go at two o'clock?

-Oh, dear.

-So, I only saw the place last week.

So what work are you going to do to this property?

Well, we're going to stud wall the front room

and separate it into two rooms. Just to...

Because that stairs is a little bit of an eyesore at the moment for us.

We're going to redo the kitchen.

We thought about just changing the panels and everything.

But it's only a small kitchen anyway,

so it's not going to cost a huge amount. And the bathroom.

-You can pick up a bathroom for less than £500.

-Yes.

For the sake of that we may as well make everything new, spick and span.

Exactly. What about the damp issues?

Damp issues. I shouldn't expect too much.

We're going to have a guy come in next week to have a look at it.

I can't see it being that much of a problem.

I think it looks a little bit worse than what it is.

It should be easily fixed.

From what I can see, it's just that bit of guttering that can be done.

-OK.

-Once we get that done, get it all cleaned off,

hopefully it'll be all right,

but I'll have somebody in to have a look at it just to make double sure.

-OK. Are you doing this full-time now? Is this your job?

-No, no.

I'm actually an international property consultant,

which sounds quite glamorous.

-International?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm always a bit embarrassed telling people my job title.

It is quite glamorous, actually, I'm not going to lie about it.

But we wanted to do something in the UK as well, sort of thing.

-OK.

-So this is kind of a part-time thing at the moment.

Keeping the other stuff going as well.

Just give us the title again. International...

-International property consultant.

-Oh, is that right?

# International affair... #

Lee, who lives in Derby, is used to sourcing properties in Florida,

Spain and other overseas locations for buyers.

It's a tough job, Lee, but someone's got to do it.

This is his first development in the UK,

and he plans to do it up and flip it.

But it doesn't sound like he and his business partner, Wahid,

plan on getting their hands dirty.

Yeah, I mean, I've got a little band of apprentices

all in their final year that my son has met.

He's got, er... I've got a trainee sparky,

trainee plasterer and my own son's got an apprenticeship

in maintenance, sort of thing.

So I'll put them here at the weekend,

they can do all the jobs and I can give them some beer money

-to go to Wolverhampton.

-The house is a guinea pig, then?

I'll pick them up on Sunday morning.

But I'll make sure the old carpets are in

for when they get in, just in case they come back a bit worse for wear.

And how much is this work going to cost you to flip this house?

Top budget, I'm going for six grand, but I'm aiming for four.

Even without finding out - the damp issues -

if it's going to cost you a few quid,

you still think four to six grand's going to be enough?

Yeah, yeah, why not? What could possibly go wrong?

I love that confidence. Fantastic.

And how long are you hoping all that work's going to take?

You've got your band of merry men coming in.

Six to eight weeks, I'm hoping for.

I can get the lads in pretty soon, to be honest.

And then I have to wait - probably be about four, five weeks

-for the kitchen to arrive.

-So what about in the kitchen, then?

Somebody's not got their measurements quite right.

Yeah, I didn't notice that

until I went to measure it up for the kitchen planner.

It's not ideal, to say the least, but you can work round it.

You can trim off the back of the units

and bring it in a little bit more. So, not great by any stretch.

But, again, it's easily worked around.

-Nothing to worry about?

-It's not a problem.

-Listen, I wish you all the best.

-Thank you very much.

-Good luck.

What a really nice bloke Lee is, with lots of confidence,

which is just how I like it.

He doesn't seem too concerned about that damp,

but I still have my worries.

Now he's got his band of merry men

ready to come in and do all the work for him,

but will they make Lee a merry profit,

and will Wahid get his hands dirty?

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

Still to come, in Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent,

it really is very simple.

French doors out onto the garden.

Bingo, you've transformed the house.

Although in Wolverhampton, it's been more of a learning curve

for Lee and his team.

They realise when they haven't got the bosses around -

they admit it's a little bit more trickier than what they thought.

Tonbridge in Kent sits beside the River Medway.

This pretty market town not only has a castle and bags of history,

but its bustling High Street has all the modern conveniences

you might need.

It was tucked away just off that High Street

that Lucy first saw a remarkable auction lot.

You might guess that it's not your standard property

when I tell you that the average price around here

is a little over 350,000,

but this had a guide price of only 10,000 to 12,000.

I'm quite excited by that price.

Oh, no, it's a toilet.

No, I really mean, it is a toilet!

# Oh, no

# I got that sinking feeling

# Oh, no... #

The lot was bought for £60,000 by Sasha,

who runs a cleaning company, and Avril, who works in HR.

They had their own differing ideas of this loo with a view.

Lots of things have gone through our heads.

My first would be a little art gallery,

and selling art supplies, because I love painting.

I'm guessing that's not your number one choice?

No, not quite. My choice would be...

I always wanted to open a cleaning supplies shop

for commercial businesses and you don't find many of them.

So, you would like to turn it into your business,

you would like to go with your heart

and off you go with your art gallery?

Yes.

And it's so picturesque by the river. It would be perfect for it.

I'm with you. Sorry, I'm with Avril on this!

If she pays me enough rent, she can have the place!

Along with either an art or cleaning business,

they were also considering if a residential property

was a possibility,

but with no planning permission for anything other than a toilet block,

they had optimistically hoped that a £20,000

and three-to-four-month timescale

might be sufficient to turn it into something new.

But as can be the case with unusual projects,

the weeks turn into months and the months turn into years.

# Keep on holding on

# I've got to wait

# Wait for me... #

But now, three years on, let's not wait any longer.

TOILET FLUSHES

Phew! What a relief! The worry that after all this time,

it might have just been money down the drain,

but clearly, that's not the case.

What a striking two-storey building we have!

We decided to go commercial after we couldn't get residential

regarding the river at the back of the property.

Yes, it took us two years to get there, to make a lot of changes,

but finally, we got there.

Yes, Sasha and Avril have had all sorts of fun and games

to get to this stage.

Flood surveys, planning, structural surveys,

tree consultancy and they even had to move a lamppost,

so this building is a testament to their persistence.

In the end, we didn't go for any of our own businesses.

In the end, we found Katie to buy the lease from us.

It's going to be a tea room,

which I think will attract a lot of business.

Ah, a tea room? That's a great idea.

Just off the park, next to the river, off the High Street.

# Tea for two and two for tea

# Just me for you and you for me alone... #

And new tenant Katie was able to make sure the building

was to her taste.

We had quite a lot of input, me and my husband.

Sasha did most of the building work and the design of that,

but the interior was a lot down to us.

So, the layout now suits Katie down to a T,

but what about its overall look?

It's going to be very vintage style. Cream teas, that kind of thing.

Downstairs, it's quite a small space

so there's not going to be much seating,

so that's why we've got upstairs to have a lot more seating

and maybe some outside chairs and tables.

With a long lease now in place with Katie,

at last Sasha and Avril can start seeing

the building generating some return,

but getting to this stage has been anything but a piece of cake,

and I suspect that the £20,000 proposed budget

has long been swallowed up.

In the end, we ended up spending £90,000

for putting the first floor up there and the whole project.

Annoyingly, the consultancy fees are over 20,000 on that part,

while we're next to a river, next to a power station,

so it was quite a lot of consultancy bills,

which I never really expected.

But, in the end, we ended up paying £90,000,

we got what we wanted, and we have hopefully a building here

for a long time to come.

£90,000 is quite an overspend,

but with the extra floor and the quality of the build,

they've turned a functional space into oh, so much more.

But with a £60,000 purchase price, their total spend is now £150,000,

so have they done the right thing here?

What to do two local property experts think?

Yes, it's very nicely converted.

Commercial properties of this ilk are rare -

to get a self-contained building.

On first impressions,

they've put a good amount of thought into the property

in how they've laid it out.

There seems to be plenty of space upstairs

to place plenty of tables and lots of natural light as well.

You couldn't ask for more.

It's very impressive how they've accommodated it

within the existing building and the extension.

This is a rather unique and quirky building,

but it has cost Sasha and Avril £150,000 to get to this stage,

so was it money well spent?

In the open market, on a vacant possession basis,

I think we could achieve a minimum of £175,000.

I would suggest that with a tenant in place and a strong market,

a value in the region of £180,000-£200,000.

Well, that's promising.

If Sasha and Avril did sell the building on,

they could see a pre-tax profit of between £25,000 and £50,000,

but what about its rental potential?

If we were to lease the property,

we would look to a minimum rent of £15,000 per annum

exclusive of all other outgoings.

In terms of the rental value,

I would suggest a range of £12,500 to £15,000 per annum.

Yes, that's just about what we expected with the rental value.

So, we've already achieved that as well,

so we're very happy, and very happy to move on as well.

Those rental returns would generate a yield of around 10%,

so, in the end, this gamble has paid off,

but it hasn't been without its problems.

So would Sasha do another development project?

Yes, we're looking for something else, but, hopefully, more domestic.

It's a bit easier converting a domestic property

compared to a commercial property.

Laws are much tougher on commercial properties.

Yes, that might be wise.

After all, commercial properties aren't everyone's cup of tea.

I'm in a part of the Potteries Urban Area

in North Staffordshire, close to the border with Cheshire.

Here's a clue. RJ Mitchell, the designer of the RAF Spitfire,

was born in these parts.

Have you worked out where I am yet?

Well, I'm in a very popular part of the already very popular Kidsgrove.

Here to see a classic when it comes to auction properties,

because it is that thing everyone looks for.

Well, they should, anyway.

It is the worst house on the best street.

£90,000, three-bed semi - round here, got to be a bargain.

And I'm hoping there are untouched period features inside.

So, what have we got?

Well, straightaway, one thing for sure,

some really lovely features.

Look at this stained glass in the door panel there.

Absolutely gorgeous. It just sets the scene for this entrance area.

In modern houses, this is an area of the house which just seems

to get smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller.

In a house like this, built in the 1930s and the 1920s,

they recognise that this creates an impression

when you walk through the front door.

It's beautiful. A really nice space.

There's an under-stairs cupboard,

stairs up to the bedrooms, obviously.

Some of this panelling would be quite nice, stripped back.

You've got a front sitting room there,

and then it gets a bit interesting.

Door out to the back garden and onwards there,

and through into your kitchen.

As is often the case with this age of house,

the one room which kind of fails is the kitchen,

because it's far too small for the size of the house.

I don't know why, but that was the way it was, I guess.

But there is a solution.

It's an easy one. Well, relatively easy.

All you need is a big RSJ and a very large hammer,

because next to the kitchen is this room here.

Absolutely glorious.

The rear living room.

Between this and the kitchen is that wall.

Now, wouldn't it be great if that wall didn't exist?

Then you'd have this massive great kitchen-cum-living area,

French doors out onto the garden.

Bingo, you've transformed the house.

But before you start wielding that hammer at home,

you need to insure that the floors and walls

are adequately propped up,

and any steel work is calculated by a structural engineer,

because you always want to work within building regulations.

So, upstairs. Again, the first thing that strikes you

is this really nice-sized landing.

Again, just giving that feeling of space to the whole house.

Absolutely lovely.

One thing you might want to play around with is the bathroom.

I am not sure that that colour is really everyone's taste,

but it's cheerful, that's for sure!

Up here, three bedrooms, all a decent size.

Again, lots of light coming in,

especially in these front rooms to the house.

This bedroom here benefitting, like the downstairs living room,

from this bay window. Absolutely glorious.

Some built-in units you'd want to get rid of,

but all in all, it's a house that you can just add so much value to

by doing the kitchen conversion I suggested,

by doing the bathroom, maybe an extension.

What you've got, though, is a really lovely house in a fantastic area.

Just brilliant.

And the period features that I so wished for

are resplendent in the bedrooms up here,

but, as is so often the case,

the colour palette has been turned up to 11!

Some of the bathroom features, I could happily live without.

The new purchasers have already started stripping the walls,

so I hope that a neutral colour scheme is in the offing.

Step out the back door and there's this little covered lean-to area

which provides a bit of shelter from the actual garage,

which you can access through that door there.

That's a nice size too.

Lots of really useful outbuildings,

which is brilliant for storing your garden implements

and your mower or whatever.

Then you step outside and you realise

why you would need those garden implements,

because you've got a really nice-sized space.

Look at this!

What I am also looking at here is the potential for extension.

If you glance back at the house,

others haven't done it,

but I would say there is the possibility of a single-storey,

within permitted development rules,

or possibly even a double-storey extension.

The garden is certainly big enough to cope with that

and it would enhance what is already a pretty lovely little house.

We called in a local estate agent

to get his thoughts on what the house needs

and what it might be worth when finished.

The work needed to the property would be a full rewire,

gas central heating throughout, new windows, total modernisation,

and potentially maybe a small extension on the back

to make the kitchen bigger.

New windows? Sacrilege!

What's all that going to cost?

To modernise this property, you're looking at around £20,000-£25,000,

and if you added a one-storey extension,

you'd probably look at another £20,000, so a total of £45,000.

What about values, with and without the extension?

If this property came to the market fully modernised

without a single-storey extension,

I would look to achieve around £180,000.

If the property had a single-storey extension,

then I would look to achieve around £195,000.

Well, it's a charming house in a really popular area,

so what more could you possibly want?

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

Lot 97. 80 to start?

A good-looking semi.

80 to get it going.

80 bid, thank you. £80,000.

82, can I see now?

Got you. 82.

At 82. 84. 86. 88, 90.

At £90,000.

At 90,000.

Well, that's the guide price,

but the bidding continued to dizzy heights,

and we re-join it at £130,500.

130,500.

131.

No? 131.

Another 500 anywhere else?

The guy in the back there.

Got you at 131,500.

131,500. It's his first bid at 131,500.

132 anywhere else?

If not...

132.

Half. 133.

Half. 134.

Do you want to go 135, sir?

135, 136, 137.

No? 137 against the side wall, then.

All done now?

£137,000 once, then.

£137,000 twice.

Third and final time, £137,000.

You've bought it, sir. well done.

The successful bidder of £137,000 was Carl,

a safety officer who appeared on the show back in 2009

when he bought this two-bed terrace, also in Kidsgrove,

which is local to where Carl lives.

You're very local. How local is local?

About 20 feet, 30 feet away.

30 feet? OK!

So, you live across the road, do you?

Oh, great. I would say a really good bit of advice

is to buy in an area that you know, that you can be close to.

-You couldn't get much closer than that!

-No.

Well, I'm pleased to see that Carl is still buying in Kidsgrove,

but this time, a bit further from home.

To find out what his plans are with this purchase,

we met back at the house.

-Carl, good to see you.

-And yourself.

-Good to see you again.

How did that project go?

It went very well.

I think you filmed it before it was completely finished,

so we got the kitchen in and it turned out all right.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this one.

This one was purchased for myself and my partner, really.

It has always been quite a desirable area, a quite nice place to live.

Quite quiet, lots of wildlife.

-Oh, great.

-Quite a sought-after area.

This is actually going to be your home.

It will, yes. Myself and my partner will be the end users,

so it's not a moneymaking project, we'll actually be living here.

Great. So what was it attracted you to the house?

The size of the rooms and the garden,

the fruit trees and, as I said, the aspect.

It's not overlooked from the back,

and there's the cricket club and a bowling club,

so there won't be buildings popping up behind us.

What about the house itself? What are you going to do to it?

Well, initially, due to what we went up to in the auction,

I've had to revise what we were actually going to do,

with a lot of the renovation budget going on the purchase price,

so I might just take a single wall down now

between the kitchen and dining room.

New double glazing, rewired, new kitchen, new bathroom.

So, what is your renovation budget now?

It's going to be around the 30, 35K mark.

Oh, right, what was it before?

Well, it would have been a lot... A bit more.

So, timescale wise, what's the plan?

I work full-time, so I am not going to kill myself renovating it.

I am going to take a long timescale,

so probably about eight to nine months, really.

Live in it in that time, or be living somewhere else?

I think we might have to live in it to try and save

whatever money we can,

so I think that's an option as well,

which is why we've got quite a long renovation period.

Right. Who's going to be doing the work?

I'll be doing the majority of the work with some family and friends.

Hopefully my dad, but he doesn't know that yet!

I obviously won't be doing the gas and electric

and other significant jobs.

Give me a rundown exactly of the plans now

with the budget you've got.

Exactly what are you going to do in terms of walls and extensions?

The wall that is most likely to come down at the moment

is the wall between the kitchen and back dining room,

to make that open-plan, to extend the kitchen out slightly.

Maybe have an island,

make that more of a liveable open space, get some more light in there.

The double glazing,

I'm still waiting for lots of quotes to come back,

but the double glazing will be the most significant cost,

because there are so many windows and bays.

And there'll be the rewiring and new condensing boiler,

new bathroom and new kitchen, really.

And anything else!

I'm sure we'll be coming across other problems and issues

that we'll have to put right.

One of the features of the house, obviously, is the windows

with the stained glass in them.

Any quotes for double glazing, including putting those back?

Or is that going to have to fall by the wayside?

I might have the leaded glass sealed in double glazing,

-so it will be triple glazed on the top.

-Oh, OK.

But I need to see what the financial aspects of that are.

So I'm keeping all my options open at the moment

until the figures actually come in.

The last experience went OK, it didn't put you off -

it's just financial, really?

Yeah, yeah. It was only...

I would have been happier paying a lot less!

THEY LAUGH

It just goes to show some of the lots at auction do that, don't they?

-Yeah, they do.

-Good.

Well, listen, congratulations anyway.

-Good luck with it and we look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you.

Well, as is often the way,

Carl having to revise his renovation budget

because the price at auction went higher than he anticipated.

That's the nature of auctions.

How will he get on with his revised budget and plans?

You can find out later in the show.

So, that's the end result of one property.

Yes, but if my maths is correct, Lucy, that leaves two left to see.

That sounds about right, Martin. Let's see how they got on.

Time to go back to Wolverhampton, where I viewed a three-bed property.

I liked the space,

but I wasn't too keen on that staircase in the middle of the room.

The kitchen had some eccentric joinery

and the walls didn't seem quite true.

Both the kitchen and the bathroom needed refurbishing,

so whoever took this on had a few jobs to tackle.

First, they need to look at various causes of damp,

some of which needed more investigation.

You can see it's come through into the house

and it's all breaking away, it's even come away in my hand.

That is all rotten, and it's come all the way down the window

and it's rotting the windowsill as well.

Oblivious to these issues, because they didn't view beforehand,

were international property consultant Lee,

who hails from Derby,

and his business partner, Wahid.

Wahid decided to spend £71,500 for this at auction,

without even viewing it.

But, luckily, Lee was a man with a plan - and some help.

I've got a little band of apprentices all in their final year

that my son has met.

I've got a trainee sparky, trainee plasterer.

OK, how much is this going to cost you to fit this house?

Top budget, I'm going for six grand, but I'm aiming for four.

Even without finding out - the damp issues -

if it's going to cost you a few quid,

you still think four to six grand is going to be enough?

Yeah, why not? What could possibly go wrong?

Oh, dear. Was Lee tempting fate here?

Well, we've been tempted back to see how the work has gone three months later.

# Don't look back

# All I desire

# Temptation

# Keep climbing higher and higher

# Temptation. #

You might have been tempted to leave the room as one,

but the stud wall looks much better to me.

As do the walls now, because they're damp free with ventilation

and have a damp treatment.

And to top it all off, a brand-new kitchen.

# You can take it or leave it

# Temptation

# But you better believe it! #

Gladly, he wasn't tempted to salvage the old units.

It is very smart and there's no wonky walls to be seen.

One thing he hasn't replaced after all is the bathroom suite.

With a bit of elbow grease and new flooring, it is looking good.

Upstairs, there's still a bit of work to be done in the bedroom,

but Lee says the damp has been taken care of

and there's just a bit of plastering that needs to dry out before painting.

The garden has had an overall tidy and the house is looking good.

But can I assume that Lee's son, and his band of merry men,

have had a merry time doing this work?

I think as apprentices, they realise when they haven't got their bosses around them,

it makes it a little bit more trickier than what they thought.

So, I've done quite a bit myself.

I've had some friends come in to help me.

My mum, and dad and my sons helped me around.

Wahid didn't really get involved at all, really, at all.

The relationship was, he puts the money in and I do all the work.

Then we split it 50-50 at the end.

Quite happy to say that it's his fault for me having to travel back and forth,

two-and-a-half-hour round trip,

virtually every single day of the two and a half weeks that we really got stuck in.

So, thanks for that, Wahid!

I don't like shifting the blame, but Wahid purchased the site unseen

just because he had to leave the auction at 2pm.

He left poor Lee with that trek all the way from Derby

to get the work done.

How did he manage the budget?

I had said four and six originally,

and I thought that was quite fine.

Then I got excited and I thought I would probably get it done for 3.5,

but then there's £50 and £100, and they all total up.

Yeah, I was in the good books with Wahid,

saying it was only going to come in at around £3,000,

then in the bad books for getting it in at £5,000.

But that was the original budget anyway,

so it's his fault that we're round here!

I'm sure Wahid is happy that they're on budget,

but Lee's a little behind schedule

and hoped to have it done in six to eight weeks.

It's actually taken 14 weeks.

There was a bit of a delay getting the work started.

One of the biggest things that I've learned is try not

to order a kitchen that can take seven weeks to arrive.

Coincidentally, when the kitchen did arrive,

I was away working for two or three weeks,

so, in future, I would get a kitchen that you can get off-the-shelf,

essentially, or have a joiner go and get that kitchen for you.

It has been a big learning curve

and there's obviously things that I would have done differently.

But I'm quite happy with the way it's gone.

The plans have changed in terms of renting and flipping the property.

I'm now moving away to Dubai in one month from today,

so for convenience and the fact that me and Wahid probably won't

be doing anything together for a good while yet,

he is going to keep hold of the property and rent it out,

and then Wahid will give me the cash in terms of the difference

of how much the profit margin would have been.

But this is going to be rented out as of tomorrow.

Well, before the new tenant moves in,

let's see what a couple of local estate agents think

of the work they've done.

The property is inviting now.

The kitchen, I'm quite impressed with.

It's up to the standard that modern houses are being built.

So, yes, very nice.

First thoughts on the property after a quick look around,

they've modernised it out and it all looks quite clean,

tidy and very presentable.

Sounds positive, but what about those all-important rental figures?

A figure in the region of £550 per calendar month would be appropriate.

The rental figure for this area,

I would suggest a figure of £550 per calendar month.

£550 per calendar month is bang on the valuations we got from others.

And we're actually renting it out for that exact figure.

That's an 8% yield, so I can see why you're happy.

What about those sales figures, though?

Bear in mind their current spend now stands at £76,500.

In its present condition now,

I would envisage that they would realise in the region of £90,000.

This property for sale,

I would suggest a marketing figure of £95,000.

I am very happy with the valuations that they've come back with.

We're thinking around the region of £90,000

and accept a little bit less than that,

but to get a top valuation of 95 has given us something to think about.

So maybe in the next few months ahead,

we might choose to go down that route.

But it makes it a little bit more worthwhile

when you get over and above what you were expecting.

That's a potential profit of 13 to 18 grand before taxes and expenses.

Has it all been worth it, though?

I've enjoyed the experience.

It has been quite stressful the last few days, obviously,

trying to get the property ready for the tenant to move in.

But, yeah, I'd do it again.

But next time, I'd pick something a little closer to home.

But I'll be having words with Wahid about that one!

Time to catch up on progress in Kidsgrove, North Staffordshire,

with this 1930s three-bed semi,

which went for a bid of £137,000.

So, what have we got? Well, straightaway, one thing for sure -

some really lovely features.

Look at this stained glass in the door panel there.

The original 1930s features were evident around the whole of the house,

and I was hoping new owner Carl would be able to keep them and restore them.

But there were things, such as walls, I'd be happy to lose.

The wall that's most likely to come down at the moment

is the wall between the kitchen and the back dining room.

To make that open-plan, to extend the kitchen out slightly,

maybe have an island, and make that a bit of a more liveable open space,

get some more light in there.

The double glazing, I'm still waiting for lots of quotes to come back,

but the double glazing will be the most significant cost,

because there are so many windows and bays.

One of the features of the house, obviously, is the windows

with the stained-glass in them.

Any quotes for your double glazing, including putting those back?

Or will that have to fall by the wayside?

I might have the leaded glass sealed in double glazing

-so it will be triple glazed on the top.

-Oh, OK.

But I need to see what the financial aspects of that are.

His timescale was an ambitious eight months.

Carl was working to a £30-35,000 budget in the hope of converting

the house into a home for himself and partner Nicola.

But he had planned ways to keep the costs down.

I'll be doing the majority of the work with some family and friends.

Hopefully my dad, but he doesn't know that yet!

THEY LAUGH

Carl didn't complete the work within his expected timescale.

In fact, just over one year on and there's still loads to do.

But, at the front, new double glazing has been fitted.

Sadly, at the expense of the 1930s stained glass.

It's almost as if the street signs are mocking Carl's efforts.

But it's one of the consequences of having a full-time job

whilst trying to fit in a renovation around evenings and weekends.

But for Carl, it's become a labour of love -

and a very tiring one at that.

# I'm just so tired to share my nights... #

I run out of steam every week

and I just have to rejig myself by the weekend!

I'm not surprised Carl keeps running out of steam.

He's been busy plasterboarding ceilings,

and he's taken the whole house back to brick.

I'm pleased to say that the lounge, with its doors into the back garden,

is now all part of the kitchen.

Carl got his structural engineer's calculation,

knocked the kitchen wall down and fitted steelwork of appropriate size to support.

But it was a bit of a steep learning curve

and there does seem to be something of a steel surplus.

I'll have the same challenges with this window behind me

over the French doors,

which is a much bigger span and much bigger steels.

Elsewhere, he house continues to look considerably worse

than the last time we saw it.

Carl and his partner Nicola couldn't move into the house to save costs

as it was logistically a nonstarter.

Carl, however, did get help from both his and Nicola's dads.

So far he hasn't spent on tradesmen, apart from the electrician.

There's still a huge amount left to do.

This is actually my to-do list.

This, sadly, is the edited version of the to-do list.

But I can reveal one job not on that edited list.

It's a job Carl feels he has to do above all others.

If it wasn't enough,

Carl's had a change of heart about building an extension.

OK, these are the plans that I had drawn up.

We're in this room at the moment.

This is the wall that we've lost

between the kitchen and the dining room.

The rear extension is here.

Four-metre bifold doors there.

Roof lantern, 90 degree window that looks out over two aspects of

the garden, where we'll have the sink.

It is hard to visualise it on a planning board.

I'm glad I have actually made the decision of going for it now.

But resurrecting the single-storey extension must have had an impact on

the original £30-35,000 budget.

The budget's not too bad at the moment.

I've spent just under 11K.

But the actual full budget itself is probably looking at around at least

60K at the moment.

What's the saying? Shame to spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar.

And to give an indication of just how much value Carl has added,

we've invited two estate agents round to give us their views and valuations.

The property, in its current state,

wouldn't be worth any more than what the current owner paid for it.

But with the works planned,

it will make it more desirable.

Oh, no, Carl has spent 11 grand on the refurbishment so far.

We should get a second opinion.

In its current position and its current state,

this probably would not be worth any more because it would only really

sell to another investor

who would be looking at paying a similar price

to what was paid for it at the original auction.

Perhaps it's a good job, then, the intention here is for it to be

a home for Carl, Nicola and their dog, Penny.

But has the market improved from a year ago,

when the property was valued at £195,000

with the single-storey extension?

Once renovated, this property would be worth around £195,000.

Once the renovation is completed,

I would think this house would be worth at least £195,000.

With Carl's projected £60,000 spend,

those valuations would mean a loss of £2,000 -

and that's not even going to make him pause for thought.

That's fine. It's of little relevance to me really,

cos I bought it to live in, not to make money out of.

I am expecting to go into a little bit of negative equity.

I'm not overly bothered, because it will be somewhere that me and my partner want to live in.

Good on you, Carl,

and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished article.

And I'm sure you are, too.

Well, developing property always throws up new lessons to be learned,

even if, like us, you've been doing it for years.

Yes, hopefully we've been able to offer you our expert advice

that might help you out there one day.

Yes, join us next time here on Homes Under The Hammer.

-See you then. ALL:

-Bye-bye.