Episode 59 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello. There's a whole range of different types

of renovation project, and a whole different way

of going about it as well.

Yes, you may want to find the plot of land to build your

forever dream home on,

or maybe just a property

you could have a quick turnaround, a lick of paint, that kind of stuff.

Yes, we've seen them all here on this show.

But they've all got one thing in common -

they were all bought under the hammer.

A packed auction house can have a very tense atmosphere.

Nobody knows what's going to happen next and what properties are going to go for.

Ah, yeah, but that's what makes it so exciting, Dion.

And, believe me, auctions are not for the faint-hearted.

No, you have to keep your head,

when often those around you are losing theirs.

Here's what the three people bought on today's show.

First up, in Walsall, West Midlands,

we don't get off to the best start.

What made you buy this particular property, then?

That's a good question, Dion.

-DION LAUGHS

-Getting desperate.

In Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Lucy's not happy with what she's found.

Look at that! That would petrify me.

And in Hinckley, Leicestershire,

Mohammed is walking thin ice with me.

The population's getting older.

Why did you point at me like that when you said that?

All these properties have been sold at auction, and we'll find out

who bought them and what they paid when they went under the hammer.

You've got it.

Walsall, in the West Midlands, is a large industrial town that's located

just eight miles outside Birmingham and six miles from Wolverhampton.

So on this very lively residential street is the property

I'm here to see.

And here it is. It's an end terrace,

it has three bedrooms and a guide price of £44,000-£49,000.

Let's get inside and take a look.

Space for a bit of off-road parking, too.

Right, let's get in.

And what have we got?

This is a shutter door.

On the other side of this there's a keypad.

I would imagine this has been put on for security

as this place may have been empty for some time.

Stairs going up to the bedrooms just there.

Into the lounge, living room area.

As soon as I come in I can see this is the front door

and the back door in the living room. Nice big window there.

Textured ceilings, I'd want to get rid of those,

textured wallpaper as well,

but you have got central heating, which is good news.

Here we've got, at the back,

we've got the kitchen and opposite you've got the bathroom as well.

That area seems incredibly dark.

The reason being there's shutters on the windows as well.

It does seem quite shallow, the house.

You come through the front door,

you've got the living and lounge area

and then you sort of end up at the back door just there.

So it seems a little bit shallow.

And here we've got a little bit of storage as well.

So not bad,

not a bad start. I do like this room, I've got to say.

I hope I can find something upstairs that I like as well.

Let's have a look.

It's not always ideal to have a bathroom on the ground floor,

and this kitchen isn't exactly spacious.

So, plenty to do,

but in a property such as this, it is equally important

to keep an eye on your budget and don't overspend.

OK, upstairs to the bedrooms.

And what have we got up here?

OK, I did mention that there was central heating.

There are two radiators on the walls here but there's no piping,

and I can see there's a cupboard specially built for the boiler,

but there's no boiler.

Into the main bedroom, which is not a bad size at all

and doesn't look in bad condition either.

And you also get this area as well,

and it goes round the corner as well, as you can see.

It doesn't go too far,

but it's a usable space for maybe

a dressing room or an en-suite,

but it's some more additional space.

Needs a bit of work upstairs...

but I don't mind it.

# How could you do this?

# How could you do this to me?

# How could you do it to me, baby...? #

Unfortunately, when properties are left empty,

it can attract opportunists.

In this case, not only have they stolen the boiler,

but they've also lifted the floorboards

and nicked the copper piping.

All of this means whoever buys this property will face

the expense of reinstalling central heating.

Ouch.

Wow.

Now, in the house I said that it was very short and very squat

and you get from the front door to the back door very, very quickly.

But look at the space out the back!

I'm thinking to myself, straightaway, I'm thinking,

can you actually bring that house just a little bit further out,

give you some more inside space?

Saying that, there's probably a ceiling price within the area

and it probably wouldn't work for the figures, I would say.

Here's the shutters that were on the windows,

that's the kitchen just on the other side there,

get them off the back there.

But the size of this back garden,

get rid of all this rubble, tidy it up,

I think you'd have a really nice back garden.

And while you're at it,

stick the back door on and the front door on

and I think you could be on to a winner.

Yes, your hands are tied with the ceiling price in this area,

but it just means you're going to have to work with what you've got.

Remember, this property has a relatively low guide price

of 44-49 grand.

Time to hear what a local estate agent thinks of this place

and what could be done.

I would definitely think it's going to appeal to a buy-to-let investor

who would look to hopefully get back the kind of return

they'd be looking for.

It needs quite an extensive amount of work carrying out here.

It would need gas central heating,

it would need the windows looking at,

possibly refurbishing of the kitchen,

maybe thinking about considering moving the bathroom back upstairs.

However, it really comes down to what the purchaser

is looking to get as a return.

If the purchaser was looking to do a standard refurb on this property,

I would look at anything between £5,000, maybe up to £7,500

to get it back to a good, presentable condition.

So what kind of values does she think the property could be worth

once the work is done?

Once renovated, I would think that this property would look

to achieve at least £95,000.

And how about the rental?

I would look to achieve a rental figure

of £575 per calendar month.

As you can hear, this is a very noisy and lively neighbourhood.

That's one thing the auction catalogue won't tell you.

That's why we always say, "View the property first."

Saying that,

it's not a bad house at all.

But, for me, the selling point is this beautiful,

potentially beautiful, back garden.

Let's find out who bought it when it went under the hammer.

This next lot is a three-bedroom,

freehold end-terrace house,

which we're offering with vacant possession.

Where shall we start?

At £30,000 out on my left.

Do I have 40 anywhere? Thank you, sir.

And what a buy this will be.

At £40,000 I'm bid.

41, if we must.

42, sir, if we're quick.

43.

44 on my right.

45.

46. 47.

48. 49.

50. 51.

52. 53.

54. 55.

56.

57.

58. 59.

60.

61.

No.

A great bidder, but we're on sale to you, sir.

He's come back to me at 61.

Sir, do you want 62?

62. 63?

No?

On my right at £62,000.

On my right.

One, two, three.

Congratulations, sir.

That's yours. Number 354.

After a mini-battle, the lot was bought

by part-time property developer Clive.

Clive has employed the services of builder and friend Mark

to do the work here,

whilst Rodney the dog is hoping that this property

won't turn out to be a dog's dinner.

-Clive, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, Dion.

-Mark, nice to meet you, too.

-Morning.

-Congratulations, lads.

-Thanks a lot.

What made you buy this particular property, then?

That's a good question, Dion.

Getting desperate - it was getting late in the auction,

-simple as that.

-Is that it?

That is it, really.

So did you, did you go for more than this one

or was it just this one you went for?

Well, we actually bid on a couple of properties but we were

blown out the water. It was a busy old auction.

All the properties we viewed, which were about 11 properties we viewed

in the Wolverhampton and Bilston area,

went for ridiculous amounts of money, so we didn't bid on them.

It came very late in the auction

and this one popped up.

And I know what you're going to say as well -

-"Did you view the property?"

-And you didn't, did you?

-I didn't do any of it.

-I didn't have to say anything.

-You know.

You know exactly where I'm going to go with that one.

When it did come up, then, and you thought,

"Hold on a minute, I know the area," what made you...?

I think it was just, you know,

-it wasn't going for a colossal amount of money, basically.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-So what's you guys' relationship, then?

-I'm doing a property at the minute for Clive's daughter...

-OK.

-..in West Bromwich.

-OK.

And through that we got this job to do this.

-So you're doing all the work, more or less?

-Yeah.

-You're the builder, more or less?

-I am. Yes.

So when you come into a place like this, what's your first thoughts?

Do you know exactly what needs to be done straightaway

or has Clive given you an insight on what needs to be done?

Well, no, cos it's the first time I've seen it.

So go and have a look round, look outside first.

It's a good solid old building.

And then go inside and looking at - what are the walls like?

Is there any damp in here?

Are the windows any good? What are the windows like?

When's the first time you seen this place?

We got in here last Friday.

-OK.

-Yeah, a few days ago.

We viewed it from the outside before we could get in,

but, yeah, just a few days ago.

And what were your thoughts as well?

Not as bad as I was expecting, I must admit.

And nothing has frightened you so far?

Have you found anything that you think,

"Wow, I wish that wasn't there"?

There's no hidden shocks, let's put it that way.

Nothing untoward.

We knew that, you know, the property had been broken into beforehand

and somebody kindly relieved us of the boiler and the copper piping

and so on,

but, other than that, you know, nah, there's no shocks.

So where do you start on something, a project like this?

Mark, where will you start?

I know you're going to be doing most of the work.

First of all, we'll start upstairs,

just get the floor in and make that safe, for one.

You know, because that's the biggest thing, don't fall down the stairs.

And again to start with this Artex ceiling,

bit of class, get rid of that.

Get rid of that, overboard that.

Get the first fix done, make sure the first fix is done first.

Then you get your electrician and your plumber coming in,

they get their first fix in.

Then we take it from there.

Second fix in, then getting the rads on the wall,

get some heat in the place, getting the electric working,

changing the light fittings that need to be done.

Then gradually working your way out, work your way out the front door.

OK. Any configuration changes?

Are you changing rooms or adding things to anything upstairs?

No, I don't think so. I don't think it's possible.

Only that little wall upstairs where the boiler was,

we'll take that out, make the room bigger.

So the plan is to keep things simple here,

which is a very wise decision.

They want to stick to a generous budget of around 15 grand

and a timescale of 12 weeks to get this property

ready for the sales market.

To help with that, Clive's friend Kev is mucking in.

And what are you hoping to achieve from this house

in regards to figures when you sell it?

I think, you know, I think as long as I can make, you know,

-a clear 20 grand.

-OK.

Well, chaps, I wish you all the best, I hope it works out for you.

-Cheers, Dion.

-Good luck, Clive. And, Mark, good luck.

-Thank you very much. Thank you.

-No problem.

So, by not viewing the property, Clive has broken one of Hammer's

golden rules and got himself a bit of a panic buy.

What I will say is Clive, Mark and friend Kev will have to keep an eye

on the budget cos there is a ceiling price in the area.

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

Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent is less than 40 miles from London

and it's here that we find Lucy following in famous footsteps.

Now, the wife of King Charles I came here back in the mid-1600s

to drink the supposedly healthy spring waters,

and since then this fashionable spa town

has been attracting the aristocracy

and it's still hugely popular with day-trippers and also families.

It's not surprising, because Tunbridge Wells offers lots

of lovely period properties,

good schools and it is also under an hour commute

into London by fast train.

The property I'm here to see is about half a mile west

of the town centre and

it's a basement flat in this rather attractive period property.

Now, it's got one bedroom and it had a guide price at auction

of £100,000-£110,000.

I'm going to go down, down, down.

Basement flats can have their downsides.

But things are looking up with shared parking at the rear

and the entrance is tucked around the side.

# Don't let me down

# If you have to let me down at all

# Don't let me down... #

So, down these stairs, into the property.

You know, straightaway I'm getting that dark, dingy,

typical basement flat feeling.

But, for a one-bedroom property,

it's actually quite spacious.

I can see somebody would get rather excited by this.

You've got bedroom, bathroom, lounge.

Although, you've got very, very low ceilings in here,

and, you know, usually the payoff for a basement flat

is that you might get access to the garden,

a little piece of outside.

But with this property you don't even get that.

And now I've been in here for almost a minute...

-SHE SNIFFS

-..I can smell damp...

I can see damp.

I mean, look at that.

That is not a good sign.

So you've got damp there, damp over there.

I mean, wait until I show you the kitchen.

I mean, it's like there's a cotton wool layer over this wall.

Look at that!

That would petrify me.

Let's hope whoever bids for this at auction

has time to get a survey first

because you can smell it, look, you can see it.

It's everywhere.

-SHE SIGHS

-There's a lot of work to do

with this flat and it could completely sink your funds.

# Oh, oh

# Oh, no

# Oh, oh

# Oh, no, it's bad

# It's bad... #

Basement flats can often have damp issues,

but this one is showing some very serious signs, with the floor,

wall and ceilings all seemingly affected.

# Oh, no, it's bad

# It's bad... #

So, how do you fix this hideous damp problem?

Well, all the external belowground walls will be surrounded

by damp soil.

And all that damp will be trying to just push through

and penetrate your walls.

So you can either block it out with traditional tanking,

which is basically a cement-based waterproof render

which holds the water back,

or you could install a cavity drain membrane lining.

Now, this allows the water in, but it channels the moisture

coming through the walls into a drainage system.

The collected water is then moved away

using a sump and pump arrangement.

Now, it's not going to be cheap

and these walls will have to be taken back to bare brick.

-So...

-SHE INHALES SHARPLY

..it's a big, expensive and messy job.

Yes, there is no getting away from it -

this flat has a whole lot of problems.

And it's not just the soil surrounding the flat

that's causing the trouble.

There is also damp coming through, not just the walls,

but also the ceiling in the bathroom and the kitchen.

And that's because they're underneath this driveway.

Now, this here is actually one of the air vents for the flat.

So to cure this source of damp you might need to dig up a section

of this shared driveway,

which, as you can see, leads to the communal car park.

That's going to affect the other tenants in the building

and you'll have to get permission from the freeholder.

So, it could get very complicated and take a long time.

Although the flat is spacious

for that guide price of £100,000-£110,000,

you could end up with some hefty bills sorting out the damp.

And the question is, would you ever get your money back?

Time to ask a local estate agent to give us his thoughts

on the local market.

The market in Tunbridge Wells

over the last ten, 20 years

has always been fairly stable,

fairly popular.

Yes, obviously the market, things have gone up,

the market's been steadily going up,

but we don't seem to get the booms and busts in this town.

So how does this basement flat shape up

in this nice and steady Tunbridge Wells market?

Key thing in this flat is going to be

securing the damp problems.

But it's a great-sized flat, good-sized rooms,

and it does have off-road parking,

but it is a narrow driveway down the side

so you're not going to be able to get a big car down there,

but the fact it's got the parking is the important thing.

Assuming the damp is beaten back and the flat renovated,

could you add a significant profit,

assuming you got it for around the guide price?

Once this flat's done up and looking good,

I believe the likely sale price will be somewhere round about

£170,000 to £180,000.

And what about its rental potential?

Rented out, once it's all completed,

I would expect it to be achieving something round about

£700 to £750 per calendar month.

This basement flat, well, it's in a great location,

it's not too far from the town centre and the train station,

but there's no escaping the fact it's a basement flat,

it's dark, it's damp, and it needs a complete overhaul.

So who wasn't put off by this low-level property?

Let's find out who bid at auction.

We go on to lot 64.

Let's say £100,000 to start.

£100,000, we're on the way.

And 102 for anyone?

102, 104, and 6,

and 6, fresh place, and 8,

and 110.

110 and 12 for either of you.

112 and 114.

114.

116 now.

116. And 118.

118. Missed you. 118.

120.

120, 122.

122. 122 I'm looking for.

124. 124. 126.

128.

128. 130 now.

130. 130. Nice smile.

132. 132, anybody else?

At 130 and for the first time,

for the second time...

Third and final time, quite sure we're all done -

£130,000, you got yourself a flat.

And so the hammer fell on the Tunbridge Wells flat

at £130,000,

and the successful bidders were Lin and his wife Yong.

Lin is a carpenter while Yong looks after their three children,

and the flat was their first property purchase.

-Yong, lovely to meet you.

-Lovely to meet you.

Lin, congratulations.

Guys, I want to know the story, and who saw this.

I saw it.

The first time I came here I just saw a really big space,

so I really love it.

And what's been the reason for you wanting to do this?

We're still renting, so we were looking for somewhere,

and then start doing something and then we can own our own place.

So you're renting at the moment, and now that you've bought this,

to obviously do up,

and is it so that you and your family can move in here?

No. Because we're a big family, we've got three children,

and we wanted to continue to live in Tunbridge Wells

but the house price in Tunbridge Wells is really, really high,

so we need to do this continuously

to build up our capital to buy a new family house.

So has every single penny that you possess

been invested in this property?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Does that make you feel quite nervous?

-I feel a bit nervous, but...

-I'm confident about it.

You're confident about this.

Lin is hoping to do a lot of the work himself

using his carpentry skills.

But the relatively minor cosmetic issues like the kitchen or bathroom

are not the thing to worry about here. What about the damp?

Did you get this property surveyed?

-No.

-And obviously, walking in here, you can smell some damp.

Did you look at the property before you bid for this?

Yeah, I looked.

And did the damp worry you, raise any alarm bells?

No.

-And what about you now?

-The damp is a big issue for us now,

so we, first thing we need to sort out - the damp.

I will ask some professionals to come and have a look,

make a decision how to get the problem sorted.

Let's put the damp aside for one minute.

What do you see you can do in this property to add value?

Er...new kitchen.

New bathroom, and a new staircase.

So tell me about the staircase.

I'm sure that's something you can make.

I'm looking for the glass side.

Yeah, it looks modern.

-So something really spectacular?

-Yeah.

We want to make this property modern and brighter,

cos it's a basement flat,

so the ceiling's a bit low.

We want to make it, like, very bright.

How much money have you got to spend here?

Around 15,000.

-MARTIN:

-£15,000 is a fair enough budget for a cosmetic refurbishment,

but without a damp survey and an estimate for the work,

it's a real unknown, and it might be a bit tight.

As is Lin's eight-week timescale.

How many properties, how many steps do you think it will be

before you can get that dream house, you know, your ultimate goal?

Maybe six, seven times.

-So it's going to be quite a journey for you.

-Yeah.

Guys, good luck with this project. I'm really excited to see it,

and I can't wait to hear what the outcome is.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Hope it all goes well.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, Yong and Lin have bought this flat to get away from renting,

but they're not going to live here -

it's just the first rung on the property ladder

which will hopefully lead them

up to eventually buying their own place.

But there is a lot of work to do here first.

There is serious damp to sort, and the whole flat to refurb.

Will they be able to make enough profit here

to move that one step closer to owning their own home,

or will their funds just be sucked up by the damp problem?

I'm worried. You can find out how they get on

later on in the programme.

Still to come, in Hinckley, Leicestershire,

Mohammed's reason for buying is really rather simple.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy this bungalow.

-It's a bungalow.

And in Tunbridge Wells, Kent,

Lin's plans are also pretty straightforward.

I think we just try and try until we've got enough.

We are heading back to Walsall in the West Midlands now

where I looked around this three-bed end terrace

which had a guide price of 44 to 49 grand.

Bruised and battered,

this property had been sitting empty for some time.

Unfortunately, it succumbed to some uninvited visitors.

There are two radiators on the walls here, but there's no piping

and I can see there's a cupboard specially built for the boiler,

but there's no boiler.

# Now, sweetheart, you done me wrong

# You have left me all alone... #

Yes, sadly, the boiler and the copper piping had been stolen,

which meant anyone buying this property

would need to add that to their to-do list.

It proved popular on auction day,

with the hammer falling at 62 grand.

One, two, three.

Congratulations, sir, that's yours.

That successful bidder was Clive,

who brought along with him his builder Mark and Rodney the dog.

Part-time property developer Clive

had gone about this latest purchase in an unconventional manner.

What made you buy this particular property?

That's a good question, Dion.

Getting desperate. It was getting late in the auction. Simple as that.

-Is that it?

-That is it.

Panic buying is a dangerous business,

especially if, like Clive, you haven't even seen the property.

Despite this, Clive was confident with builder Mark on board

they'd be able to turn this unloved property

into a desirable home ready for the resale market.

It's now five months later,

and time to find out if Clive's panic purchase

was a blessing in disguise.

What a transformation this has undergone.

It's now an open-plan modern kitchen/diner,

unrecognisable from the dilapidated, cramped space it once was.

Clive explains what they've done.

This was a wall, as you can see -

X marks the spot where we've banged through, basically.

Made it all one big lounge/dining area.

I'm really glad we did this cos it's opened up the space

and it's made it a nice living area.

Next door, there is also a brand-new bathroom.

Everything down here is just looking so much better,

but what about upstairs?

Excellent. They have added an en-suite off the master bedroom

where the unused L-shaped storage used to be. Ideal.

I'm glad to report that the heating has been replaced

and that unwanted visitor is now a distant memory.

At the back, the garden has been tidied up

and a lovely bit of decking laid.

The front of the property is also much improved

with some off-road parking and a much-needed kerb-appeal face-lift.

Clive and Mark, and not forgetting Rodney the dog,

have done an amazing job here.

Hopefully, it's not been too..."ruff".

We're both really pleased, basically,

that we've turned an unliveable...

an unliveable shell, basically,

into what is now a very nice family home.

We've... We've gone for a good finish.

We didn't want to just do a basic bog-standard finish in the property

and mag it all up. We've gone for...

We've gone for a neutral colour, but not a boring neutral colour.

You know, the finish in the kitchen, it's of a good standard,

the bathroom fitting downstairs, again, good standard.

Good quality stuff.

Er, all the things that you'd want to live in,

you'd want to buy yourself for your own home,

but without breaking the budget.

Well, we'll see about that, Clive.

Remember, you had a budget of 15 grand

and a timescale of 12 weeks.

15,000, did I really say that?

Yeah, OK. We can double that.

We can safely double the budget, basically.

Yeah, if... We're now at just over the 30 grand mark.

Er...but as far as we're concerned, it's money well spent.

We had a couple of unexpected things with security.

Er, it's probably the same wherever you go, basically.

You can't leave a property empty for too long.

So security was vital. We kept the shutters on for as long as possible,

we've installed a very good security system on the property as well.

Er, so that's all there.

I mean, from start...

It's not been massive.

I couldn't give you specifics,

but I would say it's probably been, top whack,

probably been about 16 weeks from start to finish.

So it hasn't been massive, it hasn't massively overran at all.

Despite the overspend here,

Clive seems delighted with the outcome, and so he should be.

Having weighed up his options,

Clive's decided to rent the property out,

and already has a tenant in place.

But is that the right option?

We've asked along two local estate agents

to get their opinions on the house

and Clive's 92 grand investment.

My first impressions, it's a very light and airy property.

Works very well, the neutral colours and the decor.

Pleasant property.

The standard of finish is very good.

I would say that it's probably...

..finished off better than the area would normally demand,

so, yes, it's very good.

One of the selling points is the en-suite in the master bedroom.

And it's got nice fixtures and fittings.

Finished to a high standard.

Nice, maintainable kitchen.

And a large, attractive rear garden at the back.

On the sales market I would imagine

that the property would achieve somewhere between

£100,000 and £110,000.

However, if they decided to let it,

I feel that a rental in the region

of £625-£650 per calendar month would be appropriate.

In the sales and rental market

it would achieve offers over £110,00,

and rental-wise £650-£675 per calendar month.

OK, so if Clive did achieve £110,000,

that would mean a pre-tax profit of 18 grand.

And I do happen to know that Clive's tenant is paying

£675 per calendar month,

which means an amazing rental yield of just under 9%.

So, even though Clive did overspend,

this has still been a great success

and he can't wait to get back to the auction house.

Most definitely, yes.

Definitely. I'd recommend it, yeah.

It's a great experience, it really is. And it's a bit of a buzz.

Hinckley is a market town in Leicestershire,

well connected for commuting to Leicester, Coventry and Birmingham.

It used to be a centre for all kinds of manufacturing.

Tights and textiles are all still made here.

But it is also home to the headquarters

of a famous British motorcycle.

So, will the property I am here to see be a TRIUMPH?

Well, let's hope so. It's certainly looking good from the outside.

A three-bedroom bungalow, 20 minutes' walk from the town centre.

Guide price, £110,000. Good news.

'Good news, because I do love a bungalow!

'The word actually comes from the Hindi bangalo or bangla,

'which means "house in the Bengal style".'

There's lots of sorts of layouts that bungalows have.

The traditional one,

you come through the front door into a little corridor,

then all the rooms sort of spray out from that middle kind of area.

This is an alternative. You come through the door

and there's this little entrance area here.

I actually prefer this layout. It makes, I think, a bit more sense.

Place there where you might have a sort of guest loo.

There isn't at the moment. It's just like a cloakroom.

So something to maybe consider.

But certainly somewhere to put stuff, which is good.

Then through into your main living area.

A nice set of patio doors out onto the garden.

It looks to be in pretty good decorative order.

A gas fire there, which

my guess is it's connected to something like a back boiler,

a traditional way for the age of this property that

heating and water would have been provided -

probably something to look at potentially updating.

Through here you have got, obviously,

this wall which separates the kitchen.

Now, one of the great things about bungalows is that

doing internal modifications needn't necessarily be

as complicated as in other types of house.

However, taking out that wall, which you might contemplate,

is going to be a bit of a big job.

But in terms of the kitchen, it's not in bad condition.

It might not be 2016, but it's functional.

And all in all, it's a good start, isn't it?

# Well, all of a sudden, you look up

# And there's something new

# Oh, this could be the start of something good

# And this must be the start of something

# This could be the heart of something

# This must the start of something fine

# So fine, so fine... #

So, three bedrooms and a separate loo.

Bedrooms aren't massive, but they're OK.

And, of course, one of the great things about bungalows,

as I touched on just earlier, is that changing the internal layout

is not as hard as if you've got, basically, a house

where you've got all of the things above to consider

when it comes to strengthening the walls, if you do take them out.

So that's good. You've got flexibility.

However, there does come a point when you are doing any kind

of renovation on a property when you have to say, "What is the point?

"Is it really going to affect the value?"

if that is why you are doing it.

Or, "Is it going to enhance my quality of life for living here?"

if that's why you're doing it.

And if you don't have to for either of those reasons, then don't.

And this, I think, is a classic example

where I would just leave it as it is.

Tidy it up, modernise it a bit,

paint it, give it a bit of zhuzh.

Apart from that, it's fine.

'Zhuzh, by the way, from the French, of course,

'meaning pizzazz or something like that.'

'If you did want to think about expanding this house,

'there is a loft and a garage area,

'which you could convert with appropriate planning permission.

'But beyond a new boiler, does it really need anything else?'

So, at the back of the property, not a huge garden,

but it's quite nicely laid out.

And I guess back here, what am I looking for?

A potential to extend, perhaps.

Well...

Yeah...I'm not so sure it's really needed.

And I'm not sure the shape of the roof necessarily

is going to work particularly, anyway.

What you've got here is a very desirable property anyway.

So it's one of those where you are very...hm...

you think very carefully before you do anything major to it.

# Leave me, leave me, leave me, leave me

# Leave me alone, uh-huh

# Hey, leave me alone, man... #

It may be tempting to extend

but this house is already in such good condition,

I think it will be ideal for the market

after a programme of modernisation.

We have invited along a local estate agent to tell us what

he thinks of this property, guided at £110,000.

First impression of the property -

the property looks structurally sound, so it is mainly cosmetic work

that would need to be done,

looking at the bathroom, kitchen to be replaced,

and then carpets and decoration to be looked at also.

In terms of extending the property upwards,

it looks like you'd probably have to leave it as a bungalow,

maybe get one bathroom and bedroom up there,

costing in the region of around £15,000.

But whether you'd gain too much money on that, I'm not sure.

What is the local market like for sales and rentals?

Market is very buoyant, sales and lettings.

Sales is slightly stronger.

Well, with that in mind, let's get some values for this bungalow.

With the work completed I would estimate this property to be worth

in the region of £230,000 to £240,000.

If the investor decided to extend upwards

and increase the amount of bedrooms to two more bedrooms upstairs,

the property could look to achieve in the region

of £270,000 to £280,000.

In terms of rental value, I'd expect this property to achieve in

the region of £700-£750 per calendar month.

As a four-bed property, I would look to achieve

in the region of £850-£900 per calendar month.

Well, not a lot that's negative to say about this place, really.

Yes, it could do with a bit of modernisation inside.

But nothing that a coat of paint and a few new kitchen doors

couldn't sort for relatively small amounts of money.

Yeah. Nice auction purchase.

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

Invite your bids here. I'm going to go up twos. 100,000, anywhere?

100,000?

100,000. 102.

102. 104. 106. 108.

110. 112. 114. 116.

This lot came almost at the end of the day and it soon became clear

that some very determined people had stayed on to bid for it.

The guide price of 110 grand was left behind

and we rejoin the bidding at 185,000.

185 with the gentleman in the puffa jacket down here.

186, anywhere?

186. 187. 188.

186 sitting down.

186 for the first.

186 for the second.

187. 188. 189.

190. 191.

No? He's getting up.

There's only two of you left now. 192?

Unless I don't know something that you're all here for.

191? No? Selling it down here.

190 for the first.

190 for the second.

190 for the third and final time.

Sold. 190. Well bought, sir.

At 190,000, the successful bidder

was London poverty developer Mohammed.

I wanted to know what had brought him further afield to Hinckley

and just what he had planned for one of my favourite types of properties.

-Mohammed, great to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy this bungalow.

-It's a bungalow.

-OK.

-It's in Hinckley.

-Right.

-And it's Leicester.

-Right.

And I'm from London.

OK. Looking good so far.

Anything else other than the fact that it was a bungalow in Hinckley?

-No. Hinckley I think is an up-and-coming area.

-OK.

A lot of people use it as a commuter town.

Most of the residents here work around the area in

Leicester, Birmingham, Coventry.

So the demand is quite high and the schooling is very good as well.

OK. Now, you wanted it... It's quite funny,

but you wanted it specifically because it is a bungalow?

-Yes, yes, yes.

-Why?

-They don't build them any more.

-Not many, anyway.

-And I think prices will go up a lot more for bungalows

than other properties, and the population is getting older.

Why do you point at me when you said that?

Well, it's true, we're all getting older. This is true!

So there will be a lot more elderly people around.

-I think the demand will be far greater for bungalows.

-OK.

# Age ain't nothing but a number

# Throwing down ain't nothing but a thang... #

Hmm. Very harsh of Mohammed to point to me,

particularly after I've just celebrated my...

you know, 21st-ish birthday. Ahem!

Anyway, he is in business with his two brothers,

and I think that this experienced property developer has got it right.

The UK faces an ageing population,

and of course for those with mobility problems

bungalows are an ideal home.

What was the light-bulb bungalow moment?

-We found one in Harpenden.

-Right.

-And that was a light-bulb moment.

We built a nice lovely little extension on it

and we realised they're quite nice.

-So, you say you are from London?

-Yes.

And developing in London as well, or...?

I mean, why have you sort of moved 100-odd miles north?

Cost-effectiveness. I think London prices, as you must be well aware,

are very, very expensive. The margins are tighter.

And I think there's a lot more property investors there.

We tried to move outside London to get a bit more value for money,

I think a bit more long term.

So, tell me what you are going to do to it?

I think we'll probably end up modernising it,

just leaving the layout as it is,

not building an extension or anything.

Sort of three bedrooms - it's more than enough.

Probably touch up on the kitchen, the bathroom.

It's got an old-fashioned boiler. Put a conventional boiler in.

And that will be about it, really. Paint and decorate it throughout.

Do you have an idea of how much it might cost at this point?

I would say around about the £15,000 mark is quite realistic

at the current time.

And then the plan is what, to sell it on?

No, we would probably keep it.

Probably keep it for about anything between two to five years.

So, a sort of medium-term investment for us.

-And in the meantime just rent it?

-Just rent it and see what happens.

In this area, they're predicting prices to go up

in the region of 5% to 7% for the next couple of years.

'Mohammed thinks the works will take three months.

'His own company will probably carry out the work

'but he is considering hiring local contractors.'

And where will you stop?

How many bungalows does it take to satisfy you?

It doesn't!

This is where I earn my living from. So we wouldn't stop.

I think we'll get a few more yet.

Maybe south of England next time, round towards Devon, Cornwall.

I think there's a lot more down there.

Tell me a bit more about you, then.

How did you get started in all this? What's your background?

We... No, we just started back in 1988.

-Oh, wow.

-It seems a long time ago.

You've been through a few ups and downs in the property market, then,

-over the years?

-Oh, definitely. I think three.

-Three... Three cycles.

-Wow.

-And did you manage to survive those OK?

-Oh, yes, yes, yes.

The first one was the toughest, back...

I don't know if you remember, back in 1992.

'I'm sure many of us recall 1992, when Britain crashed out

'of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism

'and interest rates reached 15%.

'However, Mohammed wasn't put off and his love for bungalows survived.'

Do you find the yields on bungalows are better?

-Do you get more in terms of rents and stuff?

-Rents, no.

You don't get many...much more rent.

But you do get more in value.

The value of the property itself goes up a lot more in bungalows,

-I think.

-Right. Well, listen, congratulations. Good luck with it.

-Thank you very much.

-I look forward to seeing how you get on.

So, Mohammed refining his property investment strategy to

one particular kind of property - bungalows.

I don't actually think that's a bad idea.

And he's got a great one here. How will he get on sorting it out?

You can find out later in the show.

So we've found out what's happened to one of the properties,

but we've got to now find out about the other two.

Yes, has everything gone to plan,

or have they been plagued with problems?

Let's get back and find out.

It was in Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent where Lucy first visited

a one-bedroom basement flat which was dark, dank and full of horrors.

OMINOUS MUSIC

It's like there's a cotton wool layer over this wall.

Look at that!

That would petrify me.

And the damp was everywhere, not just in the kitchen.

It was in the bathroom,

the large lounge and the bedroom. It went from wall to ceiling.

Despite not having a survey,

first-time property developers Lin and his wife Yong decided to sink

£130,000 of their money into this rather damp property

hoping that starting in the basement would actually give them a step up.

What has been the reason for you wanting to do this?

We're still renting, so we're looking for somewhere

and then start doing something and then we can own our own place.

So you're renting at the moment and the plan is

that you've now bought this to obviously do up,

and is it so that you and your family can move in here?

No, because we're a big family - we've got three children

and we wanted to continue living in Tunbridge Wells,

but the house price in Tunbridge Wells is really, really high,

so we need to do this continuously to build up our capital

to buy a new family house.

So this was the first important step

on the property ladder for the whole family.

Lin is a carpenter by trade and planned to do most of the work.

They were hoping £15,000 and eight weeks would suffice,

but that was all rather dependent

on how difficult the damp problem actually was,

so, now, just nine weeks later, we're back.

Fingers crossed - here's hoping.

Wow, what a difference a few weeks makes.

Impressive stuff!

Uh, we've got a brand-new kitchen.

Everything's new - new tiles, new floor.

We've waterproofed everything, so it looks good.

And to go along with that new kitchen, there's the large bedroom.

And a nicely finished-off bathroom.

So far, so good, but how did Lin deal with all that pervading damp?

We used specialist paint, waterproof paint,

painting over the ceiling and the walls.

The bathroom, we used plastic cladding to clad the ceiling.

Even in the future, the damp comes through,

it shouldn't be any problem.

They used a damp-proof membrane in the bathroom and kitchen ceiling

to prevent damp from coming through from the drive above.

There are various types of membranes you can use

that either come in sheets or in liquid form.

The membrane acts as a barrier and can be used in conjunction

with a damp-proof course.

However, the best way to solve damp long-term

is to deal with its source,

otherwise it may come back to haunt you.

The walls throughout the flat have had to be replastered

and they've also fitted central heating,

which should help make the flat seem cosier.

But with all this additional work, they decided to employ a builder

while Lin continued his carpentry job, so how involved were they?

I've been working somewhere

for another two or three weeks during this time,

but I still come back in the evening time

to do the carpentry work and then a little bit of painting work

and then helping to sort out material.

Yong has been helping doing the shopping for materials

and doing some cleaning jobs, yeah.

Initially, the plan was to put in high-specification fittings,

but they opted for a more practical and robust but good-quality finish

to make sure they keep that £15,000 on track.

Actually, we saved a bit.

It's under 13 grand.

Lin spent £130,000 on the purchase price,

then £13,000 on the renovation,

but they ended up spending almost £6,000 on a two-month bridging loan.

While the interest was £1,200, the rest was soaked up

in service charges, arrangement fees, legal fees and documentation,

so along with the agents' fees, it all came in at around £10,000,

so has this basement flat been a good platform

to start their property journey?

What do two local property agents think?

I think he's done a very good job.

It was a pretty horrible place to look at last time,

lots of mould and damp and stuff, and coming in here now,

it's crisp, clean, sparkling and bright.

First impressions of the flat - it's beautiful,

it's done to a very, very high standard,

it's very light as well, which I wasn't expecting.

I think they've finished it very, very well.

It's great space and it's very simple and that's what people like

and they're able to put their own mark on the property.

In order for Lin and Yong to pursue their dreams

of buying their family home,

it's important they can sell this property at a profit,

so with £153,000 spent on the flat,

what kind of money are they likely to have

to invest in their next venture?

If I was putting this property on the market now,

with the work they've done to it,

I would recommend an asking price of £185,000.

If I was to market the property today,

I'd market it for £190,000-£200,000.

Yeah, that's great, yeah. Yeah, it's... We're quite happy about it.

Yes, that is great news, because that's a potential pre-tax profit

of £32,000-£47,000,

so how many more properties does Lin think they need to do

to get that family home?

I think we just try and try until we've got enough.

That's...

That's all I can do.

But with the average three-bedroom family home

in Royal Tunbridge Wells costing 350,000,

this is the first small step in what could be a long road.

# I know

# I was just your stepping stone... #

Earlier on, I was in Hinckley, Leicestershire,

the scene of a real "triumph".

No, not the motorcycle, but one of my favourite types of property -

a bungalow - and one in great nick.

What you've got here is a very desirable property anyway,

so it's one of those where I think you very... Hmm.

You think very carefully before you do anything major to it.

London property developer Mohammed agreed and paid £190,000 at auction

and not just because of its good condition,

but because of what it was.

-You wanted it specifically because it is a bungalow?

-Yes, yes.

Why?

-They don't build them any more.

-This is true.

And the population's getting older.

Why did you point at me like that when you said that?

He planned a light refurb on a 15-grand budget over three months.

Well, it's now six months on, so time to see the big transformation.

# Wow, wow, wow, wow! #

MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY

Whoa, hang on a minute - wind that back!

Mm, is it just me, or is that exactly the same?

Right, let's try another room.

# Wow, wow, wow, wow! #

MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY

Buhhh, yes, you guessed it - there was me preparing for a big reveal,

but nothing has changed in the bungalow,

so what happened, Mohammed?

# ..is still the same

# It's still the same... #

Not a lot happened in the last six months.

Unfortunately, we were hoping to make changes,

but nothing's happened.

For the last six months, we've done absolutely nothing.

I've been really, really busy with other projects.

We're taking a project on in London,

so this has been left on the back burner

and now I think the moment has passed.

Mohammed has changed one thing - his plan -

as he now intends to sell rather than keep the property long-term,

but selling it is proving tough.

The only action that we've taken is we've put it on the market.

The length of time it takes to sell property in Leicester

is totally different from London.

Here, it takes probably six to nine months to sell a property,

whereas in London, things are done much faster,

probably a couple of months.

And there's one big change out of his control

that Mohammed thinks is affecting his business.

The vote to leave Europe -

all the agents are finding it very, very difficult at the current time

to sell any properties around the Hinckley area

and this, I think, has filtered through to London.

The uncertainty in the market and the uncertainty of the future

has caused people to be a little bit more cautious

as to what approach they want to take in the future.

Well, it's possibly too early to really say for sure

what changes Brexit will bring.

There is an important lesson in all of this -

always keep one eye on big national changes,

like legislation or taxation,

and how it might affect your property business.

The lack of work has had little impact on budget, though.

He spent about 50 quid on having the boiler fixed and cutting the grass,

but he does makes sure the property is well maintained.

Well, we make a conscious effort to come here

every sort of eight to nine weeks to make sure that it's OK, it's safe,

and we don't have any water leaks or burst water pipes.

So learned anything, Mohammed?

Not really, no, because we haven't done anything!

But, no, experience, really, more than anything else.

Well, we can all still learn something

from two local estate agents.

What can they tell us about the local market

and what this property needs?

Let's start with the agent who saw it

when it was exactly the same six months ago.

Since the start of the year, obviously Brexit has occurred,

which has made the market slightly more slower.

People are a bit more apprehensive to buy and sell properties.

With people uncertain with the price of their properties,

whether they're going to go up or down,

they're slightly more apprehensive to buy

and obviously interest rates

are affecting mortgages recently as well.

I think it's a shame that the owner

hasn't decided to renovate the property.

Obviously, there's a lot of potential in this property

and it's costing him money, obviously, sat empty.

In reality, this property needs a new bathroom.

It needs the kitchen updating, it needs decorating throughout as well.

Buyers that are looking at something like this are going to want it done,

rather than it be a project,

so it is going to limit its market appeal, certainly.

However, bungalows are in short supply,

so there is still a healthy interest in a property like this.

Mohammed has spent 190,000 buying the bungalow.

Let's overlook his renovation budget for maths, eh?

So what could it fetch on the sales market in its current condition

and what would it fetch if he undertook a programme of renovation?

I would recommend an asking price of offers above £200,000.

The property in finished condition,

there are lots of comparable evidence

to suggest we would be looking at a value of around about £225,000.

In the property's current condition, the owner could expect to achieve

a figure within the region of £200,000-£210,000.

If a renovation was carried out,

a new kitchen and bathroom and decoration,

I believe this property would achieve within the region

of £230,000-£240,000.

So if Mohammed did sell on as is for that top valuation of 210,000,

that would mean a pre-tax profit of 20 grand.

Or if he did decide to do the work,

there is still potential for a decent profit.

Overall, it is probably safe to say

that it has not been his most eventful auction purchase,

but he seems to have escaped unscathed.

It's definitely not put him off going back to the auctions.

He just loves them.

It's the excitement, and the timetable is quite stringent.

You know, on this date, you put your 10% down.

Four weeks later, you've got the property,

and it's that strict timetable that you've got that really entices me

and encourages me to buy at auction.

Well, property developing can have some really high highs,

but also some really dismal lows.

And everything in between,

but you just need to have brains, brawn and a lot of luck.

So join us here next time on Homes Under The Hammer

and we'll find out who's got what it takes.

-See you next time.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.