Episode 60 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello! The buying of property is not a quick process.

You can often get caught up with a lot of red tape.

There is one option that a lot of people choose that can make it

quicker and easier.

Yes, if you want to get the ball rolling and avoid delays,

why not head down to your local property auction?

To many, property developing is a quick and easy way to make a few quid.

-What could possibly go wrong?

-Well, the answer is of course, lots.

And over the years, we've seen many people underestimate the challenges

ahead, because it can be a bit of a struggle.

Let's see if today's buyers can avoid the pitfalls.

In Wood Lane, Staffordshire,

this traditional semi has given me a wave of excitement.

Like this.

Yeah.

I'm not ducking any damp issues in this terraced house in Darwen, Lancashire.

More signs of damp.

In south-east London, Lucy will have to tread carefully in this maisonette.

In here... Ooh!

..into the lounge. Now, that is something that needs to be looked at. Look at those!

All of 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.

Selling away then.

Wood Lane is a semi rural community just on the outskirts of

Newcastle-Under-Lyme in Staffordshire.

With Stoke-on-Trent only seven minutes away and Crewe a 30-minute drive,

it's very well located.

Well, sometimes, streets of traditional houses

can feel a little bit claustrophobic, but not here.

Rolling countryside, glimpsed through the trees,

the smell of rural air, fantastic.

£80,000 plus was the guide price for this.

It's a semi detached, three-bedroom, let's have a look.

Oh, that's nice. How pleasant.

Walk through the front door and see something which immediately inspires

your imagination. It makes me go, wahey, yes!

Fantastic! We've got this tiled little reception area here,

lovely tiles here. Minton, I think they're called, on the floor there. That's lovely.

It's a little practical thing as well, because with that door closed,

it'll keep the cold out.

Another bit of good news. It's looks like we've got central heating.

So that's great.

So, basically, in through the front door there, a little corridor,

up to your bedrooms there and then through into your main living area.

And, well, it's definitely throwbacks to a previous era,

with a fireplace and things like this.

Yeah, ha-ha!

Bit of a health hazard, you'd want to check that out.

Do you really want to keep those? I'm not so sure. Easy to sort that out.

Not so easy is going to be this, look.

Real bad problems with damp along this front wall and the danger is,

-it's affected the floor.

-FLOOR SQUEAKS

I'd better not do that too much more!

Yes. Clearly, it's affected the floorboards,

it's affected the joists and it's going to affect your budget. Eurgh!

Despite the obvious damp problems, I think this house has potential.

It's got charm, with some original features and so far,

it's pretty spacious.

# I'm so tired... #

However, like so many properties we see, it's stuck in the past.

So far, so spacious.

And it sort of continues as you head through the house into the kitchen area here. It's a good size.

It could do with a few more cupboards and a bit more work surface.

But basically, it's a really great space for you to do what you want with.

Under stairs storage there.

The only downside I can see so far is out the back there,

where the loo and the bathroom are.

So not ideal accessing that through the kitchen.

But, you know what, with these kind of properties,

it's almost you kind of expect it.

# And that's typical... #

When this house was originally built, the WC would have been

outside and only incorporated into the house at a much later date.

Perhaps upstairs there will be further options.

So, up some very, very steep stairs

to the first floor, and you know what, lots of space.

Again, a bit like downstairs.

Back bedroom there. A decent-sized middle bedroom there.

This landing, which is quite pleasant... My guess is that's a...

Oh, no, I thought that was going to be the storage radiators,

but it's actually just a cupboard.

And then to what I guess is the master bedroom right at the front.

A few signs of damp, yes, it's a bit dated and needs sorting out.

But the main thing I'm looking for here, though, is,

is there space to get the bathroom up here?

And the answer is a resounding yes!

Needs a bit of a playing around with some of the walls, but definitely, you've got space to do it.

So that is number one priority!

Of course, it depends what the buyer wants to do with the property,

but if it were me,

I'd get an architect in to see how you can reconfigure the space up here to fit in a bathroom.

It's certainly crying out for one.

Well, at the back of the property, well, you know,

a half decent sized little garden.

Well, that would be fine, but that's not it.

This is the garden!

How fantastic is that?

What a bonus. As is that wonderful view.

Yes, it's damp, dated and dreary, but you know what?

I love it. Plus, it's got a very attractive guide price of 80,000.

Let's see if a local estate agent thinks

this could be a wise auction purchase.

The property already has gas central heating and double glazing,

so that's a big plus point.

But it's really does need full redecoration

and just restoring to its former glory.

OK, so, what does the agent think the property could potentially achieve,

once work here is completed?

Should the property be brought up to scratch,

I feel it could rent quite easily for £550 per calendar month.

Should the owners decided to sell on,

I see no reason why it shouldn't be on the market for somewhere

in the region of £135,000.

Well, a bit of work to be done to bring this one into the 21st century,

but you know what? It's worth it.

Good location, nice sized house here.

A great one to go for. Let's see who agreed when it went under the hammer.

Guide price of this has been up to £90,000.

So, 75 to start.

Three-bedroom semi.

With views. 75 for a sale.

75 bid, thank you, at £75,000.

80 I'm going to say now.

At 75,000. For 80? Bids at 75...

80, thank you.

At £80,000.

85? 86, 87,

88, 89?

At £88,000. To my left then at £88,000.

89, anywhere else?

Everybody's waving now. I saw you first.

Him. Are you all together?

OK. £89,000.

At 89,000, £89,000.

90?

Half, he's saying. 89 and a half.

90. Another half?

No? At £90,000 then, pointing at him now, at 90,000,

bid is seated against you standing.

At £90,000, I'm selling it then for the first time,

at £90,000 for the second time,

third and final time, at £90,000.

You bought it, sir, well done.

The property was bought by local couple Kirsty and Ben, for £90,000.

Bang on that new guide price.

They brought along their daughters to show them the house.

Could these be our youngest developers yet?

While the girls are looked after,

I grabbed a chat with Mum and Dad

as I was keen to hear their plans for this house.

Ben and Kirsty, great to meet you both.

Congratulations!

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place?

We've had a new daughter called Elsie, yep,

-she was born 12 days ago.

-12 days old?

-Yeah.

-Wow. And she joins...

Joins Esmae, who's 19 months old.

-Oh, wow.

-So, yeah, we've got two. Two girls now.

-Fantastic.

And that was what prompted you... You wanted to move?

It was, yeah, we wanted the extra bedroom,

we want the girls to have a bedroom each of their own.

And do you know the area?

Yeah, we've...

-Well, Kirsty's lived in the area for the past four years and I've been here my whole life.

-Right.

Fantastic. So do you know people?

Yeah, yeah. Most people.

-Everybody knows everybody in the village.

-Do they?

But it's a lovely little village, isn't it?

The countryside and...

That's the big deal, the big draw.

Kirsty, what was it about this house then that you really liked?

The fact that it's up the road from our extended family.

So all support and help is on hand, on tap.

The space, the potential, the children can have a playroom,

which is something I had when I was growing up and I've always wanted

for them. It's as close to building your own home as you're going to get

because it is literally just a shell.

So we can put our own stamp on it from the offset.

So tell me what you're going to do then to make it into your own.

We need to start with the top and work our way down, really.

We're going to start by refelting the roof and then addressing the...

Ceiling in the master bedroom needs replacing.

-Right.

-Full rewire, replaster throughout.

We'd like to put a wet room of some description upstairs.

New kitchen, new bathroom.

And then we'll attempt the garden at a much later date.

-New carpets as well.

-Yeah, for sure.

Obviously you mentioned about a wet room,

there isn't a toilet facility upstairs,

is that what you're planning to introduce?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, we'd like a toilet upstairs at the very, very least.

Right. But maybe a shower if you can.

-If we can.

-Squeeze one in.

And then, how are the rooms going to be divided? Big one at front?

We hope so, yeah. We'd like the biggest room, obviously.

And the kids can't speak yet, so they can't actually put their oar in.

Yeah, yeah. We're not quite sure on which room to divide up yet.

We're going to seek advice on that and then we'll see.

-OK.

-We like the potential that the back room's got for possibly a balcony

on the top of the flat roof looking out and making the most of the views.

So we're in a bit of limbo, really.

Do we compromise and have a smaller bedroom, with possibly a balcony,

or do we have a front master bedroom, which is a lot bigger?

Right, OK.

So Ben and Kirsty have some pretty big ideas

for their new family home.

Thankfully, they'll have friends and family ready and willing to help out

on the build, which they hope will take no longer than seven to eight

months, and within a budget of 15-20,000.

That all sounds very sensible to me,

although visiting an auction house when heavily pregnant probably wasn't.

What about the auction, how was that for you?

Scary. Yeah.

We didn't have a clue.

We'd never been to an auction before,

didn't know what to expect and we weren't sure how it was going to pan

out, so it was very nerve racking.

It wasn't very good for your heart rate and being three weeks pregnant.

It was very emotional, hormones going ten to the dozen.

But it was a different experience.

I wouldn't rule it out in future.

-And you're happy with what you paid?

-Oh, yes.

-Very happy, very happy.

Congratulations to you both. I'm delighted for you.

-Good luck with it all.

-I look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you very much.

Well, how great that Kirsty and Ben are planning to turn this place

into a family home and with such gorgeous children, including little Elsie,

they've certainly got all the inspiration they need.

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

This is Darwen, a town in Lancashire famed for its market.

Opened in 1781, it boasts over 130 stores selling clothes,

antiques and a variety of local produce.

But let's see if we can bag a bargain with the property I'm here to see.

So a charming market town, but what's on the market for our bidders?

This is. It's a traditional two up, two down,

with a guide price of £28,000 plus.

See you in a minute.

So in off the street, straight into the front room.

And it's not a bad size at all.

You have got this little porchway here for keeping the warm in.

A little bit more security as well. Traditional terrace front room.

But you have got some relatively new double-glazed windows as well.

I have spotted a bit of damp just down there and another bit there.

But a nice high ceiling.

Not a bad sized room. I like it so far.

Got your stairs up to the bedrooms.

And more signs of damp up there as well.

It's a decent-sized room in a terrace house of this age.

Little bit of storage space as well and you've got double-glazed

windows in here as well. So not bad at all. Seems to be quite sturdy.

Into here, which is an extension, for sure.

The house would have stopped there, they've put this on at a later date.

Bit of a galley kitchen, not a bad size, but it's completely dated.

This all needs to be ripped out and you need to start again

with a nice brand-new kitchen.

And at the end, we have got, just round the corner there,

a downstairs toilet, which is unexpected, but really, really good news.

What is there to be found upstairs?

Well, it needs a good clear-out, but otherwise a decent start.

Two good-sized living rooms, a galley kitchen and with a downstairs loo,

it's full of surprises.

Let's hope there's nothing nasty lurking in those damp patches.

Upstairs to the two bedrooms.

One at the front of the property, just there, it's a double bedroom,

it's a good size, little bit tired though.

Family bathroom is there. Same story applies.

Take all that out, put something nice and fresh and warm in there.

But it does mean there's two toilets in this house, which is good news.

Into the back bedroom and, again, it's OK, it just needs a bit of TLC.

More signs of damp up there as well.

Haven't found any central heating as yet, which is a bit of a problem,

but they do have a sunbed, though!

# But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night... #

Yes, you've guessed it.

# That don't impress me much! #

Because storage heaters and gas fires aren't going to cut it nowadays.

Let's see if a local estate agent's opinion will have me warming to this house.

First, let's take the temperature of the local market.

The local market at the moment is very buoyant.

We're finding that many properties that are coming on, old and new,

that have been on for a while are selling.

Also, plenty of landlords are now purchasing in order to rent them out as well.

That's good news, but what about the house itself?

First thing that needs doing to the property to get it back up at

the market standard would be to put central heating in.

Obviously decorating as well and new kitchen and bathroom to get that up

to full market standard.

So what could it cost to get this house ready for the sales market?

Fully, to renovate the property,

to get everything up to a full market standard,

you're probably looking around the £15,000.

That's almost half the guide price.

Is there still profit to be made after the renovation costs?

Once renovated, I would expect this property to achieve £60,000.

So providing you can get the house for around the guide price,

you could make a profit if you were to sell on.

What about rental?

Once renovated, I would expect this property to achieve

£375 per calendar month.

Based on the guide price and the agent's renovation estimate,

that could mean a 10.5% yield.

So there are a few issues that need to be sorted here, but nothing major.

It's a traditional two up, two down, with two loos.

Let's see who thought it was too good to be true when it went under the hammer.

First-floor landing, bedroom one, bedroom two, bathroom.

Needs a lick of paint maybe. 28's your guide.

Good investment one. Who's here, then? Lot 74, start me 28.

25. 20.

Let's get the bids. Can't sell it without one.

20? You're my friend.

At 20, 21, 22, 23,

24, 25, 26, 27, 28.

No? 27 here, with you at 27.

At 27, are we done?

At £27,000? 28, new bid.

29, 30. 30, I'm bid.

31, 32. 32 bid.

33, 34.

There at 34, with you at 33, seated.

With you, against you and against you. £33,000.

Here to sell, don't lose it. First time, second time, third time.

Take a half? If not, at £33,000.

Well done, sir. Can I have your panel number, please? 69.

The successful bid of 33 grand was made by Tony.

I caught up with him to find out what he had planned

for the tired two up, two down terrace.

Tony, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

-Congratulations, sir.

-Thank you.

-What was it about this house that you loved?

It's got two toilets!

-It's got a downstairs toilet, which is quite unusual for a terrace house, for this size.

-Yeah.

And so, that was the first thing that instructed my mind

and so I had a price in mind to the auctions

and actually went over slightly, actually.

OK. And did that disappoint you slightly?

Just slightly, yes. Just slightly.

Before property, what were you doing beforehand? Your work? Your job?

In fact, I have a restaurant just up the road,

so we've been trading for 20-plus years

and this is my main... my main profession.

OK, have you wanted to get into property for some time?

-Over ten years now.

-Really?

-Yeah. So I'm a slow starter.

DION LAUGHS

And is this the first one for you?

This is my ninth one, actually.

What got you into property, then?

Well, I mean, property is always...

-I've always been interested in this kind of industry...

-Mm-hm.

..and I always felt, the future...

-OK.

-..this seemed to be a next logical step.

-So this is your pension?

-Hopefully. Hopefully.

-Everybody hopes that!

-Yeah.

-Put your money in the right place

-and hopefully it'll look after you later on.

-That's the plan.

Were you looking for something like this, this kind of property?

No, not... Just anything that's within the price range, really.

-OK.

-It was all down to the numbers.

What do you intend to do to this property?

Well, it should be a straightforward, um, come in,

strip it, prepare it, a full refurb.

Make it nice and tidy.

And are you going to change the bathroom as well?

-Oh, yeah, definitely. Have you seen the state of it?

-I have!

-I just wanted to double check.

-Ha-ha!

-That's all!

Yeah, that will need a complete refit.

And what can we expect when we come back?

You should, um... Everything should be nice and bright,

nice and modern and nice and neutral.

There is a bit of damp as well. Has that concerned you?

-I think it's just coming from the toilet.

-OK.

-I think it's pretty straightforward.

-So, nothing to worry about there?

No, nothing to worry about, I think this is probably

the least work I need to do, compared to the others.

-Is there anything else that worries you?

-Not yet.

We'll soon find out when my builder comes in!

At the moment, it looks pretty straightforward.

You mentioned your builder - have you got people to do the work?

I've got a few people, just waiting for them to get back to me,

They've already been in and looked at the place.

So are they guys that you use all the time on your other properties?

Just one or two I've used before. One or two I've never used before.

-So they'll give me a comparison.

-What are they going to charge you?

How much will this cost? What's your budget?

Hopefully as little as possible!

HE LAUGHS: Obviously!

Maybe, hopefully, no more than ten.

-£10,000 to get it in?

-Yeah, no more than ten, hopefully.

-Full central heating, toilet...

-Mm-hm.

..er, maybe the kitchen and a full redecoration.

Yeah, hopefully, no more than ten.

OK, so are you changing the kitchen completely? What are your plans?

Er, there's two options -

complete change or maybe just update some of the units or some doors,

just to refresh the whole look, and just paint, where necessary.

And what about your timescale? How long is it going to take?

Hopefully, no more than two months.

OK, so a reasonably quick turnaround.

-It has to be quick for this area, yes.

-OK.

Why do you want to make it as quick as that?

So I can rent it out quickly.

-You want to get it on the rental market?

-Definitely, that's right.

-OK, and are you going to get involved yourself?

-Unlikely.

You would not trust me with a paintbrush.

You don't get your hands dirty, you leave it to the builders.

-Well, I can peel a paper or two.

-LAUGHTER

Apart from that, yes.

-That's enough! That's enough!

-I just leave it to the experts.

-OK, so ten grand and two months?

-Hopefully, yes.

-Yeah?

It depends. Hopefully, the workmen behave themselves.

-Listen, good luck.

-Thank you.

-Good luck to you, all the best.

-Thank you.

-Take care.

So, laidback Tony is not going to get his hands dirty at all.

He's going to leave it all to his trusty team of builders,

but I think they might find that damp a little more of an issue

than Tony first thought.

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

Coming up, Lucy gets more than she bargained for

at this maisonette in South London.

A bit of storage space perhaps in here?

Oh! No!

And back at the house in Darwen,

restaurateur Tony thought he had a recipe for success.

Then the damp really showed through.

We're getting some fresh country air by going back to Wood Lane

in Staffordshire, where I saw a traditional semidetached house.

It was bigger than you might expect, it had a large kitchen,

and as is so often the case with these houses,

the bathroom was at the back.

However, moving it upstairs was an option as there was plenty of space

that could easily be reconfigured.

Not so easy is going to be this. Look!

Really bad problems with damp along this far wall

and the danger is it's affected the floor.

LOUD SQUEAKING

I'd better not do that too much more!

Hmm, no! This was not the kind of trampoline you'd want.

But on the plus side, you could certainly fit one in the garden.

But that's not it.

This is the garden!

How fantastic is that?

It really was special and a great size for a family.

So, no surprise that paying £90,000 for this at auction

was a local couple, Kirsty and Ben,

who saw it as the perfect house for their recently-expanded family.

We've had a new daughter called Elsie, she was born 12 days ago.

-12 days old!

-Yeah!

-Wow! And she joins...

Joins Esmae, who's 19 months old.

-Wow!

-So, yeah, we've got two little girls now.

Fantastic, and that was what prompted you? You wanted to move?

It was, yeah, we wanted the extra bedroom.

We wanted the girls to have a bedroom each of their own.

'This house seemed to be perfect to raise their daughters in

'and I'm happy to report they've managed to turn it into a home

'within their eight-month timescale.

'However, you know how busy things can be with a family,

'so it's a further year on before we've managed to come back.

'And you know what they say - there is no place like home.

'Kirsty was very keen the girls should have a playroom

'and it's a roaring success.'

I had a playroom as a child and so did Ben - we were really fortunate -

and it was just one of our dreams when we realised we were pregnant

and we were moving house, that that was on our top five

of the list that it must have space for a playroom for the children,

so, as you can see, there's a nice big space for them,

and we can close the doors at 7pm when they go to bed

and we don't need to see a single toy, so that's an added bonus.

Ben and Kirsty have also toyed around

with the layout in the old kitchen, which was lacking in space.

It's not just the new unit and appliances that work for me.

It's what's happened to the old bathroom.

The addition of a dining room here really transforms downstairs.

There is still a toilet and, with those double doors

leading out to the garden, it all flows wonderfully.

But I hear you say, "What about the bathroom?"

Not to worry! Upstairs has all the answers.

They've managed to take some space from the back bedroom

and install a bathroom that, though internal,

does offer enough space for a bath with an overhead shower.

All within easy reach of the bedrooms.

Elsie and Esmae have their own separate rooms, of course,

so I'm sure there will be no arguments later in life.

Well, less arguments, anyway.

But settling squabbles will be child's play

compared with what it must've taken to renovate this house.

It was really difficult juggling everything,

with Ben working full-time

and myself on maternity leave with a toddler and a newborn.

It was down to me to come to the house to meet the tradesmen,

to get a range of quotes, to do the haggling and the organising,

checking that it stayed on track and, with the extra challenge

of two young children as well, we were extra pleased with the outcome.

And so they should be.

But what about the girls? How are they enjoying their home?

Elsie's now 20 months old,

so she was only 12 days old when she was last filmed, so really tiny.

Esmae is now three.

'Um, they absolutely love the extra space they've got here.

'They love their playroom and they're both outside girls,

'so, every opportunity they can to get outside, they're out there.

'That's why it was so important

'for us to make it safe as soon as possible.'

I think they've done a great job and Ben and the girls have arrived home

to join Mum in front of the camera.

Kirsty and Ben certainly deserve their quality time together

after all the hard graft it's taken to get here.

-We didn't do any of the work, really, together...

-No.

..cos one of us was always looking after one of the kids.

-Ben did a lot of the manual grafting.

-Yeah.

-Like when we dropped the ceiling. You knocked all those out.

-Yeah.

And I did a lot of the painting. So it was passing ships...

-Yeah, passing ships.

-..the best part of eight months.

-We didn't see each other for a while.

Well, with the house shipshape, I'd say it's time to ask

two local property experts around

to see if Kirsty and Ben have spent wisely,

because, although they aren't selling any time soon,

they did go a little bit overboard with their £25,000 budget.

Their spend of £27,000 brought their total investment to 117,000.

First, let's hear from the agent from the auction house who sold it.

I think the vendors have done

a wonderful job renovating the property throughout,

um, kept it at a really good size and done really additional benefits

that's going to appeal to people looking for the property, which will

really appeal to families - moving the bathroom upstairs

and extending the kitchen area to the back here.

But opening out that stunning view at the rear of the property as well.

What a great job they've made of it. Um, they've...

moved the bathroom upstairs,

still left the downstairs loo, which is a must for families.

They've done a really, really clever thing with the bathroom -

pinched a bit of the bedroom,

but still kept a separate access off the landing.

A bit of a masterstroke, really.

Really, really good layout of accommodation.

Both the agents are really impressed.

But will the sales figures be impressive, too?

If we were to market this property,

we'd be looking at a figure of £165,000.

If the property is due to come to market,

we would look to market in the region of £165,000.

That figure would give them a pre-tax profit of 48 grand,

so the big question is, could it tempt them to sell their home?

I think it might, one of us! No, no, I don't think it will.

-No.

-No, not at this point in time. Too much with two little ones.

-No, we're thankful, now it's done...

-Yeah.

..we can actually relax a bit at the weekends.

Down the line, we would like to buy, wouldn't we, with

-a plot of land in?

-Yeah, eventually.

-That's the dream, though.

Build our own one day, eventually.

Well, if they follow Elsie's lead and keep on "climbing the ladder",

I'm sure they can eventually reach the top and build that dream home.

It might take a few swings,

but fingers crossed they'll make it in the end.

Today, Lucy is in Plumstead, London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

House prices here have risen in the last couple of years, due to the

Crossrail development, which will have a terminal in nearby Woolwich.

MUSIC: In My Place by Coldplay

Well, this can sometimes be a bit of a busy road.

So, if you do want to get away from the noise of the cars,

well, there's a lovely peaceful common just 30 seconds' walk away.

So what am I here to see?

Well, it's a two-bed maisonette that had a guide price of £150,000.

Now, it definitely looks a little bit more tired than its neighbours

from the outside, but it's what's on the INSIDE that really counts.

# No matter, cos there's

# Something inside so strong... #

One bit of good news is that

the maisonette still has 920 years to go on its lease,

with a ground rent of just £4 per annum and no service charge.

One of the bonuses of buying a maisonette -

you get your own front door.

And I like that!

I'm not liking the inside as much, I have to say.

So what have we got? Cork tiles up there.

Whoa! I haven't seen those for a long time.

There's a lot of nicotine stains everywhere.

You can see this flat hasn't been touched in a long time.

The kitchen is in a right old state.

Look - I mean, there's just wallpaper peeling off the walls.

Hmm, avocado bathroom. I think that's going to have to go.

You can just tell that this flat needs a complete overhaul.

You've got a loft space up there.

Oh, and I did see a bit of daylight peeking through!

Not so good. I think somebody needs to go up there and investigate.

-And in here... Oh!

-FLOORBOARDS WOBBLE

..into the lounge... Now that needs to be looked at!

Look at those!

Yeah, a lot of work and attention to detail in this property.

And, um, as I said, terribly old-fashioned.

You've got some hessian on the walls.

You've got a bit of strip lighting up there.

Yep, we're loving that.

Er, look, you can see it's still plugged in from many moons ago.

Hmm, I'm not sure about this!

This is something that I would take out to really open the space up.

But if you look beyond what you've actually got here,

you've got some good-sized rooms.

So whoever takes this on is going to have to think about seeing beyond

what you can actually see now. I think you need a bit of vision.

A bit of storage space, perhaps, in here?

Oh! No! Come, come!

Look. Be careful - broken glass.

But this is a little balcony.

I was not expecting this.

Well, this is lovely. It's always nice,

when you're in an upstairs flat, to be able to get outside.

And with this property, you get a little section of garden.

Witness the not-so-subtle dividing fence

straight down the middle of the garden at the back.

And whilst this outside space might need some TLC, don't knock it.

Outside space in London is worth its width in gold.

Back inside now to the larger of the two bedrooms, and evidence

that the central heating system is in need of renewal.

So a bit of draught-proofing next door

will need to be added to the to-do list.

Somewhere that you are going to definitely need to spend some money

is here. I mean, take a look at these windows!

I don't ever think I've seen rotten frames like these anywhere before.

I mean, they really are very, very bad.

The window has just dropped.

You can feel the draft coming through.

You know, they're just so dated. Look, they've rusted up here.

This little lever here - you can't even move it - so, yes,

some new, shiny, double-glazed UPVC windows will be fantastic.

It'll help the road noise, help the insulation.

What do you think, bears?

I think these windows need a bit of care!

Which sums up the other rooms. So, to recap -

the kitchen has virtually nothing in it but the kitchen sink.

The bathroom, with its tongue-and-grooved, mahogany-stained ceiling,

and its avocado - or is it pampas - '80s classic suite.

The lounge with its stonemason fireplace kit and the spacious loft,

which is probably only ever going to be storage,

as none of the rest of the road

have set a precedent by extending up there.

We called in a local estate agent to tell us more about the area

and give his opinion and valuation for this lot guided at £150,000.

Plumstead is an up-and-coming area,

and it has great transport links already,

but will soon be benefiting from Crossrail.

It has great local amenities and schools as well.

What about the half garden at the back that needs a bit of pruning,

not to mention maintenance?

Um, having a garden to this flat is a huge bonus,

especially people with children or if you just want some outside space.

It also adds about £10,000-15,000 value to the property.

Speaking of property value,

what would they imagine it would be worth after a good refurbishment?

Once renovated, I think this property would sell for £240,000-250,000.

Well, I think it's fair to say this flat needs a lot of work,

starting but certainly not ending with those windows.

Still, if you can see past its current condition,

it does have the makings of a really lovely home for someone.

A good layout, as well as a balcony and garden.

So who was prepared to use a bit of imagination?

Let's head to auction and find out.

Lot 53.

I start 140.

Flat, Plumstead, 140.

Seems very low.

140 with you sitting down.

145 by the door.

150.

155...

Unfortunately, our camera didn't capture the bidding on this occasion.

We rejoin the auctioneer at £213,000.

It's up to you. 213.

212, first time.

Second time.

Third and last time, if you're all done?

213. Lady's back in, sorry.

214, sir?

215, madam?

216.

217.

216, standing up.

First time, second time, third and last time...

Sold, 216. Well done.

Well, we didn't see successful Dean getting the property for 216 grand,

but he came along to fill us in on what happened.

Dean, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-So, talk me through what happened on auction day.

-You went to auction with a price in mind?

-Yeah, I did.

-How much?

It was roughly 200,000.

-So you went to auction with £200,000 in your mind.

-In mind, yeah.

-That was your top, top limit?

-That was the top limit, yeah.

-You didn't stick to it, did you?

-No, I didn't, no. I, er...

What happened? Did you get overexcited?

-Did you get carried away?

-I got a bit overexcited

and, also, I didn't want to lose it in the end.

I thought, "I'm going to win it.

"I've been sitting here for at least three or four hours, so it's mine."

-MARTIN:

-'Well, not all his.

'Dean has brought this with silent business partner Ashley.

'Dean got into property after being made redundant,

'having served 28 years in the civil service.

'So why did Ashley and Dean decide

'buying this property was the right thing to do?'

It was the local area.

The local area's going up in price at the moment.

So I thought, better get in now!

So tell me about the lease. It's quite appealing, isn't it?

It is, that's one of the main reasons I actually wanted this property.

It's got a 999-year lease on it.

It's got no service charge, and it's only £4 a year ground rent.

Which is like...virtually having a freehold property.

That's really good that you're not going to be bombarded with extras,

it really is just about £4 a year.

It is, yeah. There's no hidden charges. No service charges,

there's virtually nothing else to pay for.

Yeah, that really is very attractive.

So how well do you know Plumstead?

Very well. I've lived here all my life.

Did you get a chance to view the property prior to the auction?

I did view the property before the auction.

But once I came back,

there's a few more things that I missed on the initial

first viewing or second viewing when I came round.

What was your first initial thought when you walked in?

-Er...!

-LUCY LAUGHS

Well, it's growing on me now.

Come on, it can't be!

-I've seen worse, put it that way.

-Yeah.

To me, there isn't that much work to do.

What about structurally? I know that you've got some tiles missing from the roof.

Yeah, I didn't initially notice them when we did the viewing,

but I think there's only about four tiles missing, so it shouldn't be too hard just to replace those.

It's not a whole new roof.

We'll address that first of all, that's where we'll start, at the top,

then work back into here.

Absolutely, that's something you need to address straightaway...

-It is, yeah.

-..because that could get so much worse very quickly.

Well, it could do, yeah. It's like,

you don't want to do all down here then find out that it's ruined because

you didn't address the four tiles that are missing up the top there.

This property's for you and your friend?

-Yeah.

-Are you going to rent it out,

is it going to be a long-term purchase?

Or is it one that you've bought to do up and sell on?

We haven't given it much thought at the moment.

What we'll do is actually do it, get it how we want it,

and then get some feedback and find out what it's worth,

what it could rent for, and what the long-term values would be.

Dean, let's compile a list together of what you think you need to do.

-Right.

-Starting in this room.

OK.

This has got to be taken out,

the brick feature. Gas fire's got to go.

New kitchen, new bathroom.

Wooden flooring. Tiling in the bathroom, tiling in the kitchen.

Central heating's got to be put in,

and it's got to be rewired.

Oh, and also the windows.

I think you left something off that list. What about the roof?

Oh, yes, I forgot about the roof. Er...

Just because there's four tiles missing,

I don't think it should take that long. So that is not a major task.

-You see, that list is getting longer...

-It is indeed.

And all for the sum of... dun-dun-dun...

-How much are you going to spend?

-£10,000-£12,000, hopefully.

-What? What?!

You see, I thought you might hit me with an incredibly low 10-12 grand.

-Do you really think you can do it for that?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Really?

-Yeah, should be able to do it for that, yeah.

I mean, a kitchen's around, kind of, what, three grand?

-Bathroom...?

-Yeah, but have you seen the size of the kitchen?

It's very small.

-Bathroom's very small.

-OK.

So I'm hoping that you ARE going to be doing

-quite a lot of the work yourselves.

-Yes.

OK. We will be. But I've got friends that will come in and help,

I've got tradespeople that I know that are willing to help.

Er...

I'll roll my sleeves up and get on with it. So...

hopefully it should keep the cost down.

How long will it take, do you think?

We're looking at sort of 8-10 weeks, hopefully, to turn it round.

All depends on how fast

the windows can be delivered and how fast

they can manufacture the windows and get them here.

-Mm.

-And how free people are that are going to help -

what time slots they've got to come and help me do it.

Dean, congratulations. I can't wait to see the outcome,

-good luck.

-Thank you very, very much.

-Thank you.

Well, Dean seems pretty relaxed about the amount of work

that needs to be done here... but £10,000-£12,000 - really?

Sounds a little bit tight to me.

Will he manage to keep his costs down

so there's room to make a profit if he does decide to sell?

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

Well, we've seen how one of our buyers got on.

What about the other two?

Yes, have they come up smelling of roses, or something less pleasant?

Let's hope it's roses, Martin. Let's find out.

'We're heading back to Darwen in Lancashire,

'where I saw a two-bed mid-terrace property, that although had signs of

'damp at the front, generally offered decent-size rooms

'that led through to a galley kitchen.'

Not a bad size.

But it's completely dated. This all needs to be ripped out

and you need to start again in here with a nice brand-new kitchen,

then at the end we have got... Just round the corner there

you have got a downstairs toilet.

Which is...unexpected, but really, really good news.

'I say good news, because a downstairs toilet

'means that the bathroom must be upstairs.

'A bonus when it comes to these classic two up, two downs.

'It was bought by local restaurateur

'and part-time property developer Tony,

'who paid 33 grand for it.

'He planned to refresh this place from top to bottom.'

What can we expect when we come back?

Everything should be nice and bright,

nice and modern and neutral.

'One thing that wasn't neutral

'was Tony's views on the upstairs bathroom.'

Are you going to change the bathroom as well?

Oh, yeah. Definitely. Have you seen the state of it?

I have - I just wanted to double-check, that's all!

'We are back to double-check again,

'and see what's been happening with

'Tony's two up and two down, with two loos.

'We were promised neutral decor, and we've got neutral.

'This kitchen isn't top of the line,

'but it's brand-new, modern

'and much better than what was there before.

'The same can be said for the downstairs toilet.

'It's not quite got the wow factor,

'but with Tony looking to get this rented out,

'sometimes in property development it's best to...'

# Keep it simple, keep it simple, son

# We get the weekend long... #

'Tony has chosen to keep things simple.

'But that doesn't mean that everything HAS been simple.'

When I took the property over,

the property was empty for over two or three years, I'd been told.

And if there was any serious damp issue,

it would have shown up pretty obviously.

But my builder didn't really pick up on that

and didn't think it was an issue,

until we decorated the whole thing,

then the damp really showed through.

So we had no choice but to have a damp proof course done

after we had it redecorated.

So that was a little knock-back.

'What a shame.

'Having to sort the damp,

'and then redo the redecoration,

'as well as getting in the trades where needed,

'has led to the three-month timescale sliding.'

From start to finish,

probably it's taken about...

over five months to do.

We were only planning to do it in sort of, er...less than three.

So there was slightly a couple of months over schedule.

'This overrun of two months has also had an impact on his budget.'

The original budget was hoping to be around 12K at the time.

But we didn't anticipate the damp proof, which cost another 2K on top.

And we WAS going to just refurb the kitchen,

but we decided to have a full new kitchen,

so that had to take into the equation as well.

So now we've spent just short of 15K.

For the area and for the rentals we're going to get,

I'm pretty happy with the finished results.

We could have pumped more money into this property

and make it a bit more a wow factor,

but there's no financial benefit,

there's no real incentive to do any of that, so...

So, yes, I'm happy.

'He paid a very reasonable 33 grand for this at auction.

'So, to get this house in a nice rentable condition

'for the total sum of 48 grand, I'd say he's done pretty well.

'But will two local agents agree?'

To be honest with you,

I was quite pleasantly surprised when I walked into the premises,

in the sense that the outside

doesn't really do it true justice.

It doesn't give any indication of how well it's presented inside,

or its actual size.

I think the major selling points of this property are the fact that it's

got two bathroom facilities -

a three-piece bathroom on the first floor

and a ground floor two-piece cloakroom -

which is perfect for sort of families with children.

I think the only negative I could really suggest with the property

is that the decoration is very basic.

They've kept the fireplace in the front lounge,

which I think has seen better days,

and is probably something that I'd consider taking out completely

or replacing with a more modern fitting.

But apart from that, the house is in generally very good condition.

'The agents were split on the resale value of this property.

'One agent suggested 45 grand

'would reflect the basic nature of the decoration.

'The other thought an absolute ceiling price of 60 grand

'was just about right.

'So he wouldn't make much of a profit on his £48,000 investment,

'if he chose to sell.

'But Tony has geared this property entirely for the rental market,

'and won't be selling any time soon.

'So let's get those all-important rentals.'

In my opinion, the rental figure for a property of this type in the area

at the moment would be £375 per calendar month.

If this property was put on the open market to let,

I would envision that it would be able to, erm...

achieve around about £400 per calendar month.

OK, that's slightly higher than I expected, which is promising.

Yes, good. That's very good.

'It certainly IS very good.

'And although I wasn't the best at maths at school,

'even I can do this sum, to get to the rental yield figure.

'Right... £400 per month -

'that will give Tony £4,800 a year,

'which I think's a very handy number.

'That's because Tony has invested 48 grand in this house,

'so the yield is calculated

'by taking the total investment of 48 grand,

'dividing it by the yearly income of 4,800,

'which works out at...

'Yes, as I thought - a nice 10% yield.

'That is good going,

'and would mean that Tony's retirement plan

'will be right on track.

'He's lived in Darwen for over 20 years,

'and he's pretty confident he's investing in the right area.'

I see a very good future for Darwen.

Darwen is a town that's regenerating itself,

so I can see a good future in the next five to ten years,

so let's hope that will reflect on the actual prices

in five or ten years' time for this property.

That's the plan.

Earlier, Lucy was in Plumstead in Greenwich -

the site of the new Crossrail development.

Those digging Crossrail have made many archaeological discoveries

from London's past.

But this 150 grand guided maisonette flat

was a time capsule ABOVE ground.

Strip lighting, central heating from a time BEFORE central heating,

windows without frames,

avocado bathroom and Stone Age example of a skylight in the roof.

And in here...

Ooh! ..into the lounge.

Now, that is something that needs to be looked at, look at those...

Yeah. A lot of work and attention to detail in this property.

Mind your step, Lucy.

But Dean was taking it all in his stride.

The former civil servant bought the property for £216,000

with a silent partner, Ashley.

What was your first initial thought when you walked in?

-Er...!

-LUCY LAUGHS

Well, it's growing on me now.

Come on, it can't be!

-I've seen worse, put it that way.

-Yeah.

Dean, let's compile a list together of what you think you need to do.

On second thoughts, don't make that list, Dean -

the show's only an hour long.

Lucy worried that his £10,000-£12,000 budget

wasn't going to be enough to get this wreck back into shape.

# Let's go livin'

# In the past... #

And we're now back, almost a year on -

well over Dean's 8-10 week timescale.

So has he dragged this flat from its shabby past

into a better shape?

# Ain't the future so bright

# Now you're in love?

# Oh, yeah Let's talk about it... #

Well, this flat is unrecognisable from before.

New windows, doors and plastering

were the fundamental things it needed.

But a new modern bathroom and kitchen are very welcome.

The kitchen is not just bang up-to-date, it's bigger too.

Changes to the kitchen - there was a wall here,

there was a wall there, which we've taken out.

The kitchen now has got the built-in freezer over there.

Washing machine is there.

Oven, hob...

It's opened up the kitchen, it's made it a lot bigger,

there's a lot more room.

It's generally opened this place up really wide,

so I'm very pleased with the end result of the kitchen.

The new windows are something for Dean to be pleased with as well.

With the windows, we obviously had to put new windows

throughout the whole building. New front door, new back door.

The old windows were falling out,

they was held in place by masking tape.

I think any gust of wind

would have took the pane of glass out and brought it down, down below,

so that was one of the first things we had to address,

was put the new windows in.

Dean, his friends and a few trusted tradespeople

have done most of the work. But it's not all been plain sailing.

When we was doing the wooden floors,

we got down to basically finishing off the wooden floors

and I think we put one nail in to finish the floor off,

and we managed to hit the water pipe.

But we didn't exactly know where we'd hit the water pipe,

because the pressure on the boiler dropped.

So I'm afraid most of the wooden floor

had to come up, until we actually tracked down

where the leak was coming from. Something we won't do again!

There's a wall there -

my friend come, who's actually my partner -

and he picked up a hammer.

He was just standing there, we was doing something,

the wall was coming down. I was standing by that window in the kitchen.

He picked up the hammer, hit the wall from this side,

a chunk of it came off the other side and hit me in the eye and cut my eye.

So I ended up in A&E and had a patch on my eye for about a week.

So after that, everybody had safety glasses on,

nobody would chance it.

It's worth learning from Dean's accident -

that could have been much more serious.

Always wear safety equipment when undertaking building work.

It might take a few minutes,

but it could save you a lot more than just time or money.

Talking of money - how has his budget gone?

Originally the budget we was looking at was between 10,000 and 12,000,

but now we've actually gone on to about 22,000.

As we went on,

things sort of escalated, so we needed to do other things.

Like, once the new windows had gone in,

you realised that the cladding

and the sockets outside

and the guttering just looked old and tired compared to new windows.

So then, we changed those as well.

So, doing the garden, new fences...

we put in a bit higher spec than we was originally going to do.

That put a little bit of extra cost.

An overspend, but Dean did choose to overshoot his timescale,

as he was waiting on house prices rising -

meaning it's taken ten months rather than ten weeks.

What's his plan now?

If we can't sell the property,

we would look to rent the property for a year or so,

hopefully for the prices to pick up.

But at the moment we haven't actually had a value, so we don't know,

and we haven't had it on the market, so we don't know what it's like

out there at the moment.

Then the thoughts on valuations of two local estate agents

couldn't come at a better time.

Let's start with the agent who saw it last time.

The changes have been done really, really well.

From the first time I've seen it, it needed everything doing to it.

The windows have been done really well,

the central heating, the flooring has been done to a really high spec.

So, yeah, I'm really impressed.

The only negative I would say is that the second bedroom

is on the small side,

so perhaps it wouldn't really let or sell to a family -

however, to a couple or a single person, it would be perfect.

I think it's a lovely flat.

It's been refurbished, obviously, to a very high standard.

The only slight disadvantage is coming straight into the kitchen,

but I wouldn't say that's a huge issue.

The addition of a balcony and a garden as well

is going to appeal to an awful lot of people.

Dean and his business partner Ashley

spent a total of 238,000 buying and renovating the maisonette flat.

Time to hear what the sales and rental figures could be.

On the sales market it would achieve between £285,000 and £295,000.

From a lettings perspective, it would achieve £1,100 per calendar month.

If I was to put this property on the market for sale,

I would recommend an asking price of £280,000 to £300,000.

If I was to put this property on the market to let,

I would put it on for £1,100 per calendar month.

Yeah, they're fine. That's what I reckoned and

what I thought they would stack up at. Yeah, that's good, I'm pleased with that.

So, £1,100 per calendar month rental

would give Dean a 5.5% yield,

while a £300,000 sale

gives him a pre-tax profit of 62 grand.

Decision time, then, Dean...

The general idea was to actually sell it in the first place.

So...we'll go ahead, put it on the market, see what happens.

Give it a little while. If not... then we'll have to rent it.

Property auctions never fail to throw up some amazing and different stories.

We've followed thousands over the years,

and there are thousands more out there.

Yeah, so join us next time for more stories

-here on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Bye-bye.

-Goodbye.