Episode 1 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show.

You don't have to be seasoned property developer

to bag a property at auction. No matter what your background is,

it's always best to expect the unexpected.

Yes, property can come and bite you if you're not prepared,

and that is the key.

Make sure you do all your research.

And then bag yourself a bargain under the hammer.

Well, whenever you are buying property,

you'll want to make sure that

your investment is, well, as safe as houses.

The only way to do that is to make sure you buy wisely.

Yes, that means doing your research just to seek out that good bit of value.

Did the buyers on today's show do that?

Let's find out.

I'm in the town of Sutton Coldfield looking at this two-bed semi -

if I can find a way in, that is!

Uh-oh! I'm not quite sure where the front door is.

Lucy is having similar problems on the Kent coast

at this derelict property.

And this is the original gate.

At least there is a door on this basement in Ipswich.

But there ain't much else.

Wow!

There's not a lot here to look at.

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.

Sutton Coldfield is a town seven miles from Birmingham city centre.

It has plenty of shops, bars and restaurants,

as well as great transport links into the city,

so it's easy to reach Birmingham, famous for its jewellery quarter.

But will the property I'm here to see be a diamond in the rough?

# Just another diamond in... #

Well, Sutton Coldfield is definitely

one of the more desirable areas around Birmingham.

So when you hear of a two-bed semidetached

with a guide price of 100,000 quid,

it's definitely got to be worth a look.

And it's looking very positive as well because of this,

"School Keep Clear" all over the road just in front of the property.

So there's a school nearby.

Again, a good, positive thing for a family home.

Let's take a look.

Uh-oh! I'm not quite sure where the front door is.

# By the hidden door... #

The only negative so far is that, of course,

your own parking will be restricted,

so you'd need to think about off-street parking.

So I guess the first question is, would you bother actually moving

the location of that door to the front, perhaps?

I guess you've got to talk to a local estate agent,

find out if it would make financial sense,

and if you can really be bothered.

Part of me thinks, no, leave that as it is.

It actually works quite well.

You come through there, you've got

this little storage area under the stairs.

And then it starts to go a bit wrong.

I don't like that kitchen.

It's tiny, it's got this low ceiling with polystyrene tiles on.

It just doesn't give a very good impression.

However, there is a solution.

Because you come in here, you've got a lovely sort of dual-aspect lounge,

and a little door leading to the kitchen.

It's so of a time, isn't it?

Clearly it would be much better

if this was expanded to the whole size of the wall,

as in, knock the whole wall down to create what everyone wants these days,

which is sort of open-plan living.

And I think then this would be a really spectacular room,

because you come over this way,

you've got the bay window out to the front,

stairs up to your bedrooms.

This could potentially be the front entrance.

But again, is it really worth the bother? Probably not.

So, to sum up, basically this house is all right.

It just needs a bit of work...

while upstairs has quite an interesting layout.

This little mezzanine floor area which leads to the bathroom and loo.

It's a good size.

I don't actually have a problem with that.

-It's strange...

-SQUEAK

Ooh, squeaky floorboards! Back bedroom there, it's a nice size.

And then through to your main sort of, what I'd call master bedroom,

I guess, up here. Now, this, potentially is too big.

Which is a nice thing to have, isn't it?

You could, if you wanted to,

I think quite easily, convert this to be two bedrooms.

So you then basically create yourself a three-bedroom property.

Comes down to what your personal requirements are,

and whether or not that would

add value to rental or overall sale value.

Something to definitely contemplate.

That's a slightly longer term view.

Something which is much shorter,

needs to be sorted out as soon as possible, is this wall here.

You've obviously got some signs of damp.

My guess is it's coming down through probably

a gully or a guttering problem outside.

Whatever, that needs to be checked out and resolved pretty darn pronto.

It's not the biggest house in the world,

but there are options on how to use the space better.

The good news is, there's more to see.

Well, up here from the rear bedroom

you can get a really good view of the garden,

and it does look to be really extensive.

It needs a bit of a tidy up, obviously, but a nice family space.

Also from up here, you can see some potential.

You've got those outbuildings down there with the flat roof,

and that's crying out, from my point of view,

for having a better roof on it,

and possibly at the same time, extending.

Maybe a single, or even a double-storey extension.

It wouldn't detract from the garden and would give you a lot more space.

So, a few things to contemplate.

And to help you along with that contemplation,

we've invited along a local estate agent to tell us what he thought of

this house guided at £100,000.

It is a good-sized property.

The rooms are really of a decent size.

However, it's only got two bedrooms upstairs.

So the property itself would probably

suit for a first-time buyer,

young couple, that type of thing, without too big a family.

So what could it be worth once renovated?

Once the property's been renovated,

I would imagine that an achievable figure is in the region of £180,000.

However, if they do wish to rent it out and become landlords,

then a figure in the region of £600 to £650 per calendar month is

probably appropriate.

Well, there's clearly work to be done on this property,

but it's definitely ticking one of the really important property purchasing boxes,

and that is buying a house in a really sought after location.

That is exactly what you've got here.

So as long as you keep to a reasonable budget and have

a bit of fun sorting the place out, you're onto a winner.

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

Vacant freehold semidetached two-bedroom house.

100? Thank you, sir.

110, is that, sir?

I'm at 110. Will we go 120, sir?

115. Thank you, 115. 120.

The auction got off to a flying start with lots of interested bidders.

We re-joined the bidding with the auctioneer looking for 150,000.

150.

151. 152. 153. 154.

No? Been a great bidder, sir.

153 with you again, sir.

Are we all done?

At 153,000...

One, two, three.

Congratulations. Well done, sir.

MUSIC: SOS by Abba

Paying 53 grand over the guide price

and getting the property for 153,000 was Charlie.

He used to work in the jewellery trade,

but now runs a limousine hire company.

His wife, Abba fan Wendy, works in retail.

The music's for you, Wendy.

This is their first auction purchase,

so what plans do they have for this two bed semi's SOS?

Charlie, Wendy, great to meet you both.

Congratulations!

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

Well, we like the area and we live close by.

And we thought that we'd like a bit of a challenge on our hands.

Is this something you've done before, or is this a first-time?

Um, this is about the third one we've done now, or will have done.

And so we're just sort of building upon our portfolio, really.

And how was the auction?

It was like, I nearly didn't go.

-Right.

-Nearly didn't go, because I'd got something to do

in the afternoon. And when we came to the viewing,

-there were so many people here. And we couldn't get through the door, could we?

-No.

-It was packed.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

-Absolutely.

Properties in this area are quite sought after.

Well, this particular house,

the nearest school is at the bottom of the garden.

-Right.

-OK. It's just got Outstanding awarded from Ofsted.

-Oh, that's nice.

-And this was actually a caretaker's house.

Well, I guess that explains why

-you've got school written on the road just outside.

-Yes!

-Yeah.

Perhaps it was a good job Charlie did make it to that auction,

otherwise we wouldn't be here in the newest addition to their portfolio.

And in that portfolio of properties is another on this very street,

which is currently rented out.

But they have other plans for this one.

We've got five children between us.

-Right.

-And we can't really see them managing to

afford the property ladder, round here in particular.

-So the idea is, if they're going to rent, they might as well rent from us.

-Oh, wow.

And then when whatever happens to us happens to us eventually, they can do what they like with it then.

So you're actually restoring it and renovating it for your kids.

-Yeah.

-Basically, yes.

-Oh, brilliant.

-And then they'll rent it from us,

and then we'll look at doing another one and carry on

-until they're all sorted out.

-Tell me about your family.

-How old are they?

-Four boys ranging between 33 and 23,

and a daughter of 16.

Right. So you're going to charge them...proper rates, or what?

I mean, it must be difficult.

Well, we look at market rate for it...

Right, and then ignore it completely.

-Yeah!

-Well, adjust it, because it won't be going through an agent,

so we won't have any agents' fees to go.

But, you know, do it properly at a near enough market rate,

but enough to make sure that it's affordable for them.

So when they come to you with the big, sort of, big cat eyes and say,

"There you go, Daddy and Mummy, here's my £400 rent this month.

"It doesn't matter, I didn't want to go to the cinema or go out with my friends or go on holiday anyway."

Does that not sort of...?

No, it's tough.

LAUGHTER

# Don't mind doing it for the kids. #

Well, how many parents have said that, Charlie?

The couple would prefer to rent to local people they know,

or friends and family.

So whoever gets this will get a good deal,

because this is a really nice area.

And it's going to be a nice house, too,

because Charlie and Wendy have plans to renovate the kitchen, bathroom,

and if their budget of £20,000 to £25,000 allows,

move that front door to the, well, front.

But what are their thoughts on that master bedroom?

This is two bedrooms at the moment,

-but the chap next door who we've touched base with already has made it into three.

-So might you do that?

We might do that, yeah.

Yeah, we had a look on the various comparison sites before the auction.

Saw what the value was before refurbishment and afterwards,

and that's how we set the budget for it.

And what's the timescale?

Probably three to four months, I think.

-Right.

-We have got a builder who actually lives opposite.

-Oh, right.

-He's going to come in fairly quickly and make sure the place is properly secure.

There's a little bit of damp in the front bedroom, which he thinks is the roof.

He's going to fix that for us.

-Right.

-And what kind of involvement are you going to have in the renovation?

You know, Wendy has a saying for me for DIY.

Don't involve yourself.

Don't involve yourself.

Have you got any DIY disaster stories?

Yes, I tried to remove a tree root from the kitchen floor.

Hit it with a cold chisel and it was a gas pipe.

-Oh, no!

-Yeah.

Well, joking aside, that could have been very serious.

For your information, DIYers,

there are pipe and live wire detectors

that you can buy which will ascertain where danger may lie.

But if you don't know what you're doing, it's always best to call in experts who do.

Wendy, who works in soft furnishing retail,

is going to be a super trooper when it comes to the decor.

I'll be doing more of the interior side

and we'll help out, but we're not skilled people.

-OK.

-So we'll just do where we can help, really.

Well, listen, congratulations. Lovely to meet you both. Good luck with it.

-OK, thank you very much.

-Thank you very much. Thanks.

So, Charlie and Wendy starting with a really good incentive to get

this place sorted. They're doing it for their kids.

Although they will be charging them full market rate.

Hopefully Charlie won't get involved in the DIY!

And there are some interesting decisions to be made about internal layouts, etc.

But you can find out how it all turns out later in the show.

On a day like today, one of the best places to be is down on the Kent coast.

We're visiting the village of St Margaret's at Cliffe,

a few miles from Dover.

# If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air... #

This rural village perched above

the White Cliffs of Dover

has many claims to fame.

Being just 21 miles from France,

it's the nearest English community to the European mainland,

and the spot from which many hopeful Channel swimmers start out.

It's also said to be the first place

in the UK where the sun reaches every morning.

So, is the property I'm here to see going to be a ray of sunshine, or a damp and dismal dump?

Let's go and find out.

I'm here to see a large detached property

which went to auction with a guide price of £130-140,000.

So, reasonable guide price, tick.

Lovely village location, tick.

And...

Oh, dear, not so lovely.

I can barely see this, because I know it's tucked down here, the entrance,

and I know it's a bit overgrown.

The building is boarded up and it appears to be derelict.

How disappointing.

Whoa! This really is so overgrown.

And this is the original gate.

I don't know what I'm going to find in here.

# Did you know your garden's overgrown? #

Surrounded by woodland and almost hidden from view,

here is this very dilapidated building,

which was in fact three smaller cottages which have now been joined together to make one large house.

Because the property's boarded up, there is no internal access,

so I can't explore inside, sadly.

But just looking at it from out here, look!

You can see it's in a sorry state.

So what are your options?

Well, you could try and refurbish and repair what's here.

But this place, it could turn into a money pit.

You could gut the inside and you could remove the rot and decay out,

but my guess is you'll be left with pretty much just a shell,

and you will need to do everything

from replacing the roof to the wiring.

There'll be the plumbing, heating, the plastering!

Basically, absolutely everything will need doing here.

The obvious and cheapest solution would be to flatten the whole site and build a new house.

But you can't just wade in swinging that sledgehammer.

You have to get permission to knock this down first.

And then of course you will need planning permission for whatever you hope

to build here, which could be quite time consuming.

However, one huge financial advantage to rebuilding here rather than

refurbishing is that new-builds are zero rated for VAT.

So that is a saving of 20% on all your building materials and labour.

And of course, hopefully you'll end up with a house that perfectly fits

your needs, rather than making do with what's here.

This is certainly a project.

Even clearing the third of an acre site

is going to be a major undertaking.

What does a local estate agent make of this woodland hideaway?

Is it worth buying to restore or bringing in the bulldozers?

I think unless it's listed, which it's not,

the council will be quite pragmatic about whether it can be developed,

a new home put on it.

There's stringent requirements now for energy saving in property renovation,

and it would be so much easier to build new than to put energy saving into a dwelling like this.

And the only other issues here are the plot has become very overgrown.

There are some substantial trees.

But unless they are preserved with tree preservation orders,

you would be able to move them and clear the site.

So if a new house were built on this site,

how much could it sell for in this area?

If you built a new three or four bedroom detached house here,

it will have a value region £400,000.

Unlikely you'd build a house here to let,

but a rental here for a detached three, four bedroom detached house would be £1,500 per calendar month.

OK, there's no escaping the fact that this will be a big project

and the new owner will also have to choose between either rescuing and

refurbishing this old building

or just braving it out and knocking it down and starting again.

So, what did they opt to do?

Let's head to auction and find out who bought this detached and derelict property.

Lot 52.

Lots of interest. Start bid at 130,000.

130 to start me.

I don't mind. 120.

120 I have.

Thank you. At 120. 122.

And five. And eight.

The bidding was fast and furious,

and we re-joined the auction as the price reached 190,000.

190. 190. 192, sir?

192. 194.

194. 196 is bid.

198. And 200.

198 I'm bid, second row right.

198 then, for the first time.

One... 200.

Do you want 201?

Another thousand? Yes.

201. And 202.

At 201,000 then, for the first time...

201,000 for the second.

201,000 for the third and final time.

At 201, are you all done?

Sold at 201,000.

Congratulations and thank you to my under-bidders.

# Tear down these walls... #

The final bid of 201,000 was made by local couple Tony and Kim.

Tony works as a mechanic for a ferry company

and Kim owns her own beauty salon.

They've lived in St Margaret's at Cliffe for 21 years.

# Tear down these walls

# It's gotta be all or nothin... #

Kim and Tony, so lovely to meet you two today.

-You too.

-What I want to know is the history of this house here.

I mean, how long has it been standing?

Before the Second World War, at least, maybe a bit before that.

And what can you tell me about who lived in the house?

Well, as far as we're aware, it was an old lady.

She lived here up until about five years ago.

-Yeah.

-So how did this lady live in her house?

Well, she lived on her own and she stockpiled wood to burn in the fires.

There's a fireplace in just about every room.

She had no electricity.

All she had was fresh running water.

And the local people used to just look out for her,

make sure the chimney was smoking so they knew she was up.

So she was literally using paraffin lamps at night?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-I mean, that's incredible!

-I know. I know.

-What an amazing lady.

-I know, amazing.

So, guys, answer me this - are you going to knock it down?

-Yes.

-Yes. 100%.

So essentially, you have bought a plot here.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Now, let's talk about the auction day and how much you actually paid.

How do you feel about that?

We paid, I think, top price.

But we've been looking for some time and most properties in this area,

especially towards the coast,

are fetching a lot more than what we paid here.

And we could have gone on waiting another two years and nothing turned up.

Kim, had you set your heart on this, whatever?

Yeah, definitely.

It's been a dream and so the location's perfect.

It's just everything we want.

So after years of searching, they've found their perfect plot.

Now all they have to do is knock down one house and build another.

# Just gotta learn to see

# The forest for the trees. #

So, guys, what sort of budget do you have for this work?

You know, we're hoping for around 150,000...

-OK.

-..for the build,

and then obviously extras, sort of kitchens and bathrooms,

obviously that's... You know, depending on who we use, I suppose.

We're going to do as much as we can ourselves.

-Yeah.

-Not the building of the property,

but the clearing of the land and the building itself to be demolished.

So we're going to save a lot of money by doing that. We've got family and friends...

-Yeah.

-..and local tradesmen that will help.

Kim and Tony would be wise to get in the appropriate expert trades for the demolition.

The site has been deemed unstable,

so anyone working here will have to know what they're doing.

But assuming the demolition all goes smoothly,

what are they planning to build?

Sort of wanting a three-bedroom detached, sort of, you know,

cottage style property with some character.

And we've always wanted something like that,

because our current home's more modern.

So a dream from a young age actually,

I've always wanted a cottage-style property.

So, guys, what type of materials are you hoping to use?

Is this going to be a traditional brick-built cottage?

-No.

-Possibly...

-Well...

-No, possibly!

I love it! You don't know, do you?

-Well...

-Yeah, I mean, inside will definitely be oak frames.

-Yeah.

-But the finish,

obviously we're yet to sort of discuss,

-and that depends on sort of finances, really.

-Yeah.

So you're thinking oak framed.

-Yes.

-Are you thinking one of these kit houses

that come over that you can assemble in a few days?

-Yeah.

-Months, weeks.

-Yeah.

-That's the plan.

I mean, obviously if you do the bases yourself,

you can save a lot of money and then they just erect

the timber frame house with a crane, basically.

Being realistic, guys, how long do you think this is going to take you?

We've done the hard bit, which is finding a plot where we want to live in this village,

and now we've got it, there's no real rush.

We've got this year to get plans and prices and obviously clear the land

and then possibly start building next year.

I can't wait to see the end result. I think that you're both really

passionate about this,

and it really does show, so I'm so excited for both of you.

-Thank you.

-Congratulations, and good luck with the project.

-Yes, thank you very much.

-Well done!

-Thank you.

Well, you see, dreams can come true.

Kim and Tony have searched for years to find their perfect plot to build a dream home,

and they have found it in the very village they live in and

love, which is perfect.

But they have got a long road ahead,

and they've only just started searching

for an architect and builders and how they want to build their home.

And they still have to deal with the local planners.

So will these guys get the permission they need to build their ideal home?

Or will their dreams turn into a nightmare?

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

Still to come, I won't let a dingy basement

dash my hopes of a good renovation.

I'm not sure if it's pebble dash or balderdash,

but it's pretty anyway.

Back in Kent, have Tony and Kim given up on their dream?

-So many people do.

-So many people do.

-They give up.

I can actually understand why people do.

Time now to return to the town of Sutton Coldfield,

seven miles outside the city of Birmingham.

It was here that I looked around this former school caretaker's house,

which was suffering from an unlikely problem.

This, potentially, is too big.

Which is a nice thing to have, isn't it?

You could, if you wanted to, I think quite easily, convert this to be two bedrooms.

So you then basically create yourself a three-bedroom property.

Aside from a bit of damp,

the two bedrooms and the sizeable bathroom

were dated, but had potential.

There was plenty of space on the ground floor, but like upstairs,

it called for a rethink.

The pokey kitchen needed opening up.

The front door wasn't at the front, and the garden needed some taming.

Taking a chance on this property were Charlie and Wendy,

who paid £153,000 for the house,

which was to be the first to help their five grown-up kids out.

They planned to rent the house out at an affordable rate.

You know, doing it properly at a near-enough market rate,

but enough to make sure that it's affordable for them.

So when they come to you with the big, sort of, big cat eyes and say,

"There you go, Daddy and Mummy, here's my £400 rent this month.

"It doesn't matter, I didn't want to go to the cinema or go out with my friends or go on holiday anyway."

-Does that not sort of...?

-No, it's tough.

Well, Charlie's previous experience meant Wendy's interpretation of DIY

was "Don't involve yourself".

So the trades will be called in for this one,

but they had a healthy budget of 20,000 to 25,000,

and a three to four-month timescale.

We're back a year later to see how they got on.

It looks much smarter,

and the couple have moved the entrance to the front of the house and

created off-street parking.

But how is it looking inside?

The former hallway has been knocked through,

creating a much more spacious kitchen,

with white subway-style tiles and dark wood worktops.

The small outhouse has been transformed into a downstairs WC.

The living area has been modernised and painted in contemporary tones.

All those retro features have been brought up-to-date.

There's even a fantastic set of French doors at the back of the house,

opening onto a much tidier garden.

The changes don't stop there.

The large master bedroom is now two small single rooms,

which means the house is now a three bed.

When we met, they were undecided, so what changed?

We got a potential tenant who was looking

particularly for a three-bedroomed house, so we decided to go ahead with it,

took some advice from local estate agents on what it might,

how it might affect the values, and away we went.

As the saying goes, if the plan doesn't work,

change the plan, but never the goal.

There's been another plan change.

None of the couple's five kids are now going to be moving in.

But they have kept their policy of renting to family and friends.

Our original plan was to rent out,

which is what we are actually going to be doing.

And my best friend, Martine, is going to be moving in by the end of the week.

So, what did the couple have to do to get the house tenant-ready?

First thing was to repair the roof, which was leaking into the front bedroom.

We had to skim every wall, all the ceilings in the top rooms came down.

They had to be replaced.

All new double glazing right through.

New radiators, central heating.

So it's been a total refurb.

That's quite a list.

And thanks to their team of builders,

Charlie didn't involve himself.

But why did it take so much longer than that three to four-month timescale?

As we went along, we changed our plans and were a bit undecided about

certain things. And as we went along, our timescale got longer.

I've learnt to have a firm plan before you start.

And that means that you don't mess the contractors about

when they're already on site.

Wise words indeed.

But how did the lack of planning affect their £20,000 to £25,000 budget?

We did go over budget quite considerably.

We did a lot more work than we were anticipating.

But we also decided to go that extra mile,

as we've got a long-term tenant and we thought the more work we do now,

the less work we may have in the future,

and we spent round about 38,000.

Crikey, that's a bit of an overspend.

Time to find out if Charlie and Wendy have spent wisely.

We invited two local estate agents to give their opinion on Charlie and

Wendy's £191,000 investment.

It's a nice family home,

with a really good finish and would go very well in this area.

What my first impression of the property is,

is that it's been nicely renovated throughout and comprehensively done.

It's the best idea, splitting the second double bedroom

into two rooms.

This is a really popular area for schools,

so having that option is really great.

Otherwise, it's a stud wall so you could actually take it out if you wanted to,

and create two double rooms again.

The agents are happy, but as Charlie and Wendy will be renting out the

property, what kind of figure could it achieve?

The current rental value of the property in this market would be

somewhere between £775 and £825 per calendar month.

In the rental market, this property would achieve between

£800 and £850 per calendar month.

Even with that top rental figure,

that overspend has eaten into their yield, giving them just 5%.

So, what do Charlie and Wendy think of these values?

I'm happy with the lower one,

in fact that's what I would have expected.

The second one's even better.

What could it achieve if they decided to sell?

A property like this would fetch somewhere in the region of between

£200,000 and £225,000.

I would put this property on the open sales market at just under

£270,000, hoping to achieve in the region of £260,000.

-There's a big difference there.

-Big difference.

I would have been quite happy with the first one,

-I'm ecstatic with the last one!

-That's amazing.

Some jaw-dropping there, and no wonder.

Despite that overspend,

that 260,000 resale valuation could mean a profit of £69,000,

minus taxes and expenses, of course.

So, Wendy, could your friend still move in?

Well, as she's got the removal company booked for two days away,

I think she'll be moving in.

And what's next for Charlie and Wendy?

Holiday in two weeks' time, which is our wedding anniversary.

And then we start all over again.

Ipswich in Suffolk is the county capital.

It sits on the River Orwell and is still a working port.

It also has good rail links into London

and you can be in the capital in just over an hour.

But with plenty of museums and theatres on your doorstep,

you may not have to venture so far.

# Take pride in Ipswich

# Take pride in... #

Just ten minutes outside the town centre,

and 15 minutes from the train station,

the property I'm here to see is in the basement of a three-storey detached building,

with a guide price of £10,000 to 15,000.

I'm going to take a look.

Yes, I did say £10,000 to £15,000,

but this is just a basement.

There's no planning permission for anything at all.

So while it might be in a residential street at the bottom of a residential house,

currently all you are getting is a basement.

So £10,000 to £15,000 - is it really a bargain?

Wow.

There's not a lot here to look at.

It's... I've never done anything like this.

A basement with absolutely...

..everything needs doing down here.

The floors, the walls.

There's a little bit of a space here.

But through here, there's a nice big lounge,

or what would be a nice big lounge.

Wasn't expecting a room of this size in a basement,

but already got a fireplace there.

A window there, which is boarded up to the front of the property.

Get rid of those boards, you would get a bit of daylight in.

But surprisingly, this is OK.

I'll quickly look in.

Well, OK...in the sense that you

can just about see there is space here

to make a one or maybe a two-bedroom flat.

Although there is electricity, everything, and I mean everything,

needs to be done. Floors, walls, plumbing, lighting,

not forgetting safety aspects like fire doors and smoke detectors.

And a whole host of other things.

# All I want is everything

# All I want is everything, yeah! #

But if you're finding yourself overwhelmed by the task in hand,

sanctuary is at least close.

This lovely well-kept garden here.

It would be split between the three properties,

but it's a lovely selling point all the same.

Sunday afternoon, sitting out here with a nice cup of tea.

Perfect. And I've got to mention the wall at the back of the house.

I'm not sure if it's pebble dash or balderdash, but it's pretty anyway.

A communal garden also raises the issue of communal charges,

so you should investigate that, too.

Here's one bit of news without a downside - the lease has 172 years.

# But I take what I can get... #

Am I just clutching at straws

when I say I think this could be a potential goer?

What does a local estate agent think? Does he agree?

Demand for this sort of property is very strong.

It is a basement property, but at the same time,

it's in an attractive building.

It's in a popular road.

It obviously needs a substantial amount of work.

I'm guessing that the property needs tanking to make sure it's completely watertight.

You're looking between sort of £30,000 and £40,000 to turn

it into an inhabitable property.

There is a very attractive garden.

That's certainly going to be a big appeal to a lot of people that are

looking for this sort of property.

Particularly as it's a basement flat,

to have that garden space makes a big difference.

And of course, apart from the garden,

the other attractive thing about this space was the guide price,

ten to 15 grand.

But with that potential spend of £30,000 to £40,000 on top of that,

would it be worth all the effort to make it fit to live in?

On the sales market, if you're looking

to make it into a two-bedroom property,

you could look to achieve £65,000 to £70,000.

And what could it be worth on the rental market?

Once renovated, I think with this property being a two-bedroom property,

you'd be looking to achieve between

£450 per calendar month and £475 per calendar month.

Now, the renovation of this property is not something

I would like to undertake myself,

but they do say one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Let's see who fancied a bit of treasure

when it went under the hammer.

So, lot 41. A rather interesting building, this one.

And the basement of the property is five rooms.

I don't know whether you'll get planning consent for residential use,

but that seems a likely opportunity,

although you'd need to get planning consent to do that.

£10,000, put me in.

10,000, we're away.

At 10,000. Do I see 11?

Is the gentleman going to get it? £10,000. Are you all done, then?

At ten... No, I didn't think so.

11, 12.

13. 14.

15. 16.

So, after a bit of a slow start, a basement battle had started,

and we rejoin the bidding at £25,000.

Are we all done then, at 25,000?

26. 26. 27.

27, 28.

29. 29.

And 30. 31.

No?

At £30,000, then.

On my left at 30.

For the first time, then.

I'm going to call it. For the second time at 30,000.

31. 30.5, OK, I'll take it, I don't mind.

31. 31.

And a half.

No. At £31,000, for the first time,

for the second time.

At 31,000, are you all down and out?

At £31,000...

Congratulations. Well done, sir.

So for nearly double the guide price at £31,000,

the basement space in Ipswich was bought by Kenan.

Kenan's a solicitor and lives in London,

so I was intrigued to know why he bought a subterranean space in Suffolk.

# Take a chance on us

# Take a chance on us Take a chance on us... #

So, Kenan, nice to meet you.

-Likewise.

-Tell us about the auction,

and why you wanted to go for this property.

Well, I keep asking that question myself.

Um, I think the attractive thing about this was the price.

Initially.

And I quite liked the size of it, and I thought,

"Goodness. Compared to prices in London, it's a good purchase."

Is there anything else that you've found,

or anything else you've come across that made you think,

"I didn't think of that. I wish I'd have done more research."

I actually did not do any research at all before I purchased.

The only thing I did, I read the documents.

The communal garden and what contributions I need to make.

But in terms of what needs to be done, no.

-You didn't view it?

-No. I missed it.

-You missed it.

-I just came just a couple of hours before the auction,

walked around and took a few pictures.

That was it. It was a bit risky purchase.

When we watch programmes,

I always thought it's a bit silly that these people just...

And I'm one of them now.

But I see this as my project.

It doesn't seem to frighten you at all.

No, apart from the spiders!

I'm not frightened of spiders, but I am scared of blind property buying.

Take my advice, don't do it.

Are you into a challenge? Is that what you wanted, a challenge?

I think it is. I've never done this in my life,

but my wife and I just keep talking about it.

Can we do this, can we do this?

And this is the opportunity.

What was your wife's reaction? Has your wife been here to see it?

-No.

-She hasn't.

-No, I try not to bring her.

Her reaction was, I went home and said to her,

"Look, I've been to an auction."

And first thing she said, "Don't tell me you purchased something!"

-Oh, wow.

-I thought she was going to be thrilled, but...

No, she's getting used to it now.

Well, the only thing that stops me hiding behind my hands

is the fact that he paid £31,000.

Obviously not an insignificant amount,

but not so high that it's a ridiculous risk.

You know what they say, sometimes you've got to speculate to accumulate.

You must have something in your head that you know that you want to do

with it. You must have a vision.

Well, my vision is ideally a two-bedroom flat.

-Yeah.

-Or if not, one bedroom, spacious apartment.

As you see, there are two windows

and I believe that this entrance here, potentially, could be a lounge.

-Mm-hmm.

-Walk-in kitchen, maybe open-plan kitchen.

And there is a room on the right side, which is relatively big.

That could be a nice living room.

And there is a room over there which is a bedroom.

But again, it's all subject to planning permission.

There is no planning permission.

-So you are...

-That's what makes it risky.

You're actually at, you know,

base one at the moment, aren't you?

It's all up in the air at the moment, to be honest.

It's been so, happened so quickly, we haven't really planned.

-We didn't sit down.

-What's it going to...

What do you think it's going to cost you to turn this around from what it

is now to what you want it to be?

It looks like we're looking at probably at least £30,000.

Around that area.

Kenan does at least have a friend who is an electrician,

but otherwise he will be employing builders to do the work once, or if,

he gets planning permission to convert to a flat.

And his timescale?

Well, that again will depend very much on the planners.

So what do you preferably want to do?

Do you want to do it up and sell it or do it up and rent it?

What is your choice, if you had a choice?

-First choice.

-Well, I quite like this area,

to be honest with you, if my wife was willing to come here

I would probably live here. It's not...

So you'd be happy to do it up and live here actually yourself?

I would not necessarily just the basement level,

but potentially you can purchase one of the upstairs flats.

And there is a lovely garden.

It could be a nice start.

We could do it up, rent it, and then maybe live upstairs.

Or find a way of combining two and have a lovely,

potentially four, five bedroom house.

Well, I'm going to say you're very brave man, taking on something this.

-You're smiling!

-Or a stupid one!

Well, we'll find out. We'll definitely find out.

-Kenan, I wish you all the best.

-Thank you very much.

-Good man.

-Thanks for coming.

-Good luck to you. Wish you all the best.

-Thank you.

I think Kenan is a very brave man,

taking on a project like that for his first property.

There's so much to do. He's got to do floors, ceilings, all the services.

Will he get there in the end? You can find out later on in the programme.

Doing up a property always takes longer than you think,

because there's always a reason for a delay.

Yes. So have our two remaining properties ground to a halt or raced ahead?

Let's go back and find out.

Time to return to the lovely seaside village of St Margaret's at Cliffe

on the Kent coast,

just a few miles from the famous White Cliffs of Dover.

It was here that Lucy saw a property in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

But the house was anything but.

Oh, dear, not so lovely.

I can barely see this, because I know it's tucked down here, the entrance.

And I know it's a bit overgrown.

The building is boarded up and it appears to be derelict.

It was so derelict, it was deemed too dangerous to access.

There seemed to be two options for this generous three-acre plot.

Restore the house to its former glory,

or knock it down and start afresh.

It was the latter that local couple Tony and Kim had planned

for their £201,000 purchase.

But while they were decided on that plan,

they had one or two things still to thrash out.

Is this going to be a traditional brick-built cottage?

-No.

-Possibly...

-Well...

-No, possibly!

I love it! You don't know, do you?

-Well...

-Yeah, I do.

I mean, inside will definitely be oak frames.

-Yeah.

-But the finish, obviously we're yet to, sort of, discuss.

They had time to mull it over, as before they started building,

they would have to clear the plot and of course get planning permission.

But they were in no rush, as this was to be their forever home.

They hoped the work would cost 150,000.

Two and a half years later, when we return,

has Tony and Kim's dream of building their own house come true?

# Nobody said it was easy

# No-one ever said it would be this hard

# Oh, take me back to the start. #

Well, the old house has gone and the overgrown site cleared.

There are footings, but why has it taken so long to get to this point?

Unfortunately, the council decided

that it was a non-designated heritage asset.

So we've had to convince the council,

with structural engineers' reports,

various other reports, bat surveys,

to allow us to demolish what was here.

To prove that it was beyond economical repair.

A non-designated heritage site can be a building,

monument or area that has a degree of significance

that must be taken into consideration before it can be demolished.

Tony and Kim faced further issues,

as the plot overlooks an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

So they had to amend their plans for the house to meet the appropriate conditions.

Building a property from scratch is not for the faint-hearted,

but they've taken it in their stride.

I'm glad we didn't give up, because it would have been a shame.

So many people do. They give up.

So many people do. I can actually understand why people do, but...

You know, we'd come too far to do that.

But now we're beyond that and at the foundation stage

and actually seeing things happening,

I'm feeling I'm getting that excitement and enthusiasm back for it.

Kim's initial ideas for their dream home were drawn up by a local architect,

and they'll be starting the build any day now.

So what exactly have they opted for?

The design of the house was purely a three-bedroomed cottage.

Wanted to create something with character.

But it's going to be a green oak-framed cottage,

so the character inside will be with the oak.

And then from the outside

it's going to be a traditional

brick and roof tiles.

Nice little porch coming off the front.

So, yeah, just trying to keep it, although it's a new build,

trying to make it look traditional as well.

I know not all of us find it easy to make sense of plans.

So, take it away, Kim.

# I've really got to you

# With my imagination... #

So this room here will be the study.

And then behind that will be the kitchen.

And then off of the kitchen is the utility room/cloak room.

This is the dining room.

The room behind here is going to be the sunroom.

That'll be nice looking out to the garden.

And then this room along here will be the living room.

-And there'll be an inglenook...

-And there's, like, an inglenook fireplace

that will go in there as well.

So that's the layout of the property.

Further to that, upstairs there will be three bedrooms,

an en-suite and family bathroom.

It is slowly coming together,

and Tony and Kim hope to move in in ten months' time.

They've increased their budget, and now plan to spend 280 grand,

which will bring their estimated investment to 481,000.

But what could their dream home be worth once complete?

We invited two local estate agents along

to tell us what they thought of Tony and Kim's plans.

From what I've seen of the plans and the footings at the moment,

I think it's a very unique build.

I think the finish they're going to put on it

is going to be very special.

I think they've got a lovely spot here

with the rural views either side,

it's fantastic and I think it will be quite a popular house.

I've seen pictures of the original property

and the property now and what it's going to look like,

and from what I can see from the plans

it's going to be an absolutely fantastic property.

I think they've done a really good job of the layout.

I think it's great to have such a large utility room off the kitchen,

and as well to have a sunroom, just to make the most of this garden.

It's an old village with some lovely property in it,

and so they've got to keep it in the style of the village,

so with the oak beams and everything as per the plans,

it's going to be very good.

They seem rather taken with it,

but could Tony and Kim make a return on their projected total spend of 481,000?

I would estimate that the property would be worth between

£450,000 and £500,000.

I think the value of this property once built, from the plans I have seen,

will be somewhere in the region of £450,000-£500,000.

However, I think with the finish of the timber and the Kent peg roofs could potentially get slightly more.

No, it's about right, but I think it will be worth more when they see the finished product.

Of course it's hard to put a value on something that isn't built yet,

but with a potential £19,000 profit so far,

they're at least not going to lose money.

Not that they'll be selling, anyway.

Obviously we're looking forward to moving in,

so we'll take some time out when we move in to enjoy it, get settled,

and then just go from there, really.

Just relax and enjoy.

We're back in Ipswich, the county capital of Suffolk.

It was here I saw a basement of a three-storey detached house

guided at ten to 15 grand. But was it the bargain it first appeared?

Wow.

There's not a lot here to look at.

It's... I've never done anything like this,

a basement with absolutely...

Everything needs doing down here.

There was no gas or plumbing.

And although there were signs of electrics,

it would need a full rewire.

Not to mention there was no planning permission to actually do anything.

There was, however, a very nice shared garden at the rear,

so there was a silver lining.

# And it's hi ho, silver lining

# Everywhere you go... #

It seemed successful bidder and London-based solicitor Kenan was up for the challenge.

Despite not having reviewed the property,

he was pleased with the purchase, even if his wife was none the wiser.

I went home and said to her, "Look, I've been to an auction."

And first thing she said, "Don't tell me you purchased something!"

Alarm bells ringing at every turn.

Though Kenan did seem to have a realistic budget of £30,000,

and his timescale is flexible,

as were the plans for when this flat should be finished.

He thought he might even move in himself.

We're back two years later to find out how he got on.

# Lovers in a cellar

# Of dreams... #

It's completely different.

The front room is now a cosy lounge area with wooden floors and soft furnishings.

Kenan has even managed to squeeze in a small study space.

The good work continues in the other rooms,

with the large front room now a spacious double bedroom

with smart looking carpets and double glazed windows.

The room at the back is now a second double bedroom.

The flat's been rewired and has full central heating.

There's now a kitchen with all the mod cons at the back.

It's all fully plumbed in, with a top of range drainage system.

The floors have all been dug out with full insulation

and damp-proofing installed to make this watertight.

And there's a compact family bathroom just beyond the kitchen.

So how exactly did he do it all?

The first thing was to find out whether or not the council would allow me

to convert it into a flat.

I had to instruct architects and planning specialists to make

applications. It took months, but in the end they granted.

And then found some local, reliable builders.

And then they did everything, basically.

Last we heard, this was going to be Kenan's big DIY challenge,

but it doesn't sound like he was as hands-on as he first thought he would be.

Having watched previous episodes of your programmes, my wife and I were, like,

"Oh, we can always do that."

But, no. Because it's not a job where you just come and deal with touch-ups.

It was a massive project.

I decided, I thought, "You know what? I have to give it to professionals."

Because I had no idea where to start from.

Looking back now, I think it was a very, very risky purchase,

because I hadn't even seen inside the flat when I purchased it.

We're not going to say we told you so, not us.

So how risky did it turn out to be?

Was that £30,000 realistic?

Had it been an existing flat,

it would have probably been a reasonable amount,

but I ended up spending about £45,000.

My brother ended up funding the entire thing and now we see that it's more like his flat than ours.

OK, so not realistic at all.

And it took him two years, so what was the hold-up?

Connection of electricity is just...

It took about five months or six months.

I can't believe it.

Connecting gas took another few months,

and finding builders was further, probably, a few months.

But overall, the main thing was the funding,

because I didn't have the money.

It's quite the catalogue, but now it's done it is looking great.

But does Kenan's wife agree?

I showed the pictures to my wife, and she's really impressed.

In fact, now what she says is,

"Well, how about we pay your brother off,

"we keep the property and we get a mortgage on it and then we go and buy another property?"

So it's a lot of "we"s now!

Before Kenan hits the auction again,

let's find out if there's money to be made on his and his brother's £76,000 investment.

We invited along two local estate agents

to see what they thought of the changes.

Let's start with the agent who valued it earlier.

The owner's done a very, very good job

of turning the property into a two-bedroom flat

and has completed an extremely good renovation.

We were the auctioneers that sold this property a couple of years ago.

It has changed somewhat dramatically.

It has been totally transformed by the purchaser

and turned into a very comfortable two-bedroom apartment.

It is a cosy flat,

but could it make Kenan and his brother a comfortable profit?

I would expect to achieve a sum in the region of £85,000 to £90,000,

and if it was put up for rent,

I would expect to achieve £500 to £525 per calendar month.

The sale valuation of this property would be £90,000 to £95,000,

and the rental price would be £550 to £575 per calendar month.

Those top values could make Kenan and his brother £19,000,

minus taxes and fees, and a yield of just over 9%.

So what does he think of the numbers?

Well, that's pretty good. I think. When you look at the yield...

75,000, wow, that's really good. I'm pleased.

Pleased, but undecided as to whether

to rent the flat or stay in it himself.

Either way, will he be back at the auctions any time soon?

Who knows? I will speak to my wife and we could no doubt

go into another property. Maybe at a bigger scale.

Other bids. You never know.

Well, that's it for today's show.

But don't panic, dear viewer.

We'll be back with more stories from the auctions for you next time.

Yeah, so stay tuned and keep watching Homes Under The Hammer.

-Bye for now.

-Bye.