Episode 19 Homes Under the Hammer

Welcome to the programme.

Now, if investing in property tickles your fancy,

then you really need to know what's going on in the property market.

Yes, doing your homework and brushing up on your local knowledge

-is a must.

-Yes, and when you've done that and you're up to speed,

why not pop along to your local property auction

and see what's on offer?

Well, it goes without saying that everyone's looking for good value

and property auctions can certainly provide that.

Yes, they certainly can, Martin.

But don't take that for granted

because you can get carried away in that auction room.

Did that happen to anyone on today's show?

Hopefully not, but let's find out.

I'm in Hertfordshire.

That's where I turn my back on this three-bed semi.

I'm going to turn around and do the safe thing.

I'm past the point of no return

at this spooky three-bed house in Dover.

You should see the cobwebs up there.

It's like something from a movie set.

Forget leaving, I can hardly get into this two-bed mid-terrace

in the city of Derby.

Let's have a look.

Or maybe not. Ugh!

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.

Sold. It's yours.

This is New Barnet in Hertfordshire.

New Barnet didn't actually exist until 1850,

when land was needed to build a new railway.

Once complete, the remaining land was sold by the train company

for new housing and New Barnet was born.

# Choo-choo, choo-choo, ch'boogie!

# Woo-woo, ooh-ooh, ch'boogie!

# Choo-choo... #

New Barnet is quite an affluent area.

A three-bedroom property in this location

would cost you around about £600,000.

Now, our property has got three bedrooms, it's a semidetached,

but it was guided at £475,000.

Now I'm excited.

-# I'm special

-Special

-# So special

-Special

# I gotta have some of your attention, give it to me! #

The front exterior to this property looks really nice

with some lovely character.

But why the low guide price?

Fingers crossed for no hidden nasties.

Nice little reception hall as you come in and it takes you both ways.

I'm going to go this way first into this front reception room.

Nice and light in here.

Bit of an oversized fireplace, but it's nice.

Apart from this down here, which is classic rising damp.

Now, don't panic. I've never seen it so obvious.

If you put a chemical injection in here, you should be fine.

But it's not a bad start for a first reception room.

Let's explore a bit further.

And across the hallway to the second reception room

and not so bright in here.

It's kind of dark and dingy.

Dated, again, you've got textured wallpaper.

I'm not sure what you'd use that room for.

And then, into the kitchen, which...

The dark and dingy theme continues in here.

It's absolutely...

I don't know what to say about this. I've never seen a kitchen like this.

It's a strange configuration.

And at the end here, you've got a family bathroom with the toilet

just being behind the door.

Out the kitchen there, you've got a lean-to.

Looks like it needs to be rebuilt again.

It doesn't look as safe as I'd like it to.

Now, I don't know what I'm going to find upstairs.

If I don't find the bathroom, I want that upstairs.

And why not use all this space and that lean-to space as inside space,

create a nice kitchen/dining area?

It'd look so much better.

A house of this size is crying out

for a modern and spacious kitchen/diner.

And there's space to do it as well.

But is there space to move the bathroom upstairs?

Right, upstairs, there's three bedrooms.

This one's right at the front of the house.

The wallpaper's just like downstairs, dated.

But a good-sized double room.

Round here there should be two more bedrooms around this tight corner.

And there is. There's another one right at the end of the corridor

and this one here again.

It needs decorating throughout, carpets and wallpaper.

Everything needs to be changed but they're good-size bedrooms.

But no bathroom.

There's a lot of space up here to play with.

Even on the landing here, could you squeeze a bathroom,

a family bathroom up here, upstairs?

I think it would add value and I think it would be worth the work.

And that's because this basically is a nice house.

Yes, it needs updating and a bit of a reconfigure for modern living

but any good builder or architect

can show you the potential of this house inside and out.

Now, there's one bonus with this very nice house.

It's this absolutely massive back garden.

Have a look at the size of that.

And I'm going to find out exactly how big it is.

# Whoa, on and on and on and on

# My cipher keeps moving like a rolling stone

# Well, on and on... #

Right, that's 50 foot.

And counting.

# Oh, on and on and on and on

# My cipher keeps moving like a rolling stone

# Ooh, on and on and on... #

Right, I'm at about 70 foot right now

but it's got thick and it's got dense.

And what I do know, there's another 90 foot to go that way,

so I'm going to turn around and do the safe thing.

# Oh, on and on and on and on... #

The end of the garden has become a bit of a dumping ground,

so I think the wisest course of action is to retreat, Mr Dublin.

However, if you don't mind a few wheelbarrow journeys

to get this place cleared out,

you could have a really nice back garden.

# On and on and on... #

We asked a local estate agent to come along and tell us

what they thought of this house, guided at £475,000.

Nice property, nice footprint.

I would suggest that the bathroom, for example,

that is located downstairs, should really go upstairs.

The kitchen is in need of a lot of work.

Potentially, I think you've got a lot of room to expand.

Keep the three bedrooms upstairs. Good-sized double bedrooms.

Turn the stairs around, create a bigger landing at the top

and then you'd be able to create a space, not for a huge bathroom,

but it would definitely give you a nice size bathroom,

giving you an upstairs bathroom,

which is clearly, you know, one of the key points.

To have a bathroom downstairs as it is,

off the kitchen and living room area, is really not convenient.

Interesting idea,

but will spending the money to move the bathroom and stairs

make financial sense?

Once it's finished, and with the bathroom upstairs,

you would market this property around £650,000-£675,000

with the bathroom upstairs.

If you leave the bathroom downstairs,

you're looking more at around the 600,000 mark.

This place is dated and tired

and I personally would want to get that bathroom upstairs.

But there's a lot of space to play with in there and a lot of space

to play with out the back as well.

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

Three-bedroom semidetached house in need of modernisation.

What shall we say for this? 470 anywhere?

470? About 450, then. I'll try and help.

Should be cheap enough. Yeah? 450, thank you.

452 anywhere? I've got 450 on my left.

452, thank you. 454...

The bidding for this lot got off to a bit of a slow start

but eventually, the price stuttered back

towards the original guide price of 470 grand.

We rejoin when the auctioneer is looking for £470,000.

One more? 470?

If not, on my right, bid's £468,000.

Against you on my left. Anybody else for lot 98?

If not, 468 for the first.

468 for the second.

468 for the third and final time.

All done.

Sorry, little way off on that, I'm afraid.

The hammer didn't fall,

meaning the bidding hadn't reached the reserve price set by the seller.

However, Peter and his daughter Maria,

who were not part of the bidding on the day,

did manage to do a deal after the auction,

purchasing the property for 470 grand.

-Peter, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

-Nice to meet you, Maria, as well.

-Hi.

Congratulations to the both of you.

-Thanks.

-Thank you.

-But let's start at the beginning.

Tell us about the purchase of this house.

You weren't in the auction room when it was...?

When everybody was bidding for it, then?

-No, I got there late as the lot went through.

-Yeah?

It was gone, so I didn't have a chance to bid.

Yeah, I just went on to the side and said, "Can I have a chat with you?

"What do you want for it?" And that was it, really.

It just goes to show, doesn't it, Peter,

you can still get your property even though you're not in the room,

you might have missed it, if it doesn't reach the reserve.

Absolutely, absolutely. It's meant to be.

-So, I know it's father and daughter.

-Correct.

Is this going to be a business or...?

-No.

-No.

-No?

-No.

-No.

Erm, basically, my husband and I with our little boy,

we've been looking for a house for ages in the area,

wanted to stay close to Mum and Dad and my sister

and couldn't find anywhere.

And then Dad found this house and we stole it off him.

Basically! Said we want the house.

When you bought this house, what were your plans for it?

Before your daughter stepped in.

Well, it was depending on the price I got it for.

-If I got it for the right price, I could have flipped it.

-OK.

If not, I was going to repair it,

rent it out for five years and then take out the equity afterwards.

And then, Maria steps in and then what happens, Maria?

-You come to see the house?

-I came and saw the house.

Obviously, we live round the corner at the moment, know the area,

brought up in the area, went to school in the area

and loved the house.

And Dad got it for such a good price,

we thought we could do something with this.

That's just...! THEY LAUGH

The funny thing is I'm looking at Maria,

she's got a beaming smile and I'm looking at Dad

and Dad's going, "Oh, dear.

"There was a business here somewhere."

Yeah, there's a few bob in it, hopefully.

-Exactly!

-She's took it. But never mind, what can you do?

-You've got kids.

-So, what's the plan for the house now? Tell me.

We're going to refurb the house.

Maria's going to refurb the house with my help and my contacts.

We're going to move the bathroom upstairs to the hall,

move the staircase.

We're going to move them round,

so the bathroom goes on the top landing,

where the window is, and basically strip the whole house out.

Are you going to have a lot to say about this?

-It's going to be your home.

-It's going to be my home,

so we'll design all the inside but Dad's been helping

with the architect drawings and thinking about

where everything's going to go, some good ideas.

And, Maria, down here?

Yeah, we're going to... The bathroom at the back of the kitchen,

we're going to knock it through and open that wall up,

-so we have a big dining area.

-OK.

-A playroom there.

And then we're going to keep the outbuilding as well,

but knock it down and redo it for a utility area.

Oh, good on you. Has your partner been over to see the house?

-He has. He loves it as well. He was a bit daunted...

-Perfect.

-Yeah.

-..by the garden.

-Yes.

-But my little boy loves it.

He's chosen his bedroom already.

-Has he really?

-He has. He wants it green, but that's not happening.

# My man

# Is such a handyman... #

For almost 40 years, Peter worked in the rag trade.

He ran his family's clothing manufacturing business.

He retired from that and for the last ten years,

he's been developing and selling commercial property,

which means he knows a thing or two about refurbishment.

What kind of budget are you looking at?

With these old houses, you never know what you're going to unearth.

But we're thinking, just to move in and get it liveable,

between 50,000 and 60,000.

OK, so 50, 60 grand. How long's it going to take?

How long's it going to be until she gets her new home?

-Quicker...

-And move out of your house.

-The quicker, the better!

If I have my way, they'll be in here quicker.

No, we reckon six months.

-You're a good dad.

-Cheers.

-You're a good dad.

-I wish you all the best.

-Cheers, thanks very much.

-Good luck to you. Maria.

-Thank you.

-I wish you all the best.

-Take care.

-Thanks.

-Pleasure.

So, that's a first for me.

Peter buys the house as an investment to rent it or sell it,

but then his daughter Maria comes along and says,

"Dad, can I have it as my family home?" And he says yes!

I think there's an awful lot of work that needs to be done

but they've got the budget to cover it.

You can find out how she gets on and what her new family home's

going to look like later in the show.

I'm in the coastal town of Dover in the county of Kent.

Dover is home to the iconic Dover Castle,

which sits proudly on Castle Hill, overlooking the town.

It's often referred to as the key to England,

due to its southerly location and has been guarding England's shores

since it was built in the 11th century.

# Must be the reason why I'm king of my castle

-# Must be the reason why I'm making examples of you...

-#

This street is a 15-minute walk from the centre of Dover,

and it's set up so high, that you get magnificent views of the castle.

Now, the property I'm here to see is not a castle.

Though they do say that a gentleman's home is his castle,

it's actually a three-bedroom semidetached house

with a guide price of £100,000-105,000.

OK, so far, so not regal.

It's got a few panes missing from the door.

Let's find out what's inside.

# Must be the reason why I'm king of my castle

# Must be the reason... #

Ah. I can see this place...

Nothing's happened here for a long time.

It's not been touched for years.

Everything's been stripped out. The carpets...

On the plus side, you wouldn't need to decorate for Halloween.

There's loads of cobwebs.

You have your first door into a reception room there.

Walking along the hall, very typical of a 1930s style house,

a very small kitchen.

Needs to come out. Second room through to your reception room.

Actually, it's all one big reception room.

Somebody has opened it up.

You would have the option as a buyer of closing it again with doors,

or maybe a partition wall.

I do like the proportions, I like the feeling of space.

Over to, well, another plus side!

You'd never need to buy a darts board or notice board.

You have a whole wall covered in cork.

Maybe dating back to the 1980s.

I don't mind the doors, they add a bit of character, in 1930s.

The windows would need to be replaced.

Central heating needs to go in.

An awful lot needs to be done.

But hopefully, it's not structural and just cosmetic.

It might not be one for the arachnophobic,

but at least it's got web access!

But really, it's not that scary a project,

and the good thing is it's already stripped back

for updating the electrics and plumbing.

Just bring your feather duster!

# Who knows what I'll find

# In the cobwebs of my mind? #

I've been thinking of ways to improve this small kitchen,

and often in this kind of property,

people will extend out towards the garden.

But it looks like a very big job.

You've got a big drop into the garden, which is so overgrown.

So, other things you could do,

potentially knock down this wall into the reception room

and make it a really nice, open living space.

Then the kitchen wouldn't feel as poky,

and it would be a nice, family-friendly feel.

# In the cobwebs of my mind. #

Outside the kitchen door and down to the garden,

there's some rather rickety metal framework,

which was probably used as a balcony at some point.

A nice idea, but if you were going to reinstate it,

you'd need to start again.

It doesn't look very safe.

Upstairs to a bathroom.

I don't know where to start with that.

You've got what looks like mould on the ceilings,

perhaps on the walls, too.

You don't even have a loo in there, so that needs addressed.

A really good-sized bedroom in here, well proportioned.

It's not half grimy, and you should see the cobwebs up there.

It's like something from a movie set.

You wouldn't want to spend the night here.

But you see past the grime, if you can see past that grime,

it's actually a really good layout.

Because here, OK, you've got a small bedroom,

might be ideal with a single bed, for a kid's bedroom,

or a little office room.

And another really well-proportioned room.

Plenty of light coming through for this bedroom from a bay window.

The wallpaper's falling off the walls.

Up on the ceiling, you've definitely got some signs of a leak,

or it could just be those giant spiders trying to come through.

# And all of this from a girl

# Who's scared of the spiders and she's scared of the dark

# She's scared of the bogeyman in the park... #

I'll have you know, I'm not actually afraid of spiders.

And let's hope the local estate agent isn't, either,

as we asked him along to give us his opinion

on this dusty dwelling,

guided at between £100,000 and £105,000.

It needs total renovation work.

From top to bottom, really.

I can see that the electrics need looking at.

There's no central heating.

But the beauty of this period '30s home

is that you can create something really special, you know,

and if you've got good vision,

I think you would make it look amazing.

Once that vision is realised, what could the house be worth?

Once renovated, I anticipate an asking price of around £160,000,

and a rental value of 600, possibly £650 per calendar month.

On the surface, this property needs an awful lot of work done.

But it has great potential, and most of the rooms are a really good size.

You just need to see past that grime.

Let's find out who did when it went to auction.

An elliptical bay-fronted house for improvement and refurbishment.

Start me straight in, 100,000.

You wouldn't be wasting your time.

£100,000, I'm bid. Thank you, sir. At £100,000, I have.

105, do I see?

At 105, and 10.

And 10 is bid. 115?

There was immediate interest, and the bidding started to climb.

We rejoin with the hammer about to fall at £130,000.

130,000 then, for the first time.

130,000.

132. 134.

No, lady's bid.

One-bid wonder. At 132, 134, do I see?

132 for the first time.

132 for the second time.

132, lady's bid on my right-hand side at 132,000,

then, are you all done?

Sold at 132,000.

That one-bid wonder getting the house for 132 grand

was Kerry and partner, Kenny.

They were both on holiday when I hoped to meet them,

so they sent along their son-in-law Roberto to fill me in on the plan.

Roberto, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-What made you want this property?

We've bought other properties before,

and it's a bit of a family thing.

It's me and my wife, mother-in-law, brothers and sisters,

and we all sort of get involved and help do up the property

and try and make a profit.

It's a brave man, they say, who works with his mother-in-law.

She can be hard work sometimes, but on the whole...

..we get on pretty well.

How many properties have you renovated together?

I think it's about three now.

We've got one ongoing in France at the moment.

So, my mother-in-law's sold her property in London,

and sort of bought this.

And they're planning to sort of live here as the work is ongoing.

-Live here?

-Yeah, it's a bit grim, but...

She really can't move in here as it is.

There isn't even a toilet in the bathroom, is there?

No, no, there isn't at the moment.

And obviously, it's in quite a state.

But you know, it'll have a complete rip out and start again.

And they're on holiday somewhere nice just now?

Yes, so they're in Burma at the moment, so...

So, they're in Burma, they've got this nice house in France,

and then they're coming here to live.

Yeah, it's a bit of a downgrade,

but I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end.

So, you hadn't seen the property.

What was your first impression when you walked through the door?

Er, I was hoping there'd be a little less electrics involved,

as I'm an electrician,

but it looks like it's going to need a full rewire.

New fuse board, basically taking it back and starting again, really.

Hard luck, Roberto, this is a pretty big job.

But it turns out this family chip in on the talents and skill front.

So, Roberto won't be alone.

My mother-in-law's partner is a carpenter as well.

My brother-in-law's a plasterer.

And my partner, she also does painting.

So, we sort of keep it all in house

and keep the costs as low as possible.

You've got a lot of trades covered there.

What does your mother-in-law do? Just tell everyone what to do?

Yeah, she's good at being the boss, so...

And her negotiating the work, really,

and sort of keeping people moving, really.

It's like the property developing von Trapp family!

That will certainly keep costs down, though.

At this point, they're unsure of the budget.

They'll need to wait for the boss to come back from the holidays.

But they'll be sticking to a five-month timescale,

fitting the renovation around working full-time.

What are the main things that need done?

Cost wise, it's the bathroom and kitchen.

I think they cost the most.

The rest is sort of more labour-intensive, really.

The kitchen's very small.

Have you thought of any ways to improve that?

We did sort of consider sort of opening it up, but really,

we don't want to do too much sort of structurally.

It's more about sort of turning it around quickly.

So, we're probably going to keep it as is.

What about windows, doors...?

We're not really sure. I've just had a look around,

there is some double glazing, but it's damaged in places and so on.

So, we're sort of open to what we're going to do.

You're man who is waiting for your mother-in-law

-to come back from holiday to make sure that...

-Yeah!

To make sure she's OK with some of the stuff you've got planned.

Yeah. I'm sure she's got her own plans already, so...

You know, I'll just go with it, really.

So, the in-laws buy the property with quite a lot to do,

they go on holiday somewhere tropical?

-Yeah.

-And leave you to rewire?

Yeah, that's about it, really, yeah!

You sound like you're pretty upbeat about it.

And I guess the difference that you can make is substantial.

I think my job, really, is pretty straightforward.

So, it's more the labouring side, that's in the garden.

But my stepson will be getting involved in that.

You've got a stepson involved as well.

Yeah, well, he doesn't know it yet, so...

it'll be a nice surprise for him.

Yeah, surprise is one word for it. Have you seen the garden?

It's... It's overgrown.

There's a lot of work there.

Yeah, there is. Luckily, he's not scared of hard work,

so it'll keep him out of trouble.

Well, I hope that you're all friends by the end of it.

-Yeah.

-And I can't wait to see what you do with the place.

You could make such a difference.

-Good luck and congratulations again.

-Thank you.

On paper, Roberto and his family seem like the perfect team,

with so many skills between them.

But to pull this project off, they'll need to work together.

Hopefully, there's not too much family bickering.

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

-MARTIN:

-Still to come, it's a veritable love-in

at this two-bed in Derby...

But you know, I'm not seeing anything that frightens me.

In fact, I'm seeing a lot of things that I really like!

But was there any love lost between Kerry and Kenny in Dover?

Sometimes it did get a little bit fraught.

We are heading back to the affluent area of New Barnet

in London, where I saw a rather grand

but very tired semidetached property.

To the front, you had a reception room

and a second reception room was to the back.

And off that was the kitchen.

Never seen a kitchen like this. It's a strange configuration.

And at the end here, you've got a family bathroom with the toilet

just being behind the door.

Out the kitchen there, you've got a lean-to.

Looks like it needs to be rebuilt again.

Doesn't look as safe as I'd like it to.

Now, I don't know what I'm going to find upstairs.

If I don't find a bathroom, I want that upstairs.

And guess what? Up here, there were three bedrooms.

But no bathroom.

Of course there wasn't.

Someone who did find what they were looking for

was Peter and daughter Maria.

Peter paid 470 grand for the house

after it failed to reach the reserve at auction.

He planned to renovate and sell on, but daughter Maria had other plans.

Basically, my husband and I, with our little boy,

we've been looking for a house for ages in the area

and couldn't find anywhere.

Then, Dad found this house and we stole it off him, basically!

Said we want the house.

The funny thing is, I'm looking at Maria, she's got a beaming smile.

Looking at Dad, Dad's going...

"Oh, dear! There was a business here somewhere."

Yes. There's a few bob in it, hopefully.

She's took it. But never mind. What can you do?

Oh, well, Peter. Family does come first.

Plus, having daughter Maria and grandson Nicolas close by

has got to be worth a lot more than the potential profit

he could have made selling to a stranger.

They plan to reconfigure the whole house

and for their work to be done in six months.

So, we've returned seven months later, but how have they got on?

This is a much better layout for a family home.

The kitchen has been extended into where the old bathroom was

and it leads off nicely into a new side-extension utility area.

And towards the front of the house, the transformation is just as sleek.

It's all very nice but the biggest change

has been down the spine of the house.

The stairs have been turned around,

which means they can fit in a small toilet underneath.

And upstairs, the whole layout has changed.

Now, the landing branches off in two directions.

Down one path, a new family bathroom has been created

in the middle of the two smaller bedrooms.

But they had to sacrifice some floor space.

Time to have a peek at Nicolas's room now.

Mum Maria's decision on the colour scheme has won the day.

It's not green.

However, she has given Nicolas the best room so far.

But there's going to be another bedroom.

Though it's not complete,

planning has been passed to create a master ensuite

for Maria and her husband.

Seeing as it's her dream home, did Maria actually get her hands dirty?

Not a lot.

-Bossing everyone around.

-She became like, "If Maria's coming,

-"we're leaving site."

-Yeah.

No-one would answer my text messages.

No-one would answer my phone calls.

It was always, "I'll talk to your dad."

Just because her dad and his team were doing all the grunt work,

it doesn't mean that Maria's had it all easy.

Having a young family can be challenging enough.

For me, personally,

the biggest challenge was actually beginning the work, in a way.

It took a long time to sell our house, so, until we sold our house,

we couldn't really get going with this house.

And so, yeah...

Basically, I started the building works for her until they got ready,

so we sort of got all the building work going.

The biggest challenge for me, and it still remains the biggest challenge,

-is the garden.

-Us living with you?

-Yeah. And that! Is the garden.

The garden is...

You could weave through a lot of money in that garden,

even to get it to what it is now

and it still needs money to be poured into that garden.

The costs of labour and skips can certainly mount up.

So, how has all that affected the budget?

Well, the original budget was between 50,000 and 60,000.

And we've spent 70,000 up till now

because we've already added onto the loft and added onto the house.

So, that's what put the budget up.

But we are pleased with the outcome and the cost of it.

It certainly looks the part.

But I've noticed one thing is missing.

Furniture.

Well, my husband's moving in tomorrow

and he's going to unpack the boxes for a week

and then, my son and I are going to move in the following week.

I'd say son Nicolas has already got a head start

unpacking some essentials.

# Open the door, get on the floor Everybody walk the dinosaur! #

So, before the family gets settled in,

let's see what two local estate agents make of this house.

Let's hear from the agent who saw it last time.

Do you think he "tyrannosaurus"?

Apologies. Bad joke.

Coming back for the second time, the changes are phenomenal.

They've done a great job in terms of design.

The extension at the back of the property is great.

To go up into the roof is fantastic.

I like very much the finish of it.

Looks modern, fresh.

And almost perfect for a family.

Although they won't be selling any time soon,

was their 540 grand investment worth it?

Once the fourth bedroom is complete,

we'd market this property around £720,000 to £740,000

to achieve somewhere in the middle, around £730,000.

Once this property would be completed as a four-bedroom house,

it could achieve a price between £720,000

up to £750,000.

When I first saw the house, I had a feeling that,

once the money was spent,

it would be a good investment and I'm pleased for my daughter.

That top figure would mean a potential profit of 210 grand

before any taxes and fees were deducted.

However, I don't think Peter will have any chance

of stealing this back from his daughter

because, you know what, Pete, it's all about family.

Dad never really wanted me to go far when we were looking for a house,

so I think this is his way of keeping us very nearby.

Exactly.

We're Greek Cypriot and we like our family to be here locally,

so we can all eat together and be together all the time.

-So, obviously, we needed a big house.

-Yeah.

MARTIN: Off to the Midlands now and the city of Derby

where, just like Londoners,

the citizens can express their opinions in Speakers' Corner.

Located in the marketplace since 2012,

not only is it a platform for making speeches,

performers and singers are also free to use it.

So, I'm off to the nearby suburb of Breadsall Hilltop

to broadcast my opinion on today's property.

Under a mile from Derby city centre

with a guide price of just 50,000 quid

was the property I'm here to see.

It's this two bed mid-terrace. Let's have a look.

Or maybe not. Ugh!

Failed at the first hurdle. Oh, dear!

# I've been locked out, I've been locked in

# But I always seem to come back again... #

Nice double-glazed entrance door.

That looks to be in pretty nice condition.

In fact, I feel just drawn straightaway to the windows.

They look relatively new. Again, nice double-glazing in those.

So, that's a good start.

The whole house actually feels pretty dry.

Looks to be in reasonable condition. I mean, it's a little bit dated.

Wallpaper on the ceiling and this embossed wallpaper on the walls

but it's not difficult to change.

It's a bit of a pain to get it off but actually

you can make a big difference there.

Somebody's tried to modernise the fireplace.

Probably rather see something a bit more traditional in there

but that's just a personal taste thing.

In terms of layout, you've got this big front room

and then through to the kitchen.

It's a good size.

Obviously, it hasn't had much work done on it

and the units could do with a little bit of work, but one good thing.

Look at that!

An absolutely massive pantry.

Huge! But do you really need this?

It could be a utility room, I suppose.

Actually, why don't you just think about taking these walls down

to open up the kitchen even more,

to create yourself a really nice kitchen/dining area?

But you know what? I've not seen anything that frightens me.

In fact, I'm seeing a lot of things that I really like.

# Keep it in your pantry Keep it in your pantry

# Keep it in your pantry Keep it in your pantry... #

OK, so I might be overexcited about a pantry

but I am excited about this house.

Its garden is good, too.

A manageable size and fairly private, and with a shed.

What more could you ask for?

So, upstairs, I'm not expecting any great surprises.

And by a quick glance around, I don't think I'm going to find any.

You got a separate loo and bathroom. You know, age-old question.

Most people probably would knock those into one,

although the jury's out on that, from my point of view.

It's something you might want to consider.

You've got a storage cupboard there.

Actually, it is storage.

It would have been where the hot water cylinder was

but now we've got a combi boiler downstairs,

so that's a bit of extra space.

Nice-sized bedroom towards the back

and then a really good-sized master bedroom at the front here.

Yeah, it's great. It's the full width of the property.

More storage there.

Again, it just needs a bit of titillation.

It just needs wallpaper, a new carpet, all that kind of stuff.

But nothing that isn't really in the realms of

what an average DIY person could take on.

So, a really good starter project.

Maybe if it's your first auction property, or something like that.

Yeah, great one. Love it.

Time to hear from a local property expert.

We asked an agent from the auction house who sold it

to give us his thoughts

on this pretty neat little two-bed

mid-terrace, guided at £50,000.

The property's in generally tired appearance.

Really needs a new kitchen, bathroom,

general cosmetic improvement.

A £10,000 budget should be feasible for a property like this.

Renovation costs of £10,000, plus the guide of 50,000,

could see you spending approximately 60 grand,

not including taxes and fees.

So, what kind of figure could it achieve on the sales market?

Once the property is modernised,

if the property is placed on the open market for selling purposes,

it's likely to achieve in the region of £110,000 to £115,000.

And what could it achieve on the rental market?

When the property's been modernised to a decent standard,

I would have thought if it's placed on the rental market,

it's likely to achieve in the region of £525 per calendar month.

Yeah, a good auction purchase.

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

A two double-bedroom mid-terraced house.

I will start the bidding on a proxy at £50,000.

On the guide price at 50.

Where's 51? So, 51 here.

And thank you. 52 with me.

53, 54, 55.

You'll be pleased to know the proxy is out.

56 now. 56, I've taken here.

-57?

-60.

60 is a spoken bid. 61, either.

-61, 62...

-This lot has the bidders keen.

We rejoin at 77,000.

77.

At £76,000 for the first time.

77 in a new place, thank you.

78. I'll take the half.

At 77-and-a-half. I'll treat you the same, sir, at 78.

And a half again. Half again.

79. And a half again.

No? Shakes her head.

At £79,000.

It's your bid, sir. At £79,000, for the first time.

For the second time, at £79,000.

It goes. The hammer's up.

Sold. It's yours. Well bought, sir at 79,000 and thank you.

The successful bid of 79,000 came from David.

David and his friend, Lucy, have bought this property

as their first venture into property developing.

And I caught up with them to hear what they had in store

for their first project together.

# Oh, you're my best friend! #

-Lucy, David, great to meet you both.

-And you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

It's an easy project for us to do.

It's our first project, so it'll be an easy one for us.

And why this area in particular?

Erm, it's good value, good resale.

And sort of looking at the auctions,

Derby has got so much coming up on the market.

-It was just an ideal opportunity.

-Great.

And property in general, what was the appeal?

Probably about 15 to 20 years, I've been interested,

watching the programme and then sort of

buying and selling a couple of houses, just really wanted to then

-sort of make a business of it.

-Right, and the same for you?

I've always wanted to go into property.

Already got a rental and my own place,

and so, I just wanted to expand it, really.

And how did you discover that you both liked the idea of

getting into property?

We've been friends since last July.

Erm... And so, as we've sort of developed that friendship,

we've sort of got to know each other a bit more

and understood more about what we want to do.

Somebody dropped into the conversation at some point,

"Ooh, I quite fancy being a property person"?

-Yeah.

-Yeah! Pretty much.

-OK!

-As you do.

-And the result.

So, what was it about this particular house that you liked?

Well, it's quite local to where I live,

so it would be easy to get over after work,

because I work full-time.

Yeah. So, just the ease of it, really.

-Right.

-When we looked around, we looked at what we needed to do to it

and we thought there's enough for us to get our teeth into

for us to learn, but not too much, where we've got floors

having to be replaced, or plastering, et cetera.

And do you have much experience in property renovation?

-No. None whatsoever.

-Oh, OK!

David was in the police force and is now in business

and Lucy works for a health care company,

so they might not have renovation experience

but they're ready to tackle the jobs ahead and learn.

They plan to refit the bathroom and knock down the pantry wall.

They're taking a sensible approach.

It's really important not to get in over your head.

And to that end, David is calling in favour from a friend

who fits kitchens, who will provide labour pro bono,

to keep that profit margin intact.

We think we're going to achieve about 10,000 profit.

And how does that work?

So, we bought it at 79, then all the fees on top.

We've given ourselves a budget of up to 3,000 for all the work.

-OK.

-And then we think with a resale,

having had it valued at current market and after works market,

we should make about 105.

105, OK.

Are you confident about the £3,000 budget? It's very tight.

It's a very tight budget but I've always budgeted.

-I'm good with that.

-Her spreadsheet is amazing.

-Is it? Really!

-Yeah.

-Tell me more.

-Is it down to... Is it really, really lined up?

-Everything.

-Everything-everything?

-Yeah, everything.

-Glue?

-Yes.

-Wallpaper paste?

-Yes!

You're saying it like, "Of course I thought of that!"

-Complete...

-I don't want any surprises, so everything is on.

We've currently priced it all up at £2,319.

Have you? Approximately.

We've allowed roughly £700 if it all goes wrong.

Right, so, you've got it all lined up.

You've bought the bits, or you're on the way of buying the bits.

We've got a full basket on a website and we're ready to hit buy.

Really? Oh, excellent.

-So, if it isn't £2,000...?

-319.

-£319 and no pence, or...?

There is, but I didn't memorise that one.

Oh, well. Good on you. No, it's very important.

People often don't have a budget.

And how long will it take?

Well, we want it as quick as possible,

-so at the most, two months.

-OK.

That's a very round amount there.

I expected 17 days...

Well, it was!

-..14 hours and 37 minutes.

-Well, it is!

-Eight weeks, five days.

-Exactly.

-Yeah.

Well, I have planned it, day by day, what...

Oh! THEY LAUGH

-Really?

-Yes.

-I'm not taking the mickey here.

It's great that you've got it all planned out.

Whether or not you'll be able to stick to the plan is another matter.

Well, if you're coming back in four years' time, you'll know we haven't.

Hopefully, it'll be just, how long did you say again?

-Eight to ten weeks.

-Eight to ten weeks.

-You just added another two weeks on. You know that?

-I know.

You said two months, he said ten weeks.

HE TUTS Recipe for your first argument!

-I can see it.

-Oh, no, it won't be our first.

Is the plan then to work together in the future on other projects?

Yes, yeah.

Hopefully, use the profit to help buy another one.

OK. Oh, great.

-Well, congratulations.

-Thank you.

-And good luck with it.

And we'll look forward to seeing how you get on

and how you stick to your spreadsheet.

-Thank you.

-Good to meet you both.

Aw, we love a good spreadsheet here on Homes Under The Hammer.

And Lucy's certainly got that nailed, for sure.

As for the timescale...

Will there be friction? I'm not sure.

Certainly, they've got a great project here.

How will they get on?

Will it be exactly that amount of money by the time they've finished?

What do you think? No chance!

You can find out later in the show.

Now, don't go anywhere,

-because we still have to see how two properties turned out.

-Yes.

Will the champagne corks be popping

or will the fizz have gone out of everything?

Let's not hang about. Let's find out.

MARTEL: Time to return to the lovely coastal town of Dover,

where I saw this three-bed semi that went to auction

with a guide price of between £100,000 and £105,000.

My spidey senses were tingling with this one as a family of spiders

had been squatting here for quite some time.

But if you saw past the grime,

it was clear to see this 1930s family home had loads to offer,

with a dual-aspect lounge and plenty of original features,

one unfortunately being the small 1930s kitchen.

Often in this kind of property,

people will extend out towards the garden.

But it looks like a very big job.

You've got a big drop into the garden, which is so overgrown.

So, other things you could do, potentially,

knock down this wall into the reception room

and make it a really nice, open living space.

# The spiderman is having me for dinner tonight... #

The bedrooms upstairs were all in need

of general modernisation and the only bathroom was just that.

There was no loo to speak of.

But rescue was at hand when Kerry and Kenny made the final bid of

£132,000 on auction day.

They then popped off to Burma on holiday and it seemed

electrician and son-in-law Roberto

would be leading something of a family charge.

It's a bit of a family thing.

My mother-in-law's partner's a carpenter as well.

My brother-in-law's a plasterer and my partner, she also does painting.

We keep it all in-house and keep the costs as low as possible.

What does your mother-in-law do? Just tell everyone what to do?

Yeah, she's good at being the boss.

# Baby, we were born to run... #

The budget would depend on what the boss said

but they hope to be done in five months.

Bang on schedule, we're back.

Kerry and the family team have certainly blown the cobwebs away

but did they manage to transform that tiny, grimy kitchen?

Yes, by moving the internal wall, they've maximised on space here.

Kerry and Kenny have pulled out all the stops with good-quality fittings

and attention to detail.

Through a set of new French doors,

the reinstated balcony overlooks the tidy garden.

I'm really pleased to see so many of the original features have survived.

Kenny's actually put back all of the picture rails.

We actually like the banister.

We were going to put spindles in,

but we've had a look at it and they've all been rubbed down and repainted.

We've sanded the floors,

because when we took everything up from the floors we realised they are

beautiful floorboards throughout.

We nearly had a new front door put in,

but once Kenny worked on it and rubbed it down,

it was just too nice to take out.

And we've also kept the doors as well.

The attention to detail continues upstairs,

where there is now a functioning bathroom.

Kenny and his friend Steve have done most of the work themselves,

getting in trades to fit in windows and a central heating system.

And of course, son-in-law Roberto did the electrics.

When Kenny and I and the family do do properties,

we like to do them to the standard that we would like to live in.

We've just done it how we would have had our house, really.

But it's not our forever home.

-You know that.

-No.

Yeah, we're going to go to another derelict place after this.

Well, I take my hat off to them.

They spent 26 grand and feel they've made some savings by living in the

house while the work was going on.

The first three weeks we couldn't,

because there really was no electric,

no water, and it took ages to try and get those on.

But after that, we lived in it.

-It's a bit dusty.

-Mattress on the floor.

Yeah, mattress on the floor.

Sometimes it did get a little bit fraught...

But each evening we were all right, weren't we?

-We're still alive.

-Yeah, of course,

and we're still together and we're still smiling.

Let's hope the gods of property development

are smiling on them today,

as we have invited two local

estate agents to give us their opinions

on Kerry and Kenny's £158,000 investment.

It's a lovely finish on the property, it's very neutral,

it's very bright and airy, there's nothing to be done.

I like the natural flooring.

It gives the property a really good feel.

I've had a look around the property and I think that the owners have

done a really good job. The new configuration,

with the kitchen leading into the dining area, nice flow through

out onto the balcony, good views.

So, it's a really good layout, in my opinion.

I think the only possible negative is the garden,

it's on a tiered level,

which might be a bit difficult for small children, but apart from that,

no, it's a great property.

I think that the current owners have

done good work with the standard of finish.

If it's done for their own purposes, then I think it's great.

If they've done it just to sell on, perhaps they've overdone it,

because the quality is pretty high.

Could their appetite for attention to detail end up eating into that

all-important profit margin?

After all, as Kerry said herself, this isn't their forever home,

so what could it be worth?

I think as a re-sell this property would sell for around £170,000.

We would put it up from between £165,000 and £175,000.

Their highest value of £175,000 could give them a profit,

minus taxes and fees, of 17 grand.

So, are they happy with the result?

I understand what they're saying about the value of the property,

because they feel that there is probably a cap on this street,

but we've actually looked inside other houses on the street

and there's no way that they have anything like the spec in this house.

So, I'm quite confident that we will get our higher offer.

-And look at that view.

-It's beautiful.

I couldn't agree more.

But what have they set their sights on next?

We've actually put the property on the market.

We're viewing for two weeks. We then hand over the keys

because we're off to our property in France.

We take the grandchildren with us for two weeks.

-And the guinea pig.

-Yes, the guinea pig comes with us.

Well, the guinea pig will be getting extra hay, because since filming,

they've sold for their full asking price of £189,500.

Giving them a pre-tax profit of 31-and-a-half grand.

So, au revoir, Kerry and Kenny.

Back now to the city of Derby

and the nearby suburb of Breadsall Hilltop.

It was here that I saw this two-bed mid terrace guided at £50,000.

I was pleasantly surprised, as the house was in rather good condition,

and the windows were relatively new,

though the floor to ceiling wallpaper might not be to everyone's taste.

The kitchen at the back of the property was in need of an update, but...

One good thing - look at that. An absolutely massive pantry.

Huge!

But do you really need this?

Why don't you just think about taking these walls down to

open up the kitchen even more,

to create yourself a nice kitchen/dining area?

The absence of nasty surprises continued upstairs,

with two double bedrooms,

and an outdated but clean and tidy WC and bathroom.

There was even a generous back garden.

I thought it was a good, solid purchase.

Pals and first-time property developers

David and Lucy thought so too,

and they snapped the property up on auction day for £79,000.

This was to be their first project of what would hopefully be many.

So, with the help of Lucy's spreadsheet superpowers,

they hope to stick to their very precise budget.

We've currently priced it all up at £2,319.

Have you? Approximately?

And we've allowed roughly £700 if it all goes wrong.

Right, so you've got it all lined up, you've bought the bits,

or you're on the way of buying the bits.

We've got a full basket on the website and we're ready to hit buy.

Oh, really? Oh, excellent.

With their purse strings firmly held,

David and Lucy intended on doing most of the work themselves.

And although the timescale was up for debate,

eight to ten weeks was about right.

So, nearly ten weeks later,

it's time to find out if all those numbers added up.

The dated living area is now fresh, cool, crisp and clean.

A blank canvas for those potential buyers

Lucy and David are keen to capture.

The kitchen is worlds apart, with its modern, monochrome finish,

with jazzy splashback tiles.

And, yes, the pantry is gone,

freeing up enough space to make this a kitchen/diner.

Moving upstairs, the smaller bedroom looks fantastic with a new carpet

and fresh paintwork

while the larger front bedroom has had a similar treatment

and now boasts a fantastic original wooden floor that David

and Lucy uncovered while renovating.

As for the bathroom...

Well, that's still separate.

But with a brand-new suite and new vinyl floor, it's looking smashing.

And they have totally smashed their timescale,

completing the work right on schedule.

During their renovation, I've worked full-time on it,

pretty much, on average, six days a week.

Probably 11 or 12 hours a day.

And Lucy's done a full day's work

and then come over of an evening as well,

so we both grafted literally six, sometimes seven days a week.

I work for a health care company.

Love the company, but I wanted to try something different,

and this was such a good opportunity that we decided to take,

so even though I've been working full-time,

and then this on the evenings and weekends, I've loved the challenge.

I've loved it.

The friends have really tackled that challenge head-on,

doing all the work themselves,

with the exception of fitting the floor coverings.

David's friend, who is a trained kitchen fitter,

helped install the new kitchen

and showed David what to do for the next project.

If there is a next project...

So, working together... It's been good fun in the main.

I think we were great friends before we started and I think anyway,

unless she's going to give me a nudge,

that we're ending as great friends at the same time.

But there's been challenges,

and you can't do a project like this without having a disagreement.

A couple of tiffs.

We haven't thrown anything on the floor yet,

and we haven't thrown anything at each other, so...

I'm looking forward to the next project with Lucy.

-Yeah.

-Still pals, then.

Even agreeing on that very specific £2,319 budget figure.

The budget was tight and we wanted to keep it tight.

We'd done a great spreadsheet which we thought was accurate,

and then when we started buying and searching around,

and then when we started painting and realising how much paint you

actually need, we realised that in some areas we had gotten it right

and in some areas we hadn't.

So, the original budget I think was £2,319, jokingly.

It was actually 3,000.

And we've pretty much come in on budget.

So, figures last night, £3,001.

Well, I don't think that £1 overspend

will eat into their profit too much,

but let's see what two local estate agents make of all their hard work

on their £82,001 investment.

First impressions are it's fresh, modern, clean,

good monochrome decor scheme.

The kitchen's spacious, and taking out the pantry obviously opens it up to be a dining kitchen.

First-time buyers, potential tenants,

this will appeal rather than having a separate pantry.

My first impressions of the property,

it's a nice light and airy two-bedroom town house,

well proportioned, ideal for the first-time buyer.

First-timers David and Lucy have done a great job with the DIY,

but will that be reflected in the property's value,

considering their total spend of £82,001?

I would anticipate the resale value of this property currently is £105,000.

And the rental market I would achieve £525 per calendar month.

The resell figure would be somewhere in the region of £105,000,

and the rental figure would be £525 per calendar month.

Yeah, 105 is exactly where we thought it would be,

and we've had agents out who have said the same thing.

-Yeah.

-And that is the ceiling for a two-bed in this area.

525 rental, it's more than we thought.

-Yeah.

-So, that's good.

That rental yield of almost 8% hasn't swayed them,

and the potential sales profit of £22,999, minus taxes and fees,

will be going towards their next auction purchase.

So, is this the start of a beautiful friendship with property?

Yes, sure. We've learned our different ways of working,

and I think going forward, it will get better and better.

Lucy's a great leader, so I do as I'm told.

Well, property developing is not always easy.

The challenges are vast and varied.

Yes, but the rewards can be rich, if you get it right, that is.

So, join us next time for more ups and downs from the auction house

-on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Bye-bye, then.

-Bye.

-See you then.