Episode 50 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show.

Now, on a day like today, you can get everything from sunshine,

a bit of rain, and even ominous clouds.

Yes, a bit like the property market,

it has its highs, it has its lows.

Sometimes you don't know what's going on,

which is why it's really important to know where to buy,

what to pay for, what you're looking for,

and then you can find your home, maybe under the hammer.

When it comes to buying at auction,

a lot of people rely on luck

when it comes to nabbing themselves a winner.

Yes, but luck will only go so far.

What really pays is doing your homework.

So, were the buyers on today's show prepared

when they went into the auction rooms?

Here's what they bought.

First on the menu, I'm in Port Sunlight, Merseyside,

to see a period property with bags of charm.

It is a bit old-fashioned.

But I'm liking it.

And for our main course,

Lucy is having a look around a hotel in Derbyshire.

I hope the kitchen is open.

I think I'll have chicken, prawn, curry and rice, please.

And if you still have room, in Stoke,

there is a two-up two-down

that might be a knickerbocker glory of an investment.

This is one of those really good auction finds.

112...

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.

£4,500...

# Little village baby

# Ain't large enough

# To be a town... #

This is the unique and rather lovely village of

Port Sunlight on the Wirral, Merseyside.

It was developed in the

late-1800s by William Lever, later,

Lord Leverhulme,

to house the Lever Brothers soap factory workers.

The aim was to create decent living conditions for working people

and also opportunities for education and entertainment.

So along with 900 houses, there were also schools, a church,

and even an art gallery.

The property I'm here to see, is there.

It's an end terrace house.

It has three bedrooms, and a guide price of £115,000.

Let's go and see what you get for your money.

Not surprisingly,

nearly all the buildings in this model village

are Grade II listed

and our property is no exception.

So let's take a look inside.

OK, we are in.

This is a small little hallway here

into what would have been the lounge.

Nice high ceiling,

lots of light coming in.

You've got two decent-sized windows just there, central heating as well.

That is not original,

that would have been put in at a later date,

but it's a good start.

It's a nice lounge.

OK, through into what would have been the dining room,

and this is not a bad size.

I'm pretty sure that would have been

a coal fire at some stage in its life.

But nice high ceilings, good area.

Walking through into the kitchen,

which is quite small.

In here, we've got a pantry in here,

quite a large pantry as well,

to put all your bits and bobs in.

Now, I'm thinking,

is there any way you can configure this kitchen and the pantry

and that dining room into a nice family area maybe?

It is a bit old-fashioned,

but I'm liking it.

Before you make any restructuring plans,

remember this is a Grade II listed property.

Any changes you want to make here, inside and out,

have to be OKed by the proper authorities.

And in this case,

a special trust has been set up to oversee the village

to make sure its unique appeal is maintained.

So upstairs we have got three bedrooms.

You've got two really good-sized bedrooms just here.

They may have been one room at some stage and put a partition wall in,

cos I can see that window may have been split.

But really good size anyway,

two double rooms just there.

And here, I'm pretty sure this would

have been one room most definitely.

The door would have been here,

all this has been added on at a later stage.

You've got a family bathroom there,

which is quite tight,

but it's in really good condition.

If you give that a bit of a wipe down, you could keep that,

and you've got a smaller bedroom here,

but the way they've done it,

they've done well.

I am actually keen on this cottage,

there's very little that needs immediate attention,

although having a window split

between two rooms won't be everyone's cup of tea.

A big bonus of this property, though, is a lovely back garden,

and one of this size is somewhat of a rarity in this area.

It may be a little old-fashioned,

but it's well-kept,

solid and full of character,

and all for a guide price of £115,000.

Yes, please.

Let's see what a local estate agent thinks.

It's not in the best position of the village,

but it's very rare you get a good garden like that.

That's a super garden.

Obviously, it's going to need a new kitchen.

Bathroom's not too bad.

I'd replace it, but it's actually workable.

It's not that old. And a full redecoration programme.

So we agree on what needs to be done,

but what are the dos and don'ts as far

as the trust I mentioned earlier is concerned?

They won't allow UPVC double glazing.

You can practically do what you like inside

with the normal building regulations.

But outside,

Unilever maintain the whole of the grounds for a pound a year.

So you don't have to worry about mowing the lawns up front,

seeing to the flowers, you can do your own little flower bed,

but putting new bathrooms in, new kitchen,

that's not a problem at all.

That's great news

and that £1-a-year maintenance fee

isn't too shabby either.

So what does the agent think this could achieve

once it's all renovated on the rental market?

This property will let for approximately

£595 per calendar month.

And what about the resale value?

On the open market,

this property will probably be worth somewhere in the region of

£165,000.

This should be a pretty simple turnaround.

I think it could be an amazing family home,

and who wouldn't want to live in Port Sunlight?

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

It's a nice-looking property, this.

A lot of accommodation,

where do you want to be on it?

Going to be 110 easily,

I would think.

You agree with me, sir.

Thank you. 110 I'm bid.

112, do I see?

112, 114?

114. 116?

116. 118?

118.

With the guide price a distant memory,

we rejoin the auction at £144,000.

I'll come back to you in a minute. No, I won't.

144. 145?

145. 146?

That's a half a bid. 145 and a half.

146? 146.

146 and a half?

146 and a half.

147?

147. 147 and a half?

No? Definitely not?

With the lady here, then,

at £147,000 for the first...

147 for the second...

Third...

Last time, yours.

£147,000.

Well done.

Well, it's a shame that somebody has to lose at auction,

but the successful bid was made by Rose.

The cottage is for her and her husband Jeff,

who, it so happens, works for a certain company

not entirely unrelated to this location.

Rose, nice to meet you.

-Good to meet you, too.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Same to you, Jeff.

-Yes.

I've got to point out, that's not a Scouse accent.

-No.

-You're from the States?

-I am.

-How did you meet?

We used to work together, so we used to talk on the phone quite a lot.

I thought he sounded quite nice.

I used to put a...

Hold on, you thought...

I used to put on a thick southern American accent

to fool her into wanting

to talk to me even more.

Exaggerated it a bit more?

-Yes.

-A couple of twangs, yeah.

So where did you meet? Tell us how, where and how and...

It was just work. So I used to have

to ring America quite a lot with my job.

-OK.

-And I used to speak to him, so I probably rang him every day.

Yeah, and then luckily enough work sent me over here for a workshop

and I got to meet her face to face and...

-Oh!

-..she took me out on the town and...

And that was it.

A few extra little flirts and...

She got you drunk, Jeff?

-With a few shots?

-A couple, just a couple.

So what made you buy this particular house?

Well, we wanted to be in this area.

So, Jeff works nearby

and we really wanted to have a traditional Port Sunlight cottage.

And not many of them come up for sale,

and particularly not ones with a big garden.

So, for us, it was the garden because we've got some dogs, so...

It is a fair old garden, isn't it?

Yeah, so a lot of the traditional cottages around here

just have little backyards.

So to get one with a good-sized garden

is a bit more tricky.

How do you know the area?

How did you guys know the area?

I got to visit here quite a bit through work,

so getting to see the village,

it just draws you in,

so we started looking around seeing

what properties were available

and then this one came up for auction

and it just made too much sense.

Right, you've got it, it's yours.

What do you intend to do with it?

So I think,

change the flooring throughout.

We need to strip down some of the patterned wallpaper,

that sort of stuff, and then, into the kitchen

to figure out what we're going to do there.

So we've had some thoughts of moving the kitchen into where

the dining room is and then converting the current kitchen

into what the dining room

will be and then potentially trying

to put some double doors out the back.

And then I think boiler, it would be nice

to have hot water and that sort of stuff.

Upstairs, anything upstairs changing?

Just all the, stripping the walls back and carpets.

Just giving it a bit of a fresh up.

The bathroom's not that bad, so we can live with the bathroom.

There's not a lot to be done really, is there?

There's not a lot really you need to do.

No, because the electrics have

obviously been done relatively recently.

So, in terms of big jobs, it's really the kitchen.

-OK, now, it's Grade II listed.

-Mm-hm.

Has that hindered you slightly?

So it's early days,

so we haven't actually started looking into

whether we can even move some of the internal rooms around

and put the French windows in.

We're definitely going to have to get permission,

and it could be that they say no.

But it's something that we're going to try.

Rose and Jeff have given themselves a £10,000 budget

and a timescale of six months,

depending on how long it takes for the trust

to decide on their plans.

They are going to live here while doing the work

and Jeff has cooked up a cunning plan.

So will you rope in some of your mates from work as well?

We will see.

So I've been trying to sell them the big idea of an American barbecue.

So I've been inviting a lot of folks over. So I'm hoping I can

get a little work out of them when I get them here.

-It's going to be some barbecue.

-Yeah.

I've already imported one over when I moved over with work,

so I've got the smoker on one side and the gas grill on the other.

I'm ready for it.

So, Jeff, explain this, there's a pound fee, isn't there,

for looking after some of the grounds? Explain that to me.

Yeah, so basically, there's a trust that was set up

to maintain the look and feel of the village.

So anywhere in the village that you can see from the road,

the trust actually still maintains.

So they take care of all the grounds work,

all the hedges are perfectly cut at all times, all the grass is cut.

You have to go through an approval process to get flowers put in.

So it is always going to look the way you see it now.

-Rose, good luck.

-Thank you very much.

-Wish you all the best.

-Thank you.

-Jeff, good luck to you.

-Thank you.

So Rose and Jeff met on the phone, that's quite a nice story.

The big question is, what's the story of this house going to be?

And will that Grade II listing hinder the progress

of what they want to achieve with this house?

You can find out later on in the programme.

Lucy is in Matlock,

a former spa town in Derbyshire,

set in the rolling hills and deep valleys

on the edge of the Peak District.

The town is unsurprisingly popular

with cyclists and walkers,

although that means getting to the auction lot is quite a hike.

But once you get to the top of the hill,

all can be forgiven when you look around.

What a picturesque setting.

Lots of cutesy stone cottages everywhere.

But I'm not here to look at a house. Oh, no.

I'm here to see something that

had a guide price for £125,000

and it was last used as...

..dun dun duh...

..a hotel!

Let's see if it makes for a pleasant stay tonight.

The lot Lucy is looking at is

the bit on the right-hand side of this huge building.

While there is a lot of character,

any guest reviews might be likely to focus on

its rather unfinished state.

Well, this is certainly no luxury hotel,

as it stands at the moment.

Goodness gracious, look at what we have here!

So, there are no floors above,

take a look at that.

You can see the first floor.

Very interesting indeed.

Gosh. I mean, structurally, there's all sorts of things going on here.

I know this was originally the ballroom,

and you can see over here,

look, that this was the bar.

It's even got an old menu.

Mmm, I think I'll have the chicken, prawn, curry and rice, please.

So you can sort of get a feel of what it was like

many, many moons ago.

But there is so much work you need to do here.

It really just smells damp.

I think I'm right in saying

this is no five-star luxury residence.

Even four star.

Even three, two, or one star.

In fact, it is just a building site.

At the moment, it is something of a heartbroken hotel.

With the emphasis on broken.

But the only way to know its true potential

is to get checked into the hotel

and check it out.

# I'm sitting here

# In this hotel

# Nothing around

# Except the smell... #

There are five levels here.

The ground floor we saw has a lot of space,

being the former ballroom,

and has a cellar and kitchen attached.

The first floor was once

two dining rooms, offices,

and a lounge.

While the second floor has

seven bedrooms,

and even more square footage.

The two top floors house more bedrooms,

which are in a better state with

more work having been carried out.

But it's clear it's all badly in need of room service.

There's no water, electricity or gas connected.

However, this auction lot

gets five stars from Lucy

on one aspect.

You can renovate a dilapidated property,

but you can't change it where it is.

Just have a look over here.

Look at that stunning view of the Derwent Valley.

It's just beautiful.

Whether you're going to holiday or live here...

..that really is a selling feature.

And why stay a few nights when

you could wake up every morning to that?

Permanent living accommodation could be the best option.

Previous successful planning applications

to turn this into flats makes sense.

We've asked an agent from the auction house, who sold it,

to tell us more.

Some way back in time, I think it was approximately 12 years ago,

there was an application to convert this into a number of apartments.

I think that application has now lapsed, although work has started.

There is an opportunity, I think, to revisit that application.

I don't think it would be a good idea

to consider reopening it as a hotel.

I think the market now is somewhat limited

and people want something different really when they go on holiday.

I think that the potential for a successful planning application is

very favourable here.

I think the local planners would certainly look at that

and view that in a good light.

They would want to see this property brought back into use.

I think the best thing to do with it

would be to divide it into apartments

and the logical way of dividing the space that we have here is

to convert it into four residential apartments.

There's plenty of work that needs to be done,

but for a lot guided at £125,000

with a planning precedent for residential conversion,

this could be good value.

If you could get planning permission,

what sort of sales and rental figures

might those four flats attract?

Each one would have two bedrooms and

I believe that each one

would achieve somewhere in the region of £170,000.

If this was converted into four apartments,

I would suggest that each one

would rent approximately £600 per calendar month.

What a fantastic opportunity this could be for someone.

Yes, there's a lot of work to do here

but there is just so much potential.

And as far as settings go,

you don't really get much better than this.

I can't wait to see the transformation of this hotel,

whatever form that might take.

Let's see who agreed when we went to auction.

Staying in Matlock,

in a stunning location

with wide open-views over the town and the valley.

130.

125 to start me, then.

125, a lot of property for the money.

125, who's got 120,000?

Here we are, thank you, £120,000.

The bidding got off to a slow start,

but soon it became a battle between two sets of bidders.

We rejoin at £124,000.

124, it's a great opportunity.

At £124,000,

for the first time...

..at a... 125, thank you.

125, 126?

126, 127?

127.

127, 128?

128, 129?

129.

One more, 130?

130.

131.

132?

132 is bid. 133?

134?

£133,000 for the first time.

£133,000 for the second time.

Third and last opportunity. All done with it?

It's gone, it's yours, sir, thank you.

133,000.

At 133,000, Mark and Kate were new owners of the hotel.

Currently living in Loughborough,

Mark is a builder and

Kate is a professional line dancing choreographer.

Hopefully, with their new purchase,

it will be two steps forward and no steps back.

-Guys, congratulations.

-Thank you.

What I want to know is, when you saw this property for the first time...

Now, I know you've got a building background. Weren't you put off?

Most people would have been put off with this.

No, not put off at all.

We wanted a project, something that he could get his teeth into.

And we wanted to sell up where we were and downsize,

so we ended up with the hotel.

Ended up with a hotel!

Yeah, I was just as excited as Mark,

to go along and get, you know, a project like this.

The two of them certainly have a challenge.

Currently their architect is working on plans

to convert the building into three or four apartments.

So, what are they going to do with them?

It would be ideal to have one for ourselves to live in.

Maybe one to sell, to release some money for another project.

And, possibility,

one or two apartments for...

We were saying to rent out,

but it's a great place for holiday lets,

because it's a great place here

for tourism and walkers.

So maybe we could go down that line.

So, where do you start with something like this?

In a caravan.

Are you going to be living in a caravan while you're doing this?

Seriously, guys?

-Well...

-Well, if our house is sold,

the people want to move in by the end of the month...

You've seen the property.

There's nowhere to live at the moment.

There's no gas, no electric, no water.

We've got no means here, whatsoever.

So all that takes a long time, anyway.

It takes weeks to get everything in.

So, caravan, here we come!

# Well, I'm going to find a home on wheels

# See how it feels

# Going mobile

# Keep me moving... #

But the caravan does mean Mark will always be on site

and he's planning to do most of the work himself,

while Kate tours the world line dancing.

With the amount of work here,

I know who has the better deal.

Provided they get the architect's plans approved,

what do they plan for the flats?

Well, because of the views, the amazing views,

and it's a real suntrap this side of the valley,

we want to take the whole front of the building at least 12 foot back

and build a big terrace balcony.

So the front area will be the living room

with all glass, hopefully, frontage

with the views as well.

I think, an idea of the bedroom to come on the front as well,

with a little terrace coming onto the balcony there as well.

Oh, my gosh, so it really will be spectacular.

Yeah, well, we're hoping.

I just want a rocking chair at the front.

Kate's certainly committed to the Western theme,

but the caravan might be

home on the range for a while.

Mark thinks the project will take

18 months to create these four two-bedroom apartments.

So talk to me about the money situation.

Well, what I intend to spend on this property, I'd say between...

It depends if we get three straightforward apartments.

I's say between 160,000 and 200,000

is what I intend to spend on it.

Structurally, it's a very sound building.

There's a lot of expensive work already been done to the property.

Mark, what are you most worried about with this project?

I don't think it's so much the building.

I think it's where I'm going to be sleeping.

-You're more worried about the caravan?

-Yeah.

Oh, look, I love looking at the big smiles on your faces.

You both look so happy,

I'm so excited at this stage.

And hopefully, you do get four apartments here.

-Thank you.

-Guys, congratulations.

-Thank you, Lucy.

-Kate, well done.

Mark, thank you.

Thank you, Lucy.

So Mark and Kate have their architect on board

and they're ready and raring to go.

Now, I love their excitement,

but this is a huge project for them to tackle,

and as far as caravan living goes,

I don't think they're too keen on that.

Join me later in the programme

and you can see if they've both

still got smiles on their faces.

Coming up,

it's nice to see some old-school features still remain

at this house in Stoke...

Here, in the plasterware, there,

really, really pretty.

But installing the supporting steel at this hotel

without a crane meant Mark had to go...

Back to the old times.

Time now for a trip back to Port Sunlight in Merseyside,

where I saw a very characterful end cottage

that had a big garden and some very nice features inside.

Although, I wasn't completely sold on the layout.

I'm thinking, is there any way you can configure

this kitchen, the pantry and that dining room

into a nice family area maybe?

It is a bit old-fashioned,

but I'm liking it.

It really was a lovely cottage

and was easy to see why

Rose and her husband Jeff

spent £147,000 on it at auction.

They both met whilst working

at the very company that originally built

Port Sunlight to accommodate

its workers in the local soap factory.

Jeff worked across the pond in America,

but has since moved to the UK

and this cottage was to become their new home.

I got to visit here quite a bit through work,

so getting to see the village, it's just, it just draws you in.

So we started looking around, seeing what properties were available.

And then this one came up for auction,

and it just made too much sense.

And not many of them come up for sale,

and particularly not ones with a big garden.

So, for us, it was the garden because we've got some dogs.

They planned on moving the kitchen

and generally updating the house in just six months.

But as the house is Grade II listed

and in a conservation area,

planning permission and various consents

meant it's taken quite a bit

longer than they'd first hoped,

because we are heading back two years later,

to see how Rose and Jeff have got on.

# Look at where we are

# Remember where we started out

# Never going to be without each other's love again

# Look at where we are... #

Moving the kitchen in here has really worked well.

The old kitchen has become another living area.

It has a utility room and a toilet where the former pantry was.

Downstairs, the walls have been lined

and freshly decorated throughout in neutral colours.

And they have kept some of the character features that

were here originally.

The stairs have been stripped back to the original wood and they lead

to the three bedrooms,

which, like the rest of the house,

have been tastefully decorated.

As the house is in a conservation area,

planning permission was required to move the boiler upstairs,

as the flume would be seen from the outside.

# Look at where we are

# Remember where we started out

# Never going to be without each other's love again

# Look at where we are... #

Finally, the bathroom pretty much remained as was.

But it's got a new toilet and a new sink.

Now the work is complete,

Jeff and Rose can relax

and enjoy living in their house along with their two dogs

Luna and Claude.

It's certainly a fetching house,

but it's taken rather a long time to get here.

So in terms of timing,

we originally thought it would take us about six months.

We made the mistake of moving in while we were doing the renovations,

and that certainly slowed us down.

In addition to that, with the planning permissions,

along with a few other things,

it's really slowed us down a bit.

We actually had to do a lot of work on the upstairs ceilings,

so they weren't structurally sound,

which meant they had to come down.

But what we didn't realise, until we started doing some work,

is that actually it was lime plaster,

which is more complicated than we were hoping.

Because we had to replace like for like,

because it's a listed building.

So, it took us a while to find someone who was

skilled in doing lime plastering.

So it did kind of slow down some of the other jobs we wanted to do,

because of the demo and the dust.

Almost two years after they purchased the property,

and there has been some ups and downs as they've been renovating,

while living in it.

This can mean it's the simple pleasures

that feel like the biggest victories.

So if I had to pick the happiest day of this renovation,

it was when the combi boiler was installed, because the next morning

was the first morning since

we've lived in this house where I actually had a hot shower.

-That was heaven.

-That was,

that was the day that changed the entire thing for me.

Jeff and Rose can shower themselves in praise

for a great job they've done

in changing the layout downstairs.

The kitchen is much improved

and Rose's perseverance meant they were able

to pretty much stick to that ten-grand budget.

They only went over by a grand.

I wanted a traditional kind of Shaker wooden kitchen.

But we didn't have the budget to go for a new one.

So I spent ages looking for one second-hand on the internet.

But eventually, we found something

and we managed to fit it ourselves.

So all we have to do now is give it a sand and a paint.

But there is a bit of a debate about what colour we go for.

Then I'll keep my nose out

and I won't suggest a colour.

But between them, they've done a great job

and a lot of the work themselves.

They are quite the team.

We've got different skills.

So he's, like, the strength, he's, like, the muscle.

And I cut tiles.

You're a tile cutter, great painter.

His attention to detail, like,

he goes in, like, with force and, like...

And then kind of, like, the finish might not be great,

whereas I'm really slow, but hopefully I get a good finish.

Time to see if the finishing touches

they've put on the property will

impress two local estate agents.

We've asked them along to get their thoughts on this property.

The finish is absolutely superb.

It's higher than normal.

I also like the space of the property.

It's different because it's got two reception rooms,

which is quite rare in Port Sunlight Village,

plus the added benefit of a south-facing garden as well.

So, as regards to the layout changes,

I think they've made really good choices.

They've expanded the area for a kitchen,

it's made it a really workable kitchen, and off the kitchen, then,

you've got a nice little breakfast room, utilities-type space.

Which is really, you know, the right way for a family to be living.

So it's a thumbs-up from the estate agents.

But has their total of £158,000 investment been worth it?

With the finish on this property,

I would expect to market this property

for £180,000.

OK, as regards what the property would achieve,

if it was on the open market now,

I believe a figure of around about

185,000 would be reasonably fair.

-Oh, that's really good.

-Yeah.

I think we were thinking that we were going to kind of break even.

We didn't really go into it for the money, we kind of like the house,

we like the garden, and we could see the potential, so,

if we make a bit of profit, then that's really good.

So, as an investment, I think we actually

did much better than what we were planning for.

To be honest, I'm just quite happy we didn't lose money,

because there were a number of days

where we lost a little bit of sleep wondering if we did the right thing.

I don't think there's any need to lose any more sleep.

The hard work has paid off.

They have a lovely home and added £27,000 value to the home

based on that £185,000 evaluation.

But I'm sure it's not going to be on the sales market any time soon.

But what are they looking forward to most about living here?

I don't know if there's the right word in the English language

that would describe how I feel right now that we're just about complete,

but I'm very happy that we are done, or nearly done.

I'm looking forward to a little bit of relaxing.

Having a lie-in,

watching some morning TV,

that kind of thing would suit us really nicely.

Well, hopefully, Jeff and Rose

and, of course, Claude and Luna

are enjoying this episode of Homes Under The Hammer

and having a well-deserved lie-in.

In the mid-1800s,

the North Staffordshire Railway Company,

nicknamed the Naughty by the locals,

was instrumental to the success

of the pottery industry in the area.

Just over a hundred years later, in the 1950s and '60s,

railway lines were closing,

but the railway was immortalised

in the play titled The Naughty,

which was first performed at the

New Vic Theatre in Stoke in 1966.

Could today's property have us boarding the gravy train?

Well, on a fairly busy main road,

but only a mile or so from Stoke's main railway station,

is the property I'm here to see.

Two-bed mid-terrace,

guide price £49,000-plus.

Let's have a look.

By the way, that plus means a reserve

has been set above the guide price,

but do bear in mind a reserve can be changed.

Still, anything in the region of 49,000 quid should be good value.

What do you get for your money?

Well, actually, it's looking pretty good so far.

There's a few features straight away hinting that this is maybe a house

that was just at the lower end

of the property scale when it was built.

Look, some nice features here in the plasterwork there,

really, really pretty.

So what have we got? Front living room, which is, er,

has got some interesting decoration.

But it's a nice-sized space,

and it doesn't smell damp,

which is good news. Stairs up to your bedrooms there,

and then through into your rear sitting room.

Very traditional rear sitting room.

Some open fires could be made here,

hoping that'll make a real feature in here.

And then through to, again,

a classic thing that was done

over the years to these kinds of properties,

this bit added on at the back.

A single-storey extension,

which houses the kitchen here,

and then through there to the

only bathroom and loo in the property.

But for these kinds of properties, it's almost expected.

And I reckon...

..as far as I can see,

this is one of those really good auction finds.

# You're quite a catch

# You're quite a find... #

Well, at the back of the property,

very traditional little courtyard area.

You can see here that the house at the back there looks to be in pretty

reasonable condition and that this extension,

which houses the loo and the kitchen,

the single-storey addition added on at some point.

You know, there's not a lot of space,

there's a little sort of sheddy thing,

like a brick-built shed at the back there, this little area here.

For a family house, perhaps not ideal.

However, if you are looking at renting this out,

less space equals less maintenance which equals good news.

# Well, I can tell you for the money

# The simple life, honey, is good

# Uh-huh now

# Yes, it's good... #

So, for a quick and easy rental, this could be the way to go.

But what if you wanted to try

and get a bit more money out of this property?

So, upstairs,

and a pretty decent-sized bedroom on the front of the property,

and an equal-sized bedroom on the back,

two good-sized rooms.

So would you potentially bring that bathroom up here?

I don't think so.

I don't know if there's really any need.

I'm thinking a little bit more laterally.

Bearing in mind we're quite close to a university,

and an easy distance to the centre of Stoke and all that stuff,

I wonder if there's a market to rent these out as individual rooms.

In which case, three rooms,

one downstairs, two bedrooms,

that's three rooms, and you'd still have a really nice living room

and kitchen area.

So a lot more admin,

possibly some more void periods,

but, hm...interesting.

# Something infinitely interesting... #

It's also interesting to note that, if you do want to turn this into a

house of multiple occupancy,

you'd need to check with your local council when it comes to

the conditions for a licence.

Let's see if an agent from the auction house that sold it

thinks it could work in this area.

The good points of the property is it's a decent size.

There's also two reception rooms,

which does give the possibility of letting the property

as three individual rooms, maybe to students,

which would give an income in the region of

£70 per week per room,

depending on the type of tenant.

That could mean an income of £840 per month.

But you would probably have to factor in some void periods.

So what if you went for a more stable income

and rented the property out

as a two-bedroomed house?

I would anticipate a rental income in the region of

£450 per calendar month.

That is almost half the money,

but it is still a good return for half the hassle,

if you could get it anywhere near

that £49,000-plus guide price.

Finally, what about the sales figures?

Once renovated,

I would place this property on the market in the region of £80,000.

Well, sometimes it is hard for little terraces like this

to differentiate themselves from similar properties

and yet this one really seems to manage it.

I don't know what it is about it, but I really like it.

And for anything like that guide price, a great one to go for.

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

Guide at 49.

Can I say 45 to start?

45 to get it going.

45 bid, thank you.

At £45,000.

46 can I see now?

At 45, 46.

47.

48.

49, 50. 51.

Half, you are saying. 50.5.

51.

51.5.

52.

Back in?

No? At 52 on my left.

On the back wall. 52.5.

53, sir?

No? At 52.5 on the back wall, then.

£52,500.

All done now? 52,500 once, then.

Got you at 53. 53.5.

No? At 53.5.

Still on the back wall, then.

53,500 once, then.

53,500 twice.

Third and final time at £53,500.

54...

..and a half.

Sure? OK.

54 once.

54 twice. Third and final time.

£54,500 to you, sir, sold.

The successful bid was made by

Chris and his wife Vanessa.

They managed to secure this house for 54,500,

which was pretty close to that £49,000-plus guide price.

Chris came along to tell me

what they have planned for this terraced property.

Chris, good to meet you.

-Good to meet you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Tell me why you wanted to buy this house.

It ticked the boxes that we were after in a property.

I am quite happy with it.

So what do you do when you are not doing this?

-I'm a plumber by trade.

-Oh, OK, plumber?

-Yeah...

-That is useful.

..which will be certainly useful when it comes down to renovating.

But we do get a lot of other people in to give us a hand.

Gas, electric and things like that.

Have you done anything like this before?

We've done one other property, full refurb...

-OK.

-..on another house that we own.

And then really it has been projects for customers.

You know, sizeable projects where it started down the line of,

"Maybe we should do this for ourselves."

Yeah, definitely.

So what have you bought it for? What is the reason?

Well, we're looking to rent it

to start with.

But it is one of potentially three that we want to sort of

-pass on to the kids...

-Oh, great.

..as they get older and perhaps move out.

Right. How old are your children?

I've got one at 13 - me son's 13 -

two daughters, seven and four.

Oh, wow. So a while before your four-year-old must get out.

Yeah, we've got a bit of time.

Yeah, I'm starting to panic about the 13-year-old.

Great. So is that sort of forward thinking about, you know,

the fact that, when they come to need a house,

the house prices will have gone up?

Yeah, well, I mean, looking back

when we got on the ladder,

it was quite difficult and quite strenuous

and it is only going to get worse.

We just thought, "Well, it will benefit us in the short term,

-"and them in the long term."

-Brilliant.

Long-term thinking is good when it comes to property and children.

It is good that Ethan,

Matilda and little Olivia

will have a stake in the future, while Mum and Dad

can take an income from the rental in the meantime

and, of course, it will be home for someone for a while to come.

But before it becomes a home to anyone,

Chris will have to get back down to work.

Now, what is his plumber's view on the downstairs bathroom scenario?

Any thoughts about trying to change that position,

or is it too much trouble?

Yeah, not in the short-term with, obviously,

drains and things where they are.

A lot of terraced houses are set up like this.

-Yeah.

-So it is probably more the fact that we will leave it as it is.

It has been mentioned, but I think, from a cost perspective, we will

probably leave the layout...

Leave it as it is. So what are you planning to do exactly?

It will be a full rewire.

There is no central heating in,

so it will be a full central heating system put in.

New kitchen, new bathroom, and then fully decorated all through.

OK, and how much of that can you do?

Well, the electrician will come in and do the electrics.

I've got a friend of mine who does gas,

so he will come and sort all that.

And the rest, really, we will probably do ourselves.

OK, good to save a bit of cost.

So what is the budget for that?

Between eight and ten.

But I am pretty confident

-it will be closer to eight.

-Right.

Just because of how much we will be doing ourselves.

So you got it for what I think is quite a good price.

What did you think about that?

Over the moon.

Over the moon with the price.

We were willing to go quite a bit more.

How much more?

Between 60 and 65.

Right. So if you were willing to go 65 and paid 54,500, was it?

-Yeah.

-So if you are adding say ten for doing renovations, it is almost

like you got the renovation for free.

Yeah! So that would have been...

-Yeah, it is good.

-Great.

What is the timescale for your work?

Juggling this and working as well,

so we don't want to put too much pressure on it.

So we're looking at six months.

If we could get it turned around, that would be great.

-But if work is busy, then obviously that takes priority.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Well, listen, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Good luck with it.

-Yeah, it should be fun.

-We will see how you go.

-Thanks very much.

So, Chris, getting the property to provide income in the short term,

but somewhere for his growing family in the long term.

What a great strategy.

And a lovely house.

I think he got it at a really good price.

How will he get on sorting it out?

You can find out later in the show.

Earlier, we saw what happened to the first property.

But what about the other two?

Yes, have there been major transformations,

or just a few minor tweaks?

Let's go back and find out.

Time to ramble through the beautiful countryside of the Peak District

to the town of Matlock,

where Lucy saw this dilapidated hotel.

I think I am right in saying this is no five star.

In fact, it is just a building site.

# Cos she's a hotel detective

# A little hotel detective... #

And more investigations from Lucy suggested that not only was this

125,000-guided property lacking running water and gas,

it was unlikely to be receiving guests any time soon.

That is until Kate and Mark came along,

drawn in by the amazing views.

They wanted to make their home here

and convert the other floors into holiday lets.

So where do you start with something like this?

In a caravan.

Sacrifices would have to be made for their

£133,000 purchase,

including their living arrangements,

as Mark and Kate hoped they would

have their dream home and three other flats

in 18 months on a tight, maximum £200,000 budget.

Costed as such as builder by trade Mark

would be doing nearly all the work himself.

# She said where do you want to go?

# How much you want to risk...? #

It is nearly three years later,

and immediately it looks so much better,

and I can see a fabulous balcony.

So what is inside?

# I want something just like this

# I want something just like this... #

It is a staggering transformation.

There is so much to take in,

and not just those views that

Mark and Kate have made such a feature.

At the top is a plush studio apartment

that feels cosy but not cramped.

Heading downstairs,

we find a two-bed apartment,

mirrored by an identical one on the floor below.

With en suite bedrooms

and modern, open-plan kitchens,

they are spacious and bright.

# I want something just like this... #

And there are some clever touches,

like incorporating York stone

that Mark unearthed in the basement.

The ground floor will be Mark and Kate's

glorious four-bedroom apartment,

but it is still under construction, as is the basement,

which will be a garage and workshop.

It has been a massive undertaking,

and it has taken a lot longer than the original 18-month timescale.

We put in for planning permission, so it went to committee,

then we had to wait again for it to go to committee.

So that pushed us back, timewise, again.

So you're talking probably nearly six months of waiting.

Once it was accepted,

then we had to find a good architect.

Then, once we got together what we wanted,

we had to then go back to the council

and we had to submit all the materials

that we wanted to use in the project.

We are now, I would say, in our third year.

Six to eight months down the line,

I think we will pretty much have it finished.

Once the planning was approved,

Mark's hard work could begin.

For a whole year,

every week, all I heard was,

"I'm just bringing in a new steel."

-For a whole year.

-Yeah, there's, er...

I mean, two of the steels,

I think weighed two-thirds of a tonne each,

at the bottom of the building.

And no cranes.

It is sort of like back to the old times.

With the structure secure,

there was still a lot more to do.

We didn't have any services to the property,

so we have had to pay a lot of the money to get the services,

water, gas, electric.

We had to have sound engineers come in and all the apartments have been

totally acoustic and fireproofed, fire doors,

and the budget went up from what we initially thought.

So how much has it pushed their maximum 200 grand up by?

I think, at the moment, we have spent about...

..255,000.

So we have gone over the budget, but we still know it is worth it.

The figure is a good figure because

I have done a lot of the work myself,

which has kept the costs right down.

Not a bad overspend, considering the quality and craft

Mark has brought to this property.

But how was the comfort of caravan living?

We were fortunate,

we didn't have to live in a caravan.

My parents were really kind.

My parents live in Nottingham and they have a spare room.

So that was brilliant.

We had somewhere to live.

The downside of it was Mark had to commute from

Nottingham every day and every night,

and that was a long, long day.

He was getting up at six and not returning till

about eight o'clock every night for a couple of years.

I feel I have accomplished something.

I have really enjoyed taking it on, actually

although it has been very hard along the way.

So, hopefully, we will get the rewards from it.

To find out what those rewards might be,

we asked along a local property expert

and the auctioneer who sold

this hotel almost three years ago.

This is the first time I have been in the property,

whilst I did sell it by auction three years ago.

So first impressions today are,

I think it is a wonderful place.

Very, very large.

And the scheme of conversion

that has been undertaken really is

very appropriate for the property.

I think they have done a fabulous job of the finish, I really do.

Everything they've done is tasteful.

They have used great imagination and obviously taken on board

professional advice at various different stages.

Mark and Kate have invested £388,000 to date,

and the agents seem impressed how

they have transformed this former hotel

into modern, good-quality holiday properties.

Of course, this is a seasonal business,

but what kind of rentals could they expect?

In the low season, the holiday lets market,

I would expect the studio apartment to get

£200 per week.

In the high season,

probably £600 per week.

The two-bed apartment would rent out for

£250 per week in the low season

and as much as £800 per week in the high season.

-Wow.

-It is a massive change.

Yeah. Yeah.

I know it is a hard business, doing holiday rental,

I've heard this,

but obviously the price justifies the hard work you put into doing the

kind of business like that.

An average across the season could see them make up to 20% yield.

And while it is tricky to value the building with so much

still needing to be done,

they had an independent valuation indicating the building

could be worth up to 800,000.

A lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of effort.

But the valuations that you have told us today

make it all worthwhile

and we're still very happy with the property

and very happy with the location.

So I am just very much looking forward to the future with it.

We find ourselves back in Staffordshire now,

and the town of Stoke-on-Trent.

It was in potters' country that

we found this mid-terrace two-bed property

that had a guide price of £49,000-plus.

Despite being dated on the inside,

it had good proportions and nice period features.

Plus, it was just one mile from the train station

and walking distance to the local university.

So immediately I could see loads of potential either

as an HMO or as a straight rental.

This is one of those really good auction finds.

# Hey, good looking... #

It eventually went for £54,500

to husband-and-wife team

Chris and Vanessa.

£54,500 to you, sir, sold.

It was plumber Chris who met

me back of the property to tell me the rather

brilliant reason he and his wife had bought the house.

It is one of potentially three that we want to

-sort of pass on to the kids...

-Oh, great.

..as they get older and perhaps move out.

Right. How old are your children?

I've got one at 13 - me son's 13 -

two daughters, seven and four.

Oh, wow, so a while before the four-year-old must get out.

Yeah, we've got a bit of time.

Yeah, I'm starting to panic about the 13-year-old.

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

Well, until young Ethan is ready to move in,

this house will be rented out.

His parents plan to carry out a full renovation

and all for a budget of £8,000 to £10,000

and a rough timescale of six months.

So here we are, almost a year-and-a-half later,

to see if the potential of this property has been realised.

Wow. Rewired,

replastered,

repainted, reborn!

It is one of those properties unrecognisable

from what it was before.

The new kitchen has a lowered ceiling

to allow for its modern spotlighting

and the new bathroom is clean and contemporary.

Ideal for renters.

I like the features in this place

and I'm glad to see Chris and Vanessa

have embraced a particularly nice find, the Minton tiles.

These are lovely and their history stems right from here in Stoke

where Minton was a popular ceramics company.

We just wanted to really keep those traditional features but also give

it a nice, modern look as well.

And I think we have combined the two.

Upstairs and the good work continues,

especially in the master bedroom,

where they have squeezed in an en-suite toilet,

excellent use of space,

and a proper little bonus for a property like this.

Not only was this project done for the family, but also by the family,

with both Chris and Vanessa mucking in to get the job done.

Working together has been really good, to be honest.

Vanessa was really enthusiastic about

getting fully-blown hands-on.

I think that was the thing for me, I wanted to learn

and understand.

Understand what actually went on,

because I don't think people realise

actually what goes on behind the scenes.

So, for me, it has been a huge learning curve, but a very good one.

I don't think we have had any arguments...

We have had one or two.

..until last week.

Well, if you only have one or two ding-dongs,

you're doing pretty well.

The project took almost three times

the original timescale of six months,

thanks in part to Chris taking on full-time work

and, unfortunately, for a rather sadder reason.

One of the reasons we got into property in the first place was the

influence of my dad.

He wanted us to get into the investment property.

Unfortunately, he did pass away during the renovation of the house.

But during the process of the renovation,

I would send him the odd picture to show him what I had been doing

and I know he was very proud then and I'm sure he is very proud now.

I am certain of it.

This is a lovely house with real care and attention put into it.

However, let's talk money.

How is that £8,000 to £10,000 budget looking now?

We spent probably somewhere in the region,

just under 12,000 on the renovation.

One of the reasons obviously we have gone over the budget is

because we've decided to do the windows because, ultimately,

if we didn't do the windows now,

the windows would have had to be done

in say 18 months' to two years' time.

So we would have had to take the windows out

and then replastered again around the windows.

So it just made sense to do it all now.

So one of the reasons we went over the budget.

With a total investment in the region of 67,000,

and the couple keen to rent,

it is time to find out the opinions

of two local estate agents.

First, let's hear from the agent who saw it last time.

First impressions of the property is

that it is a very good finish,

good-quality bathroom,

good-quality kitchen.

And really, he's made the most use of the available space.

It is the whole package.

A very, very impressive new bathroom

with separate shower,

impressive kitchen.

It has been done completely all the way through,

and that is the selling point of this property.

Impressed, then.

But will it reflect in their valuations?

If we were to place this property on the market,

I would be looking at an asking price of £90,000.

I would place the property for resale purposes

in the region of £90,000.

Very happy with that.

That is more than we originally thought.

We were probably thinking more around £80,000.

So, yeah, we would be very happy with 90.

That would mean a pre-tax profit of 23,500.

However, it is the rental the couple are interested in now.

I would anticipate rental income in the region of

£450 to £470 per calendar month.

Looking at the rental market,

an appropriate figure would be

£475 per calendar month.

Yeah, we would be happy with...

Around the 450 mark.

-That is good, I think.

-Yeah,