Episode 53 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show.

Now, at property auctions, we meet all sorts of people,

from first-time buyers to those investors

-looking to expand their rental portfolio.

-Yes,

one reason why the auctions attract so many people is the variety

-that's on offer.

-Yes,

but you've got to keep your cool when you look at the catalogue.

Don't get carried away.

Oh, no, cardinal sin,

when you buy your home under the hammer.

For many people, buying a property is a nerve-racking

-and important part of their lives.

-Yes,

but you can limit the stress

by deciding exactly what you're looking for

and then researching so you make sure you get it.

Did the buyers on today's show make the right moves?

Let's find out what they bought.

Find out if you can guess what type of property I'm in in Wolverhampton.

It's not an apartment, and it's not a flat.

There are plenty of surprises at this house in the Welsh valleys.

Black mould, exposed ceiling,

a cacophony of problems.

And at this house in Kent, I make a discovery that's not good news.

That's a bit like Japanese knotweed.

That would be serious.

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

bought them and what they paid

for them when they went under the hammer.

This is the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands.

The statue known locally as "the man on the 'oss"

is actually of Prince Albert.

Its sculptor, Thomas Thornycroft,

made a mistake in the horse's statue.

I know. It's shocking, isn't it?

Anyway, enough horsing around.

Let's get to our property.

I'm in Penfield, not far from Wolverhampton town centre.

And I'm here to see a corner property

which has a guide price of 29-£34,000,

and it's been split up into three separate flats.

And here it is. Now, as I look around,

I can't see any others that look like this one.

No prizes for guessing it was a corner shop,

but it also includes a ground floor flat,

one above and a small garden area that is rammed full of rubbish.

Time to look inside the shop part.

But it's not a shop any more.

And I'll tell you what else it's not.

It's not an apartment, and it's not a flat.

Right, bear with me.

You've got a...

And you've got somewhere to...

Good work. You're correct. It's a bedsit.

I've seen bedsits a lot smaller than this.

You've got your sleeping area there.

You've got a lounge area with your TV

and your kitchen over there.

And bang in the corner, you've got a shower room and toilet.

It's not in great condition.

It needs a fair bit of money spent on it to bring it back up to modern

living. Properties like this are in demand,

especially for single people and especially,

close to the town centre and city centre.

So if you get something like this right,

I think it's going to be money well spent.

Getting it right means taking on the rights and obligations

from the original landlord.

Two of the three flats are currently let, unassured short hold tenancies.

That usually means the rental agreement is for six or 12 months.

As landlord, you are responsible for not only the property's structure,

but an annual gas safety certificate,

as well as the electrical repairs.

The second unit on the ground floor

is in need of more work than the first.

This responsibility isn't something you can just ignore.

The repair bill here will also be hard to ignore.

Right, in the flat upstairs

there's a bathroom just round the corner and a kitchen,

which is bigger than I was expecting, to be honest with you.

This whole flat is double the size of the two downstairs,

so there's a bit of space up here.

There's a lot of windows along this hallway.

Then you get to the bedroom.

It does again need to be painted and freshened up,

but I can see central heating in this building, as well.

And as we go further down into the living room,

really freshen this place up, give it a new lease of life.

But I do feel you could create a really nice one-bed flat up here.

Fingers crossed that, as usual,

our local property expert will turn up and...

# Take a look around... #

Indeed, he has,

which is good because I'd like to know about the local area and

if leaving this as three rental units is the only way to go.

The area itself,

it's currently going through a little bit of a renaissance,

where people are tending to buy the properties

and modernise them

and turn them into flatted accommodation

or bedsit accommodation,

much like this particular property is.

I would say that anybody who is a sort of self-respecting landlord

would probably take this property

and grab it by the scruff of the neck and

shake it back down to the brick, uh,

and refurbish it.

I don't think there's anything radically wrong with the size of it

and the way it's been converted.

It's just that everything here is now very,

very tired and wants some work doing to it.

This property was guided at 29-£34,000

and needs heaps of work.

So, once sorted out, what kind of rental could it achieve?

First, the two bedsits.

They would realise in the region of 375-£400

per calendar month.

And the one-bedroom flatlet here

would probably command in the region of

450, maybe £475 per calendar month.

That would be a combined yearly return of £15,300 -

not bad at all if you can get it for anywhere near that guide price

and sort out those issues inside.

Let's see who fancied a challenge when it went under the hammer.

Freehold residential investment,

current gross income of £14,400 per annum

from the three units there.

How much for that? Can I ask 40,000 to start?

For £14,400 worth of income.

£40,000.

Thank you, sir. 40,000, I'm bid.

45, can I have?

Your bid, sir, at 40. 45, can I have?

Somebody must jump in at 45, surely?

45, thank you.

50, I'll come back to you, sir.

50. 55 in the middle?

With this great investment potential,

there were plenty of interested bidders in this lot.

We rejoin at £81,000.

81,000 for the first, second and third time.

Just in time.

Can I say 82, sir?

82, sir. 82.

83, sir, at the back?

83 bid. 84, sir?

84 bid. 85 bid.

Sir? I've got 84, with the fresh bidder.

85 now. At £84,000 for the first...

Yes, it's your bid, 773.

At £84,000 for the first time, second time...

Are you all done? At £84,000...

Number 773, sir.

-Thank you all.

-The purchaser of this lot,

paying 84 grand, was Daldar.

He's been in property for over ten years and has a rental portfolio

to which he's going to add these three units.

I was keen to find out what his plans were

and how he was going to turn this place around.

-Dal, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations, sir.

-Thank you.

-So, what made you say, "I really want this one?"

I normally deal with sort of blocks of flats and things,

which I purchase off the auction,

but prior to auctions, I can do a deal first.

OK. Did you view this one?

I did view this, in the evening. But I didn't see most of it.

I could get into this one. But I couldn't get into the back one.

-OK.

-So... That's the only one I've seen, really.

OK. And it was enough to make you go...

It was, yeah. It's nothing serious, you know.

-It's nothing I can't do.

-So, how do you start on a project like this?

In your situation, your experience, you've done it before many times...

-Yeah.

-What are you going to do to turn this round,

to make people want to rent this place out?

This will be gutted to the bricks,

to the joists,

and we'll start again with electrics.

Plaster.

Kitchens, bathrooms.

New floorings. New furnishings... everything.

-Everything'll be done.

-Everything'll be done.

It'll be a brand-new property.

So, what about out the back?

Talk to me, how are you going to sort that one out?

That one... When the builders are here, that will be all cleared for the time, there.

And all the demolished buildings that are falling down,

they'll be repaired or taken down.

You're looking at about 2-3 skips out the back, really, with all that

-rubbish out there.

-Are you going to get involved, or...?

I will be on-site, yes.

I've got a team of lads who come in and gut it all out and put it

back together. I'll probably supply the kitchens, get the...

Pick up the things what I need to pick up.

OK. And they'll put it all in for you? Install everything for you?

-Yes.

-How much are they going to cost you?

What's your budget for this whole project?

That's a question, that is, now, isn't it?!

I've set aside roughly about 25,000...

-OK.

-..to do the project.

-What kind of yield are you expecting?

I'm thinking in the back of my mind, maybe 12, 12.5.

-Percent.

-OK. What makes you sort of confident in that?

Well, if I can get like...

..sort of 400, 450, for the top one...

-Yes.

-Two 400s, 1,250 per month for the three flats.

-OK.

-So that's what I'm thinking of.

And then £15,000 per year...

-OK.

-So about 12, 12.5%?

-Depends.

-That's not bad maths, by the way!

-That was quick.

-Thank you!

-And what about your timescale, then?

-Er...

Probably 4-6 weeks.

I'll say six weeks. It's a big project because it's going to...

Once we start taking stuff down,

-we don't know what we're going to come across, either.

-Uh-huh.

So... You know, joists might need changing here,

tiles might need changing there...

-So as we're going along, we'll repair everything that needs to be repaired.

-OK, so when you stick your

-men in here, will this be the only job they're working on?

-Yeah.

-Or have you got the stuff you're working on at the moment?

-No,

this'll be the only job that team will be working on.

Daldar may of course have to work

around or find alternative accommodation for

the current tenants while the work is carried out.

This may have an impact on his timescale.

But by the time the work is done,

I'm sure anyone living in this accommodation

will be happier with a fresh new home.

And Daldar will have three solid rental properties

to add to his portfolio.

Is it just you on your own?

With the business? Or have you got a partner?

Yeah, my wife...

..does all of the paperwork and stuff.

See, hold it a minute, hold it a minute!

Hold it a minute. I knew there was something...

-Yeah.

-I knew your partner had to be involved somewhere!

-Yeah.

-When you said she does all the... She does all the... Work!

-..is what you were going to say, weren't you?

-Yes, she does all the legal side, yeah!

In fact, it was Daldar's wife, Tahli,

who first suggested he try the property game over ten years ago.

Since then, the business has become a full family one,

as their son Jay also joined the ranks.

So, as the numbers grow in the company,

there's only one number I'm thinking about.

-12.5%?

-Hopefully!

-Confident?

-Hopefully!

-Fingers crossed.

-Dal, good luck.

-Thank you.

-I wish you all the best.

-Thank you.

Now, Dal is an experienced property developer,

he knows exactly what he's doing.

But there's a lot of work to be done here and two current tenants to

negotiate with as well,

so it might not be that simple.

You can find out how he gets on later in the programme.

19 miles from Cardiff,

in the beautiful Cynon Valley

is the fantastically named town of Mountain Ash.

Even more fantastical is the legend

of local runner Guto Nyth Bran.

Born in 1700, he was supposedly so fast,

he could run from here to Aberdare

AND BACK before his mum's kettle had boiled!

But will today's property have us sprinting for the auction house?

It's a one-bed mid-terraced house

with a guide price of £17,000.

This is it. OK, not quite as pretty as its surroundings,

but let's give it a chance.

Quite a few steep steps to get up

before you get to the entrance and that would of course

put somebody off with disability issues or even, you know,

lugging up a buggy with kids.

Right, the double glazing seems to be doing a good job because I can't

hear that busy road outside.

Can't hear much traffic.

That stone effect wall, that ain't fooling anyone.

Not a bad, bright reception room, first of all.

And then... Ah!

Suddenly things get darker and damper.

You have another reception room here,

with hardly any natural light coming in.

The wall actually is...really wet.

Black mould, exposed ceiling...

A cacophony of problems.

And through to what has been the kitchen area.

I can tell by the depth of...

This has been an add-on, an extension

and a bit of an afterthought.

It doesn't look the sturdiest. It doesn't look substantial.

I can see a metal sheet makes up the roof.

You would definitely want to see

if it complies with building regulations.

There's a lot of work to do.

At the top of a narrow, gloomy staircase, I didn't expect this.

So a double bedroom, to one side...

Actually, getting a double bed up these stairs would be a bit of an

achievement in itself.

Let's find out what's up this way.

OK, up this way, things start to get a bit more complicated.

And weird. The layout doesn't make sense.

So you have your bathroom here and here you have a really big cupboard.

It's certainly too small for a bedroom.

And you actually have a little cupboard off that cupboard.

Into the bathroom itself, you've got a lot of black mould gathering.

It may be down to a lack of extractor fan.

You hope so, because it's easily fixed.

Not much can be salvaged.

It needs to come out. But it's not making sense, this layout.

You're not utilising your space at all

and I need to put my thinking cap on,

as to how you would change the layout.

Just give me a minute.

Won't be too long.

Lots to think about.

While we wait for my developer brain to kick in,

why not enjoy this intermission?

Hey, the weather's really been something, hasn't it?

Hm. Wonder what Dion and Martin are up to?

Ah. Wait - hold on.

I've worked it out!

When a house is this small, size and light, well,

they come with a premium.

Thinking of options,

downstairs I quite fancy making a feature of the staircase,

taking down those walls either side, opening the whole lot up.

You've got your kitchen, your diner, your sitting area.

Upstairs, things become a bit more complicated because the layout just

doesn't work as it is.

You could think about changing the position of the stairs,

reconfiguring them, if you did want to keep things simpler, well,

where your bathroom is just now,

you could have a single bedroom and where the cupboard is,

you could have a shower room and keep this as a double bedroom.

Lots to think about.

Two heads are definitely better than one,

so what does a local estate agent

make of this oddly laid out property,

guided at 17 grand?

Access to the first floor is via a difficult stair layout.

That should possibly be investigated to see if it could be simplified.

However, you are going to have to bear in mind that the cost of

renovating this property is not

going to leave a great deal of profit.

A lot of issues upfront

and the agent thinks it will also need a damp proof course

AND a rewire.

So is it worth it, and is it worth trying to make it a two-bed?

If this property was renovated to a one-bedroom property,

keeping the existing layout,

I would expect it could achieve in the region of 45,000-£55,000

and a rental valuation of £300 per calendar month.

As a two-bed,

it could possibly achieve a sale value of £55,000

and a rental of £370-£395

per calendar month.

While that £17,000 guide price seems attractive,

you may well need that and more to bring this place up to scratch.

So for me, the key to making a profit is getting it close to that guide price.

Let's find out what happened when it went under the hammer.

Guided at just 17,000.

Start me, somebody - 17? 15...

Make it 10,000. Start me.

Put a hand up at ten. Ten there at the back, if you want to then.

Two or three hands went up there, quickly went down again.

Ten, I've got you there. 11, do you want to? Thank you, love. And 12?

12. 13.

14. 15.

16. 16?

15 and a half.

-16.

-The bidding kept motoring along,

going up in halves and we rejoin at £24,000.

24 for the first time...

Second time, third and last, then.

24... 24 and a half.

25.

25. 25,

do you want to? 25.

25 and a half? No.

At 25, for the first time...

Second time, third and last time.

For £25,000...

Yours, well done. Number 136.

Thank you very much. Julie and her husband Peter

paid eight grand over the guide price

and although they have done bits and bobs to a previous property,

this is the first time they've tackled something like this.

So will they make some cash in Mountain Ash

on a 25-grand investment?

Julie, pleased to meet you.

-Hi.

-Peter, pleased to meet you.

Martel.

-Are you from round these parts in Wales?

-No, we're from Sussex.

-Ah.

-We live near Worthing.

OK. And what brings you here?

Well, we had a smaller property in Littlehampton,

which we sold eventually, but it wasn't as big a scale as this.

But we thought we'd buy this because it's cheaper in Wales

and we thought we quite liked the property.

I'd imagine it's very attractive

that the house has a guide price of £17,000.

And you probably looked at it, too.

-Yes.

-No, not at first, we didn't.

-Well...

-OK, you didn't look at it.

-No, we broke the golden rule.

We didn't look at it before the auction!

But we did look through the window.

But we were a bit shocked at what we did see, didn't we?

-Mm.

-When we came in.

Oh, dear, guys.

That's why it's a golden rule!

And living four hours away isn't going to be easy, either.

But these two are new to full-time property development,

so I think they're allowed to make a mistake or two.

We had a business for a while,

which wasn't viable in the end,

so we had to give it up.

And Julie's health wasn't very good at the time.

It didn't help much either. So, we just sort of...

tried to think of what else we could do.

And eventually we came up with this,

-and thought, well, let's give this a go.

-Now, the downside of not

seeing this property is that there's an awful lot of work

that needs done and you said you were quite surprised...

-Yes, shocked.

-Yeah, so talk me through when you did first come in.

What was it that made you a bit worried?

I think it was in the kitchen, with the ceiling.

Because obviously we hadn't seen all that when we looked through.

And we didn't think there was quite as much work as there is.

But we're up for a challenge! It's our first one.

So we might as well go in at the deep end.

Have you thought that there's enough room for a two-bed there?

When I went up, I was thinking, what could you do with this space?

And maybe you could change the bathroom position

to where the cupboard is and... Are you thinking about...?

En suite, or something. We were thinking of that.

Whether we can get a bathroom anywhere down here...

I don't know. But it's something we'll look at.

Yeah, I guess it all depends on quotes and how much

you want to spend.

We were hoping to do it for 15,000.

But I don't know.

It may be between 15 and 20, I think now.

-Now we've looked at it.

-Yeah, more realistic, I think.

We lack so much experience at renovation, we're learning.

And we've got to learn from this one, as our first main renovation.

So once we know, then we know what we can do next.

That's just how it works.

Yeah, and you've taken on a huge challenge, but it's inspirational

to see you doing that.

And this is the worst stage

-you'll be at, where you're a bit overwhelmed.

-Yes.

-And hopefully you'll get the answers as the weeks and months go by.

-Mm.

The couple are thinking on their feet and have changed their plans on

timescale, as well as their budget.

They hope to do it in three months

and have been taking advice from an optimistic builder.

But the distance they have to travel is the thing that worries me.

And how will you get to here and back again?

In Betty, our motorhome!

-Betty?

-Yeah. We stay in Betty.

We call her Betty McBettface.

-Betty McBettface?!

-It's named after her mother.

-So...

-And what's the plan for this place once it's done?

We were going to use it as a bolthole at one point, but because

it's so bad and it's going to need so much work on it

and money put into it,

I think it will probably be...

Hopefully, we can do it up and sell it. At a little profit, maybe!

That would be the aim.

Great. And would you like to do this again, to roll it on and...?

-Yeah.

-Ask us that

-in three months' time!

-Yeah!

Yeah.

We will! We'll ask you just that!

Look forward to it and hopefully

it's a yes when we do ask the question.

Best of luck. Can't wait to see what you do with the place.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Peter. Thanks, Julie.

-Thank you.

Now, this... This is the perfect example

of why you should always view a property before auction.

There were some nasty surprises coming in here for the first time.

Potential structural problems,

damp, layout...

Saying all that, it's such a big job,

but who could fail to be on the side of Julie and Peter?

We're really rooting for them.

You can find out what happens later in the show.

Coming up, I'm feeling a bit hemmed-in at this house in Kent.

Quite narrow, actually.

All a bit claustrophobic.

And in Wales, find out if Peter and Julie had anything to be scared of.

There was the thought that perhaps the building

could've collapsed at that point if we'd left it any longer.

-DION:

-It was in the Midlands - Wolverhampton to be precise -

where we first saw a curious lot.

Formerly a shop with living space

that had been converted into three separate accommodations.

Properties like this are in demand,

especially for single people and especially

close to the town centre and city centre.

So if you get something like this right,

I think it's going to be money well spent.

And talking of spending money,

I reckon this needed more than a little to bring these flats up

to the standards required for renting.

The bottom corner flat was vacant, but the other two were tenanted.

To get the work done, you might need to negotiate with the tenants,

which could be tricky. The man prepared to take this trio

of flats on was experienced developer Daldar,

who paid well over the guide price -

44 grand over, to be precise.

What are you going to do to turn this round,

to make people want to rent this place out?

This will be gutted to the bricks,

to the joists,

and we'll start again with electrics, plaster,

kitchens, bathrooms.

New floorings.

-New furnishings.

-Everything will be done.

Yeah, everything will be done. It'll be like a brand-new property.

And with a 25-grand budget

and a six-week timescale,

Daldar was ready to project manage this back-to-basics refurbishment.

But now, seven months have ticked by.

So, what have we got?

We took this apartment right back to brick,

had new windows placed in.

While we had that, the electrician put the wiring in.

Obviously, I changed everything to electric heaters now.

Bathroom, new suite, everything, new kitchen.

The one-bed studio flat was now ready to go.

The flat in the back was in the worst condition

with piles of stuff to be cleared out.

And a rethink on the punk vibe

was definitely required.

The back flat, what I managed to do there, when I looked at it,

the bathroom was the same size as the kitchen.

So I've decreased the bathroom and made the kitchen larger.

Daldar has covered safety measures

such as fire doors and also has had a system installed under the sink

that supplies instant hot water,

so no boiler worries in any of the flats.

What an amazing transformation!

So that just leaves upstairs.

The flat upstairs, I've took back to brick also.

While I was doing that, I looked at the roof. I had to change some parts

of the roof, what needed doing because there was

water coming through there.

And then just did it all again, like the others.

Just brand-new from scratch, really.

Clean, bright and fresh.

These flats are at last now just right for the local market.

But it's taken a little longer than Daldar first hoped.

Obviously, I inherited tenants which had...

I had to wait until they left before I started work,

which took a number of months.

Sometimes, having tenants in place can be a bonus,

providing an income stream straightaway.

But not when the level of work

that was needed here meant the space would be better

unoccupied and cleared.

Literally, eight skips I filled out here...

Commercial skips. There were eight skips of just waste.

And once the place was clear of the mess,

it was time for Daldar's team of tradesmen to get stuck in

and get their hands dirty.

And they did complete this place in six weeks,

but how involved did he get?

My role mainly now is I do project manage the whole build.

So obviously, keep up with all the supplies what the builders require.

I've had a lot of cooperation from my family and support.

They have been popping in.

Giving me ideas.

My son, my wife, my daughter.

But even though he gets help and advice from the family,

it's Daldar who has to stump up the cash.

My projected cost was £25,000,

before start.

But afterwards, with the work carried out on the chimneys,

staircase, other costs, on the roof,

it did creep up to about £34,000

for the final project build.

£34,000 on top of his 84 grand purchase price

takes Daldar's total spend here to £118,000.

And with three flats on offer for that kind of money,

it does seem like a good deal.

But what do two local property experts

make of these revitalised flats?

This is my second visit to the property.

First time I came round and it was a bit...

"What's the man bought?"

However, today I've been here, I've had a look round, and boy,

has he made a difference.

It is actually really, really nice.

The layout of the property has been very well thought out

and the changes particularly have been well thought out by the owner.

To increase the size of the kitchen space has been the right sort of

thing to do and it makes the property more attractive.

Daldar wants to keep the flats for rental,

but having invested 118 grand into the project,

would they see a return on the resale market?

Once it's fully let, it will sell as an investment property and I feel

that he would achieve in the region of 160-£170,000.

The resale value of the property for me, once fully occupied for

all three flats would be in the region of £165,000.

It's a ballpark figure, but I was thinking more 180s.

A profit of £52,000 before taxes

and fees isn't floating Daldar's boat.

He's all about those rental values.

I feel that the small ground-floor

at the front flat is probably going to

achieve in the region of £495.

The flat to the rear is going to be £550 per calendar month.

And the first-floor flat, which is the largest of the three,

I think it would achieve in the region of £595 per calendar month.

Now the property is fully complete,

I have let all the flats out and the property now,

total is achieving £1,640 per calendar month.

£1,640 per calendar month

gives him an amazing annual yield of 16%.

It might have had its issues along the way, but wow!

It certainly paid off.

So, what's next? More of the same?

Yeah, I'll probably dabble again.

At the moment, I say no, but...

I will do it again sooner or later.

It is impossible to visit Chatham in Kent without getting a sense of the

important role the naval dockyard

has played in the town's development.

You can see it everywhere.

Monuments and impressive historical buildings aplenty.

When it comes to housing stock,

there's a good variety of the old and new,

so let's see what's in store today.

About half a mile from the centre of Chatham on this fairly hilly

residential street... It's almost a side street, actually,

is the property I'm here to see.

It's a mid-terrace, two bedrooms,

£105,000 was the guide price.

This is it.

Woo-hoo!

Tidy(!)

Actually, no - work in progress, more like it.

Looks like somebody has been stripping off wallpaper.

Well, you know. At least you get to see the state of the walls and they

look to be in reasonable condition, which is good.

Obviously, there was a fire there,

so you've got a potential for making a nice feature.

Although glancing around, looking over there,

looks like there's electric storage heaters or similar kind of things,

so maybe no central heating.

That's something you're going to have to factor in.

But a really good thing with these kind of slightly smaller terraces,

you knock it through like this, you create one big space here.

It's a really nice sort of living area,

which makes the whole house feel a lot bigger than it actually is.

So that's good news. We definitely like the layout.

I also like the position of the stairs. Quite steep,

and I'm not sure if they're particularly safe like that,

but they certainly work there

in terms of making the most of this space.

And a very classic design, we're through to the rear of the property

where we've got a kitchen.

Er... OK.

So you'll have to be careful about your design in here.

Clearly, this design...

..does not work!

I think we'd have to sacrifice the units on this side and just have

them on that side, otherwise we are in, well, a terrible pickle.

It just doesn't work, does it?

And then as is classic for this kind of property,

through to the very back,

where the only bathroom and loo in the property is situated.

It's a design we've seen 100 times,

probably 1,000 times before on the show.

You know what? If you just accept this is what it is, it's fine.

All in all, not a bad little house for the money.

Along with these rooms,

there's also the bonus of the cellar and I suspect most of the houses in

this street will have a downstairs bathroom,

so I wouldn't worry about moving it.

Unless of course there's an obvious place to put it upstairs.

So, up those very steep stairs,

quite narrow, actually.

All a bit claustrophobic.

..to the two bedrooms.

First one here. Oh, a few signs of damp there.

You can see it on the wall and also on the ceiling.

My guess is it's coming from the chimney stack.

Quite how serious that is, I don't know.

Then through into the front bedroom. It's not a bad size.

All in all, it's not a massive house, is it?

But it's not in bad condition,

apart from that bit there.

And yes, for a nice little starter project,

yeah, it's...

..more than a weekend's work, but less than a year's work.

There's certainly a fair number of jobs to tackle here, and I'd get the

damp checked by a professional.

But there's not much here to greatly worry about.

It's just a standard refurbishment.

MUSIC: It's Not Unusual by Tom Jones

Well, at the back of the property,

it's started raining, but it hasn't dampened my spirits.

Er...

That said, what's that?

That's a bit like Japanese knotweed.

That would be serious.

Anyway, that's caught me slightly by surprise.

Good-sized rear garden.

It could do with a bit of landscaping!

Exterior bath, I'm not sure about that.

You can see the extension here,

it doesn't look to be in that good a condition. Certainly that flat roof.

That needs attention.

Possibly something nicer there. Could you go two storeys, like some of the other properties have?

Yes, you possibly could. Would it be worth it?

Well, it depends what you want the property for.

But yes, I'm sorry,

my mind is definitely taken with this.

And that, cos that's very serious.

That is almost like a, "Don't buy this property" kind of scenario.

Or at least get it sorted out.

You never know what you're going to find!

I just walked out the back door, I thought, "I'll look at the garden", discover that. Hey-ho.

# Too much bad weed is in the garden

# I am gonna weed them out

# I am gonna weed them out. #

Well, if you're a regular viewer of the show, you'll be aware of the

terrors and torment of this seemingly innocuous-looking plant.

It can grow through concrete and severely damage a property.

If you have it on your property, get the experts in,

not least because the root system

can grow from even a tiny piece of root.

So its disposal is strictly controlled.

You can even be fined thousands of pounds

or go to prison if you allow it to get into the wild.

And it would seem the local property expert we asked along knows a thing

-or two about it.

-With the Japanese knotweed,

it's in certain areas of Chatham at the moment

and it is causing us a problem.

Building societies don't like it and to get rid of it,

it is quite difficult.

It takes approximately 2-3 years

to get it treated at different intervals and it's quite expensive.

Hmm. Well, moving swiftly on,

what are her thoughts about the inside of the house?

I think what stands out about this property is the size of the lounge.

And I think people do like this,

rather than two little rooms, it's ideal.

You know, for a family, they can have the table one end,

sit up the other end, and it's really comfortable.

Yes, it definitely has some plus points,

but I'm still worried eradicating

that knotweed could eat away any potential profits

for a house that was guided at £105,000.

The resale value, I believe,

for this property is in the region of £175,000-£180,000.

And for rental, approximately £800 per calendar month.

So, it just goes to show, doesn't it?

Everything about this property, pretty much standard.

No big issues.

La-di-da. And then you go outside

and discover the Japanese knotweed.

A classic case of why you've got to come to properties and look around

because again, a cursory drive-by,

you're not going to see that and that is a big issue.

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

Two-bed mid-terraced house near Chatham, one of the Medway towns,

so a popular area.

100,000.

Who'd like to kick off from there? 100,000.

105 anywhere? 105.

110, sir?

110. 115.

120.

125.

130. 135.

Two. 132.

132. 134.

136.

In the white cap, 136.

138.

With the glasses. 138.

140.

142, sir?

140 down here.

142, someone else coming in?

If not, 140, down here.

First time.

Second time.

Third and last time. If you're all done...

140. Sold.

The house sold for £140,000 to Cameron and Adil.

And it was Adil that joined me back at the house to tell me their plans.

-Adil, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

Tell me why you wanted to buy this place.

It was... It was something that we had in mind with regard to buying a

property and developing it.

So it was... It's not too far from where I live.

-So we thought, let's start local.

-Yeah, absolutely.

Is this your first venture like this?

First venture. We actually started off by watching a programme...

-OK! Good.

-..so we just decided...

..let's try something like this. And here we are.

Adil works in the family grocery store,

while Cameron owns a minibus business at Gatwick Airport.

So this is definitely a departure from their normal working lives.

So, what are the plans for it?

The plans, to be fair, we're not doing too much with in terms of layout and stuff.

We're probably going to open it up a little bit.

-OK.

-We're going to renovate it. Give it a modern look.

Update it. The bathroom units

and units in the kitchen all need updating.

We might turn the flooring away from carpet and turn it into sort of

wooden flooring, etc.

-Yeah, yeah.

-I think that'll probably give it a more modern type look.

And then upstairs, there's a few signs of damp.

-Any ideas what that is?

-There is a bit of something. I think that's come from the chimney.

The chimney's got like a silver lining around it.

It seems to be from there. So a bit of damp, but we've got a roofer

that's had a look at it. Hopefully we'll get that repaired.

-There is a slightly worrying plant out the back, isn't there?

-Yes, there is.

There's a little bit of Japanese knotweed.

We have got a gardener,

who's basically coming to have a look at that and hopefully we need

to get that removed from the actual roots, so we need to get that removed completely.

-But we've got things in plan to get that.

-OK, cos it's quite serious, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

I'm not too sure about it, but I've heard about it.

I've heard it needs to be completely removed.

So we've got the initial steps in place to get that done as well.

So, what's the budget for the work?

We're looking at hopefully no more than about sort of 10-£12,000,

-that sort of...

-OK.

-..what we're looking at.

Yeah, you should be able to do it for that.

And along with that 10-£12,000 budget,

they're hoping they'll complete the house ready to sell on

in two to three months, bringing in tradesmen for the skilled work

and getting stuck in themselves where they can.

So, have you actually started this work, then?

The wallpaper stripping?

It's been myself. Obviously my partner Cameron's been here as well.

The two of us have been stripping it. We've got a little bit of help from friends and stuff.

So we started stripping the wallpaper and yeah,

it's been a struggle at the moment.

As you can see, it's not been too bad, we are getting on with it.

How is the friendship/work relationship going?

-Is that working out OK?

-It's working out so far, so good.

Both of us obviously, we're really good friends.

I've known him for a good sort of 10-15 years now.

We sort of had a mutual understanding beforehand.

We knew sort of what each of us were going to do

and we've just stuck to it.

Right, and you've split the finances and you'll split the profit?

-Yes.

-So you've sort of shared any risk.

-Yes.

-Well, listen, congratulation.

-Thank you so much.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you so much.

-We look forward to seeing how you get on.

-Thank you.

So, it's his first development property.

Will it be beginner's luck

or novice's nightmare when we return later in the programme?

Well, we know how property number one fared.

Yeah, but what about the other two?

Let's go back and find out how THEY got on.

It's time to head back to the Welsh valleys,

where I saw a one-bed mid-terraced house that was in a bad way.

It had a real problem with damp and

the back extension had an issue with the roof.

The only thing to do here would be to go back to brick and start again.

And while you were at it, it might be worth looking at the layout.

Upstairs, things become a bit more complicated because the layout just

doesn't work as it is.

You could think about changing the position of the stairs,

reconfiguring them. If you did want to keep things simple, well,

where your bathroom is now,

you could have a single bedroom and where the cupboard is,

you could have a shower room and keep this as a double bedroom.

Lots to think about.

Turning this one-bed into a two would make sense and you might have

thought it was the reason that Peter and Julie paid 25 grand for it

at auction.

But this is their first venture in property development and they made a

rookie mistake.

And you probably looked at it, too?

No, not at first!

Well...

-You didn't look at it?

-No. We broke the golden rule.

We didn't look at it before the auction.

But we did look through the window, but we were a bit shocked at what

we did see, didn't we?

-Mm.

-When we came in?

So, a slight stumble as they took

their first steps in property development,

but they remained positive and hope to tackle this development with

20 grand and to have that work complete in three months' time.

They may well have broken the golden rule when purchasing

but will their renovation get a gold star when we return

just over three months later?

# We are not what you think we are

# We are golden, we are golden... #

Yes, it does.

Downstairs has been completely transformed.

This breakfast bar and kitchen is very slick.

The hall downstairs is now damp free and freshly rewired and plastered.

The back extension that houses the kitchen was fixed

by having a new roof put on.

And parts of the main roof were repaired and the gutters cleaned.

Which means upstairs is as watertight as downstairs.

But that's not the only change up here.

Yes, Peter and Julie have turned this house into a two bed

by moving the bathroom into this large cupboard space.

Well done on squeezing a bath in here.

And next door, the new bedroom is a good-sized double.

Peter and Julie have done really well to get all this done

pretty much on schedule.

It was quite a project.

I mean, it's been hard work, hard graft, even the builders

had me helping them when they were a bit lacking manpower.

So they had me tanking the walls,

so it could be damp proofed, cos there was an awful lot of damp

in the property. We also had some rotting wood in the extension.

There was a thought that perhaps the building could have collapsed

at that point if it had been left any longer.

So we caught it just at the right time.

A bit scary.

Moreso I think to see the price of it,

to see how much it would have cost to do that.

Peter and Julie managed to stay within their £15-20,000 budget

and have spent 18 grand on all the work.

They made some savings by helping the builders and by painting

and decorating themselves.

So, has getting stuck in on their first renovation

been all they thought it would be?

Yeah, no, we've had some fun, haven't we, doing it?

Yeah, we've had some fun, some bits of stress here and there.

We've had to travel back home occasionally,

back to England, and back, and so that's been a bit tiring.

I think the worst thing for me was sleeping in the motor home.

By the time you've done it for sort of four or five weeks,

that's really exhausting, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Sleeping in there and trying to shower and fill up with water

and, you know... But I think that was probably my worst bit of the refurb.

Well, now all the work is complete,

what have the couple learned from this venture?

Probably that we're not going to make much money.

But...

-Yeah...

-It is a big learning curve, I think, this first one.

I think that's how we're going to look back on it.

It's just trying to put our first house together,

trying to make it sellable, to other people.

It's been fun.

Peter and Julie may have had fun with this

but they don't sound too confident their 43 grand investment

will get them much money on the sales market.

Well, only one way to find out.

So we've asked two local property experts for their opinion.

First, let's hear from the agent who saw it back when

it was in a pretty bad way.

I'm very surprised.

I had my doubts when I first came to this property

that it could be converted to this level and standard.

I like the way they've altered the layout

and they've tucked in a nice new modern bathroom,

albeit the bath is a little bit small.

My first impressions of the property are very good.

It's really finished to a high standard

and it's ideal for first-time buyers or an investor.

Now for the moment of truth.

As Peter and Julie have no interest in renting out a property this far

from their home, will they be able at least to break even

on their £43,000 investment on the sales market?

I would try and market and get around £64,000.

If I was to market this property,

I'd put it out there on the open market at £65,000.

-Wow!

-I'm impressed.

-That's really good.

-That's what we were told by the local agent.

-About 65.

-That was like the highest figure...

So they have gone up. Yeah, they said Wales was going up.

Properties in Wales are going up so we're very pleased with that.

Very pleased.

And so they should be.

If they got that top figure of 65 grand,

they'd stand to make £22,000 in profit

before taxes and fees come off.

I'd say that's as good a reason as any for a celebration

but there is one more reason to break out the bubbly.

Well, it's Angela's birthday today,

so we are going into Cardiff

-and we're going to have...

-A bottle of champagne!

-Yeah!

And something to eat, so we're looking forward to that.

We are heading back to Chatham in Kent now,

where I saw a two bed mid-terrace that was already a work in progress.

The woodchip wallpaper had been stripped back.

It was a good start and the layout in the living room worked for me.

But in the kitchen, it was a different story.

Clearly, this design...

..does not work.

I think we'll have to sacrifice the units on this side.

And just have them on that side, otherwise we are in, well,

a terrible pickle. It just doesn't work, does it?

Off the small kitchen was the bathroom,

which is fairly common in these houses,

and in one of the bedrooms was a spot of damp.

But the potential big issue here was the Japanese knot weed

that was growing in the back garden.

Its roots can cause damage to the structure of a building

and some mortgage lenders can be put off by this.

Not put off though was Cameron and Adil,

who got this property for £140,000.

They are friends who decided to go into business together

and property development was their goal,

and they had already been getting their hands dirty,

as Adil explained.

So, have you actually started this work then?

You're the ones that have been wallpaper stripping?

Yes, it has been myself and obviously my partner Cameron's been here as well,

so the two of us have been stripping it.

We've got a little bit of help from friends and stuff.

So we started stripping the wallpaper.

And, yeah, it's been a struggle, but as you can see,

it's not been too bad, we are getting on with it.

They of course planned on getting the professionals in to deal with

the serious work but it was great to see two friends getting stuck in

and giving property developing a go.

They had a maximum budget of £12,000

and 2-3 months to get the work done.

So as we return just over three months later, how have things gone,

considering this renovation was theirs...?

# For the first time... #

Wow! They've moved the door to the garden to this room,

to allow the kitchen and bathroom to have more space.

These slim units are also a great space-saving idea

but the removal of that hallway and door

has made the biggest difference.

It's meant the boiler is now here

and there's now space for a washing machine below.

It might have been their first time but there's no beginner's luck here.

It's just a smart plan executed well.

I'm really pleased with the end result of this part of the house.

I think it's gone really smoothly.

It's looking modern, it's looking up to date.

And yeah, I'm really pleased.

Downstairs is looking good

and outside, there have been big changes too.

We've had quite a few changes to this part of the garden.

We've built a new drive at the back here.

Steps that take us to the drive.

And we've also got rear access into the drive from the back.

The roof on the kitchen has been redone,

so we put a new filter on there and it is actually fibreglass,

so it's well protected.

And we've obviously got rid of some knotweed and stuff

that we had in the garden. And we've levelled it all out now,

so we've made sure it looks a lot neater.

It certainly does and upstairs does, too.

That damp problem was fixed

by re-pointing and flashing the chimney.

A fresh carpet and nice decoration throughout.

The house is almost ready to move into.

Cameron and Adil can be proud of their hard work here.

We were quite hands on, to be fair.

Initially, we had wallpaper all around there

and it was the old wallpaper, chipstone wallpaper.

So we got rid of all that ourselves,

so all the wallpaper we did ourselves.

We got rid of all the rubbish and stuff ourselves,

breaking down the entire property.

Did bathroom tiles, the kitchen tiles.

All the old worktops, units, etc.

So quite a bit of it was hands-on

but the specialist work we had to leave to the builders to do.

As it was their first time,

I would have been surprised if Adil and Cameron managed

to stick to their original top budget of 12 grand.

However the spend came in at £15,000.

But I'm sure the more they do,

the better they will get at estimating the costs of the work.

Although it's a shame we couldn't speak to Cameron today and get

his thoughts on their first property venture.

He is at the moment on holiday.

I took my holiday couple weeks ago

so it's his turn now.

Working together has been absolutely fine.

As always, there's been a few hiccups here and there

along the way, but nothing major.

It has been quite smooth sailing, to be fair.

We have probably only got another week, week and a half work,

little bits and pieces to sort of finish up

and then it will be on the market after that.

That's as good a cue as any to ask around two local estate agents.

Let's see if they are impressed with the work done here.

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

I think the changes that have been made to the house are really nice.

I like the way the kitchen has been set out,

with extra storage here.

If it had been a completely full wide worktop,

it wouldn't have worked at all.

And I think he's done a lovely job of the bathroom as well.

First impressions are really good.

I think the owners have done a good job

and the fact that they've created the off-street parking at the back

is a real bonus and I think will really help to sell this property.

Selling this property on is exactly what Cameron and Adil want to do,

but can they expect a good profit from their first investment,

which now totals £155,000?

If I was asked to sell the property now in the current market,

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

I think this particular property, because it now has the added advantage of the off-road parking,

I would be looking at marketing it in the region of £190,000

for the freehold.

Wow! That £190,000 figure would be a profit of £35,000,

minus taxes and fees, of course.

Adil must be chuffed with that.

Very pleased. With both of their valuations.

I think 185-190 was the amount we had in mind before.

Definitely gone well. Definitely worthwhile.

Learnt a lot. A massive experience.

And yeah, ready for the next one, really.

First-timers Cameron and Adil have done well and I'm sure there will be

more successes for them in the future.

Any tips for anyone who wants to do what they've done

and take the plunge into property development?

Just do it. Just...

Obviously do your research.

Make sure you've got your background knowledge

and know what area you're going into.

And make sure you know the market and the space around it really well.

But, yeah, I mean, if it's something you want to do,

just go ahead and do it because if I can do it, anyone can do it.

Some property projects have a way of throwing curveballs

when you're least expecting them.

Yeah, so we like to find out how our buyers got on

catching those balls and juggling them.

Join us next time to find out how they got on

-on Homes Under The Hammer.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.