Episode 54 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello and welcome to the show. Now, when the hammer falls at auction

and you've made that winning bid, it's an amazing feeling.

Yeah, but once the reality starts to set in, and you get the keys,

the real work begins.

But lots of people still do buy their Homes Under The Hammer.

You may have heard us mention this a few times,

but preparation really is the key before buying at auction.

Yes, and that's not just viewing the property beforehand

and reading the legal pack, it's setting a limit on your budget.

Yeah, let's hope today's buyers took that advice on board.

Let's find out with they bought.

I'm sizing up this mixed-use premises in Pembrokeshire,

using some unconventional methods.

Here, I go across over to this side.

Meanwhile, there's no measuring the time

this boiler has been in action at this London maisonette.

That looks particularly archaic.

Yikes.

And I'm flexing my builder's vocabulary

at this three-bed semi in Birmingham.

This is what's known in the subsidence world

as a belter of a crack.

All of these properties have been sold at auction

and we will find out who bought them and what they paid for them

when they went under the hammer.

Just there, sir.

Today, I'm in Haverford West in southwest Wales.

This picturesque town sits on the far western tip of Wales

and is over an hour from Swansea and two from Cardiff.

Its attractive riverfront properties and period cottages

attract both local buyers and holiday homers

seeking a peaceful piece of this tranquil corner

of the Welsh countryside.

# In a pretty place... #

It might be dull and gloomy here in Haverford West,

but what's not dull and gloomy

are those beautifully coloured houses across the road.

Very, very pretty.

The property I'm here to see

has commercial downstairs and a two-bed flat upstairs,

a unit on that side and a unit on this side.

It's got a guide price of £69,000 plus and I'm intrigued.

Let's have a look.

Now, this property was, once upon a time, a four-bed house.

So the question is,

what kind of commercial property has it been since?

Ah, a shop.

Right. Let's see what they've got to offer.

Don't fancy any cable. I've got enough cable at home.

# Shop around... #

Not my kind of shop. Joking aside, look at the size of this place.

Obviously was a shop, back in the day.

You've got more commercial space on that side of the hallway, as well,

which I know was a hairdresser's.

Big question is, with commercial units like this,

that are downstairs, what do you do with it?

Do you keep it as a commercial unit?

This one's empty. This one, obviously, hasn't worked.

And I'm thinking, if you try again, is it going to work?

I don't know. It's always a gamble.

Or, I know there's a flat upstairs, a two-bed flat upstairs.

Do you keep that one upstairs as a two-bed flat,

and make this one into a two-bed flat,

so you've got two separate abodes?

You have to get change of use here to residential,

but I'm pretty sure that should be pretty straightforward.

Or do you go back to its original four-bed house?

Centre of town? I'm not sure that would work,

but I've given you three options there.

The choice is endless.

What I'm not happy about is the choice in the shop.

The state of the commercial space

does suggest that, in its current configuration,

this building has got to the end of its shelf-life.

But despite those empty shelves, I think, on further investigation,

you're actually spoiled for choice.

Wow!

Not only do you get all the space in there, you actually get this...

..quite substantial-sized outbuilding.

And you get a garden, as well. Look at the size of the garden.

That's got to be 25-30 metres.

This is a bonus and it could make the four-bed option more likely.

A family-sized house with a family-sized garden,

but even if you went down the two flats option, it could still work.

Either splitting it,

or just giving the ground floor its own exclusive access.

Choice is definitely a running theme with this property.

You know what, if this place works for you,

and you make a little bit of profit, you've got somewhere safe to put it.

# Playing houses

# Safe as houses... #

Safe as houses? Well, maybe.

But the flats could be the safer option,

financially speaking.

Even more investigation is needed before I make my mind up.

So as I'm getting to the top of the stairs,

it does feel a little bit dark and dingy up here.

But before you get to the landing, you hit the family bathroom.

And it's a good-size family bathroom, actually, to be honest with you.

But it's dated.

It's very old-fashioned and I'd want to rip that out, re-tile,

and put a brand-new bathroom suite in there.

But it's not a bad size all the same.

Last two steps, before I get to the main landing.

And you hit the kitchen.

Now, to me, that kitchen looks OK.

The cupboards look OK.

The sinks, you've got a nice big window

looking out to the back of the property.

Of course, the hallway.

Here.

OK, yeah, I'm guessing these are the two bedrooms.

Bigger bedroom to my left, it has got some wardrobes in,

which seem to be taking up a lot of space.

This is our bedroom two.

A little bit smaller.

But, you know, there's space there you can work with.

And as I'm walking through this flat, I'm looking at these,

these door frames, and they all seem a little bit skewwhiff.

I wish I had a spirit level here.

You can see, here.

I go across over to this side and go back to this side.

They're not quite flush.

Not quite straight.

As a two-bedroom flat, this would be the lounge area.

It's not huge but, you know,

the more I walk around this place, I'm getting a feel for it now.

And I'm thinking to myself, four-bed house?

I'm not feeling it. What I am feeling is,

a flat up here, maybe a flat downstairs.

Two separate flats, or you keep this as it is,

and you keep the commercial units downstairs.

I really don't think a house will maximise your return

and it would be a lot of work to get it back to what it would be,

a very large house.

But does a local estate agent think my gut instincts are right

for this property guided at 69 grand plus?

I would probably want to convert the property

into two two-bedroom flats.

There are quite a lot of private rented flats in the area

and that seems to be the most popular course for properties here.

Good on you. But do the numbers back it up,

for a property that was guided at £69,000 plus?

In this location, a two-bedroom flat

should achieve around about £70,000.

On the sales market, in a good condition,

a four-bedroom property this size

would achieve approximately £120,000.

So two flats at 70 grand apiece

would increase your pre-tax profit by £20,000.

Rental wise, they would bring in a total of £850 per calendar month,

as opposed to £625 per calendar month, for a four-bed house.

So this certainly looks like the best option,

but could keeping the commercial space and one flat

trump the two-flat values?

In the current climate, an individual commercial unit

of around this size is probably getting around about

£650 per calendar month.

That would give a slight increase in potential rental returns.

But that's dependent on finding a business that wants the space,

which might not be as easy as finding a tenant for a flat.

The challenge with a project like this is what do you do with it?

There's so much choice.

The good thing about that is,

the choice is yours to make this whatever you want it to be.

My favourite part of this building is the guide price.

You're getting a lot for your money.

Let's find out who was shopping for a bargain

when it went under the hammer.

So we've got a double-fronted mid-terrace property.

It's a mixed commercial and residential use.

It comprises currently two former commercial units

on the ground floor.

Good-sized two-bedroom flat above.

Do I see 69,000, to start things going?

Do I see 69?

Thank you, 69. 70 now I'm looking for.

I'm looking for 70,000.

70, thank you. 70, 71?

71, thank you. 72?

72. 73?

73. 74?

74? 75? 75?

75,000, thank you.

75, are you coming back in, sir?

I've got 75,000.

I can sell at 75,000.

You sure?

Sold to you, sir, 75,000.

And so, 75 grand was the price paid by Cardiff-based teacher Gareth,

who bought the property with his wife Geraldine.

Gareth is a PE teacher,

and I met him back at his Haverford West property

to, hopefully, find out what he thought would be

the right answer to this multiple-choice building.

Gareth, nice to meet you. Congratulations, pal.

-Thank you.

-You've got yourself a big old unit here.

-Yeah!

-What were you thinking? What were you thinking?

Myself and my wife were looking for a property to

do up and resell or, potentially, to rent.

It's a little bit far from where we live for renting.

But we came down and had a look at it.

And we saw a lot of potential in the building.

Is this a new thing that you're doing?

Is this your first project?

Yes, it's the first house we've bought in an auction.

Hold on a minute, this is the very first one

that you're going to be tackling? It's huge.

-The very first, yeah.

-It's huge.

-Bit daunting. Yeah, yeah.

So, I like a challenge.

-You've got one!

-Yeah.

-You've definitely got one.

Yeah, you know, in my late teens and early 20s

I did a lot of building-site work in the summers.

So I've got a little bit of experience

but, you know, for the technical stuff,

bring friends in and stuff.

Right, Gareth, tell me what you're going to do with this building.

Well, our initial decision/idea is to turn it back to a four-bedroom

but if, when we get some people in, and get some advice,

if they say actually it would be much easier and more cost-effective

to keep it as a commercial unit or maybe even flats...

-Yeah.

-..we might go down that road. We're quite flexible at the moment.

OK.

# Oh, everything is up in the air... #

So, like me, he hasn't totally nailed his colours

to the mast on this first property purchase,

which also makes his budget a bit vague.

He was thinking £25,000ish,

if he was going to convert it back into a four-bed house,

and a three- to four-month timescale

but exploring the options could change all of that.

You've got to be excited, though, with this being your first project.

Whose idea was this? Was this yours or your missus or...?

Joint... Joint decision.

We had a little bit of savings aside

and we thought let's do something with it.

You know, hopefully, turn it into...

-More!

-..more savings, more savings,

before the children go off to university, or off travelling,

-whatever they want to do.

-So first choice is a four-bed house.

-Four-bedroom, yeah.

-Second choice in your mind

would be flats and commercial?

-Potentially, yes.

-Potentially, but you're happy to take advice?

Happy to take advice on whichever is,

not so much the least amount of work,

which is going to give us the best profit at the end.

Good luck, Gareth, hope everything works out.

Thank you very much, cheers.

So, for a first project, Gareth is starting big.

You could say there's a fair amount of work that needs to be done here.

If I was him,

I'd start with the electrics.

The big question for me is what's he going to finish up with here?

Is it going to be a four-bed house?

Is it going to be residential upstairs, commercial down here?

Gareth doesn't know, but you can find out later in the programme.

# Yeah, yeah, yeah

# I was actually five hours late, though... #

Situated about nine miles southwest of the centre of London,

the suburb of Raynes Park has been very popular with commuters

since the first railway was built in the mid-19th century.

The train station must be one of the busiest in the country.

There are over 200 trains every day

that will take you to Waterloo station,

so you've got no excuse for being late for work.

# I'm always late, I'm always late, I'm always late... #

Well, Raynes Park is slightly in the shadow of neighbouring Wimbledon,

but you do get slightly more for your money here.

You've still got access to great facilities

and it's only 20 minutes into the centre of London.

So a three-bedroom maisonette for a guide price of 295,000 quid

has got to be worth a look.

Now, if the word "maisonette" conjures up a boxy 1960s block,

hold on to your hat.

Wow! Look at that! I was not expecting that!

It seems to go on for absolutely ages back there.

We'll explore that in a minute

but, bedrooms and kitchens and toilets and things

are back that way, I imagine.

One of the bedrooms here is a really nice size.

I love seeing doors like this.

They are obviously covered in years of paint.

We'll get those stripped back. Absolutely brilliant.

And, whenever you're looking around older houses

and you see things like this, it's just...

It doesn't cost you anything, it's there,

it's already something just waiting to be discovered.

So get that stripped and you've got a beautiful feature.

Bet the floors are the same.

And look at this room, amazing. This is your lounge.

Nice-sized ceilings, we've got the big bay window there.

OK, it's a bit tired, and the wallpaper,

you've got to see through all that.

It's a really almost unbelievably big flat.

The master bedroom next door is also huge

with an Art Nouveau fireplace. I love it.

Further along the corridor, the smaller bedroom is an odd shape.

Again, I do like the period fireplace,

and this room, which may be the last of the three beds,

but looks like it's been used as a dining room.

Well, one thing you are going to have to spend some money on

in this place is a new boiler. That looks particularly archaic.

Yikes! And then look at this.

What a sideboard.

HE GASPS

A nice bit of oak, or whatever it is.

What do you think it is, though?

A very strange kind of angular bit at one end.

A place to put your ironing board maybe? Ooh-ooh!

This is a purpose-built maisonette.

And you know what? There's the stairs out to the back garden.

It's not huge garden, but a garden it certainly is.

It all starts to go a little bit wrong at this point, though,

because this is the kitchen.

And as you can see, it is absolutely tiny.

Obviously open that up if you can.

Toilet, bathroom, love the colour.

Never seen one that colour, ever, ever, ever.

I absolutely love it.

That has to stay.

Or not!

# Pink, it's my new obsession... #

Well, I wouldn't get too obsessed

with changing the pink bathroom just yet

because this is a leasehold flat.

So some works and alterations

may need to be approved by the freeholder.

And when it comes to the lease, ah, that's not the worst bit.

This house comes with a really short lease.

33 years.

What does it matter? Well, in 33 years,

if you don't do something about it, it's not your house any more.

So what can you do to stop the property from reverting back

to the freeholder? Well you need a solicitor to serve a section 42.

This initiates a claim to extend the lease by a further 90 years

and as this has already been done by the sellers,

it means the purchaser can start negotiations right away.

The new owner will have to pay a premium that reflects the decrease

in value of the freeholder's interest.

Get a specialist surveyor to advise on a figure.

Talking of figures, what does the local estate agent

make of this maisonette guided at £290,000?

My first impression of this property,

is that it is on a very highly desirable road.

It's a period maisonette, it needs a bit of work,

but it's got a lot of potential.

And what do these types of properties

normally sell for in this area?

As a three-bed, with a new lease,

we would market this property anywhere between £600 - 625,000.

Wow! Even with the renovation costs, that large gap between the guide

and top sales price could give you a flavour

of just how important that lease extension is.

What could it rent for?

This property would rent from anywhere between £1,700

and £1,800 per calendar month.

So, it was all looking so swimmingly marvellous,

and then we discovered about the lease.

That really does throw a massive great spanner in the property works.

Ooh. Something to definitely buyer-beware.

So, let's see who bought it when it went under the hammer.

Let's start at 300 on this.

Those sort of purpose-built flats

going for an awful lot more than this.

300, Raynes Park?

300. 305 anywhere? 305.

310? Sitting down, sorry, I lost you.

310. 315?

315. 320?

That short lease really narrowed the field for this one.

And bidding was slow, but steady.

We rejoin with the price at £384,000.

384, back in.

385. 386.

One more go over 385?

386?

Yeah?

387, you're very close.

388.

You're close. 388.

You haven't got, you're just nearly there, 388.

You'll regret it.

387, first time.

Second time,

third and last time, if you're all done...

Sold, 387.

Good buy, well done.

Out of view of our camera was Amal, who made that successful bid.

She's a hotelier by occupation, and came along with son Omar,

whose job as project manager in the construction industry

may come in handy.

-Omar, Amal, lovely to meet you both.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

So tell me why you wanted to buy this flat.

It's a good investment, it's a good area.

-And I'm so impressed with Homes Under The Hammer.

-Ah!

-It triggered me on.

-Did it?

-Yes, it did.

So have you bought other ones before this, or is this the first?

-No, this is the first.

-Really? We inspired you.

You have inspired me, yes.

Good, well, I hope it turns out all right.

What was it about this particular flat that you liked?

Well, I think the size of the flat is quite unique.

Over 1,000 square feet.

Looking at the flat, it looks quite a simple refurb as well.

Structurally, there doesn't seem to be too many issues.

-So luckily for my mum, I'm going to do this for free.

-Oh, are you?

-Yeah.

-So I'm going to have the pleasure of managing it.

-And share profits.

Ah!

Yeah, that would be nice.

So what's the plans for this place?

For this, well, until we get the lease sorted out,

I think we'll just do it up a bit and make it look presentable

and maybe rent it out and get some income.

Because I think the lease

is going to be a bit more than what we had hoped.

-And you're working towards that?

-Yes, we are.

So if you couldn't get the lease extended, in 30 years,

this property isn't yours any more, is it?

-That's right. 33.

-33 years.

Erm, the worst-case scenario is that, is it,

or do you think you'll manage to come to some sort of an agreement?

No, I think we'll manage to come to some agreement.

And then, in terms of the refurbishment to the flat,

what is the plan once you've got all that sorted?

I think the plan is to try and make it as simple as possible

until we sort out the lease.

So we can strip out the carpet,

maybe put some laminate flooring.

Take off this hideous wallpaper

and I think just put a fresh coat of paint.

And then, we already have chandeliers in every room, so...

-Yes, lovely.

-Yes, yes.

Exactly, yeah. So we don't need to create a false ceiling or whatever.

We can just literally change the chandeliers for something new if you want.

I would put a nicer kitchen, you know?

A more appropriate modern kitchen.

You can get them quite cheap now.

This is until the lease is sorted out.

Will you do another refurbishment on it?

Yes. That will be stage two, complete refurb.

And what would that involve?

I think creating... Because these walls are structural,

but I think we plan to create an opening,

and one of the walls make one of the bedrooms en suite with the bathroom.

-Yes.

-Right. So what's the budget?

For the first stage, I'm hoping to do it very, very cheaply.

OK. I don't know, maybe, do you think we could do it for under ten?

-Under ten? No, not at all.

-Seven?

If you're re-plumbing and stuff, I think...

No, I'm not re-plumbing, not re-plumbing.

You have to change some of the toilet.

I'll change the bathroom, because it's leaking already.

-OK.

-I think that...

You're not buying a handbag. I think around 20-25,000.

And that's for the first version.

-First stage.

-Well, we haven't quite gotten to that yet.

So, the initial squabbles.

Do you buy expensive handbags?

Sometimes.

Sometimes you do.

What's the most expensive handbag you've ever bought?

Three and a half?

£3,500?!

-For a handbag?!

-I don't get it either.

-I don't get this handbag...

-Well, yeah, you know what?

Yeah, but it's a piece.

It lasts for ever.

It's an investment, it's like a diamond.

Until she loses it, of course.

Yeah!

# Handbags and the gladrags

# That your grandad had to sweat so you could buy... #

Kidding aside, Amal knows her investment handbags.

And she also knows quite a bit about budgeting,

having recently refurbished her family's hotel.

I've had to work to a budget

because I was doing it out of the cash flow.

-OK.

-I didn't borrow any money.

-Oh, well done.

-Yeah.

So I know where to get tiles, bathroom units,

you get ex-display units, things like that.

In addition to the £20-25,000 needed for phase one,

Omar's construction experience tells him that will stretch

to a further 25 grand once the lease is extended.

The timescale is more difficult to predict,

but depends on how negotiations progress with the leaseholder.

But they're hoping the whole project won't take longer than six months.

I mean, this collaboration, you know, it could go one of two ways.

It will be a complete disaster or it could work quite well.

Yeah.

If it works well, will you...

-Carry on?

-..do more together?

-Oh, yes, yes.

-You like the idea?

-Yes.

It seems like you're pretty lucky to have a son who's so well qualified.

He is very qualified, yeah.

-And people like him.

-Yeah, well, he's a nice guy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Yeah, I can be.

-They trust him.

They trust him. OK, that's good. Lovely to meet you both.

-Lovely meeting you, as well.

-Take care.

-Thank you.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you very much.

-Let's see how you get on.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, buying a property with a short lease

does come with a potential whole heap of problems

as you may be aware, and as Omar and Amal are finding out.

So, how many handbags' worth of renovation costs will there be?

You can find out, when we come back later on the show.

Still to come, I'm dealing with some unwanted guests

at this three-bed house in Birmingham.

So you've got these little pinpricks

which tell you this place is rife with woodworm.

And we'll find out if Amal and Omar were the perfect mother-and-son duo.

Never work with your mum again.

SHE LAUGHS

Time to take a trip back to South Wales

where I first saw this property that had a lot of potential.

The ground floor was commercial space with one side

being a former shop and the other side was a hairdressers,

so there may have been an argument

for keeping the commercial space as was.

Or I know there's a flat upstairs, a two-bed flat upstairs.

Do you keep that one upstairs as a two-bed flat,

and make this one into a two-bed flat,

or do you go back to its original four-bed house?

The choice is endless.

And the person who decided to purchase the property for 75 grand

was Gareth. He's a PE teacher who was taking his first plunge

into the property developing world.

This huge building was no easy job.

One of the biggest decisions was, what is he going to do with it?

Our initial decision/idea was to turn it back into a four-bedroom.

But if, when we get some people in, and get some advice,

and they say actually it would be much easier,

much more cost-effective

to keep it as a commercial unit or maybe even flats,

we might go down that road. We're quite flexible at the moment.

OK. So there were plenty of options and plenty of potential obstacles

that could trip up first-time property developer Gareth,

not least planning permission to change the use into residential,

if indeed that's what he decided to do.

So it's time to find out what exactly has happened.

We've returned eight months later.

He's gone from checkout to check this out.

Gareth decided to make one big family home.

The former shop is now the living room,

with a superb kitchen-diner off it.

This new skylight is a great addition.

And next door in the former salon are more big changes.

There's a downstairs toilet with a shower

and another reception room next door.

Planning permission for the end use was granted,

but with the proviso that the front lower windows

were of a sash construction.

Upstairs now has four bedrooms...

..one of which was created by removing the former flat's kitchen.

Gareth decided against doing much work in the bathroom,

but with all the other work that has been going on,

I don't really blame him.

It's taken twice as long as he first thought,

but the fact that he lives two hours away in Cardiff

couldn't have made this first renovation for him very easy.

From the get-go, we decided that I would be here

three, four days a week,

hands-on, labouring for whatever tradesmen we had.

I was very lucky,

found a local tradesman who was semi-retired and he was excellent.

But being here,

especially in the winter, we had no hot water or heating.

That was a bit of a challenge.

We were sleeping in the smallest room in the house just to try and stay warm.

But, yeah, it's been an education

as well as a little bit of an adventure.

Lessons learned for Gareth and wife Geraldine.

They did have a provisional budget of 25 grand

to convert it into a four-bed house.

But have they managed to stick to it?

We've gone a little bit over that.

It's 35-40.

But, first time we've done this,

I think we were a little bit naive in the budgeting.

Yeah, we'll have to wait and see now

whether we reap the benefits at the end.

Fingers crossed, but now the work on the house is complete,

have they decided if they will be selling the house on

or keeping it as a long-term investment?

Having put all the work in and mainly falling in love

with the house and how it's turned out

and the neighbours are lovely, the area's lovely.

We're little bit loath to get rid of it.

So we are, once we've had the valuation,

we are going to look at the potential of renting.

See if we can, if we can do it.

If not, then, yeah, we will put it on the market

and see what we can get for it.

Well, let's find out just that.

We've asked along two local estate agents to give us their opinions

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

I think the decision to take away the commercial

is a really good idea.

We've got quite a lot of empty commercial properties in the town

and we are struggling to fill those.

But people, they either want a property

that they can do all the work themselves

or they want a property that's really nicely finished,

and I think that's what they've got here, it's a nice finish.

I think they did a great job, actually.

I think for me, as soon as I came in,

it's this open-plan kitchen/living space.

It's great actually. To get sort of a little bit more money,

I think perhaps if they would have perhaps done sort of a new bathroom

upstairs, because I think they've done so much work here,

and downstairs looks great, and I just think when you go upstairs

it feels like it hasn't been touched as much.

But lots of people like to come in and put their own stamp on things

anyway. So perhaps, maybe that's what the buyers might do.

What could Gareth's £115,000 investment get on the open market?

Because of the lack of parking,

it's restricted really as to who might be interested in the property.

I think we'd probably put it on the market around about 170,000

with a view to getting between 155 - 165,000 for it.

We'd like to sort of market the property around 190,000,

and perhaps try to agree a sort of a sale in excess of £180,000.

There's a little bit of variety there.

A bit of a range, but pleased with both of them.

Variable they are, but the lowest means a potential profit of

something between £50 - £65,000 before deducting taxes and fees,

which is pretty good for a first renovation.

But he's keen to hang onto the house

and the agents think he could get £650 per calendar month,

which would give him a 7% yield.

So now the valuations are in,

what will Gareth and Geraldine do with this lovely house?

It's something we would have to mull over.

It's been a long eight and a half months, but on the whole,

it's turned out, I'm really pleased with how it's turned out and I would

love to move here. But it's an investment,

whether it's to sell or rent,

I think it's definitely given us a taste for doing it again.

MUSIC: Theme from The Professionals

This is the famous Spaghetti Junction,

Birmingham's gateway to the M6.

Close by sits Erdington, a popular residential area

that boasts actor Martin Shaw as one of its most famous sons.

One of his famous roles was in the 1970s series, The Professionals.

And our next property is certainly crying out

for some professional help.

The property I'm here to see has got me slightly befuddled because it

seems...it seems too good to be true.

First of all, let me give you the facts.

We're just around four miles from Birmingham city centre.

The M6 is close by, public transport links are good,

and a recent Ofsted report said the schools in the area are good, too.

This... Well, this is it.

It's a three bedroom semidetached with a guide price of just £25,000.

Even more confusingly, it sold just under a year ago for 85,000.

It doesn't make sense.

Until I look at it. Look at this!

The soil's bursting at the seams.

This retainer wall is not doing much retaining,

and that could really affect the house.

And yes, this is what's known in the subsidence world

as a belter of a crack.

Look at that crack.

That's really worrying.

Concerning, yes.

But it does seem to be on this front-of-porch extension for the time being.

One for the professionals to check out.

Through to a little vestibule area.

I think it's safe to say you need some new windows and doors.

And then through to a beautiful reception room.

It's not a bad reception room.

It's got nice lights coming in, it's bright, it's airy.

You've got some red bricks off what was a fireplace.

But it's gone.

As is just about everything else.

The polystyrene ceiling needs to come off.

We don't have double glazing.

The floorboards have been ripped up in places.

And then I've never seen this before.

You've got wallpaper straight on top of the bricks.

Ah. Now, whereas I saw the potential in the reception room

with the light flooding in, here, not so much.

This kitchen, well, everything's been taken out,

even the copper pipes. Somebody's taken them.

But even THEY didn't want that really dirty cooker and fridge.

Now, the configuration here is all wrong.

You've got the bathroom just off a poky kitchen.

What you'd be thinking about doing is taking this wall down.

It is load-bearing, so it is a bit of a job,

but it could open things up.

You've got wallpaper on top of wallpaper on top of wallpaper,

and then round here...

..you've got a toilet.

Least said the better about that.

But I'm determined to find the positives.

It's a nice day.

Unfortunately, there are no positives to be found in the back garden.

It's an overgrown mess, populated by tree saplings,

which will need to be cleared before the roots get too established.

I wonder if things will be any better upstairs.

Upstairs, I'm watching where I'm going.

The place is full of holes.

You have a very small bedroom and the floorboards are up here

because, of course, somebody has taken those copper pipes

and pulled them up.

And what it has exposed is a real problem with woodworm.

So you've got these little pinpricks which tell you this place is rife

with woodworm. So just another thing to add to the to-do list.

Into a bigger bedroom.

It's a decent size. You've got the same problem with the floorboards,

they've been pulled up for those copper pipes.

Need replacing. You've got a nice feature fireplace.

It's just not where it should be, because someone has ripped it out.

Now that's what I call rubble!

So, someone has clearly made a stab at starting work in here.

And walking around the house, the feeling I get

is that it's just been...

Well, the cracks have been papered over, over the decades,

and when you do start exposing things,

that's when the cracks appear.

Literally, look at this. This is a real sign of movement.

Clearly been going for years.

Could be a huge money eater to put that right.

And looking around, everything needs done.

From your plastering, your windows, your electrics.

Absolutely everything.

# Making you aware of the state of things

# A little introduction to the state of things

# I'm aching to sing about the state of things

# Bet they don't teach you at school about the state of things... #

This property seems to have every problem imaginable.

And even with that guide price of £25,000 for a good area,

it's a bit scary.

We asked a local estate agent how much of this place

might need to be put right.

To get this property up to a liveable standard,

I would say it would cost £25,000.

So, to values.

When renovated, how much could this house make on the resale market?

In the sales market, this could achieve £135,000.

-And rental?

-Once this property is complete,

the rental you can achieve for this property is £725 per calendar month.

On paper, this property is the sale of the century.

But walking around it,

it soon becomes apparent why that guide price is so low.

There is so much needing done.

But if you have the budget to play with,

you could make this into the spectacular family home it maybe once was.

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

OK, I've got a proxy bid.

£30,000 for lot 38.

Do I hear 35, sir?

Thank you. 40 is proxy.

45, I've got. 50, I've got.

Proxy. 55 now, sir.

I'll come back to you. 55 and the proxy is out.

The proxy bids help to get this lot off to a flyer.

And surprisingly the low guide price soon became a distant memory.

We rejoin with the auctioneer looking for £88,000.

88, come back in, behind.

I've got, in the front, £86,000.

I'll take 1,000, then.

At 86...

Fresh bidder again, 87.

88, sir.

You're not together, are you? No. £87,000.

87, standing on my left at £87,000.

First time.

Second time. Are you all done?

Third and very last time.

You're out at the back, the bid is just there, sir, 87,375.

Paying a massive 63 grand over the guide price

was Braham, who lives locally with his wife and two children.

This is his first-ever auction purchase

and he certainly jumped in at the deep end.

I met him back at the house to find out more.

Braham congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Now, there's a lot of work to be done on this house.

That's undeniable.

But had you done your homework? You'd come to see it?

When I went to the auction, I didn't visit the property,

so I didn't know how...

I just saw from the outside how it looks like, but I didn't see inside.

So what did you think when you walked in?

I was shocked. I was thinking, boilers or electric or windows,

so that kind of thing, I was looking that...

..don't need to do that.

It's just maybe walls or that kind of thing.

But when I saw that inside it's everything I have to do.

So, you're in auction, and you think, this is 25 grand,

this is three bedrooms, this is good.

-Yes.

-So you start bidding.

-And what did you get it for?

-It was 87

for auction, but after that, once I got my solicitor and everything,

they were saying the seller as per rider, seller cost,

so it's nearly ten grand I have to pay extra.

There must have been a moment...

-Yes.

-..when you were quite sad about...

Yes, I was sad.

And nightmare, as well.

What happened. But now I'm here, I'm positive, I'm going to do that.

# Take a deep breath and jump right in... #

Oh, dear, not only does this house have everything you could imagine wrong with it,

he's paid well over the guide, got stuck with fees,

and hadn't seen inside before bidding.

Those Homes Under The Hammer golden rules are golden rules for a reason.

However, he has a really can-do attitude and sounds determined

to make this a nice home for his wife and kids.

The first plan is to take off all the plaster, ripping out everything.

Double glaze all the windows.

Double glaze doors and everything will be fitted.

Tomorrow, eight o'clock, the guys will be here.

Central heating, pipes and the refurbishing, electric wiring,

the guy will come this week, probably.

And kitchen, we're going to put a brand-new kitchen.

Downstairs bathroom, we are making downstairs bathroom.

And then upstairs, new bathroom.

Make the separate wall inside the new bathroom, as well.

OK, there's a lot to do.

Have you done this sort of thing before?

-No, this is my first time.

-All of that is a big job.

What worries me more is the actual foundations and stability of the house.

-Yes.

-You've seen the cracks. Have you investigated?

We investigated. I called the builders, as well.

And they checked the walls. They said it's the base is fine,

it's just the cracks because the plasters and the outside,

is that extension.

You don't need to worry about that because the base is safe, they said.

-What's your budget?

-Normally, budget was £25,000,

but I can't afford,

because I paid £10,000.

So my budget has gone to now 15.

-There's an awful lot of work to be done for 15, isn't there?

-Yes.

So my budget has gone down and is very tight.

Wherever I can cut that, then I will cut,

or probably I will do myself,

or family, I will ask my help, as well.

What is your timescale?

When I bought this house, my timescale was eight weeks.

But I don't think so,

because the builders of which I'm speaking with them,

they are very busy because of the time is, they're saying, summertime,

and we are so busy.

But, fingers crossed, I managed my double-glaze guy,

so the house will be secure.

Front door and the back door, house will be secure.

Later on, maybe I can do my DIY work as well.

Do you think you're quite handy?

I've not done before, but I can, you know, can manage.

Braham did have his reasons for gambling so much on the house.

He wants his kids to go to a better school

and the access to the motorway

means it's much handier for his locum work as a hospital pharmacist

-technician.

-Sometimes, yeah, working in Oxford, London,

Manchester and sometimes work in Leeds,

so just quick on the M6 and drive and come back home.

You've had a few setbacks, Braham, but I can't wait to see what you do.

-OK. Best of luck.

-Thank you.

My heart breaks for Braham.

He didn't view this property and he didn't read the legal pack

and he's paid for it dearly and I'm also worried

that £15,000 budget won't cut it,

but I'm hopeful he can make this into

a great family home for himself.

In fact, I'm rooting for him, I'm sure you are too.

You can find out what happens later in the show.

So, we've seen one property.

But how does it compare to our other two?

Were they dealt a royal flush or a bad hand?

I think it's time to see how the cards fell.

Now we're heading back to Raynes Park in London,

where I saw a three-bedroom maisonette,

a very spacious three-bedroom maisonette at that.

The decor was tired, but the rooms were huge,

until you got towards the back of the flat.

It all starts to go a little bit wrong at this point though.

This is the kitchen. As you can see, it is absolutely tiny.

There was also one other not-so-tiny problem.

This house comes with a really short lease - 33 years.

What does it matter? Well, in 33 years,

if you don't do something about it, it's not your house any more.

So there would be negotiations to be had with the freeholder here.

Purchasing the property, short lease and all, for £387,000 was Amal.

She planned on having discussions to extend the lease, whilst son, Omar,

who handily has a building company,

was going to get stuck in with the graft.

Hopefully this mother-and-son pairing

would be a great team, once they ironed out the kinks, that is.

So, what's the budget?

I don't know, maybe, do you think we could do it for under £10,000?

Under £10,000? No. Not at all.

-If you're replumbing and stuff.

-No, I'm not replumbing, I'm not replumbing.

You'll have to change some of the...

I'll change the bathroom because it's leaking already.

You're not buying a handbag.

I think around £20,000 - £25,000.

And that's for the first version.

-First stage.

-Do you buy expensive handbags?

Sometimes.

They planned on doing a simple refurb

before renting it out for a few years.

So, now we're heading back five months later

to see if Amal and Omar have got this renovation in the bag.

They certainly have.

And it's had more than a quick refurb.

Once they had a closer look at the electrics,

plumbing and the state of the old plaster,

Omar made the decision that, in the long run, it was best

to just get everything back to brick and start again.

As it is a leasehold flat,

they had to come to a compromise with the freeholder

on things such as the flooring, so there's no wooden floors,

but instead these lovely fresh carpets.

But they didn't have to settle when it came to layout.

This new open-plan kitchen and living area works really well.

So this is lovely, isn't it, now, with a dining reception?

It was a good idea keeping this as a reception room

and just make it more modern. So we just created an opening,

giving an open-plan kitchen with a reception room.

Just a more friendlier vibe.

And it's also overlooking the garden so a mother doesn't feel isolated

when she's cooking for the kids or for a dinner party.

You can chat away, have a glass of wine with your guests or family,

so it's good.

As this is now the living area,

the former front room has become the master bedroom.

It is a fantastic size.

And it also has a large cupboard and just down the hall is this smaller,

but charming, third bedroom.

Amal and Omar have finished within the six-month timescale

they originally set for stage two,

but unfortunately they haven't yet been able to reach an agreement

to extend the lease, but negotiations are ongoing.

This mother-and-son team must have learnt quite a few lessons

on their first property venture.

Never work with your mum again.

I've actually enjoyed working with him because I see him more often.

A mother always likes to see her son.

Yes, yes, she does.

I enjoyed it. So it's quite interesting working with your mum,

but it was pleasant.

The makeover, the whole flat, went pretty smoothly.

I think we're all pretty happy with it and hopefully we can rent it

and then sell it for a good price.

As they've chosen to go with the full refurb,

they've spent their maximum budget of £50,000 on all the work,

so it's time to see if it's all been worth it.

We've asked two local estate agents along for their opinion.

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

I think from the last time that I saw it,

the owners have done a good job.

It's been done up to a really good standard.

I think leaving the kitchen in this room but open planning it

was a really good idea. It looks very good.

The main selling points of the property, I'd say the catchment area

for the schools is going to be great.

The location is always going to be key.

But it's going to be very attractive to families because you've got

the three proper bedroom space for the family to sort of spread out

and there's a sociable kitchen-diner family room at the back.

The garden's going to be a big pull as well and being in a quiet

cul-de-sac again is a big pull for young families.

The agents like it.

But will Amal's investment of £337,000 have been worth it?

I would suggest a sales asking price of £625,000 - £650,000.

If we put this property on the market we would put it on the market for £650,000.

That's what we had in mind, actually.

-Yes.

-Wasn't it?

-I would have thought £660,000 - £670,000.

At the moment, the £650,000 figure gives her £213,000 profit before

taxes, fees and, crucially in this case,

the cost of extending the lease.

But as they're not going to sell for a couple of years,

rental figures are the name of the game.

And the agents agreed the flat could achieve £1,700 - £1,800 per calendar month.

I think anything between £1,800 - £1,900 is quite a fair price for this kind of area.

-Yeah.

-When you rent it for a year or 18 months

and you recoup all your refurbishment costs.

Yeah. I suppose so.

-It's a win-win situation.

-It is a win-win situation.

You can even be more generous towards me, which is nice.

I'm sure she'll be generous, Omar, now she has that almost 5% yield.

So will this mum-and-son team be working together again?

It was a pleasurable experience working with my mum.

First project I've ever done with a family member.

Immediate family, especially.

So why not more to come?

-The more the better.

-And since filming,

Amal has managed to negotiate a lease extension of 99 years

at a cost of £170,000.

We return now to the Erdington district of Birmingham

where earlier I saw this three-bedroomed semi.

It had been extended at the front,

but I wasn't happy with what I found.

This retainer wall's not doing much retaining,

and that could really affect the house and, yes,

this is what's known in the subsidence world

as a belter of a crack.

Often movement in foundations can be indicated by diagonal cracks.

The inside fills me with even more dread -

missing floorboards, woodworm, broken floor tiles,

polystyrene ceiling tiles

and it got worse in what was left of the kitchen.

Everything's been taken out, even the copper pipes, somebody's taken them,

but even they didn't want that really dirty cooker and fridge.

Upstairs the devastation continued.

It was clear this would be a refurbishment on a grand scale

and explained the guide price of a relatively low £25,000.

It was bought for considerably more by Braham,

who is a locum pharmacist technician.

Not only did he pay £87,000 for this troublesome lot,

he was hit with an additional £10,000 in fees.

Even worse, he had taken a chance

and hadn't seen the inside of the house.

Despite his shock at the state of it,

he had a plan and a very tight £15,000 budget.

The first plan is to take off all the plaster, ripping out everything.

Double glaze all the windows and double glaze the door

and everything will be fitted.

Central heating pipes and the refurbishing of electric wiring

and kitchen, we're going to put a brand-new kitchen.

Downstairs bathroom, we are making a downstairs bathroom fully

and then upstairs, new bathroom.

There's a lot to do, have you done this sort of thing before?

No, this is my first time.

Ooh, talk about jumping in at the deep end

and Braham had originally thought

eight weeks would be enough to complete.

We're back, just over five months later,

to see how things have worked out by taking a chance here.

OK, the old downstairs bathroom off the kitchen

is a bit of a work in progress.

But the kitchen is bigger,

it's been knocked through into the outhouse and the old toilet area.

It now is functional with some integrated appliances

and, most important, a central heating boiler.

# I know you know there's something here

# But you cannot get past the fear... #

And fear is what most novice developers would feel

when entering the old lounge.

Now it has calming neutral tones,

courtesy of Braham's wife Anita's interior design efforts.

Upstairs the wallpaper pine-boarding effect has gone too.

The landing's also been extended too to incorporate a shower room.

The addition of the upstairs facilities has added much appeal

whilst taking a little space from the bedroom,

which is still a reasonably sized double.

Across the landing, at the back of the house,

is the smallest of the three bedrooms.

And next door, the larger back bedroom.

But, like me, I'm sure you're all wondering - what about the cracks?

We've done underpinning the concrete this side and the backside.

All that kitchen and that bathroom with a damp-proof membrane,

we've done that all with solid concrete and this is the biggest,

biggest huge job was that here. The hardest job.

Another expensive job was moving the sewer drain from the old toilet

to run down the left-hand side of the building,

it meant a complete reworking.

I found one plumber and he was saying, OK, I'm happy to do,

but his price was double the price from the other people,

but I was happy to pay because there was nobody wanted to do this.

Braham's work at distant hospitals

meant he found it difficult to project manage

and keep an eye on tradesmen, so he found a radical solution.

I gave up my full-time job and took a part-time job

which is in the evening, so 5.00pm to 11.00pm.

I was just doing that part-time job so basically in the daytime

I was watching them as well over here.

I'd been really worried about the amount of work needed and how far

his £15,000 budget could stretch.

He'd used £10,000 of his original refurbishment budget for those fees.

So how has this panned out?

OK, that's gone up to huge, huge money, yeah.

It's gone £10,000 above what I've gone above.

So that's £25,000 on top of the extra £10,000,

and there's still work to do.

Basically, inside I've mostly finished to living standard.

Outside driveway is left as well, back garden to cleaning as well.

So basically, I'm looking my budget which is I think £10,000 more.

So that is my target.

So his estimated total, when all is said and done, will be £132,000.

This includes the purchase price, extra fees and increased budget.

Time to call in the professionals.

He's made a start.

I think that once he's, how shall I say,

finished it all off to maybe a little bit better standard

and got it all completely done,

it would make a nice family home.

The kitchen downstairs is a good size,

I think he's opened that up quite nicely.

Traditionally, these properties would have a small kitchen,

there would have been an outside toilet.

It's a bit of a mish mash downstairs,

so that really is a good feature of this property.

We know in Braham's case it's about being a home for his family,

but what would it sell for when complete?

I would envisage the property being on the market

in the region of £125,000.

If this went to the market,

I would estimate that this would fetch in the region of £125,000.

A potential small loss, but Braham feels there's still value to be added.

At this stage, it is worth £120,000, £125,000,

something like that, which I know,

that's why I didn't spend more money.

But if I've done front driveway and back garden and something like that,

then it will raise. Yeah, that's fine, yeah.

Braham hopes to move the family in in a couple of weeks

when the internal works are complete.

So was it worth taking a chance on this unseen property?

I'm glad, yeah, that I just gone to this auction

and I bought this, yeah.

We hope you've enjoyed the show and maybe we've even inspired you to go to your local property auction.

Yes. We'll have plenty more renovation stories for you next time.

-Yeah, join us here on Homes Under The Hammer soon, bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.