Episode 66 Homes Under the Hammer

Hello, and welcome to the show. Now, each property developing project

throws up its own challenges -

a unique set each time -

and you never do quite know what's going to happen.

No, and that's why we always say,

"You've got to visit the property beforehand

"and you have to read the legal pack."

Yes. Following these simple rules can be the difference between

making a tidy profit or falling flat on your face

when you buy your home under the hammer.

There are some situations in life when you can get carried away

with the atmosphere and get lost in the moment.

That's right, Dion,

and the auction house is definitely one of those places,

so it's important to keep your calm.

Yes. And even if all those around you get auction fever,

you need to keep a level head.

Let's hope that's what today's buyers did.

This semi in Carlisle didn't have a room with a view -

it had a room with a loo.

Despite there being...a toilet in here.

No matter which way you view it, this plot in Derby is pretty narrow.

4-5 metres in width, it's not big.

And in Alsagers Bank, I spied a semi with some spectacular views.

This, to me, sells this house.

You would buy it because of this, wouldn't you?

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.

Well done.

The River Eden carves a boundary

between the counties of North Yorkshire and Cumbria.

It eventually flows into the Solway Firth

after winding through Carlisle, where I am today.

I'm a mile from the city centre

and the property I'm here to see today is a three-bedroomed

semidetached house with a guide price of £70,000 plus.

Now, it said in the auction catalogue

it was in need of repair throughout.

Not a good start. But...a bit of front garden.

Off-street parking. Looks OK.

Let's have a look.

Right...

OK, this house is stripped back to the bare brick.

Now, there is a reason for that.

Late 2015, Carlisle was hit with some devastating floods

and affected over 2,000 houses,

and this was one of those houses.

You can see from how much plaster has been taken off the walls

how high that water must've been.

It must have been a very hard time when that water came down.

I'm just glad to see the area is getting back on its feet

and these houses are going to be used again.

Right, what have we got? Aside from that, you've got a nice porch area.

The stairs going up to the bedrooms.

Now, this is the lounge,

despite there being...a toilet in here,

and a good-size lounge at that.

Into what would have been the dining area.

You've got what would have been doors here.

I'd be inclined to leave that open, maybe.

OK, not a bad size at all.

Kitchen would have been here, dining area would have been there.

You've got patio doors going out into the garden.

And in this extension here

would be the utility room and, right at the end, you've got a toilet.

Good size, actually, down here, very surprised how much space there is.

I like the way it flows. Yes, there's nothing in here

at present, but I like that. You're starting from scratch.

# Started from the bottom now we're here

# Started from the bottom now the whole team here... #

Yes, you may well be starting from the bottom,

but the good thing here is that the house

comes with a drying-out certificate. That means that the house is deemed

properly dried and has the green light for refurbishment.

One of the first things on my list

would be getting the electrics checked out

by a qualified professional.

It looks like the house did have the sockets raised in case of floods,

but it seems like it will still need new wiring.

You can see how high that water level must've been.

The bottom four steps,

the carpet has been taken off and this has been left,

so obviously it's getting drier and drier the further you get away

from that flood damage downstairs.

Upstairs, we have got three bedrooms.

Two really good-sized bedrooms there,

double bedrooms, and behind me here you've got more of a box bedroom.

Looks more like a nursery for a child or an office,

depending on what you want to use the house for.

And there you've got a really good-sized family bathroom

in good condition. All the tiles look OK, the flooring looks OK.

You definitely would be able to keep that.

I like it up here. Upstairs,

you haven't let me down.

So things are looking up in this house.

Upstairs won't need anywhere near as much work as downstairs

and, out back, I may just have found another plus.

So outside, into the back garden, and it's not a bad size.

Now, you have got this existing extension.

Why not think about extending that?

You've got this void space here.

Could you put a wall all across here?

You could have your double doors here,

coming out into the back garden,

and all this could be inside space.

Kitchen-diner, maybe.

It's just an option and, of course, you'd have to check with planning.

And it would still leave you your little bit of green back garden.

One thing I will say, it's a nice, solid house.

# Solid

# Solid as a rock... #

But is it a solid investment?

We've asked along the auctioneer from the auction house who sold it

to see what he thinks of a potential extension.

I think an extension would affect the value of the property.

But most people who carry out extensions

are not for financial reasons,

especially if you're buying it to live in.

But it's not the end of the world if it's not extended.

It's very sellable.

As if there hadn't been enough misery for the house owners,

it's not just the damage and destruction that's been the issue

here. Consequently, house prices have been affected negatively.

But are they likely to recover?

I think the recovery of prices depends on the availability

of buildings insurance. If people can get buildings insurance,

they can get mortgages.

If people can get mortgages, that then fuels the recovery.

But I would hope that you would see a recovery in prices

within three or four years.

So bearing in mind the house is guided at 70 grand plus,

what could the value potentially be if that recovery happens?

I mean, if this property was exposed to the sales market

prior to the floods,

you probably achieve a figure in and around £135,000.

OK, apart from the obvious on that ground floor,

for a guide price of £70,000 plus,

I think you're getting a lot of bricks and mortar for your money,

minus the plaster, of course.

I think this could be a very good project to take on.

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

70 is the guide on this one. Three-bedroom semidetached house.

At £60,000, we will move on if there is no bids.

55 I'm bid, 56?

57, 58,

59, 60,

61, 62, 63,

64, 65, 66,

67, 68,

69 and 70.

71, 72, 73 then,

74, shake of the head here at £73,000.

I'll take a half - if not, I'm selling this.

Half I've got. 73 and a half.

74? 74 and a half.

You started it.

74 here.

With you, then, been with me all the way, then, it's £74,000.

First time, second time, all done, selling...

-Well done.

-And paddle number 17 might mean heaven 17

for purchasers Stephen, who's a joiner, and girlfriend Alex.

They bought the house for 74 grand.

We have met Stephen before,

when he renovated a Carlisle property back in 2014,

but it's Alex who I'm meeting back at the property this time.

-Alex, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Congratulations.

Thank you very much.

Before we go into the house, tell us about the auction.

-How was that for you?

-Well, I was quite nervous at the auction,

so I let my boyfriend Stephen do all of the bidding

because he's been at auction before.

I kind of just sat back and agreed

how much he was allowed to bid.

So have you looked in this area for a while?

I have, yeah. We just thought it was the ideal time to buy,

with the price being so good.

With my boyfriend being able

to do up properties, it wasn't too much...off-putting

with the work that needed to be done.

This house was flooded when it was terrible in this area.

-Yeah.

-Everything just got destroyed.

-Did it not put you off at all?

-It did at first.

I've kind of been brought around to the idea. I've had a look

at some of the houses that my boyfriend's done up after

the floods and he's talked me through different measures

that you're able to put in place.

So, just concreting the floor, moving the electrics higher,

putting in a flood-proof front door.

And I've seen how quickly other people have been able to get in and

we checked out that we would be able to get the property fully insured

and everything first before we went for it.

So I've kind of come around and, when I came around to look around,

I loved it. And, for us,

a three-bedroom property for our first one to live in is ideal.

Ah, so you're going to be living in this?

-Yeah, we're going to be living in it.

-Fantastic.

We did one up previously.

We did that one up and we sold that one and he did a really good job,

so I'm hoping he does this one to the same standard.

And you can actually start from scratch

and put your own touches on it and stuff.

Tell us what you're going to do.

We're looking at having a vestibule at the front and then a wraparound

extension. So we're looking at a garage down the side,

because my boyfriend really needs a garage for his work -

to store all of his tools. And then it will lead into a utility room,

and then a downstairs bathroom that will lead

into a big open-plan kitchen.

And we're just going to focus on downstairs for now,

leave upstairs and just decorate and maybe spruce up the bathroom

a little bit. And then, in the future, we've seen that

a couple of properties around here have extended into the loft

and put a dormer window in and an en-suite, so we will look at doing that

in the future, but for now we're just going to focus on down here.

That is...that is huge.

Yeah.

I'm blown away by the enthusiasm and the length of the to-do list.

Alex and Stephen hope to create a terrific home

in six to eight months, and they have the skills to hand.

We are quite lucky because my boyfriend's dad is a builder,

so he'll be able to do all of the building sort of work for us

and with us. And my boyfriend is a joiner and a window fitter,

so he'll be able to do all of that sort of thing

and make my sort of dream interior come true.

You've got it all worked out, haven't you?

-You've got it all worked out. You've got builders, joiners.

-Yeah.

No doubt they've got friends as well that can do work for you as well.

Yeah, he's got a best friend in the roofing trade as well,

so he'll be able to sort of help us out.

-So it's all about who you know.

-It's being very clever.

-Yeah.

You're being very clever. Now, you double checked

-all of the drying-out certificates?

-Oh, yeah, yeah,

it came with a pack and we checked all of those things out before.

And what about lending, to buy the house, all that kind of stuff?

We've been quite lucky, really. We've been able to use

a lot of the money from the last property to help us with this one,

so we're all sort of sorted. We've roughly got in mind about £20,000.

-OK.

-That's just for building material

because Stephen and his dad will be doing a lot of the work themselves.

What will you be doing?

What's your role? What's your title going to be on this project?

-I work as a primary school teacher in a local school.

-OK.

So I'm going to the off for the holidays,

so I'll be helping them as much as possible.

-I'm not very handy.

-So a teacher that's got a bit of time off

at the moment. You're now going to become project manager.

-Yeah.

-That's a nice title.

Looking after the budget.

Good on you. So, 20 grand, six to eight months.

-Yeah.

-We'll be back, and what are we going to find when we come back?

Hopefully a finished property

and, fingers crossed, we've started on the upstairs work as well.

-So I'll be in touch.

-Can't wait.

-Great.

-Good luck to you, OK?

-Thank you very much.

-Alex, I wish you all the best.

-Thanks.

-Take care.

Now, there is a confident lady who knows what she wants.

She also knows how to future-proof this house.

She's got her partner Stephen and his dad,

who will be doing most of the work on this grand makeover.

But that 20 grand is going to be pushed to the limit.

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

Our next property takes me to the outskirts of Derby.

If you follow the Derwent River north of the city centre,

you enter the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

This protected area was once an extremely important location

in Britain's Industrial Revolution.

Many of the water mills and settlements involved in the production of textiles

in the 18th and 19th centuries have been carefully preserved.

However, you're more than likely to find digital and creative

businesses in these refurbished buildings today.

So, will our property in nearby Breadsall Hilltop offer us

more of the past or the present?

The property I'm here to see,

well, it isn't actually a property yet.

It is just a plot of land for now.

But I happen to know it does come with planning permission

for a two-storey, two-bedroom detached house,

so this might require a little bit of imagination.

It had a guide price of £28,000.

It's time to get creative.

# Well, it's just my imagination... #

You know, it never fails to amaze me where you can actually squeeze a

house onto, so this piece of land effectively is someone's driveway.

It looks like the house next door has sold it.

And do you know what? Good on them for getting creative

because this is, by my reckoning, let's see -

one, two, three, four, metres - four, five metres in width.

It's not big and it does require some imagination

as to how exactly this is going to work. Give me a minute.

# With a little imagination

# You will find the world can be left behind

# Life can be delicious with wishes in your mind

# With a little imagination You can be

# The one to make history

# And though you're small You feel tall as a poplar tree... #

So I've had a think, and it is actually workable.

OK, this wouldn't be your BIGGEST house,

but you could do well, get everything in proportion.

And what this property WOULD have going for it

is that it's a detached house in a road of semis.

# Just stand out

# I think you ought to stand out

# So I can see wherever you are... #

That's good as detached properties are generally worth more

than terraced houses. And you'll have access from the streets

to the back of the property,

so you won't have to trudge your bins through the house.

Having had a look at the plans, good use has been made

of the limited space, with living accommodation

and a cloakroom on the ground floor,

and two good-sized bedrooms and master on the first.

Now, at this stage,

I'd normally start thinking about all those planning requirements -

the things you have to think of before even submitting

your planning application -

but that's all been done for you because it comes with permission.

So they've thought about not overlooking the neighbours,

they've thought about off-street parking -

all those boxes have been ticked.

What's also great is that you're in a heavily residential area,

so your services, your water, electricity,

close by, should not be a problem.

In property, there is no such thing as a sure bet,

but this feels pretty low risk.

Time to get a second opinion.

What did the auctioneer from the auction house who sold it

think of this cracking wee opportunity, guided at £28,000?

My thoughts on this plot are it's a relatively small plot.

It really is beneficial for somebody to buy something that already has

planning permission because you are shortening that time that it takes

from the time that you purchased it

to the point that you can get your money back

because you can start work immediately.

So the advantage is that they can put a spade in the ground and get

on with things, and hopefully bring this back to the market before the winter.

So you could be in and out of this build very quickly.

How much is it likely to cost?

I would think, to build this in line with the current application

as a two-bedroom detached property,

you'd be looking at spending somewhere in the region of £75,000.

Projected build costs of 75 grand, plus a further 28

if you got it for the guide price,

that would give the potential buyer outgoings of £103,000.

So, what kind of return could you see on your investment?

On today's sales market,

I would anticipate this property,

if built in line with application as a two-bedroom detached,

would achieve somewhere in the region of £125,000.

On the face of it, this plot of land is hardly inspiring.

But it does come with guaranteed planning permission

and you could use your imagination to make this incredibly inspiring.

You start off with nothing and you build something.

Let's find out who shared my enthusiasm when it went to auction.

A great opportunity, ladies and gentleman. A flat and level site.

Guide price today is £28,000.

At 24,000, here.

At 24,000 I have.

25 now?

25, thank you.

Against you, 26.

27? 27, 28?

28 is bid.

29 now? 30.

Take the half. 29 and a half.

30,000?

No? At 29,500, then, for the first time.

At 29,500 for the second time.

30, thank you.

And a half again?

No. £30,000 here on the back wall.

It's against you, try another half.

At £30,000, then, I shall sell for the first time.

For the second time.

You're out. At £30,000 with you, sir, for the third and final time.

Hammer is up, fair warning it goes.

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

Paddle number 115 at £30,000, and thank you.

Straying just £2,000 over the guide price

and getting the plot for 30 grand on the day was Kevin on the right.

He came along with his business partner James

to tell me all about their plans for this compact site.

-Kevin?

-Yes.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you.

-James.

-Pleased to meet you, Martel.

Congratulations, you got yourself a piece of land.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-What's the relationship here?

Well, me and Kevin, I've known him for about 25-28 years.

We do taekwondo together.

When I first opened the club in Burton,

he was one of the first guys to come along and

at the time I thought he was a bit rough. You know,

when he came in with his hair down to the back of his legs and that,

I thought, "Do I really want him at the club?"

But he turned out to be one of the bestest guys I've known.

So, yeah, he's great.

It was the '80s, big hair was allowed then!

Yeah!

So there wasn't instant chemistry, but you, as pals,

but you soon got chatting and just hit it off?

Yeah, yeah, over the years. Just hit it off, yeah.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Nice.

And do you spend time together?

Do you go on holidays or anything like that?

No, no, I wouldn't go that far!

It's purely business now.

Purely business now.

We teach separate taekwondo clubs now anyway,

so he does his own thing, I do my thing.

-So you're actual taekwondo teachers?

-Yeah, we teach, yeah.

-Yeah, we do, yeah.

-Get you!

And any moves you could share with us?

We could, but we'd have to kill you.

# Everybody was kung fu fighting

# Those kicks were fast as lightning... #

While the guys teach martial arts in their spare time,

these taekwondo-it-yourselfers are actually well-qualified.

Kevin owns a building business and James is a carpenter,

so they've got plenty of experience.

But this will be their first project together.

They're going to follow the plans already granted

and build a two-storey, two-bed house.

And did it attract you as first-timers to do it yourself

that it came with planning permission

and actually the plans drawn up?

Well, that was one of the main things, yeah.

Yeah, it was the big sale that was, really,

that it had already got planning permission on it.

Plans drawn up, hadn't got to pay money out for that at all.

The inherited plans Kevin and James are following

have two off-street parking spaces at the front.

You enter through a long hall, with a kitchen on the right

and a WC on the left, and at the rear of the property

is an open-plan dining and lounge area.

Moving upstairs to the first floor,

there are two equally sized bedrooms and a family bathroom,

and out back there's a small garden.

Was there anything about those plans drawn up

that you weren't happy with?

It's an enclosed kitchen at the moment

and I really think it could do with

opening up and making an open-plan kitchen,

so as you walk through the front door...it's there in front of you.

I thought it would be a big sale to actually do that.

Now, if you're talking about stud walls and it's internal,

you wouldn't need to go back to planning with that, would you?

No. As long as they're not structural,

you can move the walls about as you'd like, really.

What is your budget for building this two-floor, two-bedroom house?

-What's your budget?

-It's £60,000.

OK. Sounds quite ambitious and it's a bit lower than the average

for a build, for a new-build house.

Why are you going to make it cheaper?

Because we are doing the work for ourselves.

We are doing the building, we are doing the carpentry.

The only extras you pay out is for plumbing and the electric.

Whereas, if you had to get a team of builders in,

it would cost a lot more.

Would be anything from the labouring to finishing the roof.

And it's a massive job.

The labouring can really keep down costs.

Lugging your blocks back and forth.

Well, the thing is we're not frightened of work,

that's the main thing, you see.

We're not frightened of work, we're not frightened of bad weather, so...

-..we'll be here.

-How long do you think it will take to do this?

Hopefully we get it built in five months

and, if we can get sold in six, that's a big bonus.

As soon as the footings are in, we shall have the for-sale sign up straight away

because we need to sell it ASAP, really.

-And are you committing to this? Is this going to be a full-time job?

-Oh, totally.

Yes, we'll be here full-time for five months, start to finish.

So you really have taken that bold step of saying,

"We're leaving everything else behind, this is...our other jobs,

"this is it, we're going to make it a success."

The bold step with me is working with him for five months!

Am I doing the right thing?

I can't wait to see what you do, really can't.

Best of luck and congratulations again.

-Thank you very much, thank you.

-Thank you very much, Martel.

For me, the fact that this plot of land already comes

with planning permission makes an ideal choice

for a first-time build for Kevin and James.

I love the fact that they're old pals and that they met each other

at taekwondo class,

and hopefully this first project

will kick start a mini property empire.

You can find out if it did later in the show.

Coming up, I visit a semidetached in Alsagers Bank,

which had some small proportions.

The third bedroom is absolutely tiny.

And did this narrow plot in Derby give Kevin and James any rest?

It's a bit late to be going into the building thing

because I'm asleep by half past three!

Time to return to the city of Carlisle,

where I saw this three-bed semi, guided at 70 grand plus.

But it was on the inside the awful truth emerged.

This was one of 2,000 houses in the area that had faced

devastating flooding in 2015.

You can see how high that water level must have been.

The bottom four steps, the carpet has been taken off.

With hopefully the bad times behind the city,

this was now a blank canvas,

so I was thinking an extension might be a great addition.

# I've got a blank space, baby

# And I'll write your name... #

This property had Alex's name written all over it.

She and her joiner boyfriend Stephen bought it at auction for £74,000.

Now, to say that Alex had a bit of a to-do list for their new home

could be a bit of an understatement.

So, we are looking at a garage down the side because my boyfriend really

needs a garage for his work - to store all of his tools -

and then it will lead into a utility room, and then a downstairs bathroom

that will lead into a big open-plan kitchen. And then, in the future,

we've seen that a couple of properties around here

have extended into the loft and put a dormer window in.

For now, they were happy to do what they could

with their 20 grand budget.

Originally, they planned to take six to eight months,

but we're back well over a year later

to find out if they've given this property the old razzle-dazzle.

# Razzle-dazzle

# Ooh-ooh

# Razzle-dazzle

# You've got to razzle

# You've got to shine

# You've got to show just where you're going once in a while

# You've got to dazzle

# You've got to shine... #

This is certainly one way to put a bit of glitz and glamour

into the property.

The colour scheme flows right into the kitchen.

Let's get Alex to dazzle us with the changes.

So, some of the work that was done in here is obviously the extension.

Where you can see here on the ceiling,

that was where the existing kitchen finished.

And there was a small extension at the back that we knocked through.

We've changed the layout of the kitchen by adding an island

and putting a sink in the middle, and then we've added

this dining area over here and the snug at the back.

And if you lead through the door, you can go to the downstairs

bathroom and utility and into the garage.

So I'm really happy with the overall finish of this room.

They have kept the original layout upstairs,

furnishing the rooms with their own personal touches.

I thought the bathroom wasn't bad at all

and I think they've done the right thing in keeping it.

They've only had to replace the shower head.

When we spoke last year,

Alex thought the loft extension was a plan for the future.

However, they've used the space from the box room to create a staircase.

So we have got the planning permission and things

in place for the loft and make that into the master bedroom,

but, for now, we're just having a bit of a relax.

Before Alex and Stephen could relax,

they had to flood-proof this property.

To flood-proof the property, we have concreted all the floors,

so the drying-out process takes a little bit of a shorter time.

And we've rewired from the ceiling, down,

so it kind of saves the electrics and things if it was to flood again.

They have created a fabulous home

and they have stretched their timescale.

But as you may have gathered,

Alex and Stephen do pack a lot into their lives.

This year has been a really busy year, mainly because we decided

to get married in the same year

as renovating the house and we actually moved in

seven days before we got married,

so that time was quite tight.

But, to be honest, we have had a lot of help from my parents

and Stephen's dad. My mum has done a lot of the gardening work

and my dad has decorated throughout and things.

So we have had an equal role, really.

Congratulations, guys.

But are congratulations in order with the budget?

We haven't managed to stick to our original budget mainly because,

with some of the features, we did get carried away a little bit,

because we are living here ourselves.

If we were just buying the property to sell on,

from an investment point of view, we perhaps wouldn't have spent

as much on the carpeting and the decoration

and perhaps wouldn't have gone as far with the kitchen.

So we have gone to 35,000 with the renovation so far.

That makes a total investment of 109,000

and that's without the wedding costs.

Some parts of Carlisle will have seen a dip in house prices with

the floods, so was the overspending on the budget worthwhile?

We invited along two property experts for their thoughts.

First, the auctioneer who sold the property.

Yeah, well, I'm absolutely amazed at the transformation of this property.

It's obviously, there is the fact that it was affected by the floods,

so there's always a little bit of uncertainty there.

I don't think the properties have reached pre-flood value.

We're not quite back there yet.

The first impressions of the property are very positive indeed.

It's been done to a fabulous standard throughout.

All the colour schemes are very much on trend

and the extra space they've created at the back is fantastic.

So, given the agent's expertise on this particular market,

could Alex and Stephen make anything on their £109,000 total spend

if they decided to sell?

If the property was to come on the market as it stands,

I'd be looking at something in the region of £140,000.

If this property was exposed to the market in its current state,

at this moment in time, I think it would get between 145 and 150.

I'm pretty happy with that, really.

Yeah. Don't think I could ask for anything more.

If they decided to ditch their new home and sell up right now,

that would give them a potential profit of 41 grand,

based on that top valuation of £150,000, minus taxes and fees.

But what does the future hold for the newlyweds?

Next for us is to save up a bit more money and tackle all of the jobs

that need to be finished here,

so render the back of the property, put decking in, finish the shed,

go into the attic and then, when everything is finished,

we might splash out on a well-deserved holiday

and then, in the near future,

sort of look at doing another property to sort of

carry on building up his portfolio.

Alsagers Bank is a small village on the outskirts

of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire.

Situated in the southern spur of the Pennines,

it has spectacular views that are the envy of many other

local villages in the area

and it's where we find today's auction lot.

So, what was the particular property that was up for auction?

Well, it was this. Three-bed semi, guide price of £70,000 plus.

Let's see what it has to offer.

OK, well, I'm not sure what era the door is for a start.

Surprising, actually, because one of the first things

people replace generally is the door, with the double glazed one,

that would certainly keep the noise of the traffic out -

hasn't been done here - and it's actually quite pleasant.

A little corridor leading in.

Front room, a few signs of damp on the walls.

Probably needs to be investigated.

But not in horrendous condition, that's for sure.

Quite a nice feel to it,

from the front room there through to the rear sitting room,

and this room again. Not in bad condition,

but the best bit is through there.

Look at this. Down this little step there, you've got a door

out to the back garden, but this is what I want to show you.

The kitchen, absolutely lovely.

I mean, if you rented this place out, absolutely adequate.

If you were living here, I think absolutely adequate.

What more can I say? And you think that's it?

No, no, no. Because somebody has had the forethought

to stick this at the very back of the property.

It's a sun room with views over the hills.

This, to me, sells this house.

You'd just buy it because of this, wouldn't you?

# Can you give me one good reason

# Not to try?

# No, no, no, no, no... #

There is no doubt about it, I'm a big fan of this conservatory

and, more importantly, this ideal little garden with those views.

The hedges need to be trimmed,

but, other than that, it looks easy to maintain.

Now, to have a look at the rest of the house.

So, upstairs, and some good news and some bad news.

Good news first, two decent-sized bedrooms -

one at the front, one more towards the back there -

and we've also got a bathroom. Fantastic, that's the good news.

The bad news is that third bedroom...is absolutely tiny.

# And it's bad news

# Baby, I'm bad news

# I'm just bad news, bad news, bad news... #

There could be more bad news, too,

as I may have found the source of the damp patches.

The gable end of the house does get the worst of the

weather and the damp could be caused by the blocked gutters

or damage to the roof.

But the fact that the damp is evident upstairs in the chimney breast,

well, that might just be where the water is getting in.

Best thing to do is get an expert in to check it out, as it could need

re-pointing. Time now for us to get the thoughts of an expert in the

local property market.

The property is situated on a busy road.

There is an incline on the road itself

and it's on a sharp bend.

There is no parking with the property,

however, obviously, several years ago, whoever's bought the property has renovated

the property inside

and I do believe the property has previously been rented.

The property obviously wants a little bit of TLC inside,

but nothing horrendous.

OK, then, as it's practically ready to move into,

what could the rental income be?

In my opinion, after spending about £4,000 or £5,000 here to get the

property up to a more liveable standard,

you'd be talking about a rental value of between £550 to

£595 per calendar month.

And what if this house, guided at 70,000,

was put on the sales market?

On completion of the works here,

I estimate this property will sell for about 90-£95,000.

That is an enticing figure, despite the damp.

# Bad news

# I don't care, I like you

# I like you... #

Well, apart from the fact you're on a fairly busy road and there's no

off-street parking, it's difficult to find fault with this property.

A really great one.

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

Semidetached house, sitting room, dining room.

There is a modern kitchen and a conservatory.

I would say 70, to start.

68, then. Can we getting it going at 68?

Surprisingly, bidding was slow for this one.

We rejoin at 75,000.

At £75,000, at 75,000.

76 anywhere else?

At 75, then, are we all done?

At £75,000 for the first time,

at £75,000 for the second time.

Third and final time at £75,000...

Not quite enough, please come talk to us.

The property didn't meet the reserve price set by the vendor during the

bidding, but Darren and wife Louise were able to negotiate its purchase

at £75,000 afterwards.

Auction lots that don't sell can often be dealt with in this way.

I met with them to find out what they liked about this semi.

# Talk to me, I don't know what you're thinking... #

Louise, Darren, great to meet you both.

-Hello.

-Hello!

-Congratulations!

-LAUGHTER

Nice little house.

-Yeah, it's OK, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I love the back, with the views and everything.

-Stunning.

-Amazing.

Tell me why you wanted to buy it.

Well, actually, we went to buy another property at the auction.

We followed all your rules and regulations.

-Good.

-But it was for another property!

-Ah!

-So what happened with...?

-That's to say, we hadn't seen this one when we bought it.

-No!

Yes, unfortunately.

So you broke the rules?

-Exactly.

-Every one.

-Really?

-We did follow the rules originally,

but for another property.

-And you bought this one on a bit of a whim?

-We did.

-Yes.

-Why?

-I just liked the look of it.

-Based on what?

-On the pictures, basically.

LAUGHTER

-Right.

-As it happens, I think we've done OK, but we'll see.

So what happened with the other one you were hoping to buy?

It was just out of our budget, to be fair.

It went a little bit more than we wanted to pay, so we pulled out.

I did bid on it, but we pulled out at our budget, so...

Were you party to this?

-No!

-So, what was going through your mind at this point?

"Well, let's have a go."

Right, yeah...

So, joking aside, dangerous tactics.

Yes, very dangerous, yes. I don't think I'd do it again,

but I think we've been a bit lucky.

Well, I think you might have been cos it is a great house.

Yes, it's nice.

So, why did you want to buy it?

Well, we work over in Stoke and we actually live in Wolverhampton, so...

-OK.

-The travelling is getting a bit much for us, so we are...

The M6 is a bit of a nightmare.

Yeah, yeah. Especially going home.

-Right.

-So we are looking to base ourselves over here.

Whether we'll move into this one, I don't know, but we'll see.

-What do you do?

-Sell fruit.

-Fruit?

-Fruit and veg.

-Yeah.

-Oh, OK, terrific.

Well, as in what?

We've got a couple of market stalls in Hanley, in Stoke-on-Trent,

and also a wholesale warehouse that we've just started, so...

Right. I get the impression that's a lot of early morning starts, is it?

-Two o'clock.

-2am?

-Yes, 2am.

-You're actually there are 2am or...?

No, I leave the house about 2am.

So you set your alarm clock for, like...?

Half one, quarter to...

Between two and half past we're out there, so...

Why do you have to be there so early?

Well, you have to get the fresh produce and obviously, if you get

there late, there's nothing left.

Those long hours to run the fruit and veg stall in Stoke

have left me "s-peach...less"!

Uprooting from Wolverhampton and moving in here

for a shorter commute would be as good a "raisin" as any.

But there's just one problem.

How do I know this?

Well, that's easy.

MUSIC: I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye

Well, the first impressions were

that we'd made a mistake because there's no parking.

You know, obviously we've got vehicles that we have to park.

Oh, yes, vans and stuff.

Vans and lorries and...

Lorries?!

Lorries, yeah. We don't bring the lorries home, to be fair.

LAUGHTER

The thought was just, "Oh, my God!"

Yeah, you're going to really get on well with the neighbours.

-Exactly.

-"Sorry about the artic', love.

"It'll only be there for a few hours...

-"Every day."

-That's right, that's right.

We have had that problem in the past.

-Have you?

-Yes.

-Golly gosh, wow.

So...tell me what you're going to do to it, then.

Not a lot, really. Just tidy it up.

Get the builders in and have a little look at it, and make sure everything

is structurally sound and then, basically, I think it just needs cleaning

and tidying and new floors, a bit of paint.

Not bad, you know. It could've been a lot worse.

Indeed, it could. So what's your involvement in this going to be?

Erm, interior design, I suppose, isn't it?

-Spending money.

-Spending money.

So, how are you going to do it?

Just some nice blinds and probably wooden flooring.

And some quirky paintings, I think, yeah.

So...budget-wise?

Well, we had set aside, originally, 10,000.

I'm hoping not to spend that much!

I don't think it needs that much spending on it,

but until we get the builders in and have a look at it and, you know, make sure everything is OK and safe.

So what about timescale?

A couple of months. We'll see how we go.

Obviously, if we're moving into it, it may be a little bit shorter than that,

you know, we might just move in and do it as we go along.

And if you don't move in, will you rent it out or sell it on?

-Probably rent it out.

-Rent, probably.

What-what will make your decision-making process?

-If we can find somewhere to park.

-To park.

-Oh, is it, really?

-Yeah, the parking is the big issue.

Well, congratulations. Don't do that again.

No, I won't.

LAUGHTER

But I'm glad that it's turned out all right.

-Nice to meet you both.

-Thank you, and you.

-Thank you.

-All the best.

-Thank you. Cheers.

Well, Darren, the fruit and veg man, buying this place on a whim.

Dangerous stuff that, he could've ended up with a real rotten tomato.

As it is, you know what? I think he's got a bit of a peach.

Only big question, will he and Louise live here or not?

You can find out later in the show.

Well, earlier we saw how one of our property projects developed.

How about the other two?

Yes, will they end up in the black on top of a pile of profit?

Or will they end up in the red

and seeing red for the foreseeable future?

Let's find out how they got on.

We head back to the area of Breadsall Hilltop near Derby,

where earlier I saw nothing.

Well, not quite nothing.

This plot of land came with planning permission to build a two-storey,

two-bed detached property.

You just had to try and picture what living here might be like.

# I can only imagine

# Only imagine

# What it'd be like

# What it'd be like

# What it'd be like

# Like

# Like

# What it'd be like

# Like, like

# Like, like... #

But dreaming big were Kevin, seen here on the right,

and business partner James, who teach taekwondo together.

The opportunity to construct their first new-build

cost them £30,000 at auction and afforded the pals a chance

to take a trip down memory lane.

Well, me and Kevin - I've known him for about 25-28 years.

We do taekwondo together.

When I first opened a club in Burton,

he was one of the first guys that come along

and at the time I thought he was a bit rough, you know.

When he'd come in with his hair down to the back of his legs,

I thought, "Do I really want him at the club?"

But he turned out to be one of the best guys I've known.

So, yeah, he's great.

It was the '80s, big hair was allowed then.

# It was acceptable in the '80s... #

It's OK, Kevin, we all had shoulder pads,

eyeliner and big hair in those days.

Going back to the future,

Kevin and James have a five-month timescale and a 60 grand budget to

build the house in order to sell on.

That was us talking about the '80s five months ago

and this is the plot now.

MUSIC: That Was Then But This Is Now by ABC

# Why make the past your sacred cow?

# I guess you've changed

# You've changed and how... #

You don't have to imagine a modern home any more, it's here!

# That was then

# But this is now

# That was then but this is now... #

Kevin and James have followed the plans almost exactly.

There is a smart bathroom upstairs and two generous-sized bedrooms.

They've opted not to decorate or to floor the house,

so the new buyers can put their own stamp on it.

This house might be small, but it is perfectly formed,

with lots of very up-to-date features,

from USB sockets to tall, fashionable radiators,

to a downstairs toilet.

One change they intended to make in the existing plans was to open up

the kitchen and I think that works really well -

it allows for more light -

and I like the breakfast bar in a kitchen which is stylish and simple.

While they've just about completed within their five-month timescale,

builder Kevin and carpenter James had a real worry that the ground

might be made up of rubble or spoil from when the street was built,

which would have meant an impact on the costs and timescale.

So, how did that turn out?

Luckily, it was clay all the way,

so it was really good, really.

The foundations were brilliant,

one of the cleanest, I think, I've ever dug.

Yeah, with Kevin's experience and stuff over the years,

it's a really good idea.

You've got somebody who's professional with you all the time

because you could make a mistake, find out you've bought the land,

and find that you've got to dig down so deep, and the costs go through

the roof if you have to go too deep.

That seemed to go smoothly enough.

Were there any complications they didn't foresee?

Two main challenges we've had, really, is A,

getting the house complete for when we wanted to get it done on time.

Organising the trades to come in.

We've got a good bunch of lads that we know, work with,

and they've been absolutely fantastic.

Secondly, we were due to have the gas pipe installed and we found out

that we couldn't do it because the children need to be off school.

There's three schools in the area

and I think the disruption would have been too much.

Who would have thought children crossing the road could disrupt your

build? But when installing services,

roads often have to be dug up,

which can impact traffic and road safety -

always worth bearing in mind.

Now, how's that 60 grand budget?

We've come in at £57,000.

The majority of that is materials and labour,

but £7,000, I think, as it stands at the minute, is solicitor's fees,

which a lot of people don't realise when they come into these projects.

I wonder, has their taekwondo helped them at all?

Hey, I'm only asking for kicks.

I would say yes because I'm 55 years old, I am,

and it's a bit late to be going into the building thing

because I'm asleep by half past three.

So, yes, being fit has really, really helped.

-It really, truly has, yeah.

-I don't know about half past three,

sometimes I think you sleep at 12 o'clock!

Grab 40 winks, then, James, while we let two local estate agents have a

look around the house.

First, the agent who saw the lot before the house was built.

My first impressions are that the builders made a really good job

of it. I think they've absolutely made the best use of the space that

they had available to them.

I think the selling points of the property are it's ready to go, isn't it?

Somebody can simply just move in and do what they want with it.

My first impressions of this property

is it's quite an interesting project.

They are limited by the size of the plot and I think they've done

a good job creating a decent two-bedroom detached property.

Kevin and James have spent a total of 87 grand here and they intend to

sell on, so what could it fetch on the sales and lettings market?

On the resell market, I would expect this property

to sell in the region of £140,000.

On the rental market, I would be looking to offer this property

around £600 per calendar month.

If I were looking to put this property to the sales market,

I would market it at £130,000.

And on today's rental market, at £575 per calendar month.

£30,000 on the land, £57,000 on the build...

..with a sale of between 130-140,000,

that would give us potential profit of between 40,000 and 50,000,

that's absolutely fantastic.

So professional, they even do the maths for me.

It would give them a top pre-tax profit of 53 grand -

minus taxes and fees - and this even includes the legal costs.

And I think that's the right way to go for the taekwondo two,

as rental would only bring a top yield of just over 8%.

So, how do the two pals manage to work so well together?

We do do the Brian Clough school of thought, where we sit down

and discuss it, and then decide...I decide what's going to happen.

Time now to return to Alsagers Bank in Staffordshire,

where, nestled amongst these stunning views, I saw this

three-bed semidetached house.

It was guided at £70,000 plus and it didn't have an awful lot wrong

with it, except for a few damp patches and cracks.

I was more excited about what was at the back of the house.

Somebody's had the forethought to stick this at the very back of the

property. It's a sunroom with views over the hills.

This, to me, sells this house.

You'd just buy it because of this, wouldn't you?

# In the summertime... #

Would buyers Darren and his wife Louise be basking in the sunroom?

They bought the semi for £75,000 after the auction,

and you'll be sort of glad they followed our rules about viewing and

reading the legal pack.

We followed all your rules and regulations.

-Good.

-But they were for another property.

So what happened...?

-That's to say, we hadn't seen this one when we bought it.

-No!

Well, I'll give them a get-out-of-jail-free card this time.

They didn't plan on changing much here,

just a bit of TLC and decoration.

The only issue for fruit and veg seller Darren was no parking for his

lorries. They planned to finish renovating it in just a few months,

with a budget of £10,000,

but we are back THREE YEARS later.

So it's safe to say that...

MUSIC: Time by Hootie & The Blowfish

# Cos tomorrow's just another day

# And I don't believe in time

# Time

# Take their red and blue... #

They may have been on the clock longer than anticipated,

but Darren and Louise have filled this place with homely touches.

We can't get into the first reception room at the moment,

as it's being used for storage.

As for that kitchen, I thought it was perfectly OK.

# And I don't believe in time... #

But now it's even better.

Well, there was a porchway there in the kitchen.

It was very, very tight, wasn't it?

And two old radiators either side of the three-quarter wall,

so we had it squared off.

And then new ceiling, new lights, new floor

and much, much, you know, easier.

That may well be the original kitchen in there,

but extending the space has made this room feel brand-new.

What can we expect from upstairs?

They've furnished, painted, and re-carpeted the three bedrooms.

And in the bathroom...

There was a bath when we moved in,

we've completely had that re-modernised and just a shower now,

which is much, much easier with a family.

Speaking of family, sons Joshua, Joe

and his girlfriend Vicki have all been living here.

The lads obviously moved from Wolverhampton with us.

We didn't intend to be here, sort of thing, they were going to stay here.

Unfortunately, we've now moved back in here as well,

-so there's five of us living here, two dogs...

-Two dogs.

It's very cramped. That's why I leave for work at one o'clock in the

morning, so I can get in the bathroom.

LAUGHTER

1am might mean that Darren misses the sunrise,

but coming home to the setting sun

over that gorgeous view must never get old.

When we first saw this property three years ago,

there were telltale signs of damp.

Did that cause them any bother?

We had experts out to see if we needed a new damp course

and obviously to check the cracks.

We also had the roof checked over and fortunately everything was OK.

Everything was OK.

So, do Darren and Louise intend on staying here?

We've actually bought a piece of land and we had a bungalow built on

it for ourselves. We had it valued, just out of curiosity of what it was

worth, and the estate agent came back to us

and said, "Somebody is interested in buying it."

And, as you know, we're market traders,

so everything is for sale at the right price!

They offered us the right price, so we sold it.

While working on the bungalow,

they let their sons and one of their son's girlfriends rent out the

property. Do they plan on chumming it with them for long?

If there was parking with the house,

we wouldn't move from here because we absolutely love the area.

-We do.

-It's just the fact that we're in the business,

we've got eight to ten vehicles and we're having to pay to park them somewhere, you know,

we can't park.

Parking may still be an issue for them,

but, for a property they didn't see at auction,

they've certainly had luck on their side.

Darren said he didn't want to spend more than £10,000,

so how did that budget turn out?

-I think we've spent about between 5,000 and 7,000.

-Yeah.

And I don't like spending money, so...

I do.

LAUGHTER

Well, you know what they say, "You have to spend money to make money."

If they were in the market for selling,

could they make a profit on their £82,000 total spend?

We invited along an estate agent to get his thoughts

on the benefit of this home.

Coming into the property,

very spacious and attractive character property.

Three really good-sized bedrooms,

very beneficial that the bathroom is also on the first floor.

The only negative with the property you could foresee

is the property having no off-road parking,

which is quite essential to many buyers nowadays.

It seems the fruit and veg sellers have got themselves a "berry" nice

property here. For the right price,

could the pair make like a banana and split their home?

We would love to place the property on the market

in the region of £145,000.

Better than we anticipated.

Very much, yeah.

Erm, I'll take the money now.

LAUGHTER

We had a local estate agent out a few weeks ago

and they valued it from 125-130, so the second one is more pleasing.

Once a market trader, always a market trader,

eh, Darren? At this estate agent's valuation of £145,000,

that would give them a potential profit of £62,000 -

minus taxes and fees -

not bad for a property they bought blind at auction,

not that I recommend it EVER.

So, what's next for this family?

Yeah, maybe the boys will...like to stay,

I think, won't they? And we'll move on...to a nice farm.

Whether they'll want to come there with us or not,

if not, they're quite happy to stay, so we are happy with that.

-Aren't we?

-Yeah, yeah. As long as they pay for it!

There are property auctions all over the country, so, at some stage,

there will be an opportunity for you.

Yes, you never know,

we might be visiting you at your next property purchase.

Yeah. So join us next time, when we meet the winning bidders on

-Homes Under The Hammer.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Goodbye.