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Homes Under the Hammer Season 28 Episode 57
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FunTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to the show. Now, buying property can be stressful, but with the right amount of research and effort, you can find yourself a great deal.
00:10So, whether you're looking for your dream home or an investment, why don't you head down to your local auctions and buy your next place under the hammer.
00:30Well, renovating property can be stressful. The costs soon mount up and auction properties are no different.
00:53So, what did the buyers on today's show take on?
01:00Coming up in Warwickshire, I struggle to get a foot in the door.
01:05It's not a very good start, is it?
01:10And crew, Dion has a window of opportunity to share his top tips.
01:15Oh, yes. And don't forget, you're going to have to replace the glass.
01:21And in Scotland, Martell finds a lot with a very natural look.
01:26There's so much pine. Everywhere is pine.
01:31All 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.
01:38And gone online.
01:40Our journey begins in Warwickshire and the market town of Atherstone.
01:50With roots as a medieval trading hub and a high street full of character, it blends old world charm with modern appeal.
01:57Well, pretty much in the centre of Atherstone, which itself is slap bang in the centre of England is the property I'm here to see.
02:08Three bed, semi tights, guide price, £59,000.
02:11Well, this is it.
02:13Actually, looks pretty good.
02:16Three bed semi, £59,000, what could we wrong with it?
02:19Anyway, one of the things Atherstone is famous for is hat making.
02:23So, is this going to be a top property or will it leave us a little bit flat?
02:29Let's find out.
02:30It's not a very good start, is it?
02:45Not a very good door at all.
02:47A little entrance, though, with a ramp, which is good for anyone with mobility issues.
02:52It's easy to get into the house itself.
02:54Entrance area here and nice understair stories there, which is good.
02:58And your stairs there.
03:00Front living room there.
03:01Rear living room there.
03:02We'll explore that in a minute.
03:03And then through into the kitchen.
03:05Now, it's actually not in bad condition.
03:07It needs a bit of a clean and a bit of a sparkle up.
03:10But if you rented this place out, you could probably make this work.
03:14And a really useful utility area just to the side there.
03:19So, in terms of space, loads of it.
03:22Needs a bit of sparkling up, but apart from that front door, nothing too untoward.
03:28The front room is a good size, but there's potential to create more of an open layout down here by removing the wall that separates the front and rear reception rooms.
03:44Of course, it all depends on a buyer's wants and needs as ever.
03:48But, like the kitchen, both spaces are in a decent condition and there's still more to explore.
03:55So, rear living room there.
03:58And then you've got this really quite nice little conservatory there.
04:02And then out into quite a surprise.
04:05I mean, I know it's a fairly substantial property, but look at this.
04:08An absolutely gorgeous little garden.
04:10And, judging by the back of the property, that's some kind of an extension has been done.
04:14It's been done really nicely.
04:15It's got the double glazing.
04:17Now, one thing possibly that's a fly in the ointment with this property is that solar panels are on the roof there.
04:26Now, there was a huge rush to have solar panels put on several years ago.
04:31And the whole legalities of who owns the solar panels, who owns the roof once the solar panels are on them.
04:37It tied a lot of the legalities of properties up in knots.
04:41And it's really important that your solicitor checks out who actually owns those and who owns the roof that it sits on.
04:48Because, believe it or not, somebody else might own your roof.
04:56In most cases, the owner owns the solar panels installed on their property.
05:00But there are some instances where a third party, like a solar panel company, may lease the roof space to operate the panels.
05:09The energy regulator can check ownership for you if needed, but the legal part could also shed some light on it.
05:17It might be a small cloud on what's otherwise been a bright and promising property.
05:21But let's see what the first floor has to offer.
05:26Okay, so upstairs and a bit of a return on the staircase itself.
05:34I mean, it all sort of works up here.
05:37It's got three bedrooms, but they're all a pretty nice size.
05:40And I think you could probably squeeze some kind of en suite into one of them.
05:46Certainly enough space.
05:47A bit of a disappointing positioning here of the bathroom.
05:51I mean, the bathroom itself is tired and dirty.
05:53You want to replace that.
05:54But it's just the fact it doesn't quite work because it's in this bit of a wiggle-woggle.
05:58But, yeah, I mean, they're all work. The bedrooms are all a nice size and not in bad condition.
06:05Although, I have to say, looking at the ceiling, looks like there might have been a few problems with that roof.
06:09So, actually, everything is pointing to the fact that it could be the roof that's the issue with this property.
06:17But, actually, it still doesn't expire that kind of price.
06:19Top of the to-do list is make sure everything's watertight.
06:24But the outlook for this three-bed semi is looking pretty fair, only really requiring some modernisation.
06:33Time to find out what a local estate agent thinks.
06:36We asked one along to get their thoughts and valuations on this property guided at £59,000.
06:42Yeah, so the property itself, when I first come around here, I was actually quite shocked at the actual size of all the reception rooms.
06:49There's so many different things that you could do with this property, from knock-through walls to make every roof slightly bigger.
06:55Full cosmetic update through downstairs and upstairs, but tons of potential.
07:02An attractive proposition, then.
07:03But when it comes to the solar panels, does the agent think these will attract potential buyers?
07:09Some of them can be a lot more difficult to manage if they're rented rather than actually being owned.
07:15For me, I like them just for the saving on the energy bills per month.
07:20So, once this three-bed semi has been updated, how much could it be worth on both the sales and rental markets?
07:28I'd estimate that this property is going to be worth anywhere from £230,000 to £240,000.
07:33If they were to put it onto the rental market, I'd estimate anywhere from £900 to £1,000 per calendar month.
07:40Well, I've been desperately trying to find a reason for that low guide price, but I can't.
07:45So I think this is just one of those instances where perhaps it's a bit of a carrot to get people into the auction rooms.
07:54Let's see what it went for when it went under the hammer.
08:01This lot was part of a remote auction, with bids taking place online.
08:05It's one, two, three, and gone online.
08:11The successful bid of £170,000, nearly three times that guide price, was made by married couple Jason and Joanne.
08:18We first met them in 2015, when they renovated a property in Stoke.
08:25No longer newbies to the property game, this latest purchase will be their ninth project.
08:32And I met up with them to hear what they have planned.
08:35Joanne, Jason, great to see you again.
08:39Hi again. Hi.
08:40It's been a while.
08:41Ten years, yes.
08:42Ten years.
08:43Wow, that obviously went well, that property.
08:45Yeah, yeah.
08:46It went well.
08:47We've still got it, we're still renting it.
08:48Really?
08:49Yeah.
08:50So is this now your full-time career?
08:52We're semi-retired and we're doing a property a year, hopefully.
08:55One property a year.
08:56Yeah.
08:57What brought you here?
08:58It's local, and it was the right price.
09:00Right.
09:02A lot more than the guide price?
09:04A lot more, but he was never going to go at the guide price, I think.
09:07Let's be honest.
09:09But what was it about the house that you particularly liked?
09:11It was a decent size to come and do up.
09:14There's no major structural changes that we need to do,
09:17so armed with a paintbrush and a bit of elbow grease.
09:20Right.
09:21And hopefully we'll get it done quickly.
09:22So literally no structural changes planned at all?
09:24No.
09:25We've put a new kitchen in, put a new bathroom in, tidy around,
09:28a bit of plastering on the hallway, and then paint it all out
09:31and get it all ready to sell.
09:32Right.
09:33And is that the idea that it's a two-open salon?
09:34Yes.
09:35It's got a really nice feel to it, hasn't it?
09:37And some of this looks a little bit like new build.
09:39Do you think it's just been extended and expanded?
09:42I think the back's an extension, but the rest of it seems to be
09:44the standard shape of the houses in the streets.
09:46Right.
09:47So I think they're about 1960s, 70s build.
09:50Yeah.
09:51So it's not too old.
09:52So what's the budget, do you know?
09:53You're the figure person, aren't you?
09:54Right.
09:55Hopefully 15 to 25,000.
09:57But that's doing a lot of work.
09:58Yeah, that's doing a lot of work.
09:59What kind of things do you get involved, Joanne?
10:01Do you, are you a painting, decorating kind of?
10:03Yeah, so I tend to do the painting and decorating and, you know,
10:06just get down to the nitty gritty and...
10:09Tell me what colours to do.
10:10Yeah, have a colour scheme and picking the kitchen.
10:13Perfect.
10:14You know, cos you get the wow factor then.
10:16Of course you do.
10:17You can see it when you come in through the front door as well,
10:19the kitchen, so hopefully that's the first thing that will be seen.
10:21And talking about the front door,
10:22presumably you're going to replace the front door.
10:24Yeah, that's going to get the new hinges on.
10:26That could not get in.
10:27No.
10:28In trying to find things that could be an issue with the house,
10:31the only thing I could see was the roof.
10:33Of course you've got the solar panels.
10:34Have you checked out the legalities of those?
10:37We've gone through the FIT process, the certificates who...
10:39What, so explain that to me?
10:41It's the feed-in tariff.
10:42Oh, OK.
10:43So you get a feed-in tariff on the solar panels.
10:45Feed-in tariff, OK, yeah.
10:46And then you have to then apply to the company who fitted them
10:49and then you have to transfer into your name,
10:51so I've got all the paperwork to do that.
10:53And then hopefully that's all sorted
10:56and then when we sell it we then transfer it on with the house.
10:58So were there any issues with the ownership of the panels and the roof?
11:03No, they're owned by the people who own the house.
11:08That's good news,
11:09but there is another potential issue with the roof.
11:12Foam insulation has been used in the loft.
11:15If poorly installed, it can trap moisture around the timbers
11:20and lead to structural problems
11:22and as a result it can affect a buyer's ability to get a mortgage.
11:25With resale in mind, Jason and Joanne are planning to remove it.
11:30And they already have a plan of action.
11:38The best way to get it off is with dry blasting.
11:42So it's like a dry ice and they spray it and it peels it all off and gets it off.
11:47Do they have to replace the rafters?
11:48Do they have to take the whole roof off?
11:49No, no, no.
11:50They don't take the roof off.
11:51It's all done from the inside.
11:52Oh.
11:53So they'll have a van on the front and then tubes going up into the loft
11:56and then they just, like Ghostbusters, spray it all over
11:59and it all comes off and then clears it up
12:01and then you just see the rafters again.
12:03So what sort of timescale is it going to be to do this?
12:06We're looking about six months to get it all done and dusted.
12:08OK.
12:09Put our efforts into it and hopefully get something out of the end of it.
12:12Yeah, and you create a nice home for somebody.
12:13Exactly.
12:14Good.
12:15Well, look, congratulations.
12:17Don't leave it another ten years before we see you again.
12:19But we look forward to seeing how you get on with this one.
12:21Lovely.
12:22Thank you very much.
12:23Cheers.
12:25Thanks.
12:26So no nasty surprises for Joanne and Jason.
12:31They knew what they were getting here and what they've got is a really good house.
12:35They know how to put it right, sort out those few issues
12:38and they're going to turn it into a lovely family home, I'm sure.
12:41You can find out how it all turns out later in the show.
12:50Our next stop is Crewe in Cheshire, a town built on the railways
12:55and still at a key junction on the west coast mainline.
12:58It connects major cities across the UK with most freight trains passing through.
13:03Dion's heading full steam ahead to see our next auction lot.
13:09The property I'm here to see is not too far away from the centre of Crewe.
13:15We've got a four bed end of terrace house that comes with a guide price of £117,000.
13:22Here it is, it does look some size.
13:26So let's not waste any time and have a look.
13:29Oh yes, and don't forget you're going to have to replace the glass in the porch.
13:47While you're at it, replace the whole porch.
13:51And some new glass. See ya.
13:57Okay, that is done.
13:59Okay, you get into the house and I'd like something a little bit more solid here though.
14:04If that's going to be the front of the house, I'd like a nice big solid front door if you're not doing that porch area.
14:10My eyes drawn to these cables as well.
14:14That tells me that's been here a long time and the electrics need to be checked.
14:19Maybe they need to be done again.
14:21Stairs going up to the bedrooms, steep stairs as well.
14:24And then you come into this area here, which is the start of the hallway.
14:27I can see some nice period features.
14:30You've got tiles as a skirting board with a little dado rail above the tile.
14:36Bit of corbel either side as well, which is nice.
14:39Really good period feature.
14:41Okay, first reception room.
14:42And we've got, well it was a bedroom because it's hot off a bed here.
14:45There's some fitted wardrobes as well.
14:47So somebody's tried to make this into a bedroom.
14:50Bit of coven.
14:51Ceiling rows as well.
14:52Starting to see what this house is all about.
14:55Big bay window.
14:56The size of the room is good.
14:57The height of the ceilings is nice.
14:59And I want to try and find some more period features.
15:02Come on.
15:04And success, because not only is the second reception room a really good size,
15:09it has some of those much sought after period features.
15:12Woohoo!
15:13So far so good.
15:17Right, okay, down the corridor, down the very dark corridor actually,
15:20we've got another sizeable room.
15:23We've got some wood panelling, plastic panelling.
15:28What's behind there?
15:29What's it hiding?
15:30Could be a multitude of sins.
15:32That will all have to come off before you can start to sort of realise what you're working with
15:38and what problems you may come across.
15:43Here we've got a shower and a toilet here as well.
15:47Having a toilet downstairs I think is an absolute brilliant idea.
15:50Shower next to a kitchen isn't great.
15:53The kitchen itself, as in the units, I was going to say, looks okay.
15:58But as I look round the corner, I think you're going to have to get rid of this.
16:01So, think about this.
16:03Take all this out, get rid of that, get the wood panelling off, take this wall down.
16:08One big rectangular room to work with.
16:11With a downstairs toilet works perfectly for me.
16:14Well, it's far from perfect at the moment, but period features, spacious rooms and options to improve it and add value make it a perfect property development opportunity.
16:31Right, up the steep stairs and look, I'm just using my arms, I'm marching up the stairs.
16:38Okay, at the top we've got a big hallway.
16:40We've got one, two, three, four rooms off the hallway and a bathroom at the bottom.
16:46We've got a front bedroom here, which is a really good size.
16:49There's a bed in here as well, a double bed, so lots of space in here.
16:52Front of the property, see loads of light coming in.
16:56Across the hallway we've got a box bedroom.
16:58I'm not sure, this is more, it's just a box room really, not so much a box bedroom in my opinion.
17:04Okay, so you've got a bedroom there and you've got a bedroom here.
17:08And you've got this room, which is what, maybe an office or a nursery or something.
17:13However, if you don't need to use this room, it's going to work perfectly if you were to put a wall here.
17:20Just a nice wall here.
17:22On this side of the wall, ensuite to that bedroom.
17:26So take that out, take that out, you've got an ensuite for each bedroom.
17:30Or you could have a nice big walk-in wardrobe to the master bedroom.
17:34This is an area that needs to be used so much better and it can.
17:38Two options I've given you, choose the one you want.
17:42With a bedroom to the left of it and a bedroom to the right. I love it.
17:59This middle space could work to enhance these rooms with ensuite.
18:03And with the back bedroom next to the bathroom, then every room would have easy access to wash facilities.
18:09Yes, you might lose a bedroom, but overall the improvements to the layout should pay off.
18:14And if you're looking to further improve this property's appeal, then tidying up the rear yard and removing the outbuildings wouldn't be a bad way to go.
18:21But what does the expert from the auction house that sold it think of this sizeable house and what you should do with it?
18:33With this property being the size that it is, I would say that it's definitely got potential to be a HMO, so a house of multiple occupancy.
18:39There are four large double rooms in here that could all potentially have en-suites, so it lends itself really well to that kind of investment.
18:47OK, but is an HMO really the best idea from a financial point of view for this four bed house that was guided at £117,000?
18:57If this property was to be converted to a HMO, I'd expect it to achieve around £80 per week for each room in the property.
19:03With this being four double bedrooms, that could potentially equate to £320 per week or £1,280 per month.
19:12An HMO could see a healthy return, but what if it was upgraded in its current layout?
19:17What sort of figures could a buyer expect to see on the standard rental market?
19:23On completion, finished up to a high standard, I would expect this property to rent for around £1,200 per calendar month.
19:29And what about its resale potential?
19:33Once renovated, I would expect this property to sell for around £180,000.
19:38So we've got a decent-sized house, it's well-built, and it's in a good location.
19:44It can be whatever you want it to be, because that is your decision.
19:48It could be a house, it could be flats, it could be a HMO. Potential here is huge.
19:53Let's find out who wanted to take it on when it went under the hammer.
19:59This lot was part of an auction, with beds taking place online and in the room.
20:04You bought it, well done, thank you.
20:08For £130,500, the successful bid was made by Craig on the right.
20:14He's based in Australia, but over the past six years he's built up a substantial property portfolio here in the UK.
20:21And lending a hand on this project is Justin, who, despite having an engineering background, is keen to move into the world of property.
20:31Justin, Craig, nice to meet you both.
20:33Nice to meet you.
20:34Nice to meet you.
20:35Start from the beginning, how's this relationship work? How did it start? How did you meet?
20:39I came to a crew on work, working as an automotive electronics engineer.
20:45I happened to meet Craig and we happened to talk about Craig telling me that he's a developer and that's when the relationship started.
20:53Alright, that's fair enough. So you guys met because of the love of property.
20:56Yes.
20:57So why this particular property?
20:59I was familiar with this area because of the housing market here. I was looking for HMOs.
21:04So your first thought with this one is HMO?
21:08Yeah, to start with, that was the plan, yes.
21:11Is that what you're going to do?
21:13No.
21:14Oh, you're not? Okay.
21:16Okay, so your first thought was HMO.
21:18That was Justin's thought. He brought it to me and I said, well, that's cool, but I need a house.
21:26Okay. So this is going to be your family home?
21:29So kind of family home.
21:31Okay.
21:32It's certainly my personal base in the UK, but my wife and son live in Australia at the moment while he's finishing school.
21:41So it's mostly me. So the other rooms will be rented out on a sort of lodger basis.
21:46So taking on a project like this, there's a lot to do here.
21:50What are you going to do with it? How are you going to do it? How's it going to look?
21:53Let's start as you come through the front door. Are we knocking walls down?
21:56So to start with, the front area, all those windows and the woodwork is going to be replaced.
22:03Still have the porch, so you've got two doors coming in?
22:05Yeah, we're going to have that.
22:06Perfect. And then probably this room would be an office space and that would be a space with an en suite, that bedroom there.
22:13Okay, so bedroom, you've got office, then you go to the left?
22:16Yeah, to the left, to the living space. We'll probably consider an open plan kitchen with a diner.
22:21Nice.
22:22So there would be a breakfast bar and the kitchen on the other side and a living space opened up.
22:27So that opens up the space quite a bit and every...
22:30Moving that partition.
22:31Yeah, exactly. So yeah, that's the intention for the living space as well.
22:35What about the downstairs shower and toilet?
22:37It would probably be a utility room with washer and dryer.
22:41Nice.
22:42Will you keep a downstairs toilet?
22:44Yeah, there is a front.
22:45Getting around.
22:46Okay, perfect. Just relocate it.
22:48Yes, yes.
22:49Upstairs then, what's happening up there?
22:51Again, the one on the top, right on the top of this would be another en suite.
22:56But there's a small room which would be converted into two en suites for each of the rooms.
23:01I actually did say that as I was walking around.
23:03I actually did hear that.
23:04Get in there!
23:05I love that.
23:07Come on.
23:08That's a great idea.
23:09It works perfectly.
23:10Yeah.
23:11What kind of finish are we going for?
23:12Are we going high tech?
23:13Are we going low tech?
23:14What are we doing?
23:15Definitely going to very good standards in terms of the painting and the carpets and the en suites.
23:19We are also going with solar and making sure there's a lot of energy related stuff which Craig will be talking about.
23:25Enlighten us, Craig.
23:26What's the high tech stuff we're getting?
23:29So yeah, the initial thing that we're looking at is solar panels.
23:33And the plan is to install a battery pack that can charge up from that morning sun and then work throughout the day.
23:43We might have a smaller number of panels on the west facing roof to get a bit of a top up in the afternoon.
23:50Who's going to do all the work then?
23:51Because you mentioned some nice, maybe some tricky stuff, some more modern stuff should I say, that's going to be put in as well.
23:57Who's going to be doing the work?
23:58So just after we got the keys we had a few builders in trying to have a look at the space and the timelines and things.
24:05So I'll be doing the project management as in going through the timeline.
24:09Project manager?
24:10Yes.
24:11How long is it going to take?
24:12We're expecting about two months.
24:14Two months?
24:15Yes.
24:16That's quick.
24:17For the budget then, what do we have to spend on this house?
24:20Our original budget is $25 for fit out, then another $10 for solar and batteries and that kind of gaff.
24:33Well listen, I hope you can modernise this place to your standards.
24:38Justin and Craig, I wish you all the best.
24:40Thank you very much.
24:41Appreciate it.
24:42So Justin and Craig have got a load of work to do in there before they can make it Craig's base slash home.
24:51And he's going to be renting out two or three rooms as well.
24:54So a home and income at the same time, you cannot go wrong.
24:58You can find out how they all get on later in the programme.
25:03Still to come, in Scotland it's out with the old and in with the new for Martell.
25:07Could you salvage anything?
25:09It would be wonderful to salvage what you can but I think that ship may have sealed.
25:15Then we return to find out if Craig and Justin were able to make a success of their four bed end terracing crew.
25:29Time to head back to Warwickshire and the town of Atherstone where I fought my way through a troublesome door
25:34to see this three bed semi guided at £59,000.
25:39And once I was in, it didn't disappoint.
25:43So in terms of space, loads of it.
25:46Needed a bit of sparking up but apart from that front door, nothing too untoward.
25:51Jason and Joanne picked it up for £170,000 at auction.
25:57I met with them ten years ago when they were just starting out but they were now seasoned pros with a sharp eye for potential.
26:04It was a decent size to come and do up.
26:09There's no major structural changes that we need to do so armed with a paintbrush and a bit of elbow grease.
26:15Right.
26:16Hopefully we'll get it done quickly.
26:18They'd allowed themselves six months and a budget of up to £25,000 to flip the property.
26:25Nine months later, let's see how they got on.
26:32Inside, all the rooms have been plastered, painted and new electrical fittings have been added to give the house a bright, modern feel.
26:39And the new kitchen should catch the eye of any new owner, as will the new shower room up the stairs.
26:53After sorting the legal paperwork for all 14 solar panels on the roof, they've now got a selling point, providing renewable energy for the home.
27:01And with any surplus sold back to the grid, they could even turn a tidy little profit.
27:06The solar panels, you should be getting a revenue of at least £100 a month, I would have believed, or maybe more, depending on how sunny it is.
27:24Unfortunately, there were other issues up on high for Jason and Joanne to deal with.
27:29In the loft, they used to spray foam insulation, so we had to bring a specialist company in.
27:35They did a sandblasting technique with ice, which stripped it all off, and then they sucked it all out, and then it's all clear and done.
27:45And we've got a nice certificate to say that it's clear and OK to use now.
27:48Now the spray foam insulation has been removed, the property should be fully mortgageable, so the new buyers are unlikely to run into any lending issues.
28:01The couple also replaced the ceilings in the bedrooms, which had been damaged due to a historic leak, and they applied a damp-proof course, so upstairs looks just as good as down.
28:14But while they were prepared for the bigger challenges that came with the refurb, it was something unexpected that proved the most time-consuming.
28:24Painting the doors took a lot because we turned them from brown to white.
28:27We've had to rub them down, seal them, and Jo's done virtually every door ten times just to get the brown off it.
28:36Over and over and over and over and over and over, the joy of repetition really isn't here.
28:45At least the front door was an easy fix. They were able to save it from going into the skip by refitting new hinges to make it as good as new.
28:54And outside, the garden has been tidied up.
29:03It's been a pretty straightforward refurb for the pair, so did they stick to their budget of up to £25,000?
29:12I would say in total we've spent roughly £27,000 on it, a little bit extra just on some of the finishes and a bit better quality carpet than we originally, but we think it's been worth the effort.
29:24Well, that's not too bad. The timescale also slipped a little, with the project taking nine months rather than the planned six.
29:33In between doing up this house, we were doing up other ones, which involved travelling, so it's just the timescale has changed significantly, but we wanted to get a good finish on the house.
29:44We've done it to a level that we would be happy to come and live in here tomorrow. If we're happy with it, then whoever's coming in should be happy as well.
29:50They are chuffed with the end result and the plan is to sell it on. But after spending a total of £197,000, including the purchase price, will spirits still be high once they learn about its potential returns?
30:06We've asked back the estate agent from our first visit for his thoughts and valuations, now the work is complete.
30:14So this is my second time at the property. I'm really surprised by the renovation. I think it's really impressive considering the first time I was around here, it was a bit of a project and they've done a really good job on this one.
30:26That's very positive. So what could Jason and Joanne hope to achieve when this place goes on the open market?
30:33If this property was to list onto the sales market, I believe it would achieve £240,000. And if this property was to go onto the rental market, I believe it would achieve £1,100 per calendar month.
30:46That's absolutely bang on budget that we're aiming for. So I'm very, very pleased with that.
30:52Very happy.
30:53Of course, it was always Jason and Joanne's intention to flip this house, and that sales figure would give the couple a pre-tax profit of £43,000.
31:02But it's probably reassuring to know that should there be any problems selling the house, the rental figure equals a yield of almost 7%.
31:11Hopefully that makes up for all that time spent painting doors, Joanne.
31:16So overall, are they pleased with the project?
31:23We're absolutely chuffed with the final finish, aren't we?
31:25Yeah, we're very pleased.
31:26We walk round and think, we've done this, we feel proud that we've turned it from what it was into what it is. It's a very comfortable house.
31:41To Perthshire now, where in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, you'll find the picturesque village of Killin.
31:48It's surrounded by the dramatic landscape of Loch Lomond and the Trosserks National Park, and today is set to be a good day at the office for Martell.
31:59Do you know what? Sometimes I cannot believe how lucky I am.
32:03And today is one of those days because I'm strolling around Loch Lomond National Park.
32:09It's stunning and there are so many activities to do, it's no wonder it's a real hotspot for tourists.
32:15But what about today's property? Let's find out.
32:17Let's find out.
32:21As it happens, today's properties, yes properties, are pretty special.
32:27So the lot on offer is described in the auction catalogue as a disused building, which looks rather sizeable, doesn't it?
32:36Maybe it's been used for storage.
32:38You've got that, and then over here, so you've got this courtyard, good for parking, this line of cottages here.
32:43There are two of them, each with three bedrooms.
32:46They look like lovely, charming, traditional cottages, and that lot comes for a guide price of £220,000.
32:54Let's go look. Oh, I can't wait.
32:56Into the first of our cottages.
33:10And this isn't what I expected at all.
33:12Because when I think of a traditional cottage, I think small, quite dark rooms.
33:17This is not that.
33:19Largely because a lot of the walls have been taken down for you.
33:21But you can see the scale of the place. I love it.
33:25You can envisage that this could be a big open-plan kitchen diner.
33:30And then you have the conundrum of what's going to go where?
33:33Is this going to be, once you've put up some partition walls, is this going to be a bedroom?
33:38Is this going to be another bedroom?
33:40I can see there's a toilet over there.
33:42But where are you going to put your bathroom?
33:44Clearly, some work has started.
33:45You always want to check it's been done to a good standard.
33:49You do have double-glazed windows.
33:51They don't look super modern, but maybe salvageable after a good clean.
33:55There's a lot going for this place.
33:57Oh, I think it's wonderful.
33:59This three-bed cottage might not shout wow just yet, but it's got all the right ingredients.
34:05And upstairs is where the magic could really happen, with a newly built first floor crying out to become a show-stopping main bedroom with an en-suite.
34:15With two more properties to see, we're only just getting started.
34:20When we were young, imaginations are running wild.
34:25Forever running wild.
34:27Oh, well.
34:29The second of your cottages has an entirely different feel.
34:33And it throws open a question, which I'm going to ask you.
34:36How do you feel about pine?
34:38Here, I walk in and I feel quite happy.
34:40There's so much pine, everywhere is pine, that it makes me feel like I'm in some sort of Alpen Lodge, where I could just hunker down for the night with a wood burner.
34:51There's a lot of charm to this pine. I might be minded to keep it.
34:55This looks, feels smaller.
34:59Part of the reason for that is at the back I can see that you still have some walls up.
35:04You will have some smaller bedrooms back there.
35:06You also have a staircase in the middle of the floor, which makes it, well, just cuts into the space.
35:11Then, on this back wall, you have your kitchen.
35:14Could you salvage anything?
35:15It would be wonderful to salvage what you can, but I think that ship may have sailed, and you would be minded to have a brand new kitchen in here.
35:24Then you have a shower room, which is reasonably spacious, just a shower, and your toilet and basin.
35:30Leading off, you might be able to salvage. That looks quite modern.
35:33But really, the feel here is quite charming, and I'd be happy to cosy on up for the night.
35:38Once modernised, these two cottages could be transformed into something really special.
35:47That said, with no gardens or outdoor space aside from the shared courtyard, they might not tick all the boxes for a typical family home.
35:55But with an incredible setting like this, they seem tailor-made for the holiday let market.
35:59The lot also includes a sizeable detached barn.
36:07It's currently derelict and without planning permission, but it holds real promise, perhaps as additional holiday accommodation, or even a huge single dwelling.
36:19But what does a local estate agent think should be done here?
36:21We asked one along for her thoughts and valuations on this unique lot that came with a guide price of £220,000.
36:32The property itself is fantastic. The wood panelling makes it rather dark, so I think probably painting that would certainly brighten the whole place up.
36:44You've got the gorgeous log burner in the corner.
36:45Next door is a larger property, and I think it probably lends itself to being a three bedroom as well.
36:53The upper, the attic, could quite easily become two bedrooms with a Jack and Jill bathroom, shower room in the middle.
37:03I would definitely keep them as holiday lets. They definitely lend themselves to that, especially in this area.
37:08The agent sees potential in the barn too, but getting planning permission to convert it into a residential property within a national park could be a lengthy process, and the work could be costly too.
37:22So for now, focusing on just the two cottages, if they were renovated, she believes they could sell together for around £425,000.
37:31What sort of returns could they generate on the rental market?
37:40I would say probably this one, the smaller one of the two, £900 to £1,000 per calendar month, and the larger one next door, probably about £1,200, something like that.
37:51What an opportunity this lot presents. You have two charming cottages, an enormous barn you could convert into holiday lets, use a storage, you could have your dream family home.
38:06There are so many opportunities here, I find it incredibly exciting.
38:10Let's find out who agreed when it went under the hammer.
38:12This lot was sold prior to auction, after an offer was accepted.
38:21Sold, congratulations.
38:24For £195,000, the lot was bought by Michael and his wife Liana.
38:30The couple live in Glasgow, but love a rural renovation, as last time we saw them, they refurbished this three-bedroom maisonette in the village of Deanston.
38:42With a thriving property business and a hair salon between them, they're now turning their attention to their latest auction venture.
38:50And Martell met with Michael to find out their plans.
38:55Michael, it is lovely to see you again.
38:57And you.
38:58And it's you and Liana, who work on the projects together.
39:01That's right.
39:02Were you looking for something like this? Because it's quite unusual.
39:05We had been looking for kind of a barn conversion type property for a long time, and this kind of appealed to us in a number of different ways.
39:15The fact that there's already two ready-to-go cottages, it just sort of needs a little bit further than aesthetically done.
39:21But yeah, that allowed us to invest, refinance, and then sort of be able to take the time that we needed to plan and organise for the barn conversion.
39:32Ah, it did cross my mind.
39:34If somebody took this on, it would be a great thing to do in two stages.
39:37Let's start with the possibly more straightforward cottages.
39:39So let's start with the one on the left-hand side that's got more of the open plan feel.
39:45What are you going to do there? Clearly, a lot of insulation has been put in. Did you do a bit of insulation?
39:50Yes, yes. It's a necessary job. Just increasing the new value and heat retention of the property, just given they're sold.
39:58And what's your plan for that cottage?
39:59We're going to keep the three bedrooms. All of them had separate en-suites, so we will be removing some of those, moving the staircase, but essentially the layout will be the same.
40:12OK, so upstairs you're going to have a kind of master bedroom with an en-suite, that'd be lovely, in the roof space.
40:19Yes. And then downstairs, two smaller bedrooms. Second cottage, what's the plan there?
40:25The second cottage is essentially the same. It's going to be slightly smaller. So downstairs, they were used as double bedrooms, but they were definitely on a kind of single bedroom kind of size.
40:38So we're removing a wall down there, one large bedroom, moving the staircase to be more central, two bedrooms upstairs, the floor will be extended across to above the current kitchen living room.
40:50There's a lot of pine there.
40:51Yes, it's kind of like two large Swedish saunas just now, but yeah, that will all be completely going and we will sort of freshen it up, bring in some kind of rafters, exposed wood details, we'll see.
41:05And are they going to be holiday lets?
41:06Yes, it's looking very much like they will be. We'd considered maybe doing longer term lets. By the time they're finished, I think it'll be out of season for the area. So we thought about maybe trying to get somebody in for maybe the first year and then moving it into holiday lets.
41:22Okay. I mean, an amazing area for a holiday lets. Now on to your passion project, which is the barn we're standing in is some size. What are you thinking?
41:35We're currently in the sort of fun planning stage of it all. So yeah, our kind of most favoured option would be splitting it into maybe three more cottages, with the possibility of two cottages and then maybe two small, small flats, just to kind of cater for different kind of holiday lets.
41:49How long, I suppose it's a question of two halves, how long is this going to take?
41:56Yeah, the cottages, we are looking to turn them around in about four to five months. We will probably refinance and probably maybe step away. We've got a few other projects coming off shortly while the planning for this goes through and then we would then probably return to convert the barn in around eight months' time.
42:15Okay, right. Lots to look forward to. Will you be working on this yourself or do you have somebody you do renovation with?
42:24Yeah, we've got a team of guys. A couple of them are kind of employed by us and others are just very regular subcontractors but it's quite likely for this one that I will be hammer in hand for this.
42:36Okay. With the budget as well, I guess that's also in two parts.
42:41Yeah, the cottages were allowed around forty-four each but realistically we're hoping to keep that much closer to thirty.
42:49And for the barn?
42:52It's probably looking around slightly north of two hundred I would say.
42:55Erm, okay, really exciting. I can't wait to see what you do, I really can't, just I wish we could snap our fingers and come back.
43:03So do I.
43:05Well done, thank you and give our love to Liana too.
43:07I will, thank you.
43:08Michael and Liana clearly know their stuff when it comes to property. I love the fact that this is a passion project. They were looking for a barn to convert and finally they've got it.
43:22However, that's plan B. Plan A is to make two lovely holiday-lit cottages. I think they're going to do a spectacular job. I can't wait to see the results.
43:31I wish we could snap our fingers and be back. You can find out how they do get on. You can snap your fingers, make a cup of tea, come back, see how they get on later in the show.
43:44It's time to head back to Crewe where earlier Dion saw this four bed end terrace with a guide price of $117,000.
43:52The dodgy glazing was an early indicator that this place would need a bit of a fixing up.
43:57Inside the house had plenty of space but was crying out for a top to toe refurbishment.
44:04And upstairs Dion hit upon a great idea to put this box room to better use.
44:10OK, so you've got a bedroom there and you've got a bedroom here. Take that out, take that out, you've got an ensuite for each bedroom.
44:18Keen to add to his North West property portfolio was Craig who bought the house for £130,500.
44:26And on this project he would be joined by Justin who was getting started in the property development business and would act as project manager.
44:34Craig was aiming to live here but also rent out the other rooms and had a budget of £35,000 and an optimistic timescale of two months.
44:42Two years and two months later we're back to see what's changed.
44:48Yesterday, I feel so far away. I kicked the blues. And I made a change. Hey, it's like I got a change.
45:01I was mad on my face. And it can't be erased. All I got to say is, I feel so good. I feel so good. I feel so good.
45:16Well, after two years, the big news is that Justin has headed off the past as new and Craig has flown solo on this project.
45:26The layout has been altered to better cater for the house of multiple occupancy market with an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area.
45:36What was the awkward shower room beside the back door is now a utility area with a boxed-off WC.
45:42Three of the four bedrooms are now upstairs with the bathroom and small box room being sacrificed to allow the additional space for an en-suite in each room.
45:53Craig has kept the front reception room as an office and storeroom for when he's staying in Crewe.
46:00And as well as making the property fully compliant as a four bed HMO, he's also prioritised creating a home that's energy efficient.
46:11We've got solar panels, we've got an air source heat pump, we've got internal wall insulation that was installed, was part of an Eco4 grant that we got.
46:21The main purpose of doing these Eco things is to reduce bills for the tenants so that we can operate on a really low energy basis.
46:32It's always warm in the property, which is fantastic.
46:36One of the things of an air source heat pump is it's cheaper to run it all day than it is to turn it off, you know, while you go to work or whatever.
46:44We do have a setback temperature of like 17 during the day and then it comes on in the afternoon while the sun's still out and uses solar power to heat the property before people come home from work or whatever they do.
46:57The house has also been completely rewired and the plumbing has been brought up to date to cope with the traffic from four new en suites.
47:07In contrast to all the high tech stuff, Craig was delighted to discover some old school flooring that lay hidden underneath the hallway laminate.
47:15We lovingly took all the tiles up separately, cleaned them off. This is days and days of work. And then a tiler came in and did the puzzle to put it back the way that it was.
47:30So it's back to original, needs a little bit of cleaning up still to get it back to be really shiny, but it is really stunning.
47:38The two year delay was due to a perfect storm of circumstances that could only be filed under life gets in the way, but there are still some things that Craig needs to get finished like the porch.
47:51The porch, I've got a quote for the new windows and the door. It's just a matter of getting it ordered and getting it installed. Unfortunately, before filming, we didn't get a chance to get that sorted.
48:05And there's a few little snags, mostly minor things. There's some paint that is chipped in a few spots that I'd like to tidy up. There's some trims that need to be put on mostly fairly minor. All the big stuff is sorted out.
48:21Professional tradespeople have been involved throughout the project, but Craig's tackled a fair bit of the work himself.
48:27We ran low on funds. So the best way to solve that was to pick up, you know, pick up a hammer and do a bunch of work.
48:38So has picking up a hammer helped his budget of 35,000?
48:43We ended up spending about 40,000 pounds on materials and labour.
48:47It's been a long road to the finish line, but now Craig can focus on maximising the return on his total investment of 170,500.
48:59A good time then to hear from a property expert from the auction house that handled the original sale.
49:05So previously the condition was pretty tired. So it's quite refreshing to come and see it the way it is now.
49:11The kitchen-diner now, with it being a shared property, is beautiful.
49:16It's a nice area to go and sit in, but it has the perks like every home would have with a little utility area and a toilet too.
49:24With a spend of just over 170 grand, how much does he reckon the house could sell for?
49:30So as a go and concern, this property will achieve around 180,000 pounds.
49:34The work that we've done in increasing the value makes it worth much more than that.
49:44I see it more around the 210 mark.
49:47That would give Craig a modest profit of 9,500, although he believes it could be near a 40 grand based on his own figures.
49:56And how much could the house earn per room on the letting market?
49:59So on the rental market, this property would achieve, per room, around £600 per calendar month.
50:07Based on an occupancy rate of 30 weeks per year, that would give Craig a return on investment of around 10%.
50:15I think that's very doable. It is the high end for Crewe, but I'm really glad that he sees that these rooms are worth that.
50:25So finally, Craig has his basing crew and a four bed HMO to boot.
50:31He's planning to head back to Australia for a while, but he won't be able to resist the law of the UK auctions for long.
50:40So typically, I like to buy at auction. It's certain. You sign a contract on the day that you agree to buy it and that's it.
50:48Back to the Scottish village of Killen and this trio of traditional buildings Martell came to see for sale at auction with a guide price of £220,000.
51:01Included in the lot was a barn and two cottages in one of which work had already been started.
51:11There's a lot going for this place. Oh, I think it's wonderful.
51:15And the second cottage certainly had a style.
51:18How do you feel about pine?
51:21A detail not lost on new owner Michael.
51:24Yes, it's kind of like two large Swedish saunas just now, but yeah, that will all be completely going and we will sort of freshen it up.
51:33He and his wife Liana bought the lot for £195,000, mainly because they were after a barn conversion opportunity.
51:39But the first part of the project would involve renovating the two cottages as holiday lets.
51:46They had a budget of £40,000 per cottage and hope to get them ready in four to five months.
51:53Ten months later, we're back to see how stage one turned out.
51:57Well, things look a lot brighter on the outside, but has there been much change indoors?
52:15I should say so.
52:17The larger cottage is now a luxurious three bed holiday home designed around an open plan kitchen, living and dining space.
52:25With two bedrooms on the ground floor and a large main bedroom in the roof space.
52:33Essentially, the layout was the same.
52:36We have just sort of fine tuned room sizes and small adjustments to the layout.
52:42We really wanted to maximise the open plan living, kitchen, dining area.
52:47Previously, it was quite a dark, dingy space.
52:50We wanted to kind of lighten and brighten all that up and make it feel super airy.
52:54Some of the bedrooms were really small, so we tried to obviously gain some space there, but not eating too much into the kitchen living.
53:03And another priority for us was making sure the sort of two shower rooms were a good size as well.
53:09For the smaller cottage next door, which was wall to wall pine cladding, Michael and Leanna decided to completely remap the internal space by pulling down all the partition walls, creating two double bedrooms upstairs and a more traditional room based living area downstairs.
53:30There are still some final touches to add here before it's ready to let out, but like its larger neighbour, the couple are aiming for a top quality finish.
53:42Yeah, so our sort of remit is affordable luxury, so our decisions are sort of based from that.
53:50We sort of go for contemporary modern.
53:52We want people to feel like, as much as it's a holiday cottage and generally they're here for no longer than a week or ten days, we want to make them feel like they're at home, or in our home anyway.
54:02Their five month timescale doubled in part due to buying another property that needed to be refurbed, but the cottage's rural location also added to the delay.
54:15It's definitely hard to get some material here, we've had a lot of delays, even getting access into the property has been a bit challenging.
54:25Getting trades, we have like our small team that we have, but we also subcontract out, so for a lot of people it can be about an hour and a half drive to get here.
54:35Yeah, particularly Logan who has been making a three hour round trip every day to get here.
54:41Fortunately for him, the next project is 50 minutes from where he lives.
54:46He'll be very thankful.
54:47Michael and Leanna's budget for the two cottages was 80,000, but with increased material and labour costs, that has risen to 110,000.
55:00They have a week of snagging left to do in the two bed cottage, and then they can turn their attention to the barn conversion.
55:07Any plans yet?
55:08With the barn, we're deciding what to do. We might go down the long term let route, or we may decide to sell. We're sort of still thinking about that.
55:23Yeah, given the area there's a lot of short term holiday lets, there seems to be a shortage of longer term rental accommodation.
55:32As much as we're not sure, that'll be further down the line anyway, so that might change still.
55:36With the three bed cottage taking bookings, and the two bed about to join it, Michael and Leanna are already earning income.
55:46But how much is their total investment of £305,000 actually worth?
55:52Time to hear from the estate agent who visited the properties earlier.
55:55The new owners have taken all the walls back completely, re-plastered, reconfigured the space inside both cottages, moved stairways around to create a much more usable space.
56:09What they've done is absolutely superb, it's beautiful.
56:12Two valuations now. How much could the cottages be worth if put on the resale market?
56:20I would expect the larger cottage on the left, the three bedroom to achieve £200,000 to £210,000 on the open market, and the smaller two bed on the right to possibly achieve £180,000 to £185,000.
56:32Nice!
56:34Yeah, I think we're pleased with those potential sale prices, I think that's round about what we had the marks at, and on open market I like to think we'd actually maybe get a little bit more than that.
56:44Those sales figures would give Michael and Leanna a profit of £75,000 to £90,000 before taxes and fees, and they'd still have the barn.
56:56What does the agent reckon the cottages could earn as holiday lets?
57:00For the larger property I would say between £250 to £260 per night, and the smaller two bedroom cottage between £200 to £210 per night.
57:11That's great to hear, currently the three bedroom one is already live and is slightly less, but it's doing really well, booked up for several months, so that's really great feedback.
57:24Given this is a popular area for tourism, a 40% occupancy rate is a reasonable expectation, in which case those values could bring in an annual income of £68,000, which would be a return on investment of 22%.
57:39Despite being the proud owners of two new holiday lets, there's no chance these two workaholics will be taking any time off in the foreseeable future.
57:51We have recently just purchased another property which was via auction again, and we're always looking at the catalogues and keeping an eye on what's coming and going, because the joy of auctions is that you never know what's going to appear.
58:06Yeah.
58:07Well that is all the property renovation stories we've got for you today, but we'll have lots more for you next time, so make sure you join us for more Homes Under The Hammer.
58:23We'll see you then, goodbye.
58:25Bye!
58:27We'll see you then, bye.
58:28Bye, bye.
58:29Bye, bye.
58:30Bye, bye.
58:33Bye bye.
58:35Bye bye.
58:44Bye bye.
58:45Bye bye.
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