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Help! I Bought It at Auction with Sarah Beeny Season 1 Episode 2
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00:00Let's get on with the auction today.
00:03235, 240.
00:05Every year, tens of thousands of properties
00:07are sold at auction.
00:09Meredith's bidder, well done.
00:10From modest two-up, two-downs to waterfront mansions.
00:14We just spent over half a million pounds.
00:17We weren't really thinking that we were going to do that.
00:20More and more first-time buyers are
00:22seeing it as their golden ticket onto the property ladder.
00:25Oh, it's so cheap!
00:26Woo!
00:28But these quick buys are often far from perfect,
00:32hiding some nasty surprises.
00:35You haven't been in? No, not yet.
00:36Hey, let's go in.
00:38I'm Sarah Beeney, and I've been buying, building,
00:40and transforming homes for 35 years.
00:43And I'm fascinated by the world of auctions.
00:46In this series, I'll be offering a dose of realism.
00:49You've got all these lovely, flamey ideas,
00:51and I'm pouring water on like that.
00:53As brave new owners take their homes
00:55from derelict to diamonds.
00:57I will be moving in at the end of this month.
01:01What I'll be moving in to, of course, remains to be seen.
01:05And we'll go behind the scenes
01:07of some of the country's biggest auction houses.
01:10Something is there that has attracted so many people.
01:14Discovering whether property auctions are a risk too far...
01:17You coming up? No.
01:19...or a great way to get the home of your dreams.
01:22I am really proud of myself. This is my first home.
01:30This week, from an overgrown bungalow...
01:33There was literally ivy under the wallpapers on the inside.
01:36...to a defunct Victorian library,
01:39two brave souls have all their savings at stake.
01:43No, I do wonder sometimes.
01:45I'm putting all my eggs in one basket here.
01:47Do you know what? I love a dreamer.
01:49And if you don't dream, nothing happens.
01:51And at East Anglia Auction House,
01:53known for their remarkably diverse range of lots,
01:56what people pay on the day can be a big surprise.
02:00Gets a round of applause from the team and the management as well.
02:07First, I'm headed to Rhettford, a market town in Nottinghamshire.
02:12Here, semi-detached houses go for around £180,000
02:15and are fully detached to around £250,000.
02:19In the town centre is a hundred-year-old bungalow
02:22that's been abandoned for 15 years.
02:24The brave new owner is 33-year-old Laura.
02:28Owning a detached home with a huge garden
02:30was only a pipe dream for her first property
02:33until she discovered an auction listing.
02:36I was just doing what everyone does,
02:38just scrolling through the internet on the apps,
02:40looking for every property inside.
02:42And then I stumbled across this.
02:46When I first come to see it,
02:47there was literally ivy under the wallpapers on the inside.
02:52The kitchen covers were full of very out-of-date food,
02:56which was really fun cleaning that out.
03:00So when I visited the property, which was only once,
03:03everybody else would have been like,
03:05oh, no, too much work.
03:06But I could just see the size of the rooms,
03:08I could see the size of the garden,
03:10despite not really actually being able to see it.
03:13And I just thought, you know, it's doable, anything's doable.
03:17And the guide price was 80,000.
03:19And I thought, what a steal!
03:21Then the bidding war started.
03:23I had a maxi bid in my head,
03:24which did go out the window a little bit.
03:27We went all the way to 138,000,
03:30which is what I won the property at.
03:32I was super excited.
03:33I actually cried.
03:34So it was really emotional.
03:36Oh, sorry, I'm a bit emotional now.
03:41Laura recently moved back home to be near friends and family
03:45after 12 years abroad,
03:47working as a carer for the disabled and saving up her wages.
03:51It was so exciting to be back in the UK
03:55and to be able to buy a property and get on the property market.
03:58So, yeah, as a first-time buyer, it's really challenging.
04:02I've never done much more than painting a wall,
04:05but so far I've done the whole demo stage.
04:07You know, I've took a sledgehammer that I got for £2 from the car boot.
04:11This has cost me hardly anything so far,
04:13and I've got it back to brick,
04:15as a girl that has never done anything like this.
04:19And it's been seven weeks, and it looks like a house now.
04:24I'd love some advice on structural things
04:26that I've stumbled across once I've pulled back plaster
04:29that I'm like, ooh!
04:32DIY novice Laura bought the bungalow for just under £140,000.
04:37She has £75,000 to spend,
04:39but that money's got to go a long way.
04:42So, this is what you bought?
04:44Yeah, this is it.
04:45I mean, well, it's a project, isn't it?
04:47It's a bit of a big project.
04:49I can hopefully renovate it and be mortgage-free in my mid-thirties.
04:53Gosh, so you bought it for £140,000 cash?
04:56Yes.
04:56OK, so tell me where you got the money from.
04:59I can save at least 50% of my earnings every week.
05:02You always put half of what you bought at home?
05:04I always put 50% away into savings every month,
05:06since I was really young.
05:08Like, I had to pay for round at 14,
05:10worked at the local chip shop at 16.
05:12You're clearly really good at saving money.
05:14Yeah, yeah, it was definitely a skill of mine.
05:16I've invested every penny I've got into this property now.
05:18So, until I either sell it as is or do something else with it,
05:22I can't move on or to another property.
05:25No.
05:25Did you always plan on buying an auction?
05:27No, absolutely not.
05:28And I came for a quick, quick look around,
05:31and it went to auction two days later,
05:33and I literally bidded like it was something I'd wanted for years.
05:37Oh, my goodness.
05:38So, hang on.
05:39So, you saw it?
05:40Yeah.
05:42Completely overgrown?
05:43Yeah.
05:43And then two days later, you bought an auction?
05:45Yeah, because I'd only viewed the property two days prior.
05:47I didn't have time to get engineers or structural reports in.
05:50So, you didn't have a survey.
05:51Did you have solicitors look at the papers?
05:53No.
05:53You didn't look at any paperwork at all?
05:55No.
05:56OK.
05:57OK.
05:57And can I ask you honestly, were you buying a dream?
06:02Yeah, definitely.
06:03Whilst I really get the romance and the wonderful idea
06:07of finding a kind of totally hidden gem
06:10in the middle of a sort of overgrown, gorgeous garden,
06:13it is a bungalow.
06:15So, you can never go up with it, because they don't work very well.
06:19I mean, you could go up, but the cost of trying to put a first floor on that,
06:24you'd be better off demolishing it and building another house.
06:27Laura's bungalow was built towards the end of the First World War,
06:30when single-storey houses and larger gardens were becoming the suburban fashion.
06:34But the high price of raw materials, the bricks, tiles and wooden joists,
06:39and shortage of skilled labour meant the build quality of these houses often suffered.
06:44So, you're planning on doing the work, and so, in a way,
06:48I mean, you're going to be earning your money by doing the work.
06:50Yeah.
06:51Because you've done all of this so far.
06:53Yeah. Oh, yeah. I've saved thousands already, just taking things to the tip.
06:56Everything you see, I've done.
06:59Laura took a big risk buying with such a short lead time.
07:04If you're going to buy at auction, the properties will be listed three to four weeks before the sale.
07:08So, make sure you do your research.
07:11Every lot will have a legal pack associated with it,
07:14and that will contain lots of information and any restrictions switching with the property.
07:19You obviously need to make sure you've got your finance in place.
07:21You'll need a 5% to 10% cash deposit to be able to buy an auction.
07:26So, what's this room going to be?
07:27So, this is going to be the living space, and then the kitchen extension was probably done in the 80s.
07:3280s, yeah.
07:32So, they're locked in, and they're not locked in safely, or to building regs.
07:36So, therefore, because we're going to have to bring all of this down from this end,
07:40I said, if we're knocking down a wall, why not make it bigger?
07:43Well, to be honest, why not?
07:46If you didn't need to rebuild that extension anyway, it would not make sense.
07:52So, all of this wall here will come down, and...
07:57Oh, and all of that will come down, and you'll square it off.
08:00And will you come through the front door straight into the kitchen diner?
08:03Straight into a big open space, yes.
08:05Do you think that maybe there ought to be a sort of porch area?
08:09Otherwise, every time you open the front door, all the heat in that open space will suck out.
08:15Yeah, yeah, potentially. But I haven't considered it yet.
08:19Haven't you?
08:21Laura's planning on knocking down the roof and wall of the old kitchen,
08:24which don't meet modern safety standards,
08:26and extending out two metres to create an open-plan living, dining and kitchen area.
08:33She's moving the front door, but could also consider adding a porch
08:37to stop the warm air being sucked out every time she opens it.
08:42I mean, someone could always build a porch on the outside, couldn't they?
08:45Yeah, exactly. And actually, you've got the depth out there because the house is misshaped,
08:49so that's a very easy thing to do.
08:52Laura's also planning to create an en-suite bathroom for the master bedroom.
08:56OK, so this is one bedroom, that's another, and then you're going to put an en-suite here?
09:02Is that right?
09:03Yes. Everyone said no, but I'm going to do it.
09:07So this was obviously...
09:09Somehow, I think this is a pattern for you, isn't it?
09:12When people say no, you think...
09:13You think, oh, I'm going to prove wrong.
09:14How? How are you planning on having the en-suite here?
09:17A cavity sliding door from the master into the room,
09:21a large double shower at this end
09:24and a wall-hung vanity on this wall with the mirror here.
09:26Because you are on quite a budget, I mean, you're good at saving,
09:29but you don't have a lot of money to do this.
09:32In the shower room, you could consider using sheet cladding
09:35rather than individual tiles.
09:38It's a lot cheaper, it's quicker to fit, and there's less maintenance.
09:42And you can get some amazing products, which is very light,
09:45which looks like stone. Yeah.
09:48And what happens to the door? That's rather a nice door, isn't it?
09:50Yeah, so the door I'm going to restore,
09:53same as all the 1920s original doors
09:56are going to get stripped and re-hung in this house.
09:58I think I just need, like, an eighth or ninth day each week at the minute.
10:02That's perfect.
10:05Over the next six months, Laura's hoping to build a kitchen extension
10:08and get the bathrooms and bedrooms habitable.
10:12But her tight budget means doing hard graft herself.
10:15Despite being a renovation rookie.
10:18I'm going to be really honest, I am really impressed with Laura.
10:22She is a proper grafter.
10:24A really, really proper grafter.
10:26And deserves this amazing house.
10:29Yeah, she's got some steel, hasn't she?
10:32That she went and bought this.
10:35And actually, you know, when I first saw this, I thought that she must be absolutely mad.
10:42It should be demolished.
10:43But I think I get it now.
10:45I am really excited.
10:48Even more driven than ever.
10:49And just want to put my overalls and get to it.
10:54Coming up, a project of epic proportions.
10:57This is insane.
10:59It feels a bit like the inside of the Titanic.
11:082.30, 2.35, 2.40.
11:12Across the country, more of us than ever are choosing to buy property at auction.
11:16And do whatever it takes to transform them into our perfect homes.
11:23That was cool.
11:25In Redford, new homeowner and wannabe renovator Laura
11:28has enlisted her dad Martin to hand dig trenches so new electrics can be installed.
11:36I mean, I never had a gym membership, but I don't need one now.
11:40Today we are trying to manually dig out some trenches.
11:45So, yeah, we're down to the top of the foundation, so that's where we need to be for depth-wise
11:49so the new electric cable can be put in.
11:52I've set aside Friday, Saturday, Sunday for this,
11:55because Monday and Tuesday is when National Grid and Seven Trent waters are turning up,
11:59so it's got to be finished.
12:01I'm obviously doing this on as much budget as I can,
12:04so everything that I do myself or with help from family and friends
12:07is obviously saving me money.
12:09I worked it out last weekend, probably saved about £6,000 so far.
12:16She's doing a great job and as and when I can I'll be here, you know.
12:19Although it's killing me, I mean, not as young as I used to be.
12:25All right, well get to it then, I'll get you a sausage roll at lunch.
12:27I'll get you a sausage roll.
12:30Property options can be a way of finding interesting buildings that wouldn't normally be on the open market.
12:38For example, properties with a heritage status or that have been open to the public.
12:44Just like this, form a library in Stoke-on-Trent, where the average price for a residential property is £150
12:51,000.
12:53In the basement is a treasure trove of hundreds of decorative Victorian tiles.
12:58Now Grade 2 listed, the building has been used as offices and a meditation centre,
13:03but has stood empty for three years.
13:06Its new owner is Tarik, an IT teacher and father of five with a passion for renovation.
13:12I've always been interested in property. I can remember being 12 years old and the ceiling in our living room
13:18fell down.
13:19So my dad got someone local to come and fix it and I sat there watching him every single day.
13:24I was fascinated that a human done this. In my head I thought a robot comes and does this.
13:29And that was it. That was the beginning.
13:32I first came aware of the old Stoke Library when I was driving past and it had a for sale
13:37sign on there.
13:38And I thought, oh, what a beautiful building.
13:40So I enquired at the auction at that point.
13:42Guide price of £300,000, which to be honest was outside of my reach.
13:46But I did keep following progress on the library and then it didn't sell.
13:51So I thought, oh, okay, so maybe I've got an opportunity here.
13:54Anyway, it came back to auction at the guide price of £150,000, which I was shocked.
13:58So that's when I thought, right, I've got to give it a go.
14:02Tarik rang up the auction house and offered the £150,000 guide price and the vendor agreed,
14:08which is something you can always try before the auction or after if it fails to sell.
14:13He now has a budget of just £50,000 from savings and loans to transform this neglected landmark
14:20into a wedding venue with a cafe in the basement.
14:25I want to do my own business venture, you know, something towards my retirement maybe.
14:30But at the same time, you know, I want the community to benefit as well.
14:33I want it all hustling and bustling again because I think it's such a beautiful building.
14:37It's just such a shame that it's locked up.
14:40So the plan is to get the upstairs venue up and running first.
14:45And once we've got that going, we'll generate an income from there, which will help me fund downstairs,
14:51hopefully to get the cafe to a decent standard.
14:55Transforming a building to run as a business comes with lots of hidden costs.
14:59This is Tarik's first venture of this kind.
15:02And with two wedding bookings already in the bag, he needs to get going.
15:07What can I say? This is insane.
15:10It feels a bit like the inside of the Titanic or what I imagine it was like.
15:14So what are your plans for this floor up here?
15:17The plan is to make a bridal stroke VIP suite there.
15:21That's going to be all glass. So you can look down.
15:25It'd be really expensive.
15:26I know.
15:26Why would the bride and groom want to be in a glass box?
15:30I would really question whether it's worth an enormous amount of money, which it will be,
15:36in having huge sheets of glass there, which will have to be safety glass.
15:41Yeah, absolutely.
15:41It will cost thousands doing that.
15:42I've thought long and hard about this. I really have.
15:45I bet, yeah.
15:45And believe it or not, that's one of the reasons I haven't been to the partition wall yet.
15:48Okay.
15:48Or order the glass.
15:49Okay, because you're not 100%.
15:50I'm not 100% sure.
15:52So you've got two weddings booked so far. How long have you got before that?
15:57Two months.
15:59Two months?
16:00Two months.
16:01Eight weeks, that is.
16:02Eight weeks.
16:03Eight weeks until they have a wedding here.
16:05So I'm hoping within the next four to five weeks we are 95% done up here.
16:09Good.
16:10The thing about weddings is that you get a couple of bookings, great.
16:13Also it has to be perfect.
16:15Yes.
16:15Because for weddings it's all about the Instagram shop.
16:18Absolutely.
16:18So it's all about photos.
16:19You need to have, it needs to be so good for a wedding.
16:23Absolutely.
16:23Great.
16:24Well, will you show me around?
16:30What's this going to look like?
16:32What's it going to be?
16:32So this will be the main function of the building.
16:36So, you know, anyone booking it, this was where they'll have the main event.
16:39You've got crates of chandeliers.
16:41You know, the chandeliers.
16:42I mean, that was like my big thing.
16:44I mean, they are humongous.
16:45They're like 1.5 metres by 1.5 metres each.
16:49And I bought five chandeliers in total.
16:50So I think I've got carried away a little bit.
16:52But that's the purpose, you know.
16:54I mean, don't worry about everything else.
16:56Just the chandeliers.
16:57Except the chandeliers.
16:57Where did you buy them from?
16:59Well, I actually got them direct from China.
17:01How much were they?
17:02In total, it cost me about 8,500.
17:06For five chandeliers, which I think isn't bad.
17:08And are you going to put these together yourself?
17:11I certainly am.
17:12And are you going to pull them up yourself?
17:14That's the plan.
17:15And these are the instructions, so you can imagine that's all I've got to work with.
17:19That?
17:20Yeah, absolutely.
17:22So that's going to be interesting.
17:23I am so glad I'm not here doing this.
17:28So this is the lower ground floor.
17:30What amazing tiles.
17:32Yeah, absolutely.
17:33So this is why it's listed, presumably.
17:35Yeah.
17:35So this is Minton tiles, which were mass produced at the time and cheap as chips, really.
17:42And now, of course, it's shut, pottery, they don't make them anymore, and now here they sit.
17:50The tiles are original block-printed ceramics, often with medieval-inspired pictures,
17:54made by the local Minton pottery in the 1870s.
17:59Some things need to be preserved, you know, and this is one of those things.
18:02And that's why our aim is, you know, because they're beautiful.
18:05Absolutely beautiful.
18:06So what's the plan down here?
18:08Well, down here, the plan is to have a cafe, coffee, cafe stroke, library, bookshop, just to keep the building
18:17in theme of what it originally was.
18:19When I look at the whole of your project, I look at it and think, okay, the key thing is
18:25you have to keep your costs really low, because I'm not sure your income's going to be really high to
18:31cover the costs.
18:31I think you're completely, completely mad to have bought it, but you've got to sell a lot of coffee and
18:38have lots of weddings.
18:40I do wonder sometimes, because I'm putting all my eggs in one basket here, and...
18:46But you know what? I love a dreamer, and if you don't dream, nothing happens.
18:50Oh, absolutely. You know, I'm not going to give up.
18:53Tarek's ambitious budget and timeframe of the upstairs being perfectly wedding-ready in just eight weeks,
18:59whilst potentially building a giant glass box as a bridal area, does leave me wondering whether this is the business
19:06opportunity he thinks it is.
19:08This is a very iconic building, and I do get why Tarek bought it, but you know, the truth is,
19:13I think if it hadn't started at 300,000,
19:15he wouldn't have thought he was getting such a bargain at 150,000, and time will tell whether he got
19:20a bargain or not.
19:23The great thing about auction properties is that it's the buyers on the day who decide the value.
19:28In Norwich, at Auction House East Anglia, auctioneer Chris Bailey and the team are gearing up for their monthly livestream
19:36sale,
19:37where they usually sell around £12 million worth of property.
19:42So today, 124 lots. There are some great little properties where we've got a good number of bidders registered,
19:50both residential, commercial, and in fact, some land as well.
19:53Auction houses are seeing strong demand for plots of land, which are hard to value and regularly outperform their guide
20:00price.
20:01Buyers can be unpredictable.
20:03The most popular piece of land that we've got in this auction is at Clacton, just off Eaton Road.
20:08It's a piece of land that's previously had a number of garages on it, and for some reason it has
20:15garnered an enormous amount of interest.
20:17We've had in excess of 75 people looking at the legal pack, but that one, lot number 64A, is going
20:23to be an absolute cracker, I think.
20:26I want to get on with today's auction. That's what it's all about.
20:29And if you're a purchaser today, I hope you secure the property you want.
20:33This popular lot was bought in by auction agent Mark Willett, who's hoping to make the seller some money today.
20:40She was, at the time, negotiating with a prospective purchaser privately, a princely sum of £5,000.
20:47It came to me, I looked at it, and said, I'm sure we'll do better.
20:51I went to see it. I wasn't too inspired, I'll be honest with you.
20:55It's a pretty ropey little bit of land, but I knew how well little pieces of land do at auction.
20:59The outline in red there, the triangular plot, that is what we're selling.
21:04The area in blue is a point of way, so that has to be kept clear, which prevents anybody from
21:10developing the whole site.
21:12We put it into the auction at £10,000 to £15,000, and it's fair to say the phone has
21:17rung off the hook since.
21:19Even small, awkward pieces of land may hold surprising value, as long as there's some development potential.
21:26Like this lot, which comes with tonnes of fly-tipped, contaminated waste.
21:31But the 24 dilapidated garages could, at the very least, offer a business opportunity for an area that's short on
21:38parking.
21:40This is now lot 64A going on at the moment. This is the land, it's in Clacton. We've got 28
21:47people bidding online.
21:48I've got four telephone operators as well doing, so we've got over 30 people bidding.
21:53I'm going to start with the proxy bidding at £15,000.
21:57The guide price of £15,000 is just that, a guide.
22:00It's set by the auction house at the lower end of what they think it will sell for.
22:05But once the competition kicks in, that tempting figure can shoot up quickly.
22:0823 bid, thank you. 31.
22:12The bidding is taking place both online and over the phone.
22:1635.
22:17The amount of interest in this property has been huge, so we'll see where it goes.
22:2255 bid, 56, 56 bid, 57.
22:2660,000 has now come up. That's now three times the top of the guide.
22:32Lovely auction lot, 87 back from Mr. D, 88. Anyone?
22:3788,000.
22:38Trump's again my Mr. D at 91.
22:40We're going to sell at £91,000.
22:42Gavel's up. Gavel's falling.
22:45All done.
22:4691,000. I think he's going to put the hammer down.
22:48When the gavel comes down, the contract is binding and the deposit is due.
22:53Last chance. All done.
22:56Sold.
22:57Well done.
22:5781,000. Gets a round of applause from the team and the management as well.
23:02A dramatic final price isn't unusual, but with the right-of-way restrictions limiting development
23:08potential on this piece of land, let's hope the buyer has read the small print.
23:17Back in Rhettford, care worker Laura has taken a week off work for an important stage.
23:23The extension.
23:25Annual leave. Most people would take an holiday. I take annual leave to come and labour.
23:31After doing the demolition stage on her own, Laura's secret weapon, her builder brother Tom,
23:37has suddenly had a week come free.
23:39So Laura is pivoting her schedule, aiming to complete the kitchen first and the rest of the house later.
23:45My brother wasn't going to be able to fit us in just because he's so busy.
23:49But luckily for me, he's had a bit of movement and somebody's cancelled a job.
23:53Fantastic. So it gives him five days to do a couple of weeks worth of work.
23:57So which is why me and Dad are here doing as much as we can to get it done.
24:02The team are creating new foundations so they can start laying concrete blocks.
24:07They've already told me how many tea breaks can we have and what time's lunch,
24:11because I think I am driving a hard ship.
24:14My initial thoughts when she showed me the photographs, I said, look, Laura, it's too big of a project.
24:20It's your first project. You know, let's start realistic.
24:24And if you enjoy it and you, you know, we'll go again, don't you?
24:29But obviously she likes to jump in at the deep end.
24:32But I'll give her a due. She's not scared of a challenge.
24:35And she's certainly, you know, holding her own.
24:39So the entire project I'm doing on the absolute budget.
24:43I'm doing everything I can myself.
24:45I'm even buying products myself.
24:47So even when I'm getting plumbers in, I'm going to the building merch,
24:51I'm buying the copper pipe myself so that I'm taking out that 10%
24:54that everyone's popping on everything.
24:56It means more pressure for me, but it means more savings in the end.
25:00I'm getting tired, but I'm loving it. I love every second of it.
25:09So first tea break, but they deserve it. So well done, everyone.
25:13I didn't know we had a kettle ride, did you?
25:16Coming up, a demolition dilemma.
25:20Shall we knock the thing down or shall we build brand new?
25:23There's pros and cons for both and we don't want to get it wrong.
25:33I'm following homeowners from around the UK who have bought at auction
25:36and are now hard at work realising their property dreams.
25:43In Stoke, DIY enthusiast Tarek is restoring the library
25:47in keeping with its Victorian heritage, bathroom included.
25:51These are reclaimed bricks which are fitting for the building
25:54that they were originally sitting in a similar sort of area
25:57which I found online.
25:58So, fantastic. That was a good result.
26:01Meanwhile, 80 miles away in Rhettford,
26:03whilst the bedrooms and bathrooms have taken a back seat,
26:06Laura is concentrating on the kitchen extension.
26:09Some of the existing walls are being kept and tied into the new brickwork,
26:13but the extension itself is being built from concrete blocks
26:17and will be rendered, which is quicker and cheaper than brick.
26:20It's good to see a porch is being added to prevent letting out the warm air,
26:25which has also helped to solve the problem of where Laura can put her lovely 1920s door.
26:31So, this is the original front door, which I loved.
26:35I had it stripped. It didn't come back in that good a condition.
26:39Because the porch is going on, it's come back into play, so it's going to be painted.
26:43The build well underway. Laura's sent me an update.
26:48So, things have changed massively here.
26:50So, here we are, the abandoned bungalow.
26:52We've just started bricking up the front door, so it's so exciting.
26:56The boys have been very busy this week.
26:58We've got our bi-fold area there, new walls, and the front door is going to be here.
27:04So, I might not have a bedroom and a bathroom to show you,
27:07but might have a kitchen to show you in a few weeks.
27:10She works so hard, Laura, and she's going to end up with a really lovely house.
27:15I still think she might have been better off demolishing it and starting again,
27:18but she's enjoying the journey, and that's what life's about, isn't it?
27:23Buying a property at auction can give you options.
27:25Working with what you've got, like Laura, or demolishing and building your dream home.
27:32This is the conundrum for Luke, Sarah, and their daughter Frere,
27:35who relocated from London to Norfolk to be close to Sarah's family,
27:39and are currently living in a rental.
27:41After inheriting some money, they bought a derelict three-bed detached property
27:45on a decent-sized plot in the picturesque village of Blowfield.
27:50But it comes with a reputation.
27:53It's been dubbed Norfolk's creepiest house by a local newspaper
27:57who saw the police tape and ominous signs after it failed to sell at auction.
28:02Luke and Sarah saw this as an opportunity,
28:05but they can't decide whether to knock it down and build a brand-new house
28:09or renovate the existing one.
28:12There are pros and cons to rebuilding or renovating.
28:16If you build from scratch, you can save the cost of the VAT on materials and labour.
28:21On the other hand, if you renovate, you can save a load of cash
28:25by doing a lot of the work yourself, if you're prepared to get your hands dirty.
28:31In Luke and Sarah's case, there's a lot to consider.
28:34And you bought it in auction?
28:36Correct.
28:36Were you only looking for houses that were for sale in auction?
28:39No, we did a complete U-turn.
28:41We'd actually been looking at new builds, thinking,
28:44oh, let's relocate, we'll get a shiny new, turn the key, move in.
28:49And that's what you bought?
28:50Yeah.
28:51Why didn't you buy off-plan then?
28:53So I feel like they never quite ticked the box for how much money they were.
28:59What did you end up buying it for?
29:01We bought it for £276,000.
29:03So how much had you worked out you could spend?
29:06When we looked at our budget originally, we wanted to move here,
29:09it was about £600,000 we were originally looking at.
29:12OK, so you had a budget of about £600,000.
29:15So what's the vision with this?
29:18Er...
29:18I think that's why we kind of really want your expert advice.
29:22Originally, knock it down, put a brand new up exactly as we want it,
29:26the big laundry room, the big doors out onto the garden,
29:29the kitchen island, exactly as we want.
29:31The question mark I'd have on that is the numbers at £275,
29:36that's quite tight to build a house.
29:39Absolutely.
29:40If we stick with that £600 budget, it makes it hard work.
29:44What's it like inside?
29:46Er...
29:46You haven't been in.
29:49Er...
29:49No, not yet.
29:50Hey, let's go in.
29:51Oh my God, how exciting.
29:53That's brilliant.
29:54If you're thinking of renovating rather than demolishing,
29:57these are the main points to look out for.
29:59A straight roof line, no bowed walls or visible cracks,
30:04and no signs of chronic damp or rot.
30:13OK, so, just the bedroom.
30:16Real shame.
30:17Quite like the curtains.
30:20It smells of damp and back.
30:22Yeah, yeah.
30:27Someone has come along and smashed everything, haven't they?
30:29Yeah, yeah.
30:30Yeah.
30:31It's actually really nice.
30:33Oh!
30:34I mean, I know it's a bit smelly.
30:37It needs some love.
30:40And the windows are not in bad condition.
30:43No, they're OK.
30:44They're quite good windows.
30:46Er, there is actually a leak.
30:47So, I probably should have come in here.
30:55Well, do you know, it's an amazing building.
30:58I do think it's a great plot.
31:00I've got to say, I don't think this house is that bad.
31:03I don't think it's a scary house at all.
31:05I think it's really cool.
31:06OK.
31:07My gut feeling, I'm going to be really honest,
31:10if I was you, I'd refurbish this and live in it for a bit.
31:14The amount that you've paid for this, you don't have enough money
31:17to build the house of your dreams.
31:19You could refurbish this in eight, twelve weeks and move into it
31:24and then you'd be in.
31:25Then you could go for planning.
31:26There's a lot of paperwork and red tape that comes with
31:29building a house that it's absolutely essential you get right.
31:34And if you don't get it right, it can really bite you.
31:38I think my heart's still knocking it down.
31:41Moving it back, extending it and making it our family home
31:45for the next 25 years.
31:46Whereas I think I might be more inclined to speak to our architect
31:49to maybe look at a drawing of what this could look like renovated,
31:52because at the minute I can't see it.
31:54I can see this being a really happy family home,
31:56so whether you live in this or whether you live in something else,
31:59I think it's going to be good.
32:04I think this was a pretty impulsive purchase of Luke and Sarah's,
32:09but I think it was a mixture of emotional, financial
32:14and practical reasons that they did.
32:17And I...
32:18It's an amazing plot.
32:22Which way they go as to whether they live in this
32:25or pull it down and start again.
32:27Who knows?
32:37In Stoke, Tarek's hoping a classy bathroom
32:40will be a selling point for his event space.
32:42With custom colour-matched tiles
32:45that are taking a bite out of his budget.
32:47I haven't seen these apart from when I first sort of tried to place an order,
32:52so I'm hoping these will match the ones downstairs in our basement.
32:56Ooh, that does look good.
32:59Moss green, specifically.
33:01These tiles, I think, cost me just about £600 in total.
33:05So they're very expensive for the small area that I'm doing
33:08in comparison to plain white tiles.
33:11Well, I just want to keep as much of the theme of the building.
33:14Here we go.
33:15So, moment of truth.
33:15I mean, these tiles are over a hundred years old,
33:17so trying to match these is not going to be easy.
33:20But let's have a look.
33:23Ooh, they're not far off, are they?
33:25I can live with that.
33:26That is beautiful.
33:27Oh, I'm so glad.
33:29Tarek may be a dab hand at DIY,
33:31but tiling is notoriously time-consuming.
33:35The hardest bit is getting the level.
33:37I mean, it's painful doing them as well
33:38because that's taken me about four hours, just that section,
33:42because they're so...
33:43They're small, they're meticulous, they're little tiles.
33:46So that is really something I'm going to have to counter in now
33:49for the rest of the project
33:50because I was hoping I'd have this done in a couple of days,
33:53but that's not going to happen.
33:55Now a month into his project and back to work teaching,
33:59Tarek sent me an update.
34:01Let's see how he's getting on.
34:03Yeah, so here we are.
34:04Sanding all the banisters ready for our coats or paint underneath.
34:09And the flooring, yeah,
34:10we are going for the same oak laminate you'll see upstairs.
34:12I really wanted to go for oak stairs, but it's too expensive.
34:16Onto the main balcony area.
34:19As you can see, we have started the flooring.
34:21We eventually decided to knock the partition through.
34:25I think it does make sense.
34:26There's so much more light now.
34:28Oh, that is much better now it's all open.
34:31Bit of a nightmare.
34:32I've had to cancel a couple of bookings.
34:34It's just not going to happen.
34:35I'm so behind.
34:37A lot of it's to do with materials and just getting the workforce in.
34:42And with me buying back at work, it's actually really impacting.
34:45Tarek had a 50,000 pound budget, which was painfully small and was really a redecoration budget.
34:53And he hasn't finished and he hasn't got an event booked in.
34:56I think it's fair to say he has bitten off more than he can chew.
35:00I would say he needs to break this project down into smaller bite-sized chunks and get a little bit
35:05of it generating an income so that he can then expand out into the other areas.
35:11Coming up, is there finally hope for Tarek to start generating an income?
35:16I just hope to pull it off.
35:18It's going to be some late nights.
35:29In Stoke, the pressure is back on for college lecturer Tarek, who's organised a publicity event in four weeks' time,
35:36hoping to encourage some bookings and start making an income.
35:40This is probably the 65th can, which sounds like a lot, but to be honest, a couple of quid a
35:48can, you know, it's not been bad.
35:51Although my budget, which I've hit almost, I don't know what to say.
35:56I mean, I'm up to 70,000 pound now, 70 grand.
35:59I mean, I had a budget of 50, 55 max.
36:02It's painful.
36:03It just happens in these jobs.
36:05I've pulled every string that you could think of, family, friends, help, loans, credit cards, whatever it's taken has got
36:12me here.
36:13I'm literally going to be here every single weekend.
36:16So it's just full on, absolutely full on at the moment.
36:20Done.
36:21Thank God.
36:22And now on to the other 1,000 jobs I've got waiting.
36:25Next on the list, Tarek's assembling the two biggest chandeliers to replace the old ones in the main hall.
36:33All right, now I think, yeah, that goes there.
36:36At eight and a half thousand pounds for five chandeliers, these were a massive chunk of his budget.
36:42Some of these instructions, they just don't make sense because they haven't got the exact measurements on there.
36:46So I'm actually having to work that bit out myself, which is a nightmare.
36:50It's like, what the hell?
36:51This, I think I've done it four times now.
36:54Or, you know, there's definitely something wrong here.
36:58That's not right.
36:59For the 11th time.
37:02Unbelievable.
37:03That's painful.
37:05Right, if this falls my mood, that's two and a half grand down the drain.
37:11Oh, hold it.
37:13You got it?
37:13Yep.
37:15Okay.
37:17Oh.
37:18God, that is heavy.
37:21Now the moment of truth.
37:22And this is shaking like mad.
37:27And I've just actually worked out, I've got a total of 120 bulbs on two chandeliers.
37:34Plus the dancers, that's 250 bulbs.
37:38My electric bill is going to kill me.
37:41The first arm.
37:43Oh.
37:45So we've got loads of work to do, but I've got to do it.
37:49It's the only way I can PR this place.
37:51With the help of family and friends over the next three weekends,
37:54it's all hands on deck before the building is open to public scrutiny.
37:58Wow.
37:59Perfect.
38:01Perfect.
38:03I just hope we pull it off.
38:05It's going to be some late nights.
38:14When I met Laura four months ago,
38:17she was busy stripping a completely derelict bungalow back to the brickwork
38:22after rather impulsively buying it at auction with no prior research.
38:28With the help of her dad and her brother's building team to do the extension,
38:32Laura has saved money on labour wherever she could.
38:36So I always tell my tradesmen to just leave a mess.
38:38One, because they spend a lot of time tidying up at the end of the day
38:42and that costs me money.
38:43But two, because I'm not having skips on site so I can get it to the recycle centre in all
38:48the right places.
38:50She's turned her hand to bricklaying, insulating and decorating.
38:57Making phase one of her projects a brand new kitchen complete.
39:03I think taking a leap of faith and trusting what I could see.
39:08This is exactly what I could see when this was covered in ivy and crumbling
39:12and everyone else thought I was crazy.
39:14By knocking down the big internal wall, Laura has transformed a dull dark corner
39:20into a bright roomy kitchen living area with bifolds which open up onto the large garden.
39:26The kitchen I designed online, so you save a large amount of money by doing that
39:31rather than going to a showroom.
39:32So left to doing this space, I'm going to be doing solid oak flooring
39:36and then tiling the splash back.
39:38Once I've paid for those, I'll still be sitting under the £30,000 budget for this extension.
39:44And the bungalow now has a very practical porch.
39:47I took on Sarah's advice when she came and she mentioned doing a porch
39:51which I thought was a great idea because it's going to help with the heating,
39:54it's also going to have a little bit of a storage room and somewhere to put all your shoes
39:58and your coats and things like that.
39:59With her spruced up repurposed front door.
40:05Laura paid almost £140,000 for the bungalow at auction
40:09and had a £75,000 renovation budget.
40:12But once she's finished the exterior, bedrooms and bathrooms, she could double its value.
40:18I didn't want to over capitalise on the property.
40:21Obviously everyone wants to own a property that is worth more than what they've spent on it.
40:25So I kept it really, really sensible.
40:28So for the entire build so far, I'm just over £42,000.
40:32I'm months ahead of wherever I thought I would have been.
40:35But that might be because I spent every waking hour here.
40:39I'm either at work or here.
40:41But I love it, I absolutely love it.
40:42It was totally worth it.
40:45I find it really hard to say that I'm proud of myself.
40:48And I am, I am really proud of myself.
40:50This is my first home.
40:56I'm really excited about finishing the rest of the project.
40:59I'll be here push, push, pushing all winter to get the rest of the house done.
41:04I can't wait to move in and have this be my home.
41:07And she's well and truly caught the renovation bug.
41:11I really do see myself probably taking out the equity of this house once I'm living in it.
41:17I'm going to buy a couple more and starting straight again and just keep, keep renoing.
41:2780 miles away in Stoke, IT teacher and father of five, Tarek, bought this grade two listed former library for
41:36£150,000 after it failed to sell at auction.
41:40He needed to transform it into an event space quickly to generate an income.
41:45But with a £50,000 renovation budget and a very tight timeline, I was a little concerned he might not
41:52have fully thought his plans through.
41:54Eight weeks that is.
41:55Eight weeks.
41:56Eight weeks until they have a wedding here.
41:57Have they sent out invitations?
41:59Not yet.
42:01Four months ago, this was a neglected building.
42:04It may have taken twice as long as expected, but through Tarek's determination it's had its grandeur restored.
42:11It has been a hell of a journey.
42:14But we're here.
42:15I think originally the eight weeks was very optimistic.
42:19Sarah was 100% right.
42:21And that's where experience pays off.
42:23You know, I'm so glad we cancelled that because look where I am today.
42:26The great hall is sparkling with 120 bulbs worth of new chandeliers.
42:31It's that bling.
42:32It looks absolutely amazing.
42:34I mean, it took a day and a half on each one, times five.
42:38But you've got to admit, it's the centre, the core of the building.
42:42The partition upstairs, removing that was the best thing ever.
42:45The painful part was I'd spent money doing it up and then dismantling it.
42:52But Sarah was right.
42:54I mean, it's just given the hall a totally different vibe.
42:56It's not just the great hall that Tarek's restored.
43:00The bathroom was in a state of disarray.
43:04Now with a thousand pounds worth of tiles as a nod to the original Milton ceramics in the basement and
43:10a marble top with brass fittings, it's in keeping with the Victorian heritage.
43:15The empty rooms had no purpose.
43:19Now they're fit for a wedding with new floors, repaired windows, and of course, more chandeliers.
43:27And all this Tarek did himself, toiling hard at weekends.
43:32I just can't wait to see the public's reaction.
43:35It is my baby.
43:37This is it.
43:37You know, and I want them to feel proud.
43:39I want them to feel as proud as me.
43:42Tarek has truly brought the building back to life.
43:46But with everything taking twice as long and unforeseen costs, the risk he took has yet to pay off financially.
43:54I mean, to get to where we are today, it's cost me, with all the works and everything, around 75k.
44:01A lot more than what I budgeted, let's just say.
44:05There's so many things I still want to do, but I've had to stop.
44:08I've got to have an income now before I spend any more money.
44:14Determined as ever to succeed, Tarek is hosting an open event to publicise the building for hire.
44:25I never saw her seat this day.
44:27People, it's alive.
44:29There's voices, there's echoes.
44:31It's a hustle and bustle.
44:33Wow.
44:34Actually, I've got goosebumps saying that.
44:39There's a huge desk in the middle.
44:42A big library desk where we did all the serving.
44:44And this is a much better use because it feels a lot calmer.
44:48Calmer, yeah.
44:48More beautiful.
44:49Yeah, that was a little hectic, yeah.
44:51Those chandeliers are amazing.
44:53It may be a while before Tarek makes a profit, but with only finishing touches left to go,
44:58any paid events will help recoup the 25 grand overspend.
45:04Absolute buzzing evening is packed.
45:06I can't wait to get the bookings in, but I want everyone to enjoy it.
45:13I still have two more children that aren't married yet, so there's still plenty of potential.
45:18Tarek's got his family supporting his big night with a very impressed daughter.
45:23It's like a blank canvas, and I absolutely am obsessed with it.
45:25I love it.
45:26He's been working here late at night, and just to see it all come to life has been incredible,
45:31and I could be more proud of him.
45:35It's so beautiful that people are appreciating my hard work.
45:38I could actually cry.
45:39I know it sounds crazy over bricks and mortar, but it's more than that, isn't it?
46:03Next time, with one couple building their forever home.
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