- 6 hours ago
- #auctionfinds
- #propertyrenovation
- #sarahbeeny
Ready to see what treasures Sarah Beeny unearths this week? Join her on another exciting episode of "Help! I Bought It at Auction" as she navigates the thrilling world of auction finds and property transformations.
In this installment, Sarah dives into a project that promises to be a true test of her renovation skills. Expect to be inspired by creative solutions and resourceful problem-solving as a unique property is brought back to life. It's amazing what you can achieve with a bit of vision and a keen eye for potential!
Get ready for a dose of property inspiration and learn how auction buys can become dream homes. This episode is a fantastic reminder of the satisfying journey from a dusty old building to a beautifully restored space.
#AuctionFinds #PropertyRenovation #SarahBeeny
In this installment, Sarah dives into a project that promises to be a true test of her renovation skills. Expect to be inspired by creative solutions and resourceful problem-solving as a unique property is brought back to life. It's amazing what you can achieve with a bit of vision and a keen eye for potential!
Get ready for a dose of property inspiration and learn how auction buys can become dream homes. This episode is a fantastic reminder of the satisfying journey from a dusty old building to a beautifully restored space.
#AuctionFinds #PropertyRenovation #SarahBeeny
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Short filmTranscript
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 Spinner, 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.
00:25It's so sweet!
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.
00:37I'm Sarah Beeney, and I've been buying, building,
00:40and transforming homes for 35 years.
00:42And 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 from
00:55darling 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 of some of the country's biggest auction houses.
01:10Something is there that's attracted so many people.
01:13Discovering where the property auctions are a risk too far...
01:17Are you going up?
01:18No.
01:19...or a great way to get the home of your dreams.
01:22I am really proud of myself.
01:23This is my first home.
01:31This week, whether you're building your forever home...
01:34I said, Michelle, I'll do the magic and build the house of our dreams.
01:37...or looking to add value...
01:39We just wanted to do our upper and it seems that most of them are sold at auction.
01:44Taking on a fixer-upper at auction requires true grit.
01:48But remember when the gaggle comes down...
01:51...at one, eight, six.
01:54There it is better.
01:55Well done.
01:56There's no going back.
01:57It's cosy.
01:58Don't hit your head.
02:00Oh, yeah.
02:01First, I'm heading to the South Downs National Park in Hampshire...
02:04...to the village of Shirell Heath.
02:07With buyers attracted to the scenic countryside, property is in high demand.
02:12A typical detached house with a sizeable garden goes for around £600,000.
02:18The village is home to Horseshoe Cottage.
02:21Nestled in a third of an acre of garden, it has three bedrooms, 19 windows...
02:27...and is in need of some serious attention.
02:31Seamstress Michelle and rifle maker Derek are the proud new owners.
02:36Me and Derek met when we were at school.
02:39Didn't like him at school because he's a bit of a lad, but he kept pursuing me.
02:43You did.
02:44And won the prize.
02:45He was very persistent.
02:50In the 45 years we've been together, this is now our fourth property that we've done up.
02:55And this is going to be probably our forever home.
02:59And as soon as we came in here, we both loved it, and I said to Michelle,
03:03what have you got to do to get it? And you did.
03:06I did.
03:07I was in a fortunate position.
03:09My dad gave me a bit of money.
03:11And I was looking to invest that money into property.
03:16And then I started looking at auctions.
03:18New to property auctions, Michelle and Derek were looking for a fixer-upper.
03:22So I just pulled these three properties off the auction catalogue, booked them up in one day,
03:28I said to Derek, right, we're going to look at, I'm going to look at all these houses, do you
03:31want to come?
03:31He said, yes.
03:33We pulled up here and he went, I want this one.
03:35I just knew I wanted it.
03:36I just loved it.
03:37And you loved it.
03:38And we said, we want it.
03:41The location is down a little lane and it's just so quiet.
03:48And it's just got a lovely feel and it's so bright.
03:52So it's all of those things, but a lot of work.
03:56There is a lot of work to be done.
03:58Having had the keys for seven weeks, they've already made a start and are hoping to move in within the
04:04next two months,
04:05but aren't sure how to make the best use of the space.
04:08So you saw this and fell in love with it.
04:11I'm not surprised because, to be honest, I've just seen this and I've fallen in love with it.
04:15It's absolutely gorgeous.
04:16I'm so pleased.
04:17What was it guided at?
04:18It was guided at $5.50, but then it didn't sell at auction.
04:24So we looked at it in between it not selling and going into the following month's auction.
04:30We actually came to a deal at $4.75.
04:32Brilliant, so it didn't go to auction?
04:34No.
04:35Around a quarter of properties failed to sell under the hammer,
04:38giving buyers the chance to negotiate with the auction house.
04:41So if there's a listing outside your budget, do keep an eye on it.
04:47So how much have you got to spend on it at the moment?
04:50I'm just trying to get my head around the finances.
04:51We have allowed ourselves 45,000 we've kept back to do this up.
04:57All of that?
04:58Yeah, all of that.
04:59Yeah.
05:00Oh, yes, gosh.
05:01We're doing a lot of it ourselves.
05:02You'll need to.
05:03Yes.
05:03The biggest expense at the moment are the windows.
05:05I think we've been quite a £12,000 for all the windows.
05:08The mix of the windows that are already here,
05:10got everything that's gone through the years, really.
05:13But actually, it's all about the detailing, all about the glazing bars,
05:16big fat glazing bars that are quite ugly.
05:19Do you have a vision for all of it, this?
05:22We just want you to have a look round, and we want you to tell us what you think.
05:27OK, perfect.
05:29Such a lovely garden, so you've got the back garden and the front garden.
05:33It's sort of like double garden, isn't it?
05:35Yes, yes, yes.
05:36Fantastic.
05:37So, have you got any plans out here?
05:38We're thinking putting a conservatory that looks like a greenhouse across the whole back,
05:43but the money, we're really tight with our budget.
05:46Also, we couldn't get a mortgage on this property,
05:47because the sewage treatment tank that comes with it has been condemned.
05:51It's obviously been here for many years.
05:54So, all of these things affected the lending on the property.
05:58Yeah, I mean, you've got a series of reasons why this would be really hard to get a mortgage on,
06:03which is probably why it was for sale in auction.
06:07And one of them will be the sewage.
06:08You need to have services.
06:09You need to be structurally sound.
06:11Yeah.
06:12And so, yeah, you need to get all these things sorted, don't you?
06:14Yeah.
06:16There's lots of reasons why a property might not be mortgageable,
06:19but one of the key ones is it needs to be habitable,
06:22and that means it needs to be structurally sound,
06:24have a kitchen and bathroom and all its services.
06:28Oh, this is gorgeous.
06:30Yeah.
06:30What a lovely house.
06:32Aw, thank you.
06:32And this is the kitchen.
06:33I mean, it is a little bit unmodernised, but it's got such a nice feel to it.
06:39It's very homely and cosy.
06:41Yeah.
06:41And this was the exact spot.
06:42When I come to the house, I thought, I want this house.
06:45Michelle, get it for me.
06:46Oh, did you?
06:48Yes.
06:48You said, now.
06:49Yeah, I want it.
06:51It's really cosy.
06:53Yes.
06:53And what are you planning on doing in it?
06:55Basically, I think we're going to have the kitchen units all around this wall,
07:00and the cooker where the cooker is now.
07:02We're going to have cupboards all the way across this room.
07:06My feeling is that because the rooms are all interconnecting and you go through one to get
07:11to the next one, they're not private rooms.
07:14They're all sort of part of the same thing.
07:16I think you need to get some walls down.
07:17And I don't always think that, but I actually think in this situation with this house, you
07:23really want all of this space to be going in both directions so that you can see the garden
07:29from the whole space.
07:31To open up the cottage, I reckon the kitchen walls would be better coming down between the
07:36dining room and snug.
07:37And adding glazed double doors to the living and dining rooms would help make the most of
07:43the gorgeous garden views.
07:45Why have you given yourself only two months to do this?
07:48What's the reason?
07:49We want to move out of our house we're in now to get that rented out,
07:55so we can get money on that, so we can actually afford to do the finishing bits in here.
08:00Okay, so basically you're going to run out of money on this?
08:04Yes.
08:04That's why you've got only two months to get in here.
08:07The key to this house is getting your head around the fact that it hasn't got a
08:11front garden or a driveway and then a back garden. It's actually got a garden that surrounds the
08:17whole house.
08:17The question is, can they reconfigure the layout and stick to their £45,000 budget?
08:23Now we've just got to put our thinking caps on and just, if we can just get all the structural
08:30work
08:30done and then just wait on everything else, we're happy to do that. But now is the time to make
08:36all
08:37the mess and destruction that we can afford to do and then we just do what we need to do
08:42to get money
08:43to actually get the house finished. Yeah.
08:48Coming up, a couple desperate to complete an ambitious renovation.
08:52Yeah, so we only have about 10 or 15 left to finish the house.
08:55So I think it's going to be tight.
09:05230, 235, 240.
09:06Across the country, more of us than ever are choosing to buy a property at auction
09:11and do whatever it takes to transform them into our perfect homes.
09:18That was cool.
09:23In Hampshire, seamstress Michelle and husband Derek have been working every evening and weekend.
09:36If I start doing too much damage, I'll get Derek in because otherwise I'll get into trouble.
09:43The house is getting a facelift with some new windows to replace the hodgepodge of different styles.
09:50Their biggest expense so far is the double glazed UPVC windows,
09:54made of durable, recyclable plastic at a cost of £12,000.
09:59Right, let's go look at the windows, see what the guys have done.
10:03Gosh, they're lovely, really, really lovely.
10:09Sarah said if the bars are too big, it looks too modern.
10:12If they're too small, it's meh.
10:14And she's right, these are spot on, absolutely spot on, really, really pleased.
10:19With a big chunk of their £45,000 budget now gone,
10:23they'll have to do a lot of heavy lifting themselves.
10:31Today I'm in Somerset, in the small village of Rode near Froome.
10:36Detached houses around the village sell for an average of £550,000.
10:40Half a mile from the village centre is a proper fixer-upper.
10:45A former 18th century inn built by a brick maker using bricks from the local clay pit.
10:51And pit is exactly what it was when it was put up for auction.
10:56High school sweethearts from Northern Ireland, Archie and Lauren,
10:59were brave enough to buy it as their first property for £277,000.
11:05So we were watching the auctions, because that's what we wanted to buy at,
11:08because we feel like we could get a bit more property and a project,
11:11which we could add some value to.
11:13We were willing to work, and it was a lot of work.
11:16Before the house, I look back and I think,
11:18what did I do with myself every evening after I got home from work, honestly?
11:23The house wasn't mortgageable at the start.
11:26Basically, a house needs to have effectively a working kitchen and a bathroom.
11:31So Archie is a mortgage advisor, a financial advisor.
11:35So you have knowledge around bridging loans and difficult things like that.
11:41Yeah, really in the deep end, bridging loan on a...
11:43First-time buyers, bridging loan, huge renovation.
11:47It's good fun.
11:49Bridging loans are short-term finance.
11:52The lenders are prepared to take more risk and they charge more money for it.
11:57Make absolutely certain if you take one on,
11:59you've got a clear exit strategy.
12:01One of the stressful things was the deadline to get the house mortgageable.
12:05Because with a bridging loan, you have a maximum of 12 months if you want to live in it.
12:09And then we're getting closer and closer to the end of our bridge.
12:11And are we going to get it done in time?
12:14If we don't, they'll just repossess the house.
12:17The risk was repossession of the house.
12:19They will take it back at the end of the 12 months and everything is for nothing.
12:24Like in the real push for getting the mortgage, I was like hammering stuff at like one in the morning.
12:31But like trying to do it really quietly so it's useless.
12:34And also, I just don't enjoy DIY as much as Archie does.
12:39And I hated the dirt and the grime and the dust. There's so much dust.
12:45Yeah. Archie and Lauren manage to remortgage the house and build a beautiful extension,
12:50which has doubled the size of the kitchen and dining area.
12:54But they've already blown their initial £120,000 budget,
12:58and are camping out in the annex until the main house at least has a working bathroom.
13:03And we aren't made of money. So like it was all, how can I do this without spending any more
13:07money?
13:08Yeah, so we only have about 10 or 15 left to finish the house. So that is the bathroom,
13:12the two front rooms, finishing the hallway, finishing the pantry,
13:17doing the outdoor kitchen that you want. So I think it's going to be tight.
13:23The couple hope to sell this house for a profit in the next five years.
13:27So they need to be smart with their remaining budget.
13:32Where you are now, you've built this extension, which is beautiful, to be honest.
13:37But it does make the rest of the house look not so good.
13:40A bit, a bit. I know.
13:41But for us, it's like we enjoy the sort of sitting outside.
13:45We're going to build a patio and everything and an outdoor kitchen.
13:48So for us, we want to look at something quite nice.
13:50We want to look at something nice.
13:51So it's probably just over here, we'll have like a U-shaped kitchen.
13:55So sink, sort of barbecues, pizza oven.
13:57I think outdoor spaces do tend to add value too.
14:01Yeah, it's just a question of whether it adds more than it costs.
14:04But then you're doing it yourself.
14:06I'm doing it myself.
14:06So it's literally just material cost.
14:08Yeah, I mean, it will also always be in the nicest possible way,
14:11because it's gorgeous, the house totally.
14:13I'm not saying it's not gorgeous, because it is.
14:15But it will always be limited on price because of the road.
14:18Yes, there will be, yeah. There will always be a cap to that.
14:21Yeah, and so there's a point at which...
14:24You stop spending money.
14:25Just stop, yeah.
14:26Because it's never going to be a real, real premium price.
14:30Yes.
14:30So you're going to build a big kitchen there,
14:32but you've already built a kitchen here.
14:34Yes, yeah.
14:35OK, let's go and have a look at this.
14:39So what's the vision in here? It's a big room.
14:41It is a big room, yeah.
14:42So the idea is to have just a big, bright kitchen dining space,
14:46somewhere that's enjoyable to spend time.
14:48Something more modern as well.
14:49Yeah, so in the corner of the room and the space under the stairs,
14:52it's quite a pokey little area, but we're hoping to make that into
14:55more of a pantry larder type of thing.
14:57To be honest, the key to having a really nice kitchen,
15:00if you've got the space, is to have a walk-in larder,
15:03because that's where you can kind of dump everything.
15:06Yes.
15:07Extensions can add significant value to a property,
15:09but there are smaller things you can do that can be real selling points.
15:14For example, built-in storage and clever use of lighting
15:17can make rooms feel bigger.
15:19And a fabulous bathroom can really add value too.
15:24So this is going to be the bathroom over here?
15:26Yes, it's just a bit.
15:27It's quite a good-sized bathroom.
15:29I'd kind of go with the fact that it's a dark space and use lights
15:33and use artificial lights to really create an amazing atmosphere.
15:39There's three types of lighting as a kind of a bit of a generalised rule,
15:44which is ambient lighting, task lighting and accent lighting.
15:49You should have wallpaper in here, have it coming up the ceiling,
15:51up here and then really focus with the lights.
15:55It's funny you say that.
15:56We are planning to wallpaper the top half.
15:58Oh, brilliant. Are you? Fantastic.
16:00So we've just got to think about the lighting then.
16:02Yes, and I think it'll look nice with the old beams and everything.
16:04Yeah, I can't wait. I can't wait to have a bathroom.
16:07Yeah, I bet.
16:10So you've got one sitting room over there and this is the second one, yeah?
16:14Yes, this is the one where we'll use day-to-day and we'll have our TV and things.
16:17Call the other one the snug.
16:18And what sort of decor are you planning in here?
16:21Colour-wise, we're going for a sage green.
16:23Oh, lovely.
16:24So hopefully not too dark, but dark enough to sort of like lean into that
16:28because it's a darker room, isn't it?
16:29Well, it's such an exciting project. I love it.
16:32It's really brilliant. You have got your work cut out though.
16:34I think you do, yeah.
16:38Archie and Lauren's plans for an outdoor kitchen will take up a lot of time and effort.
16:42As long as they do it well, it will certainly be a selling point,
16:46but they could easily spend more than the value it will add.
16:53It was great to see Sarah at this stage in the renovation,
16:55because we're still basically at the start.
16:57You know, we haven't touched the bathroom,
16:58so I'm hoping that we can really bring in her ideas to finish off.
17:03To do all of that on 10 to 15 grand.
17:06Yeah, but we also need to get the heating working.
17:07And we need the heating working.
17:08I don't think you can do another Christmas without heating.
17:10I can't do another Christmas without heating.
17:16Oh yay! At two o'clock today, in Axminster Guildhall,
17:22there will be an auction, be there or be square.
17:27And may God save the king!
17:31People have been buying and selling houses at auction for centuries.
17:35You might find a bucolic bolt hole or even a small plot with a view and a deck chair.
17:41Auction House Simmons and Sampson in Axminster, Devon,
17:45are known for land, farms and rural properties.
17:48On the podium today is Mark Lewis,
17:50who cut his teeth at livestock auctions before starting in property.
17:55You've seen cattle auctioneers, you know, when they're going,
17:57you know, two at a pound, a minute, two at a pound, two at a pound,
17:59two at a pound, two at a pound, eight, ten, twelve, fifteen, eighty, twenty,
18:01two at a pound, eight, eight, 20, eight, eight, thirty, like that.
18:05Or, when you're doing the property you'll see today,
18:07it's a lot more sedate and the reason is that when you're selling cattle you're usually selling to
18:12people who've been to auctions every week so they wink tweak their ear tap their nose and you're
18:18picking up how they're bidding today there'll be people who've never been to an auction before
18:22so it's a lot of emotion and you just got to take it a little bit but a lot slower
18:26today there are
18:27over a hundred people in the room as well as bidders online and on the telephone with 25 lots
18:33to sell one lot in particular corner cottage a five bed in lime regis on the dorset coast is
18:39proving very popular bidding from home today melissa and mark who both worked in the fashion industry
18:46are hoping this could be their dream holiday home fell in love with lime regis went and looked at the
18:52house and that's it madam said right here we go again to win it now we would have a historic
18:59house
19:00that has historical bones which we really love and it's big enough for us to have all the grandkids
19:06and stuff come and visit you know the guide price is 165 185 i personally think it's going to go
19:13for
19:13you know north of 200 north of 200 we're sort of around 210 220 you know i think this could
19:22go as far as
19:22250. he likes to always have a budget i like to blow budgets so yeah let's see we'll see what
19:30happens i welcome you to our property auction today also looking after today's sale is rural partner
19:35george whitaker fortunately it's just uh introducing the terms of sale and making sure that all of the
19:40buyers have done their due diligence and then there'll be a few bad jokes and we'll be straight
19:44into the bidding you heard this one before will you hear it again sir once or twice
19:49right lot nine is here in axminster 118 120 online 122 it's the job of the auctioneer not only to
19:56introduce the lots and create a lively atmosphere third and last time against you all online oh here
20:02he comes 130 130 130 but to decide the bidding increments which are usually bigger if there's lots of
20:08interest and get smaller if the bids slow down one three two well done sir congratulations so we go to
20:16lot 18 which is corner cottage at uplime corner cottage is a good size five bedroom character
20:21property which could benefit from some updating but couldn't we all corner cottage just being
20:26introduced now uh lots of interest in this one opposite the local pub can't be bad so we'll see how
20:31it goes uh it was formerly the uh post office but now it's your chance to put your stamp on
20:38the property
20:39and once finished i'm sure it will be first class mark is called by auction representative
20:47meredith wallace to bid over the phone hello hello guide is 165 to 185 i'm going to start
20:54the bidding of 165 165 now looking for 170 170 to meredith 175 is the next bid 175 the bidding
21:03of this
21:03lot goes up in increments of 5 000 pounds 180 180 until interest slows 185 i've got 185 and the
21:12auctioneer
21:13offers to take just a thousand pounds more 186 186 186 first time then at 186 second time at 186
21:24third and last time then at 186. there it is bidder well done congratulations
21:37brilliant thank you bye-bye bye on average auction sales take less than two months from listing to
21:44completion compared to an average of six months on the open market with 186 000 pounds cash ready
21:51mark and melissa have the keys within a month come on in don't you love it i'm super excited for
21:59the
22:00project i can actually walk through this property right now and i can see it finished oh i just love
22:06this space oh it's cozy don't hit your head oh yeah no remember that one still very much a dream
22:14house
22:15for us i think we got very lucky we're very happy with it i'm excited yeah yeah be a winner
22:20yeah it's
22:22good and so begins their new adventure
22:28along the south coast in hampshire michelle and derek's own country home renovation is well underway
22:35and they've decided to open up the kitchen and snug by adding double doors
22:40sarah had a great suggestion of opening up this room so that we could see the garden from the house
22:45and it would just be far lighter and a far better space to be in which we think is a
22:50great idea
22:51but to be able to do that we need to have a double door with a lintel above and that
22:56can only happen
22:57if there's fittings underneath where i'm just going to dig and we're going to find out
23:02the original horseshoe cottage was built in the 1760s
23:06at that time houses would usually sit directly on soil with no proper foundations
23:12if you want to make structural changes to these older buildings you'll probably have to dig down
23:17and reinforce the foundations or in extreme cases add piles to ensure the building is stable
23:24it's the case of the unknown how deep we have to actually go to find the bottom of this wall
23:33the best case now though is we find some um salt really really like treasure to be able to pay
23:39for
23:39the uh the project
23:46it looks like we may have come to the um the base of the wall now and it does look
23:54very much as expected it looks like we've got the base of the wall coming here and that's as far
24:01as
24:01it goes with no footings whatsoever actually this is probably the worst case scenario because this
24:06is going to either stop the um door being put in full stop or we've got to spend a lot
24:12of money
24:12getting the concrete footings put in place by a specialist company or depending on what the regs
24:17guy says it might just stop the whole project entirely it's in the hands of the regs guy now
24:23we'll have to wait and get him in coming up when it comes to property auctions we'll see if fortune
24:30favors the brave that's not a little bit of a gamble that's a massive gamble
24:44in somerset archie has so far spent four grand on the digger har and patio materials for the outdoor
24:50kitchen i've been digging the trench line to take my rain water away but also to take a water pipe
24:57out
24:57to the kitchen but we've got about seven meters by seven meters to take down about four or six inches
25:04give me a nice clean level to work from and then we'll have have a good area to start laying
25:09a patio
25:09in gardens are increasingly seen as extensions of the home outdoor living spaces like offices gyms or
25:16kitchens can be big selling points you can really tell that this was like an old brick yard because
25:22one is just clay and two there's just tons of broken bricks everywhere no matter where you dig in this
25:29garden so you're sort of good for the first foot and then it's a nightmare to dig but i don't
25:36just keep
25:36working away with no budget left for labor archie has roped in his brother patrick to clear brambles and
25:44trees i'm canceling david lloyds you don't need a gym membership anymore no
26:00meanwhile their stonemason father mark is working on the fireplace
26:05we're lifting the hearth which is where the sort of the fire gate would sit in there
26:11what we're going to do is with the same stone we're putting on the hearth we're going to clad
26:16the fireplace make it look a bit nicer nice and smooth and then put a little mantelpiece on above
26:21the fire dumping it onto the area that we cleared for the sub base for the patio so rather than
26:30having
26:30to pay to get it removed it'll just go at the bottom as a base layer for a patio crushed
26:36rubble is a great
26:37way to help with drainage luckily they've got a lot of material to play with this was actually the
26:43rear wall of the house so normally these would end up in landfill it's a better way of recycling and
26:48we
26:48don't have to have a big grab lori come in and get it on top of the rubble a layer
26:53of material called mot
26:54named after the old ministry of transport is needed to level it out before laying paving slabs so we're
27:01using mot which is it's like a sub base so it's got lots of different size bits in it which
27:07is useful
27:07for what we're using it for which is to compact down to get a nice sort of level surface to
27:14work from
27:15and we're using it to sort of give us a clean working space for the patio um how long it's
27:21going
27:21to take i don't know but the digger getting picked up in the morning this is actually in the way
27:27so no
27:27matter what we're in for a long night to get it shifted so i can actually get the digger out
27:31to
27:31get it picked up but yeah i think it's i think it's going to be a long one i try
27:37to avoid fireplaces
27:42because you get into this shape when you're doing it they're always awkward
27:55property auctions can be a great way of buying cheap and adding value this can be by modernizing
28:01an older property or by perhaps extending and adding a couple of bedrooms but there are no easy quick
28:08wins so it's worth doing your research before you buy today i'm meeting a couple who are hoping they
28:15have an eye for spotting how you can still make a profit from property married partners nick and ant
28:20may only be in their mid-20s but they've already renovated three properties together including their
28:27home in south london now they want to buy an investment property at auction that they can do
28:32up to rent out or sell a whole staircase after doing the viewings legwork over the past seven months
28:39they have their eye on a one-bed flat in fulham west london yeah let's just take this out i
28:45would
28:45i would knock that out again i'm just very curious to see about about this up here adding a bit
28:51more
28:51square footage more if there's because if there's a rooftop that's like next level isn't it since we
28:58have access to the staircase i think we could do an extension or a balcony here so see where the
29:03window
29:04is i feel that's where you could have the door that can go then onto your balcony overall overall
29:09pretty good they've sensibly calculated the highest figure they're willing to bid so on the left hand
29:15side is what we're going to bid we need to stick with our max 3 30. okay and today they're
29:21bidding
29:21online from the comfort of their kitchen it hasn't even started yet and we're like i'm sweating okay
29:27okay okay we're here we're here block 10 lovely flat overlooking bishops park 280 straight in on the
29:33net oh back to being the highest bidder uh for two seconds 307 and a half 310 yeah i bet
29:41again but
29:42there we go yeah oh it's slowing down mr c that's me rooms out at the moment mr c yours
29:52on the net right now
30:16the boys have big ambitions doubling the value by adding a roof terrace and extension
30:22our max bid was 330 and we managed to get it for 320 so we've got 10 000 pound buffer
30:28now and then
30:29if you manage to get your roof terrace and back extension all planned out and we're able to go
30:35ahead with that we could even see the property be worth upwards of six to seven hundred cheers cheers
30:42with the keys to their new flat in hand i'm keen to hear about their plans before they get started
30:49it's quite a long way up isn't it yes it is but when you get here i mean what a
30:56view i know i mean
30:57i think that's what instantly sold it for us with the park i mean it's amazing yeah what's the plan
31:02with
31:02it so i think we're going to be turning it into the two bedroom yes okay but that being said
31:07if the
31:08freeholder you know was not happy with that we couldn't have done that and one of the problems with
31:13buying a flat is that you have a lease and you don't have normally a share of the freehold so
31:20whilst
31:20you can do a loft conversion or or an extension if the freeholder says you can't you can't so so
31:28it's
31:28quite a risky thing so did you approach the freeholder before you bought this no no i mean it is
31:35a bit of
31:35gamble i would say and that's not a little bit of a gamble that's a massive gamble freeholder was um
31:42turned out to be amazing and she was like yeah whatever you guys want to do just do yeah that's
31:46so lucky i think what we're really good at is taking calculated risk we did a lot of due diligence
31:51and
31:52extension is what you're thinking yes it is so what happens at the back here okay let's go see
31:59so it's out here that is so look at that roof that is a brilliant so you've got a massive
32:07flat roof
32:08much bigger than you need for a roof terrace yeah and i see next door has half extended onto it
32:15so is
32:15that your plan our plans is to do a bedroom there with a small balcony and what about going up
32:21because
32:22this is obviously it's the roof yeah we're thinking actually we might be able to get another roof
32:26terrace up there has there been a precedent of any of the houses further down the street already
32:30done another story on the top but the issue with us is on our side no one's done it tends
32:36to trickle
32:36down the street a bit so once a few people have got it then the next few and then the
32:41next few yeah
32:42and it's quite hard to be right in the middle of a long terrace and just pop a roof yeah
32:48extension on
32:49and take it up a story how much do you think it'll cost to do turn this into a two
32:54bedroom you know
32:54like pretty much exact figures to do the extension sixty thousand in total that's where the premium
33:00is is to get this one bed into a two bed and then weirdly two bed to three bed doesn't
33:05have the same
33:05no exactly yeah yeah yeah addition in value again so as a two bedroom flat yeah that will have cost
33:11you
33:12sixty thousand pounds to get there what do you reckon that you might always get for it then yeah we've
33:17had
33:17a look at two bed comps in the area and it's looking towards the 600 mark now exciting i mean
33:24it's interesting it was sold in auction because when people sell in auction they're trying to get rid of
33:28it quick in this situation i think you did really well i honestly think people didn't see the value in
33:33this didn't see the extension potential yeah we didn't have the competition and we weren't emotional
33:40buyers this time sarah mentioned actually to do the one bed into two bed extension there's so much
33:46value gain in that but when you turn it into that three bed actually the value gain is so
33:51disproportional so you know maybe we've uh saved ourselves a project and a lot more stress
34:00nick and aunt have really researched their subject and and they have experience in it
34:06and above all they also have taken a risk but a considered risk and yeah this is a really good
34:14buy
34:17michelle and derek also took a risk buying an 18th century cottage with poor foundations
34:21but they've received a green light from building regs to create double doors to connect the kitchen and
34:27snug i don't know exposed the brickwork above where we're going to want the whole so we can show the
34:32building this guy what we intended to do and i actually found above that there's a beam that went
34:38from one side all the way to the other side that when he found that out building said that's absolutely
34:44fine to carry on cutting the door down and put my double door in so absolutely perfect
34:51got my cutting disc cut the wall through supported it obviously first
34:56and now this is what wall we actually got so now we've got our nice double doors
35:02that's one of our doors into our snug
35:09we've got lucky but the other walls it is definitely a case of we kind of have to get builders
35:14in
35:15almost two months in michelle and derek were hoping to be living here by now
35:20obviously we want to move in as soon as possible to free up money in our house but because of
35:25suppliers regulation building regs man is slowing things down a tiny bit and also we've done a lot
35:31more work than we anticipated properties bought at auction often need a lot of work both michelle and
35:37derek and archie and lauren bought houses that were unmortgageable and in a bad state and are doing
35:42the vast majority of labor themselves to make the numbers work i'm dying to see what archie and lauren have
35:48been up to because i love this project it's great because they did buy quite a good buy in auction
35:54so this is sort of the state of things at the minute the gazebo thing's pretty much done
36:02it just needs a watch over then we can start laying the paving down the little slope
36:09this section is
36:12fairly well done i love their paving they've got parka inside and a kind of repetition of
36:19of that pattern outside which is which is beautiful and clever kitchen which is up
36:27a sort of makeshift island is our outdoor kitchen that i've been building
36:34this room this fireplace is it's about a third done probably looks pretty bad but it should
36:41come together quite quickly tiling will probably be three or four days i haven't done an awful lot
36:46of wallpapering so it may take a little bit longer yeah that's where we are with everything
36:52probably miles from where we want to be but i've done a good bit
36:57they'll get there i have every confidence because they're really determined they have loads of
37:05skills and and they have patience
37:12coming up after months of hard graft the end is finally in sight
37:17we are getting there it's just the um most finishing touches
37:35in somerset archie and lauren have been working tirelessly to save money on labor costs
37:41fudge is very tired because we've had a lot of late nights but we're nearly there and then he can
37:45catch up on us sleep and so can we now they're concentrating their efforts on the bathroom with
37:50a bold design sarah had mentioned sort of leaning into the sort of darker side of the bathroom we
37:57thought we'll make it a bit more midi um so we went with quite dramatic tiles i think it'll look
38:05really
38:05cool and then when we actually buy the wallpaper and wrap it up to the beams i think it'll look
38:11amazing
38:12they've chosen porcelain tiles instead of marble which not only halves the cost but saves time by not
38:18needing to be sealed as porcelain is a manufactured waterproof material how nice is this going to be
38:25when it's done that joint isn't lined up on the percent next job is the lighting
38:34sarah was talking about the sort of three
38:37lighting types that you should have these are kind of taking two of the boxes ambient and accent
38:43lighting because they have they have quite a soft glow and then the spotlights would be the task
38:48and sort of they're tiltable you can turn it on yay i can't wait to see this room done now
38:57especially
38:57now that we've got the tiles on you can sort of see the vision i think i'm gonna try and
39:00get it done
39:00nothing four days okay sounds like everyone's in for a few more late nights
39:15in hampshire it's all systems go we are getting there it's just the um
39:21first finishing touches michelle and derek bought horseshoe cottage five months ago
39:27after falling in love with it on the spot we come into this room and as soon as i stood
39:33here
39:33just about i thought i love this place i want it it was a real wreck of a house but
39:40it just had something about it the room destined to be a snug had low ceilings rotting floors
39:46and poor foundations which potentially scuppered plans for double doors it might just stop the whole
39:51project entirely luckily derek was given the go ahead and look what they've created
40:03we're loving this door this has just opened up more light you can just yeah and as sarah said
40:10you want to be able to see the garden from the the kitchen and that's what this does we can
40:14see
40:15straight out through he's also vaulted the ceiling added beams and put in oak flooring
40:20doing this project with derek it's been a triumph really hasn't it it really has um
40:26derek's worked his socks off the kitchen was dark and in need of an overhaul
40:32repurposing michelle's mum's old kitchen units saved money with new worktops skirting boards and a
40:38utility space to boot over 40 years of married life we've done four houses and i've got to say this
40:45is
40:45the best kitchen and by far that we've done wow and they've got plans to further open up the ground
40:55floor going forward taking sarah's advice because this is inspirational now because we've literally
41:02we've got the light coming through with the double doors and linking the rooms so i want double doors at
41:08the front double doors at the back and then another set of double doors coming off the lounge it's not
41:15the cheap route but i just feel it's the right route originally the windows were a mismatch of styles
41:22their biggest cost at 12 000 pounds the exterior is now uniform or will be once they've refreshed the
41:29pink paint they're now not far from the finish line all on a tight budget
41:37because we've done a lot ourselves we've we're still well below that budget we've probably not
41:42even hit 30 000 yet when we first got this place we thought three to four months get the house
41:47done
41:48but we've done a lot more than we initially planned now a deserved moment to celebrate
41:57thank you cheers cheers high school sweethearts archie and lauren bought an 18th century former
42:14inn over a year ago for 277 000 pounds and in a terrible state of disrepair
42:22after blowing their budget on a kitchen extension they found themselves with only 15 grand to do up
42:28the rest of the house it does make the rest of the house a bit not so good i know
42:33they've put their
42:35small amount of money into materials and spent every hour not at work on getting it finished with
42:41the aim of adding as much value to the property as possible the darkness of the living room needed to
42:47be embraced with a deep toned paint it's now a cozy cohesive room with a fireplace created by archie's dad
42:59i am so chuffed with the color of the walls that we went with actually we went with sarah's advice
43:03um and we've used different sorts of lighting haven't we so we've got some on the wall we've got
43:08some on the fireplace which i think looks lovely yeah it's lovely what it looked like when we got the
43:13house to to now is it is such a difference an amazing bathroom is a selling point for any house
43:22and that's exactly what they've achieved all for around three thousand pounds on materials and fittings
43:29and no labor costs leaning into what sarah said just sort of lean into the cozy aspect of it and
43:36i think the
43:37darker the darker colors the warmer colors are definitely i think it's worked definitely nice
43:42yeah in most rooms in the house because we've done the majority of the work you do have like a
43:48sense
43:48of pride when you walk in you did all the tiling that like that is crazy that you did that
43:52i think
43:53it looks really amazing it's going to be so good whenever we move our bedroom upstairs actually to
43:58this space so i'm really looking forward to moving into this part of the house and out of the annex
44:03it was the outdoor kitchen that they were most excited about and one of this scale could easily
44:10cost over 40 000 pounds if outsourced but it's cost them 8 500 for all the materials and machinery
44:17and a month and a half of very hard work i ended up like laying most of this patio sort
44:25of not necessarily
44:27by torch lights normally evening or eight or nine o'clock ten o'clock then i'd be laying another couple
44:33of meters you kind of go i can't believe we did that ourselves we did that yeah yeah it's quite
44:37amazing
44:37i never dreamed of having a garden like this like i think you've done a super duper job it looks
44:42amazing
44:44the question is have archie and lauren added the value they hoped for so we bought it at 277. once
44:52the
44:53spaces are done based on what's sold locally smaller houses smaller gardens still on the road i think
44:59would be i think we'd be getting it over 800. time will tell when they come to resale but the
45:07real value
45:07is that archie and lauren get to enjoy their dream space and can use it to pay back all the
45:12hard work
45:13that their family put in cheers cheers to getting outside space done yay i've enjoyed the whole process
45:21on the whole it has been enjoyable we've had fun this is something to be proud of i think we've
45:27managed
45:27to stretch the budget quite far and come in under what we were expecting we had 15 000 sort of
45:34left to
45:34spend on the property i think we figured out we're at about 12 ish just over 12. however the rest
45:41of that
45:41budget will probably go when we install a heating system it's gonna go on a holiday is it okay to
45:47get away from the house so we'll get a wood burner in yeah forget about the heating yeah okay sounds
45:53like a plan yeah next time a derelict victorian house by the sea if you're a dreamer you can see
46:04pass all the money you've got to spend and a first-time renovator takes on a somerset townhouse
46:11i'll meet more buyers risking it all to make their auction dreams come true
46:42i'll see you next time
46:43i'll see you next time
46:44you
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