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On an episode of Homes Under the Hammer, Tommy Walsh was viewing an auction property in Askew Village, Shepherd’s Bush. The area is "very desirable” and has a village-like feel despite being so close to central London. The property Tommy was viewing was just one mile from the nearest tube station and was a ground floor flat with a £275,000 guide price.
From the outside, the home looked “impressive” with original features and leafy surroundings. One bonus with this flat is it comes with a newly extended 125-year lease.
On entering the property, it was clear the home needed a bit of work in order to make it saleable.
Tommy observed: “A lot of damage [has been] done to this door and the frame so this needs replacing.
“Spend a few quid on the front door because that's the first thing that any guests or visitors see so you want to make it nice.”
The main reception room was a nice-sized room with very high ceilings and a large window. The property clearly had central heating but the pipes were running on the surface and would need to be buried into the wall.
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Tommy added: “This could be a stunning flat because it's a nice-sized room.”
The property also came with a good-sized bathroom but it needed to be ripped out and replaced.
The double bedroom was small but was storage space under the stairs which is always handy in a one-bedroom flat.
The kitchen was also “very compact” but could be made into a galley kitchen to free up some space.
Tommy said the property needed to be finished to a high specification in order to maximise the value of the investment.
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He said: “The thing about a property like this in this area, people will expect a very high specification and that's what this property deserves.
“If you want to maximise the value of your investment and get the maximum returns you can for this property.
“So my tip is to make sure you do it to the best of your ability. Make sure it looks really, really good.”
The property went to a remote auction in February 2022 and was bought by Lilly for £285,500 on behalf of the investment company she works for.
Lilly had previously renovated the first-floor flat above this one so knew the building well.
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Lilly planned to give the property a “complete refurb” with a new kitchen, new bathroom and re-shuffle some of the rooms.
She wanted to create an open-plan kitchen/living room by swapping the kitchen and bathroom around. To do this, she would need to get permission from the freeholder.
Lilly had a passion for interior design and planned to decorate it in cream with neutral finishes throughout and black detailing and accessories.
The property developer had a budget of £50,000 and a timescale of six to eight weeks. Homes Under the Hammer returned three months later to check on the project.
It looked like the freeholder granted permission for the reconfiguration because the old kitchen became a stunning bathroom.
The bedroom has been made slightly bigger by using some of the old bathroom space.
The remainder of the old bathroom was put to use in the living room which has now been transformed into a lovely open-plan kitchen/living area.
Lilly said: “We haven't done too much to the outside of the property, we've just freshened up the paintwork. We've added a new bathroom and kitchen and installed new electrics and a new boiler.
“We've knocked down the walls at the front of the property to make a nice open-plan kitchen diner.”
She added: “We’ve gone to a mid to high range standard of finish. We've got the quartz worktops which makes it high range.
“I’m most pleased with the bathroom because of the marble effect finish on the tiles - it gives it a nice high-end finish.”
Lilly had a budget of £50,000 but ended up going under budget spending just £38,000 spend.
The property took nine weeks instead of six to eight weeks to complete because they had to wait for the bathroom tiles to be delivered. Lilly’s total spend was £323,500.
A local estate agent viewed the property in June 2022 to value it. The agent said the property could be priced at £475,000 on the sales market and would look to achieve offers above £450,000.
This would give Lilly a pre-tax profit of between £126,500 and £151,500. On the rental market, the property could achieve between £1,750 to £1,800 per calendar month giving Lilly a 6.7 percent yield.
Lilly and the company she works for planned to sell the property.
Homes Under the Hammer can be streamed on BBC iPlayer.
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