Homes Under The Hammer bidder makes £28k profit after renovating Welsh property within days

Sometimes an auction property can surprise you but in a very good way, not in a way that makes you run in the opposite direction when you open the front door and see the state of the inside.

When BBC's Homes Under The Hammer presenter Martin Roberts was in the South Wales village of Blaenrhondda he was totally gob-smacked by a two-bed, end-of-terrace with a guide price of £39,000 that could have been hiding a horror show.

But Martin was instantly impressed with the property and the price, he said: "That can't be right, it looks fantastic; double-fronted, good condition, great location." Puzzled, he enters the house and the good vibes continue.

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There was a large lounge on one side of the central stairway and a kitchen diner on the other where Martin also spotted double glazing and central heating too. Martin was keen to look into getting doors from the lounge into the rear garden installed to try and bring more light in but he was pleased with what he saw, he said: "It's a really good start and being double-fronted has a really nice feel."

On the first floor there were two bedrooms and a good sized bathroom and even a few damp patches on the ceiling couldn't kerb Martin's enthusiasm. He said: "Yes it needs a bit of work, a bit of refurbishment, a bit of tender loving care but you've got a house here that's a good size in a great location, I mean, what's not to love?"

There was only a small garden but the views were big and added an extra layer of positivity to this auction lot. The back garden bordered onto a small river and Martin was keen to point out the importance of the history of the river and in talking to the relevant insurance companies too.

He said: "Has it flooded in recent times, what's the danger here? You need to check out the relevant websites and authorities to find out if there has been any flooding in recent history. The river did not deter a frenzy of bids and the price of the end-of-terrace when up from £39,000 to the eventual purchase price of £71,500, secured by retail property planner Tom from Berkshire.

Tom was keen to do the house up doing most of the work himself and with his brother, and sell it on as quickly as possible and estimated a budget of £10,000 and a timescale of just 14 to 21 days fitting it around his full-time job which Martin found incredible and nick-named him 'Speedy'.

The show returned in nine weeks but that was maybe an unfair reflection on Tom's hard graft because it actually only took him 18 days in total to revive the house if you add the number of days together, a full week off from his full-time job and then weekends after that - and spent just under £10,000.

New kitchen and bathroom, new flooring and decorating throughout, new doors and a garden update too. The most challenging part of the renovation Tom said was the age of the house, with the floors needing to be levelled before the new laminate could be laid.

The estate agent revisited the property and estimated a sales price of £110,000 which, when taking into account Tom's £82,000 overall spend, gave him a £28k pre-tax profit. Tom said: "I'm quite pleased with that overall, it's more than I was anticipating when I first bought the property so, yeah, very pleased with that."

This story was part of series 26 episode 45 currently available to view on BBC iPlayer. For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here and join the Amazing Welsh Homes property Facebook group here. For the latest TV and showbiz news sign up to our newsletter here.

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