I bought a house on Homes Under the Hammer – here’s what the BBC show doesn’t tell you about the property game
HOMES Under The Hammer is not always what it seems to be, according to one contributor.
The likes of Martin Roberts, Jacqui Joseph and Tommy Walsh are beloved by viewers for their work on the show.
In one of the editions that was broadcast in May, presenter Martel Maxwell took the show to Dumfermline.
This is where she met developer Jordan Robb, who impressed fans of the long-running property show with his extensive experience in the business.
He made his first investment at the tender age of just 19-years-old, and he’s now spilling the secrets of the trade.
But the contributor admitted the process in the market is nowhere near as easy as the BBC show made it out to be.
He admitted: “Everybody thinks it is a really easy process and it’s really not.
“Some people think they’ll just get one or two properties and even I have friends at the moment and that’s what they tried to do.
“They’ve been looking at it for the last eight months and it’s still not worked because everything you’re looking at just doesn’t stack up.”
He added to The Express: “You’ve got to look at any particular renovations and you look at what the rental costs.
“A lot of people think if you get into property then you’ll sit back and make money but it’s not like that.”
On the show, he transformed a previously ‘uninhabitable’ house where the guide price sat at only £5,000 to an unrecognisable state.
The property had no kitchen, the plaster-work was completely crumbling, and parts of the ceiling appeared to be absent.
Although he bought it for £52,000, the value of the property was revealed to sit at £85k – £95k after his renovation.
On Homes Under The Hammer, he also admitted that he already had a tenant in place as he sought to rent out the property.
However, he opened up about more of the business factors that aren’t shown on the BBC One show.
By the end of it you’re not really left with a great deal
Property developer Jordan Robb
The TV contributor admitted that people often do not consider the supplementary costs that come with rental properties.
“What they don’t realise is right away your mortgage is maybe a few hundred pounds.
“Then you’ve got all your running costs. Things people don’t think about is you’ve got your insurance on the property and other expenses.
“You’ve then obviously got your margin for all your repairs and maintenance, you’ve got to find tenants who will pay, you’ve got vacancies in between tenancies and stuff like that.
“So there’s all these things that they need to consider, that £650 comes down to £250 before you know it. Then if you have a couple of repairs on that property by the end of it you’re not really left with a great deal.”
BBC departures and returns
LEAVING/LEFT
Newsnight’s Mark Urban after 35 years on air
Claudia Winkleman quitting BBC Radio 2 after 15 years
Correspondent Robin Brant after two decades
Sports presenter Garry Richardson after 50 years
BBC Radio star Jason Rosam after 16 years on air
Jordan North quitting Radio 1 and moving to Capital
RETURNING/RETURNED
Martine Croxall after launching legal action against the Beeb
Karin Giannone after a horror injury and year off air
Annita McVeigh after losing out on a chief presenter job last year
Geeta Guru-Murthy after also being off air for more than a year