When most property investors appearing on BBC's Homes Under The Hammer are asked by the presenter about the level of work they intend to do to their new auction purchase, there are usually two main answers.
The first is a snazzy makeover to get the best re-sale price, bearing in mind target buyer, budget and the ceiling price of the street.
The other answer is a basic uplift to make it ideal as a rental property, checking electrics, gas and any structural problems too, of course; it has to be safe for your new tenants but you don't need to spend a small fortune.
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But when Martin met the new owner of a mid-terrace two-bed home in Clydach, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr valley, the answer was clear; spruce it up to rent it out.
The house, which was sporting some tired decor and mysterious damp and mould problems, went to auction for a guide price of just £27,000.
It was snapped up by Neil for £40,000, who was well on his way to securing a large property portfolio mainly in south Wales.
Neil had appeared on HUTH before, having done up a house in Trebanog that he hadn't even viewed, breaking one of the golden Homes Under The Hammer rules. Find out more about that here.
This time, he was focused and ready to tidy this terrace for a new tenant, but was about to break another HUTH rule - indecision that led to going over budget.
When Martin visited the house prior to meeting Neil, he was slightly worried about the damp coming through the landing ceiling and into the two bedrooms and the resulting patches of black mould, but overall he thought the house was "great, with a cracking view".
The house was a classic two-up, two-down with the living room at the front being pretty soulless and in need of a focal fireplace Martin thought, and a kitchen at the back that just needed some time with some bleach and new tiles and flooring.
The same could be said for the bathroom too, as well the whole house needing new flooring but, apart from the mould mystery, the house was seen as a little auction gem.
Martin gushed even more when he stepped outside onto the rear garden terrace - incredible, panoramic mountain views had him love-struck.
He said: "One of the great things about the houses built in the valleys of south Wales is often they are literally on the edges of the valleys which means you get these incredible views, I mean they are absolutely stunning."
Martin really liked the decent-sized garden too and concluded with the view that this cute Homes Under The Hammer terrace was "absolutely cracking" and that if a bidder could secure it for somewhere near the guide price it would be "an absolute steal, I don't think you can go far wrong".
Yup, Martin was smitten and he wasn't the only one, new owner Neil was clearly delighted with his purchase.
"You are buying up half of south Wales!" Martin quips, realising that it wasn't that long ago that the two had met up at the renovation in Trebanog.
Neil had only been doing property developing for a year and already had six properties finished and rented or undergoing a renovation project.
The plan for this one was to rent, yes, definitely rent.
With a budget of £7,000 and timescale of six weeks, Neil was keen to get this one done and dusted.
Ten weeks later the show returned and it was a shock to find that Neil had done too good a job.
The damp was, of course, gone although the cause of it was still a mystery, but it was the standard of the refurbishment that bemused Martin.
There was a new, glossy kitchen, a new bathroom and the whole house had been transformed from tired to terrific, including plush new carpets and flooring. All the internal doors were new and all surfaces and floors had had attention.
Even the rear facade of the house had been painted - not an easy or cheap job unless you do it yourself.
Martin says: "This refurbishment is much more than the simple recordation Neil was planning. All this work suggests that Neil's original plan to rent this house out may have changed."
Good spot Martin, but Neil has actually changed his plans a number of times.
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Neil says: "The kitchen initially when I was going to rent the property probably would have been ok to keep.
"I then decided to make this one suitable for selling so we decided to take out the old kitchen and put in the new modern kitchen.
"But I have to say it's turned out so nice, I'm finding it slightly hard to sell it and I'd really like to keep it in my portfolio."
Martin comments: "Mmmm changing your mind usually costs money in this business but the higher spec finish should bring in a higher rental income."
The budget went up to £12,500 from the initial £7,000 basic rental refurbishment budget and was due mainly to the posher kitchen and bathroom than was first planned.
Neil thought it was money well spent but says: "Probably if I've made a mistake here it's not being clear about my end goal, I initially thought I was going to rent it, and then I changed my mind to sell it and then changed my mind back to renting it.
"It's slightly affected the way we've done things, not negatively because we've ended up with a great property, and we'll still make our return on this property.
"It really was an ugly duckling, it had been run down and possibly not looked after in the last few years and I think what we've managed to do is turn it into a lovely family home."
And it's a home that captured Neil's heart and so is now still part of his property portfolio family.
The property's re-sale value was estimated by two local estate agents as between £75,000 and £80,000 and would have seen Neil secure a pre-tax and fees profit of between £20,500 and £25,000 on his total investment of £54,500.
But he couldn't bear to part with the property, so the rental was the key figure for Neil.
The figure came in as between £425 to £450 per calendar month producing a 10% yield.
But at the time of filming Neil was looking for £495pcm, presumably due to the higher spec of finish that saw him go over-budget by £5,500; guess that's the price of love.
This story appeared on Homes Under The Hammer in series 23, episode 13, and can currently be seen on BBC iPlayer.
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