I recently watched a television show - it was another one of those reality shows and the idea of this one was to follow people that had little property knowledge over a year. At the start they had a small sum to purchase a property, and the idea was they would buy and sell properties making a profit from each one, and move their way up the property ladder. By the end of the year their target was to own a decent home outright.

As you can imagine, there were lots of mishaps and near disasters along the way. But the most impressive deal one of the contestants pulled off was to buy an almost derelict property, sweep out some rubbish, and then sell it again making a handsome profit.

Before I explain how this was managed, let me explain how the property market for renovation projects work. Most people will tell you that properties in need of renovation will go to auction. As indeed they do. So it will come as no surprise that auctions are full of people looking to purchase properties that are in need of some work. The days of picking up cheap properties at auctions are long gone, unless you get very lucky, as the number of property developers at the auctions means there are many people bidding over the same property, which pushes the property price up.

This can lead to the surprising outcome that properties can be bought cheaper through estate agents, than through property auctions.

Which is how the contestant in the reality show made his large profit. He had been to the auctions and got a fair idea of how much properties were selling for. He then came across a semi derelict property that was for sale through an estate agent. The asking price seemed to him to be lower than what he would have to pay for it at auction, so he negotiated on the price through the estate agent and snapped up the property. He then entered the property into the next property auction and made himself a rather large amount of money.

Other projects that this same contestant tried - buying property, doing it up, and selling it - were normally successful, but not as successful as the property he bought and sold almost straight away. All he had done with the property was to throw out some of the rubbish that had been left in some of the rooms.

The hardest part of trying to duplicate this achievement is finding the right property at the right price. You can go through the phone book telephoning all the estate agents, and do this every week. Sooner or later a suitable property will come on the market, although it can take a long time.

Another option is to use the internet. There are several websites that can help you with your search for properties in need of renovation.