Maxine Sharples bought a dilapidated 2-bedroom Victorian townhouse for $1 in Liverpool, UK in 2020. The home had been abandoned for 15 years and she spent nearly $74,000 renovating it. More here: • Renovating An Abandone...
To be clear... You paid your £1. Signed a contract to say you would bring it back to a decent standard within 2 years. If you dont it will be taken from you. Advice was on hand if you came up against real problems and also a ball park figure of its cost to renovate, then typically £60k. People who applied were vetted before they were accepted by the scheme. They had to live in it themselved too, no investors. CCTV was installed in the areas when it first started too, to keep away criminal elements. Large amounts of once undesirable areas were turned into thriving, respectable safe areas.
Thanks fir the extra info.its sad a similar thing cant be done for the homeless.they obviously couldnt find funds but maybe something else could be worked out ?
If you actually think this perfume, makeup wearing muppet spent 1 day doing construction and renovation work... Your delusional. Her boyfriend or husband who was filming this video did ALL the work
This is actually a great idea. People can finance renovation rather than an entire 30yr mortgage. The city get cleaner and people pay an affordable price for a home. It’s a win win
@@stephaniemontoya7057no of course not good look getting a sale on anhthing right now. Even houses in the condition that sre smaller than this in my city are going for around 250,000
No matter how much money she spent on the renovations - she could take her time and get exactly what she wanted. And, she had a place to live while she did it. Excellent idea! Edit: my comment certainly has stimulated some intense comments...Gee, who woulda thought?
I agree, except i highly doubt she could live there during much of the renovation. itd be a health and safety hazard! great option tho if youve already got somewhere and like you said, youll have all the time you want to fix up the house!
No way she could live there for at least 6 to 12 months. These homes are not fit for human habitation, no water, no power. She has to sign a waiver to enter at her own risk. She likely spent over 100,000 pounds to make it habitable.
I may be wrong but I read an article on this and there is a time limit on finishing the renovations as well as proving from the beginning that you have the funds readily available to do them otherwise the property is returned back to the landowner/council. Sounds like a great scheme but definitely not available to most 😔
I don't think people understand how genius this is. Regardless of how much she spent on renovations, it's definitely going to be cheaper than buying the whole home. Plus since it's a house and not an apartment, she owns her roof and her plot of land! That's massive ❤️
@@Sonnenanbeterin1991 As opposed to? If you're implying that people will fix up houses and sell them immediately, this scheme mandates that you have to live within the property for a minimum of 5 years before selling
@@bellathekitty1843 First and foremost.... I am a real estate invester here in America. Anything thing can be done "brilliantly" for an ungodly amount of money. And since she avoided mentioning the amount she had to pay.... that tells me something. Furthermore, here in America we have homeless people that do the same thing for about the same but just don't put any money into it. Sometimes they do it legally but mostly they don't.
@@evansusmc generally for a house in that country and of that size it would be about 60k pounds and you had to live in it after the work was done and have it completed within 2 years.
Baltimore has been trying to do this for years but investors own many of the eyesore homes and refused to part with them. They’d rather sit on vacant properties then fix them up for people that need housing. The City leaders have advocated for dollar homes to no avail.
That is so frustrating. One could implement a law that states you can’t own a property and just let it rot… and then it could be repossessed. But that would just be so horribly communist…
Just for clarity sake, "scheme" and "scam" are not synonyms. Just thought I'd point that out since it's a common misconception that when we hear "scheme" it's something fraudulent.
"Scheme" is usually an action designed to bring positive outcomes by bringing in outside people ghtough incentives. Scams are designed to part fools from their money by pretending to be a scheme.
Australia has two problems when it comes to housing. All major cities are costal. And considering the size of Australia. The Murray-darling basin is really the Inly substantial river system. Which has provided best crop, agricultural growth. And since Australia has few central rivers, Australian are tied to the coast. It was highlighted that Australian eastern coast host 20millon people at most, this prediction was made in 1900. It’s now estimated that Australian population will max out at 60million, but your problem is water to sustain this growth.In the meantime some dreadful government decisions have been made, didn’t heed lessons in 2008 global housing crash, seems you guys will go through it. But also you have the boomers wealth as well. But it’s the same here ij the uk and Ireland house prices outstripping middle class to have a place
@gingerssmelllikecabbageand8708 all our problems are based on bad govt decisions, not geography. There's actually plenty of land for expansion and flooding has actually caused more damage than fires or drought lately.
It's better to spend money on building new homes then renovate this crap. How many people who were raised in those homes were coming back to live there again ? Probably nobody as these houses are horrible !
The good thing about this is that those that buy for a pound, renovate, and live there will also most likly have a lot of love for the neighborhood. They've invested a lot of time, money, and thought into their home. What an amazing program.
I bet if demolished, some dodgy construction company would profit greatly from the land and houses, so glad she got one and anyone else that was in the scheme
These type of deals come with a contract like you have X years to renovate it and bring it up to X standards, sometimes they add a “you have to live the rest of your life here” fine print like in Italy. Long story short, these type of deals are for rich people who can afford to buy or build a brand new home anyway. Nobody helps poor people.
@@blacksilverchair3315 That's exactly the point. These things are advertised as a bargain, but the reality is far crueler because the average thirty-six-year-old, alone, can hardly do what is shown in the video.
The key is money, which the lack of causes deteriorating houses. Not an easy fix for most. This person is a business woman, not a random person. The commitment to take on these houses is huge and you have to know what you’re doing in addition to having the cash to fund the work required.
Such a beautiful renovation. I love that you have your open common living areas upstairs, that's so unique and unexpected, but lovely how light and airy it is. I'm glad that the buildings were able yo be renovated instead of destroyed and rebuilt into obnoxiously expensive luxury apartments that normal people could never hope to afford
*They do this is certain spots in the US, also. Only problem in the US is that you can buy a house for like $500, BUT you owe all the back property taxes which are like $200,000 plus then you gotta completely redo the house for another $200,000 and by the time you’re done you’ve spent $400,500 for a house that’s only worth $20,000 in Detroit, Michigan.*
Back taxes on a property before it is owned?? That's a gigantic scam! Who benefits from that? Good way for the government or royalty to acquire land (king C has acquired much this way 👎)
@@izzatihassan1475Well what happens is the previous owner walks away from the house, it’s foreclosed on. Then since nobody is paying taxes for the 10 years it sat vacant, that’s what you have is a 10 year tax bill. Or however long it say. The irony is that in places with fleeing populations, they raise taxes higher to try to offset the people who left. The issue is that that causes more people to flee, and them to raise taxes more. So ideally you would want to lower taxes to get people to stay, and to encourage people to come.
I bought an old house and spent much more than I thought on renovating, but I just love it because with the combined renovation and purchase amounts I couldn’t have bought the same quality property. It also allowed me to choose superior indoor products, make sure plumbing and electricity were done by experts and no hidden surprises behind walls. Also I managed to slightly change the layout and make the bathroom and kitchen bigger. Do this sort of project only if you have access to qualified and reliable professionals who will not screw you over. For me it was my father who managed everything, God bless him 🙏🏻
I'll take an old home any day over these newly constructed homes, my sister paid 850k for a new home, and they are already having issues with the plumbing, she hasn't been in it a year. Whereas we live in a home that was built in the 30s, took it to the bare bones, and upgraded everything 20 years ago, and no issues yet. 😂
I love your appreciation of your father to have such bonds with family ITS THE ABSOLUTE MEANING OF BEING RICH MATERIALS ARE PERISHABLE, LOVE? IS EVERLASTING 🏕 MY BROTHER GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS FOREVER 🤙WISHING YOU N YOURS THE VERY BEST FROM EAST BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS
@@jesusfeliciano5543 Thank you friend. You’re absolutely right that having a loving family is one of life’s biggest blessings as it creates peace of mind and sets you up for a more fulfilling life. God bless your family, too, and keep you and yours in good health 🙏🏻❤️
I think i watched a mini doco of this. I think you actually have to prove you have a certain amount of money to renovate the place before you can buy it for the 1 💷.
You need to be able to get a mortgage for half the price of the house, plus have an income under £80k. If this is the woman who's made headlines for this, it also took her two years and she was effectively homeless (living in a campervan) during the renovations. So it's a great scheme for the properties, but not as great as it sounds for poor people who want a home.
@@l1277yeah the criteria is aimed at people who are independently wealthy but not so wealthy they’re just buying up properties. It’s a very specific market.
@@namedrop721 Very specific market, yet it still enables people to own homes where they would otherwise not be able to. I can imagine doing this for myself if there is any guarantee that the substance of the house is not a health hazard (no asbestos etc). The housing market is crazy right now, and even though I have a substantial amount saved up for my age (from working before and during my studies), owning property on a teacher's salary is unrealistic. Something like this would change things for me.
better than selling it to someone who cannot restore it and it just continues to crumble It only makes sense to sell with the stipulation that it can be restored in a certain amount of time.
It's mentioned in the video that although she got it for '1 pound' she also inherited money around the same time which factored in the purchase and renovation.
@@despicabledavidshort3806 i guess it is that this is not a realistic long term solution to help the housing crisis as most don’t have rich relatives that die and leave their money to us, and those that are doing this already have the money to buy a house
@@primetimehome But one can collect 60k by sparing or borrowing much more easily than the 100 to 300k needed to buy a decent home. And the side profit for the town is that a slum turns into a new district. Should be done worldwide.
Its worth mentioning that you have to prove you have or are a contractor capiable of repairing a shell, you need to apply and be granted approval and the progress is monitored. Most people approved are established landlords or long registerd and trusted builders. Everyday people aren't ignoring the chance to have a *£1* home that just needs some work.
This project is very important. It gives one the possibility to own a house, build it to personal taste and save neighborhoods from disappearing. They had a similar project in Italy 🇮🇹 with abandoned castles / palaces, except just houses.
The people who get approved for this scheme can afford to buy a regular house, it's part of the criteria. This has nothing to do with giving people opportunities to home ownership, it's purely a regeneration project.
These houses aren’t old they jst look that way because they kicked all working class residents out in a working class area a decade ago to make space for Rich people
They did this in Buffalo NY just over a decade ago. It was amazing! Transformations like yours; with caveat that you had to live there for 2 years. Fast forward, Buffalo has gone thru it’s own renaissance, and so many old factories have been renovated into industrial lofts as well! Young people are moving from NYC and Chicago to Buffalo (it was the place to be 175 years ago) bringing new businesses. Keep going! You don’t know the domino effect one person can have. Beautiful work✨👌🏻
I love the loft movement! I tried as hard as I could to snag one in the 90’s in the Bay Area West Coast, but life was too heavy to carry. I watched them clean up a few areas and was invited to sit in on a city planning commission meeting. It was just amazing watching communities go from trash and rubble to these spectacular thriving communities!
I’ve hea I’ve heard of this happening in a few places. That is local investors converting old buildings into apartments or lofts. Seems like a good idea to help with the housing situation also
I spent some time there growing up, later the neighborhood I use to live in went downhill and they tore down all the houses, my old address is a field of grass and some trees. Glad to hear the city's coming back 😀.
Im a member of my local preservation society. This makes my heart happy! Another beautiful historic home survives demolition, housing is more affordable, and neighborhoods become nicer and safer! This is a win win! I wish the US would take a page out of liverpools book
They did that in NYC in Harlem. The city of New York sold town houses for a dollor that was abandoned. I wish I was smart enough to get at least one. People got loans fix them up and now they cost MILLIONS.
It was crime ridden with gunshots and drugs all over forget the looters and people who’d break in and steal your copper plumbing after you installed it and squatters stayed… definitely not pleasant for families to survive there… 40-50years it took for neighborhoods to improve but crime is back with this administration. Thank the politicians for defunding police and releasing criminals back into the streets
The 1 euro/pound european schemes specifically prevent you from making huge money from the endeavour, their resale price is capped or something like that. And they're in places without million dollar homes anyway. In fact the origins of this are in Italy in villages where basically everyone below retirement age was leaving.
We did this back in 2016 but in the United States. The house was a mess but we worked hard, it took a lot of blood, sweat, tears and today it’s a beautiful 4 bedroom home with an appraisal of $285,000. I just love my house, especially when I don’t have any house payment.
Lucky everyone next to you had the money to renovate their home nicely or it would have been a total disaster .Your home is beautiful…. I’m happy for you
No luck there, it is mandatory to renovate it properly, within a certain amount of time. (They have buildings for €1,- all over Europe, with that condition.)
And we in Germany have "Denkmalschutz". You can buy it for 1€ and have a huge amount of paperwork and money spent only to be ALLOWED to use only one kind of roof tiles. 😂
@@AlexandraVioletta yes Denkmahlschutz-protected property, monumental status. Which is a thing, but these are in general not the 1 Euro/Dollar/Pound homes!
I remember when you bought this place. It is fantastic to see the progress! I love the open space upstairs! So glad to see the follow up. Congratulations!
@@g.borgia5100 I live in France, the stipulations don't include propagating the species, you must have adequate finances and finish your restoration in an allotted amount of time
“I had to sign a waiver that I entered at my own risk.” I felt that. Bought an 1863 log cabin with additions built in every direction. “Pulling the trigger” this spring with construction/renovation. Total cost? About 175k, not including the purchase price. This woman made a smart business move. Me? Yah, not so much. But it’ll be beautiful in the end & it will be “my pile of bricks.” ❤
@@stone_forest3802 the center of the home (dining room & small bedroom), are all log. I’m ripping off the drywall to expose the walls/logs in both rooms. My contractor is less than thrilled with that. I have the original land/homestead patent signed by US Grant hanging in the dining room. Given to me by the 3rd great grandson of the original builder. It will be beautiful when it’s done. Quirky? Yes. But unique.
We have the same program here in Dayton, Ohio, USA. $1 will buy you a lot or a lot with house. The only rules are: you must agree to start paying taxes on the lot and if you decide to build or remodel on the lot the construction must be neighborhood appropriate on the exterior, inside you can do whatever you want.
*I did the same with my house!* I LuV it! I'm still working on mine, already spent a year and a half redoing it, and EVERYONE who walks in immediately gush's over how much they LuV it 💜 From the floors to the ceilings 💜 You've just gotta be ready for the long term progression, turning it into a work of art 🥰
I wish I could find something like this in Wisconsin I’d take out a loan and renovate it much cheaper than buying land and then building a house with materials and contractors costs
@@OikPoinFive I wasn't given that good of a deal, BUT a great one nontheless! It was built by the owner in the late 1940's, so I was VERY fortunate enough to purchase it for just $10,000..it was a hot mess! Still the same house as when it was built, no upgrades, plus since it was just one guy that built it, not professionals, it had some big issues..HOWEVER that also made it incredibly unique! Bought it for $10,000, invested around $45,000 in it, along with ALOT of elbow grease, AND NOW it's valued at $180,000..and since I bought it so cheap I was able to pay off the mortgage! I'm 44yrs old and my mortgage is paid! The American dream 💜
She was bright enough to take advantage of an offer and make it work for her. That takes initiative and effort. She now has a home of her own, renovated to her exquisite taste. The negative comments are from those that do not have these qualities, will forever be renters and cry about it.
There's nothing wrong with being a renter. Good for her that she got the house she wanted, but the issue remains that it's located in a very dodgy neighbourhood. You couldn't pay me to move there tbh. But if she doesn't mind, then good for her.
I’m 39, bought my house at 35. It is a piece of something crumbling. I bought this house because it was a ‘fixer-upper ‘. Soo much history, and the family selling sold it to me because I didn’t want to demolish it. I wanted to keep the walls and bring new life to it again. In the back there are fruit trees, a nice apple tree, a pear tree, and some other tree that is thorny all over and bears some kind of small fruit l (could be peaches of some kind.) Still haven’t had money to fix it up, but I hope one day to bring it to full beauty again. But life happens, even though it’s not there best house it’s my house. I’m going to love it no matter what.
Can you describe the thorny fruit tree a little more? Leaves, flowers, fruit... I don't think it's a peach tree but I'd love to take a guess at what it might be instead :)
@@mimimurlough If you were mobility impaired any stairs are a problem. My sister had a cabin that had the living area upstairs, bedrooms down. It wasn't an issue.
@@mimimurlough Its a trade off though--looking at her street the ground floor is always going to get less light--esp. if you cut in skylights. You'd also get away with less structure above.
This is such a good program! I live an old part of the US (New England) and there are old abandoned houses and buildings all over the place. They're not really owned by anyone, so its not like someone can just offer to buy it.
She had to renovate it within a set time frame and she had the money to afford a house in a different area but she was able to control what renovations she could do which is the flip-side
As a person coming from a poor background I think I know how she'd feel. I was so thankful when I got my first motorbike. The previous owner wanted to sell it because he didn't have enough time to look after it. Having something to your name has a whole different feeling. Happy for her. 🎉🎉🎉
That is a lot of work she put into that home. Normally any neighborhood that has that many abandoned homes is not a safe place to live. Little by little it seems everything changed for her. 🙌🙌🙌Bravo! I am glad for her.
Okay this is awesome and she was able to put the money in renovations that would have been towards a purchase and they were probably a fraction of the cost as buying a home. Which is a WIN… in my eye… wish they had this in Arizona
Congratulations. There have been several plans like this here in the states. If you want to do the fix up they're a good deal. Enjoy your new place. It's beautiful.
There are programs like that here in the US too. It’s a great way to save older homes and bring areas back to life. Some people don’t realize it’s very very expensive to bring these houses back though. But after it’s done I have seen some that were beyond stunning. The street she showed the houses looked great & you you could tell people spent a lot of time, money & love on them.
This is the 🇬🇧. These homes were sold for £1 one pound not $1 (one dollar). She has done a great job & glad to see others bought & renovated, and the area that was once a no go zone is now liveable. If I remember correctly, one condition was that you had to buy, renovate & live there.
I love that you have a vision, and the UK gave opportunties to those who want to renovate neighborhoods. It looks so good while your keeping the historic structure and others following what your doing amazing. They should do this in NY
Im in the US. They had a program yesrs ago where you could buy a house for a dollar, but you had to agree to a 30k loan from the government. My mama got one. After the interest, she ended up paying almost 80k back. Still not a bad deal for a home. But that loan was crazy
dont hate the player... hate the game .... you keep on with your hustle girl .. mighty fine the work you put in but also pretty cool you took the chance when you did
Exactly!! Do heaps of the work yourself and you can save thousands!! I worked fulltime and in my days off, renovated while living in the mess!! The trouble with people nowadays, they want to pay £1 and walk into the house after you've put all the blood, sweat and tears into it....they don't realise how special that house is because of the work, the life, you have put into it. ❤
How long did rebuilding take? How much did it cost? People woukd enjoy having a beautiful sunny home like that. Many young people in Indianapolis have purchased old homes and made the neighborhoods new and beautiful again.
She obviously has money to begin with to be able to afford to renovate it in two years,but am glad she rescued it. We have same in USA only $1-USD . Same thing really,but I heard they give them a longer time to fix or you get fined and they are usually in bad neighborhoods .
