The House of Horror is auctioned for $ 1

Buyers often point to high house prices as a major obstacle to purchasing a new home – but there is no such excuse with this three-bedroom house in Birmingham as it’s for sale with a price tag starting at a mere £1.

They will, however, need some extensive elbow grease – and a considerable renovation fund – as it requires a complete overhaul, with issues ranging from holes in the roof, to a smashed up bathroom and broken toilet.

MailOnline Property was given an exclusive look at the terrace home, which was described by the estate agent SDL Auctions Bigwood as ‘a horror of a property’.

From the outside, it looks like any other ordinary terrace house in the street called Douglas Road – albeit a little tired.

There is a trimmed hedge, a bay window and a gable porch – and even a lucky horseshoe above the front door.

But step inside and it is anything but typical of the other properties in the same road. The house, which is being sold at auction, also comes with plaster that’s fallen off the walls, heaps of other rubble, and a kitchen to make your ‘blood run cold’.

SDL Auctions, the estate agent handling the sale, explained: ‘Appropriately due to be sold a few days before Halloween, this is a house of horrors that has plenty of cobwebs to be cleared away – plus a whole lot more besides.’

It went on to say that the property’s ‘hair-raising condition’ is reflected in the asking price, which is ‘no trick’ having been set at £1.

That said, the property is due to be sold at auction, where properties often sell for significantly more than the initial asking price. The auction is scheduled to take place at Villa Park, in Birmingham, on Tuesday October 29.

The average value of a property in Birmingham’s Douglas Road is £186,292 compared to the £301,133 average for the country as a whole, according to property website Zoopla.

Neal Hume, a valuer at SDL Auctions Bigwood, said: ‘This property may be a ghost of its former self but any serious investor will have the vision to see beyond the disrepair and image the possibilities.

‘It’s actually a really lovely house with some attractive features such as original fireplaces and picture rails.’

The ground floor has a hallway and a kitchen, plus two receptions rooms, both with impressive fireplaces.

The fireplaces appear to be later additions installed in the 1930s, suggested the agent.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms – two with original cast iron fireplaces – and a bathroom. And outside there is a small yard at the front and a good sized garden at the rear, which perhaps appears smaller than it is, as it is so overgrown.

Douglas Road is within walking distance of a range of shops and amenities, including Acocks Green railway station, which runs three trains an hour to Birmingham.

It is six miles from the city centre and the same distance in the other direction to Birmingham International Airport.

Buying agent Henry Pryor said: ‘At least the stamp duty won’t be a problem. The eventual purchase price is going to be more than the auctioneer’s clever reserve of course, but the real costs only start there. This house may need a six figure sum spending on it to make it habitable again – new roof, most floors, plaster, kitchen, bathroom and that’s just what you can see.

‘A building survey could throw up dry or wet rot, damp as well as structural issues. Gosh, I pity the neighbours.

‘Unmortgageable in it’s current state, this property will take imagination and bottle. The contingencies in the event that you run into some unexpected problem will need to be substantial, but there is life in the old place and it could be someone’s home in six months’ time and looking at neighbouring properties it might then be worth as much as £200,000.

‘If you fancy yourself as a future Nick Knowles and want your own DIY SOS project, then you may have struck gold.’

source: dailymail.co.uk

قالت صحيفة “ديلي ميل” البريطانية إن منزلاً في برمينغهام تم عرضه للبيع بسعر يبدأ من دولار أمريكي واحد فقط. وقالت الصحيفة إنه رغم السعر الزهيد المطلوب كثمن لبيع المنزل، فسوف يحتاج المشترون بعض الجهد المكثف، وثروة مالية كبيرة لترميمه، لأن المنزل يحتاج إصلاحاً شاملاً مع وجود مشكلات تتراوح بين ثقوب في السقف وحمام محطم ومرحاض مكسور.

وحظي قسم العقارات بالصحيفة البريطانية بنظرة حصرية على هذا المنزل، وهو عبارة عن بيت في صف من المنازل المتلاصقة، وصفته شركة عقارات بـ «العقار المريع».

عند النظر من الخارج، يبدو مثل أي منزل عادي في الشارع الذي يُطلق عليه اسم دوغلاس روود، وإن كان متهالكاً قليلاً.

ثمة سياج من شجيرات مشذبة، ونافذة تبرز عن الحائط، وسقيفة جملون، وحتى حدوة حصان فوق الباب الأمامي. لكن إذا أقدمت على اتخاذ خطوة إلى الداخل تكتشف أنه أي شيء ما عدا أنه عقار مثل بقية العقارات في الشارع. إذ يوجد بالمنزل، الذي يُباع في المزاد، ورق حائط متدلٍّ عن الجدران، وأكوام من الأنقاض الأخرى، ومطبخ شنيع لدرجة مرعبة.