A MAN who bought a disgusting Homes Under the Hammer house without even viewing it has managed to increase it’s value by £100k.
Glen bought the two-bed semi-detached house in Sherwood, Nottingham, despite having never renovated a property before.
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The property was Glen’s fifth choice on the day of the auction but he managed to turn it into a beautiful family household.
However, the abode was far worse for wear when presenter Martel Maxwell first arrived on an episode of the hit BBC One series.
The front of the house was described as “tired”, although there was an attractive magnolia tree.
Inside the property, swirly carpets and yellow, textured walls gave the place a very dated appearance.
The kitchen was a decent size but needed refreshing as did the downstairs loo.
Presenter Martel noted that there were two good sized bedrooms and one much smaller room.
At the back of the property, the tiny garden was dirty and overgrown with paint peeling off the rear windows.
Glen and his cousin Simon who would be helping him, had a daunting task on their hands in turning the house into a beautiful family home.
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And he even broke a golden rule of Homes Under the Hammer, as he hadn’t viewed it before buying.
Glen, who previously worked for his dad’s glass company and said he was hoping to get some double glazing “free of charge” as a result.
The homeowner said he planned to “gut” the property and start from scratch, estimating the work would take him around six months and cost £45,000 to £50,000.
Half a year later, the Homes Under the Hammer team returned to see how Glen and Simon were getting on.
And Martel was immediately impressed when she saw the new driveway, freshly painted exterior and new roof.
The house itself was also looking very different, even though Glen and Simon weren’t quite done with the work.
The duo had fitted a new kitchen, new bathrooms upstairs and downstairs, and had new double glazing.
And the bedrooms had had the old fittings taken out before being repainted.
While the previously disgusting garden had been cleared and was ready to be landscaped, with the dilapidated “lean to” taken out.
However, delays to the work mean new floors still needed to be fitted and some rooms still needed painting.
The biggest challenge for Glen and Simon though had been travelling from their home county of Essex to do the work.
Glen estimated that he had spent around £18,000 on fuel, accommodation and food – money he had not accounted for in his budget.
He said: “Travel was the hardest part for everybody.
“It started off well, but obviously then we had school holidays and then you miss your family, don’t you?
“Then, it’s like a two-and-a-half, three-hour commute here and then the same back. I didn’t really think of that.”
To which Simon replied: “So, lesson learned – buy in Essex next time!”
The added travel costs meant that Glen had gone over budget and reckoned the project would in fact cost him £65,000 to £68,000.
And he was very keen to hear from local estate agent James Roberts what the refurbished property would be worth.
But Mr Roberts was hugely impressed with the work that had been done and said that once complete, the house could sell for around £250,000 to £260,000.
Despite this, Glen said he had already had an offer higher than that and hoped to sell the house for at least £265,000.
That would give him a healthy pre-tax profit of £28,000 for a house that was a “tired” state when he first bought it.
Reflecting on the project, he said: “I really enjoyed it. It was good fun.”
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