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'We bought a rundown house at auction, but nothing prepared us for what happened next'

After purchasing an abandoned semi-detached property at auction, the Taylor family have found themselves having to carry out much more renovation work than they expected

[A messy urban scene with bins, tarps, and debris along a brick terrace in Manchester]

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A family have expressed their shock at how much work was required after buying an abandoned property (stock)

A family who purchased a rundown property at auction with a view to renovating it and selling for a profit have shared their frustrations at several major unforeseen problems. The Taylors are in the process of attempting to restore an abandoned 1920s semi-detached house, detailing their progress on social media.

"We bought the house at auction in August 2024 in the hopes of renovating it, selling it off and using the profit to put down a deposit on what would then be our family home," the Taylors began in a TikTok video. "We knew we'd have our work cut out, but nothing could have prepared us for what was ahead."

The clip began with a tour of the delipidated home - which highlighted the size of the task at hand both on the inside and outside of the property.

Indeed, the front garden was covered in fallen and overgrown shrubbery and foliage, whilst ivy completely blocked the view from an upstairs window. After revealing the garage had been fallen into a state of disrepair, the Taylors headed inside where things appeared to be in an equally sorry state.

With wallpaper coming away from every wall, appliances that had seemingly began to rot and a dirty bathroom, the Taylors explained that with family members working the property industry, the plan was to keep as much as possible and add a rear and back extension.

"We hoped they could do most of the work themselves at the weekend and it'd be completed in around nine months," they continued. "But our problems started pretty much straightaway when we realised there was a burst waterpipe in the back garden."

It forced the Taylors to hire a digger to carry out necessary groundwork, something they said took up a lot of time and budget, which they hadn't expected.

"Moving on to inside the house, the plaster was full of hairline cracks, the wood was full of woodworm and some of the walls were unsafe," the Taylors added. "So we decided it was best to take the whole house back to the bare brick."

This took three months for the planning to be approved and by December 2024, by which time they were able to crack on with the project. "Finally things were looking up and the extension was completed," the Taylors said. "Everything was going well until there was an absolute disaster struck."

With construction complete as highlighted in their video, the Taylors said the extension was "failed" by a building inspector, forcing it to be taken down entirely and "completely redone".

"It was devastating," the Taylors said, illustrating their point with a huge pile of rubble. "This was due to the insulation not being installed correctly and after a lot of stress, the builder returned to correct the work. But even after all this stress, we absolutely fell in love with the house and figured there wasn't going to be much profit as we hoped - so we decided we were going to keep it for ourselves."

However, what followed was another "unexpected massive job" involving the roof. "We were hoping we could just work with what we had, but the whole thing was rotted so it all had to go," the Taylors added. "So the extension was fixed and we were ready for the roof, but just as that happened, 2025 was one of the rainiest summers on record."

Fast forward a further three months though and the new roof was finally in place. "The lads did an amazing job and the vaulted ceiling is one of our favourite things about the house," the Taylors admitted.

They continued: "So we had the outside of the house rendered and the inside plastered, which we are still working on restoring, but things are finally coming together."

The video closed with a newly-installed "stunning door", which the family has "grown to love".

Writing in response, one TikTok user told the Taylors: "Too difficult to turn a profit on a refurb nowadays as cost of works is more than added value. You also need to pay yourself when refurbing etc or its a false economy. Generally stay clear of auctions too as they are controlled easily as to get higher than high street values."

A second person commented: "Hope the builders paid for the cost for there mistake by taking it down surly they have pay through there insurance that terrible they did that."

Whilst a third said: "I felt your pain during the video but, I'm so happy for you that it's taking shape. I can't wait to see it finished, it's looking amazing. I wish you many happy years there."

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