An 'eyesore' Scots property overrun by vermin is set to be renovated into a dream home by a determined paramedic turned-property developer.
The derelict semi-detached house on Croftfood Road in Glasgow, which has been boarded up and left to rot for nearly a decade, was inherited by the current owner. And for years neighbours had been left scathing amid fears that the ruin would decrease the value of their homes.
But now, their nightmare will soon be over with renovations set to start as early as next week after more than a year of negotiations by an ambitious duo. After coming across an article about the house last year, Connaire McGuiness, from East Kilbride, seen the home as a potential fixer-upper.
He immediately jumped into his car to pay a visit to the property to take a look for himself.
Connaire told Glasgow Live: "I started in property development in 2021 and began learning about everything during lockdown. I came across an article about the house and it looked like it would be absolutely perfect. I jumped in the car and drove around until I found it.
"I chapped on a few neighbour's doors and luckily one of them had a number for the owner. He told me he had had loads of people chap his door with a view to buying it over the years, but the owner just wasn't interested.
"He wished me luck but I don't think he imagined anything would ever come of it. Initially the owner wasn't very forthcoming. He inherited the property so there's a lot of sentimental value and a lot of stuff in it that is important to him.
"I scheduled a call with him every week just to check in and eventually we were able to come to an agreement that worked for both of us. We decided to do a profit share on it, so no money has been exchanged but we will take over the property to do the renovations then when it sells, we will recover our costs and split the profit whatever that may be.
"It's been a real labour of love to get us to this point. It's been a year of legal hurdles and one disaster after another but we finally got the sign-off. The owner has had a million different people contact him about it and try to buy it to sell on for their own profit.
"We love that we were able to help the owner out of this circumstance and do it in a way where we are working together with him for a mutual benefit rather than just buying the property from him at a cut price."
The 29-year-old, who is still working full-time as a paramedic as well being a property sourcer at Clydeside Property Investments, will be starting work on the site as soon as Monday, alongside his business partner Barry Wilson. Clearing out the property is expected to take several weeks with belongings currently stacked "floor to ceiling".
He explained: "The building is structurally sound but there are 10 years worth of family belongings in it that's been left - it's floor-to-ceiling full of stuff. There's not even a floor to walk on so a large portion of time will be spent trying to empty the house.
"As part of our agreement with the owner, we've paid for storage space for a year so he can go through and keep what he wants and store it until he finds a place for it. It's really been about working together So much time had passed since he inherited the property. Everything was just getting on top of him. He's 70 now and he works 12-hour days, seven days a week. We hope that with the money we make, he could retire or even just slow down."
Once the house is emptied, work will commence on the ambitious renovation plans that include knocking down some walls and adding an extra bedroom. The team is optimistic that the project could be completed in as little as four months.
Connaire explained: "We've got amazing plans for it. There are three rooms downstairs, we'll be knocking down a few walls and extending the kitchen to turn it into a nice modern space and we'll be adding another bedroom as well which will add value.
"The neighbours are all excited for the house to be renovated. When we've been out looking at it, they've been asking what we're doing and all seem very positive about it. I think they had lost hope that anything would ever happen with it.
"Going forward we'd love to do more of these projects with people in a similar situation and do something that's mutually beneficial. If anyone reads this article and finds themselves in a similar situation and wants to reach out to us, that would be amazing."
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