He gets a Victorian house for $18,500 and people are stunned: “It has so much potential!”

Scooping up a property at auction in the United States can save you a considerable amount of money but you should do your homework if you’re a rookie before getting your feet wet. Typically, before you buy a home you usually want to get a good look at it to know what you’re getting into when you buy it.

However, TikToker Shanye McKinney, who goes under the handle Shayneisgreat, purchased a house sight unseen at auction for $18,500. The video that he posted on the popular short-form video platform of his first visit to his new possession went viral, racking up over 7 million views. After the tour, his first impressions were: “This house is amazing. I love this house, I really do.”

The stunning Victorian house for $18,500

The average sale price of a house in the United States was over $510,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024 according to the Federal Reserve. So, picking one up for a fraction of that amount is quite a steal, but also not for the faint of heart if you don’t know what you’re buying.

McKinney captured his first visit to the yellow Victorian house he purchased, dropping by with his son to plan the basics of starting the remodel. The house appeared to be in some disrepair as they walked up to it on a rainy day. The weather conditions were ideal to tackle their initial concern, checking the roof to see if there were any leaks.

First impressions

Once inside, they first noticed the smell. “Smell, not so good,” says the son but adds, “Not so bad so far.”

“That’s how I felt at this point,” says Shayne.

They went into the kitchen, opening up cupboards and doors to see what they would find. When they got to what appeared to be the central heating unit the son asked, “Does this work?” To which his father replied, “I don’t know, it looks like it’s in decent condition. We can find out the hard way.”

Shayne was impressed by the kitchen, especially the countertops as they were angled to one side instead of being flat so that if you spill any liquids they will flow to one end for easier clean up. “That seems like a clever way to do it” he says.

“Ah this is unique!” his son says as he inspects the cubby where there is a bathtub/shower. The ceiling of the space where it is located is very low and the son nearly hits his head, “I’m not a fan of this,” he says.

The large bathroom space appears to be a sort of mudroom as well as the door leads to the back porch and there are the hookups for the laundry in the room.

He’ll pay zero interest for a year

McKinney then explains that he bought the house on a TikTok live and paid for it with a credit card. The advantage of using a credit card is that he has 0% interest on it for the first year which he plans to finish off and then refinance the house.

The floors will need some work

Next they inspected the living room where he askes his son to walk over the floor. They determine that the floorboards are swollen. Then, as they head for the stairwell to go upstairs, the father askes his son to admire the floorboards in the hallway and inquires to see if he knows what they are.

When the son cannot guess, the father informs him that it is garage floor epoxy coating on the hardwood floor, a cheap garage floor coating. It also covers the stairs and they expect to find it used in more places.

The upstairs has moisture and probably asbestos

“Oh that’s a pleasant smell,” Shayne’s son quips as they explore the upstairs. In the corner of one of the rooms they find that the floors are moldy. The ceiling above that part has partially caved. However, there is no water coming through the hole even though it’s been actively raining before they arrived at the house.

But there are puddles on the floor so he asks his son to check and he taps the puddle with his foot. Sure enough, its water. “So, some moisture is coming in somehow,” he says. Then he notices the ceiling and says, “These ceiling tiles are probably asbestos.”

Pleasant and unpleasant surprises

As the continue their tour, Shayne’s son says, “I like this house, this house is cute.” To which his father responds, “It’s got some fun character to it, yeah doesn’t it?”

“And most of the stain glass is intact,” Shayne observes. “Yeah, I like the stain glass for sure,” comments his son.

They find the roof “amazing” as it already has a garden growing on it Shayne jokes. But what they really like when they see it is that the upstairs has a second kitchen.

Somebody had previously turned it into a duplex. This is one of the options that they’ve discussed doing with the house, and now it’d be “relatively easy.” They are also thinking about turning it into an Airbnb with a Tim Burton or and Addams Family theme.

They’ll have a good deal of work to fix the house up

Back downstairs, they have yet to check the floorboards that are covered by carpet. Pulling up a piece of the carpeting to see what is underneath they find that the floorboards are in quite a state. They also find a little friend under the carpet, a roly poly. “that’s always a good sign of some moisture,” the father notes.

But all-in-all they are pretty happy with what they bought. “This house is amazing. I love this house, I really do,” Shayne says adding, “and I’m looking forward to the journey on this one.”

He has since posted more videos with updates on how his renovations of the house are going, and new surprises that he’s discovered.

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