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First I remodel houses, a lot of foreclosed and repo's, so I see some scary houses.
This house I saw yesterday was not foreclosed, it was not a repo. People were living there. It was a built in 1914, great woodwork throughout, original hardwood floors, and over all in decent shape for it's age setting on 34 acres with a big shop. Some a contractor needs but everything needed work, a lot of work.
BUT ....
This house was just gross, my wife and I looked went to look at it as a possible buy for ourself. She stepped one foot inside and turned and walked out, looking as if she was going to hurl. It stunk, I mean really stunk, stunk beyond closed up for a year or so foreclosed house stink. I don't even want to tell you what all I saw as some may have weak stomachs, I looked at the entire house, my Realtor made it about have way through before he bailed out. There was food left out for what looked like weeks (really weeks) trash everywhere, and the bedding I don't think had ever been changed. The carpet was black ... it appeared it used to be beige. They had installed an in ground pool 3 years ago and it was pea green with algae growing in it. The kids rooms (YES they had kids living in this filth) were scary, writing all over the walls, dirty clothes everywhere, food left setting every where, much of it with mold on it. Pet hair and other pet things covered everything and the bathrooms ... you don't want to know.
Like I said I look at some scary places in my line of work, I believe this one topped them and people were living in it and I guess though it looked nice enough to list and try to sale. So long story short I look at it, try to see past the flith and envisioning what it could be. I walked out to her my wife say "Get me the hell out of here." I barked out ... "What, I'm ready to make an offer!" She was like you are kidding right? I was "No it's got real promise, it could be a show place." Now I was ribbing her as she's seen some of the nasty repo's I've gotten and wasn't quite sure if I was or not, so I got in the truck with the Realtor and started talking price and offer. (I'd already told him I was going to do this, so he played along.) Meanwhile, I hear "We are not buying this dump, do you hear me!!! I'm serious!" I kept it up for a while then my Realtor could no longer keep a straight face and started busting up laughing ... she proclaimed I was "Real funny, a regular side splitting guy." I think she was being sarcastic ... surely not.
But it was gross, nasty, and I thought it should have been condemned as a health hazard. But I did tell my Realtor I'd make an offer which he couldn't believe, I said sure I'll offer them $1.00 and I'll pay cash.
So ever see a scary house? Should a Realtor even list a scary house if the homeowner is not going to make an effort to keep it marketable, my agent wasn't the lister and he was shocked that the listing agent even took it.
did I mention the dust? you could have planted corn in it and it would have grown.
The worst house I ever saw was one of my own I was renting out after a section 8 tenant lived there. Seven years later I still can't get into the story of what she did to that beautiful home.
I'd be on the phone to the board of health or child welfare- it's one thing if adults are willing to live is such filth, but subjecting children to it is horrible.
Davart, that it is horrible. And no, I wouldn't take that listing. no way, no how. We were showing homes a couple of months ago, and when we arrived, the folks living there were surprised to see us. We explained we had called their agent, who gave us permission... but if it was inconvenient...
She said, oh no come on in, but if I had known you were coming I would have cleared a better path for you. Thats right, there were boxes, magazines, things stacked floor to ceiling throughout the home with little mazes/pathways to get around. I didn't go in, stayed out with the wife, while my partner and the husband went in.
I had to go to a rental house we have because it was being inspected. In the village, to get a rental permit, you need to have it inspected by the building dept.
The tenant is living there with her three children and they have been there for 2 1/2 years.
Already she has replaced the carpet and the inside doors. But the doors are not hung properly and also have no handles on them, the electric sockets have no plugs on them, all the smoke alarms are gone, handles on cabinets in kitchen ; you guessed it, gone. The two carpets that are not replaced are filthy, screen door glass ; gone. Backyard ; grass is like a jungle.
Today I am getting ready and nervous about telling her she has to leave asap and we are selling it.
Obviously it failed the inspection due to sanitary conditions.
you know when you have lived in a home for 8 years and see it now, not even three years later, it just about kills you. My dh has never seen it since she moved in and I dread when he does.
We were discussing this at our sales meeting yesterday. We think this happens because there are so many new Realtors who will take a listing but not tell the sellers what they need to do to make their house showable. It's a real disservice to them because it's not a seller's market anymore. It has to be clean AND priced right.
What a waste of so many people's time.
The first one was a fixer and we knew it needed work. OMG, you could smell it before the door was opened. There was a horrible aged contents of sewer smell. My husband couldn't make it past the door. But I went in. There was junk and trash everywhere and the smell had permeated everything. The worst part was this had been a lovely custom home on a huge lot with a pool you couldn't afford to dream about today. That poor home was totally thrashed. And there were rats. Big naked tailed rats! We went into the garage and right in the middle was a huge hole with a tunnel leading under the house. Apparently, the sewer problem was where the main line connected to the house line and someone was trying to find the problem. Now here's the really sick part. It was listed for 264K. And they had 11 offers and finally sold at 325K. And this was just a couple WEEKS ago!
The next one was clean. No dust. Everything was clean and it must have been a full time job. There were thousands of books and magazines piled from floor to ceiling in EVERY room. You had to turn sideways to squeeze through the front door. Every single surface in that house had books and magazines on it. Then there was a room with a hot tub. Of course there were books on top of it! The hot tub didn't work and it couldn't be removed. Because the room had been built around it. When I got out of there, I thought about it and realized I had no idea what the house actually looked like. Sad!
I once went to see a house that was coming available to rent in a very desireable area for what seemed "affordable" in California terms. Apparently, the old lady who had been living there since what I am guessing was since it was built in the 30s or 40s, and not one thing had ever been replaced, repaired, or maintained. The old-school wooden windows in every room (including the bathroom) were paint-sealed shut. The toilet tank cover was chipped and broken, as was the wooden toilet seat. The bathtub was not fit to wash a dog, let alone take a dip yourself. The backyard was a jungle, and since the surrounding homes had all been torn down and apartments were built to replace them right next door, there were about 15 entry doors of surrounding dwellers I could see from the yard - I want my privacy!! The patio in the backyard was about two feet higher than the yard below, and instead of a proper railing, they had attempted to cordon off the area with the type of mini picket fencing linked with chicken wire that is used to section off flower beds (about 8 inches tall). How did that pass safety?
The kitchen was the grand poobah though - the linoleum tiles were from back when linoleum was first invented, and was an ugly dark maroon - with gouges, tears, and about an inch of grime in the grooves. The cabinetry was built by Noah himself, and the people who were "fixing up the place" had painted right over all the piles of rat turd, dust bunnies and dirt on the shelves inside the cabinets with their paint sprayer.
Even though they had gone to the trouble of replacing the wall to wall carpeting, the closet doors in the bedroom were inoperable - painted shut, or the sliding doors couldn't slide anymore because they were warped. Some of them were just propped over the opening of the closet. One of the windows in a bedroom had a 15-inch crack in it, which had been "repaired" with duct tape. After I looked at this place I had to take a shower I was so grossed out. I have blocked a lot of the worst parts out of my mind.
I knew a girl in HS whose house was like what some have described in this thread - they had dogs and cats living in their house with them, and even with the doors and windows shut, you could smell the stench before you even walked through the door. They also had piles of dirty dishes and food/garbage lying around that was weeks old. Another friend of mine stayed with her family for a brief time and she described how she would fill ziplock bags with water and chew a hole to drink water because there were never any clean glasses. Even though they had hardwood flooring, the pets and their waste were everywhere and no one ever bothered to clean up after them.
Yes, I too wonder how some people can raise kids in this sort of environment, but I do understand that if this is "normal" to them, they don't have a clue that there is anything wrong with this. Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins, and the only way to describe this sort of behavior.
We went to see a small house in a nice neighborhood which looked like it had potential from the street ("potential" is a deadly word at our house). It wasn't up for sale yet but the owners agreed to give the agent a one-time showing. It was dead winter, so cold....bitterly cold....and the furnace must have been up to 90 degrees, which made two weeks of garbage in open outdoor garbage cans in the kitchen smell SO nice. We hadn't been inside a minute and I was pouring sweat and having a little bit of a weak stomach - so I tried to focus on something, anything to get my mind off the heat and the stench - and I got horribly dizzy, it was like the walls were moving. Well, they were - with cockroaches - thousands of them going in waterfall streams over the walls...I took off out that door and slapped myself stupid, banged on my head in case one was in my hair - and then we high-tailed it out of there and HOME to take a shower. I will NEVER forget that day as long as I live...the Realtor said they called a couple of weeks later to list the house with her and she politely declined and told them it was a health hazard. It finally sold after about 2 years on the market for almost nothing but had to be plowed down - too nasty to restore.
It's a real disservice to them because it's not a seller's market anymore. It has to be clean AND priced right.
What a waste of so many people's time.
Has it really got to that now? Sellers have to be told that they need to clean their house and make it presentable before trying to sell it?? WOW
You'd think it would just be plain common sense..that or being embarrassed that the realtor and prospective buyers are seeing what a pig you are...
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