House For Sale Oddities

[couponfanatic]

Most of us have looked at houses for sale at some point or another.
Can we share some of the weirdness we've seen?
For instance:
-One house I looked at was a 2 story farmhouse. labeled as Move In Condition. There was NO ROOF. Go upstairs, all you saw was sky. Realtor said yeah move right in, use it as a ranch! You don't need to go upstairs. And we live in an area it snows....

-Another one, someone had stretched wallpaper over the studs in at least one room. There was no wallboard or anything. If you touched the wall, your hand went right through it.

-Then there was the farmouse with only one bathroom, and it was on the second floor, which isn't that odd except it was only a 1/2 bath (toilet & sink). No tub anywhere, but there was a shower stall standing all by itself (no walls) in a corner of the basement...

-Looked at a "ranch house" once. Realtor swore up and down it was a stick built. We said it looks an awaful lot like a mobile home...she swore it wasn't. Then DH looked underneath...."So exactly why does it still have wheels on it if it's a stick built?" She said that's how all houses are.....
And just then a train went by (we had no idea there were tracks beyond the hedge about 50 ft from the house) and blew its whistle. We left. Quickly.

Needless to say these are houses we didn't buy.

I have to commend some of the realtors I've dealt with. You've really gotta have some fortitude to tell me some of the stories I've been told and keep a straight face.

[shelleyf]

Lol it sounds like you are describing my son's friend's house. I had a moment of deja vu when reading your post. lol They live in a barn and love every minute of it. I don't get it, but hey everyone likes different things. They got it free from a relative, and are finally starting to fix it up after 20 years of living there.

[jkelstaten]

Originally Posted by couponfanatic -Then there was the farmouse with only one bathroom, and it was on the second floor, which isn't that odd except it was only a 1/2 bath (toilet & sink). No tub anywhere, but there was a shower stall standing all by itself (no walls) in a corner of the basement... .

Actually the house I grew up in (and where my mom still lives) was like that. There was no room in the bathroom for a tub or shower. We had a stand alone shower in the basement (which was more like a cellar with a cement floor). It would have been "no walls", but my mom installed a the stand alone walls and false floor above the drain.

It was a VERY old house. Also didn't have any doors on the the bedrooms. And one of the bedrooms was just an open area at the top of the stairs with the banister railing and all.

For the record, I'm only 27. So it's not like it was the "olden days'

[Ifixyawata]

It's weird, my house has a bathroom with a bathtub but I found a shower head and drain in the basement...I thought..maybe if you got dirty outside or something that would be convenient..but there is no door to the basement from the outside...IDK..I'm glad I'm not the only one with a shower head on the wall.

[ndsuhy]

My personal favorite, was a listing for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath home...the listing pictured a Camper, not a trailer...a pull behind camper! Plus in the listing, 3 old people were chilling in the front under the awning! I laughed my butt off and showed all of my friends!

[MrsPinecone]

Well, I am actively looking for a new house.

So far, one that was advertised as needing a complete rehab was NOT KIDDING. There had obviously been a flood of some kind in the lower level-- the lower portions of all the drywall were gone, and you could see into the next room. And the hole for a wall a/c unit was covered with plywood.

That one was charming, and I could not believe what they were asking for it...

[couponfanatic]

We ran into many many "typos" too.
We wanted acreage. Many acres.
More than once a listing in the acreage section said, 10, 20, 30 or 40 acres, and turned out to be a house in a housing development (less than 1 acre). After speaking to the realtor, asking about the acreage and them confirmning it, we show up, and see it's false. The realtor said "oh it must have been a typo" and wanted us to look at the house anyways. And this was more than one realtor. We never made it past the driveway.
I can understand most listings get fluffed up some, but how do you think a person who insists on acreage is suddenly going to think 1/3 of an acre is wonderful?

[redemption_song]

We've been looking at foreclosures mainly and have seen some downright *nasty* homes- carpet unspeakable, walls (even ceilings) caked in grime, etc.

W've also seen entire HVAC systems ripped out, copper stolen from wiring, kitchen cabinets gone, every light fixture gone, etc. Is is sad really.

[wvmommy]

We looked at a house once that had this harvest gold/yellow and brown linoleum in the kitchen with HOT pink cabinets w/ white trim and lime green walls.

[meems]

Originally Posted by redemption_song We've been looking at foreclosures mainly and have seen some downright *nasty* homes- carpet unspeakable, walls (even ceilings) caked in grime, etc. W've also seen entire HVAC systems ripped out, copper stolen from wiring, kitchen cabinets gone, every light fixture gone, etc. Is is sad really.

I'm noticing whole kitchens for sale on craigslist..wondering if they are getting ready to turn over to the bank..