Seller Took Gates/Fencing

[eponacelt]

@Falconfree - That is quite the story, and I’m so sorry you had to go through it. I can relate.

When we put a contract on our farm in November 2009, we knew we were buying a project. The place was pretty dirty and full of crap, but we were getting a good deal and the bones of the place seemed good. We got a whole sob story from the owner about how she was in the middle of a terrible divorce and didn’t want to move her children over the holidays. Being nice people, we agreed to let closing happen in January. And then she pushed back that she just couldn’t move in January, right after the holidays, so we gave in. Too easily, I might add Closing was scheduled for Feb 3 or so.

Now when we saw the house for the first showing, it was pretty gross. We knew we’d need to replace the carpets upstairs (think dried dog poo all over and mystery stains everywhere), so that was factored in. What we didn’t factor in was that she let the house completely go to rack and ruin over the course of the contract.

We insisted on doing a walk-through the week before closing. Her realtor hadn’t visited the property in months, so didn’t know what we’d find. What my husband found was a broken heat-pump and mountains of trash piled all throughout the house. There were still old, moldy pies sitting on the counter from the holidays. And she had been sleeping on the floor in an empty living room. At 2 in the afternoon. In her bathrobe.

Anyway, we finally get to the week of closing and Virginia is hit with two major blizzards. And the seller had the electricity turned off. In the middle of the storms.

We finally ended up closing on the property and thankfully bought the tractor at the same time so we could dig through about 3 feet of snow. When we arrived, we found that she’d taken the stall mats from the barn by just pulling them out from the huge piles of manure, and left us with 3 cats and a nasty fish tank full of fish.

In the end, we took 4000 lbs of trash off of the property, and 1200 of those came from INSIDE the house.

It has turned out to be a really great farm and we love it here, but sellers can be crazy and if we ever leave here, it has made we wary of giving anyone leeway because of a sob story.

[JanM]

That’s awful, eponacelt.

[ReSomething]

I have always been a little skeptical about homes that are repos or divorces because people get angry or depressed and just don’t care, or they want to screw the bank or the ex. The price can be good but there is often intentional damage along with deferred maintenance. Our house was a repo and the guy poured water all over the hardwood parquet and warped the hell out of it, it had been refinished once already so all the tongue and grooving cracked or broke and it was a total loss. He did a bunch of other petty things too, it was just very sad.

Eponacelt I would have been pretty upset by the animals left behind, even the fish. Hard work doesn’t scare me but leaving animals to die, if you hadn’t gotten to the place timely, that’s disgusting.

[eponacelt]

@ReSomething

I have always been a little skeptical about homes that are repos or divorces because people get angry or depressed and just don’t care, or they want to screw the bank or the ex. The price can be good but there is often intentional damage along with deferred maintenance. Our house was a repo and the guy poured water all over the hardwood parquet and warped the hell out of it, it had been refinished once already so all the tongue and grooving cracked or broke and it was a total loss. He did a bunch of other petty things too, it was just very sad.

Eponacelt I would have been pretty upset by the animals left behind, even the fish. Hard work doesn’t scare me but leaving animals to die, if you hadn’t gotten to the place timely, that’s disgusting.

We were pretty upset, especially when there was no information about any of the cats (like did they ever have shots?). It worked out OK in the end, and we love this place. It was built right the first time, and the years of delayed maintenance didn’t take too much of a toll. And then again, we were only had but so much money to spend, so we looked at a lot of foreclosures/short sales/etc. And we were shopping to find the best land in the best location we could afford…and were willing to take a lot of shit with it if necessary.

I’ll never forget, there was one place we walked into and it was just gorgeous. The house was beautiful. I turned around and walked out and told my realtor that it was just too nice and we couldn’t possibly live there. This was maybe the 30 or 35th place we looked at. We lost two other contracts on farms where they either didn’t appraise or we were outbid by flippers. 2009 was a crazy time to buy a farm.

[Ruth0552]

Not going to lie… I’m dying to read an update. But I want it to be something ridiculous, like that they tried to sneak back onto the property in the middle of the night to steal stall mats or something.

[paintedpony]

I too am hoping for an update, and share the desire for the ridiculous. I have been following as I just can not comprehend what these people have been thinking. The last time we moved, (back in the 90’s) I hired a cleaning service to “detail” the house, which included the carpet. The only items I left, were freshly laundered bedspreads and cushions that matched the custom draperies in two of the bedrooms.

[TheJenners]

Last time I moved, it was a last minute flight of the bumblee for cleaning and I basically started throwing away stuff I didn’t want to pack :lol: Granted I was moving a 1500sqft house into a 10x12 storage unit while my house was being built, but I did some boxing and moving, had friends help one day with the big stuff, then did the finishing myself, and trust me, looking back I should have hired a cleaning company. Didn’t even think of it. Brain was fried :lol:

Any updates OP??

[OverandOnward]

@eponacelt

…
I’ll never forget, there was one place we walked into and it was just gorgeous. The house was beautiful. I turned around and walked out and told my realtor that it was just too nice and we couldn’t possibly live there. This was maybe the 30 or 35th place we looked at. We lost two other contracts on farms where they either didn’t appraise or we were outbid by flippers. 2009 was a crazy time to buy a farm.

Although many people might think that’s not a good reason not to jump on a super-nice place - you were probably very wise! During those years there were higher-end homes that went to buyers that would normally not have been able to afford a property like that, only for the buyer to find out just how expensive it is to maintain a property at that level. I know of at least one case where the ongoing expense of maintaining the landscaping and maintenance on all of the high-end systems eventually helped push the new owners into foreclosure themselves. Their monthly budget just didn’t stretch for that level of house expense. You were doubtless smart to give a pass to something that was more than you needed.

[Blueskidoo]

That “What’s a fixture” question comes into play when you make insurance claims too. Virginia Farm Bureau insurance was awful about that when we had a massive house fire a couple of years ago (so much so, we still don’t yet live back on the farm)

We did successfully argue that the fridge and oven should be part of the structure claim and not the contents, because you can’t sell a building as a residence without them, no matter that they aren’t technically attached to the house.

They were just so awful, is hard to even describe the additional trauma they have inflicted on us.

[yaya]

@ReSomething

I have always been a little skeptical about homes that are repos or divorces because people get angry or depressed and just don’t care, or they want to screw the bank or the ex. The price can be good but there is often intentional damage along with deferred maintenance. Our house was a repo and the guy poured water all over the hardwood parquet and warped the hell out of it, it had been refinished once already so all the tongue and grooving cracked or broke and it was a total loss. He did a bunch of other petty things too, it was just very sad.

My house was a repo, and was only a year or two old. I was told the owners built it themselves (not sure if they meant actually sawing and nailing, or just that they were the contractors), and many things reflect that, in a good way. The house is totally not fancy, just a one-story ranch, and was built in 1989, which I think predates the McMansion trend, but the kitchen cabinets were site-built of real wood, the closets have wood shelves, not the wire stuff, the A/C is a water-source heat pump that puts the water back into the ground, and the whole house is really well insulated. In 28 years, I don’t think I’ve had a power bill over $200, usually in the low 100s.

Only drawbacks were it didn’t come with any appliances (maybe repoed too?), and the interior doors were hollow core, so I got to pick my own appliances, and after a few years, replaced every interior door with solid wood. There was a pallet of bricks in the yard that matched the house, so I used them to build brick columns for lights on either side of the driveway. Still have a small stack left over!

Got a great deal, including no closing costs, and the bank had the trim painted and installed soffit vents, and even cut the grass! It was the end of the quarter, and they wanted it off the books.

[PeteyPie]

Add me to the list of sellers who would take plants. I had some beautiful perennials in houses I sold, and my sister, who is an avid gardener, had the same experience: we sold our respective houses and left the plants in the beds, thinking that of course, they were part of the landscaping and the buyers would absolutely want them. In the case of two different sales on my part and one sale of my sister’s, the buyers mowed down all the perennials, tore up the flower beds, and put lawn right up next to the foundation, or left the beds unwatered so the plants slowly died over the next year or two.

Most people are not gardeners and many don’t want the extra work entailed in keeping flower beds – although any gardener knows how little work is involved in mature perennials. My sister and I both vowed we would never leave favorite plants behind again. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be spelled out in the contract, but we would never assume that the buyers wanted the plants.

I’m still sad about a peony that I had nursed along for several years. A couple of blooms appeared two years after I planted it, then the third year there were more, and the year after that it was looking really good. I didn’t even consider digging it up because peonies don’t like to be moved, but I was so shocked to see it replaced with grass! And my Asiatic lilies had multiplied and had started giving a dramatic showing every summer…

[Gainer]

We had a tenant on the property that took all the gates, all the saddle racks of the wall, water troughs and the water heater from the barn when she left. She used to routinely steal from the tack store where she worked, too, until she got caught. Feel bad for whoever she’s in bed with now.

God am I glad that bitch is gone!

[Palm_Beach]

@Blueskidoo

That “What’s a fixture” question comes into play when you make insurance claims too. Virginia Farm Bureau insurance was awful about that when we had a massive house fire a couple of years ago (so much so, we still don’t yet live back on the farm)

We did successfully argue that the fridge and oven should be part of the structure claim and not the contents, because you can’t sell a building as a residence without them, no matter that they aren’t technically attached to the house.

They were just so awful, is hard to even describe the additional trauma they have inflicted on us.

Wow, sorry you have to go through this.

[JanM]

A friend lost her house in a tornado, but they did have full replacement insurance. Years ago they closed in the huge carport, built a fireplace, and for covered parking put a long carport, so they could park a lot of cars. The carport roof ended in a two story, single car garage that was just for storage. When the tornado came, the insurance company was very good about payments, but not for the added garage. That is because the long carport attached to the house, and the garage addition, so it was considered part of the house. If they had left a foot or so off the carport roof where it attached to the garage addition, the addition would have been covered separately.

Also, in case of damage (I live about 90 miles from the Gulf) I take a complete set of photos of all sides of the house, garage door, and show the roof condition. Then do each room, showing the contents, and the condition of the walls, ceiling, floor. When I had that attic fire a couple of houses ago, the adjuster was thrilled to have proof of what the rooms looked like before. Of course, that was before I had a digital camera, so it was double print free day at Walmart, and I had them do a disk too. Then I copied the disk, and kept one at work in my desk. What I do now is I have a digital camera, download to my laptop, and run a couple of disks with all of the photos on them.

[ReSomething]

Insurance adjusters recommend an inventory of household goods with photographs, not that many of us are quite that organized.

[clanter]

@ReSomething

Insurance adjusters recommend an inventory of household goods with photographs, not that many of us are quite that organized.

these days it is pretty easy, use a cell phone to take photos with the time/data enacted of each room and contents of closets then store the photos on a disk or cloud

If you have a saved deposit book… keep your hard copy of your homeowners policy there as it can be used as proof of ownership of the property in a disaster claim. In extreme disasters often the land is wiped clean leveling just foundations or less.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

With most of the larger carriers of homeowners (and auto, etc.) your policy may also be stored in your online account through the agency website (at least with USAA, State Farm, & Auto Owners that I have/had do). If your phone has the misfortune of also getting destroyed, its best to have a backup to a cloud sever and/or USB device that is stored elsewhere when using photos as proof of contents.

Which reminds me that our “proof” on VHS tape (HA!) and put on a CD needs to be redone.

[SusanO]

I agree with taking the plants. When my sister and BIL moved to Birmingham they did extensive landscaping at their house and my sister, an avid gardener, had a lot of beautiful expensive plants that she had bought online through various high-end vendors. So when they moved again she didn’t want to decimate her gardens so she took a few things with her and split up some of the more expensive plants so the buyers wouldn’t be getting a garden with nothing in it. Several years later she saw the house and most of her plants were gone and replaced with sod. She should have just taken the lilies and peonies and replanted Knockout roses and Stella de Oro daylilies. The buyers would have been just as happy.

[Palm_Beach]

@SusanO

I agree with taking the plants. When my sister and BIL moved to Birmingham they did extensive landscaping at their house and my sister, an avid gardener, had a lot of beautiful expensive plants that she had bought online through various high-end vendors. So when they moved again she didn’t want to decimate her gardens so she took a few things with her and split up some of the more expensive plants so the buyers wouldn’t be getting a garden with nothing in it. Several years later she saw the house and most of her plants were gone and replaced with sod. She should have just taken the lilies and peonies and replanted Knockout roses and Stella de Oro daylilies. The buyers would have been just as happy.

That’s kind of sad, but I did the same thing. Gardens are high maintenance, and I had kids and a full time job and could not keep up with the weeding. I did try to relocate a lot of the plants (most died) and turned about half the garden area into lawn since it was much quicker to mow the area than pull weeds and water during dry spells. Now that I have more time we’ve done a bit of landscaping, but my back does not tolerate more than 20-30 minutes of gardening/weeding etc.

[eponacelt]

@OverandOnward

Although many people might think that’s not a good reason not to jump on a super-nice place - you were probably very wise! During those years there were higher-end homes that went to buyers that would normally not have been able to afford a property like that, only for the buyer to find out just how expensive it is to maintain a property at that level. I know of at least one case where the ongoing expense of maintaining the landscaping and maintenance on all of the high-end systems eventually helped push the new owners into foreclosure themselves. Their monthly budget just didn’t stretch for that level of house expense. You were doubtless smart to give a pass to something that was more than you needed.

Actually, it was pretty easy to say no. The house was beautiful, but there was a shed (not a real barn) and the property was on the side of a mountain. Any new construction we’d do to build a real barn, arena, and garage for my husband would have involved so much earth moving it would have really been cost-prohibitive. That turned out to be a really common issue we had while shopping - nice house with “horse facilities” turned out to be a massive house with 4 and 5 bedrooms, and a run-in shed with falling down fencing. While we were willing to do a lot of work (as evidenced by the property we finally bought) so many realtors, even here in Horse Country Virginia, have NO IDEA what constitutes actual usable horse property.