You never know what’s behind the door….

I’ve mentioned before, I’m an REO Realtor.  I mainly sell foreclosed homes.

Yesterday, I get a call from one of the companies I list for and they wanted me to take on a new listing.  Home had just foreclosed that morning.  I know the drill…

1) check to see if it’s occupied
2) if vacant, gain access, determine amount of personal property left, take photos
3) rekey, get utilities on, order trashout if necessary.

So, I proceed to the house (surprisingly, I was only about a half mile away from it when I got the call) and find this:

Wow I thought – a good one – appears fairly well kept, flowerbeds could use some sprucing up, but otherwise this will be a nice one.

Then, I opened the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently, the dogs owned the house.  EVERY door frame and door is scratched and chewed up.  EVERY room has holes in the carpet from dogs tearing it up.  The ENTIRE house smelled like animal urine.

This may be a tough one.  Just goes to prove you can’t judge a book by it’s cover–or a home by it’s facade.

Not all Fame and Glamour, Part 2

Forewarning – this post is a pretty big downer.  If you’re having a bad day, you might want to just move along.

Yesterday, like many others, I received notice to do a Broker’s Price Opinion on a property in Springdale. 

When Banks foreclose on homes, many times they’ll order two Broker Price Opinions (BPO’s) as well as possibly an appraisal in order to determine the approximate current market value of a property.  In Arkansas, it is illegal for a Realtor® to do a paid price opinion unless there is a possibility of receiving a listing.  I do a lot of business from this Asset Management company and personally consider them my favorite one.  They gave me my first foreclosure listing and ultimately helped me get to where I’m earning a living (unlike a lot of other Realtors® right now). 

You never know what you’re going to find.  Occasionally, you find a home that’s relatively clean and in decent condition – sometimes only recently vacated so the lawn isn’t grown up too high.  Most of the time, that’s not the case.  But that’s OK.  I’m prepared for whatever I might find. Until yesterday.

I arrived at the home and noted its overgrown yard and un-tended flower beds.  There was the typical missing downspouts off the gutters.  I took my address verification picture and my front and side pictures as well as those noting any issues (missing downspouts, cracks in the brick, broken windows, etc.)  I gained access via the key in the lockbox and it was no surprise the interior was a pit. 

The smell was overpowering.  Rotted food, an actual dead carcass of something in the laundry room (the dryer vent was not closed, so something, probably a possum, had gotten inside and probably died from fright), animal waste probably soaked deep into carpet, and an overpowering aura of despair loomed.  But the worst was yet to be.

Once I got pictures of everything inside, I opened the back door to take pictures of the yard and any “improvements”, I heard a weak “meow.”  There was a cat on the back patio.  A dying cat.

There’s no way of knowing if this poor creature was part of the previous owner’s brood.  They’re long gone somewhere.  This poor thing appeared emaciated, mangy, and had at least one open wound on a paw that I could see.  It’s milky eyes looked my direction and it cried for help.  I immediately called the agent responsible for the property and informed him of the situation.  He immediately got on the phone with the animal control in the area and I got my pictures and got the hell out of there.

I dreamed about that poor baby last night.  Guess that’s why I was up at 4am.