I'm really trying to keep up with the posting but last night I was up with a sick baby, and I have a feeling today is going to be another long one. Here's a post from way back, almost 3 years ago, when I first started this blog and maybe 3 people read it (now 5 do). It's an interesting topic and hopefully you guys will share your own experiences. I love to hear other homeowners horror stories, it's somehow comforting to know you're not alone!
A very important topic that comes up frequently with the renovation of any older home is that of the infamous, and often dreaded “Previous Owner.” Anyone, who has ever been anything other than the first owner of a house has probably had some experience dealing with what's been left behind when the p.o. moves out and you move in. Be it lots of junk, tons of dirt and grime, horrible decorating, poorly done repairs or total lack of maintenance, it can be very frustrating to try and undo. If you would like an example of probably one of the the worst P.O. stories I've heard, the folks over at House in Progress have the corner on that market! I think a close second would have to be the story of the previous owner of the house that my husband and I rented when we first moved in together. It was a cute, wood shingled, 2 story Cape Cod that had been completely renovated on the inside, the outside was a little rough, but charming. It was a great find in a wonderful neighborhood and we were very happy to find it.
On the day we got the keys from the landlord, we stood outside the house chatting. He proceeded to tell us a story about the woman he bought the house from. The gist of the story was that the previous owner was addicted to the Home Shopping Network, had maxed out all of her credit cards, got into some trouble with the law, and ended up in jail. Apparently the house was COMPLETELY full of stuff she had bought, so much so, that you couldn’t walk in some rooms. Her brother sold the house for her, but wanted nothing to do with emptying it out. When our landlord bought the house it was so full of crap that they filled 10 huge dumpsters emptying out the house, and that was after all of the good stuff was pulled out. We found this story pretty amusing and whenever someone new came to visit we would share it.
Over the first few months of living in the house we learned some interesting things.
1. Our next door neighbor, alluded to some strange things that happened in our house when the P.O. had lived there but never clarified.
2. There were bullets everywhere, in the flowerbeds, all over the brick patio, in the garage, the basement etc.
3. There was a plethora of plugs and phone extensions,the basement had
so many wires running through it that it was impossible to determine
what any of it was. There was also a strange homemade security system
cobbled together with stuff from Radio Shack. And there were several
large antennas on the roof, probably for some sort of ham radio set up.
4. Our backyard had a large, sand covered, crop circle that we later
found out was the previous location of an above ground pool. The pool
had been left full of water for years and was infested with rats, at
some point the city forced the PO to remove it.
One day about a year after we moved in, our next door neighbor told me she was moving. As we chatted she gave me the full disclosure about the PO. It seems that at one time our PO was married and she and her husband had an illegal gun business, they would buy illegal guns, take them to Northern Michigan and sell them. They also liked to make their own ammo, that explains where the bullets came from. Apparently the entire house was full of guns.
At some point PO decided to move to Northern Michigan permanently. Her husband drank a lot and their marriage suffered. Allegedly, while PO was in Northern Michigan, her husband drank himself into a stupor, fell, was injured, and died several hours later on the couch. His body was not discovered until several days later. There was some question about how he died, but it was ruled accidental.
Meanwhile our PO collected on a huge life insurance policy taken out on her husband, and went on a giant spending spree. She also bought a house in Northern Michigan where she started spending more time. There she met a new boyfriend who began helping her with her gun business. PO’s new boyfriend also turned out to be a drug addict, and he liked to rob drug stores. One night he asked our PO to drive while he robbed a store, she agreed, and unfortunately they were caught. They both went to jail.
Wow, what a story, I was pretty shocked. But it gets better. Our neighbor then expressed her concern that the PO may be getting out of jail soon and would probably come back around. Nice……………
Luckily we moved out 6 months later, before we moved out though, our neighbor sold her house to a young, newly married couple. From what they told me about their house, our neighbor herself, could probably be right up at the top of the list for bad P.O.’s.
In my house buying experiences I’ve been pretty lucky (knock on wood). I may complain and joke about the P.O’s of our house, but really, it could be much worse. P.O.’s sure do make a good story though, and let's be honest, if it weren't for them we wouldn't get to have all this fun renovating our house!! And one last thought that crosses my mind often, I've now been a previous owner twice. I often wonder what the new owners think about some of my remuddling!!
P.S. If you have any good stories about a P.O. please send them my way. I’d love to hear them!!
