Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: Crazy damage to interior of a nice house

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Las Cruces, NM
    Posts
    2,036

    Crazy damage to interior of a nice house

    I'd be interested to hear opinions about the crazy looking damage to the interior of the nice house for sale at 2015 Crescent Drive, Las Cruces NM. You can see photos on the Zillow website. (I don't know if posting a link to that webpage is allowed.)

    Apparently the property was foreclosed. I can imagine an angry person smacking something against the drywall, but I don't see them them pulling up floor tile in a somewhat systematic manner.

    I may go tour the place. What should I be alert for?

  2. #2
    That looks pretty good for a repo. A house down the street from us was foreclosed on and before the guy left he removed the toilets, sinks, appliances, stair railings, doors, trim, outlet and heating duct covers, furnace, air conditioner, water heater, and even the insulation from the attic. Basically anything he thought he could sell. Then he had some buddies over one night for a party. They used a bedroom and a corner in the living room for toilets and punch holes in all the sheet rock walls. A flipper bought the house for about 10% of the appraised value (appraised when the house was in decent shape, of course) fixed it up and sold it to a very nice couple who have made it even better.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Western Nebraska
    Posts
    4,680
    I had to look...

    I think they were in the middle of a flooring project, were pulling loose vinyl tile and going over the top with something else. I can 't tell what the new stuff is, or the old for that matter, but if it is porcelain tile over vinyl, I doubt it will be sound. There is a way to make that work but there is no evidence of Ditra that I see. Expect the flooring to all need replaced. Love the red trim, helped me with my diet plan this morning....

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    My general opinion, even without looking at the photos, would be that if you are contemplating the property, your focus needs to be on the structure and the possibilities. "Cosmetic" damage to surfaces like walls and floors are things that can easily and reasonably be changed and often are even when things are pristine. The underlying structure is more important because that's where the "big bucks" get involved if you need to restore heavily.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Las Cruces, NM
    Posts
    2,036
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Rozmiarek View Post
    Love the red trim, helped me with my diet plan this morning....
    I better eat before I visit the place.

    Here's a theory: A water supply line to the washer sprung a leak and flooded the house. The missing tile came up when damp carpet was removed due to the tacking strips being glued to the tile. On the garage floor, I see a reflection, as if there is standing water on it.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,876
    Renter across the street seemed like a nice quiet girl. When she got evicted turns out she was a meth head. took all the doors off the hinges, pulled all the low voltage wiring such as phone and thermostats, sprinklers etc. trashed the new carpeting etc. Meth makes you paranoid "THEY" are watching . Little cameras must be hidden everywhere. If you don't find them that is because they are real good at hiding them so you must look deeper.
    Bil lD.

  7. #7
    had some neighbors awhile back, they replaced most everything in their house before selling it, new carpet, appliances, vanities in the bathrooms... New neighbors moved in, and a few months later moved out. Noticed some handymen showed up in full build-a-house gear, which puzzled me. Went over and asked what was going on... holy moly-- nearly everything but the sheetrock was gone! All the carpets, cabinets & sinks & faucets, vinyl flooring, appliances, gone... all the doors were in a pile in the basement... amazing amount of damage.
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  8. #8
    Place across the street went to foreclosure after the couple broke up. The husband pulled everything out of the place. copper wiring and pipes, pulled the furnace and sold it. Took sinks, appliances, even the llight fixtures. Problem was, the mortgage company had already toured the house taking pictures. He was prosecuted for malicious destruction of property. A very rare occurrence in these parts in a foreclosure situation. I had tenants in a small house who just up and moved. They left furniture appliances etc and notified me a month later that they would not be back. (The rent was paid so I really didn't care if they did not live there for a few weeks) It turns out the couple split. they each took their separate belongings and the kids' clothes and some belongings and left the rest. What I didn't know, is that the wife's boyfriend and his buddies urinated and defecated all over everything thinking the husband would come back for it. Then the closed the place up for three weeks in July. It stank so bad, stuff was all stained and moldy. maggots in the fridge, etc. Husband packed his bags and two of the kids and left for California. The wife moved away, got beat up and came back to the area with the other kid. She had the nerve to ask to rent the place again. Then she stirred up trouble by demanding her furniture, etc. I had to pay to have all that crap hauled to the landfill. Fortunately I took lots of pictures. She backed off.

  9. #9
    Reminds me of a house my wife and I walked through, it has to be 20 years ago now. It was a bank repo and there was really gorgeous white carpet throughout that someone had taken black paint and just walked up and down every single room and poured it all over the carpet, then taken spray paint and painted all of the walls. The bank was going to replace the carpets and repaint the walls in whatever colors the new owner wanted. We didn't end up buying the house, but I still have no idea what the idiots thought they would accomplish.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Cedar Park, TX (NW Austin)
    Posts
    578
    I agree with Jim. Working in the real estate has taught me the best homes for flipping a total mess cosmetically and structurally in good condition. If you can buy at a discount because it is ugly, don't have to repair or replace items that don't add value or improve the overall appeal you can turn a decent profit.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    Quote Originally Posted by John Goodin View Post
    I agree with Jim. Working in the real estate has taught me the best homes for flipping a total mess cosmetically and structurally in good condition. If you can buy at a discount because it is ugly, don't have to repair or replace items that don't add value or improve the overall appeal you can turn a decent profit.
    Yup...if the bones are there, the total fresh, new look cosmetically helps salability, IMHO.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Newburgh, Indiana
    Posts
    918
    I have bought, fixed up, rented and sold lots of houses that were a mess when purchased. Let the seller take the brunt of the hit financially. What look like problems to others can be big opportunities if you have the skills.
    Life's too short to use old sandpaper.

  13. #13
    I've seen a lot worse than what those pictures show. Looking at the prices of homes in the neighborhood it might be tough to make a lot on flipping the house after you fix everything up unless you can get a real discount. If you plan to do the work yourself, it's good if it's fairly close to your house because when I was doing something similar, I'd always need a tool that I had at home and not with me.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Upland CA
    Posts
    5,547
    I have rehabbed a few houses and it is amazing what some people can do. Of course this is nothing new.

    In 1966 we bought our second house, and all fixtures were stolen, toilets, sinks etc. They had tried to drive through the back wall of the garage, rebuilt a car engine and trans on the living room rug. They girdled all the trees in the yard and killed them, played tic tac toe on the popcorn ceilings, and cross wired the receptacles so when power was turned on they all shorted out. Outside all the fencing was knocked down with a car, which was left in the yard.

    We had a baby just starting to crawl and our first job was to remove all the carpet, so we could wash the concrete slab for her to play on. We lived in it while fixing it up, which we did as we could afford it...about two years until sorta liveable, and 4 years before completing the last bedroom.

    About 10 years ago, our son lived across the street from a nice house, where a new family was moving in. He noticed they were having a lot of garage sales. The new people moved after about three months, and he found out they were renters, and they had stripped the house bare and sold everything they could remove.
    Carpets, toilets cabinets...everything.
    Last edited by Rick Potter; 11-18-2018 at 3:29 AM.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •