On Saturday at my Mom's house as the Hubs and I were chatting it up with LilSis & her boyfriend, we had the television tuned to TLC. That show "Moving Up" with Doug Wilson came up and we were transfixed. We could NOT believe what we were seeing. The particular episode we were viewing was called "Calamityville Horror".
The basic premise of the show. Three groups/individuals from 3 different abodes. Group1 moves into Group2's house. Group2 moves into Group3's house. The rest of the show displays how Group1 changes Group2's house to make it into their own style. Group2 changes Group3's house to make it into their style. All this is to be done in 3 or 4 months. Then Group2 goes back and checks the changes to their original home. Group3 comes back and checks the changes on their original home.
This episode showed that people can live in disgusting conditions. It's not like the couple (with 2 kids) couldn't afford to have a nice interior of their home. They CHOSE to live in filthy conditions. When Group1 (a single female) started to move into the house, she realized she COULD NOT move into it. There were rat droppings on the floor. There was an awful stench in the air. She went into one room and saw maggots (that's right! MAGGOTS) in the ceiling fixture. She got professionals in and they ripped out the entire interior of the house. They ripped it all out to the studs. What did they find? Do it yourself wiring that could have resulted in a fire. The flue (is that how you spell it?) had a crack in it, which also could have resulted in a fire. Rat burrows throughout the place. Carpenter ants. Flies. A hornet's nest in the roof. More than a handful of dead squirrels in the rafters. The squirrels were falling down as they removed the ceiling drywall and insulation. It looked horrible on tv. I'm sure it was 100 times worse in person. So the dead squirrels caused flies to lay eggs. The eggs hatched into maggots. The maggots matured and turned into flies. UGH! Gross!
When Doug Wilson confronted the previous owners, they acted shocked. The previous owner (the wife) asked "There weren't any rats, were there? We had a problem with that when we first moved in, but we took care of that." What was even more pathetic was that the previous owner (the wife) would giggle in this ha-ha got you kind of way. Then why were there droppings on the floor when the gal moved in? And they couldn't hear the squirrels in their roof?
But, in reality, this is a lesson for all home buyers. The gal did NOT have a home inspection performed. That service (usually less than $500) could have saved her a whole lot of stress and aggrevation and money. She was a first-time home buyer and she was given some HORRIBLE advice. Never skip the inspection. She ended up putting in tens of thousands of dollars into that house. But it turned out so pretty.
I certainly do hope that that couple that sold her the house get lots of disapproving looks from now on. They were totally dishonest. They did not disclose issues with the house. They took advantage of this gal. I'm sure the folks who live in the neighborhood that this couple moved into will be watching them warily. Hoping the house they bought doesn't turn into the house they moved from. EWWW!!!!
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