What happened here? [VA]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In picture #2, somebody ripped the stuffing out of the chair. Is it possible the house was ransacked by the owners or somebody else looking for hidden goods?

Three things are clear.

1. The family was forced out very suddenly, hence a towel still hanging on the shower rod, and all possessions including children's pictures left behind.
2. The fact that even the vehicles were left behind suggests the family did not drive away, but was hauled off. Maybe arrested and taken away in a police car?
3. The house was very obviously ransacked -- with furniture cushions opened, possessions thrown about, beds moved away from the walls -- in a hasty search for something (drugs? money? evidence?)

I would not make the assumption 2 based on some vehicles left in the garage, supposedly, according to the description. They could have driven in one vehicle and left the other 2 behind if they had 3 of them. Maybe the other ones were not even operational, there are no photos of them.

Clearly description implies the buyer is responsible for junk removal and cleanup. Whether the family made this mess or someone else is unclear. If they were leaving in a hurry they could have left a mess and a lot of stuff behind and all the mess, because they don't care. In foreclosures, people sometimes vandalized the property to make it less desirable for the future owners.

[Anonymous]

My assumption is that the remaining vehicles are probably in the same condition as the rest of the contents of the house. The buyer will likely have to pay to have them hauled away with the other trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are six people who are on the title to this house. Whatever happened here seems sad to me.

I think the house was inherited in 2014 by the children of the original owner. This obit lists the whole family.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/peter-mitrano-obituary?id=18170893

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are six people who are on the title to this house. Whatever happened here seems sad to me.

I think the house was inherited in 2014 by the children of the original owner. This obit lists the whole family.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/peter-mitrano-obituary?id=18170893

Was it this guy's house? I was under the impression it was his son's (who share's the name) house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are six people who are on the title to this house. Whatever happened here seems sad to me.

I think the house was inherited in 2014 by the children of the original owner. This obit lists the whole family.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/peter-mitrano-obituary?id=18170893

Was it this guy's house? I was under the impression it was his son's (who share's the name) house.

I think that once Dad was gone, it became the children's house, including the son with the same name. All of the children are listed as owners with Junior as the primary owner. We have no idea who was actually living there, though.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty clear what the probable situation is. This is a hoarder's house. Look at the basement and bonus rooms. That's what hoarders are like. The cars in the garage will be packed with junk and scrap, and the garage itself overflowing with more junk. That's why there's no listing photos of the garage or the cars.

I'm guessing that one of the heirs (the son?) moved in after Dad died or even to take care of dad, and family let him stay in the house and he turned it into a hoarder's nightmare. The kid's photo in the bedroom is dated, it reminds me of a school photo from 1995. I'm sure there were no kids or pets living in the house, you're just seeing something left from a long time ago.

Am guessing the family finally got the sibling out and don't want to deal with the house so it's listed as it is.

[Anonymous]

PP. Also wanted to add if you look at the kitchen and bathrooms, there has been some clearing out just enough to be able to walk around and take photos. But the decay in cabinets and finishes are the kind of decay that comes with hoarders covering up surfaces with crap and not cleaning or repairing for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP. Also wanted to add if you look at the kitchen and bathrooms, there has been some clearing out just enough to be able to walk around and take photos. But the decay in cabinets and finishes are the kind of decay that comes with hoarders covering up surfaces with crap and not cleaning or repairing for years.

That would certainly explain the condition of the floors. Perhaps they were piled with debris for a long time and they were cleared out so someone could walk through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP. Also wanted to add if you look at the kitchen and bathrooms, there has been some clearing out just enough to be able to walk around and take photos. But the decay in cabinets and finishes are the kind of decay that comes with hoarders covering up surfaces with crap and not cleaning or repairing for years.

That would certainly explain the condition of the floors. Perhaps they were piled with debris for a long time and they were cleared out so someone could walk through.

Yep. This house has all the classic signs of a long term hoarder. Family finally got him out and listed as is to wash their hands of what was probably a nightmare for years. No one has the time or energy to clear it out, and some siblings may not even be talking to each other, making it problematic for other siblings to try to clear out the house if it's co-owned by everyone.

[Anonymous]

Another weird thing is that the listing description makes it sound like even whoever listed the home isn't really aware of what was going on. The description mentions what "appears" to be a half-completed addition, etc., as though they couldn't confirm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty clear what the probable situation is. This is a hoarder's house. Look at the basement and bonus rooms. That's what hoarders are like. The cars in the garage will be packed with junk and scrap, and the garage itself overflowing with more junk. That's why there's no listing photos of the garage or the cars.

I'm guessing that one of the heirs (the son?) moved in after Dad died or even to take care of dad, and family let him stay in the house and he turned it into a hoarder's nightmare. The kid's photo in the bedroom is dated, it reminds me of a school photo from 1995. I'm sure there were no kids or pets living in the house, you're just seeing something left from a long time ago.

Am guessing the family finally got the sibling out and don't want to deal with the house so it's listed as it is.

It's not quite bad enough to be a hoarder. Maybe a hoarder in the making. MIL was a hoarder. When she passed every room was like the basement. Even the crawlspace was packed. The garage was packed solid around the car. It took a month to clear it out. Still sold for $1.1 million in the mid 2010s in Chevy Chase. Most went to a reverse mortgage which is why we bothered with a cleanout.

[Anonymous]

According to a court order, six siblings inherited the house, four of the siblings sued to force sale of the house after they inherited it, one of the siblings was living in the house and refused to leave. The court ordered eviction of the resident sibling and sale of the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty clear what the probable situation is. This is a hoarder's house. Look at the basement and bonus rooms. That's what hoarders are like. The cars in the garage will be packed with junk and scrap, and the garage itself overflowing with more junk. That's why there's no listing photos of the garage or the cars.

I'm guessing that one of the heirs (the son?) moved in after Dad died or even to take care of dad, and family let him stay in the house and he turned it into a hoarder's nightmare. The kid's photo in the bedroom is dated, it reminds me of a school photo from 1995. I'm sure there were no kids or pets living in the house, you're just seeing something left from a long time ago.

Am guessing the family finally got the sibling out and don't want to deal with the house so it's listed as it is.

It's not quite bad enough to be a hoarder. Maybe a hoarder in the making. MIL was a hoarder. When she passed every room was like the basement. Even the crawlspace was packed. The garage was packed solid around the car. It took a month to clear it out. Still sold for $1.1 million in the mid 2010s in Chevy Chase. Most went to a reverse mortgage which is why we bothered with a cleanout.

There are different levels of hoarding but this is definitely, unquestionably, a hoarder's house. Someone a bit more restrained than your MIL but still has hoarding instincts. No one but a hoarder has that kind of piles of junk in basements that you practically have to swim through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to a court order, six siblings inherited the house, four of the siblings sued to force sale of the house after they inherited it, one of the siblings was living in the house and refused to leave. The court ordered eviction of the resident sibling and sale of the house.

The Dad died in 2014 so this has been going on for a long time. It's probable that a great portion of the mess was inherited from the deceased father and then the son moved in and didn't keep up the house. Ironically, the house is worth much more today than it was in 2014, giant mess or not. It's not a tear-down but it needs new bathrooms, new kitchen, new floors, and paint. My guess would be $150k+ worth of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty clear what the probable situation is. This is a hoarder's house. Look at the basement and bonus rooms. That's what hoarders are like. The cars in the garage will be packed with junk and scrap, and the garage itself overflowing with more junk. That's why there's no listing photos of the garage or the cars.

I'm guessing that one of the heirs (the son?) moved in after Dad died or even to take care of dad, and family let him stay in the house and he turned it into a hoarder's nightmare. The kid's photo in the bedroom is dated, it reminds me of a school photo from 1995. I'm sure there were no kids or pets living in the house, you're just seeing something left from a long time ago.

Am guessing the family finally got the sibling out and don't want to deal with the house so it's listed as it is.

It's not quite bad enough to be a hoarder. Maybe a hoarder in the making. MIL was a hoarder. When she passed every room was like the basement. Even the crawlspace was packed. The garage was packed solid around the car. It took a month to clear it out. Still sold for $1.1 million in the mid 2010s in Chevy Chase. Most went to a reverse mortgage which is why we bothered with a cleanout.

There are different levels of hoarding but this is definitely, unquestionably, a hoarder's house. Someone a bit more restrained than your MIL but still has hoarding instincts. No one but a hoarder has that kind of piles of junk in basements that you practically have to swim through.

Or just someone lazy who moved everything down into the basement and didn't want to deal with it. The upstairs is just untidy, no evidence of hoarding.

Trust me, hoarders fill every room and then work on expanding to storage units and second houses.