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A Sad Start to the Year - The Human Side of the Housing Market

By
Home Inspector with Precision Home Inspection

Every now and then, during an inspection, something will catch my eye and remind me that houses are more than just brick and mortar, faucets and fixtures.

 

They are an accumulation of memories, a physical manifestation of hopes and dreams - a representation of the lives of the people who owned it.

 

Last week, I was inspecting a home that was obviously a short sale, finding all the typical hallmarks of a homeowner in financial difficulty.  The oil tank was almost empty.  Deferred maintenance items had accumulated.  Several half-empty rooms indicated that at least a part of the family had moved out.

 

Sad, but in this economy, all too typical. 

 

Then, I reached a pink bedroom.  There, written in lip gloss, on the mirror of the only piece of furniture left in the room, was a message from a daughter to her father that stopped me in my tracks.

 

It simply said: “Hi dad, I miss you.  It’s sad to see the old place, but I guess it’s for the better.  I love you.”

 

I thought about the brave little girl who wrote it - then about my own 9 year old daughter.

 

I thought about the father and the terrible rush of love and sadness he must have felt when he read it.  I recalled my own divorce and the feeling of helplessness and sadness, heightened at the holidays.

 

And I thought about how this beautiful house had probably been home to so many great moments for that family.  Birthday parties, pool parties, family dinners…. and how financial problems can tear it all apart, and change it forever.

 

I know a new family will live there and I hope they will fill it with new love and memories, but I can’t stop thinking about that little girl and that father.   I can’t help but wonder how many families are being ripped apart by the pressure of a bad economy.

 

And once again, I am reminded that there is always a human side to these homes that as an inspector I never get to see.

Comments (3)

Alan M. & Associates (TheVancouverLife.ca)
RE/MAX Crest Realty - Vancouver, BC Canada - Vancouver, BC

If rooms could talk these are the types of things they would say.  I'm sure it made you pause and reflect as anyone reading that would.  Thanks for sharing...

Jan 07, 2011 02:54 AM
Charles Buell
Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA
Seattle Home Inspector

Joseph, when the sunami known as divorce rushes through a home all one can do it resolve to learn lessons greater than the value of money.  It breaks my heart to see these places and imagine the stories.

Jan 07, 2011 04:57 AM
Joseph Michalski
Precision Home Inspection - Lansdale, PA
PA Home Inspector

Alan - It really hit home, especially since I could picture my own daughter writing that.

Charles  - all too true.  The foreclosed and REO homes I see can really be tough sometimes, always when I get to the kids' rooms.

Jan 07, 2011 05:14 AM