Home : Blogs : Barbara S. Duncan ABR, CRS, GRI, e-PRO Searcy AR : Barbara Duncan's blog

The plumber found nothing to winterize at this REO

It's time to winterize in the South so I sent the plumber to one of our REO's and warned him that it probably wouldn't be a difficult job because the house had no water heater. (He'd already finished a NICE REO that had the water heater above the garage so he said it was a good thing I winterized that one.)

He called back with frustration in his voice asking, "Barbara, how much would they PAY someone to take this house off their hands?" I replied that I told him it wouldn't be lovely. He said, "There's nothing here to winterize. They have taken everything that can be taken. Plumbing under the house is gone. Pipes from the propane to the house is gone. Looks like they climbed in the attic to jerk out any wiring they wanted."

I said, "Well, what did you do then?"

He said, "I put a little antifreeze in the commodes but the tops of the commodes are broken. I'd a blown the lines if there'd been any."

I told him to make my bill as little as possible since he had so little to do!! There's never a dull moment with REOs.

Picture shows missing faucet set and gunshot blast in the mirror. Colors are attention getting too.

Posted by Barbara S. Duncan ABR, CRS, GRI, e-PRO Searcy AR on 11/30/2007 08:28 PM

Comments (9)

arkansas, reo, foreclosure

Post is included in group: War Stories

9 Comments on The plumber found nothing to winterize at this REO

Amazing. Does anyone know, or does it matter, whether it was the owners who took the pipes and wiring or was it copper thieves?

11/30/2007 08:38 PM

by Rosario Lewis, GRI ~ DDR Realty, Orange County, NY (DDR Realty)

Sounds like some of the properties our firm deals with.

11/30/2007 08:45 PM

by Melissa Kruse (Gryphon )

I am sure this is not a new thing. People can be pretty amazing when they are bitter about their house being taken. Heck, they could have opened the doors and called in the local homeless to take what they want.

11/30/2007 08:46 PM

by William Moore (Innovative Realty)

Barbara,

I'll give you 10 bucks for the house, and you can take the broken toilet!! There is never a dull moment with REO homes.

11/30/2007 09:05 PM

by Todd Jones (Coldwell Banker Town & Country)

Nothing surprises me any more. i had an REO which had no front door. We bought a cheap new door and put it on . It was gone by the next day.

11/30/2007 09:20 PM

by Trey Thurmond, College Station , Texas Homes (Classic Realty Inc./GMAC Real Estate)

Ahh people get mighty upset when they lose their home.

11/30/2007 09:23 PM

by Monika McGillicuddy~NH Real Estate Broker (Prudential Verani Realty)

Rosario, I don't think anyone cares who did it. Once a theft is committed it's hard to track the items. In isolated homes like this one, no one even has a time line. Thanks for comments.

Todd, we had an offer for $20,000 but it was rejected!!

Trey, I also had one with doors missing but they were not gone again the day after we replaced them! Wild!

Monica, the homeowner may not have done it.

Thanks for all comments.

11/30/2007 09:33 PM

by Barbara S. Duncan ABR, CRS, GRI, e-PRO Searcy AR (RE/MAX Advantage)

My latest one, they even took the cabinets, toilets and vanities from the entire house. Neighbor sid they sold them during a yard sale before they moved

12/03/2007 11:58 AM

by Paul Moye, Broker, ABR, GRI, CSP, SRES (Keller Williams Realty Franklin )

Copper missing is usually copper theives. Most homeowners don't know how to go about getting rid of copper but the copper theives do.

People do strange things when foreclosure comes along.

Walk away and abandon stuff.

Destroy walls, doors, fixtures, etc.

As Paul pointed out above, sell everything they can get loose.

It's a strange world.

12/03/2007 10:20 PM

by Erby Crofutt, Central Kentucky Home Inspector (B4U Close Home Inspections & Radon Testing)