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Rainmaker
1,612,714
Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA
https://HugginsHomes.com - Thousand Oaks, CA
Residential Real Estate and Investment Properties

I deal with foreclosures.  I've seen everything except a corpse, though one house had the power off for several months and the food in the fridge sure smelled like one!

Aug 28, 2026 09:27 AM
Ambassador
2,797,814
Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate
Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

 

 Several boxes of ammunition in a closet.  It was a foreclosure, I called the listing agent/manager, she said the "Trash Out people were supposed to have emptied the entire house.  Maybe they were scared to handle it?"

   

 I told her she could call law enforcement, or I could remove it for her. She said "Please just take it away, I appreciate it."

    I scored several boxes of good ammo!

 

Aug 28, 2026 12:33 PM
Ambassador
3,652,147
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Real Estate Svcs.
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

The people who refused to move out  🤣

Aug 28, 2026 11:36 AM
Rainmaker
1,776,414
Thomas J. Nelson, REALTOR ® CRS,ABR,PSA,RCS-D, CFSP
Big Block Team @ LPT Realty 858.232.8722 - San Diego, CA
Coastal San Diego, Veteran's & Retirees Services

A cat - we found her locked in a closet (vacant house) during a showing at the time of the Market Crash; we found a neighbor that took her in for us. How anyone could leave a pet behind is beyond me.

Aug 28, 2026 10:12 AM
Rainmaker
8,923,946
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

A closet with a row of pressed work shirts with logos in a foreclosure.

Another sad find in a foreclosure was a folded American flag from a funeral. 

When you deal with foreclosures, you will see many personal items left behind.

Aug 28, 2026 10:04 AM
Rainmaker
501,850
Adam Feinberg
Howard Hanna Elegran - Manhattan, NY
NYC Condo, Co-op, and Townhouse Advisor

This wasn't a first hand account- but a colleague's experience. Someone left sex toys out on the entry hall table during a final walk through. Apparently, a member of the family was not happy about selling the house and wanted to make a statement. 

Aug 28, 2026 09:48 AM
Rainmaker
551,675
Clay R. Seay
Ocala, FL

The worst was the refrigerator, left without power. Never open them ! Just move it out of the house. You have been warned, lol. 

Once a full house, including the pool table. The selling Broker did nothing, claiming it was a short sale, what do you expect. Evidently, a divorce and neither would go back to clean. luckily, the Buyer closed and sold, donated and keep some.  It worked out but that was during the short sale days. 

The contracts used to say "broom clean" but that has changed.

Aug 28, 2026 12:41 PM
Rainmaker
1,834,161
Jeff Masich-Scottsdale AZ Associate Broker,MBA,GRI
HomeSmart Real Estate - Scottsdale, AZ
Arizona Homes and Land Group/ Buy or Sell

1. A garage door laying in the yard

2. Stamp collection

🙂

Aug 28, 2026 12:46 PM
Ambassador
6,754,302
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Retired Home Stager/Redesign

Hi John- I'm having fun reading the answers. Looking back at the homes we've purhased I can't think of anything strange that was left behind. 

Aug 28, 2026 11:39 AM
Rainmaker
683,597
Katina Hargrove 352-551-0308
Stake Your Land Realty, Inc. - Eustis, FL
Broker/Owner

John Palmer I do not recall a strange thing being left in a house that I have sold.

Aug 28, 2026 09:14 AM
Ambassador
6,149,239
Debe Maxwell, CRS
Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC
The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

I have had two buyers that the previous owners of the homes they purchase, TRIED to take their cats with them but, they found their way back to the home that my buyers' purchased.

Both buyers, with the permission of the previous owners, wound up adopting the cats! That was their home and they weren't going anywhere!

Aug 28, 2026 07:56 PM
Rainmaker
586,496
Matthew Sturkie, CRS, GRI 909-969-3805
Action Realty - Apple Valley, CA
CRS, GRI 909-969-3805

A skeleton in a suitcase. An actual real skeleton that was left behind by the daughter of a doctor. It was an old medical school skeleton.

Aug 29, 2026 06:56 AM
Rainmaker
6,187,747
Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Oswego, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

A refrigerator packed with groceries. The problem, it took months to foreclose and get possession. The smell was atrocious. The washout guy had no problem but I was just short of real sick.

Aug 29, 2026 04:51 AM
Rainmaker
6,617,145
Joan Cox, Retired Broker/Owner
Denver, CO
Enjoying Every Day to Its Fullest!

Once I had found a couch cut in half in the basement.  The sellers said they TRIED to get it up the stairs, but couldn't.  Buyers cut it up more and got it out of the basement.

Aug 29, 2026 02:15 AM
Ambassador
2,730,618
Carol Williams
Although I'm retired, I enjoy sharing my knowledge and learning from other real estate industry professionals. - Wenatchee, WA
Author, Golfer, Traveler, Retired, Wenatchee, WA

Poop UNDER the house. The sewer had never been hooked up. 

Aug 29, 2026 07:05 AM
Ambassador
7,438,451
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

A stack of dynamite boxes, a little nervous to open them before finding them empty.

Aug 29, 2026 05:37 AM
Rainmaker
1,740,015
Inna Ivchenko
Equity Union - Calabasas, CA
REALTOR® | Residential & Commercial

I guess, I was lucky. Just extra damage in foreclosures and REOs with piles of  trash behind. The aroma sometimes is unbearable, some nasty abandoned pools. 

Aug 28, 2026 09:46 PM
Rainmaker
1,781,842
Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089
Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI
Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

Those are some nasty stories!  I can't top any of them.  I do find it odd when they leave behind perfectly good things they can't be bothered to remove.

Aug 28, 2026 06:59 PM
Rainmaker
762,620
Buzz Mackintosh
Mackintosh REALTORS - Frederick, MD
“Experience, reliable, leadership”

A bunch of snake skins hanging from from the pipes in the cellar of an old farm house. 🐍

Aug 29, 2026 05:13 PM
Rainmaker
3,064,338
Richie & You
pearlsforthesoul.com - Cedar City, UT
Author & Consultant

John,

In my property management travels, I have seen much, mostly trash, some valuables & some items unknown for use...People remain consistent with leave behinds of all types John Palmer 

Aug 29, 2026 02:51 PM
Rainmaker
854,145
Tony Lewis
Summit Real Estate Group - Valencia, CA
Summit Real Estate Group Valencia & Aliso Viejo

A car, they needed to pick it up after the buyer took possession.

Aug 30, 2026 04:58 PM
Rainmaker
5,776,558
Will Hamm
Hamm Homes - Aurora, CO
"Where There's a Will, There's a Way!"

dirty diapers

Aug 29, 2026 11:25 AM
Rainmaker
9,960
Corinne Guest
Corinne Guest - Lake Barrington, IL
Retired Broker. FX Trader, Golden Retrievers.

Ammunition is the garage and a dildo in the attic which the owner swears she did not know about.

Aug 29, 2026 07:01 AM
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