The stuff people leave behind...

**Glenn Curtis** · 06-11-2010, 11:55 AM

We've got more abandoned repo's here in Vegas than you can imagine. People just walk away and leave stuff....it boggles the mind. This home was abandoned by an older gal who had lost her husband years back....then her health...then had to move out into assisted living. Couldn't take much with her so she took what she could...her kids rifled through the rest and took what they wanted...then they just walked away and left the remainder for the next homeowner to deal with. Check out the pics. Just left this stuff in the garage. I wanted to cry. When I left for college (mid-'70's) my sisters traded some of my albums to their friends for some trinkets and thought I'd never notice that my 'Meet the Beatles' album was missing....along with other rare & collectible vinyls. I could just cry.... And no...they stayed right where they were when I left. The older I get...the more I find...'less is more'. So sad...all the broken lives and wasted resources.

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Byron Brubaker · 06-11-2010, 12:22 PM

Do you remember the number on that white album and if the poster & pics were in it?

**Michael Thomas** · 06-11-2010, 12:26 PM

Yep, it can make you pretty bluesy sometimes.

The ones that really get to me are the ones where there was obvious pride of ownership - nice gardens, careful decorating, things were obviously carefully repaired probably by homeowners, stuff like that - you really get the feeling that these people were looking at the property as a homes, rather than investment or money multiplying machines.

The flip-side of that is that in a few of the communities where I inspect there were pockets of poverty and deterioration in otherwise thriving communities where the property has gotten so cheap that a new generation of first-time home buyers are moving in and updating and rehabbing.

There was a woman I inspected for in early '09 - a single woman in her 20s - who was buying a foreclosure, a basically sound townhouse for 70K on one of the worst blocks in a community where a half-mile away the same townhome is still selling for 175K.

I was wondering if I should say anything about the neighborhood she was moving into - definitely not a place I would feel safe walking down the street, -but I decided "it's the weekend, it's daylight, she can see what she's getting into".

I was back on that street last month - I couldn't even park because of all the work vehicles. Some of those are flippers for sure, but I know from talking to agents at my inspections that a lot of them are purchases as personal residences.

If you're a first-time buyer, and you have a reliable source of income, and you have got the 20% put down, you can buy some of these properties at a price where you could do 10-20K of mostly cosmetic work and *make* money renting in the first year you owned them if you had to move.

**Glenn Curtis** · 06-11-2010, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by Byron Brubaker

Do you remember the number on that white album and if the poster & pics were in it?

Nope! I saw the number though... It's like seeing a pretty girl....and your married. You look...once...but not too close.... then forgetaboutit!

But, being the 'thorough' inspector that I am.... I did take a pic!

If you blow it up you may be able to see the number.

**Rick Hurst** · 06-11-2010, 01:25 PM

I probably have everyone one of The Beatles albums and all together there probably worth less than 50.00

You can pick those up in any used record store for just a few bucks.

You were smart to leave them all behind. You never know when they might have a hidden camera on you and your on some news story on 20/20 next week.

Just a thought.

rick

**Rick Hurst** · 06-11-2010, 08:02 PM

Oh No!

**Jack Feldmann** · 06-12-2010, 08:10 AM

Yesterday's inspection. Here's something the old owners left behind. I didn't bother taking it.

**Glenn Curtis** · 06-12-2010, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by Rick Hurst

I probably have everyone one of The Beatles albums and all together there probably worth less than 50.00

You were smart to leave them all behind. You never know when they might have a hidden camera on you and your on some news story on 20/20 next week.

rick

Yup! Spot-on Rick. My mother 'ruined' me when I was young.... She said '...son, live your life as if I were there with you.... watching you every second! See my face looking at you....then do the right thing.'

Man did that make it tough when I was 'dating'!!!

But she was right...and I did. I think many inspectors conduct themselves as if there were a camera on them at all times....and when they inspect....they are 'preparing' for court. Wise choices both. In 35+ years of martial arts training....I've had rare occasion to use my skills...but boy was I glad I had them when those 'rare' times came around! (Makes for great stories for my kids-n-grandkids.)

**Scott Patterson** · 06-13-2010, 10:43 AM

I think what gets to me the most in repo homes involves stuff that had to do with the kids that lived in the home. Height marks on the door frame, certificates from school, and little hidden treasures that they put away will always get to me and get me to thinking what happened to the children.

**Erby Crofutt** · 06-13-2010, 11:24 AM

Wait until you go into one that looks like someone just packed up to go on vacation and never came back.

Everything, kitchen stuff, toys, TVs, computers, clothes, bedding, still there.

Makes you wonder.

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**Dan Harris** · 06-13-2010, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I think what gets to me the most in repo homes involves stuff that had to do with the kids that lived in the home. Height marks on the door frame, certificates from school, and little hidden treasures that they put away will always get to me and get me to thinking what happened to the children.

How true.. I had one last year where a 6th grade little girl left a note to the new owners on a hall cabinent shelf.
The note explained how her dad lost his job and they could not live there any more, wished the new owners and the children have as many memories as she did in the home, explained which room was her's, the pink one, and her brothers, blue and green, gave names of the neighbor kids, school info and more.

Byron Brubaker · 06-13-2010, 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by Glenn Curtis

Nope! I saw the number though... It's like seeing a pretty girl....and your married. You look...once...but not too close.... then forgetaboutit!

But, being the 'thorough' inspector that I am.... I did take a pic!

If you blow it up you may be able to see the number.

Ahhh, a huge number. If the vinyl is good maybe worth $10 - $15. Too bad they left stuff behind. Sad when folks have to ditch their belongings.