It appears the house hasn't changed hands in 10 years since built, but something unfortunate has happened there. Redfin has it flagged as a short sale...

Yuck!!

Thats clearly the "as-is" notice. I'd bet there's no one around to be embarassed, they wrote the house off long ago when they lost it. There's no one willing to put the money into having it cleaned.

Why would ANYONE include the picture of the corner of a room with (hopefully) dog poop?

Let's say the condition exists. why would the agent or anyone else include the picture?

There is more to this than we know.

Did a satellite crash through the roof?

I've seen places that required a hold-harmless agreement before they'd even let you go view them, but generally they just use a single photo of the outside in the listing.

As an agent, I'd refuse the listing, or pay to get it cleaned before getting pics. I wouldn't want to be associated with taking and marketing a property in that kind of condition.

Why should the bank or seller spend money on cleaning it when the investor is going to offer the same amount for it either way?

When houses are in horrible condition & the photos make it look better than it is, people (buyers & agents alike) get very excited & rush off to look at it & then howl in disappointment.

& they always howl at the listing agent.

Makes you wonder about the agent as to why show a house in the worse possible way. A couple hundred bucks to clean and it is showable. But, the low middle and high school ratings, that would make me steer clear of this house.

Assuming they weren't smokers, fixes would be easy. Can envision somebody buying and renting or just reselling.

So some folks can understand the idea of including a photo of a corner of a room that shows nothing but dog poo? Wow!

I do appreciate an honest listing photo. I had to do a late-night showing for a working couple and we were sure disappointed to find holes in the ceiling and missing walls (like the one behind the toilet that separated the living room from the bathroom) when they are a "needs to be move in ready" family. Of course, the "too good to be true" price should've raised questions in the mind of the person who scheduled this showing (not me! - I was helping out someone on my team).

One of the things that listing photos can't communicate is the stink that permeates a property. This place stinks. It's dirty, messy and smelly.

Remember, dirt is an opportunity.

This an opportunity for the right buyer. An investor will buy it at a distressed price, bring in a cleaning crew, rip out the carpet and soiled flooring, sterilize it with the use of neutral paint and chlorine bleach. They will either rent or sell it. This is the bread and butter of the investment realty business.

Salti, if you were a prospective buyer for this house, would you rather know up front what you were getting into, or would you have liked the listing agent to use creative photography to lure unsuspecting buyers into the home for a useless showing?

I wish the listing agents of the three homes I showed that had human feces in the master bedrooms would have been as disclosing.

If that photo is what the LA believes will attract would-be buyers because of brutal honesty, then I would pass on the house and dealing with that LA.

Absent the picture, had I expressed interest to the LA I would have expected he/she to tell me how badly it would show - including the dog poop.

The photos are honest - the place has been trashed. Probably looking at subfloor damage under the carpet --doubt the dogs just pooped.

I guarantee that it is an REO - not a short sale (Redfin...well not for accurate data) No appliances is the give-away that no one lives there.

As for the realtor paying to clean it --- get a grip people.

Its listed for $119K. Guessing it might close for $85 -90K because of the condition.

Call it $100k as the sale to be generous That means the listing realtor's office -with a total of 6% for all realtors involved - would only get $3000 if there is a buyer's realtor. That commission gets split up - part to the listing agent, part to the local office they work out of and part to the national chain they are affiliated with. The actual listing agent could walk out with as little as $1000 -1500

And you all think the realtor should bring in a cleaning crew ?? Walls and that awful carpet (better to just rip it up than clean), empty the trash......gee the bill would only be $300-700 for the cleaning and trash crews.

ANd if this realtor is under contract with a lender to sell their REOs they generally don't get pick and choose which they will list.

I

I wish the listing agents of the three homes I showed that had human feces in the master bedrooms would have been as disclosing.

I sold one where you had to step over it in the front hall. My prospects wanted the worst fixer upper in the area! They got it in the early '80s for $56K. Now worth well over a $1 million.(Scat presumably not included.)

"I wish the listing agents of the three homes I showed that had human feces in the master bedrooms would have been as disclosing."

Rationalization for why the listing agents were "forced" to take the listing. OR, was it actually the god almighty dollar? lol

The "dollar" is why we do this... just like anyone's job.

What's your point?

Yes, a few hundred dollars to clean up the poop, wash the floors and vacuum, make it presentable. That doesn't mean you are trying to put one over on potential buyers writersblock. Common sense. The price alone would make one wonder what's up. Buyers will see the condition of the house when they tour it. They can decide if the house is worth fixing to live in or flip it or just walk away. But posting pictures of poop is just stupid.

>That doesn't mean you are trying to put one over on potential buyers writersblock

Where did I say that?

You guys are funny... you can not vacuum up filth! Even if you picked up the poop, the home is going to stink to high heaven until a new owner comes in and replaces the sub floor. At least bleaches them. Do you really think vacuuming the carpet is gonna increase the value of the home? Second, it is not the responsibility of agents to clean, disinfect, nor fumigate someone else's property. That is the responsibility and the decision of the seller. This is probably a bank's REO, and if they have decided to market it as it is, then the agent has no reason to do anything different. In fact, the agent has to follow the directions of the seller. The bank has a good reason why they chose to not replace the subfloors. carpet, and what ever else.

I once listed a home for a seller whose home was just cluttered with dirty dishes, dirty clothes and what ever else she had chosen to hoard. She told me to give her a week to clean the home. She called me back when she was ready. I went there to take the pics and was pissed off to see that the home looked pretty much the same. So, I snapped pictures of the dirty dishes on the counters of the sink, and snapped pictures of her dirty underwear and bras and other clothes that were sprawled over her bed.

I created the listing, uploaded it to the MLS and sent her the live MLS listing. She about had a cow! She insisted that she would clean up more and asked me to come by again for new pictures.

Maybe the listing agent of this home is in the same circumstances.

See now REG, I think you are the ones being funny. Trying to defend pictures of poop. As I stated, potential buyers will see the condition of the house when entering, then decide whether they want to fix it up, flip it or walk away. Since when is making a house presentable to show a bad thing to do? That doesn't mean replacing flooring or walls or having it fumigated. It does mean to clean up poop, sweep and wash floors. No big deal.

"The "dollar" is why we do this... just like anyone's job."

BS. Not everyone works for the "dollar" without regard for ethics and other standards. Apparently some do. Wow.

FWIW, that house isn't priced cheaply for the area. I sold a similar home a few streets away for 72.00 sf with refrig air, stainless steel appliances, and immaculate.

Since when is making a house presentable to show a bad thing to do?It does mean to clean up poop, sweep and wash floors. No big deal.

Yep, when I was a real estate salesman and broker for 17 years, I spent most of my days vacuuming and scrubbing floors on my hands and knees. Pretty soon having a "worthy" listing meant a free spring housecleaning for anyone who agreed to take my sign on their front lawn. And let's not even get to my horticultural skills!

You gripe when agents misrepresent by omission and now you gripe when the pictures show a fair representation of the property...

Once again, this house needs more than a cleaning. It needs new carpet at the VERY least. I suppose the listing agent should foot the bill for that too?

I decided not to look. Anyone seen "99 Homes"?

' without regard for ethics and other standards.'

Do you even think before you post?

Realtor's ethics & standards have nothing to do with the state this house is in.

Seller makes decisions about cleaning, repairing, & pricing, & these are decisions seller is entitled to make & have nothing to do with anybody's ethics or standards.

I've been in houses where the carpet crunched when you walked across it, where the pool had frogs in it, where the grass was so tall that the guy hired to mow had to stop & walk the property to pick up wires & bags of trash (he called to let us know there was an abandoned car out there...), where an enraged former spouse had methodically smashed one blade of every fan in the place, broken one pane of every window, taken a sledge hammer to the paneling, completely removed the walls from the master bedroom, & piled the pieces of wood in the dining room & lit a candle under it (fortunately, the windows were all closed & the candle went out).

How could anybody conclude that any of these conditions reflect on the character of the sellers or the Realtors?

Sylvia, you should have towed that clunker out of the back yard with your own car, you should have repaired those sledge hammer holes in the drywall, you should have cleaned that pool with shock, you should have framed in the master bedroom again, and you should have replaced every window pane in the home.

It would only cost a couple hundred dollars to have done so...

Really, I think part of the misunderstanding here is that many people do not realize how some people live behind closed doors. It would blow you away to see the inside of some of these homes. But, the sellers still have the choice to sell.

Must admit the dog poo pictures surprised me but when it is explained, it all makes sense.

No, it doesn't need more then a basic cleaning to make it presentable for showing. It doesn't need new carpeting or painting or anything else besides a basic cleaning for presentation. Over exaggerating what needs to be done in this house to defend not spending a few hundred dollars to make a few thousand isn't really hitting the mark you are trying to make.

Apparently, you have never experienced walking through a home that has been treated like this one has. I have. Many times over. On several occasions, I was unable to stay inside w/o puking. And I am not a squeamish person.

Your point of "why not spend a few hundred dollars to clean it up in order to make a few thousand" does not cut it... This property will not garner any more worth in its current condition than it would if it had a simple cleaning. In fact, I bet showing the true condition of this home will prove to sell it quicker. Investors love properties that look like this. The agent is going to make more money if he/she does not clean the home, and the home will sell for the same price no matter if the carpet is vacuumed or not.

This is one agent that DOES NOT spend money to clean up one's disrespect of one's self.

Even if it did only need a "basic cleaning to make it presentable" it ISN'T the realtor's responsibility to do it!

Your gripe is with the sellers. And obviously the sellers don't care.

It seems as if many on this forum aren't as familiar with distressed sales. They are definitely a special category and most of the buyers I work with are not prepared to deal with them (I generally don't work with investors or flippers). It's a much, much bigger problem when homes present like this that are NOT distressed because they will be used for appraisal comps and will drag down the values of nearby homes.

I think of a hoarder condo that was listed and sold for over 50% below normal ($99K) with one picture - the only one that could be taken - looking inside the front door. There wasn't space in the trash to move inside for additional pictures. Everyone had to wait six months to sell to move that condo off the comps and it totally sucked because there aren't that many cash buyers in that price range ($250K+) that don't need an appraisal.

Most of the REOs I've dealt with have actually been cleaner, nicer than the Short Sales, especially Homepath properties. Unless it's a bona fide tear down, they have crews that go in and clean up and do periodic checks on the homes, changing out the air fresheners and vacuuming, etc. That may be unique in my area because we are in a developer boom - teardowns are more common because it's an older area and the land has more value for new construction, and new construction can cost less per square than restoring renovation (ie refinishing original hardwood floors, repairing wood windows, etc).

I think part of the problem is that people are forgetting these sorts of houses are not exactly marketed to people looking for "move in ready." Yes the photo of poo is hideous and I'd probably suggest leaving that one particular photo out of the listing - but I also think it's insane to suggest the realtors taking these kinds of listings should invest their own time/money in cleaning them up. The place is a gut job whether there is poo on the floor or not.

My sister and BIL looked for houses like that! Because the worst house in an otherwise decent neighbourhood is more profitable. And usually the neighbors are grateful you are doing something about the eyesore.

They had one house that had been used as a drug-using spot by the local high school kids, one that had pigeons roosting in the kitchen and a back yard so weedy that the short Mayan clean up guy couldn't be seen. He went into the vegetation like Indiana Jones and we could only hear the weed whacker out there for half an hour.

They are only scary if you haven't done it before.

On my way to work was a house like this - basically turned into a flop house. It was on a corner in a decent lower average neighborhood.

I thought it was a tear down.

A couple bought it. They lived in their travel trailer in the driveway while they gutted it.

It took them almost 2 years. Bought at the sheriff auction for about 35k. Sold 2 years later for about 170k. Hard work, but profitable.

In my opinion, it's the seller's responsibility, not the realtor, to present a clean house. After reading the breakdown of fees for the realtor, I dont see how they could possibly come out ahead after paying for cleaning. Not only that, I would be leery of any assumed liability...ie the seller, or bank, states that something was damaged in the process of clean up. At least the buyer will have an idea of the state of the home. People who are not interested in that kind of purchase will not waste time viewing the home after seeing the pics. When I bought my house as a short sale, it was in horrid condition. No one bothered to clean it. The dust was so thick, I tried to hold my breath when seeing it. I knew it was going to need a lot of work when I bought it.

El Paso has become a meth town (cheap from Mexico) so I wouldn't be surprised if it's being disclosed that meth was being used in the house. If that's the case, the realtor probably wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. The price is surprisingly high.

As much as I cringe looking at the poop picture, it would be miles worse if I didn't know the true condition and walked into the house. I'd rather know about it via the pictures and skip visiting. And I wouldn't expect a realtor to be responsible for cleaning it up (or paying to get it cleaned.)

that's a first. You guys are horrified that someone listed the property like that. I am horrified that someone lived like that. gross!

Magdalena lee, where did you get that idea? I've lived here 30 yrs. I haven't ever seen anything reported about meth houses, or meth busts. Pot, yes. Meth, no. Did you know that we are ranked the safest city of its Size in the us for the 4th yr in a row?

Elpaso1, I live in Central Texas and it's something I've heard. I'm not a regular reader of this particular news outlet, but their article (linked below) speaks to what I've heard. I don't have first hand knowledge and apologize for not stating that to begin with.

"While local politicians from San Diego to El Paso to the Rio Grande
Valley routinely claim that their crime statistics are continuously low,
in reality those statistics don’t account for federal crimes that took
place in their city such as kidnappings, drug trafficking and other
spillover crimes.The “safe” statistics are based off an outdated 1930’s model called UCR
(Uniform Crime Report) that the FBI is trying to push out of operation
because of the many holes it has."

Why Claims of a ‘Safe Border’ are Wrong and Deceptive

"I am horrified that someone lived like that. gross!"

It is gross. But stuff happens.

When you see a lender-owned or sometimes even a short sale like that, you can see that people's lives got away from them. Sometimes it's sudden and debilitating illness; they cannot physically take care of the property anymore and don't know how to get or are too proud to accept help. Sometimes it's substance abuse and the behaviors that come with it, where everything is second to a fix. Sometimes it's frustration and anger at the loss of a place that someone worked pretty d--n hard to have, so they'll make sure it's not nice for anyone else coming along.

Frankly, I'm surprised we don't see more listings like this one.

...And, sometimes it is not so complicated as that...

Steve, one of the saddest things I ever heard from a Realtor was a comment one of my colleagues made when he had just closed a short sale for a buyer.

After closing, he went by the house & found the former owner inside the immaculate home, dusting the fireplace mantle.

I'm not saying there aren't people who know how to game the system. Just that a little compassion and giving the benefit of the doubt really won't kill anybody until its proven to be unwarranted.