How often do you look at Zillow listings and question the seller’s intentions or see something weird about a listing? One Zillow listing for a home in Nunn, Colorado has gone viral after warning prospective buyers that they can’t tour or inspect the property before closing. But it gets weirder. It also says that the person still living inside will be the buyer’s responsibility.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house about 25 miles from Fort Collins is listed at $215,280, and the occupant, Tori McMechan, has been fighting foreclosure on it for years, according to The New York Post. McMechan called the listing unreal, asking who would buy a home sight unseen with someone still in it. As it turns out, not just anyone.
In addition to the restriction of showings and property access for inspections, the listing instructs buyers not to disturb the occupants. It adds that the listing agent has never been inside and cannot speak to the home’s condition either. Finally, it says that the buyer assumes the property as-is, with the occupants in place, and will be responsible for obtaining possession after closing.
The listing went viral after it was shared by Zillow Gone Wild, which drew more than 4 million views. McMechan and her husband, James, bought it in 2006, and she’s said it was the last thing he purchased for her before he died in a car crash. She has fought the foreclosure through the courts without success, and she has said she intends to stay regardless of who buys the property, telling 9News that a new owner can come in, but she’s not leaving.
How a Home Ends Up Listed With Someone Still Inside
A sale like this one can come out of a foreclosure that’s run its full legal course while the occupant refuses to leave. When a homeowner defaults and loses a foreclosure fight, the property can be sold at auction or listed by the lender. If the former owner stays put, they become what’s known as a holdover occupant.
McMechan’s legal options have narrowed down to almost nothing. Both lawsuits she filed were dismissed, and the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that even if her allegations were taken as true, they didn’t amount to a legal reason to stop the foreclosure sale.
She’s said her remaining strategy is to force a new owner to evict her formally. She’d then use that eviction case as another chance to contest her removal. That all hinges on a 2024 Colorado Supreme Court decision that gives tenants facing eviction the right to demand a jury trial in certain circumstances.
Why Anyone Might Buy a Home They Can’t See
Buying a property sight-unseen with an occupant in place is a gamble. But for the right buyer, that doesn’t really matter. Foreclosure and auction properties are often sold this way, and investors who specialize in distressed real estate build the unknowns into the price, betting that a steep enough discount offsets the risk of an unseen interior and the cost and delay of gaining possession.
The eviction process is the thing that might force an ordinary buyer to give up the purchase, though. A new owner can’t simply change the locks on a holdover occupant. They generally have to go through a formal eviction in court, which takes time and money and, in a case like this, could be actively contested at every step.
For most homebuyers, the arrangement is a nonstarter, which is why these listings tend to draw investors rather than families, and why a $215,000 price for a house no one can enter struck so many viewers online as a warning rather than a deal.