Couple Buys Vacant Home, Only to Discover a Several Nightmares Hidden Behind the Walls

When shopping for a home, many people will try to look for ways to save a few bucks. Sometimes that means buying a home that needs a little work, or purchasing a property that has been sitting on the market for a while.

For one couple, buying a vacant home ended up becoming a bit of a money pit situation when they realized that the house was actually in much worse shape than they thought. The couple shared a bit about their experience on their DIYNestStories Facebook page, warning other potential homebuyers of some of the things they should be on the lookout for when considering a vacant property.

The post turned into nightmare fuel for anyone who might be considering a vacant property, especially once they documented the laundry list of issues they faced, each of them sounding worse than the one before. 

From broken pipes to wildlife, the couple named the top eight biggest problems they’ve run into in their fixer-upper. And based on the comments from followers, it seems like there may be even more hidden issues lurking in the home. 

The Couple’s Home Needed to Be Taken Down to the Studs

According to the video, the home had sat empty for two years before the couple purchased it. Once they got into the property and started working on rehabbing it, they discovered that there were a lot more problems than originally expected.

Some of them were obvious immediately, and it sounds like they knew about them before they even signed the purchase agreement, including the rotting siding on the exterior of the home. Other issues were a little more surprising, like the massive raccoon population that had moved into the attic (which included at least one litter of babies, according to the video).

Then there were a number of plumbing issues, including broken pipes and water damage, which created a ton of issues, including mold. That forced the pair to strip the house down to the studs so they could replace the pipes and the damaged wood, including the subfloor. 

People Think More Issues Are Hiding in the Home

As if those problems weren’t enough for the couple, commenters said that there could be additional issues. “That raccoon hole looks like the house once had a fire in it. That’s [charred] wood,” one person wrote.

“The first things you should do are to replace water pumps, pipes, and electricity lines,” another added. “This house is very old, so even if it was working fine now, tomorrow not. Nothing lives forever … Further then this, those water pumps and pipes are full of metal from overuse. Very poisonous.” 

Whether or not commenters are right remains to be seen, but according to the Realty Hive blog, there are definitely some additional things to consider when purchasing a vacant property, including potentially hazardous issues. That being said, it looks like the new homeowners are addressing everything they find as it comes up and doing a very good job of renovating the property, so hopefully they will catch any possible additional issues before they move in.