Why Can’t They Sell This House? There Might Be a Reason or Two

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Why Can't They Sell This House

Supposedly, the real estate market is doing really well once again.  However, you can’t tell by this house that is for sale in my neighborhood.  Houses don’t usually stay on the market for very long in my neighborhood because we’re in a quiet little tucked away area.  Most people don’t realize that my neighborhood exists, even if they’ve lived in the local community for many, many years.  It’s a nice enough looking place, somewhat a corner lot, so why can’t they sell this house?

I’ve lived in the neighborhood for seven years and have seen many people move in and out of this house.  My daughter and her dad even laugh and call it the haunted house because no one stayed there very long.  We decided that it’s a rental since there has never been a sign in the yard until now.

However, it has now been standing empty for months.  It has become an eyesore in our neighborhood.  I am thankful that I live at the other end of the street, because I might be in trouble if I lived closer.  If you haven’t read all the way through, you’ll soon understand the problem.  You will soon clearly see why they can’t sell this house!

The yard hasn’t been mowed in months.  Unlike last summer when we had a drought, rain has been plentiful this summer.  I took this picture over two weeks ago and we’ve had several more rains since then.  Yep, you guessed it, the grass has grown even taller!

Why Can't They Sell This House

I was parked in the street, directly at the end of the sidewalk to take this picture.  Then I tried to turn my camera to take a picture of the realtor’s sign.  I intended to call and complain about the issue and how bad it makes the neighborhood look.  I wasn’t very successful as you can see in the picture below.

Why Can't They Sell This House

Why Can’t They Sell This House?  There Might Be a Reason or Two

Today, I was quite shocked as I drove by and saw that it had been mowed.  My hopes were quickly dampened though because as I got closer, I realized that only a single pass had been made across the front.  Now, the sign can be seen, but seriously, who would really want to walk through all of this to look at a house?

Why Can't They Sell This House

I was honestly worried about walking across the little strip of mowed grass.  I wanted to determine how tall the grass really is.  There were large holes in the ground and I was afraid that a snake might come crawling out of one of them!

Why Can't They Sell This House      Why Can't They Sell This House

On a really good day, I am a whole whopping 5’3″ tall.  I had to hold my arms up in this picture to keep them from being attacked by this overgrown yard.  After my daughter and I walked back home from taking these new pictures, I measured the height of where the grass hit me, which was basically just under my armpits.  The height of the hayfield measured in at 3’5″ tall!

Why Can't They Sell This House

Thankfully, a driveway runs between this house and the one shown in the background of third picture, so we were able to safely walk around to look at the back of the house.  However, our noses would have appreciated us NOT walking around that side of the house.  Notice the swing set back there?  I realize that it’s kind of hard to find, but it belongs to this same house, not the one across the street.  While the height of the grass in the back might have been worse than the grass (aka the hayfield) in the front yard, we were a bit more concerned with the smell.  I couldn’t quite decide if it was the smell of sewage, propane, or something else rotten in the state of Denmark, but it was BAD!

Before walking down to take these pictures, I called the realtor on the sign.  He said that he’s not responsible for any of this and he had nothing to do with having that small patch of grass cut.  Perhaps the neighbor on the other side, with the neatly manicured lawn, did it.  Who knows, who cares?  Well, obviously I do, but the owners and realtor of the property ought to be the ones showing concern about this property.  After all, they’re the ones who are trying to sell this stinky, quarter-acre hayfield for $140,000!

No, I’m not willing to go and mow the grass for them.  I wouldn’t mind helping out if there were a true need.  But when I consider the fact that I’m disabled yet manage to mow and weed eat my yard as needed, I just can’t justify doing it for them.  I have mowed for a couple of neighbors before, but that was because they needed a little help not because they were simply neglecting their responsibilities as a home owner.

While this isn’t the sort of thing I normally write about, I wanted to put all of the information and pictures in one location so that I could share it with all of the proper authorities in my area.  Of course, if any of you have suggestions, I’d appreciate your thoughts and ideas.  Our neighborhood is located in Pulaski County, Missouri.  We are not in the Waynesville city limits though.  If we were in the city, I would know exactly who to call.  🙁

Until this is resolved, I’m just thankful to live at THIS end of the street!   I’m sure that my neighbors are also appreciative that I live at this end of the street and that the other house isn’t near them either!

Comments

  1. Please note I am not defending these owners, but maybe they left the city/state/country whatever. So they aren’t around? Maybe they hired someone to keep it up and it hasn’t been done??

    • I totally understand your point. Yeah, someone has contacted me and already let me know that the owner is not in the area. Being a military community, this isn’t uncommon. However, if someone doesn’t get the ball rolling, the problem is only going to get worse. 🙁

  2. Mary Switzer says

    Hey, Do, here in Richland… we call city hall and the city mows. They then add the fee to the utility bill, taxes or something similar. Try calling your City Hall or county. Hope this helps. MS

    • Thanks Mary,
      I’m not in the city limits, that’s the problem. If I were in the city, it would be taken care of. 🙁 Since I’m in the county, there is nothing. I am going to call the health department and they can cite them if the smell is linked back to the property, but even they told me there is no way to enforce it! I wrote this just in the nick of time though because it was brought up at yesterday’s County Commissioner’s meeting. 🙁 They said if there were Canadian Thistle growing, then something would be done. Otherwise, no regulations! 🙁

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