A US home under foreclosure has gone viral after the listing revealed a bizarre requirement: Prospective buyers must purchase it completely sight-unseen, current occupant included.<\/p>\n
Located at 408 Garfield Ave. in Nunn, CO, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house is listed for sale for $215,280 (AUD $305,000).<\/p>\n
The home\u2019s occupant, a widow, has lived there for 20 years since her husband died and a mortgage failed to transfer properly, listing agent Rob Kittle of Kittle Real Estate tells Realtor.com\u00ae. It is unclear if anyone else resides at the property.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been disputing it for 20 years and living there for free,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The widow, Tori McMechan, told local news outlet KVUE that her husband bought the home in 2006 \u2014 four years before he died in a car crash.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A woman who refused to leave her home when the bank came knocking is now part of the deal when it eventually sells. Picture: Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the last thing that my husband bought for me before he passed. This is where I raised my children,\u201d she told the outlet, which obtained court records showing the fight for the property has played out across six foreclosure filings dating to 2010.<\/p>\n
McMechan told the outlet that her last hope is to be evicted. Colorado in 2024 implemented a law that gives evicted tenants a right to a jury trial.<\/p>\n
Kittle, who has not been able to access the residence, pulls no punches in the listing description.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe property is being sold occupied\/sight\u2013unseen\/no access. DO NOT DISTURB THE OCCUPANTS. NO SHOWINGS and NO PROPERTY ACCESS for inspections or otherwise. NO TRESPASSING,\u201d the description reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Listing Agent does not have access to the property, has never been inside the property, and cannot speak to the condition of the property, mechanicals, appliances, or any other contents. The occupants do not pay rent,\u201d the listing adds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The front of the home\u2026 as close as buyers can get. Picture: Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not an income property sale. Buyer assumes the property in its current, unknown, as-is condition with the occupants in place. Buyer will be responsible for obtaining possession of the property upon closing,\u201d the listing ends. <\/p>\n
The property was originally listed in June for $234,000 (AUD $332,000). The price has since dropped, now reflecting a discount of roughly 50 per cent off market value, according to Kittle.<\/p>\n
However, the low price means that the buyer must take on the eviction process. Kittle noted McMechan believes she is owed a settlement from the bank over how the foreclosure was originally handled.<\/p>\n
Kittle says he recently received an offer about $10,000 (AUD $14,000) below the asking price, but it was rejected by the bank\u2019s asset manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should accept anything at all. If you could find someone who\u2019s willing to deal with this type of occupant, you should take it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s husband died in a car crash and she has been disputing ownership of the home since. Picture: Supplied<\/p>\n
Kittle adds that due to the potential legal headache, the property is suited strictly for real estate investors, and not for a buyer looking to move in anytime soon.<\/p>\n
The listing went viral on social media, dividing users over whether the listing is a bargain or a money pit.<\/p>\n
The Facebook group \u201cGreeley! Anything still goes\u201d shared a screenshot of the listing with a sarcastic caption: \u201cWhat an amazing deal!\u201d accompanied by a rolling-on-the-floor laughing emoji.<\/p>\n
Commenters quickly chimed in.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be suspicious, don\u2019t be suspicious,\u201d one user joked.<\/p>\n
Another pointed out the financial hurdle.<\/p>\n
\u201cSold with humans already inside. LOL you cannot get inside to verify condition so basically how would you get any financing without the inspection? So this would be a cash deal and hope for the best Great deal if that money don\u2019t matter,\u201d the user wrote.<\/p>\n
Reactions on kalesalad\u2019s Instagram post of the listing were even more colourful, with one user writing: \u201cI know it\u2019s actually squatters, but the description makes it sound like the house is full of angry bees.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A US home under foreclosure has gone viral after the listing revealed a bizarre requirement: Prospective buyers must…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-841468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}