Are you preparing to sell your home? If so, then you understand the importance of having a home inspection.
Home inspectors are trained professionals who know how to spot problems in new or existing homes that can directly impact the value of a house. But sometimes they are actually very surprised by what the find while on the job.
This article takes a look at home inspection nightmares that sound too crazy to be true. Keep reading to professional home inspector stories that will make you laugh, cry, cringe, and might cause you to hesitate before going into your basement.
Has Anyone Seen Fluffy?
Everyone loves a family pet. Whether you are a dog person or a cat person (or a snake person), there’s really nothing better than adopting a furry friend into the house.
But sometimes people take their love of animals a bit too far. In fact, there are times when a pet owner simply can’t let go.
This is the story of a home inspector who found an actual pet cemetery in the basement of a New England home. The house literally contained dozen of graves, each marked with the name and age of a dog or cat that had already crossed the rainbow bridge.
The basement was so full of pet graves, there was barely room to walk.
Keep that in mind the next time you haven’t seen Fluffy for a few days.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It
On another occasion, an inspector discovered something she really wished she had never stumbled upon.
This house was loaded with ammunition. Everything from shotgun shells to TNT and handheld grenade launchers. In fact, there were enough explosives to start World War III.
The house was located in downtown St. Louis, right across the house where the mayor lived, but apparently the mayor didn’t have a clue that a tiny earthquake would have been enough to send the neighborhood up in a puff of smoke.
Why had the homeowners stockpiled such an arsenal? Well, this was the type of situation where you’re probably better off not asking too many questions. Just do your job and get out.
The Golden Arches
This is story isn’t gory or scary, but it still ranks right up there at the top of the category labeled “Oddballs.”
In Southern California a few years ago, a house inspector discovered a freezer in the basement that was running but making a strange sound. It was an old freezer unit so you might expect it to run a little rough.
The inspector decided to take a look. What he discovered wasn’t exactly what he would have guessed he’d find.
When he opened the freezer door, he was astonished to discover that the entire unit was stuffed full of McDonald’s hamburgers. From top to bottom and side to side. In fact, there wasn’t enough space left to fit a french fry.
In other words, someone loved MacDonald’s burgers so much that they didn’t ever want to run low on inventory.
Keep in mind that these burgers weren’t wrapped in freezer paper. They were simply stuffed inside, and many of them looked like they’d be there for years.
Perhaps the moral of the story is that people like what they like, and you can’t judge them for it. Even if it’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen.
Getting Into the Weeds
These days, it’s not uncommon for people to have a side hustle. After all, there are bills to pay and the cost of living has gotten out of control.
When it comes to the entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurs come in all different shapes and sizes. Everyone has a different specialty. And while some side businesses are legal, others definitely aren’t.
The truth is that home inspectors discover grow houses all the time. Some are in the basement, some are in the garage, and sometimes the part farm is located in the attic. You simply never know what you’re going to find until you find it.
Sometimes this grow houses are extremely elaborate, while other times it might be nothing more than a plant or due planted in a flower pot.
It just makes you wonder if the pot farm comes with the price of the house, or do they plan to pack it into the U-Haul along with everything else?
It’s Time for Sunday School
Another inspector went to a home to perform the house inspection, only to discover that the house was a converted church.
But here’s the twist…nothing had really been changed.
Everything inside the building had been maintained as if the door could be opened on Sunday morning for worship services. And yet it was now someone’s home and no longer a church at all.
It came complete with a baptistry, a sanctuary with pews and a podium for the preacher, and classrooms stocked with Sunday School materials. The only sign that anyone lived there was the four-poster bed located in the room that used to serve as the pastor’s office.
As they say, God works in mysterious ways.
The Ultimate List of Home Inspection Nightmares
The world is full of strange people and homes that contain all manner of mysteries. As a home inspector you simply never know what the day will bring. This list of home inspection nightmares proves that being a home inspector is much more exciting than you might have ever imagined.
Please feel free to contact us to schedule an inspection of your home.