Why would previous owner do this?!

ShadowHearth · 07-06-2011 8:54am #1

Hey, it's me again, sorry to bother you lads again, but so far you were good source of info.

So amyway, we checked one property few days ago, it was prety damn nice place with 1 acre of land and very cheap.

Weird thing I found: previuos owner took all carpets out, took all the tiles off the bathroom and left it with original wood trimming.

Estate agent said that: you would be putting in new stuff anyway...

Is that normal? Why would previuos owner go to all the hassle? I really doubt those tiles so expensive that he decided to take them with him... Misses just had a joke: maybe someone god killed in bathroom. I was like: muhahahahah, ...... Wait.....

Funny thing is: in the add used pictures are of fully finished house, and I took few pictures for myself so I can compare it now. Pictures in add were Deffenetly done 2-4 years ago.

Frank Black · 07-06-2011 8:59am

Bit strange all right - suppose the carpets could have had stains and stuff from over the years so he thought it might look better with them removed.
I've never heard of someone taking down tiles before though.

John Mason · 07-06-2011 9:24am

its the old saying "nowt as strange as folk"

I went sell agreed on my house but it took 6 months to close the sale, during those 6 months the owner, put up wood panelling all over the bathroom and painted it a really dark brown. he also put up some horrendous wall paper and painted the doors purple

ShadowHearth · 07-06-2011 9:42am

irishbird wrote: »

its the old saying "nowt as strange as folk"

I went sell agreed on my house but it took 6 months to close the sale, during those 6 months the owner, put up wood panelling all over the bathroom and painted it a really dark brown. he also put up some horrendous wall paper and painted the doors purple

I actuolly loled m8. I domt expect such shock, but I still would love to know the story

Azureus · 07-06-2011 10:36am

Landlords do crazy things-never found a reason for it! One of mine painted our magnolia (nice, spacious and neutral) bedroom a dark royal blue. Very strange.

Another decided to put latch locks on the outside of all the bedroom doors.

Kosseegan · 07-06-2011 11:46am

A friend of mine was friendly with a Cavan man. One day he called around to him and saw he was stripping wallpaper. He said, after he recovered from the shock of seeing him apparently spending money on his house, "are you re-decorating, Mick?" The reply was " No, I'm moving".

crossmolinalad · 07-06-2011 12:09pm

Bought my house from a continental guy
When i got the keys and got into the house everything was gone curtains carpets ect except bathroom and kitchen
When i contacted him he told me its normal in my home country to hand over the house empty
We re use the items in our new home if usable otherwise we dump it

seamus · 07-06-2011 12:13pm

Yeah, this isn't unheard of. Many people will have stories of coming into houses and finding everything completely stripped - taps, toilets, wood floors, curtain rails, lightbulbs, you name it.

There are some skinflints out there who'll take everything that they previously paid for, even if they're not sure if they can use it again.

crossmolinalad · 07-06-2011 12:14pm

Kosseegan wrote: »

A friend of mine was friendly with a Cavan man. One day he called around to him and saw he was stripping wallpaper. He said, after he recovered from the shock of seeing him apparently spending money on his house, "are you re-decorating, Mick?" The reply was " No, I'm moving".

Another normal thing from the continent
You can do anything in your rented house but when you are moving out you have to remove all the nails and screws out of the walls or sealings fill all the holes and repaint the house in neutral colors

tanyabond · 07-06-2011 2:51pm

Could it be that the carpet and tiles were in a really bad condition and possibly deterring the viewer? When it's been stripped off potential buyer could see it as a clean canvas for his ideas/colours to be applied and would possibly find it more attractive?

We recenty viewed a very old house and I think I would have had a better impression if there were no carpets/tiles...

zyndacyclone · 07-06-2011 3:16pm

Heh, the carpets and tiles were probably appalling and the previous owner was too cheap to replace them just to sell.

TBH, I agree with the agent. Never saw a house where I wouldn't replace all flooring and tiles the second I bought it.

Frank Black · 07-06-2011 3:28pm

I wish the previous owner of our house had removed the carpets when she moved out – she was a heavy smoker and my god they were rank – I very nearly got sick when I was removing them.

The bathroom was wallpapered as well so would have loved if that had been removed – had to spend 2 whole days stripping it – I’d never seem wallpaper in a bathroom before, but apparently you can get special stuff that’s water-resistant, unfortunately it makes it very hard to remove.

listermint · 07-06-2011 3:31pm

My monies on murder, proper CSI job that. probable bleached everything too.

mikemac · 07-06-2011 3:36pm

To take the thread in a positive direction

I've heard this from about four people in work. Seemed to have been a little tradition that sprung up in Ireland

When you sell your house you leave a bottle of wine (cheap, under 10 euro stuff) and two glasses in the fridge and a note "enjoy your new home"

And when you sell you do the same

Heard it a few times and read about it here. Ah bless

A shame the OP's seller wasn't like this

Senna · 07-06-2011 5:51pm

mikemac wrote: »

To take the thread in a positive direction

I've heard this from about four people in work. Seemed to have been a little tradition that sprung up in Ireland

When you sell your house you leave a bottle of wine (cheap, under 10 euro stuff) and two glasses in the fridge and a note "enjoy your new home"

And when you sell you do the same

Heard it a few times and read about it here. Ah bless

A shame the OP's seller wasn't like this

Common enough during the bubble when the sellers were making €€€€ on the house sale, less likely now when people are having to put all their savings into paying off the NE just to be able to sell.

TommyTippee · 07-06-2011 7:14pm

mikemac wrote: »

To take the thread in a positive direction

I've heard this from about four people in work. Seemed to have been a little tradition that sprung up in Ireland

When you sell your house you leave a bottle of wine (cheap, under 10 euro stuff) and two glasses in the fridge and a note "enjoy your new home"

And when you sell you do the same

Heard it a few times and read about it here. Ah bless

A shame the OP's seller wasn't like this

If someone's left you a bottle of wine, you've paid too much.

If they've taken the lightbulbs out, you've gotten a decent price.

Mr. Loverman · 07-06-2011 7:23pm

Tiles and carpets can be extremely expensive.

ShadowHearth · 07-06-2011 7:25pm

mikemac wrote: »

To take the thread in a positive direction

I've heard this from about four people in work. Seemed to have been a little tradition that sprung up in Ireland

When you sell your house you leave a bottle of wine (cheap, under 10 euro stuff) and two glasses in the fridge and a note "enjoy your new home"

And when you sell you do the same

Heard it a few times and read about it here. Ah bless

A shame the OP's seller wasn't like this

what fridge m8?

he took tiles, do you think he left fridge?

but i see where you coming from, its a lovely idea and it would be cool tradition.

a bit offtopic, but i checked 4 properties today, this time with more attention. the house we thought was sold, actuolly still for sale, agent got some problem with daft.ie. So we are prety sure to jump that ship, but then we checked last house... it goes cheap, very cheap, but it needs some work on it, and it can be some amazing house.

so i am back to squire one.... i thought getting aproved morgage is a hard part... feck no... finding a house is just brutal...

oh yeah add this: i like old type small cottage in the middle of nowhere. she likes big modern speciuos house... god dammit...

John Mason · 07-06-2011 8:53pm

mikemac wrote: »

To take the thread in a positive direction

I've heard this from about four people in work. Seemed to have been a little tradition that sprung up in Ireland

When you sell your house you leave a bottle of wine (cheap, under 10 euro stuff) and two glasses in the fridge and a note "enjoy your new home"

And when you sell you do the same

Heard it a few times and read about it here. Ah bless

A shame the OP's seller wasn't like this

my parents done this when they sold their house and also left chocolate for the children.

mine left me cigerette butts on the floors, inch thick grease on the kitchen tiles and a shed full of ****e

but my next door neighbours called in with a card and a bottle wine but also told me the front sitting room window had fallen out the week before and was only held in with pieces of wood, and that there was a major mouse problem in the house

johndaman66 · 07-06-2011 9:04pm

mikemac wrote: »

I've heard this from about four people in work. Seemed to have been a little tradition that sprung up in Ireland

When you sell your house you leave a bottle of wine (cheap, under 10 euro stuff) and two glasses in the fridge and a note "enjoy your new home"

Following on from your comment I've heard it being mentioned a few times that its very bad luck to move into a new house on a Friday. So ShadowHearth if your the supersticious type you'll know to steer clear of moving in on a Friday if you do buy!

brightspark · 07-06-2011 9:14pm

A friend of mine moved into a house, not alone had the lightbulbs gone...but so had the light fittings as well, leaving the wires hanging!!

ShadowHearth · 07-06-2011 9:26pm

irishbird wrote: »

my parents done this when they sold their house and also left chocolate for the children.

mine left me cigerette butts on the floors, inch thick grease on the kitchen tiles and a shed full of ****e

but my next door neighbours called in with a card and a bottle wine but also told me the front sitting room window had fallen out the week before and was only held in with pieces of wood, and that there was a major mouse problem in the house

pro neighours.

off topic again, but last property i checked i did my small sneaky thing. when EA fecked off i just went to the house nearby. there was a lovely older fella living in it. i asked him if he knew anything about house there being sold, and oh my i found out so much. how long is it in biulding state, how it was biult and by who. where they cut corners, why its for sale now. and anather bunch of info on it. back door was not locked, so he showed me inside with a proper biulders view of the situation.

Its not as bad as it sounds, but fella gave me and show me alot.

so my little advice for any person who is on the market to buy a house. allways have a chat with neighours. i actuolly would love to have a bottle of vine or something in my boot, just to give it to people like this.

smelltheglove · 08-06-2011 12:55am

I rented a business premises, the previous tenant decided, after hearing that a new photog had moved in, they wanted their carpet back or €200... it was a tiny slot in an indoor market.... Moved all the equipment around to take up the carpet, bought an offcut for €45, haha previous tenant was told to come collect, came and couldnt fit it into the boot..... sour grapes me thinks!

The first house I bought, when I moved in there were holes along the bottom of the walls in one bedroom, holes looked quite fresh too. I filled them in thinking very little of it to find out a few months later the previous owner had a history of drug dealing, think I know where he hid the drugs then, oh an why the garda helicopter liked to hover above my house constantly;)

mrmitty · 08-06-2011 11:50am

ShadowHearth wrote: »

.........

so my little advice for any person who is on the market to buy a house. allways have a chat with neighours. i actuolly would love to have a bottle of vine or something in my boot, just to give it to people like this.

This is excellent advice.
As someone who has bought and sold many properties over the years, I never completed a purchased without first talking with as many neighbors as possible.
I would like to add however that it's important to "consider the source".Be aware that there is a possibility of animosity between neighbors and keep this in mind when dissecting the information.
In other words, take whatever information you collect with a 'pinch of salt'.

up4it · 08-06-2011 1:54pm

Maybe someone stole the tiles from the house the OP referred to?

I recently viewed a house where all the copper had been nicked!

the_syco · 08-06-2011 2:54pm

ShadowHearth wrote: »

oh yeah add this: i like old type small cottage in the middle of nowhere. she likes big modern speciuos house... god dammit...

Point to note: "old type small cottage in the middle of nowhere" usually have damp problems - something you won't notice until September. Secondly, if it's old enough, it may be protected. Thirdly, if there's a thatched roof, you may have no choice but to keep it, as often the thatch is protected to keep the countryside look nice, or something. And by f**king gawd, they can be expensive to keep. A relative has found had building a house up the road is cheaper than keeping the thatch in good condition. I think the outside of the house can't be changed too much either.

tricky D · 08-06-2011 3:06pm

mikemac wrote: »

I've heard this from about four people in work. Seemed to have been a little tradition that sprung up in Ireland

When you sell your house you leave a bottle of wine (cheap, under 10 euro stuff) and two glasses in the fridge and a note "enjoy your new home"

Sounds like the time an 'easy-going' couple friends of mine moved to Copenhagen and rented an apartment off 2 hippy lesbians. There was some beers and a bag of grass and cig papers waiting for them.

derealbadger · 09-06-2011 12:09am

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Hey, it's me again, sorry to bother you lads again, but so far you were good source of info.

So amyway, we checked one property few days ago, it was prety damn nice place with 1 acre of land and very cheap.

Weird thing I found: previuos owner took all carpets out, took all the tiles off the bathroom and left it with original wood trimming.

Estate agent said that: you would be putting in new stuff anyway...

Is that normal? Why would previuos owner go to all the hassle? I really doubt those tiles so expensive that he decided to take them with him... Misses just had a joke: maybe someone god killed in bathroom. I was like: muhahahahah, ...... Wait.....

Funny thing is: in the add used pictures are of fully finished house, and I took few pictures for myself so I can compare it now. Pictures in add were Deffenetly done 2-4 years ago.

is the house in Cavan i believe its just standard up there

The_Conductor · 09-06-2011 7:46am

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Tiles and carpets can be extremely expensive.

Sure they can- however once you've cut carpet, or put tiles up- its very very difficult to reuse them elsewhere....... Ditto curtains etc.

OP- bad form on the previous owner to gut the place like that.....

Re: on the continent- yes, its entirely normal, and you are also expected to paint the house in neutral colours. If you're unlucky enough (or lucky enough- depending on your perspective) to live in Switzerland- they have inspectors who will check that your cleaning is up to scratch when moving....... Then again- the tradition of renting a furnished property is quite unusual- aside from in the UK and Ireland its almost unheard of.

Swings and roundabouts.......

ShadowHearth · 09-06-2011 8:54am

smccarrick wrote: »

Sure they can- however once you've cut carpet, or put tiles up- its very very difficult to reuse them elsewhere....... Ditto curtains etc.

OP- bad form on the previous owner to gut the place like that.....

Re: on the continent- yes, its entirely normal, and you are also expected to paint the house in neutral colours. If you're unlucky enough (or lucky enough- depending on your perspective) to live in Switzerland- they have inspectors who will check that your cleaning is up to scratch when moving....... Then again- the tradition of renting a furnished property is quite unusual- aside from in the UK and Ireland its almost unheard of.

Swings and roundabouts.......

You right there. I know that I am checking not expensive properties, but it's annoying when you come over and it's like a dump, still loads of trash, old plates and some dirty old clothes. Garage is up to the sealing with ****.

I asked ea if it will be removed, and he assured me that it will, but I already have bad impression about house. Why not to clean up and do basic stuff to make it more appealing?! The tyle and carpet thing is just a bit over the top...

Btw I was so surprised when we moved in in to Irish house ( renting ) and we had washing machines, fridge, cooker, plates etc. Back from where I came you get empty Walls and sockets. You rented, but allways had your own stuff: all things mentioned before and closets tables chairs and beds.

Anyway, I am stressing out now. I don't get it, how people enjoying the process of buying house... I am on my limit, tired and stressed out. Now got one property that we bouth love, it's good price and needs minor things for moving in, but all friends and people we know say only one thing: don't live in that town! It's evil! Bad reputation!!! When I ask people who live in there - town like town, has it's own weirdos now and then, but which town doesn't ... This **** does not help me at all lads ...

the_syco · 09-06-2011 10:17am

ShadowHearth wrote: »

This **** does not help me at all lads ...

Some of the bad rep may have been gathered in the past, or some may be relevant today. For example Limerick has a bad rep as a few people got stabbed in some of the estates, but other places in the town would probably be okay. No-one will say their town is sh|te - most people will defend their own town.

MrThrifty · 09-06-2011 4:01pm

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I asked ea if it will be removed, and he assured me that it will, but I already have bad impression about house. Why not to clean up and do basic stuff to make it more appealing?! The tyle and carpet thing is just a bit over the top...

Could it be a re-possessed house? I.e. bank selling it has no interest in making it look good for viewing... I'd insist that a condition of the sale be that the junk be cleared out if going ahead - your solicitor can ensure it gets done then...

Going off-topic, purely out of curiosity, what constitutes "very cheap" for this type of property (with land etc)?

As for bad areas, only town in the south that I've heard bad stories about has 7 letters in it's name that span the alphabet almost entirely and 3 vowels. Don't want to name it as could start a war!

Mr. Presentable · 09-06-2011 4:08pm

It is normal in some countries to leave a house empty. In Italy, for example, the only thing left in the kitchen would be the sink. So, OP, perhaps the previous owner was non-Irish.

ShadowHearth · 09-06-2011 6:16pm

MrThrifty wrote: »

Could it be a re-possessed house? I.e. bank selling it has no interest in making it look good for viewing... I'd insist that a condition of the sale be that the junk be cleared out if going ahead - your solicitor can ensure it gets done then...

Going off-topic, purely out of curiosity, what constitutes "very cheap" for this type of property (with land etc)?

As for bad areas, only town in the south that I've heard bad stories about has 7 letters in it's name that span the alphabet almost entirely and 3 vowels. Don't want to name it as could start a war!

funny enought we checked repossest property and it was coleaned out inside. no trash from previuos owners. the houses that are actuolly owned be some people are all full of crap. :rolleyes:

offtopic again, we decided to go for that property now. i called to EA and told him that i want to go for it, but i will get my friend contractor to have a proper check first. he asked me how much i will pay, he did not sounded happy, just normal ( i thought he would just say something like: good one, we will sort it out!)? i got a bit surprised. i said i will pay full price ( long story short, bank refused my offer which was not to far away from asking price, property is priced to sell and in all fairness for that money it is the best thing we have seen), but he said that he will come back to me tommorow and say if bank happy. is that normal? i thought if i pay asking price the house is mine, or there is some underground game going on? there is no way i will go more then that thought...

MrThrifty · 09-06-2011 7:21pm

ShadowHearth wrote: »

offtopic again, we decided to go for that property now. i called to EA and told him that i want to go for it, but i will get my friend contractor to have a proper check first. he asked me how much i will pay, he did not sounded happy, just normal ( i thought he would just say something like: good one, we will sort it out!)? i got a bit surprised. i said i will pay full price ( long story short, bank refused my offer which was not to far away from asking price, property is priced to sell and in all fairness for that money it is the best thing we have seen), but he said that he will come back to me tommorow and say if bank happy. is that normal? i thought if i pay asking price the house is mine, or there is some underground game going on? there is no way i will go more then that thought...

When you say bank, I presume then the bank is the seller of the house? A seller doesn't have to accept an offer if say they changed their mind about wanting to sell the house. But if this is not the case and there are no other bidders then their original asking price wasn't genuine and the auctioneer can get in touble for this kind of carry-on as far as I know. What's likely happening is that the auctioneer is getting in touch with other folk who viewed the house to try and start a bidding war. If there are no other bids and this drags out, give the seller a deadline to decide whether they want to accept your offer or not.

ShadowHearth · 09-06-2011 7:35pm

Emm it's from EA, auctionier. But property was repossessed and now EA is selling it for a bank, same way he would sell for anather person. If he starts a bidding war I will just go away as I really don't want to be involved in that crap and no way I will go over my price. So far that EA was really good and very helpful, but you newer know.

So this is a bit off then so? Pretty much he was suppose to say: very good sir, when you will be here to close the deal?

tricky D · 09-06-2011 7:44pm

If he tries to start a bidding war, reduce the offer by a few grand. The days of gazumping are supposed to be over.

ShadowHearth · 09-06-2011 7:57pm

tricky D wrote: »

If he tries to start a bidding war, reduce the offer by a few grand. The days of gazumping are supposed to be over.

Gazumping?

the_syco · 09-06-2011 9:33pm

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Gazumping?

Gazumping is when the seller sells the house to someone else for a higher price AFTER they have accepted your bid.

ie: EA accepts your bid. 5 days later, EA tells you house has been sold to someone else who offered €15,000 more. Goodbye.

MrThrifty · 09-06-2011 9:44pm

tricky D wrote: »

If he tries to start a bidding war, reduce the offer by a few grand. The days of gazumping are supposed to be over.

Nice one... Even better, tell him your offer stands for 24 hours only and then reduces by say 2.5k a day after that point!

Being curious again into how low prices have gotten, is the property in the 100s, 200s or 300s (of k)?

ShadowHearth · 10-06-2011 6:11am

Less then 100k m8. Will need just painting inside and you can live in it, then do bits by bits.

MrThrifty · 10-06-2011 8:49am

As the TV licence ad goes, "that makes me sad"...!

Anyway, good luck with it, I can't see it losing value onless the gov starts giving out homes to everyone for free!!

ShadowHearth · 10-06-2011 9:06am

MrThrifty wrote: »

As the TV licence ad goes, "that makes me sad"...!

Anyway, good luck with it, I can't see it losing value onless the gov starts giving out homes to everyone for free!!

I dont know that add m8 lol. Is that in bad or good way?

That's why I am buying now, it's cheap property And if it will drop in price it wont be much more then 10-20k.

the_syco · 10-06-2011 10:10am

ShadowHearth wrote: »

That's why I am buying now, it's cheap property And if it will drop in price it wont be much more then 10-20k.

Look at how much it has gone down since 2008 to see how much it can fall by...

ShadowHearth · 10-06-2011 10:27am

the_syco wrote: »

Look at how much it has gone down since 2008 to see how much it can fall by...

Same house in same estate in front but tidyed up going for 150k I am getting myone for 80k. Ut can't drop below 50k no matter how pessimistic or buyhaters will be.

MrThrifty · 10-06-2011 1:00pm

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I dont know that add m8 lol. Is that in bad or good way?

That's in a 'I bought similar type property near peak for crazy money'! Aka 'you lucky b@&£$€d!'. Looks to me that that selling price would barely cover the costs of building a house.

ShadowHearth · 10-06-2011 3:33pm

MrThrifty wrote: »

That's in a 'I bought similar type property near peak for crazy money'! Aka 'you lucky b@&£$€d!'. Looks to me that that selling price would barely cover the costs of building a house.

Hehe m8, but I think I might be not as lucky as I thought. EA said he will call me back today and say if the other side is happy. I offered a full asking price so I don't see why there is a problem... Still no sign of him.

If I'll get all sorted I'll post or pm a few pics of it. It's not a mansion, but with some tidying it will make a great home for us

.

the_syco · 10-06-2011 6:03pm

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I offered a full asking price so I don't see why there is a problem... Still no sign of him.

If he starts playing ye, tell him your bid is now dropped €20,000 and he can take it or leave it :pac:

ShadowHearth · 10-06-2011 6:36pm

Well it's half 6... No Phone call, sort of disappointed.

up4it · 10-06-2011 6:52pm

ShadowHearth: I looked at some cheaper older style property close to Limerick on a bit of land. There are some bargains out there.

They were well priced and in fairly good condition though some work needed to bring them up to scratch obviously.

But the wife was not so keen so did not follow it up with a formal viewing.

ShadowHearth · 10-06-2011 7:07pm

up4it wrote: »

ShadowHearth: I looked at some cheaper older style property close to Limerick on a bit of land. There are some bargains out there.

They were well priced and in fairly good condition though some work needed to bring them up to scratch obviously.

But the wife was not so keen so did not follow it up with a formal viewing.

Give your wife a good slap and tell her to do what she told too!

Just messing. It's a shame m8. Me and misses are very determent to get a house. There. Is plenty of property for sub 100k, usually if it's 100k it means 70-80 will take it.

If you don't mind doing some work, then there is a sea of bargains. Or even if you dont mind to live in a place which need few Walls painted and carpets cleaned or changed.

I know I will be hunt down soon by antibuing army here, but I think if you are looking to buy a home, not an some investment to expect resell it in few years, then you can find some nice deals. Not a mansions, but solid homes

.

There is not much more room left to go down on 50-80k properties.

I even checked a house for 55k current bid. Which needed anather 20k and you would have a huge 4 bedroom bungalow with almost 1 acre of land. Damn site alone would cost 70k...

Why would previous owner do this?!

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