Most Disgusting Renovation yet!!

Los Angeles County, California
BRRRR - Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat
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Most Disgusting Renovation yet!!

Mickey PetersenPro Member
Investor 路 Long Beach, CA 路 Member since 2017 路 60 posts 路 33 votes

Newly acquired property.

I knew this renovation was going to be a doozy. Although, I didn't know it was this bad. When I went to clean the place after the previous tenant moved out, I learned real quick how bad it was.

The worst part of it all was the stench. The combination of rotting food, rat droppings, and general decay was overwhelming. The apartment was uninhabitable. Not sure how the tenant survived. The smell was incredible. I started with a regular mask and after 30 seconds I was on my way to the Home Depot to get a full professional ventilation mask.

It wasn't just rat droppings. A full family of rats had actually moved in, taking refuge in the cupboards that were still stocked with old food.

Has any other landlord here ever had to deal with a renovation like this? I'd love to hear your experiences.

3Reply
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Bruce WoodruffPro Member
Contractor/Investor/Consultant 路 San Diego / Phoenix 路 Member since 2021 路 12k+ posts 路 15k+ votes
3y

I've had a few like that in my erstwhile career. I call those 'double-maskers'... :-)

One place had 9 dogs kept inside, goats penned on the porches, goats in a horse trailer and birds caged in the garage. Biker/tweaker house.....Had to sand the wood floors 3 times....and nothing took the stench out of the interior until I finally re-mudded all of the drywall.

But the winner might be the house that was a lesbian party house. They chained their new pledges to the wall and urinated on them. Yes, I'm serious, ya can't make thus sh....errr, stuff up.....

There are others, but the stories just get worse and this is a family show..... 馃槀

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  • Dewain Robinson
    Real Estate Agent 路 Los Angeles, CA 路 Member since 2023 路 8 posts 路 0 votes
    3y

    Now I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever seen something that bad lol

    0Reply
  • Mickey PetersenPro Member
    OP
    Investor 路 Long Beach, CA 路 Member since 2017 路 60 posts 路 33 votes
    3y

    Yeah. And it wasn't a vacant unit. Someone lived here 2 weeks prior to me clearing it out. Here's what it looks like now. Ready for actual renovation.

    2Reply
  • Dewain Robinson
    Real Estate Agent 路 Los Angeles, CA 路 Member since 2023 路 8 posts 路 0 votes
    3y

    Someone living there seems crazy but great job clearing it up looks a lot better!

    0Reply
  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant 路 San Diego / Phoenix 路 Member since 2021 路 12k+ posts 路 15k+ votes
    3y

    I've had a few like that in my erstwhile career. I call those 'double-maskers'... :-)

    One place had 9 dogs kept inside, goats penned on the porches, goats in a horse trailer and birds caged in the garage. Biker/tweaker house.....Had to sand the wood floors 3 times....and nothing took the stench out of the interior until I finally re-mudded all of the drywall.

    But the winner might be the house that was a lesbian party house. They chained their new pledges to the wall and urinated on them. Yes, I'm serious, ya can't make thus sh....errr, stuff up.....

    There are others, but the stories just get worse and this is a family show..... 馃槀

    8Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor 路 New Braunfels, TX 路 Member since 2022 路 408 posts 路 408 votes
    3y

    @Mickey Petersen I bought this one in Mar 2020 from the local tax sale. There were people living in it and because covid hit that week I couldn鈥檛 evict. So I had to let them stay rent free until the end of July. By the time we got it cleaned out we had taken 70 TONS of garbage off of the property. 

    I bought for $49,000, put $140,000 into full gut rehab, it鈥檚 worth over $300,000 now and the renters have paid over $30,000 in rent. Best $100 I ever spent for a respirator馃

    8Reply
  • Mickey PetersenPro Member
    OP
    Investor 路 Long Beach, CA 路 Member since 2017 路 60 posts 路 33 votes
    3y

    Kristi K. Lol that's crazy! Im glad it worked out for you in the end. Yeah the backyard at my place looks similar. Yours was worse though lol. Good times! 

    0Reply
  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant 路 San Diego / Phoenix 路 Member since 2021 路 12k+ posts 路 15k+ votes
    3y

    @Account Closed 70 tons....?!?! Holy crap! That's construction company type quantities! Good job!

    0Reply
  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant 路 San Diego / Phoenix 路 Member since 2021 路 12k+ posts 路 15k+ votes
    3y

    @Mickey Petersen Good times you say! Lol, no wonder people think we investors are a strange lot....馃お

    2Reply
  • Mickey PetersenPro Member
    OP
    Investor 路 Long Beach, CA 路 Member since 2017 路 60 posts 路 33 votes
    3y

    @Bruce Woodruff lol takes one to know one haha.

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor 路 New Braunfels, TX 路 Member since 2022 路 408 posts 路 408 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Mickey Petersen:

    Kristi K. Lol that's crazy! Im glad it worked out for you in the end. Yeah the backyard at my place looks similar. Yours was worse though lol. Good times! 

    The worst part was that they had a baby living in the house with them, after we bombed the place there was over 1000 dead roaches, and I found a live snake behind the hot water heater 4 feet from a mattress that was laying on the floor that someone was sleeping on. 
    2Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor 路 New Braunfels, TX 路 Member since 2022 路 408 posts 路 408 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

    @Account Closed 70 tons....?!?! Holy crap! That's construction company type quantities! Good job!

    I bought a tractor and a 17 yard dump trailer after this house and they paid for themselves on the next tax sale property I bought in October of 2020. We investors are a special breed馃憤
    8Reply
  • Carlos Ptriawan
    Member since 2019 路 7k+ posts 路 4k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Account Closed:
    Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

    @Account Closed 70 tons....?!?! Holy crap! That's construction company type quantities! Good job!

    I bought a tractor and a 17 yard dump trailer after this house and they paid for themselves on the next tax sale property I bought in October of 2020. We investors are a special breed馃憤

    This is why I subscribe to Biggerpockets. Love the picture !
    2Reply
  • Carlos Ptriawan
    Member since 2019 路 7k+ posts 路 4k+ votes
    3y

    do you have the after renovation picture ?

    0Reply
  • Richard F.
    Honolulu, HI 路 Member since 2008 路 3k+ posts 路 2k+ votes
    3y

    Aloha,

    With all due respect, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the absolute worst, I would rate yours a 2 at best, compared to turnovers I have had over the years (even without unattended death involved), and new purchases by existing Clients. Heck, I've inspected occupied units that were far worse, RECENTLY I am sorry to say! (That guy got a quick "Non-Renewal" notice, and left everything in the unit but the clothes on his back, which included some 50 contractor bags full (Tenant didn't fill the bags, our guys did!) of bottles/cans with stale beer residue/stench, which of course attracted 1000's of roaches that were in/on everything in the place.

    @Bruce Woodruff had a dog house, I had a cat house...27 cats, the owner walked away to another house up the street, leaving dishes on the kitchen table and all furniture. She went down their daily to feed the cats. You could smell it from the street...

    Then there was the very large woman that was a hoarder in a basement apartment. She had covered the "window" where the water company had to read the meter, so they notified us. On inspection I found newspapers and stuff stacked over my head; an overpowering but vaguely familiar odor; and a thick grey dust on everything. On entering the bathroom, I discovered the powder, and the odor, were INCHES of talcum powder on the floor where this person apparently "bathed" with the talcum powder, then carried/spread it throughout the apartment. This actually was kind of a "bad luck" apartment...after I got that person out and reno'ed the unit, my next tenant in there  seemed to be racking up huge electrical usage. After not getting responses to schedule an inspection, I smelled smoke outside the door and went in to investigate. The entire apartment was a grow zone. I called the cops and they cleared it out. At least it was left in good condition! Then, that winter, the steam heat system froze, and we got a call from a neighbor about a giant icicle hanging off the back of the house. On investigation, I  found a mass of ice the width of the kitchen wall, and about 18 inches thick at the second floor level where the water had fed it for quite some time. It reached all the way to the ground... at least that was clean ice!

    3Reply
  • Mark Cruse
    Investor 路 Fort Washington, MD 路 Member since 2014 路 1k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
    3y

    I have done so many renovations and yes, I have seen this and many times worst. This is nothing close to being some anomaly. Some people are just filthy, then other things possibly come into play (i.e mental health, homeless mindsets). I have have seen tenants who have had millions of roaches walking around them and rats falling on them while sleeping. Many of the homes I麓ve acquired took weeks of bleach, ammonia, pinesol and scrubbing to get the stink out. Some have had their places smelling worst than the elephant house at the zoo. Nothing new at all.  

    6Reply
  • Travis TimmonsPro Member
    Rental Property Investor 路 Ellsworth, ME 路 Member since 2021 路 1k+ posts 路 2k+ votes
    3y

    Not sure I can beat this, but I've got an interesting one. The beer can house. 

    Lady lived alone, went to work every day, came home and drank 6-12+ beers in her recliner. She would toss the empty beer cans on the floor. After YEARS of this, the entire house had a 3-4 foot pile of empty beer cans with a path carved out for walking to the kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. The rest of the ENTIRE house had a pile of empty beer cans several feet high. 

    4Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor 路 New Braunfels, TX 路 Member since 2022 路 408 posts 路 408 votes
    3y

    @Carlos Ptriawan Here are some after gut/rehab pics

    7Reply
  • Anup Jung Karki
    Rental Property Investor 路 Dallas, TX 路 Member since 2020 路 40 posts 路 8 votes
    3y

    @Bruce Woodruff lol, 馃ぃ馃ぃ馃ぃ thats Wild.

    0Reply
  • Anup Jung Karki
    Rental Property Investor 路 Dallas, TX 路 Member since 2020 路 40 posts 路 8 votes
    3y

    @Kristi K. Did you buy on auctions without inspection? How do I buy those kind kd property? Also, does it require cash to close or can be done through loan too?

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor 路 New Braunfels, TX 路 Member since 2022 路 408 posts 路 408 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

    do you have the after renovation picture ?

    Here鈥檚 the 2nd house
    5Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor 路 New Braunfels, TX 路 Member since 2022 路 408 posts 路 408 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Anup Jung Karki:

    @Kristi K. Did you buy on auctions without inspection? How do I buy those kind kd property? Also, does it require cash to close or can be done through loan too?

    Yes, you can only do a drive by before the auction. No inspections, as is. There is a tax or foreclosure sale every first Tuesday of the month in every county in Texas if they have something to sell. You just need to go to the courthouse steps of your county. You have to have cashiers check in your hand for foreclosures or you have to pay by cashier checks by 3 PM for a Tax sale house in the counties that I work in. You won鈥檛 get clear title for at least two years but I don鈥檛 care because I鈥檓 a buy and hold person. You also have to be careful not to do too much work on the property until the six-month rights of redemption is gone. If it鈥檚 a homestead, it鈥檚 a two-year rights of redemption, this is specific to Texas, I don鈥檛 know about other states. A lot of counties are doing everything online now.
    2Reply
  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant 路 San Diego / Phoenix 路 Member since 2021 路 12k+ posts 路 15k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Mark Cruse:

    I have done so many renovations and yes, I have seen this and many times worst. This is nothing close to being some anomaly. Some people are just filthy, then other things possibly come into play (i.e mental health, homeless mindsets). I have have seen tenants who have had millions of roaches walking around them and rats falling on them while sleeping. Many of the homes I麓ve acquired took weeks of bleach, ammonia, pinesol and scrubbing to get the stink out. Some have had their places smelling worst than the elephant house at the zoo. Nothing new at all.  


    Yep, this is what most people forget - that we have waaay different people living amongst us. Some aren't even mentally ill. they are just used to living like that. Scary.

    3Reply
  • Mark Cruse
    Investor 路 Fort Washington, MD 路 Member since 2014 路 1k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:
    Quote from @Mark Cruse:

    I have done so many renovations and yes, I have seen this and many times worst. This is nothing close to being some anomaly. Some people are just filthy, then other things possibly come into play (i.e mental health, homeless mindsets). I have have seen tenants who have had millions of roaches walking around them and rats falling on them while sleeping. Many of the homes I麓ve acquired took weeks of bleach, ammonia, pinesol and scrubbing to get the stink out. Some have had their places smelling worst than the elephant house at the zoo. Nothing new at all.  


    Yep, this is what most people forget - that we have waaay different people living amongst us. Some aren't even mentally ill. they are just used to living like that. Scary.


     Yep, its hard to understand how some people live a certain way, but they do. Ive had places too dirty for a pig. 

    Chained lesbians? My damn, your stories always win out. Its hard to surprise me but you do at times. LOL

    2Reply
  • Carlos Ptriawan
    Member since 2019 路 7k+ posts 路 4k+ votes
    3y

    need to bring @Jim K. to this thread.

    2Reply
  • John Chong
    Lender 路 Houston, TX 路 Member since 2023 路 235 posts 路 255 votes
    3y

    @Account Closed Wow that's crazy! You did a great job on the rehab 

    0Reply
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