Real Estate Horror Stories | Real Examples of Really Rotten Realty

Buyers are to Blame for the Real Estate Housing Bubble

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

It just baffles me how people want to blame bankers, real estate agents, loan officers, appraisers, etc.. for the real estate bubble. The real estate bubble, just like any other bubble was caused by a frenzied increase in demand from a new influx of buyers willing to pay more to obtain the desired item. . . . → Read More: Buyers are to Blame for the Real Estate Housing Bubble

Trashing Foreclosed Homes

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

See how far some homeowners go to destroy their house before handing it over to the bank during a foreclosure. Find out who the real victims are, besides the bank, . . . → Read More: Trashing Foreclosed Homes

Banks Are Abandoning Foreclosed Homes Too

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

Homeowners aren’t the only ones making an investment decision to walk away from their mortgages. Apparently banks are walking away from their abandoned properties too. Banks that hold properties that suffer from deferred maintenance, vandalism, or declining property values may cost more to foreclose, manage and sell than the property is worth. In situations . . . → Read More: Banks Are Abandoning Foreclosed Homes Too

Wrong House Gets Demolished By Accident

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

P.J. Deller Excavating & Hauling, a demolition company contracted by the City of Pittsburgh accidentally tore down the wrong house due to an address mix-up. Ooops?

One would think that the key to success for a demolition company would be the speed and efficiency of their demolition process, but you’d be wrong. Actually the . . . → Read More: Wrong House Gets Demolished By Accident

Google, Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com Now Offer Misery Searches

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to go through a foreclosure. Just imagine the humiliation if everyone you knew found out about your foreclosure? Now you don’t have to imagine it, you can Google it! Google now gives you the ability to search for foreclosures on Google Maps. Not only is Google . . . → Read More: Google, Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com Now Offer Misery Searches

The New Foreclosure Victims – Innocent Homeowners Like You

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

Banks are foreclosing on homeowners who are in default. While they’re at it, they’re even foreclosing on homeowners who are either current with their payments or don’t even have a loan with that bank. The confusion created by the robo-mortgage fiasco has resulted in lots of mistakes involving who owes what, and where those . . . → Read More: The New Foreclosure Victims – Innocent Homeowners Like You

Property Zoning Nightmares: How City Government Destroyed Josh Terry

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

A few months ago, I heard about a 29 year-old couple, Josh Terry and his wife Jenn, who bought a building in Oak Cliff, a suburb in Dallas, Texas, and converted it into apartments, or should I say, was in the process of doing it before the city, that initially approved the project and . . . → Read More: Property Zoning Nightmares: How City Government Destroyed Josh Terry

Squatters Destroy Newlywed Couple’s Dream Home

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

You’ve saved up for years to buy a house, you find the home of your dreams, buy it and get ready to move in only to find out that there’s a squatter living in it. It happened to Zael Zura and his fiancee Veronica Botts when they bought their dream home and discovered on . . . → Read More: Squatters Destroy Newlywed Couple’s Dream Home

Former Real Estate Agent Chauffeured A Mummified Corpse In Her Car For Months

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

In Costa Mesa, California, a 57-year-old former real estate agent, was caught with a mummified corpse of a woman in the passenger’s seat of her 1997 Mercury Marquis. The police are trying to discover the female corpse’s identity. All they know is that she was a transient from the Fountain Valley area, known to . . . → Read More: Former Real Estate Agent Chauffeured A Mummified Corpse In Her Car For Months

Haunted Listings – Real Haunted Houses For Sale

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

Agents specializing in niche markets is nothing new to real estate, but specializing in the buying and selling of haunted houses is something I’ve never seen… until now. Are you looking for a house with a ghostly presence? The San Diego Paranormal, and Medium, Bonnie Vent can help your real estate agent find . . . → Read More: Haunted Listings – Real Haunted Houses For Sale

Bombs Found In Two Houses

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

In District Heights, Maryland, a real estate agent was inspecting a recently foreclosed home and found what appeared to be two pipe bombs left in the basement, believed to be left by the previous owner. In an effort to retaliate against the bank, he is suspected of booby-trapping the house with two explosive devices. . . . → Read More: Bombs Found In Two Houses

The New Crop Of Landlords – Unsuspecting Victims

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

A large number of homeowners, paying two mortgages because they can’t sell their previous home, are finding out that being a landlord isn’t as easy as it sounds. With housing prices in decline, many homeowners are deciding to rent out their old house rather than take a loss discounting their house to a price . . . → Read More: The New Crop Of Landlords – Unsuspecting Victims

House Squatting – Why Buy Or Rent When You Can Just Squat

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

Recently, Randy Quaid brought the illegal act of squatting into mainstream news, but really, there’s nothing new about it. Apparently squatting in really expensive homes has hit the news in a lot of major areas in the US. Some squatters are even able to get the utilities turned on and brazen enough to move . . . → Read More: House Squatting – Why Buy Or Rent When You Can Just Squat

OneWest Bank Discovered How To Profit From A Short Sale – Sell It Twice

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

Apparently OneWest Bank found a way to profit from short sales. OneWest Bank sold a home to two separate parties a few days apart. Then they cashed both of their checks. Amazingly enough, the total of both sales comes really close to what was owed on the home mortgage. Coincidence? Now both “owners” are . . . → Read More: OneWest Bank Discovered How To Profit From A Short Sale – Sell It Twice

Dog Held For Ransom For Unpaid Rent

By Bill Petrey, Realtor

Talk about harsh. The real estate agent acting as property manager for this New York apartment complex not only got this tenant fired from her job, but held her dog for ransom to attempt to collect back due rent. Her inability to pay her rent stemmed from being a victim of identify theft. Apparently . . . → Read More: Dog Held For Ransom For Unpaid Rent

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