A home with child hood issues, baggage, emotional spikes in the real estate mental health of that property.
Real estate therapy....property rehab, counseling, recovery. Where is he going with this blog? Work with me here...in an age of raw feelings, being heard, speaking out, empowerment and boosting self esteem, validate your home's feelings. Step back and take a look at the place. Listen to what it is telling you. Unless you built it, when you purchased your house, it came with history, background, events that occured before you were on the scene. Previous owner who built the place was a little strapped for cash and constructed it with wall studs 24 inches on center, not 16 inches to save a lot of lumber. That skeleton or frame is covered now so unless you got a stud finder for christmas to help you hang pictures, how would you know the taboo construction practice exists unless in a small town where shoddy workmanship becomes common knowledge? Further, under that pretty yellow vinyl low budget siding, instead of exterior sheathing, builder just tacked on insulation board. He hurriedly slapped on the skimpier 1/4 inch variety, not 3/4 inch that would have added to home construction costs. No exterior boards, no plywood, no waferboard...nothing solid or rigid for support. Mr. Master Corner Cutter, owner of Pirate Construction Limited was a wizard at creating appearance of a mild manner, well adjusted property. Some deficiencies are obvious when you see a bowed roof that looks like the old farm horse with swooped swayed back formation. Other real estate illnesses are less apparent but like repressed memories that counselors guarantee are deep in their patients and need to see daylight and to be dealt with, the ills will rise to the surface eventually.
That odor in the your youngest child's room that seems strong and pungent during the hottest days of summer? How would you know the previous owner's teenager has a pet snake. A big snake...boa constrictor type that got out of the aquarium housing it that was way way too small to keep it contained. It crawled into the wall looking for mice some how thru an open attic panel in that rooms closet. The room's rug was replaced but still has kitty cat smell too that you can not get rid of. Why? From cat urine and spray from the tom cat the builder left inside alone for days on end while on the road during his third divorce when no one was home much. He eventually lost this ship shod home production to the bank but the same cat did a number on the woodwork in protest to not being out to roam the neighborhood and do what tom cats do before the foreclosure auction and when everyone got booted.
Water in the cellar...how come this new a home requires your kids to have red cross junior life saver swimmers certificates to head down to the laundry to wash their jeans and designer sweat shirts they wear for twenty minutes ? You know, mountains of kids laundry that gets tossed into the laundry chute which is easier than hanging it up for another couple uses? No drainage tile put in is part of the problem. Building too low with clay profile soils that hold moisutre another no no. The home had a poor infancy, neglected thru its childhood and lacking the full attention of the builder who was not around to nuture, develop and give unconditional love to the place to prepare it for windstorms and the harsh weather of life ahead. The home's inherit trait of being in the path of giant hills on three sides that causes water to race toward it and into the foundation was poor property planning. Or no planned property parenthood practiced here. Most of the water coming in around the cellar wall opening from the waterline from the deep well. No one set guidelines or dared to say no to the escavator operator who ker-plopped the place in the easiest but worse spot possible spot. No tough love evident here. Home inspectors not a bad idea to comb the place, ask the questions, to listen to the groans, creaks and sirens going off inside the heart of the home you did not grow up in. Let the property vent those feelings, to get all the hurt and ills out in the open. The property has to let go of the past that is haunting it now and keeping it from giving you quality of life. The place has been 
bounced around, neglected, poorly built and out of control. The home inspector puts the "fun" in dysfunction and can get to the bottom of the defficiencies list showing the "character flaws" of the real estate you are hoping to adopt...I mean buy. You missed much during the simple intial walk thru. He or she is not able to determine if there are spirts living inside those four walls nor does he own a Ronco spook spectrometer. A murder in the property? That's not in list of what he checks for either. But ask a neighbor...they will often talk as long as you will listen and give you the full history of the house from a between venetian blind opening perspective. What they gleaned from talking with the former owner sitting on a riding lawnmower from across the shrubbery that seperates the place gets poured out too along with a character assination of the builder who never invited this pesky neighbor to their frequent cook outs or summer shin digs in the back yard. Oh well I see our time is up for this week...looking forward to the next 55 minute session and I think we're making progress with the trouble childhood this place endured. (*Real Estate Broker's note and observation...Some homes had unconditional love and laughter in them, were well built, heated and cared for...but suddenly everything stopped like this one that animals took over ownership of.)
