WHAT LIES BENEATH
This $800K House Seems Like A Great Deal — Until You Learn About The Basement
Yesterday, the iconic Twitter account Zillow Gone Wild posted a peculiar house listing in Fairfax, Virginia, from real estate website Zillow: an ordinary-looking house with some drab photos and an all-caps caveat that you'll have to buy it without seeing the lower level — because "the home will convey with a person(s) living in lower level with no lease in place."
No, this is not a joke:
Per the listing this $800k Fairfax, VA home is being sold “CASH OFFERS ONLY NO ACCESS to see lower level and Home sold AS IS ONLY with acknowledgement that home will convey with a person(s) living in lower level with no lease in place” pic.twitter.com/A0bLAUNkLb
— Zillow Gone Wild 🏡 (@zillowgonewild) April 12, 2022
There is so much mystery in this listing: a prospective buyer can't see any photos of the lower level at all? And the house comes with not just a person, but "person(s)," plural?!
But ultimately, the situation seems fairly straightforward: the sellers of this house are selling it with a squatter they aren't planning on ejecting before they move.
People on Twitter, of course, had some thoughts on the situation:
Selling your house in Fairfax, VA: $800k
— Risha (@rishabree) April 12, 2022
Making your squatter someone else's problem: Priceless
Every stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet!
— OctopusMask (@OctopusMask) April 12, 2022
That's actually funny. I picture it being their lazy 30 yr old son who they could never push to get a job. Parents retired and want to downsize but can't get the kid to leave. This has the potential to be a sitcom actually
— Alibaba458 (@Lewis82688) April 12, 2022
But they also had thoughts on the presentation of the levels of the house that are accessible to buyers:
Mystery guest is horror level but the parts you can see are just very depressing. Not even foul, but sad. And location should be pretty but not in context. I do NOT want to know the back story pic.twitter.com/BEKa8Rf8qT
— Britt McCombs (@KeeblerMc3) April 12, 2022
Mate, like, at least remove the brown-stained towel before doing the photos, and the plastic by the fireplace, and the jeans?? from the vanity unit??? The jeans you’ve taken off and just left there??? pic.twitter.com/kEgKCMW7Yh
— Simon A (@sdlezark) April 12, 2022
I’m willing to overlook so many things, but this I cannot abide. 😳 pic.twitter.com/WAzjbtX8zO
— 💗💜💙amanda💗💜💙 (@arob0585) April 12, 2022
Is that...... a banana hammock?!? pic.twitter.com/DVPSHroAIm
— Karen J. Alderman (@karenjalderman) April 12, 2022
If none of this deterred you from your interest in purchasing this gem, I have some bad news: today, Zillow Gone Wild posted an update that the house is now pending.
Update: it’s pending lol https://t.co/b4Zvo76saL pic.twitter.com/JZPRwOjF8t
— Zillow Gone Wild 🏡 (@zillowgonewild) April 13, 2022
Good luck to the buyers, and to the resident(s) of the lower level of the house. We hope their cohabitation works out.
Source: Zillow, via Zillow Gone Wild