What’s the Worst House You’ve Ever Seen?

As a real estate investor, I’ve seen some pretty crazy houses in my day. From rat-filled basements to mould-covered walls, I feel like I’ve seen it all. But when I asked some of my McGillivray Trusted Agents about the craziest houses they’ve ever seen,  I learned that what I’ve seen is only the tip of the iceberg!

From mushrooms growing through the walls to misplaced toilets, these are the worst houses my Trusted Agents have ever seen.

Meg Lyttle – Chatham-Kent, Ontario

The worst house I’ve ever seen was a bank sale I had listed. Oddly enough, it was the house behind the house that my husband grew up in, so he knew the family that had lived there and lost it. The smell alone was incredible. We had to ask everyone to bring a mask to all showings. The amount of dog/cat feces and urine in that place was crazy. The filth was brutal. You would go in there and need to shower for a week to get the grit off of you, without touching anything. I can’t even describe how bad it was. But, someone bought it, there were 21 offers on it and then it was flipped and sold again. Looks great now!

Steve Bailey – Cambridge, Ontario

I would say the craziest homes I have seen was when we handled CMHC’s foreclosures. I saw homes in Hamilton with mushrooms growing through the walls; bathtubs floating above a staircase that was the passage from second to first floor; all kinds of satanic worship symbols; homes that had the copper pipes ripped out of them that we were listing in Windsor for $20,000 – just all kinds of craziness.

Helen Akrivos – Montreal, Quebec

One property we visited had a very strong mouldy odour, the floor was missing, and we could see straight down to the basement which was unfinished with a cave-like dirt floor. This was straight out of a horror film! The walls seemed to have been ripped out and electrical wires hanging everywhere. Not to mention that the exterior of the building was falling apart with huge openings to the inside.

Justin Havre – Calgary, Alberta

The homeowner allowed the dog to use the carpeted dining room as a dog run. It was evident that they did not hire a pooper scooper company to deal with it.

Sam Moussa – Ottawa, Ontario

It was a hoarder home. It was so bad that I had to leave with my clients to pick up masks. It smelled like mould and urine. My clients bought it and resold it and it was stunning when they were done with the reno.

Katie O’Brien – Sarnia, Ontario

The most bizarre house I ever saw was a small 1.5 Storey home that had a toilet at the end of the driveway in the middle of winter. I ended up buying that property myself and kept it as a rental. It became the house in my portfolio famously known as “the toilet house”.

What about you? What’s the craziest house you’ve ever seen?

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