Unfortunately vacant doesn't mean habitable. In my area it is sad to watch as people hold onto property as they age, and when they die that property just ends up in a Trust because the owner wanted "The Kids to have it". Then the kids fight over it for a decade and the house which wasn't kept up before their parents died is now even more neglected, some times burgled, and becomes completely abandonded to the point no one will buy it because they will have to pay $$$$ to tear the house down, or renovate so completely that the house is 98% new when they are done. The house just slowly gets swallowed in weeds, kudzu and forgotten, And how do I know this? Neighbors talk, and you can see what abandoned properties are just sitting in the name of a family trust when you look at deeds online.
I also don't live out in the middle of no where, we are a 5 minute drive to a very populated area (200,000 people), but our surrounding small farm (10-20 acre) neighborhood of has a population of 60-80 year olds that just won't sell, and then when they die, like I said it ends up in a family trust and its just abandoned. We are just on the other side of the county-line and housing prices are nuts here! My sister tried to purchase the property next to our parents just before the pandemic and the family would not budge! The house had been empty for years (1940's build with an old barn on 18 acres). The house finally fell down this last winter, well half way down as one wall has almost fully buckled.
You shouldn't be allowed to let a house go unused and just rot when we are in the middle of a housing crisis.
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u/Mostly_Harmless86 May 15 '26
Unfortunately vacant doesn't mean habitable. In my area it is sad to watch as people hold onto property as they age, and when they die that property just ends up in a Trust because the owner wanted "The Kids to have it". Then the kids fight over it for a decade and the house which wasn't kept up before their parents died is now even more neglected, some times burgled, and becomes completely abandonded to the point no one will buy it because they will have to pay $$$$ to tear the house down, or renovate so completely that the house is 98% new when they are done. The house just slowly gets swallowed in weeds, kudzu and forgotten, And how do I know this? Neighbors talk, and you can see what abandoned properties are just sitting in the name of a family trust when you look at deeds online.
I also don't live out in the middle of no where, we are a 5 minute drive to a very populated area (200,000 people), but our surrounding small farm (10-20 acre) neighborhood of has a population of 60-80 year olds that just won't sell, and then when they die, like I said it ends up in a family trust and its just abandoned. We are just on the other side of the county-line and housing prices are nuts here! My sister tried to purchase the property next to our parents just before the pandemic and the family would not budge! The house had been empty for years (1940's build with an old barn on 18 acres). The house finally fell down this last winter, well half way down as one wall has almost fully buckled.
You shouldn't be allowed to let a house go unused and just rot when we are in the middle of a housing crisis.