Homeowners & Animals Need Help with Flood & Damage

Here’s our story and thank you for reading - We are first time home buyers. We scrimped and saved to finally stop renting and purchase what we thought was our dream home. 

When we moved in, the house seemed to be in great shape (please see some photos) but we found most of if all of it needed repair from the foundation, roofing, plumbing, windows, electricity, decks and more. 

So many issues were covered up intentionally and not caught by our inspector. 

After purchasing and moving in, the issues started to reveal themselves and pile up, so we hired a second inspector just to see what we were in for. 

He found most of not all of the damages covered that our pre-purchase inspector did not see. 

I’m also big on reviews and our first inspector had 5 stars, I read several of them and thought “hey this guy is good”. Now I know reviews don’t even matter anymore. 

Anyway fairly recently, The basement of the home flooded. With that happening, along with the hundreds of other things neglected and covered up from us was the straw that broke the camels back. 

We also have 3 animals that also need help and they are undergoing just as much stress as we are so anything that you can offer would be appreciated. 

We are raising money so that we can possibly pay the costs and fees it requires to hopefully receive the outcome we are seeking. 

We proclaim ourselves as Christians, so if you are a Christian… then you are simply helping family! 

Personally, I have YET to have any type of success through here, but I would love to be proven wrong! Maybe our story isn’t shocking enough, but it sure shocked the shit out of our lives! 

Maybe people see us as being “well off” and we should feel lucky to have a home at all, or maybe you wish this was YOUR only problem - Trust me, we DO feel beyond blessed. 

But does that mean we should just allow people to scam us and become homeless? No. 

We had a reasonable savings which has since dissipated and converted into debt, ALL while penny pinching! We felt like we had such a bright future, we wanted (and still do) to open a couple of businesses. 

We understand you aren’t responsible for us and why should you even care? Hopefully you will see that YOU ARE US. 

We are 2 hardworking American citizens that worked our entire lives to buy this home for a secure future and if this can happen to us, it can happen to anyone!! 

I studied and read for a year before buying and I was still scammed - And If we allow them to get away with this (which it looks as if it’s a pretty normal thing), it will keep happening and happening to people and there has to be some accountability. 

I was raised to believe if I stole $100 from the gas station I would go to jail, but I came to find out you can EASILY take hundreds of thousands from people if that’s your intent and it’s sad. Maybe they will get away with it, maybe not. 

As I said, we have small animals that we adore, and we found out that we have been breathing in toxic fumes and gases due to several previous repairs attempted to be fixed by the seller and not professionally done, up to code or permitted. We also have combustible components that they left us with. Please help us and our fur family get through this hard time.  Thank you. 

Read as it was Advertised: 

“This home features sweeping lake views that are very rare in Mower County and are absolutely gorgeous. If that isn't enough, the home has been updated extensively in the recent past and include windows, mechanicals, flooring, kitchen, etc. The massive master suite is tasteful and very comfortable. Two decks round out the incredible outside space. You won't want to miss this one.”

After move in below: 

The advertisement SHOULD have read: 

“This home features a view of a homemade lake which the water within easily floods and rises above the burm - although the buyers were told by the sellers directly that it had only flooded 1 time minimally over 20 years ago, (which they found to be back-up) we found out it’s actually an annual thing the sellers dealt with. Although gorgeous, the view is ALL you are paying for. Several dehumidifiers will have to be running to keep the moisture from protruding into the walls and prevent the ceiling from turning into dough and falling off. If that isn't enough, the home needs to be updated extensively and immediately including but not limited to: New Windows - They are approx 28-30 years old but were advertised as new, The mechanicals are all in need of replacement including new plumbing and new electric etc. The flooring that looked to be installed in the upstairs bedroom was is nothing but a “cutout” of carpet shaped to the size of the bedroom. Underneath the carpet revealed coagulated yellow paint and burn marked wood flooring, both bathroom floors have signs of black discoloration, possibly mold underneath the linoleum which is undetectable without a very brought light. All flooring will have to be pulled. The massive master suite is simply a disguise with a bed. It’s only a room, not a bedroom. The actual room they do call a bedroom isn’t technically a real bedroom either due to size, so in reality this home is a large studio. Two “decks” round out the outside space. We put quotes for the decks because they are not real decks, they are simply DIY platforms without any any support beams underneath. You can clearly see both decks are unsafe and swooping. As far as gardening, forget about it - especially any food, the yard is infested with maggots and beetles. (The neighbors stated the previous sellers would pay 2x each year to spray toxic chemicals). Not only that, the maple tree out front is diseased and needs to be removed, but until then you get to watch it die and strangely enough, birds won’t go near it. Just to put the cherry on top, the sellers had a storm that took off part of the roof right before the buyers moved in. They opened a claim,  received the checks from their insurance and cashed them.. it looked to be repaired, but wasn’t, it was attempted to be fixed DIY style by the seller with bathroom caulk but it has only gotten worse. The roof is 25 years old, not permitted and was initially installed improperly to begin with causing leaking inside and through the walls. The gutters are damaged and also were not installed properly. The “garage” (aka farm shed) is unusable, about to collapse and contractors are leery about giving quotes due to safety. Both the plumbing and electric are bad throughout the entire home and again, nothing is permitted or coded.” 

Below is a photo of our bathtub. When the shower is taken upstairs, all the water from that shower protrude down and fills this bath up with mod dirt grime and whatever but it looks like it’s coming from the outside.

I have several more photos of damages that are coming including warped windows, bad gutters (gutters were white upon final walk through) and looked perfect - a month in and they started turning brown and leaking. 

We found a can of rubber latex ceiling in the basement and now we know what they used it for. 

More coming, but please help!