Four Essential Tips For Your Woodbridge Virginia Foreclosure House Hunt
When you go inside foreclosed homes in Woodbridge, Virginia, follow these three tips and you'll stay safe.
1. Beware. Most foreclosed homes around the Woodbridge area don't have working utilities. The banks typically "winterize" the plumbing, so the water is shut off and the potties don't work.
So if you gotta "go", make a pit stop between houses at a fast food shop, or gas station. McDonald's and Sheetz are everywhere. If you are a neat-freak like me, and you prefer tidy restrooms, I've found Panera Bread stores and Target stores typically offer sparkling clean facilities.
2. Homes without electricity may have dark basements, dark utility rooms, and dark bathrooms. I've seen the occasional toy or record player, and other hazards on a stair step down into a dark basement. Take a flashlight for each person in your group. I keep three working flashlights in my car, one for me, and two for a couple.
Remember, the dictionary defines a flashlight as "A cylindrical container where dead batteries are stored until discarded". So check your flashlights before you go, or you could end up groping around a dark basement.
3. Some foreclosed houses around Woodbridge may be dirty... filthy... germ kennels... bacterial breeding grounds. The water is off. No chance of rinsing your hands. Simply touching a kitchen counter could trigger an infection that will make your arm fall off before you get to a working sink and soap.
Take a bottle of hand sanitizer, and some paper towels with you to get the sticky stuff you picked up from a doorknob off your hands. If you forget paper towels, grab a few paper napkins from Micky-D's or Panera when you make a pit stop.
4. Some foreclosed houses smell bad.... stink... reek. If the water has been shut off for a few months, the water in the sink traps and potties has long ago evaporated, allowing sewer odors into the house. If nasty odors don't bother you, proceed. However, if nasty odors make you gag, wretch, or vomit, I suggest one of the following:
I one saw (smelled) a house that had a chest-style freezer in the basement that was filled to the brim with frozen meat when the bank ordered the power company to shut off the power. Someone long ago opened the top of the freezer, and left it open. The stench of rotting meat knocked us off the front porch when I opened the front door.
There you are. Your essential tips for visiting foreclosed houses in Woodbridge Virginia, or anywhere else.
Call me at 703-590-2252 for a customized list of foreclosed properties in the area.
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Erick Blackwelder or Peggy James of Erick and Company - Exit 1st Choice Realty, Woodbridge VA. Realtors®, call 703-590-2252 list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Lake Ridge, Westridge, Old Bridge Estates, River Falls, Middle County, Cannon Bluff, Meadowbrook Woods, Blooms Crossing, Manassas Park, Beaver Creek, Hunter's Ridge, Brittany, Manassas, Montclair, Dumfries, Occoquan, Dale City, Nokesville, or anywhere in Prince William County.
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