The winner of the real estate horror story for the decade is a home that drove its owners batty -- literally. Realtor Jerry Fowler , who has had a radio talk show in Columbia, South Carolina, for over 14 years called Real Estate Focus, has done a weekly segment on Real Estate Horror Stories, and has never topped the one about the home with bats in the belfry.
Explains Fowler, "A mature couple purchased a house in the Southeastern Columbia, South Carolina area. They didn't know, nor were they advised by their agent, to have a home inspection, even though the house they were buying was over 30 years old. The couple did not even know they had the right to a final walk-through inspection. Apparently, their agent had better things to do than to help these clients.
"After they closed on the house and moved in, the wife was emptying the water in the kitchen sink one day and it started backing up. The next day, the washing machine overflowed. The husband took a look under the house and found several leaks, so they called a plumber. The plumber came out, and as he was tapping on a drain, the entire bathroom floor fell in.
"Later, the dryer door was not closing properly so the couple called a local repair company. The person they spoke to told them that they had been to the house before and had told the previous owner that parts were no longer made for that particular dryer."
But the big problem started when the air conditioning stopped functioning. The service person discovered that there wasn't a filter in the unit, which caused it to malfunction. The repairman decided to go into the attic to investigate further and discovered thousands of bats that were covering the eves, preventing proper ventilation in the attic.
Having roosted there for perhaps years, the bats had dropped mounds of guano (yes, that's what you think it is,) that required five 55-gallon containers to remove it. "The guano had penetrated the insulation and wood in the attic and as a result, the wife developed a rare disease associated with being exposed to bat guano, which destroyed her peripheral vision," continues Fowler.
The homeowners sued everyone involved, says Fowler, but some sharp defense lawyers caused them to have to settle for much less than the actual damages. The couple ended up moving out of the house -- still making the payments -- and living in a house donated by their church.
In an exclusive interview with Realty Times, the former owner Ginny Wisdom says a $300 inspection could have saved the couple over $50,000 in repairs, and that her agent, a part-timer who was dabbling in real estate didn't take appropriate actions to protect the couple.
"The mortgage company noticed the termite language was iffy, so they stopped the closing and asked for an inspection." Instead of getting the home inspected for her client, Wisdom's agent accepted a signed inspection from the seller's agent that turned out to be from an illiterate, untrained handyman, as was proved in court. The Wisdoms collected only $23,000 in damages, $3,000 of which was from the dishonest seller's agent's insurance company.
Thanks to the kindness of church members and a contractor who donated his time to fix their home, the Wisdoms were able to move back in the following year.
The moral of the story -- choose the right real estate agent.
Fowler says the couple could have avoided the money pit that their home became by doing the following:
- Have a professional Home Inspection making the contract subject to this inspection.
- Have a CL100 Termite Letter completed prior to closing by a company the couple selected.
- Have a Heat and Air letter completed prior to closing using their own company.
- Complete a final walk through checking all items in the home, again before closing.
- Demand a written property disclosure from the seller.
- Visit the neighbors around the property to see if the neighbors knew anything about the house or conditions. It was found in this case that the neighbors had knowledge of the bats.
"When buying, investigate, investigate, investigate," says Fowler.
The cautionary tale has helped many other listeners to Fowler's program and other buyers who have heard the horror story.
One wrote, "Thank you, Mr. Fowler, for your bat story. My parents were listening, and they were in the process of buying a house. They were not having a home inspection, but after hearing your show, they decided to have one. To their amazement they found bats in the attic. As a result they had the seller clean up before closing."
Other agents have also used the story. One agent wrote Fowler, "I recorded your bat house story and play the story for all my buyers. Thanks to you we now have a 100 percent home inspection rate from our buyers."
The bat story does have a happy ending. After living in the home for years, the Wisdoms were once again transferred - this time to Washington where their condo has doubled in value in only two years, making up the losses of the Bat House.
And what happened to the Bat House? It was sold - to the Wisdom's son. "He said, 'At least I know everything is fixed in this house."
The Wisdoms did not use an agent. 
