Buying a home in today’s market is already a pretty risky venture. Skyrocketing prices make it difficult to find something affordable, let alone…well, normal. You might have to make a sacrifice here or there to snag yourself a home , but what would you be willing to put up with in exchange for homeownership?
A house was listed online just last month that advertised someone living in the basement. At the time she was called a squatter, but now she’s sharing her side of the story.
A bizarre real estate listing went viral last month.
It was for a home in Fairfax, Virginia. Listed for $800,000, it had five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a person living in the basement.
To quote the ad directly, “Home sold AS IS ONLY with acknowledgement that home will convey with a person(s) living in lower level with no lease in place.”
The person(s) living there was a woman and her daughter.
The listing agent originally told publications this woman was a squatter who refused to leave the property.
Now Nelly, the woman, is telling her side of the story.
She broke her silence in an interview with WUSA9.
She told them that she met the former owner of the home back in 2017 when she was hired as a cleaner. She would come by to clean the home every other week or so, building a friendship with the man who lived there.
He then asked her to move in.
She originally told him she couldn’t stay, to which he responded, “No, Nelly — if you leave I’m going to die, who’s going to take care of me?”
Nelly ended up moving in a year later with her daughter after she and her husband separated, after asking the owner if the offer was still on the table of course.
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She remembers the day fondly.
“That day he gave me a big hug and said, ‘From today we will be a family,'” she recounted, saying the homeowner was like a father to her.
The owner’s family apparently tried to forcibly kick her out, but he would beg her to stay every time.
Then, the owner fell ill and wound up in the hospital.
It was then that his family decided to sell the home. Nelly claims they didn’t give her much notice, but had planned on moving out that Saturday.
“I want to say how much I love him,” she said, “That’s all. I don’t care about this mess.”
She hadn’t even known about the listing going viral.
It was posted to the popular Instagram page @ZillowGoneWild , which posts many strange and curious Zillow property listings, which helped it gain notoriety around the internet.
Despite the clause, the house was sold just five days after it was put on the market for $805,000, $5000 over asking.
h/t: Insider
