What’s the strangest or most expensive item you’ve found or left in a property?

Unicornucopia

When our daughter was looking to buy a flat we were shown around one property that had been trashed and smashed up by the previous occupants who had been evicted. When we noticed a loft hatch we asked the estate agent what was up there. He subsequently checked for us and had such a shock he had to take time off work. It was full of live snakes and other exotic animals! Needless to say we didn't buy the property.

deannagone

Sulakobe1 said:

We had an electrician who had to lift floor boards in our dining room and he was shocked to find a single mattress in the void along with a box containing a plate, cutlery and a cup.  There were a couple of old blankets and a tatty pillow too but the funniest thing was a poster of Cliff Richards pinned onto a joist.  We believe the previous very elderly owner must have been hiding someone during the war years.

I believe you are aging Cliff Richard - He was 5 when  WWII ended.

Skiddaw1

deannagone said:

Sulakobe1 said:

We had an electrician who had to lift floor boards in our dining room and he was shocked to find a single mattress in the void along with a box containing a plate, cutlery and a cup.  There were a couple of old blankets and a tatty pillow too but the funniest thing was a poster of Cliff Richards pinned onto a joist.  We believe the previous very elderly owner must have been hiding someone during the war years.

I believe you are aging Cliff Richard - He was 5 when  WWII ended.

That was my immediate thought too! Perhaps the previous owner hid several people over the years. Like some sort of modern varient on a priest hole. I wonder why?

deannagone

Or it could be he was hiding someone on the run from someone else?

Skiddaw1

deannagone said:

Or it could be he was hiding someone on the run from someone else?

Presumably, someone who wasn't a Cliff Richard fan!

DullGreyGuy

Grumpy_chap said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Mother left a Marko sized bag of frozen fish in the penultimate place she sold after falling out with the buyer when the reply to "do you want to buy any of the carpets etc" came back with "I dont want any of your old tat". Said fish were distributed liberally behind radiators, in water tanks, in certain voids under access panels for built in toilet cisterns etc. Even managed to squeeze them in gap between the structural built in wardrobe and the units that were built into them. 

Can imagine getting rid of the smell would have been fairly expensive. Former neighbours complained years later the place was looking almost derelict.. probably not connected.

Sounds like your mother was being rather malicious...

Yes she was @Grumpy_chap, and clearly it had the potential to backfire and cost her a lot (though it didn't).

It did go further, a few bottles of red wine "accidentally" knocked over on the carpets, insisted the removal men walk over the garden and straight into the house rather than taking the much longer but cleaner route along the driveway etc. 

Skiddaw1 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Mother left a Marko sized bag of frozen fish in the penultimate place she sold after falling out with the buyer when the reply to "do you want to buy any of the carpets etc" came back with "I dont want any of your old tat". Said fish were distributed liberally behind radiators, in water tanks, in certain voids under access panels for built in toilet cisterns etc. Even managed to squeeze them in gap between the structural built in wardrobe and the units that were built into them. 

Can imagine getting rid of the smell would have been fairly expensive. Former neighbours complained years later the place was looking almost derelict.. probably not connected.

Sounds like your mother was being rather malicious...

Oh I don't know. Sounds as if she was sorely provoked... Actually, I always thought the fish thing was an urban myth.

The bit that confused me is why the solicitor forwarded it on verbatim. Surely you'd change it to a simple "no"?

I can't believe she is the first one that thought to do it but I think the majority of people either aren't as petty as she is or are more concerned of the potential consequences. 

I'm surprised there was never any feedback but then the whole thing was odd... cash buyer, dropped offer hours before exchange, neighbours say there was constantly a couple of rusty vans on the driveway but almost never saw anyone coming in/out the house. Went to see about 10 years later and neither house nor garden has been maintained with the boarding above the window/under the roof (not sure what you call the windows that stick out of the roofline?) simply not being there clearly meaning significant water ingress.

Havent been back in years but a quick google search shows its not been sold again but the house and garden now in a better state, no vans on the drive but a pile of pallets, broken internal doors etc on the side of the driveway against the neighbours wall.

Murphybear

Unicornucopia said:

When our daughter was looking to buy a flat we were shown around one property that had been trashed and smashed up by the previous occupants who had been evicted. When we noticed a loft hatch we asked the estate agent what was up there. He subsequently checked for us and had such a shock he had to take time off work. It was full of live snakes and other exotic animals! Needless to say we didn't buy the property.

I would have had hysterics.  That is my phobia, I can’t even see a picture of them 

SeaGal

When we viewed our house in France there was a VW Golf in the garage...but I was removed before we completed on the sale..

Grumpy_chap

DullGreyGuy said:

a few bottles of red wine "accidentally" knocked over on the carpets

Sounds like a waste of good wine

Still, could be ideal training for a career in the insurance industry - all that experience perfect for spotting inaccurate claims

NameUnavailable

The original manuscript of the Bible in the attic, which was nice.