Time for a story. Luckily I've just been a passive observer.
Bought my house a while back. Was actually "servants quarters" for the mansion at the end of my dead-end street. Mansion was empty, for sale for $500k. In 2008 whomever owned the mansion split off their property across the street and someone built a house. Mansion remained vacant until 2015. Some guy bought it for $90k, owner financed. And, wow, what a guy.
He either never got power or got it turned off immediately for non-payment. Burned a f-ton of wood in a giant fireplace to keep warm through the winter. Had kids, 5, 10, 12 years old sleeping in snow pants all night due to lack of heat. Those kids came over to play with ours and we sent them home with "road snacks" as the adults were druggies and didn't feed their kids. Reported to CPS, they already had a file on them. They got some beat-up dodge durango with an audible misfire that they used to steal lumber from neighboring lots in the back woods. Only other vehicle was a 1990 F350 tow truck with a dealer plate of unknown provenance. They'd drive this thing to the bus stop with a pile of dirt on the roll-back and have their kids hop on for a "hay ride" back to the house. Sometimes an "uncle" was waiting at the bus stop-- conversation was the worst 5 minutes of my day, every day. Always conspiracy theories and bitcoin. One day he "won" a 3 day vacation via email on his phone. He truly believed this. I congratulated him.
My wife friended the mom on facebook for the lulz. She out of anyone kept things together. Dad went in and out of jail for dealing fentanyl. They secured a "million dollar" insurance policy on the house and it burned down a week later. "Sometimes good things happen" she brags on facebook.
Now, a mere stone chimney stands as a monument to drugs, crime, and cons. Surely the original owner got gypped out of most of his share as well.
