This Home Listed for $590K 'Is Not for the Faint of Heart'

If you're going to check out the "investor special" at 4525 Churchill Ct. in Colorado Springs, Colo., don't forget to bring your mask—not because of COVID, but because there's a freezer full of meat in the basement that hasn't had electricity for more than a year. That's just one of the horrifying details of what looks to be the real estate version of America's "worst dog," with a listing for a "formerly majestic" five-bedroom, four-bath abode that's definitely catching readers' attention. Written by agent Mimi Foster—an author who usually pens "paranormal romances," per Slate—the listing for this "landlord's nightmare" with an asking price of $590,000 details a home destroyed by graffiti that's "in the pink of a geological landslide area" and "is not for the faint of heart." It also comes with an additional warning: "DO NOT GO ON BACK DECK." As for how the house came to be in this condition, the listing explains the "damage [was] done by an angry departing tenant who didn't want to pay rent."

In an additional horror not included in the ad, Foster tells the Denver Post that several cats were also locked in the house and left to die. In other words, per the listing, "if you dream of owning your own little slice of hell and turning it into a piece of heaven, then look no further!" Foster tells the Post that "when I have an unusual property I try to make it a story. And this was an unusual property." Her gambit paid off: The Redfin listing had more than 150,000 viewers in the first day it was up, and Foster says she's already received nearly 100 phone calls from potential buyers and the media, as well as 10 offers. Owner Suzy Myers, who lives in Arizona, tells the Washington Post her only goal is to keep it out of foreclosure on June 30. "It's all I have," she says. Foster believes some TLC could bring the home back to its former glory and up its value to $700,000 or so. No arrests have yet been made regarding the vandalism. More on the home's history here, and another interview with Foster here. (More home for sale stories.)