The thing about real estate investing is things can always go wrong. And when they do, it can go very badly and very expensively.

Case in point, recently had to go through the eviction process. The tenants had been struggling for a while with late payments here or there, but it finally got to the point we went through the whole process and got them out. Fortunately, they abandoned the house without us having to get the sheriff to show up. But just barely. And when we did show up? We found…everything. They almost all of their stuff and it was evident the spent the last six months trashing the place. People are weird so no telling if it was drugs or what, but it makes me incredibly sad to think of young children living in this filth.

Here are some of the pictures once we were able to get into the place. We ended up needing a roll-off and a crew to dispose of all their junk. Then we had to take the house down to the studs, replace all the drywall, floors and put in a new kitchen. The remodel is beautiful and will rent nicely, but will take us a few years to recoup the costs of lost rent, eviction costs and remodeling.

This is why we always tell people that you need be able to have enough cash to carry a property should something like this happen. Things like this get really expensive, really quickly.

Sure, we have a judgement against the former tenants, but we will likely never see that money. The judgement will prevent them from being able to rent another property, however, the odds of us ever seeing a dime are slim to none.

Family room looking into the kitchen with ripped up furniture and food debris…everywhere.

Primary bathroom with junk everywhere. Hard to believe they could bathe or shower.

This had been a newish kitchen, maybe 6-7 years old. Notice all the cabinets ripped off the hinges and appliances ruined.

Who lets their kids paint on the walls?

The dumpster from when we started throwing all their junk away.