What are some reasons why homes have to be abandoned even though there wasn't any tornadoes, earthquakes,?

Question

hurricanes and volcano eruptions causing the damage?

Even though there wasn't any severe weather conditions, the home was clean, hygenic, sanitary, kept up to date, reinovated frequently such as replacing pipes, drains, septic tanks, sewage, always keeping the home tidy but having to abandon it because the building inspectors deem it unfit for anyone to live.

I've been watching some video clips of abandoned homes and condemned homes, most of them were so grotesque even before the antisocial losers vandilized it.

I did some a few abandoned and condemned homes that were in excellent condition.

So why were these excellent condition clean homes had to be abandoned and condemned?

Answer 1

The Home was about to be foreclosed and the owners just walked away. There could be hidden Mold damage.

Hidden Termite or Carpenter Ant damage.

Their could be hidden water damage from broken pipes/water heater. There could be hidden electrical issues.

The former owner might have too many pets and allowed the pets to use the entire home as their restroom.

The outside facade might be hiding a terrible horror behind the closed door and covered windows.

Answer 2

There could be a slew of reasons....

Inspectors found engineering problems with the structure, even though things may look ok from a clean/pretty/up-to-date.  

Then of course there are the Love Canal cases, where there is something toxic in the environment.

Did the rest of the neighborhood get so bad, the people with the pretty house couldn't sell it and just walked away.

One other possibility could be more political --- the more effective was to reclaim neighborhoods is to do redevelop entire blocks (rather than a house here or there).  There could be an economic development policy at work as well.

Answer 3

Perhaps they've been foreclosed on and repossessed?

Answer 4

Can you provide some examples?  I havent a clue where you are talking about.

Answer 5

There could be any number of reasons for this.  There were homes in Florida, for instance, that although no hurricane or flood damage had occured, and the homes were perfect in every way, geologists had found that the homes were sitting right above a spot that was prone to becoming a sinkhole.  Sure enough, shortly after the homes were abandoned, the homes were consumed when the underlaying rock gave way.

Other times, they may find homes sitting directly on a particular type of fault, that in an earthquake would definately no survive. Some homes have been found to be sitting directly above a natural gas field.

Sometimes, it's a situation like Love Canal, where the homes were built over a hazardous waste dump that at the time was thought to be safe, and later found to be killing and maiming the residents.

I'm sure there are more examples, but I really don't want to look for them. I might find out something I don't really want to know about where I'm living.

Answer 6

Asbestos!  (Old flooring, prior to 1970's, thereabouts, Ceiling tiles, etc)

Also, many entire subdivisions have been condemned, when old storage tanks of hazardous chemicals are found in the area.  

Much of this was done before any homes were constructed.

Some homes have toxic chemicals such as old lead paint.

I'm in Galveston, TX.  Some homes have been condemned for safety reasons, but most homes built in the 1920's-30's on, have lead paint.  

Although they have not been condemned, (hundreds and hundreds), warnings have been issued concerning the scraping and/or sanding.  This is a concern since many are restored or remodeled.

There are hundreds of commercail buildings, vacated, with asbestos.  The cost of demolition is absurd, so they just sit there.  Many in NJ, that I've seen.  Blocks of them.

The cost of bringing some homes and buildings up to new codes is astronomical.  They are just abandoned and beocme fire hazards or dwellings for the homeless.

When they catch fire, toxic chemicals are released.

(9/11 comes to mind)