It occured to me that during the course of a single week, working in real estate, I see a lot of crazy things that the average Joe does not.

I decided to snap off photos of anything that made me laugh, cry, or cringe this week, and the following are the results…

Here is somebody’s solution to the lack of a pad-lock.

That’s a twig – and a good twig at that!

It’s sturdy, reliable, and has an obvious element of safety.

These twigs can be purchased for $1.79 each from Home Depot, or found on the ground next to any tree…

The average life-span of a roof is 15 – 20 years, and that can vary depending on a host of factors.

The climate in Toronto wreaks havoc on roofing, but a roof facing west and getting more sun than a roof facing north may need to be replaced five years sooner.

I’m no home inspector, but I would say that the roof in the photo below is beyond its life expectancy.

Nothing says “pride of ownership” like boarding up your windows from the inside.

Maybe it’s a dark room?  Or a padded room…

I’m no electrician, but that doens’t look good.

This is one of the oldest pieces of electrical I’ve seen in a house, quite possibly, ever.

See that lever on the right hand side?  I felt like if I pulled that from top to bottom, the power in the whole Bloor West neighbourhood would go out…

Somebody had Star Wars bed sheets.  Seriously!

And the crazy part is – we found these sheets while my clients were looking to see if there was storage under the bed.  She peeled up the corner of the duvet, and ‘voila!’  Before I knew it, she was hysterically laughing and tugging on the whole bedspread.

I know I shouldn’t be sharing this, but you’d be naive to think that buyers don’t ruffle through your things when your home is for sale.

As for me, well, this was done without my knowledge or consent, and I didn’t take this photo…

Do you normally store your potatoes next to your lawnmower?

Or perhaps the correct question is: do you normally store your lawnmower next to your potatoes?

That’s only five racks of the potatoes these folks had!  There were five more on the other side of the room!

Does something look fishy about these beautiful, 100-year-old leaded windows?

Look closely – what do you see?

That’s not lead – that’s paint!

These owners actually PAINTED on that detail to make it look like these windows are original!

I’m sure this house will still sell for $100,000 over asking…

That right there is knob and tube wiring, for those of you that have never seen it.

It looks like a knob, thus the name. 

This wiring is still functional, and I traced the wire on the top all the way along the beam, down the wall, and into the light switch for the basement.

If you ever see thse little knobs and there are no wires attached to them, it means the old wiring has been disconnected.

If you see that the wires are still attached, the wiring could be present but not functional.

This is why you need a home inspector to go through the whole home, and look at every wire.

Well, those were just a few of the choice photos I snapped off this week.

I suppose I should do this more often?

I mean – Star Wars bed-sheets?  Really?

Have a great weekend, everybody!