Virginia home sells for $805K despite listing that a stranger is living in the basement

Homebuyers in in the Washington, D.C., suburbs are getting desperate. Case in point: A residence in Fairfax, Virginia, sold this month for over the asking price despite its need for some significant renovation and a bizarre clause noting that a stranger is living in the basement.

What are the details?

According to property records, the five-bedroom, four-bathroom colonial-style residence was purchased on April 15 by an unnamed buyer for for $805,000. NBC News reported that the house received five cash offers and the sale closed less than a week after listing.

Apparently the new buyer didn't mind that his or her new digs would be coming with an unwanted guest. At least it did not come as a surprise, as the property listing made the home's downsides quite clear.

"CASH OFFERS ONLY," it stated, adding that prospective buyers would not be afforded the opportunity to view the basement.

"NO ACCESS to see lower level and Home sold AS IS ONLY with acknowledgement that home will convey with a person(s) living in lower level with no lease in place," it said.

Not surprisingly, the sought-after property generated quite a reaction on social media last week, especially after being picked up by popular Instagram account Zillow Gone Wild.

"On the next season of NETFLIX’s MYSTERY TENANT," one commenter joked.

Another added: "800k for 5 bd, 4 ba, and your own serial killer."

"Is the basement haunted? Feels like the basement is haunted," one person commented.

Still another guessed, "This is how they finally get rid of their 32yo deadbeat son."

What's really going on?

But the real story appears to be much more tragic than the social media commenters suggested.

According to the New York Post, the home's previous owner is a sick, elderly man who was being taken advantage of by a squatter.

Zinta Rodger-Rickert, the listing agent with RE/MAX Gateway, told the outlet that "three years ago, a woman was cleaning the senior owner’s house and she convinced him that she needed a place to stay. So he offered her the basement, but then she never left. And she does not pay rent."

"It is essentially an individual taking advantage of a senior who is ill and currently in the hospital. He will likely end up in hospice," Rodger-Rickert said.

Prior to the April 15 purchase, the home had been owned by a man named Thomas Burke, who bought the house for $319,000 in 1997, the Post said. It added that Burke, now 79, does not have a will and his family did not have the resources to hire a lawyer to work on the squatter's eviction.

"We are hoping the next owner will want to deal with that process," Rodger-Rickert said.

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