"Shall I strike the line about it being a 'great place to spend your golden years'?"
Posted on 07/13/2007 1:05:05 PM PDT by Renfield
HOPKINTON, R.I. - The house is for sale well below its assessed value, has four bedrooms and sits on more than a half acre of land. It's also got lots of vultures, and that's made it a tough sell.
The trees around the Hopkinton house are a year-round nesting ground for turkey and black vultures. The previous owners blamed the birds for polluting their well, scaring their children and causing various illnesses.
But real estate agent Patrick Murray said he's optimistic it could make a good home for the right buyer. It's listed at $189,900, below the assessed value of $222,800, and Murray is pitching it as a place that could "make an excellent bird-watching bed-and-breakfast establishment."
"What am I supposed to do?" Murray asked. "I'm trying to turn lemons into lemonade."
For now, the house is empty after a March foreclosure.
Previous owners Daniel and Sue Cullen, who bought the house in 2002 for $152,000, told the Providence Journal that any buyers should beware. Daniel Cullen said the vultures stayed no matter what he tried, and the state Department of Environmental Management told him vultures are protected by the federal government from destruction or harassment.
The Cullens now live in a rented house in North Stonington, Conn. Their kids seem healthier, and they're outside more so they're losing weight, Daniel Cullen said.
"We are doing wonderful," he said.
Apart from the vultures, the house needs some work, including new windows, doors, siding and a new septic system, Murray said
In the three months on the market, there have been 18 showings and Murray said he's had a couple offers, but nothing the bank would accept.
"It's just a matter of time," he said. "The right guy will come along."
If they’d let me shoot the vultures it might be a good buy.
That place is for the birds.
IBTHTP!................
"Shall I strike the line about it being a 'great place to spend your golden years'?"
That would be cool - I’ll buy it. I’m sure my dogs would love to chase some vultures.
And honestly, they are rather clean birds and only eat “fresh” kills. Thye don’t like rotting meat.
Couldn’t you just cut down all the trees?
What about a life-sized cutout of Helen Thomas? Sure, there would be a few bites out of her midriff, but the birds would probably think “Feh! This tastes like cardboard. I’m outta here.”
Somebody put a call in to Gomez Addams.
“If they’d let me shoot the vultures it might be a good buy”.
And here he is:
L
LOL!! Then he needs to buy this great investment property himself and flip it at a huge profit!!
Really, if I wanted to move into the area, I would buy it and there would be no vultures around for decades. Trust me.
And the authorities could pound sand for all that I care.
But somehow I think that buying real in Vermont is buying a dog with fleas, birds or no birds.
Hey, if you throw in Herman Munster, that’s two potential buyers!
They would actually like my dogs, one in particular loves to kill vermin (mice, squirrels, chipmonks, etc), but isn’t interested in eating it.
I’d try to capture them and then set them loose over Martha’s Vineyard.
What disease? A vultures digestive tract kills disease organisms, all that comes out is plain old bird poop.
If the well is contaminated it is more likely to be human waste.
There are several spots on my trip to town where I can smell a rotting carcass, they are in spots the vultures are afraid to land, or they would soon be gone.
I suspect that the “disease” angle is just an excuse.
They`re big birds and they crap a whitewash on everything.
They`ll also peck the eyes out of a cow haveing a calf
if she takes to long to get up.Will get the new calf
also.
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