The House across The Street

In my neighborhood, there are a lot of military families, people that work for the Government - Federal, State and Local and people that support the Government. Because of that, my particular neighborhood has been pretty isolated from the whole foreclosure mess. Not my county, as we rank up near the top in counties in Virginia in foreclosures, but due more to a tough crackdown on illegal immigrants by our County Supervisor then anything else. He's looking to make a name for himself to move up in the political world, but whatever. But in my neighborhood, things have been pretty much business as usual. Houses are not abandoned and foreclosures rare. Houses are actually selling pretty quickly after going on the market. Except...except...the house across the street. The people that owned it just moved out and into another property they owned and just abandoned it. the grass grew knee hi and the shrubbery grew untrimmed. It was a neighborhood eyesore. That is until about a week or so ago. It appears the property has been purchased at auction. Accordingly rumors on who owned it, etc have been flying around the neighborhood. The latest and greatest is that whomever owns it has thirty days to get it into livable condition. The house is a mess inside. The prior owners had two dogs and a few cats and the house reflects that fact. The owners were also heavy smokers. The skylight over the main entry area leaks and the walls now have mold. The house had to be gutted for the most part. drywall removed and carpet disposed of. Crews are working on the house and replacing the roof and the siding. It should transform into a practically new house. It will get rid of the neighborhood eyesore and help maintain home values. The other side of this is the people who lived there were friends. Not close friends, but friends. They had a son the same age as the twins. they grew up together. played together. Formed a band together (well The Son half of the twins did). It was sad to see what has happened. To see the realities of our current economic condition reflected in the house across the street. It's no longer just a story on the evening news. it's right in our face every day. Soon that reality will be wiped away by the renovation. I suspect the damage to our neighbors who had to move is a bit more permanent.