The Secret Room
I’m always on the lookout for cool stuff in the houses we go through. My years of experience has taught me that you never know what you’re going to find.
Although my main goal is to build a relationship with the seller, negotiate a rock bottom price, and get paid – I can’t help keeping an eye out, and it would serve you well to as well. I’ve found everything from guns to antiques over the years, but our most recent find takes the cake.
The property we bought was built in 1870 and has unbelievable character. It was chopped up into apartments in 1915 and a secret room was sealed off from then on. It is a property that we’re holding long term as a rental because it’s in our farm area. Although we usually wholesale houses, this one we’re keeping as a long term real estate investment.
From the outside of the house you see that there are 3 floors, however from the inside there was no way to access the third floor. Only a small portion of the property had a third floor, but that section had large windows, so I was convinced to find out how to access it. I love these type of treasure hunts. I certainly love the character of old houses from the old doors, to old heating systems and dingy basements and old stuff left behind- anything that has a history.
After removal of the top of one of the closets, we finally gained access to the secret room! We found a ladder and forged ahead with flashlight in hand. The room has been untouched for almost 100 years! There was an old oil heating tank up there and also a mounting bracket on both the inside and outside of one of the windows, possibly for a telescope or viewing devise!
The man that built the property in 1870 was an old steamboat captain, possibly explaining the 3rd floor lookout room. The next step will be to take a metal detector and see what might be hidden underneath the floor boards or in the walls. Who’s wants to go with me?
When wholesaling houses or real estate investing in general, be sure not to forget about the possible value of contents as well. Soon I’ll write about the house we flipped that had 69 guns in it (seriously). We made more money on the guns than the property itself. Also I once found a 69’ all original corvette in a garage. More to come…
Stephan is a freelance writer, who often writes about wholesaling houses and real estate tips.
Processing your request, Please wait....
