There is a popular saying “home is where our story begins”, as such within a home there are untold stories and hardships that are concealed within. Today, we have decided to try to uncover some of the possible hardships that abandoned houses and their owners have faced which leads to homes being abandoned. We have created a list of 3 reasons in order to allow us to better understand the increase of abandoned homes, as well as receive some insight into many of the abandoned homes in ontarioabandonedplaces.com databases.
Here are three reasons why someone may abandon their home:
Personal hardships are one of the major factors when it comes to the rise in abandoned places. These events are (usually) totally unexpected and can turn lives upside down. The first personal reason could be relationship issues or divorce. When a couple breaks up, especially in a divocrce, many people can become very petty when it comes to what they deem the other person worthy of having. Leaving many homes abandoned, due to one side of a divorced party not wanting to come to an agreement on who owns the rights of the house.
The second personal reason could be the death of a loved one. As you can imagine, losing someone close to you is very difficult, and even more difficult when given the burden of their old home. Many individuals who lose a loved one do not want to sell the house due to the memories that they experienced within the house, and they also do not want to give away the rights to the house since it was their loved ones house. However, some people do not feel comfortable living in their deceased loved ones' old home due to the pain it causes to be in the person's house without them being able to be there. Also, some people may also fear the possibility of spirits being in the home, which leaves them to avoid staying in the home all together, (although this may be a reason why many people seek out abandoned places).
The third personal reason to abandon a home could be if a person has been imprisoned. Due to some exceedingly long jail sentences, some peoples homes may be possessed by the bank. Now you might be asking yourself, “but why wouldn’t their family take a free home?”. Well, sometimes a person could have committed a crime so heinous that their family or the public do not want anything to do with the individual or their home. As a result, these homes are possessed by the bank leaving the homes stuck in time awaiting their owner to return (if they are ever released).
Lastly, loss of jobs can greatly increase the number of abandoned homes in any given region. Through a loss of job, people are no longer able to sustain their previous lifestyle, and they could possibly become bankrupt. In this scenario, once again the home will become possessed by the bank, leaving the home to either be auctioned or left abandoned.
This is one of the most unexpected and destructive reasons for people to abandon their homes. Environmental disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, floods etc, displace millions of people worldwide from their homes. When a hurricane or earthquake hits, homes can become partially destroyed, or even uninhabitable. Through the impact of these storms, even minor flooding could create irreplaceable damage to the foundation and bones of the home which could result in black mold. When this occurs, most people are forced out of their homes, leaving their car, family photos, and any resemblance of their past lives due to fears of possibly bringing with them contaminated items which could spread to their new home. When glimpsing into these unsettling homes there is no ornament out of place, beds made, and clothing set out for the next day, as if the family have only left for a brief moment to grab groceries. Concealing a tainted secret between it’s walls, as black mold pours out onto papery white walls.
Although a property may seem to be in a great neighborhood when it is first purchased, with changing environments a neighbourhood can quickly change into a dangerous one. Causing many people to fear for the safety of themselves or their loved ones. Also, once this change happens, it can be increasingly difficult to sell or even rent out your home as if you don’t want to live there, why would anyone else? Due to this reason, many homes are abandoned in high crime areas since many homeowners cut their losses and choose to move to an area where they feel more safe.
Recently due to Covid-19, many people quickly evacuated the largely populated cities and towns, in fears of catching the deadly virus. In this situation, many landlords were unable to rent their properties, and property owners were unable to sell their homes. This has lead to many people dropping their properties (and once again) moving to a place where they felt safer.
There are multiple reasons for people to abandon their homes, many of which are completely due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. So, why should we care? Well, through examining the reasons why a house might have been abandoned, we can perhaps have a slightly better understanding of the individuals who once lived their lives within the houses’ walls. And perhaps it could also potentially allow us to evaluate the choices we are currently making if we are property owners, which can potentially help stop our own homes from becoming abandoned.