A home on Chicago's Southeast Side has been nominated in the Ugliest House of the Year contest.
The competition is sponsored by HomeVestors of America Inc., the company most noted for its "We Buy Ugly Houses" billboards. Voters who cast their online ballots will be entered in drawings for $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 in prepaid debit cards.
Scott Gottlieb of SNL Realty LLC nominated a home he bought on the Southeast Side.
"Inside and out, you will not find a more disgusting, cluttered and animal-infested property," Gottlieb said. "The inside was completely filled with garbage. The heating system was from the late 1800s. And the kitchen and bathrooms were not even close to being usable."
And while looking at this ugly house was tough, walking through it was even tougher.
"Trying to enter the house for the first time was almost impossible," Gottlieb said. "The front and back doors would not open because of the unbelievable amount of junk pressed against them. Many areas of the house had so much junk that when walking on top of it, you had to duck to avoid hitting your head on the ceiling." Dumpsters loaded with trash were hauled away.
In addition to the Chicago home, the top 10 finalists for HomeVestors' Ugliest House of the Year include properties in Atlanta; Brevard County, Fla.; Houston; Kansas City; Milwaukee; Norfolk, Va.; Philadelphia; Richmond, Va., and Washington D.C.
"It has been one of the ugliest years for residential real estate in our nation's history," said John Hayes, president of HomeVestors. "These 10 finalists are proof of the challenges we take on to help people out of ugly real estate situations. They are also a testament to the obstacles we can overcome to rejuvenate existing communities across America."
Over the past 12 years, HomeVestors franchisees have bought more than 36,000 houses for cash nationwide, the firm said. It's the company's second annual Ugly contest.
Voting has begun and runs through Nov. 15. The top three ugliest houses will be announced Dec. 3 at the HomeVestors convention in Las Vegas and posted online at www.homevestors.com.
