These homebuyers got a deal they couldn’t refuse — and pests they can’t get rid of

For many living in Western Washington, the concept of a “dream home” is mostly theoretical.

With rising interest rates and an uber competitive market, purchasing any home is a dream. Though, by their own accounts, Tom Riecken and Mackenzie Powell managed to find a good deal.

Last winter, the couple was adjusting to life with a new baby. Their son was born in November and they wanted more space for him to crawl around.

Powell’s mom alerted the couple to a spacious four bedroom home nestled amongst the trees, with the front yard butting up against Deception Pass State Park.

It was close to the couple's budget of $800,000 and they were struck by the Whidbey Island location.

"We've been vacationing there our whole lives — it's beautiful, we've always loved the area," Powell said.

The Zillow description really paints a picture of the house:

"This picturesque Victorian style home is stunning! Splendidly situated at the peak of Cornet Bay Heights, adjacent to Deception State Park w/views of Cornet Bay. Easy access to the bridge, beaches, boat launch & Deception Pass Marina. Four floors of magnificent craftsmanship, w/ wrap around decking to enjoy the views & property."

And sure, there were some unusual things about it, but Riecken said they did their due diligence.

"We did an inspection, I brought a voltmeter and checked all the outlets and it seemed, apart from the master, to be okay," he said.

Also on that inspection report was a note about rodents, but Powell and Riecken weren’t phased. They had lived in homes with mice or rats before. They figured they could set traps and deal with it themselves.

After moving in, they found a bat in the bathroom and then woke up to find one flying in their bedroom.

They came to realize this wasn't a coincidence when they saw dozens of bats leave their house one night.

"We're just watching them pour out of the little gap by the window on the top floor," Powell said. "Just pouring out, one after another."

They had a bat infestation. So, why didn’t the seller tell them about this?

Even if they knew, they weren’t legally obligated to. Riecken and Powell bought this house from an estate sale.

When, for example, a homeowner dies, a trustee of the property can sell their assets, like their house. That trustee, whether it’s a family member, friend or attorney, might not have ever seen the house before.

In an estate sale, the seller doesn’t need to submit a disclosure form – also known under Washington law as Form 17.

It’s not something Powell and Riecken were too worried about at the time and, again, they did a home inspection, which didn’t turn up anything too extreme.

This infestation put Powell, Riecken, and their baby at risk for histoplasmosis, a fungal infection from bat guano, and rabies.

"It costs about $1,000 to visit any ER for any reason and we've had to visit the ER 12 times because you can't just get a post-exposure rabies shot at a normal doctor's office, you have to go to the ER every single time," said Powell, who added that, all in all, they will spend roughly $14,000 on medical care.

Riecken and Powell said this experience has convinced them that real estate law has to change. They said they plan to advocate for more homebuyer protections in estate sales. They want to ensure that when there’s a human health risk, sellers must inform buyers of known risks, even in an estate sale.

For now, Island County Public Health has tagged the home an imminent hazard and all of the options for remediating this scenario are expensive. Riecken and Powell said the price tag could range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"The best case scenario is that we have a lot of work ahead of us, because if we can't get the financing for this, it will end in a strategic default," Powell said.

Through this whole process, the couple has also learned a lot about bats.

Riecken liberally uses terms like 'hibernaculum,' which is a place where bats like to roost, and he can tell you about the preferred temperature and humidity bats like to raise their young in.

"We chose to come out here to be closer to nature, and boy, did we get close," Riecken said. "That doesn't mean we want to come rampage and come tearing it all down. So how can we do things the right way? How can we, you know, remediate this situation as best we can and also be accommodating to the wildlife that's here?"

Powell and Riecken are waiting until the bats have migrated for the winter before they look at covering holes in the attic or putting on a new roof altogether. They’ve also been working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Deception Pass State Park to find a new home for the bats. The current plan is to build “bat houses” across their property and in the park, so the little creatures will have some place to go next breeding season.

A bat house is like an artificial attic, lifted on stilts. Powell and Riecken hope the bats will move there instead of their roof.

As for the huge price tag to mitigate the bats and all the corrosive guano they’re leaving behind, homeowner’s insurance won’t help.

Riecken and Powell have come up with a Hail Mary plan for how to finance everything. They’re taking advanced reservations for their future bat and breakfast.

"We're talking about having a place for the bats to stay, and then we're talking about a place for people who like bats to stay," said Powell. "We've put together a fundraiser and the intent is we'll use that, as much as we can, to refurbish the attic, and it'll fund us building the bat houses, the materials."

You can listen to the whole interview with Tom Riecken and Mackenzie Powell by clicking the play button above and you can learn more about their bat and breakfast fundraiser here.

After this story published, a listener wrote in about histoplasmosis risk in Washington. According to the Island County Health Department, while histoplasmosis is rare in the Western United States, precautions need to be taken when dealing with large amounts of bat droppings. You can learn more here.