Why I Love Real Estate: The Adventures of Finding Buried Bodies

[Chris Seveney]

Real estate for me is always filled with new problem-solving opportunities. I do not think this topic has been discussed here on BP so let me throw it out there - lets talk about finding the buried bodies. 

Let me take you back to a project I worked on a few years ago. I was running construction and development for a company that owned a massive piece of land they had developed over the decades. This particular parcel, which had once been part of a small village from a few centuries back, had also become the area where we stockpiled fill from the other projects. For years, they’d used this site to stockpile soil from other projects, in lieu of moving it offsite (cost savings). 

When they decided to sell this parcel, that is when we hit a tiny snag. You see, part of this old village was a grave site. Now, if you’ve never done this type of development before, let me fill you in: you have to identify and (the jurisdiction will) relocate any human remains before proceeding with construction. This usually involves using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to scan for the remains, but there was one small problem—GPR is only effective up to about 15 feet deep. We had 25+ feet of fill on a 3-acre site.

So, what were our options? Move a few thousand truckloads of soil offsite to get down to where GPR could do its job? Sure, if you’ve got a high six-figure budget burning a hole in your pocket. The price tag on this archaeological excavation was enough to make you want to dig your own grave right there.

Eventually, we worked out a solution, which included selling the parcel and providing the buyer with a credit and putting the onus on them. Thankfully the buyer also had another site that required fill so that was a bonus. But sometimes the best solution is pushing the problem on someone else (just make sure you are not hiding any skeletons in the closet or under ground and not notifying them). 

This was a cool project to try and problem solve as its not often you have to try and find the buried bodies. Just remember for every glamorous flip or lucrative rental, there’s a puzzle waiting to be solved, sometimes involving old graves, sometimes involving new regulations, and always requiring creativity and patience.

So, the next time you’re having a bad day—your contractor didn’t show up, a deal fell through, or you just discovered your property has a surprise pool—just remember: at least you’re not trying to figure out where the bodies are buried.