I have noticed over the years that homes that are vacant, even for a short time, say, a year, soon seem to age and go to ruins quicker. I know that there is a certain measure of upkeep that people do on their homes as the years go by, yet the signs of a lack of occupation seem to come on faster when noone is there.

For instance  there is a horse farm down the road from me that was sold and vacated a little over 9 months ago. All of the fencing is falling down and looks horribly worn, as if it'd been abandoned many years ago. Paint is falling off the barn, and there is just this overall sense of ...'nothing' that surrounds it.  As if it (if it had been alive) has lost its purpose, that since noone lives there it looks like the structure is giving up somehow.

 The Sun hasn't shined harder on this place, the wind wasn't harsher, the rain was not more heavy just in that past 9 months than it had been for the years it was occupied, yet it seems so worn and ravaged in a short time. 

I've seen this with cars, and homes, and a lot of things.

Any of you notice this? That there is something that happens beyond simple lack of upkeep that happens when something is not being used?