You may think you have seen a hoarder house on television or even in your own neighborhood. It’s often a property that appears rundown with debris piled up inside and outside. If you acquire or inherit a hoarded house, moving it successfully into the real-estate marketplace may be a real challenge.
What is a hoarder house?
It’s a property that’s difficult to access with items piling up inside and outside the hoarder house. It may only have walkways that go from room to room and may not even have access to a bathroom or kitchen. It doesn’t need to cause a financial burden or headache though.
Let’s take an in-depth look at what the best hoarder house flippers do to prep and sell a hoarder house and how it can help you. Then you can decide how you want to deal with this problematic home. Just know, there are practical options for nearly every situation.
Understanding Hoarding Disorders
Before you even take on the challenge of prepping and cleaning hoarder house properties, it’s critical to understand the homeowner’s mentality. Hoarding is a disorder that’s recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. It is believed that about 5% of all people have a hoarding disorder. It’s defined by an inherent need to collect items that are usually random by nature. If you see lots of piles of collected items, the person might be hoarding them.
In contrast, people who collect items tend to focus on one product or genre. A hoarded house will simply have piles of numerous items with only a pathway through the items where you see the floor. The owner might also display overwhelming anxiety at the thought of parting with any of the items.
Most hoarder house flippers encounter item hoarding, such as newspapers, dolls and other items. Animal hoarding, such as a cat hoarder house, can also occur. These homes have numerous animals in an area that’s not designed for their best care and may even leave them dead under the pile of debris in the house. A hoarder housing cleaning with animals is a separate challenge in comparison to inanimate objects.
Empathizing With the Homeowner
Even the worst hoarder house is owned by a human being with real feelings. You may be acquiring the hoarders house from a family member having to leave it or you might even be inheriting it. The owner may or may not be in the picture anymore. However, if you’re in discussions with the person, be kind about the situation. Most hoarded house owners have underlying psychiatric issues that have led to hoarding. Being empathetic throughout the process is paramount. Selling a hoarder house may be a good financial deal for you, but the owner isn’t in the same position. Respect must be part of every situation, even if your real-estate agent is involved with the process.
When You are Inheriting a Hoarder Property
An inherited hoarder house puts you in a unique and advantageous position. Presumably, you were familiar with the family member’s habits along with the types of items collected within the hoarder house.
Once you own the hoarded house outright, consider a trip to the property to see its current condition. A mild hoarder house might be easy to enter. This is the best-case scenario, especially for a grieving family. You might be able to easily sort through the items and find family heirlooms within the hoarder house that are genuinely valuable, for example.
If the property qualifies as the worst hoarder house to explore, you may want to look at other options. The effort to clean it out on your own may not be worth it when dangerous items can lurk in the strangest spaces.
Surveying the House
Once you’ve initially visited the hoarder house, it’s time to really survey the property both inside and out. Take exterior photos of the hoarders house so that you can determine how much debris needs to be removed. For a mild hoarder house, the exterior may actually be clear.
Examine the exterior hoarder house walls, which gives you an idea if the structure is in good shape. Can a house be condemned for hoarding? It’s possible if the hoarder house appears dilapidated from the exterior. The worst hoarder house may have foundation issues, which causes the structure to heave to one side. Photos of the exterior will give you a good view of the challenges ahead.
Regarding Health-Department Concerns
Before a hoarder house can even be considered for an MLS listing, it cannot have any hazardous waste within it. The dangers of cleaning a hoarder’s house include exposure to animal feces, chemical waste, mold, and even deceased animals. If you’re concerned about the hoarders house, contact the health department. They have experts who can survey the hoarder house and offer tips for cleaning hoarder house interiors.
Although this extra step can take time, a health expert looking over the hoarder house can save you money while trying to decide what to do with the house. You’ll have a good idea of what to expect if you take on hoarder house cleaning. Don’t ever underestimate the dangers of cleaning a hoarder’s house! Especially if you’re not familiar with the previous owner or know exactly what they were hoarding.
Deciding on Retaining or Selling the Property
If you’ve inherited a hoarder house, keeping it in the family may have crossed your mind. There are plenty of factors to consider. How to clean a hoarder house? Can I list a hoarder house for sale? What is the average cost to clean a hoarder house? All of these questions must be asked when you weigh the idea of keeping the property.
Retaining the hoarders house allows you to clean it at a leisurely pace. It may even gain value in time so that the hoarder house cleaning cost nearly pays for itself.
In most cases, flipping a hoarder house for quick cash is the main goal. The first step is cleaning hoarder house properties as quickly as possible, and it is the goal here. After cleaning, you can make better decision on if you want to try and take on the task of flipping a hoarder house.
Hiring Junk-Removal Services
Estimating a hoarder house cleaning cost is difficult and usually an in-person transaction. Because of the amount of stuff in a horded house, junk-removal services must see the house so that they can make an accurate hoarder house cleaning cost estimate.
If you have a mild hoarder house, the cost may be only around $2,000-$3,000 for a 2,000-square foot hoarders house. Be aware, however, that any hazardous-waste removal can drive the price skyward. It may take thousands more to clean out a hoarder house with multiple animals. A hoarder house cleaning cost can be substantial if the hoarders house is severely cluttered.
Cleaning the Property
What is the average cost to clean a hoarder house? Currently, charges of $2 per square foot are typical. However, this amount is often applied to a mild hoarder house. A hoarder house cleaning that involves in-depth actions, such as mold removal, can drastically impact the price.
You might consider how to clean a hoarder house yourself. Some of the basics could be performed by the new hoarder house owner, such as getting rid of unwanted items, taking out the trash, or sweeping out dust, but a hoarders house has a lot more disinfecting to be performed.
Can you hire someone to clean a hoarder house? There are definitely specialized companies that work on hoarders house properties as their main focus. As mentioned above, Junk-removal companies are a great place to start cleaning out a hoarder house. Ideally, hire hoarders house experts to really cover all the disinfecting needs.
Considering Repairs
How do you know what to do with a hoarder house? The property can have extensive repair needs beneath the collected items. In most cases, a hoarder house for sale cannot have major problems with the electrical, plumbing, or structural sections. It’s up to the new owner to verify if repairs are feasible or absolutely necessary for the hoarder house.
A hoarders house might need big repairs, such as a sewer line repaired or unclogged, or hazardous waste removed which can cost $10,000 or more. Odors trapped in the floors, walls and ceilings might require material replacement too. It’s important to itemize which repairs may be necessary on the hoarders house to put it in good order for a sale.
Working With a Real-Estate Agent
What can a real estate agent do for a hoarder house? Both the owner and the agent will need to realize that it’s a property that has specialized needs during the sale. Keep in mind that most real estate agents don’t have training in regard to these property types. A hoarder house for sale might be slow to sell on the market.
Consider interviewing several agents regarding your hoarder house. Although there may not be an agent who sells these homes on a regular basis, they may have expertise in marketing difficult properties otherwise.
To add the hoarder house to the MLS listings, this agent can take many pictures from various angles to show off the property’s best spaces. The listing must be honest about the property’s status, but there may be a buyer out there who appreciates a good deal.
Can you hire someone to clean a hoarder house before you list it? You can hire someone who has attention to detail so that the hoarder house sells quicker while listed. The agent’s connections and selling expertise can certainly help any hoarder house owner sell the property and find a new owner.
Discussing an As-Is Sale
As you work with the agent, be aware that the hoarder house for sale will be listed under an “as-is” sale. When buyers see this designation, they know they’re receiving a great deal, but with a caveat; there may be issues with the hoarder house. Any buyer who puts in an offer will understand this fact.
Though they may be difficult, there will probably be inspections for the hoarder house too, which allows independent third parties to evaluate the structure and report back their findings.
It’s not unusual for buyers to ask for repairs on certain areas before buying the hoarder house. You’re welcome to accept or decline these requests. When a property is listed under “as-is” conditions, however, it is accepted that these hoarder properties will need repairs and these repair requests or concessions are often declined.
Turning to Cash Offers
At any point, you may want to turn to cash offers. A hoarder house can be lucrative for investors who have connections in the industry. They might sell a hoarder house and the land to a developer who tears down the structure as a first step.
You’ll realize that investors can be a great resource to sell your unwanted house. They don’t have the needs that a standard buyer demands, such as turnkey conditions. Investors look specifically for houses such as a hoarder house for sale, which allows them to accumulate the property and repair it as an investment with a profit.
Once you meet an investor for the hoarder house, the transaction can occur in as little as a few days to a week. Because the hoarder house is being bought with outright cash, there are no financial hurdles to jump. Ensure they are a trustworthy cash buyer with good testimonials. The legal paperwork must be simply drawn up, which allows the transaction to move ahead. Either a heavily damaged or mild hoarder house can be sold quickly in this manner.
Whether you have a traditional or cat hoarder house on your hands, cash buyers, such as SILT Real Estate and Investments, LLC, can help you with your hoarded house. Follow these tips, and reach out to local hoarder house clean up companies. You can sell the property quickly and relieve yourself of your burden and headache.
So now that you’ve looked at all sides of what to do with a hoarder house, and you’ve decided that a cash buyer is your best option. You can look at the steps we use to get your hoarder house sold fast. Or fill out the form below to get your fast, fair cash offer started.
