Arts Entertainments

Have you ever bought a hoarder’s house?

When I first saw the TV show ‘Hoarders’, I wondered how they found all those houses.

After buying houses for years, I realize that hoarders’ houses are everywhere. Shocking!

The photo above is of one of the hoarder houses we bought. Hundreds (thousands?) Of dolls. They were in EVERY room on both floors with only one path to walk. And boxes. And all the accessories. I never walked through that house alone. Chucky

But many people have houses full of things. Sometimes they are forced to leave: her children transferred this woman to a retirement community. Sometimes I guess they just finished? We’ve had several homes where it seems like salespeople just went out to run an errand – all their furniture and clothes are still there – full dressers, kitchen and bathroom cabinets – full closets – full refrigerator – personal items still lying around. Maybe they just packed a suitcase and left? I guess when you’re done, you’re done.

How do you, the buyer, get rid of all things? That can end up being a huge expense.

A house we bought had 62 tires inside. What ?!

I have tried many things to avoid putting it all in the trash can (think about the expense). I’ve tried “moving” sales, selling to vendors at flea markets (“for just $ X you can have it all”), the Salvation Army, any donation pickup source, Craigslist.

Once, he had a house that had several larger items left. Lots of old and worn furniture, but it can certainly still be used. I put photos on Craigslist and said, “FREE. Open house from 12 noon to 12:30 pm. Come with a truck.” I left the open house and came back after 1pm. Nothing remains but crumbs. It was fabulous.

Naturally, we have also spent thousands of dollars on house dump sites. We ask the sellers what they plan to drop (and hope they are honest) and then we reduce our offer on approximate costs to clean the house.

Real estate investing is interesting on many levels. We have also left some amazing finds – I have a wonderful and beautiful piano. A salesperson sent a text message after moving in saying that he had left his motorcycle in the garage and the signed title on the kitchen counter. After my husband had a little fun … we sold it by the thousands. Again, shocking. Why didn’t the owner sell it instead of leaving it to us? Who knows, I stopped thinking about salespeople years ago.

So many stories and so much fun.

What hoarders’ houses have you entered? What great finds did you get with your purchase?

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