Introduction
Many people can spot a hoarder’s house from outside, but how do you go about selling it? Preparing any home for sale and getting potential buyers is never a walk in the park. If it’s difficult to sell a maintained and beautiful property, a hoarder house can be more challenging.
These homes are cluttered, disorganized, and a safety hazard to people living there. However, it can be a lucrative venture if you are up for the challenge. You will get interested buyers if you use the right tips.
What Is A Hoarder House?
You may have seen a hoarder house on TV or in person. It’s is overfilled with excessive personal belongings by the tenant or homeowner. Sometimes these items will fill the house and leave no footpath. Hoarding is a diagnosable mental condition. It leads to very unsafe and unsanitary living conditions. Selling the home is the best solution to the issue.
If you have taken ownership of such a home, you have to figure out how to get buyers interested. The sooner someone gets it off your hands, the better. Most prospective buyers expect you to fix the property first before putting it on the market. Fixing it is costly, especially if you didn’t budget for it. But you can also sell it as-is. Pick what you want from the house and let the buyer discard the rest of the things.
Is Selling A Hoarder Home Worth It?
Selling a hoarder house is worth it; the hassle you go through will exchange the house for some cash. It’s better than trying to maintain the cluttered house. Selling as-is is the way to go if you need quick cash. You don’t have to spend weeks trying to clean and renovate the home. But you should know that the asking price will be a bit lower if you don’t clean the property first. The buyer will cater for the renovations and clean-up.
You don’t want such a house to stay for a long time in the market; it may lose value. Once you inherit it, start looking for interested buyers. Assess the situation of the house first so that you can make a realistic offer. No matter how bad the hoarding is, you will still profit if you do everything correctly. Consult someone if you don’t know where to begin.
Are There Real Estate Agents That Specialize In Hoarder Home?
Real estate agents are expected to play an active role in selling and buying property. However, they are not typically equipped to handle such a situation. Remember, they are used to selling market-ready properties that can be staged. When you work with an agent, you are asking them to list the hoarder house on the open market.
You only want to do that if you decide the fix the house first. If you are selling as-is, you may have to sell the home without an agent. However, you can’t fail to find someone willing to go out on a limb for you. They can help you take good pictures of the house. Someone might spot something they like about the house and decide it’s worth the risk.
Most people feel uncomfortable sharing pictures of the house, especially if it belongs to a family member. You must understand that working with an agent is not discreet; these pictures will be public. If you don’t want to embarrass a loved one, you should do the marketing yourself.
Costs of Fixing Up a Hoarder Home In Lancaster
The cost will vary greatly depending on the condition of the home. You need a good chunk of money to make the house worthy in the eyes of potential buyers. If you don’t have the money, sell Lancaster hoarder home as-is. Cleaning costs are probably the first you will incur. You will need a one-time cleaning crew to get rid of all the personal belongings and dirt accumulated in the house. But there are things the cleaning crew won’t be able to fix.
The condition of the house is brought about by years of neglect. It will require more than a fresh coat of paint. You have to hire contractors to handle all the repairs and renovations. There is probably a pest infestation, water damage, and structural problems. It’s a full-time project that needs funding. You can’t tell what the contractors will find once they start pulling the house apart.
You should forget staging and decorating costs. After renovating the house, you have to decorate and stage it to attract buyers. Rented furniture and kitchen appliances will make the space more appealing. It may even increase the value of the house. Unless you have a buyer, you also need to incur marketing costs. Lancaster has a favorable real estate market, but you still need to market the home. When you don’t have the money to fix it up, the best option is finding someone willing to take the house with all the possessions.
Selling a Hoarder House As-Is: Must-Know Tips
Selling the home as-is is the best option when you don’t have money ad time to transform it. Sometimes fixing the property isn’t worth the hassle, especially if it’s in poor condition. Here are some tips you must know if you are going to sell it without cleaning.
1. Price The House Well
Overpricing a hoarder home will not do you any favors. You may have an idea of what the home is worth, but that may not reflect the market’s worth. You may be biased because you have had the house in the family for years. You know what the house looks like without hoarding and understand its potential. But that’s not what buyers see when they look at the home right now. Be as realistic as possible with pricing.
However, do not under-price it because you also need to make a profit. When the price is too low, most buyers will also wonder what issues the house has. Make the price competitive if you want the best deal for a home in sub-optimal conditions. Don’t alienate potential buyers; you need as many offers as possible. Work with someone who knows the Lancaster housing market well. Pricing the house well goes a long way in attracting serious buyers.
2. Sell To A Cash Buyer
Sell Lancaster hoarder house to a cash buyer without renovations. Usually, a cash buyer would come to inspect the home and give you money on the same day. It’s the fastest way to offload the house and move on. It’s a simple process, and you won’t even have to make repairs, upgrades, or clean the property. You can also avoid public showings and house tours.
The buyer gets the property in the exact condition, and you receive some fast cash. It can be an individual or an entity that buys the house. The open market is very demanding and may force you to make adjustments to the house before selling. A cash offer helps you skip the home makeover. However, a cash price might be lower than what you ask for. The buyers use the desire for convenience to get a lower price. But you can strike a deal with the cash buyer that favors you both.
3. Get The Home Inspected And Appraised
If you sell the hoarder home as-is in the open market, you will need to have it inspected and appraised. Most buyers in the open market will require a third-party assessment before buying the house. It shows the potential customers that you are putting everything on the table. The inspector will give you the market analysis for you to have a good sense of the house’s current value.
If you are lucky, you will discover that the house is actually in great condition, aside from the hoarding, of course. There are pros and cons to having the house inspected. Many buyers may shy off if the inspector has nothing but bad things to report. It may look like a risky investment. But the decision is up to you; you can choose to inspect it or leave it the way it is. Look at both sides of the coin before making a decision.
4. Staging
Staging the house even if you are selling the house without cleaning is necessary. Keep all the clutter but try to stage them properly when you show the house. Your buyer should be able to move freely from room to room. You don’t need a whole crew; you can simply create footpaths among the clutter for easy inspection by the buyer. Your client should see the home’s full potential when they walk in the front door.
Get rid of the clutter outside the home so that it’s not the first thing people see when they come to inspect the house. The buyers understand that it’s a hoarder home, but they still want to be impressed. Home-buying companies won’t care much about clutter, but individual buyers will. Hoarders sometimes leave behind dangerous messes like chemicals, bacteria, and dead animals. These are the things you should consider removing before showing the house. Personal possessions are not an issue; you can leave them be, but ensure the home is safe for your buyers.
5. Consider Selling To A Friend Or Family Member
Have you considered that one of your loved ones might be interested in the house? You may be exhausting yourself trying to find a buyer when you have one waiting in the wings. Before you list the home, ask around if any of your friends or family members want to buy it. If you are lucky, someone you know can take the property off your hands. You can close the deal faster, and you won’t have to clean or fix it first.
As much as you trust your friends and family, always ensure you do the transactions professionally. A hoarder’s house brings a lot of insecurities; selling to someone close is better because they understand your family. You can do the transactions discreetly and sell your inheritance without going to the open market. You will also avoid using a realtor who demands a commission from the money you get.
3. Come Up With A Marketing Strategy
You can skip this part if you sell the home to a real estate investor or cash buyer. They can make an offer on the house within 24 hours. There is no need for marketing in that scenario, so you won’t have to spend a lot of money trying to sell the house. However, if you sell to an individual in the open market, you will need a marketing strategy. If you don’t get a cash buyer, the house might be on the market for weeks. You may have to pay a listing site or a realtor to help reach more people.
Take advantage of platforms that allow you to show the house for free. The buyers have to know it’s a hoarder house, but you don’t need to take inside pictures. Marketing a cluttered home has to be the most challenging part of the selling process. The hoarding situation will turn off most buyers. Old fashioned marketing is the most recommended in such a situation. Use your contacts in the community. Ask friends to spread the word, that way, you can sell the house without uploading pictures online.
Why You Should Sell a Hoarder House
You may be tempted to keep the house and try to revive it, but that may not be the best idea. The house is usually in a bad situation, and the city can deem it unsafe to live in. if the house is not up to code, even selling it will be a problem. It will be a big loss because you can’t stay there and you can’t sell it either. If you are not going to fix it and rent it, you would rather sell it as soon as possible.
Maintaining costs will also quickly add up. Insurance premiums might also go up because the house is more prone to a fire disaster. You would rather sell and have an investor fix it and make it a better home or rental property. The legal liability involved makes ownership very difficult. Once you acquire a hoarder house, your next step should be to sell.
If you know someone who sold a hoarder home before, consult them on the ins and outs of putting such a house in the market. They can refer you to reliable investors who pay cash for such homes. You can sell the house in a few weeks with such a buyer.
Benefits of Selling a Hoarder To A Cash Home Buyer
Imagine having someone make you an offer and ends up disappearing in the end. You will encounter such buyers a lot when you try to sell a Lancaster hoarder house. Buyers change their minds quickly or might find something else in better condition. You can avoid these inconveniences when you sell the home for cash to a real estate investor. They are ready to make you an offer right there and then complete the purchase within a week. There are so many investors in Lancaster interested in properties like yours. Find a way of fishing them out and strike a deal.
Are you okay with strangers walking through the house? If you are not, a cash buyer is your best option. You can avoid having visitors every day if you get a cash offer. It’s better working with one person than showing multiple people the house, some of which are not potential buyers. If you must show the house, only pick serious buyers who have potential.
You won’t have to make improvements to the house if you have a cash buyer. Most hoarder house owners worry about the repair and cleaning cost. But that won’t be you because the investors can take the home as-is and do all the improvements themselves. If you sell the home successfully, you can walk out without lifting a figure to clean anything around the property. When you sell the traditional way, months can pass before closing a deal. But cash offers are easy to process. Cash-for-homes companies don’t work with mortgage lenders.
You can keep all the money when you get a cash offer because you don’t need a realtor. Once you settle on the selling price, the only fee you must pay is what you owe your mortgage company. If there is none, all money will be yours. This should motivate you to look for an investor with cash and avoid the open market at all costs. Quickly turn the inheritance into cash and move on. However, not all investors are the same. Vet them first before you start the selling process. If they have a great reputation, you are in safe hands.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this guide gives you ideas on how to sell a hoarder house in Lancaster. Selling a hoarder’s house is not the hardest thing in the world. If you want the easy way out, look for companies that invest in such homes. But you can also find other buyers if you list the house with an agent. As tricky as it may be, it’s possible to find someone interested in the disorganized and dirty property. Find a cash buyer and save yourself the hassle and inconvenience of fixing the house.