In the real estate industry, sooner or later you will encounter a hoarder house. Either to sell or for a viewing. Although it may prove difficult, hoarder houses are still sellable (most of the time). The main factors which make a house unsellable are location, difficult to modify and poor architecture. Hoarder houses tend not to comprise of these characteristics and are usually just a cosmetic eye sore.
What is Hoarding?
Compulsive hoarding is the process of accumulating a large collection of items of all varieties no matter how seemingly worthless and irrational it may seem. Hoarding is a mental health problem. It’s generally agreed that hoarding can be caused by a traumatic event, like the loss of a loved one. Hoarders often think the items they are collecting may have some value to them in the future, no matter how worthless.
The difficulty with selling a hoarder house obviously lies with its appearance, and a key factor of selling a house lies with taking photos for people to see. These two don’t go hand in hand for hoarder houses. Taking photos that will put a hoarder house in a good light may seem impossible due to the sheer amount of clutter. Therefore, it is imperative to perform a full house clearance. Even if you can take complimentary photos hiding the clutter, you won’t be able to hide anything during a viewing.
House clearance is a must
Some buyers may look passed clutter in hopes to secure a great property after clearance takes place. However, it will still highly devalue the property. Buyers will see this as a big job to undertake unless they hire a clearance team which would cost them on top of the property. In addition, clutter from hoarding can hide any property damage which buyers will always want to know about. For example, a crack in the wall could indicate structural damage which a valuation surveyor could miss. This could then cost a buyer thousands to rectify the problem, provoking legal action.
The impacts from hoarding
Hoarding can not only be a surface level problem. If left long enough, it could cause long lasting effects and even damage to a property. There are different levels to hoarding, ranging from just excessive storage to infestations of bugs and vermin. The nature of what’s hoarded will have an effect on the latter. The more extreme cases involve hoarding old food, rubbish, and even human and animal waste. This then leads to bugs and rat infestations which in turn causes damage to the property through vermin eating wires and destroying the homes infrastructure. There is also the consideration of an exterminator after a full house clearance. Getting rid of the rubbish will hopefully not attract any more pests but it won’t remove them from their new home. PPS have encountered rat infestations, wasps’ nests, spiders’ nest, and mass cockroach infestations in properties. And that isn’t even irregular for us.
Moreover, gardens can be an impact zone for hoarding as well. This is due to excessive clutter preventing rudimentary gardening procedures like weeding. Weeds can grow into the brickwork of the property and even break through to the inside of the house. As expected, this can cause massive amounts of damage to the property both inside and out.
The only solution
A full house clearance is essential for hoarder houses. It is the most financially viable method on dealing with the mammoth task. After a clearance team have been through the property, you would never be able to tell it was once a site for hoarding. PPS remove all clutter and waste from inside and outside the house leaving it looking completely empty. In addition, we provide a deep clean for the property to ensure the property is spotless and ready for sale just like any regular house. If you are looking to sell a hoarder house, please contact us today for a free consultation and look at some of our house clearance work here.
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