Are you trying to sell a Norfolk house that was lived in by a hoarder? The truth is that you are embarking on a very big task that is going to require a lot of planning and important decisions. Selling a house on the open market is already a stressful and costly process, but selling a hoarder’s house means it’s going to be that much more difficult. This kind of home sale isn’t usually the kind that can be moved along quickly with some good photography and a quick clean. In fact, market buyers will be very dubious of a house that was lived in by a hoarder. A quicker alternative is to sell a hoarder’s house as-is for cash to a real estate investor like Avante Home Buyers. But if you are adamant about selling on the market, here are some tips to prep a hoarder’s house for sale in Norfolk, Virginia.
Before embarking on trying to sell a hoarder’s house in Norfolk, make sure you take a moment to understand what it means exactly when someone becomes a hoarder. TV shows have recently shined a light on hoarding but it often comes with cruel jokes or fascination without many conversations around the phenomenon. Hoarding is a situation that happens when a person or people have real difficulty getting rid of any possessions, regardless of any value. Hoarding isn’t something people do for the heck of it, it’s a psychological problem that can impact a person emotionally and physically. It can also affect the way they interact with family, friends, neighbors, and community. A hoarder’s lifestyle can have far-reaching consequences.
How do you know if you’re dealing with a hoarder? If you find that they are unable to throw away their possessions, get anxiety whenever they consider getting rid of items, have difficulty categorizing things, get embarrassed over the number of their possessions, have a suspicion of others around their possessions, and get obsessive thoughts about the things they own or want to own. What they might hoard in their house can run the gamut from so many items. It’s not uncommon to find stacks of newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes, food, clothing, and even animals.
The point is, while you might be making a financial decision by selling this house, remember that there is a person with a real issue at the center of all this. A little compassion goes a long way.
If you’re trying to sell a hoarder’s house, while you want to be mindful of their condition, you do need to remove them from the property in some fashion. If they have moved on or passed away, this isn’t an issue anymore. But if they still live in the house, that means they are putting their health and life in danger. Someone needs to help them and removing them from the property is a big part of that. You may be able to get them to leave the house on your own or you may need to involve health professionals who understand how to deal with hoarders. Unfortunately, if they refuse to leave, you might have to involve law enforcement officials. Speak with an expert beforehand in order to figure out the ideal way to remove the hoarder from your Norfolk house.
When selling a house where the person has lived there for a long time, it’s more common than you might think for there to be confusion over who is the actual owner of the property. The hoarder may just be a tenant, they may be living in a house left to them by another relative, or they may be living in a house that’s in a trust. In some of these instances, you won’t be able to fix up the house, let alone sell it, without the owner’s permission. So make sure you have access to the title and any other legal documents that prove the rightful owner. You don’t want to start going down the road of removal only to find out the hoarder is legally entitled to remain there.
Once the hoarder is out of the Norfolk house, there is no more important thing you need to do than to hire professional cleaners who understand how to deal with this specific situation. This is not a job for the local cleaning company. This is a job for pros who specialize in dealing with hoarders and all the things they leave behind in a house. That includes bacterias and mold that are lurking under stacks of old items, hazardous materials you might not have been aware of, dead animals that were forgotten about, and stagnant pools of water, just to name a few.
Of course, you could avoid all of this by selling the house as-is to a cash buyer like Avante Home Buyers. We won’t ask you to clean anything and we’ll be happy to be the ones to handle everything.
You’re going to have to pay a lot for a hoarder cleaning service but if you expect Norfolk market buyers to purchase the house, it’s pretty much required. This house needs to be livable and no one is going to want to buy a house that has the remnants of a hoarder and their mess. Also, once you clean the house, you’re going to need to remove any fixtures or materials that have been contaminated. This means everything from carpets to furniture to wallpaper to vinyl flooring and anything else that is stained or retains the smells leftover.
When you want to sell a hoarder’s house in Norfolk, cleaning up is critical but once you’ve done that it’s time to determine what other issues exist and what repairs need to be made.
You’ll want professionals to make assessments based on their areas of expertise and not assume you understand how hoarding has affected the integrity of the house. That means you’ll want to get experts on electrical systems, foundation, plumbing, and anything else that seems like it might need a closer look. You’ll also want to assess the house’s appliances, fixtures, and essentials. The point is to identify all the potential problem areas that could cause a market buyer to reconsider.
Selling a hoarder’s house on the open market in Norfolk, Virginia is hard, costly, and will take a lot of time and effort. These tips can be helpful but won’t provide any guarantee that you’ll be able to get market buyers to buy your hoarder’s house, especially with so many other options available to them. And while we’ve discussed extensive cleaning and repair costs, we haven’t even gotten into real estate commissions, seller concessions, and closing costs.
What you may want to consider instead is selling your hoarder’s house as-is to a home investor like Avante Home Buyers. Doing so eliminates almost every cost involved in the sale process. You don’t need to clean anything, make any repairs, or remove anything from the property. You let us know about the house, we’ll make you a no-obligation offer within hours, and then if you agree we can take the house off your hands and pay you cash for it in a matter of days. We’ll work on your schedule because we want to buy your hoarder’s house in Norfolk for cash.
Contact Avante Home Buyers today to get started!
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