Hoarder House

Is an estate sale right for you?

There are many types of hoarding, and I am by no means an expert or even a novice at identifying the psychological problems associated with each, but I do know stuff, and am often asked to evaluate a hoarder house for a potential estate sale.

If you find yourself in the position of inheriting an estate that belonged to a hoarder (and honestly, there’s an entire generation of hoarders out there! I refer to them as Generation Stuff) an estate sale may be an option for you.

The first thing an estate sale owner will want to know is the condition of the home. Most estate sales are held in the home and the estate must be safe for shoppers and covered by homeowner’s insurance. If the home has extensive water damage, mold, animal feces, etc. it may be too far gone for an estate sale company to manage.

You may be able to take some photos (full room shots) to share with me or the company you’re requesting if you want to save yourself some time. Pictures to take: the worst and the best. Let them see what is good and could make money, and what is absolutely awful and needs thrown out.

If the structure is sound and the items in the home are not contaminated by animal waste, then some estate sale companies are willing to do the necessary cleanup, such as bleaching moldy walls and diposing of waste in order to have a sale. You may be asked to rent Pod or two to make more room for displaying and sorting.

The next consideration for the estate sale company is the items for sale. Most companies will charge a higher percentage (usually 40–50 percent) of final sales in order to cover their staffing costs for the cleanup. In addition, the fees for any trash takeaway will be deducted from your portion of the sale.

For most people in this situation, this is more than reasonable.

The estate sale owner will need to see that there are enough saleable and valuable items in the home to have a successful sale.

Expect the estate sale company to need a minimum of 2–3 weeks to clean out and conduct the sale.

Check available options in your area. Conduct a search through estatesales.net, interview as many people as you can until you find an answer.

The longer you let the home sit, the less options you will have.

One difference I notice that may help you determine the value of what you have is the condition of the items before they came into the house. Did the homeowner have money, but was an obsessive spender and collector? That’s usually a good sign for an estate sale.

On the flip side, did the hoarder bring items into the home that should have been trash or were found and salvaged? This is usually a bad sign for an estate sale.

Common hoarded items that are not enough on their own to support an estate sale:

books

dolls

water damaged and stained furniture

anything broken (even if it can be fixed, it will not bring more than a few dollars at a sale)

picture frames

clothes

knick knacks from the dollar store

chipped dishes

costume jewelry

VCRs and VHS

scrap metal

Have questions about a hoarder house? I’m happy to answer any questions and offer my advice. Feel free to email me at joni.jeffries@sixhousesestatesales.com

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