Many people know how to spot a hoarder’s House from the outside, but how does one go about selling it? The first step is understanding what type of hoarding situation you are dealing with.
Hoarders can be divided into two types: packrats and compulsive hoarders. Packrat hoarders accumulate items in their homes that they might eventually need or want for various reasons (i.e., an old box of Christmas decorations).
In contrast, compulsive hoarders have difficulty parting with things because they believe they may use them someday (i.e., stacks of newspapers or magazines).
Either way, both types of hoarding can mean plenty of stuff to go through and the potential for delayed maintenance to the home.
As you could imagine selling a hoarding house can be difficult, but you can take steps to make the process smoother. This blog post will discuss how to find buyers for hoarder’s houses and how much it costs on average to clean up a hoarder’s house before selling it. We’ll also talk about some of the most common problems with selling a hoarder’s house in WI and how you might be able to fix those problems while trying to sell your home.
Is It Worth Selling a Hoarder House?
Some people argue it’s worth it to sell a hoarder’s house, while others say it’s too complicated and time-consuming. However, to help you decide if it’s worth selling a Hoarder House, you should first figure out how much time and money you’ll need to spend cleaning up everything.
You also need to consider how much work you’ll have to put into repairs and staging your hoarder’s house to increase interest from potential buyers.
Unfortunately, a lot of buyers are hesitant about purchasing a home if they think they’ll have to clean up afterward or make several major repairs.
So it might be worth it to sell a hoarder’s house if you’re willing and able to put in the time and money. To help you figure out how much time and money you’d be looking at spending next, we’ll take a closer look at some of the costs of selling a hoarder house in WI to help you decide.
What are the Costs of Selling a Hoarder House in WI?
This can vary greatly and can depend on where you live and the extent of the damage.
According to FIXr.com, the average customer pays $4,000 to clean up biohazardous waste in a 2,000 square foot home, such as a hoarding situation or virus decontamination. And roughly $1000/day for larger projects.
However, they also note that if there are hazardous materials, human wastes, and other extreme cleanups, the same space could be upwards of $25,000.
FIXr breaks down some of these costs. Warning, some of these will be hard to read, but it’s important to understand where these added costs may come from.
- Biohazard – Up to $600/hour. If the person had a contagious disease, for example, COVID, this would be on top of other costs. You would not want to let someone go into clean up without telling them about problems you are aware of.
- Crime scene cleanup – $600/hour
- Unattended death from natural causes varies, depending on how long it took to claim the individual from the home.
- Animal feces removal – $25/bag, which may include walls and flooring that have to come out because waste has been sitting on them.
- Sewage backup – $10,000
That doesn’t include making the home sell-ready. That’s just getting the personal items and trash out so that they can clean as much as possible.
Even once the place is clean, expensive property repairs may await you. These costs can vary widely, depending on what they find under the hoarding.
And the cleanup may extend into the yard, storage shed, or detached garage, making this an even bigger project.
As far as timeframe goes, it takes, on average, five weeks to prepare a hoarder house for sale.
It’s estimated to take about 6-8 hours of work per room to clean a hoarder’s house. But of course that all depends on how long the person has been living there and how much stuff is in the home.
Cleaning Costs
In addition to the costs that a hoarder has incurred, a house will need to be cleaned. This can cost anywhere from $1,000-$2,000 for professional cleaning services.
The house will definitely need to be cleaned from top to bottom after removing all of the stuff. Also, carpets will either need to be professionally cleaned or replaced.
Unfortunately, during this part of the process, needed repairs are noticed, issues with pests, termite damage, water damage, or mold problems, incurring more expenses.
Redecorating Costs
After all the stuff has been removed from the home, there is a good chance redecorating will be necessary to bring the house into a sellable condition. More than likely every room in the house could use some redecorating, but the main rooms to focus on will be the kitchen and bathrooms.
And, of course, those can be the most expensive to update.
For a small or basic kitchen renovation costs: $11,000 to $16,000. Medium or mid-level kitchen renovation costs: $22,000 to $32,000. Large or major kitchen renovation costs: $30,000 to $43,000.
For a small or basic bathroom renovation cost: $7,000 to $16,000. Medium or mid-level bathroom renovation cost: $14,000 to $32,000. Large or major bathroom renovation cost: $19,000 to $43,000
You should estimate $1,000-$2,000 each for the other rooms in the house, depending on how much work needs to be done. This could include paint, new flooring, or other miscellaneous things.
Re-staging Costs
Once cleaning, repairs, and redecorating are done, it’s time to consider re-staging. If the furniture in the home is currently old, damaged, or smells, staging the home with rented furniture could prove to be helpful. There are several staging companies that you would be able to rent pieces of furniture from that could help set the stage for buyers to view the home.
Just make sure when selecting pieces of furniture that you pick items that are appropriate for the size of the space. Smaller pieces of furniture will help accentuate how large a room is.
To stage a 2,000-square-foot home would cost around $2,000 to $2,400 a month, and typically most professional home stagers also require a three-month minimum staging contract even if you sell the home in 24 hours. So that could bring your final staging bill to $7,200.
Marketing Costs
Your marketing costs will include how much money you spend on flyers or newspaper ads, or Craigslist. Many people will use the internet to advertise their houses for sale, and this can cost as little as $100-$200, but it is worth noting how much more effective online ads are than newspapers or flyers because of how many people see them.
>> If you’re looking to sell a hoarder’s house in Milwaukee, WI, and want it done quickly, you may want to consider selling to a cash home buyer like Cream City Home Buyers. They do all of the heavy liftings, so sellers don’t need to worry about cleaning, repairs, redecorating, or staging. They buy houses as is without any contingencies, so there’s no risk involved when dealing with these professional real estate investors. You’ll get your money fast! Read about their home buying process online, or give them a call today!
Should You Redecorate a Hoarder House for Sale?
It is best to keep the home as clean and tidy as possible before and after putting it on the market. This is because a lot of buyers pay close attention to how well a home is maintained and how clean it is when they are looking at houses.
So to answer the question, should you redecorate a hoarder house for sale? Yes, before putting your home up for sale, we recommend redecorating the dwelling in order to make it look its absolute best. In addition, it will give buyers confidence in investing money into the property themselves, and there are various ways to redecorate without breaking the bank.
How to Find Buyers for Your Hoarder House
To find a buyer for your hoarder house, try posting some ads and letting people know that the home is available to buy. Highlight features like the location, how the home is in a desirable area, a great school district, or on a quiet street. Mentioning unique features like these is how you’ll be able to draw prospective buyers to your house. You can also try to find an agent who can help with the process of selling the home in your local market or try selling for sale by owner (FSBO) instead. The agent or yourself will also need to set up open houses so that many people can come to visit the home and make offers.
You can also contact some companies that buy houses in Milwaukee that specialize in this kind of situation and see about selling your hoarder house to them. They may be able to provide you with more information about the home buying process, figure out how you would like to proceed and how to handle your hoarder house best. When you are ready, they can take care of the whole process for how to sell a hoarder’s house in WI, including cleaning, removing items/trash from the property, and much more.
Honestly, the best option to sell a hoarder’s house is to work with a cash home buyer. They will pay for the cost of repairs, buy your house as-is, and handle all the clean-up, so you don’t have to.
How to Sell a Hoarders House
To give you an idea of how to sell a hoarders house, below we’ve listed the several steps involved:
Step 1: Make Sure That the Place is Safe
Before you start cleaning out the hoarder’s house, make sure the place is safe to go through. Sometimes items can be piled so high if they were to fall over, they can be extremely dangerous. Also, if pests or animals have been living in the house, the animal feces will need to be removed properly. Black mold could also be an issue or asbestosis, which will require professional abatement. You’ll just want to be cautious before you start cleaning up and going through things. Lastly, if there are any code violations, make sure those are addressed because selling your house with code violations may prove to be challenging.
Step 2: Figure Out your Selling Strategy
Get a hold of someone who will list the property, sell it by yourself, or sell it to a “buy my house Wisconsin” home buyer. If you do end up using a real estate professional, he or she can also help with how to show the property and how to stage it appropriately. However, if you end up selling to a local cash home buyer, you won’t have to worry about any of that because they buy houses as-is; basically, you take the stuff you want and leave the rest.
Step 3: Figure Out the Marketing Strategy
You’ll want to figure out the costs of selling your house, how much time it will take, how you or the agent are going to sell it, and how you or the realtor are going to promote it. Again if you sell to a real estate investor like Cream City Home Buyers, you can skip this part. They’ll make you a cash offer for your home within 24-hours. The offer doesn’t include realtor commissions, and you’re under no obligation to accept it or not. If you do accept it, you can close in as little as 7-days or longer, whichever works best for you!
Seller Tip: In 2021, the average time it takes to sell a home in Wisconsin — from listing through closing — is approximately 92 days. That’s 57 days to get an offer, plus the typical 35-day closing period. Keep in mind these are properties in good to excellent condition; an outdated home or one in need of repairs and cleaning will likely take longer.
Step 4: Determine How and Who Will Handle the Paperwork
There is plenty of paperwork in a real estate transaction, so you’ll want to be clear on who is in charge of what. For example, if you had work done to the home, you’ll want to hold onto the receipts and have those ready for any potential buyers. Also, if the house was treated for pests, termites, mold, or asbestosis, you’ll want to have documentation and certifications.
Step 5: Wait for an Offer
Wait patiently for an offer, unless you “sell my house fast Hartland” and work with a local home buyer like Cream City Home Buyers.
Final Takeaways
If you’re looking into how to sell a hoarders’ home because yours might qualify after reading this article, then hopefully, we have provided some good advice about what needs to be done when preparing for such a task. Selling a hoarder house isn’t always easy, but it can be done. Always remember how important the details of selling a hoarder’s house in Milwaukee are and how they influence how much money will come from selling the home.
