A property has A LOT of junk around the house (appliances, and all kinds of stuff).

[Lynne AA]

How much of the junk should be removed?

 

[Dublin ohio]

Wow that is quite a mess. The cat feces is an obvious health hazard. The large amount of "personal property" is another thing. It could easily be considered a safety hazard and depending on what it consists of could raise contamination questions.

 

[Charles West]

Bad REO with extensive clean-up required, including $5,000 to $6,000 worth of haul-off and dump, just from the pictures here in CA.

 

[Surf Cat]

Well.... at least you can see the walls and the floors. I've been in hoarder houses where you can't see any of the walls and there's a path with piles of stuff all the way up to the ceiling.

I always contact the client and send them a few photos to see if they want me to proceed. I let them know I'd have to make an extraordinary assumption that the walls and flooring is in similar condition to the slivers and parts I could see.

Most of the time they're canceled and I get a trip fee.

As Charles stated, that'd be a pretty hefty fee to haul away all that junk outside.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

At least I see some pathways! I assume your appraisal is for a lender. What type of loan? If FHA, all the health & safety items need to be addressed, from feces, to trip and stumble. Usually for FHA, it's got to be cleared out, inside and outside. Often the stuff under the house, if there is a crawlspace, collects critters, which is another no-no and that must be cleared out as well. Then you have the likely issue of frayed or loose wiring, doors that don't lock securely, and when you get the piles of stuff out, you're likely to find rotted floor boards, or even split timbers or cracked foundations. Health and safety is a big thing with FHA, and the more that gets cleaned out, the more sins you find left behind. Also, when things are packed tight for a long time, it may look tidy to the folks living there, but there isn't air circulation, and that factor often leads to bugs, rodents and rot.

If its conventional, it's not quite as harsh, but lender wants to know if there's hazardous conditions that could adversely impact their collateral's structure and sale-ability of the property if it goes into foreclosure. So yeah, it should be pretty much cleared out for conventional as well.

Funny thing about ppl that live in these mouse-holes is that they often don't seem to see the mess. Often they'll decide not to do the loan because they don't want to let all their treasures go to the dump, or they find themselves so overwhelmed with deciding about each and every thing they have accumulated, that they get mentally stuck and can't go forward. Often that leads to the property with all its junk inside being foreclosed and the owner loses everything for being overwhelmed with his situation. And then he starts over elsewhere, broken hearted for everything he's "lost". Sad.

When I come across a property with problems like that, I don't try to tell them HOW to fix it or WHAT to do. I state how the place needs to be to likely qualify per their lender's criteria, and I state that finished condition it needs to be in, like Star Trek: "Make it so."

So it might be a statement such as the place needs to be habitable, safe, sound, sanitary, secure, no harbors for rodents or insect infestations, no rot, no leaks, and must be a functional living space with heating system, plumbing, waste disposal, functional electric etc. If in doubt call for City code inspection for safety. That will probably kill the loan right there. And after that, you can go back to do your final inspection to verify condition.

 

[Lynne AA]

Great feed back thanks everyone. This is FHA. The owner told me their insurance company is going to cancel them if they don't get it cleaned up outside. And because they are required to have insurance I would think we need to make sure it isn't cancelled! And yes cat turd is def a health/safety hazard! I will see if lender wants to use extraordinary assumption with the walls and floor I can't see.

 

[Tom D]

With FHA, you is the appraiser boss in a situation like this. Hoarders have a mental issue, they will not do it on their own, and probable re hoard it when you do the final. But, sometimes people get over whelmed and this re start might help them get a hold of correct living. Now, if they don't have the money to do any of this upfront, then that is another problem.
You look at it like, what would my mate say if i said let's live here. In this case your mate is FHA who will beat you with a big stick if you get it wrong.

 

[Zoe]

Great feed back thanks everyone. This is FHA. The owner told me their insurance company is going to cancel them if they don't get it cleaned up outside. And because they are required to have insurance I would think we need to make sure it isn't cancelled! And yes cat turd is def a health/safety hazard! I will see if lender wants to use extraordinary assumption with the walls and floor I can't see.

We have some local jurisdictions that will condemn the house if they don't clean it up. The city will condemn the house. They will get a few notices and then they are evicted. Then the city will clean it up. Their neighbors probably spur it by calling the city.

But the county is totally different and some local cities are not that strict either.

It would probably take the city a while. The owners might have to appear before a judge before the city condemns it. But the judge will let the owners know what is going to happen if they don't clean it up.

The city don't care what kind of loan they have or if they have a loan.

 

[J Grant]

No leniency for hoarders. They make others suffer with them -animals that are diseased and neglected and live in stench ( animals can smell more strongly; it must be torture just breathing the stinky air.), and if there are kids in the house, it is the same.

Insurance companies canceling them to lose and vacate the house might release the beings trapped inside from the pain. Or you can call animal control anonymously and report it.

But back to the property - state all exterior items on the site must be removed per insurance, which will not renew the policy with the items on site ( and any health or safety hazards you note from the junk). Inside call for mitigation of whatever problems are visible - urine and feces stained carpets removed, for example, as a health hazard and recommend ( or make subject to ) I inspection since you can not observe under the carpet or bene that piled items inside. Do not make an EA. What is the EA based on? You can not see underneath and have no idea if the sub floor is urine-soaked or not and if the subj floor is affected, it could be

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

I agree with most of the above except one thing. Instead of calling animal control first, pls contact rescue organizations. They work with the ASPCAs etc, but they are no-kill. Most 'humane societies' are so overwhelmed, that the animals go in the front door and out the back in a black bag, or up the chimney in cinders. Esp if animals are not young and in great shape for immediate adoption, they will often be killed right away. Tragedy on top of their life of misery at the hands of humans. Most rescues are full, BUT they can reach out and often find fosters in emergencies with big hearts who will take on difficult cases of neglect so the rescued animals can eventually finally have a happy home. There are rescues all over the country for everything from bunnies, snakes, cats, horses, dogs, birds, farm animals, lizards... you name it. Many are inter-connected with other rescues and can help animals by getting them into a specialty rescue.

...and Tom D!! OMG!! LOL!! YOU hit the nail on the head!!