You must have found yourself in a situation when you know you should get rid of a particular object, but you decide to keep it instead. All of us have some habits of collecting things. That is not a problem, as long as it is controlled and when it has some sense. However, the moment our precious collection becomes nothing else than mere clutter, we come to the problem known as hoarding. And that is precisely our topic for today. We will define the term and explain how hoarding affects the value of your Johnston County, North Carolina home.
Who are hoarders?
Once a person starts gathering different objects with no particular order or meaning, thus creating an unsightly clutter, we have a problem of hoarding. Hoarders are people who tend to keep things that they should better throw away. They usually do that not because they will make some use of them but because they are facing some mental illness. The range of the things they accumulate is wide. There are regular household items, parts of a car, or even food.
It is essential to distinguish a hoarder from a collector. Collectors always have some particular reason for keeping things. And they take good care of the objects they possess. On the other hand, hoarders chaotically do the same. What’s more, the things they decide to keep are something everyone else would call trash.
The biggest problem is that the hoarded homes usually suffer a serious change in their condition. What’s more, they’re practically loaded and destroyed by the clutter.
As you may know, getting a clear picture of the value of your property is not an easy task. What’s more, determining the value of the one where the effects of the hoarding process are noticeable is even more difficult.
Why do people call hoarder houses fixer-upper properties?
The inevitable effect of hoarding is the bad condition of the property where it is found. Those kinds of homes are usually called fixer-upper properties. That is because, in order to sell them, you first need a lot of effort for cleaning, decluttering, and often fixing them, as well. What’s more, moving out of that kind of object can be pretty a task too. And although it is possible to get the best possible moving experience by visiting helixmove.com, the overall process can take a lot of time and effort.
In some more serious cases of hoarding, the properties in question face the problem of mold, rats, and insects that appear all over the place, due to the huge amount of junk. The unpleasant smells are not rare either. This is especially if, apart from the accumulated stuff, there is also a kind of animal hoarding.
How hoarding affects the value of your Johnston County home
Understandably, if you decide to sell your Johnston County home, you want to do it quickly and at a good price. However, that won’t be possible if the house is hoarded. Regarding all the facts, it is clear that the bad condition of the property negatively affects its value. On the other hand, reconstructions and cleaning usually cost considerable money, too. That is precisely how a house that would usually keep a reasonable price, in the end, ranks pretty low on the real estate market.
Depending on how severe the hoarding problem is, it is possible to determine how much it will affect the value of your Johnston County home. In some cases, the property must undergo a serious modernization before you sell it. Bathrooms, for example, are places where there is usually a lot of clutter. Thus it would be best if you put a good focus on this area, in terms of bathroom decluttering, before you start making any modernization plans. Experiences have shown that the average amount of money necessary for restoring things to normal can sometimes go up to $10,000.
It is not a rare case either that the bad condition of the hoarded house affects the neighboring property’s values, too. That is mainly if the clutter and junk spread inside and outside of the house. The overall impression is wrong and unsightly. Consequently, the potential buyer will be either put off or ask for a change in the property price.
Who usually buys them
It is not so common for a regular home buyer to show some interest in a house with hoarding issues. On the other hand, you should know that it’s not entirely impossible to sell it either. House flippers and investors usually find some profit in buying such homes. They buy a property in poor condition and, more importantly, at a low cost. Then, they repair it and make all the necessary changes to sell it for a much higher price.
How to sell a hoarded property?
Knowing the basic things about the current real estate market is very important indeed. However, if you want to sell your hoarded property, there are several things that you can do.
- First of all, as we have mentioned before, there is a choice of selling your home to the house flippers. This option is good, but it doesn’t really pay off. In most cases, you will definitely not be able to get the amount of money that you consider appropriate. In fact, you’d basically give your home away.
Try decluttering
- The other option, of course, is to sell your home as is. However, this option is possible only if you deal with the thorough cleaning first. And although there will still be some effects of hoarding on the value of your Johnston County home, your financial loss will be a bit reduced. What’s more, many would say this option is far the most profitable one.
Finally, even though hoarding can be a problem for a property when it appears on the real estate market in that state, it is not entirely impossible to sell it. With several good tips and a bit of hard work, you can even get a decent price for it.