Mesoam Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 holy crap dude, no never dealt with it. I've seen people living sort of like that but not as bad, blows my mind. Your best bet is definitely going to be a yard sale to get rid of anything salvageable IMO, that house is going to need a lot of TLC before sale, is the market moving down there? Condo's/Apartments are moving pretty well up here but detached housing seems fairly flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burn-E Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 I've seen it much worse than that. I know a couple of people who have things piled so high with only little paths through the house that all you can see is junk everywhere. I mean piles 4-5 feet high. They're more organized than you're FIL was, but it's no less unhealthy. After visiting one couple, the man offered us a package of food that he had prepared - I took it but did not eat it - and later found out it was made from packaged food items that were 3 years past their due date. I'm waiting for the day I get the call to go help this one family, they're squatting on borrowed time as their home is going through foreclosure. The clean-up will be a disaster when that day comes. Good luck with it Greg. Your only option is really to go through it all piece by piece if you want to make sure you don't toss out important papers and valuable items. And even then, the question of how "sterile" those items are will be a real concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdizzle Posted December 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Sorry to hear about this, Greg, it's not easy, In the short term you may want to consider renting a dumpster for the driveway. It enables getting all the "stuff" out of the house quickly, and depending on who will be owning the house now, will be instrumental in any interior demo/renovation activities... and although a huge bummer for your wife, I think she owes it to herself to go through her father's personal effects. Potentially there will be items she has emotional connections to that have been long since forgotten. Doing this with my father, I found newspaper clippings and gloves from my boyhood baseball activities that I never knew he had. There were a bunch of military items as well that I am glad didn't get tossed. In a strange way, it helped us know him better. I like the idea of a staging area, too, from which she can do that if she wants without having to deal with the disarray. All in all it assists in the process of closure and saying goodbye. Best to you and yours during these times. Seems like there is a lot going on... Yeah, I have a buddy who deals in rollaway dumpesters etc, so he'll be dropping on a 30 yarder after the new year. I'll be down your way most of next week. holy crap dude, no never dealt with it. I've seen people living sort of like that but not as bad, blows my mind. Your best bet is definitely going to be a yard sale to get rid of anything salvageable IMO, that house is going to need a lot of TLC before sale, is the market moving down there? Condo's/Apartments are moving pretty well up here but detached housing seems fairly flat. The house isn't in THAT bad of shape. Needs a new kitchen, a new bathroom, floors need sanding, new carpet downstairs, a new roof, new exterior doors, new gutters, new sofets, and land scaping. The house in a neighborhood that is well kept, and has a great proximity to DC. So it should sell for $250k easily once fixed up. I expect to have to put 50-70k into it. The house being paid for helps. The house has 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, kitchen, livingroom, family room, dining room, carport, partially fenced in yard, etc. Was built by my father-in-law in 1971 for $36k. I've seen it much worse than that. I know a couple of people who have things piled so high with only little paths through the house that all you can see is junk everywhere. I mean piles 4-5 feet high. They're more organized than you're FIL was, but it's no less unhealthy. After visiting one couple, the man offered us a package of food that he had prepared - I took it but did not eat it - and later found out it was made from packaged food items that were 3 years past their due date. I'm waiting for the day I get the call to go help this one family, they're squatting on borrowed time as their home is going through foreclosure. The clean-up will be a disaster when that day comes. Good luck with it Greg. Your only option is really to go through it all piece by piece if you want to make sure you don't toss out important papers and valuable items. And even then, the question of how "sterile" those items are will be a real concern. Yeah, our game plan is to get to upstairs cleaned out, and use the living room dining room area as staging, and the bedrooms upstairs for sorting. I'm going to pile the small bedroom upstairs up with scrap metal. I can't leave it outside or it'll all disappear. ---- We found out this weekend there is a tax lein on the house, so we're trying to take care of that today. We also found out that my wifes mothers name is still on the deed, they've been divorced for 32 years. She has no money to deal with the house and the divorce papers say it belongs to Wayne (my FIL) and the will states that Krista gets everything. So, we're trying to get a quit deed done ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesoam Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 The house isn't in THAT bad of shape. Needs a new kitchen, a new bathroom, floors need sanding, new carpet downstairs, a new roof, new exterior doors, new gutters, new sofets, and land scaping. Oh is that all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt b Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Do the landscaping and the doors first, make the neighbors like the house again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdizzle Posted December 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Do the landscaping and the doors first, make the neighbors like the house again. That's the plan.Oh is that all? It could be much much much worse. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesoam Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Ah you're right, imagine if there was furniture made out of garbage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdizzle Posted December 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Mesoam" data-cid="2187957" data-time="1355785104"><p> Ah you're right, imagine if there was furniture made out of garbage?</p></blockquote> There could be foundation issues. Structural damage from pests, etc. while the list seems like a lot, none of it is that hard to fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honeyman Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Do the landscaping and the doors first, make the neighbors like the house again. Maybe want to do this later....let the subs get in and out of there. More than likely they'll affect (mar) the doors and yard. You don't want to do it twice. Just sayin sayin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Dastardly Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Maybe want to do this later....let the subs get in and out of there. More than likely they'll affect (mar) the doors and yard. You don't want to do it twice. Just sayin sayin. gotta agree with AJ...maybe clean up the yard a little and trim some stuff, but I would wait until all other work is done before you make it nice. I have had this talk with more than one customer about this. Not that I mind getting paid twice, but customers always want me to fix stuff for free when other contractors fuck it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prasamin Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 i know hoarders, but they are clean and organized. never seen in real life anything like what you just posted. i'd hire someone to clean up, and i'd be there personally watching so i can collect the valuables. sorry to hear about krista's dad passing, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterhalo Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 Do the landscaping and the doors first, make the neighbors like the house again. NO Maybe want to do this later....let the subs get in and out of there. More than likely they'll affect (mar) the doors and yard. You don't want to do it twice. Just sayin sayin. Don't worry about the neighbors. They'll be happy just to see something getting done. Seems as if you have a handle on things and have a plan of attack. Do the necessary structural things first. A buyer can always decorate/landscape to their choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdizzle Posted December 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 NO Don't worry about the neighbors. They'll be happy just to see something getting done. Seems as if you have a handle on things and have a plan of attack. Do the necessary structural things first. A buyer can always decorate/landscape to their choice. By landscape, I mean cut all the shit out and clean the leaves up, and mow the grass for the first time in 2 years. The back yard is a forest now. I may plant a few small bushes in the front just so it doesn't look so bare, but I don't plan on doing much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt b Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 By landscape, I mean cut all the shit out and clean the leaves up, and mow the grass for the first time in 2 years. The back yard is a forest now. I may plant a few small bushes in the front just so it doesn't look so bare, but I don't plan on doing much. Yeah, I guess that was my extent of landscaping too. Happy neighbors matters, houses aren't exactly selling well now. But I didn't think about the doors being scuffed, good point on holding off, no need to create more work and expenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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