Hoarder

[AHI in AR]

I had an inspection earlier this week of a property that I had been told had some "stuff" in it that wouldn't be removed prior to the inspection. The 60 year old home has been vacant for a few years since the death of the owner, and is a candidate for a total gutting/renovation. I agreed to do a limited structural inspection only.

Note the expression of the couple in the last photo. Seems they are appropriately disappointed in the state of things.

This was a job where I wore covers over my shoes to protect them from the interior of the home, not the other way around.

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[ericwlewis]

Note the expression of the couple in the last photo. Seems they are appropriately disappointed in the state of things.

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I've had clients with that look at the end too [:-crazy]

[John Kogel]

What was the smell like in there? I imagine there'd be a few rats in that place.

[Jim Baird]

I had some pix of one that was much worse, where a street guy had been camping in what had been his childhood home. No services had been connected in over two yrs. Pics of the family still hung on the walls. I deleted them not long ago as they were too depressing to keep.

[Tom Raymond]

I can't decide which is more sad, that the estate is attempting to sell it in that condition or that your clients actually want to buy it.

It's a sad disease. There is a woman in my town that has had her home condemned because it was in that condition. The house and barn completely filled with junk. She has since bought another house and has been in trouble with the Town on two occasions because of junk spilling out the doors into the front yard. Her car is full too, if she's ever in an accident she's as likely to by killed by the shifting contents as anything.

[AHI in AR]

The sale isn't a typical sale to a would-be home owner. The property is part of an estate; the occupant died about five years ago and it has been vacant since. There is a college nearby, and they are attempting to revitalize the neighborhood by buying up rundown properties and renovating them. It's not exactly a highly desirable end of town. I suspect that the property will be transferred at minimal value if the sale goes through at all. The biggest issue was actually a significant roof leak at the rear which had been left unattended. About half of the floor framing at the rear of the house is gone.

I had a friend in college whose mom was a hoarder also. There were just little pathways through the house, and the floors were literally sagging under the weight of all the stuff. Nothing – and I mean nothing – got thrown out. You really have to wonder how a brain short-circuits to bring this about. It's oddly fascinating. What possible need could they think there would be be for old junk mail and fast food wrappers? At least there is SOME conceivable use for the five or six dozen empty shampoo bottles paving the bathroom floor.

[Phillip]

I done an inspection a few year back for two brothers that wanted to know what it would take to fix their mother house up. the one that they where raised in.

Well mother was a hoarder. In each of the bedrooms there was a small path around the room you could walk. The center of the room and the wall where stacked to the ceiling where you could not see anything.

The living room and dining room was not as bad, you could get to one window in there.

The kitchen did not have a pile in the center. One of the brothers said they had moved the pile to the attic. Which limited the view of the attic.

There was a large sag in the kitchen floor along with other floor. The brothers said they had hard some one to go under the house to look for broke joist and that person said he did not find any. I took pictures of 6 broke joist.

The roof was worn out and leaking. One of the leaks was at the fuse panel on the rear porch which I could not get open because of the rust. I broke a tip of an screwdriver trying to open it.

Whoever installed the siding had installed where the water was getting in at the windows and rotting out the walls.

I show them everything I had found and suggested theu just buy mommy a new place and get rid of all of the items that where not needed.

[dcheck]

Not sure if you would consider this home the work of a hoarder. This just looks like total lack of care and cleaning for many years. The homes that I have inspected that had active "hoarding" were actually quite organized with items stacked every where. I'll see if I still have some photos..

Still, an amazing post and inspection to encounter!!!