I helped a friend clean out. She found a guy in her town who was willing to do all the cleaning out if he could have the “leftovers”. We packed up everything my friend felt she needed. We tossed a ton of stuff in two of the biggest dumpsters they have. She donated a TON to my charity thrift shop. And this guy came and dealt with the rest. And cleaned the house too when it was empty. He got a lot of misc stuff…which I’m quite sure he resells. Lots of tools, misc electronic stuff, some misc furniture, all the snow removal stuff, some window AC units. You get the picture.
This saved my friend a TON of money as she didn’t have to remove the stuff leftover…or clean the house.
Very true. I WILL NOT put my kids through what my sister and I endured in July. And if my dad makes one more comment about something we must have thrown out I will lose it. He had years to sort stuff before he fell ill.
My mom had a knack for “needing” the tupperware container which we had recently tossed into recycling (was warped from the dishwasher and missing a lid for over a decade) so I get it- parents don’t want their kids throwing out their stuff while they are there to see it.
My daughter just bought a house, and takes possession on Tues. This was the parents’ home but now sold to my daughter by the owners’ daughter (and brother lives in town too). The basement is full of crap from many many years (old TVs, lots of wood from woodworking projects, Christmas crap). The owner has been packing her own stuff to move to a condo, but there is no way the rest of this stuff is going to be moved out by Tues. There is a car in the garage “worth millions!” and it even has an engine, but the engine isn’t IN the car, just next to it.
If there is still too much crap left at the walkthrough, she shouldn’t have to close before things are resolved. . The realtors should want to make closing happen so seller should remove stuff themselves or give credit to your daughter. Good luck!
Your D can charge rent for the use of the basement as a storage unit. I’ve found that’s a very effective way to get stuff out! She can tell her lawyer that the rental fee for the basement is $1000 a month… lawyer can put the seller on notice that rent starts as of an hour before closing…
Our realtor offered to pay for the removal of crap left in the garage by the prior owner. There was not a whole lot to dispose of, definitely no dismembered cars or stuff like that, so we told him that we can take care of it ourselves. We took it all to the dump together with the ugly, nonfunctional cabinets we ripped out of the garage.
Long story short, if a realtor wants the commission, they will find a way to make the closing happen, even if it comes out of their own pocket.
I think there is a big need for that kind of service. That guy probably does not get rich, but it is win-win.
We had a relative that got help from dealer and was hung ho to get rid of ALL his wife’s china, crystal, humme;s and other various stuff. It was mostly a good thing. At the time I thought it would have been nice to have my kids generation each pick one Hummel from her proudly lit display case… but maybe they would not have wanted. I might have liked a few of the cheap pewter figurines she picked for her shadow box when she vacationed with us, but it all went in the sale. The relative did not in any way need money, just needed help with the overwhelming clean out chore. It was a blessing to the folks that eventually had to clear out the house after he died.
I did get all the jewelry, mostly Avon and a few nice things. (Felt a bit bad about getting all since I am not a blood relative, but the couple had notchildren; maybe someday m daughter will take some) - had to buy a jewelry armoire.
When I had to settle my Aunts estate we did a first clean out one week with a roll up dumpster. Then I videoed everything in the house and the jewelry and let everyone pick. Very few conflicts. After those were removed I turned the whole thing over to an estate sale who emptied out everything. We sent cleaners in after so it was completely cleaned before sales. That estate seller was a blessing since they got another dumpster for everything not sold and we did not have to know what went into it.
I recommend going through all clothing pockets, purses, boxes, etc. to check for cash and jewelry. I cleaned my mother’s place and found small amounts of cash tucked here and there. My sister said she luckily discovered some jewelry in a pair of pants before they went out to thrift stores.
It may have been easier for us since my mother lived in a small apartment so her hoarding is limited by size. But we knew she liked keeping cash and had nice expensive jewelry so it was worth the effort. She also suffered from dementia near the end.
Not about elderly belongings, but the guy across the street from us moved out of state last year. When the real estate agent and the buyers came to do the walk through, they found all of the owners’ belongings. Real estate agent calls the guy and he tells her that he took what he wanted and left the rest including food in the refrigerator! He ended up paying for someone to haul it all away and clean the house and maybe more. Honestly!
My mom “squirreled” money (large amounts) away for years. I’m pretty sure I know who knew where to look and made sure it was removed before the auction house came in.
Oh, the was the old way. They actually closed 2 months ago and she (and BF) had to give them 60 days to move. Sellers can ask for ANYTHING these days. They even told them to leave it all if they could move in earlier, but no. They are getting a lot of things like a lawnmower, some cabinets a BBQ set that the seller doesn’t need in a condo.
I have a friend who’s grandfather passed away about 10 years ago. He was living with my friend’s mother at the time so my friend help clean out his room. They found more than $100K in show boxes in his closet!
Once I’m done buying Thumper’s Limoges, I’ll be volunteering to clean out the shoe boxes of elderly folks in my neighborhood. I know people who stash $20 in emergency money in a shoe box but 100K? Count me in!