I Inherited a Hoarder House — What Should I Do With All the Stuff?
Inheriting a home comes with a great deal of responsibility, especially if that house belonged to a hoarder. Now, on top of deciding if you will keep or sell the house, you need to devise a plan for all the stuff covering every surface. It can be tempting to hire a junk removal company and wipe your hands clean of the mess. However, doing so could mean you are missing out on the opportunity to find valuable items and hold an estate auction in Central New Jersey.
Before you kick everything in the hoarder home to the curb, consider carefully combing through the items to find valuables that could significantly improve your financial situation. Follow these tips when you find yourself in the position of dealing with a hoarder’s stuff:
Look for Instructions in a Will
Before moving items or making plans to sell the hoarder house, check your loved one’s will for any specific instructions. The deceased may have stated where they would like particular items to go. If there aren’t any instructions, you can see if your family members have specific requests.
Get Rid of Junk First
Cleaning a hoarder house can be overwhelming — there are magazines, paperwork, old clothes, jewelry, boxes, and knick-knacks everywhere. The best way to begin the process of decluttering the space is to get rid of garbage first. This often includes junk mail, food in the pantry, and old grocery bags.
Keep an Eye Out for Valuables in Unlikely Places
Once the space has been cleared of obvious junk, you can begin to sort through items in search of valuables. Make sure you look in unusual places. First-edition books have been found in the backs of closets under blankets, and rare gems have been found in the pockets of garments or wrapped in tissues. You may even discover jewelry in the freezer!
As soon as you spot items that are potentially worth something, place them somewhere where they are secure. In this way, you can later determine their value and potentially sell them during a rare items auction.
Only Keep a Few Items
As you go through your loved one’s stuff, you may learn a lot about the person your aunt, uncle, grandma, or grandpa was before they passed away. You may feel guilty about getting rid of the things they saw as important, but you must realize a few things. First, by selling their stuff by an auction house, you are not forgetting them. Keep only one or two things with sentimental value, and let their memories live on in your heart. Secondly, when you sell their items, you ensure their life continues to touch the lives of others. Professional teams like ours will place the items into the hands of collectors who will appreciate the collection your loved one worked so hard on.
Get Help Documenting Valuables and Determining Their Value
After getting rid of obvious junk and setting aside possessions you want to keep, call in a professional from a local auction house like Bodnar’s Auction. When you have a professional in the industry sort through items, you guarantee you don’t miss a single valuable item. All too often, people mistakenly throw away things of value and try to sell belongings that actually carry very little worth. Having an auctioneer value your items is also more convenient and affordable than hiring an appraiser or trying to document the items yourself. Our professionals will provide a free evaluation and consultation, so you can feel confident in the advice you receive.
Sell the Valuable Items Found in a Hoarder House
After having the items found in your inherited house evaluated, it’s time to decide what you will do with these valuables. One option is to keep them for their sentimental value; however, you may not have the space to store a comic book collection or antique furniture. In this case, selling your items to an auction house in New Jersey may be better.
At Bodnar’s Auction, we host auctions every other week containing all aspects of quality personal property, estate auctions, toy collections, fine art, jewelry, and comic book collections, to name a few. No matter the items you discover in your inherited home, our professionals can help you get your loved one’s hoarding situation under control. Contact us today for more information about our upcoming auctions.