Hoarder House Nightmare!!!
By: James A. Browning MRE
Some REO assignments are more interesting than others! Treat all REO assignments the same with professionalism.
The Bank assigned an REO property to Ed; he went to the property for the initial exterior Broker Price Opinion. Upon his arrival at the property, he looked stunned as he viewed the exterior of the building. In the yard, it looked like a cluttered junkyard that had not touched in thirty years. There were a number of refrigerators, stoves, washers/dryers, dishwashers, hot water heaters, furnaces, bathtubs, and other types of appliances. Some of these appliances were dated back from the 1960s, row after row, some them were stacked on top of each other. This looked like a dumping ground for appliances for the entire neighborhood for the past thirty years.
Ed took numerous photos of the yard and the items that have been stored on the property. He turned his attention the exterior condition of the house. This 1,500 square foot ranch house was in poor condition at best! The roof was missing a great number of shingles, the aluminum siding was sun baked and cracked, cracked glass in every window pain, the foundation was slanted to the north slightly. Ed took detailed notes of the condition of the house and all the items in the yard.
Ed completed the exterior BPO and valued the property as he was instructed to do so.
About a month later the bank ordered an interior BPO, and Ed thought to himself, do I really want this assignment from the Bank.
But, Ed the REO Real Estate Professional had no hesitation; he visited the property for a second time knowing that the property was vacant, (per instructions by the bank). He approached the front door and opened the lockbox (installed by the banks vendor), noticed a very strong stench coming from the interior of the house. Ed began to unlock the front door and turned the key and opened the door so there was a small crack in the door. He was nearly knocked over by the strong stench coming from the interior of the house.
Ed backed away dazed as he had never smelled an aroma so strong in his life. Retreating to his vehicle to grab a mask and gloves, he once again opened the front door and looked into the interior. He looked in and was amazed as the stacks of papers and trash was from the floor to the top of the ceiling. The only entrance into this house of garbage was a very small tunnel and path that led from room to another. This was where the term, “GOAT WALK”, came from. To maneuver through the tunnel of trash from room to room, you had to be short like a goat and have stable footing.
Ed cautiously traveled from room to room taking what pictures he could. He left the house on a number of occasions to take in fresh air and then to reinter the house to continue his interior inspection. Ed knew the house had a basement, but had a very difficult time locating the steps to the basement. Ed had to move a huge amount of garbage to enter the stairwell of the basement; he crawled down the basement steps avoiding the trash as he made slow progress making sure the flashlight was bright enough to allow him to proceed.
Ed stopped his descent into the basement because the smell was making him very sick; he retreated back up the stairwell out of house via the goat path and into the yard.
Ed was thinking to himself, I this really worthwhile for a REO Listing.
He went to his office and emailed the Asset Manager the poor condition of the property and reported the hoarding situation of his assignment. The Asset Manager responded the next business day that the Bank was going to send their National Preservation to the property within the next four days to trash out the house, basement, and the yard. Ed would have to meet the trash out crew to open the lockbox and take pictures of the before, during, and after photographs of the trash out process.
The National Preservation Company was meeting Ed at the single family dwelling several days later at 8:00 AM. When he arrived at the property he was amazed at the size of the trash out crew.
The crew numbered eight, including one mold mediation expect/inspector. The crew started their removal of the contents shorty after their arrival.
The crew worked until 8:00 PM on the first day and another 12 hour shift the following day until the contents was totally gone from the property. They used what is called a “roll off unit”, for the disposal of the contents of the interior of the property and the appliances, trash, garbage of the yard. (A roll off unit is used for the disposal of roofing material, shingles etc. The unit holds a total of 8.5 cubic yards of material).
The National Preservation crew of eight (8) working 24 hours in two days removed eight (8) “roll off units”, of contents from this single REO property. This could be the definition of the perfect hoarding house.
The point of this story is treat all REO properties with professionalism, no matter what condition the property, poor, fair, average, good, above average. The condition should not determine what REO properties you choose to List for the Lender, Bank.
Also, the type of REO asset should not determine what REO Listing the Real Estate the Broker/Agent should select. If the REO is a Mobile Home worth $10,000 or a multi- million dollar Single Family House located on the ocean! If you try to pick and choose your REO Listings from the Bank or Lender, you will be out of the REO Industry in a short period of time!
If you like our post, please like us on activerain, facebook! Thanks, James A. Browning MRE
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