The cleanout is the reason the house never gets sold
People stall on these for years, and it's rarely about the price. It's that every path to
selling seems to start with emptying forty years of belongings out of a house — physically,
emotionally, and at a cost of thousands in dumpsters and labor before a single buyer has
walked through.
So the house sits. Taxes keep coming. Insurance gets harder. Whatever was wrong with the
roof gets worse.
You can skip that entire step. We buy the house with the contents in it and deal with the
cleanout ourselves after closing.
Cutler Bay: the house had outgrown her
We bought a hoarder house in Cutler Bay from a woman who had reached the
point where the property simply wasn't manageable any more. The pool had stopped working and
was going to cost tens of thousands to put right. Between that and the state of the house, it
wasn't safe or sanitary for her to keep living in as she got older.
What she wanted wasn't top dollar. It was cash and a fresh start somewhere she could
actually take care of. We bought it as it was — contents, pool and all.
South Miami: junk cars, lawnmowers, and someone still living there
The South Miami house came with everything. Junk in every room, junk cars
in the yard, old lawnmowers. We took all of it.
There was also an occupant living in the house who wasn't one of the heirs. Rather than
push that onto the family — or leave it as an obstacle that killed the sale — we paid him to
relocate before closing, and we paid for the junk removal. Those costs are priced into the
offer, openly, rather than turning up later as a deduction.
Why emptying it first almost never pays
A full cleanout on a packed Miami house runs into real money and weeks of labor. What it
buys you is a house that shows better. But a buyer like us isn't paying for how it shows —
we're pricing the roof, the electric, the plumbing and the structure, and those are the same
whether the rooms are full or empty.
So the cleanout money usually comes straight back out of your pocket and doesn't come back
in the price. The exception is if you're listing on the open market to a retail buyer with a
mortgage, where condition and appearance drive the appraisal. That's a different sale, and if
that's the right move for your house, we'll tell you.
What to take out before we close
Once we close, whatever is left is ours to dispose of, and disposal is exactly what happens
to it. So walk it once for:
- Documents — deeds, titles, tax records, insurance policies, military records
- Photographs and anything of family value
- Jewelry, cash, firearms, prescriptions
- Titles and keys for any vehicles, if you want to keep them
Anything you don't want to touch, leave. That's the point.
Common questions
Do I have to clean out the house before selling it?
No. We buy the property with the contents in it, including junk cars and yard debris, and pay for the removal ourselves after closing.
Will a hoarder house get a lower offer?
The contents affect the offer only by the cost of removing them, which is far less than people expect. The roof, electrical, plumbing and structure drive the number.
What if someone is living in the house who isn't the owner?
We deal with that. On one South Miami purchase we paid the occupant to relocate before closing so it didn't fall on the family.
What should I take before closing?
Documents, photographs, jewelry, cash, firearms, prescriptions and vehicle titles. Everything you leave behind is disposed of after closing.
Get My Fair Cash Offer
Other guides
Selling a House in Probate · Inherited a House That Needs Work · When Heirs Disagree · Open Permits & Violations
