One man's trash is my treasure!

[Nathan Gesner]

I bought my very first hoarder house. It's a single-family in a "B" neighborhood that was occupied by hoarders. Let the tale begin!

This is a single-family with 856 square feet on the main floor and a full basement that is partially finished. The street is just one block long so there's no real through-traffic. The property is four houses away from a nice elementary school and just a few blocks from downtown.

My Ninja REALTOR skills value it at $150 - $170,000 after repairs. I snatched it for $57,000! I am putting about $10,000 into it immediately, along with a lot of blood, sweat and tears (more on that later). I manage 200+ rentals in the area and expect this one to rent for $900 a month.

The house is solid and dry. Old roof but no leaks. Filthy walls but no holes, cracks, or large dents. The carpet is filthy and probably 40+ years old but there is hardwood underneath. I found two broken window panes but all the windows operate and the storm windows and screens are in place. The appliances are disgustingly filthy but everything functions. Kitchen cabinets are filthy but are solid wood and can be recovered until we replace them in a year or two. The bathroom...let's just say I could lock 20 cats in there for a week and not notice the difference. The property is full of trash and neglected landscaping but it's a nice size, full fenced back yard, room for parking vehicles or toys, and surrounded by nice homes on both sides of the street. This is the pig of the neighborhood which only increases the value!

But you didn't come here for chit-chat; you want pictures! Let the show begin!

This is the front view. Not too shabby!

This is the living room. Again, not much to complain about so far. This picture was literally the first time I stepped foot in the house. I thought, "This isn't too bad!"

Bedroom #1. Things are starting to get worse.

Bedroom #2. Most hoarders seem to be elderly. This was actually a family with teenagers.

This is the dining room.

My personal favorite: the kitchen! I couldn't even see the floor because it was covered with trash and food. Can you believe people actually prepared food and ate in here?

I opened the fridge and food literally fell onto the floor. It was stuffed so full that the airflow was cut off and the fridge was almost room temperature. It did NOT smell like money.

The clothing was piled so thick in the basement that I had to duck to walk around.

It's plumbed for a bath but was being used as a work shop or something. And I get a funny feeling it may have doubled as storage space, but I'm not sure. ;)

Just a small sample of the cobwebs. It's like Spider-Man exploded in here.

A small sampling of the back yard.

I've seen worse hoarder houses but keep in mind, the occupants had already moved out.

What does a hoarder house smell like? MONEY!!! This deal was ripe for the picking with a guarantee of strong cash-flow, immediate equity, and a great ROI. I actually made an offer on it in January but it was rejected. I made the same offer again a month later and they accepted. I was so excited!

We've owned it for one week now and are starting the process of cleaning. I'll post follow-ups as we progress. I am already running into some "issues" and hope to learn from some fellow investors that have renovated a hoarder house in the past.

Thanks for reading!