Sell a Hoarder House or a House That Needs Major Repairs — Leave It All Behind

Hoarder houses: what we actually do

A house where you can’t see the floor doesn’t scare us. Here’s how it goes: you tell us about the house; we walk through what we can (or look at photos if you’d rather); we make a written offer that accounts for the clean-out; you take the things that matter — documents, photos, jewelry, whatever you can find; and after closing our crew handles the rest, respectfully. If the house belonged to a parent, we understand that this is more than trash to you, and we’ll set anything personal we find aside.

If there’s a code enforcement case, an unsafe-structure notice, or a neighbor complaint, we take that on too.

Major repairs most buyers can’t finance

• Roof — Florida insurers routinely refuse shingle roofs over about 15 years old; no insurance means no mortgage, which means no retail buyer.
• Electrical — Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels, aluminum branch wiring, cloth wiring in 1920s–40s homes.
• Plumbing — cast-iron drain lines, polybutylene supply lines, galvanized pipe.
• Foundation and structure — settlement cracks, sinkhole history (common in parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough), termite damage to framing.
• Mold and water intrusion — from roof leaks, failed windows, or past flooding.
• Unpermitted additions, enclosed garages and porches, converted carports.

Every one of these shows up on an inspection and kills a financed deal. None of them stop us.

How we calculate the offer

What the house would sell for fully renovated on that street, minus the cost of the renovation (we estimate conservatively because we actually do the work), minus holding and resale costs, minus a margin that keeps us in business. We’ll go through the line items with you. If the number doesn’t work for you, no hard feelings — and if you’d net more listing it as-is, we’ll tell you.

Why not just list it “as-is”?

You can, and some houses should be. But “as-is” on the MLS still means showings, still means cash-only buyers (lenders won’t touch it), still means a commission, and still means the buyer’s inspector renegotiating. Many sellers end up accepting an investor offer anyway, 90 days later, minus 5–6%. See the comparison.

We are a cash home buyer, not a law firm. This page is general information about Florida law and local process, not legal advice. For advice on your situation, talk to a Florida attorney — we work with several and are glad to make an introduction.