House clearance strategy

Marcon

jasdog said:

British Heart Foundation we paid them £250 they took all the items left in the house it included furniture clothes and bricka brack.They like you to bag/box things up just to cut down on time spent loading thier van.

Unfortunately if you look at their website you will that, not surprisingly, their house clearance service is not currently available.

SevenOfNine

Covid & lockdown has created brick walls for all excellent house clearing suggestions here (our council tip has stayed open but it's appointment only visits). I did my mum's 3 bed home recently, proper miffed that we couldn't get a clearance company.  I'm not kidding when I say she had 'stuff' EVERYWHERE. In cupboards, in front of cupboards, every surface in every room had ancient or even unused 'stuff', she was a hoarder is an understatement! Chock-a-block.  It's been a hazard for years but you can't tell a 93 year old what to do.

I removed all paperwork, photo's & sentimental bits & pieces.  I bought loads of heavy duty black waste bags, told family they could come round on a particular day & help themselves to anything they wanted (there was no bickering), & I expected them to help by filling a few bags.

Ended up with 6 adults first day, we went through the house like a tornado, majority bagged & stacked in huge pile in a downstairs room closest to an outside door. Second day there were 4 of us just bagging all the rest in 2 hours.  We paid no mind to anything that in different circumstances might go to charity or would do someone a good turn or might fetch a bit of money, just got it DONE. Rented 8yd skip for £198.

Knew bin men come round that estate very early & start stacking everyone's bin bags in big piles, my cheeky brother lives nearby, so he nipped round & formed his own "stack" of 10 black bags of mum's stuff!  I'm surprised bin men didn't realise the bag quality was nothing like the thin things usually used.

Skip arrived & we got about 70 bags in that, along with several items of things that could be dismantled, coffee tables etc plus entire stock of old pots/pans. It was packed in as tight as we could get it, nice & neat & level with fill instructions. Only furniture/carpets/curtains left in the house.

Arranged skip pick up for later that day, didn't want it there overnight. An hour or so chopping up a dresser, bedside cabinets etc & arranged a single visit to council tip to get rid of that.

So, the furniture?  Well we sold an elderly persons house about 3 years ago, another council house purchase with not a lot of work done to it in 65 years of ownership - so really only ripe for developing inside, outside 'sound' houses, solidly built. Estate agent valued it & said "don't clear it of all that furniture", sell it as seen & let the buyer do it. Purchaser that time was going to modernise it for his daughter, no mortgage, no chain, paid within asking price range, & got rid of everything. Excellent.

Even more excellent was the same buyer wanted something for his son now, exactly the same situation. Perfect.

Our mum died on 7 November just as she would have wanted, in the house she'd lived for 65 years. Probate was very fast, only 7 working days, I was Executrix & made my 2 brothers 'reserve powers', it's easier that way (for me anyway). House sale was agreed on 23 November & completed yesterday. I'm only waiting for a refund from Council Tax & house contents insurance & HMRC confirmation of whether she owes or is owed anything. All the process have been really fast (except mums bank of NatWest), organisations very kind & helpful. Virtually all done & dusted in 11 weeks.

The only problem I have now is I keep forgetting my mum has died.

badger09

Another vote for British Heart Foundation.

Obviously they are not collecting during lockdown, and I don't know anyone who is, but they will be more than willing when lockdown ends. You can either just donate certain items, or ask them to do a full house clearance. 

elsien

We did find with BHF (not the full house clearance, just some furniture) that they didn’t want the old fashioned stuff that they didn’t think would sell. 

swingaloo2

I must second the previous poster who said to check for money hidden in tins etc. I work in a charity shop and so many times we have had bags donated where those clearing have not checked pockets on clothes etc. I have found 3 rings inside a rolled up pair of wooly gloves, cash inside a teapot which had been stuffed with old sandwich bags, money inside LP sleeves, money tucked inside the toes of mens shoes, a beautiful brooch in a bag which had about 2 dozen pairs of old stockings and money in a vase which held plastic flowers, I could go on and on.  
A lot of people clearing thier relatives wardrobes just pull the clothes off the rail and bag them still on the hangers without ever looking in the pockets. I remember many, many years ago when my father in law died he had over £800 in a jacket pocket.  My own mother used to put cash in cigarette packets and push them so far down the sides of the couch that they ended up in the bottom. We let 2 of the grandchildren cut the lining off the bottom of her couch before we skipped it thinking there may be a lot of loose change down there and there was actually just shy of £2000 in packets.
Dont take anything forgranted, everyone has thier own hiding places and a lot of the elderly chose to keep cash at home rather than a bank although I dont think its as common now that pensions are more often paid into the bank.

BooJewels

I'm just going through this process myself with my parents home - and whilst the idea of a professional house clearance would certainly appeal, the house was a real mess (and is large), bordering on hoarding and had a serious mouse infestation.  In all conscience, I couldn't have asked anyone else to face that.  

But my sister and I also felt that it was our responsibility and duty to do the work ourselves.  I didn't really fancy the idea of strangers touching private stuff.  Granted, it's a massive undertaking and with Covid and other personal circumstances, it's a time-consuming task and it's going to take a little while longer yet.  Although there's no time pressure, as such, as there's only the two of us inheriting and whilst we want the house sold, for both of us, the financial aspect of it is intended for longer term needs, so neither of us are desperate to get at the value yet.  

We've found so many little treasures that I can't bear the idea of missing those things - like the little leather case that Mum's wedding ring had been in in the best man's pocket and the old biscuit tin that contained a newspaper wrapped confection of crystals and wire that had been atop their wedding cake.  I found an old handbag that contained a dance card and a tiny photo of my Dad in a card that he'd written a declaration of love to my Mum.  And hundreds of old family photos in amongst books and in old suitcases - I didn't even know what my great grandparents looked like until last month - I might have missed that - I can now put a face to the man whose initials I wear on a signet ring I've worn every day since my 18th birthday - by serendipity they ended up being my own, after marriage.  

We're concentrating on sorting at this stage - rubbish...keep...charity shop/ car boot...recycle...auction...sell privately...ebay...etc etc.  We empty cupboards and put back boxes full of stuff marked up for eventual destinations.  If it weren't for Covid, these would have been dealt with months ago.  We did hire a skip and totally filled that and the garage is already full of another half skips worth.

I'd concur with searching for money, we've not found as much as I expected (Mum was a squirreller, but I think Dad already found her hiding places and gave some it each to my sister and I after she died), but we're saving it for a holiday to spread Dad's ashes (probably in 2022 now) - and we put anything we find in a purse - we've enough (in assorted currencies) for a couple of nice lunches and a few beers.  The eBay sales are being set aside for the same (we won't get close to the amount for contents we put on the probate form).

If nothing else, we knew my Mum had an uncut emerald and Dad couldn't remember where she'd put it and we were determined to find this, thinking it might be the only thing of value - we spent weeks looking for that, even before Dad passed - and when we did find it it was a quarter of the size we remembered and significantly poorer in quality.  It was valued at 35 quid, if that and would cost several times that to cut it.  

poppystar

Thank you everyone for your experiences, advice and stories  - too many to respond to individually yet - so just wanted to say that the added bonus is I now don’t feel quite so alone in the process either.

It’s good to know that others are dealing with borderline hoarding. The ‘stuff’ in my case was very well hidden at first. The house was always ultra tidy and quite without a sense of personality- until I ventured into the built in cupboards !! Floor to ceiling in several rooms and hiding so much. I’m on the sixth or seventh tea service and there is so much special cutlery that never saw a meal! There is also no order - boxes of tacky gifts received and never used can hide a gem or an old photo of family never before seen or long forgotten - so nothing can be easily thrown. 

As for hidden money, I’m in the position of having been told there was some but in my distress I didn’t ask where - there seemed more important things at the death bed - and I was sure I knew the hiding places. I’m now not sure if the stash of money had simply been used up or if it is still lurking somewhere. I think my buyers may have a treat in the future.

It’s good to know that others of you have just got it done and not worried too much about separating into charity, recycle etc. I was feeling guilty but I have nowhere to store stuff until the charity shops reopen and have spent too long already trying to find somewhere that would take things. I’d always thought too that my father’s workshop could be cleared and the tools given to TWAM to go to  Africa but sadly Covid has put pay to collection if those. 

My thoughts now are that:
 I will go through everything and bag up as I go along but maybe not separate out as much as I would if donating to charity was possible. 
It would be useful to have a skip too for these but I am mindful that if left overnight it might miraculously fill up before I get chance to actually fill it myself! So may give that a miss.
The search for a clearance company who are happy to take things already bagged up along with fully clearing the big items is a must (sadly Savvy Sue I’m not in Berkshire) so must scour around Solihull/South B’ham -anyone know a good one?) and priority for the coming week.

It feels I may have not left myself enough time - shouldn’t have kept hoping restrictions would lift! Thanks again to everyone who replied🙂

KxMx

The company I used was more of a Man with Van outfit, if that helps in your search. He offers many services in addition to house clearances.

SevenOfNine

I did a much more sensitive clearance for a different home 5 years ago. Furniture only a couple of years old so had the fire resistant labels that charities insist on or they won't take it. Personal medical items went to charities to send abroad.  It's definitely easier when you know things will have some use for others or raise funds for worthy causes. I could not have used a skip for any of it.

I still cannot part with the clothing so have it in a spare room, and had 2 memory bears made from a couple of items. One day I may be ready to pack it away further, or have a patchwork quilt made maybe. I kept items of sentimental value to me & the things I knew had meaning to the person. You have to be comfortable with your choice because you can't undo it!

Clearing the home of loved ones is very personal, lockdown has made your options difficult as well. I think primarily you should keep the house insured, that is a bit limited though & for the 3 clearances we've had to do we had to either drain the heating system down or keep it on 24x7 set at 10 degrees, & had to check the properties once a week. We also used 2 lamps & set timers, but I still worried about squatters & vandals!

Water rates are free of charge, they allow for a bit of usage, cleaning & loo flushing etc, & have no deadline date, you can have years as long as use remains that minimal. Council tax is free for 6 months from probate (or LoA) date. EoN (& they're all similar) gave 3 options for energy, continue payment via a monthly direct debit. Pay bills as they came. Ignore it all until property changes hands & pay for everything used in one lump at the end. Though they warned there would be letters to check progress at regular intervals, but not to worry about that, it is their procedure to monitor the situation.

To be honest my mum's stubbornness meant she lived very badly for the last 14 months of her life, refusing any/every mobility aid & every bit of comfort & help she, & we, could easily have given or afforded to get her.  As independent as she fought to be, & thought she was, it put massive pressure on me. I knew what would eventually happen & that day came. I took some shopping round & found her dead on her bedroom floor.

Happy childhood memories were erased, I moved as quickly as possible to clear & sell it as I didn't like going there with images inside my head. I'll always be appalled by her choices, fighting to live in squalid conditions, going without, for what? So we inherit a packet of money, I hate it.

I hope you can get done what you need to, how you want to, & my condolences.

badger09

@poppystar
You are definitely not alone and will always find a friendly ear (& shoulder if needed) on here.
This has to be one of the best boards on the forum as I discovered when dealing with the unexpected death of my lovely older sister almost 3 years ago.
The practical advice is priceless and most of the regular/ frequent posters have recent experience and/or relevant knowledge. Then, when you're able to, please come back and offer the same support and advice to others.