Husband-and-wife real estate investors Casey and Jillian TeVault in Diamond Bar, CA, often tackle the unappetizing task of purging houses packed with, well … everything. Hoarder homes may be bargains, but what does it really take to wipe a slate like that clean? Casey recounts one of their most challenging recent projects, which he nicknamed the High Desert Hoarder House, and all the teachable moments within.
How’d you end up with this eyesore of a property? “The owner of the property found me online and reached out for a cash offer. Her property was infested by rats, she had just gotten divorced, and she was in the process of moving from California to Arizona for a fresh start. She knew that she didn’t have the time, money, or bandwidth to clean up, fix, and list the property. My wife was actually really excited about the project, so we bought it for $285,000, and the seller was on her way.”
Did you find any nasty surprises inside? “There were hundreds of roaches. But the biggest freakout moment was 100% the rats. It wasn’t just that the house had rats, but that there were tons of them, and they were aggressive. Typically, rats will scurry away and let you be, but not these. Rats from this house must have been possessed or drank some bad water because they would run at you in packs. I used to say that real estate rarely goes as planned, but now I just say that real estate never goes as planned. Thankfully, my wife doesn’t visit projects until they are cleared out.”
What did it take to clear out and renovate? “I called my clean-out guy. He and his guys wore jeans and heavy sweatshirts to be sure that there wasn’t any exposed skin. Once all the items were cleared out in three huge dumpsters, the rats were gone, but they had already chewed through everything. They had even chewed into the walls, leaving us needing to replace all electrical wiring and insulation. So we removed and replaced the insulation in the walls and attic, plus completely overhauled the home’s major systems. We remodeled it for $62,000, then sold it in 2024 for $442,000. Total profit after closing costs and commissions was $76,000.”
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Was anything in the house salvageable? “If the house is packed and the contents are in good shape, then I will save and donate. My process is to call my estate sale friends and have them perform a sale at the property, or if we are short on time, remove the contents so that they can do a sale off-site. This can really turn into a big win-win because if there is some value there, I basically get paid to have contents removed that I would normally pay someone to remove. I did find a wedding ring once under a dresser and returned it to the family. That said, there are times when the contents of the home are not salvageable due to water damage, fire damage, or the crowd favorite: rodents.”
Any advice on clearing out a hoarder house? “With hoarder houses, my advice is to expect the worst and err on the side of caution. Also, increase your ‘oh shit’ buffer. I budget 10% of the project budget for unexpected items, but with hoarder houses, you really need 15%–20%. My due diligence involves walking it with my contractor; if the HVAC system is older than 15 years, then I have that inspected. If their property is on septic, then I have a septic inspection done. Also, due to the weight of the contents in a hoarder home, if it’s older, I will have a foundation inspection done as well.”
What have you learned clearing out hoarder houses? “My biggest lesson is if it doesn’t look and feel like a ‘heck yes,’ it needs to be a ‘heck no.’ Every time I had to convince myself to buy a deal, I ended up regretting my decision. Second lesson: Walk before you run—meaning don’t go out and buy a huge fixer on your very first deal. Start with a paint and floor cleanup first, and after each time, progress into bigger jobs once you’ve mastered the basics, have a good crew in place, and feel ready for a big job.”