“Whoa. Oh god.” Those were among the first words out of an investor’s mouth after finally stepping inside a house bought for $32,000 without ever seeing it. A moment later came the question that every bargain hunter dreads: “Someone was living in here like this?”
The reveal comes from the YouTube channel Jesse Stolz, in a 21 minute video called “I Paid $32,000 For This Flip House…They left a huge surprise behind.” On paper, the deal looked like a dream. Similar homes nearby were selling for around $300,000. But the cleanup bids that had already come in were raising red flags, and the buyer had not yet walked through the door.
A Long Drive To Find Out The Truth
The property sits four and a half hours away from the buyer, which the video describes as a seven hour round trip. After the purchase, the team had sent a few trash-out crews to look at the place and give an idea of what cleanup would cost. The bids that came back were pretty pricey. Before even arriving, the buyer noted that the trip alone burned a quick $150 in fuel.
Outside, the house was rough. It has vinyl windows, and grass was growing about two feet out of the top of the gutter, which the buyer figured could be a clue about the condition of the roof. The main siding looks awful, but the buyer thinks it is some kind of aluminum or plastic that might be salvaged with a pressure wash and a coat of paint. The T111 siding on the garage, the buyer says, is a whole other story.
Inside: Piles Of Trash And A Lot Of Damage
Inside was worse. The video’s description lists collapsing floors, roof leaks, three feet of trash and one of the nastiest bathrooms the buyer has ever seen. The house is relatively small, which makes the amount of garbage even more shocking. The buyer, who says they have seen some wild situations, calls this one of the worst for sheer volume of trash.
That brings us to the number that makes the headline. The team collected several bids to haul everything out. They all ranged on the high end, a little over $12,000. The lowest and best bid came in at $8,000. The buyer planned to accept it, while noting that it is a pretty hefty trash-out bill for what is just garbage.
Doing The Math On Three Options
Here is where it gets interesting. With the $8,000 trash-out added to the $32,000 purchase, the buyer is into the house for $40,000. Then comes the real work. The buyer lays out three possible paths, and says all three have a way to make money.
- Rehab the house. Even if the buyer has to put $150,000 into it, which the buyer calls the conservative side, they would be all in at $190,000. The hope is to resell for about $300,000. Nearby comparable manufactured homes are selling for anywhere from $300,000 to $350,000. The buyer admits that this is not as good a deal as hoped, just a standard margin deal.
- Tear it down and sell the lot. Spend the $8,000 on trash-out and another $10,000 on demolition, and the buyer would be left with a bare lot at roughly $50,000. The buyer imagines lots in the area are worth somewhere between $80,000 and $100,000.
- Scrape it down and place a new manufactured home on the land. That is the third path, and the buyer says it also leads to a profit.
The buyer notes that, with the trash-out included, the team is basically into the property at land value. That is why tearing everything down stays on the table.
What Buyers And Sellers Can Learn From This
Most of us will never buy a house sight unseen. But the story has lessons for anyone dealing with an older, neglected or inherited property.
- Get more than one bid. In this story, the bids for the same trash-out ranged from $8,000 up to a little over $12,000. A gap that wide is real money, and you only find it by asking around.
- Price the cleanup before the repairs. A house full of debris hides everything underneath. Floors, roof leaks and plumbing problems cannot be judged until the junk is out.
- Look at the roof and the siding early. Grass growing out of a gutter, as seen here, is a hint worth checking, since the buyer here wondered what it said about the roof.
- Compare your options on paper. Fix it up, tear it down, or replace it. The same address can lead to very different profits depending on the path you choose.
- Count the small costs. A $150 tank of fuel is small next to $8,000, but costs like these add up on every project.
- If you are selling a house like this, expect buyers to factor in the cost of hauling everything away when they make an offer.
The channel says this house goes down in the books as one of the worst for sheer amount of trash. Whether it becomes a rehab, a vacant lot or a brand new home on the same land, the story is a reminder that a low price is only the first number in the math. The second number, the one waiting inside, can change everything.
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