House Cleanout: Seller Left Stuff Behind? Boise Help With Unexpected Items Left

House cleanout, seller left stuff behind, Boise home you just closed on: the fix comes down to checking your contract, setting aside anything personal, and clearing out the rest the right way. Most of what sellers leave is plain junk. Some of it may have been meant to stay, though, and a little of it may matter to someone.

Here's how to sort it out without losing your first week in the place.

First, check whether it was supposed to stay

Before you haul anything, dig out your purchase contract. Some things are meant to stay with the home, like a fridge, the window coverings, or a shed full of yard tools the sellers agreed to leave.

The contract usually spells out which items convey with the sale, so start there before you decide anything is junk.

Other stuff just got left. Sellers run out of time or energy. Or they figure the next owner will surely want that 1990s entertainment center.

Can't tell which is which? Call your real estate agent. They see this all the time and can tell you whether the seller owes you anything or whether it's yours to deal with now. We're not lawyers and won't pretend to be, so the contract questions go to your agent.

It also helps to think back to your final walk-through. If the garage looked clear then and the unexpected items left there showed up later, tell your agent that too.

Worth asking: Did the previous owner put anything in writing about what would stay? A short message through the agents can settle it before you toss something that was part of the deal.

Set the personal stuff aside

Most of what gets left behind is plain junk. Old paint, half a bag of fertilizer, a stack of particleboard shelves.

Every so often, though, a cleanout turns up something personal. A box of family photos in the attic. Tax paperwork with someone's name on it. A wedding album on a closet shelf.

Is it worth reaching out over? Honestly, yes. A quick message through your agent costs nothing and saves you an awkward phone call down the road. Put the personal things in one corner and let the rest go.

Paperwork with names or account numbers shouldn't go in an open trash bag, either. Hand it back through the agent or shred it.

Quick tip: Before anything leaves the property, take photos of what was left behind in the garage, attic, crawl space and backyard. If anyone ever asks what was there or what it cost to remove, you'll have a dated record.

What a house cleanout looks like when the seller left stuff behind in Boise

The leftovers tend to hide in the same places. The garage is the big one. After that it's sheds, side yards, the space under the deck, and attics people forgot they had.

People in a rush to move out tend to leave items in the spots nobody checks at the end. That's why it pays to look everywhere, not just the rooms you walked through at the showing.

Older homes in the North End and up on the Bench often have basements and crawl spaces where things have sat through more than one owner. Newer builds in Meridian, Kuna or Star usually have less, but the garage and backyard can still surprise you.

Size plays a part too. A place with more beds and baths has more closets, cabinets and corners where abandoned items can hide. Walk it room by room before you book anything:

• Beds: closets, top shelves and the space under any bed frames that got left.
• Baths: under the sinks and in linen closets. Baths are where old cleaners and half-used chemicals tend to pile up.
• Garage and shed: paint cans, tires, old tools, a dead fridge, leftover flooring or tile.
• Outside: yard debris, side yards and anything stacked along the fence.
• Attic and crawl space: boxes and odds and ends people forgot they stored.

Once in a while there's a hot tub out back that never came up during the showings.

How long the job takes depends on how much is there, how spread out it is, and how easy it is to reach. A few things in the garage go quickly. A packed garage plus a full backyard, or heavy items like a hot tub, take longer.

A few other things move the time and the cost:

• How much room the items take up in the truck
• Heavy or awkward pieces, like a fridge or a hot tub
• Stairs, basements and long carries from the backyard
• Paint, chemicals and tires that have to be sorted from the regular junk

Should you do the house cleanout yourself?

If it's a few trash bags and a chair, sure. Load up a pickup, run it out to the Ada County landfill, and you're done before lunch.

The mixed loads are where it gets annoying. Paint and chemicals go to household hazardous waste drop-off, not the trash. A fridge has refrigerant that has to be handled properly. Tires have their own rules too. Pretty soon your quick dump run is three stops and a whole Saturday.

If you go the DIY route, sort the items into three piles before your first trip: trash, donate, and drop-off only. Things like propane tanks, car batteries and pool chemicals belong in that last pile, so keep them apart from the regular junk.

And you just moved. There are boxes in every room, utilities to set up, and maybe kids asking where their stuff went. Hauling someone else's junk is a rough way to start out in a new place.

Here's how the main options compare:

Yes, we'd love the job. But if it's small, do it yourself and save the money. If it's more than a truckload, or the leftovers include something heavy or awkward, that's usually when a call makes sense.

Heads up: Don't pour old paint or chemicals down a drain or toss them in your curbside cart. Ada County runs household hazardous waste drop-off for that, so check the current hours and what they accept before you go.

How pricing works

We price by how much room your stuff takes up in the truck. A few items cost less. A full load costs more.

We'll come out, look at everything, and give you a firm price before anything gets touched. The estimate is free. If the leftovers are spread across the garage, the yard and the attic, we'll walk the whole property with you so nothing gets missed.

A lot of what we haul gets donated or recycled. That dresser might be junk to you, but it could still be useful to a family in Nampa or Caldwell.

Cleanouts go smoother when you've decided what stays first. Move the items you're keeping into one room or mark them with tape, so the crew only takes the unwanted items. If you're not sure whether something belonged to the previous homeowners or came with the sale, leave it out of the pile until you know.

Found more unexpected items left in a spot you missed the first time? Add them to the pile before the estimate, so everything gets priced together and the job only happens once.

Bottom line: finding the last owner's stuff in your new place is frustrating, but it's an easy fix. Check your contract, talk to your agent, set aside anything personal, and clear out whatever the sellers leave behind so the place finally feels like yours.

If you'd rather not spend your first weekend hauling someone else's junk, give us a call at (208) 593-2877. We'll come take a look and give you a straight price.

Frequently asked questions

Can sellers leave items behind when they sell a house?

Home sellers sometimes do, by accident or because they think you'll want something. Whether it's allowed depends on your purchase contract, so ask your agent what yours says about what stays.

What should I do with unwanted items the previous homeowners left?

Set aside anything personal, like photos or paperwork, and pass it back through your agent. The rest of the stuff the sellers left in the garage or yard can be donated, recycled or hauled off.

Are sellers liable for repairs or cleanup after closing?

That depends on your contract and Idaho law, so it's a question for your agent or a real estate attorney, not a junk hauler. Your dated photos will help either way.

What if the seller won't leave the house at all?

Related reading: Rental Turnover Cleanout in Boise: Clearing Out Between Tenants and Cleanout Old Medications and Sharps Boise: Kiosk and Idaho Tips.

That's a legal problem, not a cleanout. Talk to your agent and an attorney before you touch anything, and don't move someone's belongings while they're still living there.