I recently received a call for some people who wanted me to “Take a look at clearing” their parents home. When I met with them at the house, this is what I found:
The father had passed away three years ago and they had moved the mother to a retirement home. Instead of dealing with the home and personal property at that time (I could have had it empty and clean in short order), they decided it was a good idea to have the ne’er-do-well unemployed son of a family friend stay there, rent and utilities free, in exchange for “cleaning up the place and minor repairs”.
Well, three years later he had sold everything of value (and kept the money), left all the garbage and done no repairs. Even though I have no way of knowing how much value was there to start with, I can guarantee that calculating taxes, insurance, utilities and lost rent for three years (as well as the value of the personal property he sold) they lost tens of thousands of dollars and still have to pay to have the garbage hauled and the place cleaned.
Postscript: You should always "bite-the-bullet" and deal with the house and personal property in a timely manner. By leaving it sit, the only things you will gain are mice, water damage, burglars, and expenses!