Dad is 92, can barely hear, can't walk far, and definitely has cognitive issues (per doctor). He is currently living in CA with my brother but he loves his house back in Michigan and won't give us permission to sell it or even start cleaning it out. He thinks he's going back but he hasn't been back in 2 years and it's a tri-level, in a rural area where he would have to drive. There is no family there...we are all on the West Coast. Now with Covid I have nothing on my plate and feel I could drive to MI and shelter in place there, going through stuff and getting it ready to sell. My sibs agree it should be sold but not if dad says no. THEY aren't the ones taking responsibility for ensuring lawn care happens and asking favors of neighbors... for whatever reason they leave it to me. I have the time to do it this summer. I have POA and also am trustee of his trust and deal with all his bills and he never asks anything about it. He would never know if I did sell or at least clear out the garage and basement which are worthy of a Hoarders show. I'm feeling really guilty but my time is also valuable and usually in the summer we travel and who wants to deal with this in Michigan winter? It's not his principal residence anymore and if it isn't sold by Dec 2021 he will have capital gains. It may take two summers to clear it out (90 years of stuff, seriously). Has anyone just done this and not told their parent or even their sibs (because they will end up telling him). He still has a huge temper and they are afraid of his wrath and would rather I take on the blame I think. By the way, before this he was only living there for 1/2 the year anyway for the last 12 years... always saying he would sell it "soon".. it was too overwhelming for him and it's going to be really overwhelming for me too.
As to your other questions, lots of good comments, on which I'd like to add some thoughts.
1. You can start cleaning it up & preparing it for sale, boxing up, indexing contents in case your father wants something. If you use a spreadsheet, you can easily search for anything, also making it easier to locate something he might think he needs (acknowledging that potential).
If he does agree to sell, or at such other appropriate time, your work is already done for you, and you'll avoid the stress of selling at a more challenging time. Yet you haven't defied his wishes.
2. Hire a cleanout company, but do your homework. The 1-800 junk removers are different than a real cleanout company. The one I hired is Veteran owned, with workers who really know how to dismantle things that can't be disposed of w/o doing so. They're in E. Michigan.
3. Determine if there are any haz-mat items, which in our area includes cans with gas, oil, and similar type substances.
A flexible junk removal company may take these items for you, as it's often hard, for example, to get a propane gas container in a car all by yourself (it is for me).
4. If there are vehicles, lawn equipment, dilapidated structures such as sheds, those require a different approach. I hired a demolition company for one. It was costly, but safer.
5. Something I learned through realtors. Some may offer suggestions or specific references on companies, but there may be a caveat. One of the 5 realtors with whom I spoke was glad to suggest someone for a particularly challenging removal item, but ONLY if I agreed to specifically retain him as my realtor. He didn't get my business.
If you do hire contractors, make sure to get a copy of their insurance certificates. When dealing with clean-outs, it's easy for someone to be injured, especially if there are very heavy items.
6. If the house isn't subject to vacant house insurance, you'll need to have that, but it doesn't cover water damage, such as that from broken pipes. Companies that provide this kind of insurance are limited. In Michigan, Foremost is one that does.
If there are weapons in the house, they won't be covered by a policy unless they're in a gun safe.
7. Commenting on Mincemeat's suggestion, unless you're actually staying in the house, be careful about having sales and avoid responding to inquiries on whether or not the house is vacant. I learned to twist the truth and avoid that issue, as I soon learned that not only the neighbors but someone who drove by wanted certain things.
In one case, a woman came over to dig up plants, w/o even determining first if the house was for sale. And whether or not I lived there or if the house was vacant was ALWAYS asked by contractors, potential buyers and more.
8. Whatever you do (and you may already have taken care of this), have the water turned off by the city/township for the winter to avoid frozen pipes. It cost $30 for me to have the township do this, and will cost another $30 to turn the water back on. But that's far less than the damage of broken pipes and a flooded basement.
9. I was told by a trust accountant that the IRS requires assessment of a house's value w/i a certain period of time after death, and it has to be done by a qualified assessor, not "just" a real estate agent. I don't know if this applies to any sale now, or just those of houses held in trust.
We could have avoided a lot of the cap gains, if we had waited until mom passed (she's still going) due to it being a life estate (a type of trust.) Problem was between RE taxes, condo fees and utilities, a lot of $$ going out the door for no good reason! Kind of negates any gain we might have gotten!
Meanwhile, I got most of the trekking/doing, and it sucked down over a year and a half of my life! The timing was actually great - not only did it sell quickly (55+ only, none others really on the market in that area), but we had a mini-bidding war and got more than we asked for it!
Be aware, if you think that Medicaid will be needed within five years, it has to be sold at Market Value. Do not depend on a realtor to know the rules. I wanted Moms assessed. Realtor said she could do comparables. An assessor will give you a better idea. I would sell it "as is" and make sure the assessor knows that. Put it up for sale now. It could take a while.
Yes, go clean it out. My Mom had a 4 bedroom farmhouse she lived in for 60 years. She didn't just have her stuff, she had some of my brothers and my deceased sisters. Better to work room by room. First, though, get rid of clothes he will never wear. Then the junk. I bought storage boxes with lids and put each siblings name on a box. As I found pictures and things I thought they would want, I thru it in their box. I doubt if any of them will drive to Mich. to get furniture so sell it or give it to a thrift shop. Now you should be getting down to the good stuff. Make a list, see if anyone wants anything in particular, if not, sell or donate. Lots of Church yardsales going on in the Summer. I did this pretty much by myself. Husband helped with the heavy stuff. SIL came and took what she wanted. My girlfriend belongs to a couple of groups and cooks/bakes for them so she got all Moms baking dishes. I really enjoy cleaning out.
Vacant homes attract trouble. As you remove the clutter and hoard, you will probably find some deferred maintainance issues. Having the luxury of time to roll through this huge project beats the urgency and rush of having to do it in a hurry. As POA you have been chosen for your ability to manage for the best interest of your Dad. Cleaning up his house is most likely not on your siblings list of things they are wanting to do.
Hire a local high school student or retired friend to help you stage your garage sale and enjoy the memories.
We have a similar situation. Dad has hoarded for years. Unfortunately he can still get to the house, which is in a trust, and he notices if anything is out of place.
My brother and I are the remainder men to the trust. I would like to tackle some of the mess, my brother does not want to rock the boat.
The property is on an island with no garbage pick up, so we have to pay big bucks or rent trucks to have the garbage removed.
If I were you, I would go ahead, drive cross county and start the clean up process.
Unoccupied houses seldom maintain value and often develop major repair/maintenance issues or are vandalized. There are usually problems with insurance too. Occasionally these days, empty houses end up with squatters that must be evicted. Paying taxes, insurance, and maintenance fees on a house your father will never be able to live in again does not make financial sense. If your father is having cognitive issues, I believe the POA needs to act in the father's best interest and sale this house while it can bring market value. That might not be until the economy recovers from CV (although I understand some rural homes are selling well as people want to get out of the cities), but you can at least get started with the cleanup.
use the capital gains as the rationale as to why and then do a quick costs to keep (add on like 20% for inflation and make sure all costs, like repairs, yard, winterizing, insurances) as well, so that financially it costs big time to keep. Legally it sounds like you can do whatever, I’d just go ahead and keep it on the down low. Folks are gonna be pissed & second guess you no matter what, right? Ignore the drama.
If your not billing the trust MIE (Mileage and incidental expenses), I’d start doing that..... but not actually billing the Trust. You hold that lil missive back and if you get blowback, it’s more $$$ that non-decision making is gonna cost dad and the heirs. MIE kinda gives you leverage, Comprende?
Also next August, gives you a Basically a year, which imho Covid concerns will be lessened, and better position to actually get a property sold. You put it on the market next spring, so it shows when weather is best. Then if not sold by July drop price (motivated seller). Really a Realtor will be invaluable for you thru this.
Also when you’re there this summer, I wouldn’t take this on all by myself. I’d speak with either Realtors or if you have any old friends there, as to finding a duo to help get the place “market ready”. Place is huge so plenty of social distancing possible. There might be stuff buried in rooms that actually could work to have it staged “rustic” to sell. There are folks that are pros at staging and editing a house filled to the rafters in short time frame.