Sell a Colorado House Full of Belongings Without Clearing It

Yes. A Colorado house sells with the drawers, the closets, the garage and the basement full, through an as-is listing with a personal-property clause, a cash sale, or an estate sale followed by a listing. The seller pays for the convenience in the price, between $3,000 and $15,000 on a full 2,000-square-foot Denver metro home depending on the path, and skips two to six weeks of sorting.

The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC sells full houses for estates, out-of-state heirs and owners downsizing after 30 years in Littleton, Centennial, Lakewood and Arvada. The downsizing in the Denver metro guide covers the next home; this post covers getting out of the current one without touching every drawer.

Which sellers does this fit?

• Estates. A personal representative in Colorado probate, living in another state, with a house in Aurora that holds 40 years of belongings.
• Downsizers. An owner moving from 3,000 square feet in Highlands Ranch to a 1,600-square-foot patio home or a 55+ community, with no room for two-thirds of what is in the house.
• Relocations. A job start in another state in 30 days, with a Thornton house that was never going to be packed in time.
• Assisted living moves. A move planned around a care date, not a listing date.

What they share is a deadline that matters more than the last 5 percent of price. Our senior real estate help in Colorado post covers the probate, trust and senior-move side in detail.

What does as-is mean in a Colorado contract?

In the Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate, as-is means the seller will not repair or credit inspection items. It does not remove the buyer's inspection period; the buyer inspects and either proceeds or terminates. It does not remove the Seller's Property Disclosure, which the seller completes to their current actual knowledge. And it does not, by itself, cover the belongings.

The belongings are handled in the inclusions and exclusions section and a personal-property addendum stating that all personal property remaining on the closing date conveys to the buyer at no value, that the seller will remove the listed items only, and that the buyer accepts the rest. Without that language, a buyer walks into a full house at the final walk-through and demands a credit or a delay. The as-is sales process in Denver post walks the contract step by step.

What stays at closing, and what has to go?

Buyers who take full houses expect furniture, boxes, tools and appliances. Five categories leave before closing no matter what the addendum says:

• Financial and personal papers. Statements, tax returns, medical records, passports, checkbooks. Every drawer and the file cabinet, one pass, one afternoon.
• Medications and firearms. Pharmacies and the county sheriff's office run take-back programs across the Front Range.
• Hazardous materials. Paint, solvents, pool chemicals, pesticides, propane, and old gasoline. Denver, Jefferson County, Arapahoe County and Douglas County each run a household hazardous waste drop-off; a clean-out crew will not haul these and a buyer will price them in at $500 or more.
• Perishables and anything that attracts pests. The refrigerator, the pantry, and pet food in the garage.
• Vehicles, titled property and anything with a lien. A car in the garage conveys by title, not by addendum.

Everything else, from the 1980s sofa to the basement shelving, stays when the seller wants it to.

How does a full house change the price?

A buyer deducts the cost of emptying it plus a margin for the trouble. A Denver metro clean-out crew charges $1,500 to $5,000 for a full 2,000-square-foot house with a basement and garage, and a 30-yard dumpster runs $500 to $800 per pull. A retail buyer on an as-is listing prices that in once, about $3,000 to $6,000. A cash investor prices it in with everything else and lands 8 to 15 percent under a listed sale, $45,000 to $85,000 on a $550,000 home. The difference between those two numbers is the reason most full houses still list.

The pricing your Colorado home page shows how a Smart Pricing Report sets the listed number from sold comps, and getting pricing the home right on day one matters more on a full house, because a full house that sits gets a second discount for the clutter.

Estate sale, clean-out crew or donation: which comes first?

Estate sale first when the house holds furniture, tools, collectibles or a garage of equipment worth more than $5,000 at resale. Front Range estate sale companies take 30 to 40 percent of gross, run the sale over two to three days after a one- to two-week setup, and most offer a clean-out of what does not sell for an added fee. Donation second: Habitat ReStore, ARC and Goodwill pick up furniture across the metro on a schedule, and the receipt is a deduction for the estate or the seller. Clean-out crew last, for what nobody wanted. Our estate sales vs donation when downsizing in Colorado post compares the three, and hiring professional downsizing help in Colorado lists the move managers who run all three for one fee.

How long does it take to sell a full house in the Denver metro?

Ten to 21 days to a cash closing with everything left in place. Forty-five to 60 days on an as-is listing, counting 30 to 45 days from contract to closing with a mortgage buyer. Sixty to 90 days when an estate sale runs first. Add the probate timeline below when the seller is an estate. A full house listed in March closes before summer; the same house listed in November closes after the holidays.

Should I list the house or take a cash offer?

List it when the estate or the seller has 45 days and wants the extra $40,000 to $80,000. Take a cash offer when the deadline is inside 30 days, the house has a defect a mortgage buyer's appraiser will flag, or the seller values a single closing date over the money. Cash buyers operate in every metro; Chris Buys Homes St.Louis is one example of the model in another market, and the Denver cash home buyers guide lists what the Colorado ones pay and how to check them. You are free to use any buyer. Sellers who take a cash offer and then buy the smaller home with a mortgage should have the loan lined up first; Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender, works those timelines for Kenna clients. You are free to use any lender. The Colorado home financing guide covers bridge and downsizing loans.

How does a Colorado probate sale work when the house is full?

The personal representative opens probate in the district court of the county where the decedent lived, receives Letters, and then holds the authority to sign the listing agreement, the contract and the deed. Colorado's informal probate runs without court hearings for most estates, and the house sells during the estate rather than after it closes. The representative removes the papers, medications and titled property, then chooses one of the three paths above. Heirs in other states sign nothing but a waiver; the representative signs for the estate. Our what to do with an inherited house in Denver post covers the tax basis step-up and the sale timeline.

What does the seller still have to disclose?

The Seller's Property Disclosure, completed to the seller's current actual knowledge. A personal representative who never lived in the house answers what they know and marks the rest as unknown, which is permitted. A lead-based paint disclosure on any home built before 1978, which covers most of Englewood, Wheat Ridge and central Denver. Known radon test results. Known defects, full or empty house: a cracked foundation from expansive bentonite clay, a sewer line that backed up, a roof claim after a hail storm. As-is limits the seller's repair obligation, not the disclosure obligation.

What is the minimum prep that returns money?

• Clear the walkways. Every room, the stairs, the furnace and water heater, and the electrical panel accessible for the buyer's inspector. One day with a crew, $400 to $800.
• Empty one room. The living room or the primary bedroom, cleaned and photographed, so buyers see the bones in the listing photos.
• Utilities on and the heat at 55 degrees from October through April; a frozen pipe in a full house is a claim and a discount.
• A sewer scope and a radon test before listing, $150 to $300 and $150 to $250. Handing the results to buyers removes the two inspection surprises that cost Colorado sellers the most.
• The five must-go categories removed and documented.

That is one week and under $2,000, and it recovers most of the $3,000 to $6,000 clutter discount on a listed sale. The adding value before selling page ranks the next fixes by return, and the decluttering before downsizing in Colorado post is for the seller who has more than a week.

How do I sell a full house and downsize at the same time?

Buy the smaller home first when the equity allows a bridge loan or a cash purchase, move the one truckload you are keeping, and then sell the full house as-is with nothing left to sort. Sell first when the equity is the down payment, and negotiate a 30-day post-closing occupancy so the move happens once. The sell first or buy first when downsizing in Colorado post runs both timelines, and the Colorado 55+ communities by area page lists the ranch and patio-home communities most downsizers move to.

Which Denver metro cities see the most of these sales?

Neighborhoods built from 1955 to 1985 and held by the original owners: Littleton, Centennial, Lakewood, Arvada and Aurora. Buyers in those cities know full houses and price them from the bones. The selling as-is in Centennial post covers one of them in detail.

Where to go next

• How we help sellers
• How to sell a house in Colorado
• The Colorado Home Seller's Guide
• Downsizing in the Denver metro
• Search every home for sale in Colorado
• Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

We walk the full house with you or your personal representative, price all three paths on paper, schedule the estate sale or clean-out crew, and list the home with the personal-property addendum already written. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. When the smaller home comes next, search every home for sale in Colorado.