A WOMAN bought her grandmother’s “hoarder home” for £15k to “keep it in the family” – and spent eight months transforming it to raise her children there.
Brandy Hagewood, 31, purchased her grandmother Marian’s three-bedroom home in Angola, Indiana, US, in December 2022 after she went into a care home.
Brandy Hagewood, 31, pictured, bought her grandmother’s house in Angola, Indiana, US for £15,000[/caption]
Brandy said it took eight months to remove the clutter, pictured, from her grandmother’s house[/caption]
Brandy said her grandmother started to stash unopened gifts, newspapers, and antiques towards the end of her life[/caption]
In Indiana, when a state resident goes into a care home their home is taken over by the state and sold when they pass away.
Brandy grew up in the home and wanted the property to stay in the family so she bought it off the state for just £15k.
Towards the end of her grandma’s life, Brandy says she started hoarding but she wasn’t prepared for how many items were stashed in the house – including gifts, newspapers, antiques and old mementoes.
Brandy has spent eight months clearing out the property – getting rid of hundreds of trash bags full of furniture, newspapers, clothes and old gifts but still has a way to go before they move in.
Mum-of-three Brandy, 31, a former purchasing agent, from Angola, Indiana, US, said: “My grandma had helped raise me – we were extremely close.
“I grew up in that home – it wasn’t always in that state.
“Later in life, her health started to deteriorate and she started hoarding.
“We would go in and clean but she would start hoarding again – it was a constant cycle.
“My grandma went into a nursing home, and the state took the home over.
“She wanted it to remain in the family so I bought it.”
In December 2022, Brandy’s grandma’s health started to worsen and she went into a care home.
In Indiana, when a resident goes into a care home, the state will take over the home and sell it when the resident has died – to repay the care costs.
Brandy said: “When my grandma went into the care home, the state was going to take her home away and we didn’t want that.
“She knew they were going to take the property so she asked the family if anyone wanted to buy it.
“If nobody had bought it, the state would have auctioned it off.”
What is a hoarder & is it a medical condition?
According to the NHS, Hoarding is a mental health problem that involves storing an “excessive” number of items in an unmanageable way. Newspapers, clothes, junk mail, bills, containers, and household supplies are among the variety of items kept.
The disorder can impact a person’s everyday life by putting a strain on relationships when someone else tries to clear the clutter and also makes it difficult to move around the house. The condition causes unhygienic living conditions, fire risks, and trip hazards.
Hoarding is often associated with other mental health conditions including severe depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.
A GP can recommend the best treatment, which may include therapy or antidepressants.
Brandy and her partner, 31, who works in manufacturing, bought the house for £15k.
After purchasing the house in December 2022, Brandy’s grandma died in August 2023.
Brandy said she wanted to “wait a while” before she started cleaning the property and started clearing the house in February 2024.
She said: “In February we started going on the weekends sorting room by room and we are still at it.
“It was in a bad state, she had lived there most of her life and I was raised there.
“There was lots of stuff everywhere, rodents and the ceiling was caving in a couple of spots.
“It was a rough spot – you couldn’t get into some of the rooms and some doors you couldn’t open properly.”
Brandy found newspapers, unopened gifts intended for family members, antiques and mementoes in the home.
It has taken eight months, but the majority of the house is cleared and Brandy’s only has the garage and laundry room left to go through.
Brandy said: “She had lived there her whole life, some of the stuff was from her kids and grandkids.
“There were a lot of cool antiques, a weird mix of old mementoes and some gifts still in a box.
“There were lots of Christmas decorations – she was the embodiment of Christmas.
“Hoarding is a mental illness and all too often the hoarders feel so much shame, as do their families for not being able to help.”
Brandy’s aim is to clear the property, fix it up and move in there to raise her three children.
She said: “It is a beautiful home, it is an acre property in the middle of nowhere.
“I am hoping the house itself can be salvaged, and we are emptying it out to evaluate the damage.
“The whole point of buying the property is to keep it in the family.
“My grandma would be absolutely ecstatic, like I said the house wasn’t always like that.
“It was a very happy, clean place to grow up. She would be so happy that it didn’t get auctioned off and sold to other people.”
Brandy said her grandmother’s home, pictured, is ‘beautiful’ and will be kept in her family[/caption]
The garage and laundry room are the last areas of the house that need to be cleared[/caption]
