Moving, and they asked me to clean out the run-help???

[tweetzone86]

Well.....you don't HAVE to do anything. You are free to respond to the inspection with a firm "no" for that item. If you are willing to risk the sale going south due to that of course. Do you have a feeling as to how badly the buyers want your house? Most people do not agree to fix all the things that are noted in an inspection. Usually the inspection "fix list" is more of a "wish list".

Edit to add: You could always contribute to the buyer 50% (or 100%) of the estimated cost for a crew to come haul it out after the sale closes. So that the buyers are the ones who have to deal with scheduling it and all that. You pay, but they do the work on their own timeline instead of a rush job now before you close the deal.

Nope, technically we weren't supposed to have chickens (city said yes, hoa says no-so glad to be rid of the hoa when we move!), and we can't risk this sale tanking because we're set to close on the same day as the other property we're buying and I can't risk jeopardizing that property.

Otherwise, I would consider this.

 

[aart]

Pics of run as it is right now?
Might be able to partially 'clean' it?

 

[tweetzone86]

I don't know if this is an option in your suburban setting but the easiest and cleanest method is to burn it.

Oh, that's not a bad idea! But the hauling isn't the problem-I've got 5 weeks til close and I can haul it. It's that it's compacted and the bottom half has started decomposing, so the hard part is getting it out of the run to begin with (which I would have to do for burning anyway).

So I'm trying to figure out the easiest way of getting it out of there. Renting a tiller maybe?

 

[aart]

Oh, that's not a bad idea! But the hauling isn't the problem-I've got 5 weeks til close and I can haul it. It's that it's compacted and the bottom half has started decomposing, so the hard part is getting it out of the run to begin with (which I would have to do for burning anyway).

So I'm trying to figure out the easiest way of getting it out of there. Renting a tiller maybe?

If it's packed, tiller would be a good idea.

 

[tweetzone86]

Pics of run as it is right now?
Might be able to partially 'clean' it?

I would, but I think I packed my camera already -__- And my phone is a flip phone so I can't post from it. It's about 12" deep compacted straw bale, so total bales that have been put in there are six I think, over the course of the winter, so they've been compacted due to snow, walking, etc and the bottom layer is decomposing.

 

[goldfishes]

We finally sold our house that was on the market for over two stressful years (we moved out of a good neighborhood gone bad.) My advice is remove it all even though it will be a lot of work. A tiller will likely just make it look just as bad to new owners and could upset the buyers if the inspection is saying to remove it and they may back out. We dealt with a back out at the last minute over something was disclosed at the listing and it was very stressful as it took the house off the market for months and we lost out on another offer. Earnest money means nothing anymore we found out and our only recourse was to sue. I hate to give you the answer that's the most work, but it's what will be the safest route.

 

[tweetzone86]

We finally sold our house that was on the market for over two stressful years (we moved out of a good neighborhood gone bad.) My advice is remove it all even though it will be a lot of work. A tiller will likely just make it look just as bad to new owners and could upset the buyers if the inspection is saying to remove it and they may back out. We dealt with a back out at the last minute over something was disclosed at the listing and it was very stressful as it took the house off the market for months and we lost out on another offer. Earnest money means nothing anymore we found out and our only recourse was to sue. I hate to give you the answer that's the most work, but it's what will be the safest route.

Thanks I figure the tiller will either get it all back into the soil, OR it will at least uncompact it so it's easier to rake out and haul away. I just simply can't rake it out right now with how compacted it is, hence my thoughts on renting a tiller to loosen it up so we can get rid of it.

 

[goldfishes]

One thing I do recommend is contacting your agent and having them ask the buyer if they want you to leave the compost first. If you label it as compost, they may be very willing to ignore the recommendation by the inspection. Another thing you can do is go on social media and offer free compost to friends, neighbors and family. I did that with a massive 5' pile of compost.

How I got rid of the chicken run bedding was I first ran it over with a lawn mower to break up the large straw bits followed up with one of those 100$ small tillers and then I spread it around the landscaped areas. It looked like mulch to most people. Good luck on the sell!

 

[tweetzone86]

One thing I do recommend is contacting your agent and having them ask the buyer if they want you to leave the compost first. If you label it as compost, they may be very willing to ignore the recommendation by the inspection. Another thing you can do is go on social media and offer free compost to friends, neighbors and family. I did that with a massive 5' pile of compost.

How I got rid of the chicken run bedding was I first ran it over with a lawn mower to break up the large straw bits followed up with one of those 100$ small tillers and then I spread it around the landscaped areas. It looked like mulch to most people. Good luck on the sell!

It wasn't the inspection I think the buyers themselves wanted it gone. And I hesitate to market it as compost simply because the straw may have been tainted (couldn't verify if it wasn't sprayed with herbicides or not). I don't want to give it away as free compost then have people come back to yell at me because it killed their garden.

 

[goldfishes]

Ah, yes, the buyers. Then best to remove it all. If you are up front with the the compost, people will usually take it anyway. I've used chemicals when necessary and it didn't stop one person from hauling it off. I was amazed at what people came and got when we offered it for free when we moved.