I’m visiting a rural part of the southern US, and I have noticed that about 2/3 of the houses outside the town have yards full of cars and tractors in various states of disrepair, as well as tons of other miscellaneous stuff. Why is that? Is it kind of a culture of self-reliance and a supply of spare parts? Some other reason?
Looking to buy a new home right now, and every time I see one of those I see a multi-month project in my future to remove all that crap. Because I know they aren’t going to do it themselves…
You can make the purchase contingent on junk removal.
This is a good idea even if you don’t think they will do it. When they don’t do it, you can negotiate money back from the purchase to cover the cost of hiring a junk removal team. Then you can pocket the cash and do it yourself or you can pay someone else to do it.
But mind the allure of the trash piles, with their sleek chrome and opulent velvet. Lest you become what you rail against
I felt this warning in my bones. I am weak.
You can, but then you never know what the junk is hiding: patches of bare dirt, certainly, but also oil, transmission fluid or other toxic seeping into the ground, small bits of metal parts (you know they’re not going to find everything) that become missiles when bit with a lawnmower, etc.
Rats, snakes, yellow jackets…
A lot of “scrappers” will remove it for free or gas money, sort it and take it to recycle, fix and sell, etc. If they ask you to sign a receipt, do it because a lot of addicts will, too – unasked.