The Hoarder Investor - Avoid at all Costs!

Robert, is 65 years old and has never really held down a real job. He had money from his parents that he decided to invest in foreclosures.

Now Robert being the typical OCD did 10 YEARS of research in workshops (which friends told me that he slept through over 90% of them!) and buying all the tapes and books which I would bet still have the original SEALED cellophane wrappings. I once had a real estate guru tell me that 95% of the stuff they sold at workshops was never read!

So Robert decided in the last year or so that it was time for him to invest in the foreclosures. He did not invest in one or even two properties but 14! Yes, 14! You see with Robert's OCD Hoarding personality he collects foreclosures like you and I collect Monopoly game properties!

Robert with his hoarding problems should Never be investing in any thing!

Robert collects everything he sees on the side of the street. Robert goes to garage sales and buys everything at the sale. My friend who introduced me to Robert had a moving sale. He knew about Robert's condition. Towards the end of the sale he called Robert and had him come get the "deal of a life time" - all the rest of the stuff for $150. Sure enough Robert went for it hook, line and sinker as we say in the South USA!

I know one of Robert's business investing partners, Jim. He has invested with Robert in two of his properties about 2 years ago when Robert started this venture. Do you think that Jim has seen one dime of his investment? The sad fact is that with Robert he most likely Never will!

You see in my research of hoarders as I have another friend, Alayne, hoarders will Never give up what they hoard! I'm going to give you a link at the end of this article where I did a video of Alayne's home. This is a Duke University graduate.

Robert will Never sell his homes with a lease purchase option. I had my friend Traci, one of the top Atlanta real estate agents, try to get Robert to let her list his homes. She told Robert that if he had dome that in the prior 6 months she would have returned him an average of $800 per month. You do the math: 6 months X $800 X 14 foreclosures = $67,200!

Instead Robert is robbing Peter to pay Paul trying to find the money to pay the monthly mortgages and keep the houses from falling apart or being vandalized! He told Traci that he did not want to do this because he did not have the houses ready. He has been saying that for over one year!

Has he done anything with any of them? Not one thing except mow the lawns.

So what the hell is he doing? He is still going to workshops and sleeping through them. He is more interested in listening to talk radio with those right wing nut cases than taking care of business. He always has an excuse for why he is not doing something and all of it is BS!

There are over 1,500,000 Roberts and Alaynes in the United States. Mayo Clinic has declared hoarding a sickness that needs medical attention. Robert at least KNOWS he is sick with Alayne in total denial. Robert has told me that every time he stops and picks up stuff on the side of the road he gets sick to his stomach! But he can't stop himself from loading up his truck and taking it to one of his houses where he stores furniture, paint, appliances, toys, nick-nacks, etc. Robert would have to move all the stuff from that house before he could sell it!

We know that hoarders usually live alone with their stuff. They are usually highly educated like both Robert (engineering background) and Alayne(Duke). They also usually have experienced some emotional trauma in life that triggers the hoarding. Robert had a girlfriend leave him (imagine that!) and Alayne found her husband was cheating on her with his secretary. They both live in the past and blame every one but themselves.

What is bad is when these hoarders like Robert and Alayne become unable to take care of themselves or die and heirs have to deal with this nightmare! Alayne lives in a $650,000 plus home in one of the most desired communities in Atlanta. As you will see from the video she has let it go to hell! She wants to do this so her sons and ex-husband will have to deal with it when she dies! So now she lives with every room in her home filled with Dollar Store bags with stuff from the past 15 YEARS over 4 feet high! She has clothes that came from Marshalls' with the price tags still on them that have Never been worn!

I actually was at Alayne's home trying to help her deal with her problem. I finally realized that was never going to happen after she threw a fit because I had thrown away several pieces of newspaper from her 10 YEAR collection that was stacked in her home! Same with Robert - his kitchen like Alayne's is totally unusable.

If you are dealing with an OCD hoarder like Robert or Alayne I would love for you to comment on the video and even let me know more about your situation. You see I'm investigative reporter that is Fascinated with these hoarders. I was approached by a network TV production company that has done specials on hoarders after seeing the Alayne video. I knew she would Never let them use her but I almost had Robert convinced to do the show but he backed out at the last minute even though they were going to pay him! He was afraid people in the Atlanta area would recognize him and not want to do business with him.

That should be the least of his worries! He is almost penniless and will most likely lose every home that he has where he could have been earning $11,200 per month!

Undercover with an OCD Hoarder
This video shows the home of a OCD hoarder.