I had to move my dad to assisted living and mother to memory care this past fall and now I'm stuck with cleaning the catastrophic hoarder mess out and getting it sold. I have had pretty much no help and I am so angry and resentful for being stuck with this dirty, stinky, embarrassing mess. They both were very uncaring growing up and well into my adulthood, which only adds to it. I am the only living child and so it's all mine to deal with on top of having a full time job and taking care of my own family, etc.
Most municipalities with the garbage pick up are not taking any large items at this time and all of the places you would normally donate items to are closed.
So you are pretty much limited to bagging things for disposal, maybe getting a "Bagster" or ordering a Dumpster.
And also unfortunately you are in a position where gloves, masks and other protective equipment you should use is not readily available.
So for now do a little at a time, don't stress because there is not much you can do to speed up the clean out.
Once restrictions have been lifted maybe the easiest thing to do would be to get in one of the "Junk removal" companies and just let them clear everything out.
By the way the cost for a Bagster, Dumpster or the Junk removal people should NOT be paid by you but come from your fathers account.
And as long as none of the items holds any sentimental value having someone else clear out things might be the best way to go.
A couple of cousins and unknown relatives came out of the woodwork (what a nice surprise!, I thought at first...). I entertained their requests, yet quickly came to my senses and brushed them off like flies at a barbeque.
For legal protection, do not allow any unlicensed people to tramp around the premises; twisted ankles, falls, kids eating lead paint, whatever you can think of... someone might try to sue. My property manager gave me the heads up on getting the swing set/slide removed. Never rent or sell a property with anything in place with which someone could come back and haunt you with a lawsuit.
You can negotiate with the real estate agents at this time; selling is in a slump; don't agree to the six percent. I hope this information has been helpful; I understand the overwhelming pain. It will get better once you have the place cleared out; you won't believe what you were capable of until you finish! Lots of good advice and information here from other posters!
I decided on the following subsets: Trash, Auction, Charity, Take to Mom, Safety Deposit Box, Storage, and Shred. Each subset took up about half of a room in itself, and once nearly completed, I separated it by covering it with a tarp and physically separated the areas so it would be easier to keep working and separating. Storage rental is useful for "tough to let go" items, and set a time limit on how long those items can stay; the rental rates can creep up and add up over time.
Put on your business hat, and try to think of your goal in mind, which is to get everything sorted and cleared by a specific date for a reason. If you're going to sell, spring and summer are always the best times; you might have a bit of time on your side this year with the pandemic and all. Rentals tend to be hot commodities at the end of seasons, such as the end of spring, summer, fall (not so much), and winter.
Is your marriage really intact? Be careful about what your spouse sees if you have any doubt in your mind. It sounds like he isn't being helpful. I purposefully kept my spouse out of the process, because I had just asked for a divorce, and did not want him trying to claim any of my Mom's assets. It was very difficult to do it all alone, yet, four years later, I'm still glad I did not accept his help in the sorting process. He tried to go behind my back and hire a lawyer to claim ownership of some of Mom's assets, even though we had agreed to use a mediator for our divorce.
If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have bothered with an "auction" pile; it was an insult to get the little checks for months afterwards (they picked up auction items and sold them at their auction house separately). I would have ordered a roll-off trash bin from city services, instead of using 1800 got junk. They showed up in a small junk truck and charged over 400$. The only benefit there was that they lifted and dumped heavy items that I probably wouldn't have been able to lift and dump into a roll-off by myself.
Whew! Well, that's probably enough information to get you started. Hopefully, you are motivated to get through it all. Her house was worth about 330 when I took over her affairs; now it's worth nearly 500. I've also been making over 20 per year in rental income; my mother didn't have a mortgage. Do you have POA and a trust in place?
Let me know if you have questions or would like further information. Take care and think it over; this could be a blessing in disguise for you.
If they find something valuable it will be a gift to them for willingly tackling the job.
One told me what she wanted (free of course), another had his eye on a boat motor and possibly the boat (free of course), and so on. Typical approach was that the items weren't in good condition, so they'd have to be discarded anyway. (If that was, true, why would they want them?)
I turned down offers of help b/c I knew they would not be entirely free; the offering person would want to take his/her pick of what was available.
It surprised how bold and greedy some people can be.