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American homes are buried in money — and most people don’t even know it.
“Filthy Fortunes” star and hoarding expert Matt Paxton said decades of accumulation, especially among retiring baby boomers, have turned ordinary homes into ticking time capsules packed with serious cash value.
After pulling more than $1 million in value out of trash piles this season alone, Paxton exclusively told Fox News Digital the wildest twist isn’t what’s buried in hoards — it’s how common hidden wealth really is.
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Matt Paxton stands in a cluttered garage or storage space with tools, equipment, and a motorcycle visible behind him. (Warner Bros. Discovery )
When asked how many people are unknowingly “living on top of a fortune,” Paxton didn’t hesitate.
“I believe there are millions of people out there with, you know, at least $10,000 to $20,000 in their house,” Paxton said. “And I know there are hundreds of thousands of people that have millions of dollars in the house.”
“I believe there are millions of people out there with … at least $10,000 to $20,000 in their house.”
He continued, “Our ancestors buried a lot of that stuff because they didn’t trust banks. They didn’t trust society. And I’m telling you, they hid it. And we find it in all the houses.”
A property in “Filthy Fortunes” Season 2 is crowded with discarded furniture, appliances and covered items. (Warner Bros. Discovery )
Paxton, who previously spent 15 years helping families on “Hoarders,” said the finds in Season 2 of “Filthy Fortunes” have eclipsed anything he’s seen before.
“If I had a million dollars hiding in my house, there’s no way it would have lasted. I would have cashed it in,” he continued. “And they left it for generations, and they kept their mouths shut. And I think that’s just amazing … I think every house has 10 to 20 grand in it. Every single house. You just got to know where to look.”
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The hoarding expert suggested that people may not be checking the most obvious spots in their homes for hidden fortunes.
“The medicine cabinet is always really good, the freezer is really good,” Paxton revealed. “This season … we found like 50 grand worth of gold coins in an old … Valentine’s Day chocolate box. We look through every single envelope, every single piece of trash, because you never know what you’re gonna find.”
In “Filthy Fortunes” Season 2, Paxton and his crew are diving into what he calls their most explosive season yet — with seven-figure stakes and jaw-dropping discoveries hidden beneath layers of dust, decay and danger.
“Filthy Fortunes” Season 2 airs Sundays on Discovery. (Warner Bros. Discovery )
“So Season 2, it was actually just really big … I think part of it is timing — it’s just the boomers are now starting to retire, and we’re seeing these collections that are 50, 60, 70 years old,” Paxton said.
“The premiere episode of Season 2 at the time was the largest hoard I’ve ever cleaned. And by the end of this season, it was barely in the top five. I mean, we cleaned some of the craziest houses.”
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However, Paxton told Fox News Digital that the chaos isn’t just clutter — it’s crawling.
“Size of the hoard still blows me away. Grossness still hits me sometimes … I mean there’s going to be thousands of rats. There’s over a hundred snakes in the house. Like, God knows how many cockroaches. And we’re finding gold everywhere,” he said enthusiastically.
“Gold coins. I feel like I’m on a pirate ship and so, like, this is going to change this family’s life. I mean, this will change this family’s life for generations, how much gold we’re finding and that is really exciting to me. But the grossness still blows me away. And then the value of items we’re finding now. I mean it’s pretty crazy. We had a couple hundred thousand-dollar houses this year, where people would have thrown it all away. And we found it all, we found a ton of cash.”
In the season premiere, Paxton heads to Michigan to dismantle the estate of a man who proudly called himself the “Best Hoarder Ever.” What his children inherited was rooms jammed with vintage toys, hidden firearms and potential six-figure collectibles — including a Mickey Mantle-signed baseball.
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When a 1960s Austin-Healey and a trove of rare toy cars emerge from the mess, a massive payday feels within reach — until lowball offers threaten to tank the deal.
Austin Healey, a bright red vintage convertible with wire-spoke wheels is featured in “Filthy Fortunes” Season 2. (Warner Bros. Discovery )
Paxton and his team — appraiser Mike Kelleher, picker Chris Davis and cleanout manager Kayland Brock — test-fire forgotten arsenals, resurrect classic cars and rip through collapsing structures chasing hidden value.
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They’ve uncovered rare Magic Johnson photos, ’60s Beatles demo recordings and other historic finds that have pushed total hauls past the $1 million mark.
Paxton told Fox News Digital that the show is about something more enduring than the dollar amount.
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For families drowning in decades of accumulation, the real fortune isn’t just hidden in the clutter, he said — it’s the chance to start over.
“Filthy Fortunes” airs Sundays at 10 PM ET/PT on the Discovery Channel.