Any experience with estate sales?

Get with a realtor, they usually have connections or effiliate with organizations that does estate sales

We did not do an estate sale, BUT my late mother owned a home full of furnishings and here is what we did:
Took all clothing and MANY elder items to senior center.
Took 57 baskets to florist.
Located resale furniture shop for pick up of sofas, tables, chairs and more.
Gave away furniture to friends and family.
Gave mementos to some friends.
Gave asked-for particulars to a dear friend.
The home was then empty, put on the market for sale, put the key for realtor in the lockbox and drove to my home 7 states away.

Check with Elderly Services and see if they have any suggestions on how to handle an estate sale.

Some are shysters and some are very honest - figuring that out is a nightmare. You might want to look to an auction house so that you know everything is being sold at market price. Some estate sales people will take your items to an auction house and share the profits with you, then keep what doesn't sell at auction.

One of the nice things about estate sales people is that they take the junk you don't want and will not easily sell in an estate sale, and clean out everything so you don't have to rent a dumpster or haul it to the trash. Keep that in mind when you choose a seller.

Also keep in mind that they often have consignment agreements with other sellers, and will keep things in a consignment shop for months - do you really want to have to do that just because they didn't get a fair price?

Estate sales in my area are way down and have been for many years - things just aren't selling, in large part because the folks today don't want a lot of what is for sale. They are downsizing and being as uncluttered as possible.

I am close to being in the same boat - it is awfully hard to know what to do, so do as much research as you can. Go to other estate sales and see what is happening. Research prices and know what things are really worth today; yesterday's values are very different. In my case, a once very valuable collection for decades has almost no value now! Knowing that, I won't expect to get what I think things are worth when the time comes.

Ask around. Some people go to estate sales and have an idea of whether the seller is honest or not. You have time to learn about the sellers and get to know them if you haunt their sales. Get to know them on their turf, and perhaps you can get a feel for them.

I dread having to do this - it is going to be a nightmare, so I have changed my thinking. The once very valuable collection is not going to sell at "yesterdays" prices, so I am looking at the entire sale as bonus - I've done my homework and know who will be handling the sale and know I will not get the prices that I would like, so whatever money is made is going to be a bonus to the estate.

Good Luck!

I'm back to thank the people who liked my information on movers who do it all in one sweep, in which I mentioned I got the mover names from A Place for Mom.
Actually, they don't advertise that kind of help, they are mostly helping people find a permanent assisted living/nursing home, senior living place. But, those people need help in finding right movers, so she was willing to give me some advice. I live in Phoenix, AZ, so she gave me 3 movers in the Phoenix area. And, she kept calling me every 3 months or so to see if I was okay, did I use any of the movers, etc. By that time I had already moved and was still trying to empty boxes, find and place my husband in a home, and get acquainted with a whole new area in my life. After I was in the apartment still with boxes not emptied, I had to stop all and complete paperwork for my husband's immediate admittance to hospital, then to hospice, then he died 2 months after the move, after falling twice at the assisted living. About the estate sales, I did have a collectible, but it was not in vogue during the time I was moving. It was handpainted Japanese porcelain china vase purchased in Japan during my work years with the US Army 6 years. It was like Imari china painting if anyone knows what that is. I also had a $600 rosewood, hand made coffee table with beveled glass sold for $97.00 and had to split with the estate sale. I don't think I could have sold it for $25 in a yard sale. And, since I hunted for an apartment for myself, hunted for a prospective NH for my husband, hunted for a mover, got things separated for storage, give away, donation, and move, fix up the house for selling all in ONE month, I wasn't in the mood to see how much I could make by selling my vase and coffee table. Started Monday after Thanksgivng, moved out Jan 2, the next year, A few years before the move, I had quite a collection of Japanese china coffee sets, serving plates, antique wedding kimonos I used as wall decor, porcelain dinner ware sets, having lived in Japan and Singapore for total of 13 years before moving to that present house.
I called the Japanese American Club in Phoenix and told them of the china, porcelain, kimonos, scarves, obis, that I would like to sell. They sent people to me and one took the kimonos as she had an antique Asian shop, and another used the china and obis as door prizes. I was actually paid a nice price for all of that stuff. The kimonos I got and used as wall decor, and obis for runners on dressers, buffet. I hated to part with that, when I was still in my 60's, but I knew no one in my family of 1 son who at the time was not married, would want it. I also had some hand made porcelain figurines, nested dolls, which also was taken and paid for. The JA club said they would also use the items for discussion with JapaneseAmerican students in history classes they attended.
For all of this, I wasn't expected to make a fortune, but glad they offered to pay me. For the items kept and sold at auction, I didn't make anything on that, and the vase was also donated. When I bought the vase, another American told me it would be valuable some day. Well, American people change and some things valuable 50 years ago are not valuable to people these days. I still have the scarves my grandmother made for me and handed me a huge winter coat box filled with crocheted things at my wedding shower 60 years ago. I have them all, and the one large scarf for the table is still beautiful, as is all the others. Still like new. Those things I cherish.
I thought about a lot of the money I paid for these items, and the amount I got for them, was not enough to make me keep them and try to sell later, I didn't have room anymore, I had a sick husband who I had to give 100% visible care, as he crossed a 6-lane boulevard one Sunday afternoon, and was going out the secured door at 1;30 in the morning. First things first, rest must wait. My philosophy. Again thanks for comments on moving suggestions.

Lockett, don't blame yourself for failures to know better.   There's still a lot of variation, and individual approach to physical asset disposition.    I too ran into a few jerks, one really dishonest person, and a few other characters.   But I also found a few good companies, not specifically in the moving business though. 

It's unfortunate that something so final is fraught with pitfalls b/c so many different companies can be  involved, setting their own standards (or being dishonest in what they'll do.)

If I had it to do over again, for the first cleanout, I would have done it a lot more differently than I did.

Tornadojan,
I am very sorry for the loss of your mother. Going through heirlooms is tough to do but with the best arrangements in minimal trauma.

When I emptied my house, I contacted an auctioneer who I THOUGHT would hold an auction and rattle off the stuff one by one. Ha, what a fool I was. He took all the contents and "boxed" them into "cartons" and sold the stuff for tiny dollars and I ended up with a couple of thousand dollars when it should have been much more. I thought an auction was where they physically auction stuff. I was so deceived and have never gotten over this failure on my part to know better.

I had no idea that A Place for Mom did or could hook you up with someone who does what JoAnn described. I am so glad to know this, and think this kind of information is what the forum does best.
As someone who, with my bro, dabbled in Antiques and Collectibles all my life I can tell you one thing. The market has crashed. Unless things are of a "Midcentury " type thing, they aren't going well out there. In some Southern States there is still a healthy interest in Antigues and collectibles, but overall you are going to look at things and think they are worth a good deal more than they are. My advice is that anyone who loves something KEEP it.
My brother left the last of his treasures to someone with a shop to sell them; in return he cleaned out everything else for me. And the profit on the treasures goes to him. That worked well for me. What I wanted was out from under in Covid times of something I couldn't have handled any other way than 1 800 junk.
I sure would go JoAnn's route if that is an option. Then call some of the antique and collectible shops in your area and ask them if they have any interest in being first in to pick things. I again caution you that things that you treasure they may feel they are doing you a favor in taking. Many shops not open. People are tightening their purses. And no one is having much luck in this market now. Saddens me as I have many happy memories and two collections left.

There is help with this kind of situation, that I used when I was moving from a house in a senior park to an apartment in a nearby city to be closer to my family when my husband was in last stages of Alzheimers, and I needed help with weekly visits etc.
I heard of this way from my sister, and one day I was browsing for apartments, a message with picture popped up, it was: A Place for Mom. From the website I was on, they called me immediately when I clicked on their icon on the Internet. Wasn't sure I liked them having my personal info, but I talked with the lady anyway.
I asked her if she knew of any movers who took care of moving seniors out of their home, and what to do with contents, and move me to a place closer to where my husband might be.
Indeed she gave me several moving companies. And they are special ones which I will explain.
These movers pack things for the loved ones new 1 room at a facility; they pack for moving caregivers to a new place; they will pack for estate sale and will handle bringing these estate sale items to a sale, you don't have to do anything for this; they pack and deliver to a storage area, they will pack and deliver anything for donation to whatever facility you choose, all on moving day. On the estate sale, however, you and the mover share the sale price. I only gave them a few pieces, and tho I would have liked more for the item, not everyone values your stuff as you do, so I didn't squabble on getting less than I thought my item. It was worth it someone handled that for me. I was not going to have another "yard sale" for something I felt precious, but thought if I could get a buck, why not. At the estate sale, only one item sold out of about 4, and the ones that didn't sell went to donation.
On my moving day, my husband was still going to be at home, what I thought would be a good while, but it lasted only 2 months and he had to go to a facility. I did not use these packers to move his stuff, since I hadn't arranged for that.

But what did happen on my moving day from house to apartment:
1) they visited me to see what I had, explain what they do, and what I wanted done. 2) they visited me a week before pack-out day and marked every box, chest, bed, knick knacks, TVs, appliances, clothes, bins, hampers. How did they mark? Used different colored masking tape/duct tape for different tasks: one color for deliver to my apartment; one color for donating; one color tape for estate sale, one color tape for storage. They delivered to my storage facility, unloaded and came back with the key. They delivered all boxes for donation to a facility I asked them to use. They delivered all items marked for my apartment, set all furniture and carpets up, one person unloaded all my china and kitchen ware into my kitchen cabinets in a very usable manner. My home was ready to relax or go to bed in the evening. Yes there were boxes I had to unload myself as I asked them to as I didn't know where I would put all the computer stuff that wasn't already in a drawer. They even put my extra pillows on shelves in the walk in closet, This is not your usual movers; this type mover is to help senior transition to another place with the least amount of worry or energy.
Was it worth it? Yes it was. Was it cheap? No, but not more than I had moved 15 years before when I didn't have anything for donation, storage, etc. and those movers didn't unpack. At that time I had many more pounds of stuff to move. I downsized as years went on. So price comparison of before and now, this "
senior" moving procedure worked for me and was worth all the headache I didn't want to deal with boxes sitting all over and furniture just dropped in the room. It was all in place and looked nice.
If you are interested, either you'll have to call several movers to see if they do this kind of move, or just call A Place for Mom (tel no on Internet), and ask for your city/state movers for seniors moving.

I just went through this, downsizing Daddy to his new apartment.
 You have to be ruthless, or you'll end up keeping too much of it yourself. It's a big shift from "how much can we get for this?" to "omg, we have to get rid of all this!" but the sooner you can accept that, the easier and quicker you'll get it done. Resale on furniture is pitiful, people looking for used need bargains, and most of the stuff is going to end up donated or in the landfill, tbh.

I called several estate sales and auctioneers, most are not doing sales now due to COVID restrictions. The ones that were didn't impress me as being well organized (ie, "we'll put an ad in the paper" to advertise, who gets the print paper anymore?)
I finally asked for community recommendations on FB. I picked an auctioneer, they came and looked around and said it was too small for them to do. Mind you, there were 3 full bedrooms, 2 living rooms, and an office of furniture, along with several sets of dishes, a garage full of power tools and such,
and years of collectibles! Too small.

They suggested a local used furniture store owners who made a $400 bid on the furniture lot. I was disappointed, as I'm sure they could get that for the 2 yr old split king size adjustable bed itself.
But since we live 100 miles away, and I wanted the house on the market asap, I went with it. I couldn't see getting much more after we paid an estate sale co.

Then they asked what else they could take, as far as collectibles and such. They wanted to charge me almost as much to "clear out" the house! They picked through what they wanted and hilariously, in the end left dishes and sellable things, but took ALL the paper towels, hand soaps, and even the toilet paper on the bathroom rolls. So, there was none of that for the cleaning team. People are weird.

To summarize, I ended up paying around $1500 to have all the rest hauled away to trash and donations, plus fixing a few odds and ends to make the house presentable to sell, then hired a final cleaning team for windows and deep cleaning carpets. It costs a lot to ready the house for sale, and getting rid of past treasures is hard.

I had a really great experience in this a few years ago. I was probably just lucky to have fallen in with a husband and wife who were honest and also ran a secondhand store on Main Street. I live in a smallish town in the Central Valley of California - we're pretty tame. They charged 60/40 (60 to them). We went through the parents' house first to take the things we (family members) wanted. A date was set and the team came on Wed/Th to organize the sale items including a large workshop and garage. Friday they invited other dealers to walk through/purchase. On Saturday the property was open to the public. Monday a secondhand store sent a truck to take away anything remaining. The husband/wife team cleaned the house and shop, gave us our 40% and it was done. The team worked like whirlwinds and we were able to tend to other details associated with losing parents. I thought we could do it ourselves, but my SIL talked me out of it and I'm so glad she did. Good luck!

Crapshoot. You hope there are things others want and want to buy,

An example I look at estate/vintage type items that come up for auction on E-bay. I want an item that can still be used, not one that would be just for decorating.

When my mother went into a memory care center my brother decided to sell her house. He first went through the whole house and shed and took to the dump anything that was stained or broken, plus the bed mattress's. My daughter and I came up one weekend (live 700 away) and helped go through items. I found a couple of items I would like to have and my brother set aside several items for his children and for himself. Then we bagged and threw away a lot of items that were saved by my father who had passed 3 years before my mom went into memory care, that were stored in their Michigan basement and attic. We then bagged and set aside a lot of items that we donated to Volunteer's of America in Michigan. After that was completed my brother and his wife had a garage sale and sold majority of the furniture, (most of it sold to the neighbors) many quilts, kitchen items and other household items. The items left over were donated. My brother then went in and ripped up all of the carpet that was soiled by my mother's dog (my mother let him go in the house-Alzheimer's). Removed all old drapes cleaned the house and then had new carpet installed, plus had a landscape company come in and clean up the back yard, a lot of over grown plants and weeds. My brother mowed it every week, but didn't have the time to weed the flower beds and along the fence line that my parents had lots of plants, he also had to maintain his own yard too. Then it was listed with a realtor company and her house sold within 2 weeks. The money from the sale was put into her account and used for her care at memory care center. It was a lot of work. After going through that I now look at my own place and have started ridding of things that I haven't used in years and look at items I have sitting around and think they just collect dust and know that my daughter wouldn't want them, not her style, so I am ridding of those items too. I don't want her to go through what we (mainly my brother) had to go through in cleaning out my mother's home.

Here is what we did before moving my mother 500 miles away to live with us. I thought of having an estate sale and encountered the same things you are. I put out the word at her church that I was going to sell her house. About an hour after lunch that Sunday, 3 cars showed up, all one family - grandparents, son and wife, and their son. The wife fell in love with the house, and they made an offer which included whatever furniture, etc. that was left after we were gone. They even paid all fees associated with selling a house. God was looking out for me. I hope everything works out for you. I really do know what you are going through and my heart feels for you.

For large items - i.e. antique furniture - look for an antique auction house - percentage is about 30% - charged me another 10% to come to house and load /remove pieces he chose. Worth it as was out of state.
Offer Up (or similar local reselling websites) have worked really well for me. They are in your area so dont have to bother shipping. Make a really fair price and at least for me have been able to sell most anything.
If you think anything is really valuable look for an appraiser (can go online with pictures and get appraiser) will help to sell if you have certificate from appraiser giving value.

OP here: Since I posted, I interviewed another estate sale company that operates on a sliding scale percentage...they require receiving a minimum of $2,500.00 from the sale...they estimate I have a minimum of $5,000.00 in sales. I was open to seeing the contract. She was supposed to email it...as of this moment I have never received it. It is now one week later. Crickets.

Our subdivision does a community garage sale in November. Not really sure I am up for this task. I have already filtered out the sentimental, the truly valuable, and the wanted. There is still plenty here....

All those things will happen if you use a company. Treasures and collectibles will also be pilfered.

For the best financial results, remove all the potentially valuable items first. You don’t have to be an expert —eBay and other resale sites will help make this assessment straightforward. Don’t look up list price for items currently pending for sale, look for the realized price for items already sold. Items which might be sentimental to others (vintage toys, military or political memorabilia, even attractive plastic jewelry, or first edition books) can sometimes be worth more than fine jewelry). The estate sale companies know this and probably make these items vanish quickly.

if you haven’t sold on eBay, it is simple and can be done mostly using a cell phone. Fees are lower than paying estate sale companies. Shipping can be contactless (print shipping labels and leave for carrier pick-up). A lower price will often guarantee quick sales. U.S. Federal tax laws allow no income tax for the first $20k sold online or at estate sales annually (allowance for “garage sale” income). If you hold your own estate sale, you still have to worry about state sales tax (online resellers like eBay take care of this for you).

Cherry-pick what you can to keep or sell and when you get tired of this process and no longer “care” about the rest of the items, then call the company. When you get to that inevitable point, nothing more will bother you.

Estate sales are generally yard sales. There are also companies that will buy the entire contents for a lump sum and it's a done deal. If you go that route, consider taking the more valuable items to sell on Craigslist or another e-buying/selling option. There are also e--selling/buying sites for antiques and art.

Rarely somethings are were thousands or a million, but it happens. Have a reputable company that knows what everything is worth or you or someone else can google each item in question to check what they have sold for and you have your answer. There are people out there who sale for free there items google how the do that. Everything is a little different now with the Covid-virus and some people are leary about buying used items, but of course they will not bother, so only truly interested will make contact through witch ever way you choose.

I am sorry for your loss. I am also going through this. It is very difficult to get siblings together to get their things they want from the house out, but we finally did it. I have interviewed several estate companies they all want 40 to 50% Of the sales. One had a hidden cost in the contract that said I had to pay their workers on top of the percentage. Needless to say I am not using them. I am currently waiting on the person we chose to come in and set everything up for the sale which they said would take at least 3 to 4 weeks to organize . Then they will remove everything from the house at the end of a three day sale wipe down countertops vacuum and close the door. To put everything in the house up for a garage sale would be madness for us.God bless and good luck

Thank you all for your input! I have been on this forum for several years, asking and answering questions. I plan on remaining here as I continue the journey!

Estate sales have not been very common where I live, but now there is a company offering this service. Which is good as many Canadians come to Vancouver Island to retire and now with Covid and kids living far away, it is easier to have someone come in to do the work. I have no idea what they charge, but I have seen their postings on Facebook.

I think you need to be clear in your mind what you want/need.

Do you need to turn a profit on the sale?

Do you need help clearing out Mum's personal things?

Do you have time constraints?

Do you have physical constraints?

Do you need help clearing out the larger items?

Could you sell the house furnished?

Are there local organizations to whom you can donate the contents?

Me, for my parents' homes (they are divorced), I do not expect to make any money on the contents of their homes. With Mum it will be easy, she has been sorting through paperwork and stuff for a while. I will donate the contents of her house to the local Women's Shelter. The sterling silver will either be sold, or divided between the grandchildren.

Dad is a huge problem. He is a hoarder. We would easily fill 5-10. 40 foot bins with junk. The bigger issue is the his place is on an Island and the costs are that much higher.

He has thousands of books. I have spoken to a friend who used to be in the used book business. He has agreed to come help sort the books. I am happy for him to charge me as high a commission as he needs. I will also put him and his family up in our rental for as long as it takes. If I did not have him as a resource, I would have to burn the books, as there is no place that will take books.

Most the clothes are not worth anything. He has his mother's, his father's and his wife's clothes, plus his own including from his teen years. It is not good vintage clothing, just old worn out clothes.

If you have NO expectations of making a ton of money from mom's estate, and you go with the flow of just wanting to get this done and gone--you will have a MUCH better experience than if you spend days upon days sorting, categorizing and getting emotionally involved in the drama.

I tried to help a 'friend' (we no longer even speak!) de-junk her big house as she was being foreclosed on and had to sell everything that didn't walk....we de-junked and organized and while I pushed HARD for a professional to come help, she wouldn't do it.

We had 2 days of an 'estate sale' and netted less than $50. Her stuff was quality and lovely, but she was way too attached to it to let it go for less than what she felt it was worth.

After 2 long, hot days, we moved everything back in to the garage where it resides to this day, covered in mouse and rat feces, slowly deteriorating in the hot sun...if she had accepted one man's 'swooping offer' she would have had about $10K. Yeah, her stuff was probably WORTH 4 times that, but she wouldn't accept offers for anything less than full price.

Somehow she avoided foreclosure, but I do not know how. After the 4 months I spent cleaning, boxing and packing her junk, then the epic fail of the estate sale--I told her I couldn't support her crazy any more and I walked away.

Problem with her was that EVERYTHING had incredible value to her. If you can't use or appreciate an item, it's basically worthless.

She has added to her hoard and someday, when she really and truly loses the house, I will not be there to watch her fall to pieces.

People go to estate sales to get great bargains, not to ague over half a set of mid-range china.

I think if you go into it looking at the sale as a way to dispose of things rather than sorting and cataloguing yourself and then paying someone to haul everything away you will be satisfied, it you are hoping to do more than break even you will likely be very disappointed. People just aren't interested in paying more than pennies on the dollar for second hand items and at least in my area the younger generation are not interested in antiques or collectible (and you won't attract those who are unless there are a considerable # of those items at a well advertised sale). If there are any pristine, valuable items you would undoubtedly do better selling those items individually.

I cried my way through the sale of my mother’s things, and for my present Lo’s personal effects, I used a woman whom I know from Church who runs a franchised business.

I was much MUCH happier to have it done by someone else.

My MIL lived in Fla. A woman was recommended to my BIL. She had done estates sales before but wasn't with a company. Just her and a daughter. All the sons lived in different states, us NJ, one GA, the other Miss. We were told we could trust her. MIL would not be returning to her house. At the time she was in rehab. We and BIL/SIL alternated staying in MILs house. While there we did a clean out. We took what we thought we would use. Then cleaned out the junk. Then I organized her kitchen. She was a seamtress so organized all that. My MIL passed. So now the house had to be sold. This is where the lady came in. She got everything organized and set the house up for the sale. After the sale, she took what hadn't sold to thrift shops in the area. All with BILs permission.
I think she took 30%, I would have given her more. But then we had done most of the dirty work. She was paid extra to clean the house.

The only problem we had was some greedy neighbors. My MIL had the habit of if someone said they liked something " Oh, you can have it when I die". Now these neighbors had talked to my BIL and never said thing. The one couple had bought some things. But when the estate lady was there, these same neighbors came over and said my MIL told them they could have certain items, one a full bedroom suite. The woman stood her ground and said the Executor left no instructions to that effect.

Consider a company that does on-line estate sale auction. You will get a wider audience, there will be fewer people trampling through the home, and the bidders set the price.

I can only speak to going to many mainly in NY. I think the percentages are probably close as to monies earned from sale. If you had the time it would help if you might try to attend some run by those who do. There was definitely a difference to them in my area. Some were overpriced and while they had been in business a number of years often I found alot of items left at the end of the sale. Some had grown older and grumpier alienating people with their rudeness. Then there were several that were near perfect,willing to give good prices and reducing greatly at the end. It would be good to try to read reviews. It would be great if you could find a way to speak to someone who has been through this. I think that you could insist on keeping what hasn't sold and either trying a consignment shop or donating for a tax benefit. I wish you Good Luck.

I also explored this idea but I wasn't impressed with the companies.   To be fair, though, I had tools and work equipment to be sold, and they had no experience with that.   The only company I could find was an industrial supply company that handled estate sales, but had a minimum requirement of at least $15K worth of equipment before it would consider involvement.

What I decided to do instead was donate the equipment to either of 2 trade schools, both of which were 501(c)(3) companies, so I would get a tax write-off (which I wanted for trust purposes).

You may have to contact a lot of companies before finding one that meets your needs.    Or, you can consider a charitable donation.  At this particular time, I'm thinking that my plan of donation is probably a better societal option than dealing with estate companies, and allowing them access to the premises.   The clothing, furniture, and probably appliances will likely all be donated.

Tornadojan,
Sorry for your loss!

Sell things locally to your own neighborhood online. Take photos.

"Buy/Sell [your city here]."

Start pricing them yourself now.

You said "interviewing with an eye to have an estate sale"
"In the fall..."

When you are ready, you will know. And others will pick up on that, and give you serious quotes to help you get it done.

It is not easy, is it? 🧸️❤️️🧸️