Estate Sale FAQ’s

WHAT IS AN ESTATE SALE?

An Estate Sale is an event hosted in your home to sell its entire contents. Most often it is required in 2 scenarios:

  • Moving, Downsizing or Transition into Senior Living: When you or a family member are moving and not taking everything in the home with you, its an opportunity to generate money and help offset the costs involved with moving, while ensuring all of your “things” don’t end up in a landfill.

  •  Death of a family member or loved one: During this painful and often stressful time, the question always arises at some point “What do we do with all of Mom/Dad/Uncle/Aunt’s…STUFF?” In order to sell, renovate or move into the home left by a loved one, the “stuff” needs to go somewhere. We help go through it ALL, identify items of value and turn them into value for the family, ultimately helping you “get closer” to the asset, the house/property.

·         Important note: In any scenario, we do not want to sell anything that is of personal significance to you, or that you wish to keep. We will consult with you to be sure everything you WANT is removed before the sale. If we find anything of personal nature (documents/photos etc) we will put them aside and secure them and communicate with you about how you wish to handle them.

WHO WE WORK WITH:

  • Individuals: You need to liquidate the contents of your own, or a family members home.

  • Real Estate Agents: Your seller needs to clear out a home for sale. We help you close on time and without issues.

  • Estate Lawyers: As part of the estate liquidation process, your client needs to sell the contents of a home, with the proceeds distributed to the appropriate parties per a will or directive.

  • Senior Care Consultants: When your client needs to transition to a Senior Living environment, we can add value by helping your clients reduce the burden of items no longer needed.

WHO DOESN’T NEED AN ESTATE SALE:

You are selling “a few items” and will continue to live in the house after the sale. More than likely this is a case where you can sell items individually on an online platform or have a yard sale. However, depending on the items, we also BUY…so contact us to see if we are interested in your items/collection. We can also assist with coordinating Auctions/Consignments in certain situations. Consultation is always no- charge to you, we are happy to have a chat!

 

WHAT CAN I SELL AT AN ESTATE SALE?

Short answer: Everything. We have sold everything from large antique furniture to blenders and (used!) cleaning supplies. Our message is, leave everything you are not taking with you, we will sort the rest and drive as much value as possible for you., wherever it comes from. When in doubt, don’t throw it out…

You don’t need to have priceless antiques handed down over generations to have an estate sale! There is a buyer for just about everything, old AND new!

WHAT SELLS BEST: Quality, vintage/antique, unique and “smalls”…knick knacks, home decor, artwork, kitchen items, garage items and tools, rugs, outdoor furniture/decor, sporting goods, books, electronics, video games, clothing, jewelry (even costume!), appliances, furniture and more!

 

WHAT DO WE DO WITH WHAT IS LEFT AFTER  SALE?

That decision is up to you. If there are items you wish to keep, of course those are yours to do with as you please. The rest, simply needs to go somewhere so that you can move to the next stage of the process…often a bulk clean out service is the final step, and we can help with referrals and scheduling of this service with our trusted partners. In some cases it may be beneficial to coordinate with auction houses/consignment shops/Donation services etc. on a few items prior to Bulk clean out, again we can help to coordinate/advise.

When we consult and evaluate a sale we will advise the best course of action on your property, if an Estate Sale is not the right fit, we will let you know and offer referrals/advice on your best course of action to meet your goals.

WHY SHOULD I HAVE AN ESTATE SALE VS SELLING DIRECTLY MYSELF?

You do have have options.

  • Listing items on Facebook Marketplace/Craigslist etc: At a large scale (dozens/hundreds of items…) this is quite labor intensive and does involve some risk regarding trusting/meeting strangers, being wary of scams giving out your home address, etc. This option also requires a lot of your time messaging back and forth with strangers about condition/item details/questions/negotiating(lowballing)/scheduling time for pick ups…many times resulting in no shows, the whole process may take weeks. For a few items, it may be feasible. For an entire household, its not scalable or safe.

  • eBay: Requires technical knowledge of the platform, time spent researching/listing/packaging and shipping of your items. And if for some reason the buyer isn’t happy,…managing returns. Ebay of course charges fee’s and has potential tax implications.

  • Yard sale/Garage sale: Labor intensive to dig through your home, move items, set them up outside, buy/borrow tables, having correct change, accepting digital payments/checks. Poor weather is always a risk and then… you need to pack all the unsold items up at the end of the day or take them to the curb/dump. For an entire household of items, it’s not feasible, you can only physically bring out and sell so many items,. At an Estate Sale “everything” is for sale, and the small items you’d never drag to your driveway…add up!

  • Having your own “Estate Sale” A bigger task than you may anticipate! Insurance, payment forms, advertising/marketing, staff, parking, set up and clean up, hours of item research and pricing…TIME. Are you equipped to manage 50, 100, 400 people in your home haggling over desks and duvets? We are.

WHY HIRE US?

Choosing RM Estate Solutions will allow you focus on the true task at hand. Whether that be a move to a new home, meeting a house closing deadline or managing the complicated loss of a loved one, we handle the rest. RM Estate Solutions will drive MORE traffic to your sale, allow you to sell MORE items, require LESS of your time, LESS stress and ultimately deliver more VALUE from those items you no longer need or want.