About Estate Sales

An estate sale consists of selling the property and goods of a person after he dies. Most of the time they are run by companies that specialize in estate sales. The real property includes land and homes. Personal property consists of everything from cars and large pieces of equipment to electronics, furniture, clothes and antiques. Also, sometimes the estate sale includes other miscellaneous assets, such as stamps, coins, stocks and bonds. In some cases the sales include auctions as well.

Identification

In the majority of cases, the estate sale is held in the same location where the diseased has lived. The family members go through the household items and take whatever they would like to keep. Then they run the sale or hire licensed professionals to take care of all the sorting, pricing, cleaning and moving of leftover items. It is a lot of work, even with several people sharing the responsibilities. Many sale operators hold a pre-sale event for friends and family to give one more opportunity to purchase items before opening the sale to the public.
Most estate sales are held after the property is sold. Since getting ready for the estate sale can take a great deal of time, make sure you and the estate sale operator have plenty of time to ready and hold the sale before the house needs to be vacated. The sale could last up to two weekends, depending on the estate's size.

Function

Before hiring anyone to do the sale, check all credentials. Find out whether this person handles many estate sales or only when there is a desperate need to find someone. Check with your local Better Business Bureau to make sure there are no complaints. Check references, especially with people you know who have recently used such a firm. Ask friends and other family members about their prior experiences in this area. Go to several sales and watch how well they handle the goods and their sales.
You will most likely sign a contract, since estate sale operators often make a commission on all the sales, charge a fee for handling the sale, or both.
These professional estate sale operators often have regular buyers following them from sale to sale. If you hope to sell the real estate property, let them know as soon as possible. Frequently, they can find an owner and no commission will need to be paid to a Realtor.

Considerations

Do not throw away anything unless it is broken until the operator has a chance to see all items. There are many things that you may think are not worth anything but could be worth a great deal. There are collectors for almost everything. Some items may only be priced at a dollar or two, but the amount adds up.
You want to put advertisements in the local papers, tack fliers to bulletin boards in the supermarkets and hammer up signs up and down the streets on the way to the sale the day before the event. Do not do it too soon or you will have people knocking on the door way before the sale starts. You can also use the real estate signs. Just tape the poster with the information over the "for sale."
All the ads should include directions, a list of some of the more important items and a phone number if you do not mind being called. You likely will get antique dealers the first thing in the morning and even the day before.

Time Frame

Be sure to give yourself and the operator plenty of time to prepare for the sale, especially if there are several rooms of items that will be sold. It may take you several weeks to get everything ready. You want to thoroughly clean the nicer pieces, since they will go for a higher amount. It is also helpful to group together similar items, such as glasses, books, and kitchen utensils. The collectors can go immediately to their areas of interest. If you have a lot of small figurines, you can display them on their own shelves. They will look nicer, and they have less chance of being broken.
Be sure there is plenty of change the day of the sale. Only one person should be in charge of the money box and answering questions about the price of items. There will be a lot of wheeling and dealing for lowering the prices, so let the professionals handle this. Many people keep the prices the same until the second or third day. Be careful of stealing, especially if it is chilly and people are wearing coats. Have someone stand near the more expensive smaller items or keep them in their own locked area. Also, if you are going to take checks, you want to get the car license number.
If the sale is going to be on a busy street, put "do not park" signs and have arrows to where parking is available. Consider hiring a police officer for the early hours if you expect a great deal of traffic.

Effects

If the estate does not have a great deal of valuable or even semi-valuable items, or just a small amount of high-priced items, the family should most likely have a garage or tag sale instead of the estate sale. There are not enough things to sell to spend that much time and cost.
Those individuals who have a large house filled with items or where the antiques are worth thousands of dollars should consider an auction. Although you have to pay a commission to the auctioneer, he can usually get higher prices than in an estate sale. It is also possible to have an estate sale for the lower-priced items and an auction for the more expensive pieces.
You may have someone want to buy all the items you have left at the end of your estate sale. Give thought to what price you would like. Keep in mind that you will probably have to pay a fee for going to the dump yard.