A few things can cause estate or property liquidation, and often, they’re usually unfortunate events. It could be due to the death of a family member, divorce, debt, and other major life-changing crises. Let’s read ‘7 Helpful Tips For Estate Sales Clean Outs’.
You could use some tips when any of these things happen and you need an estate sales clean-outs. This will help you get a good price for your property and have things in order.
7 Helpful Tips For Estate Sales Clean Outs:
Locate and secure key documents
The first thing to do is find and secure key documents. These may include a will, 401k records, tax receipt, stock certificate, insurance policies, estate deeds and titles, bank statements, etc.
They will be helpful in case of probate or resolving any issue that may arise if there are many parties involved, like families. In addition, they’ll be crucial for filing future income tax returns.
Team up with family members
While you may want to work alone and sort out your estate, working with your family members will be better. This is not the time to be edgy or think everyone is your enemy, even though you may not be having the best moments.
Let them help you. Together you can create a list of things you need to sort out, keep or sell. Everyone may have items that they’ll like to keep from the estate.
This could either work well or result in a disaster and cause conflict. You should consider involving legal help or a third-party mediator to resolve conflicts or disagreements to prevent that from happening.
Pay attention to details
Before you start sorting out items, it’ll be good to thoroughly look through everything so you don’t miss out on important details. While living in the house, you might have dumped important things somewhere without paying much attention.
You might have left valuable documents or important items in the attic, an old coat, or in an abandoned locker. Therefore, check through everything and ensure you’re not missing anything.
You should do this when making a list of items you want to sort out in your estate.
Find and keep memorable stuff
Memories stay with you forever, even after your house is gone. One regret you may have is not keeping and cherishing them.
While you may feel uncomfortable about keeping items that make you feel rushes of emotions, you’ll be glad you did. Look for your scrapbooks, photo albums, pictures, items, and other stuff that mean a lot to your family.
It portrays a significant link and bond among your families, including those you have never met. They won’t be of any value to other people who take over the property, so why not take them with you?
Sell or donate clothing
Another tip for an estate sales clean-outs is to take care of your clothes by either selling or donating. Old clothes often have little or no resale value, and you may have a hard time selling or making any profit off them.
Unless they are vintage, like from the early 1960s, only then can you sell them for reasonable prices on eBay, during yard sales, or at consignment shops. However, if they are not vintages, you can donate them to people who need them, like family members or shelter homes. You could also keep them if you want.
Hire an estate appraiser
You should consider hiring an estate appraiser during your estate sales cleanouts. This is important if you have substantial or expensive items like furniture, jewelry, or antiques.
You can avoid selling valuable items for less when you hire a professional. The estate appraiser will probably charge you an hourly fee for their service, so you should prepare for that depending on your location and the service type.
You could also ask family and friends for referrals when looking for an estate appraiser. The estate sale appraiser should also be able to tell how much your property is worth.
However, before hiring them, ensure you ask them about their staffing, insurance, and what their contract looks like and check if it benefits you.
Hire help
Sadly estate sales appraisers may not help you clean out your junk, so you either have to do that or hire help. Doing it yourself would be a lot of work, especially if it’s a large property, leaving you with the other option.
They can help you move your furniture, clean, remove debris, and fix dents that could affect the sales. After that, you can go ahead with your estate sales.
Final thoughts
Moving on after a major life-changing event can be hard. What may be harder is letting go of your estate, which would’ve meant a lot to you because you have to.
Estate sales cleanouts can be physically and emotionally exhausting, so you should take it easy on yourself by following the tips in this article. Ensure you hire a professional when you need to so you can get value for your estate.
