This Estate Sales Guidance and Estate Liquidation Information article will give you many useful tools for making the best decision regarding liquidating inherited personal property.
Estate Sale History:
The first time I ever heard the term estate sale, I thought that what was being referred to was the sale of precious antiques, from a vast and wealthy mansion. Indeed that may have been true at one time, but today estate sales are used to liquidate the contents of even modest homes.
The Estate Sales title is now even applied to sales staged by people selling unwanted items from a garage or the front yard of their homes.
The word Estate basically means property – so it follows that the term Estate Sale means the sale of property. The way it is mostly understood however, is that an “Estate Sale” is the sale of the personal property of someone who has passed away.
Professional estate liquidators differ a bit in the way they define the term “Estate Sale,” they apply it more broadly to mean:
- The liquidation of the personal property of a decedent.
- An on-site sale of the personal property of someone who for what ever reason is downsizing or liquidating.
Who Needs Estate Sale and Estate liquidation Information?
Any person or family member who finds themselves needing to sell, or liquidate inherited personal property, or those who are in the position of having to liquidate their own personal property.
Estate Sales are no longer only thought of as the sale of the personal property of someone who has passed away.
Things have changed…
Motives for Estate Sales:
When I speak with a potential Estate Sale client, the first questions I ask is – “At the end of the estate liquidation process what do you want to have happened?”
My task and responsibility as an estate liquidator is to work towards the estate liquidation goals of my clients.
Because estate executors have a fiduciary duty to maximize the financial value of an estate, most of the time, the answer to the above question, includes an Estate Sale as an option.
Other motives for estate sales:
- Clearing a home of its contents in order to make it ready for sale.
- Raising immediate cash.
- A desire to have a home’s content be of use to others.
What’s better, an Estate Sale, or an Auction?
Here’s my best estate liquidation advise: If you have a mansion filled with priceless antiques, find a proper estate liquidator who understands how to separate your personal property.
- Along its value and specific category lines.
- Who understands, that there is more than one kind of auction house.
- That has a proven track record of deriving high income for their clients by brokering antiques and collectibles on behalf of their clients interest.
- Who knows how to negotiate on your behalf with an auction house, and set up, price and conduct an on-site Estate Sale.
Heres a secret that most people in the estate auction business won’t tell you.
To maximize the financial value of an estate…
It is best to combine a well thought out and proper auction house strategy with a well coordinated on-site Estate Sale event to liquidate the contents of an estate.
The good news is that there is a growing number of Estate Sales experts and Estate Liquidators who are beginning to adopt this practice.
Not all estates have enough financial value for a professional estate liquidator. In cases like these – people all over America are conducting their own estate sales. To find an Estate Sales Guide – click on this text.
Most Estate Liquidation professionals can generate higher incomes for their clients by selling inherited personal property at Estate Sales than auctions houses can.
Here’s why estate sales work better:
The public – your average person looking for quality household furniture and collectibles, simply have no wish to wait all day for an item to come up at auction.
A well set up Estate Sale is wonderfully composed to offer household items in a setting that the public can understand.
Estate Sale environments take the guess work out of how certain pieces of furniture will look in a home, because they are being seen in a home, rather than on the cement floor of an auction house.
At an Estate Sale, a shopper can purchase an item easily, quickly, and directly. Most people do not have the time to wait for an item to come up for bid.
Auctions are more suited to dealers with the time to wait for certain items to come up for bid.
Some other estate sale considerations:
- Estate Sales attract a very specific kind of buyer – homeowners who are looking for attractive items to decorate their homes.
- Estate Sale shoppers are more like retail shoppers than auction shoppers are – they will pay more.
- Auctions, especially the smaller regional auctions, are shopped primarily by dealers looking for items for their shops – these dealers are in the business of buying low and selling high.
- A qualified Estate Sales professional will organize and individually price all of a homes contents. They generally do not sell “box lots.” Selling everything individually generates higher income. Auctions do not do this.
- Estate Liquidators sell a homes contents “on-site” so there are no moving fees, photography fees, or “buy in” fees.
- Because an Estate Sale takes place over a 2 or 3 day period, Estate Sale shoppers can linger over an item of interest.
Only hire Estate Sale Professionals!
Here are 5 things to do to make hiring an Estate Sales Professional proceed smoothly.
- Ask friends, family members and professionals for estate liquidator referrals.
- Take some time and read the information on these links. Estate Sale Questions – The Phone Interview – The Estate Liquidator Interview.
- Check their references.
- Make sure that they are as well versed with auction house strategies, as they are with their Estate Sale strategies.
- Remove personal papers from the home and in consultation with your Realtor and Attorney set a sale date with the estate sale professional you have chosen.
If you find yourself in the situation, that you have to conduct your own estate sale, please prepare yourself with the best Do It Yourself Estate Sales Guide available.