How to prepare for a successful estate sale

estate sale

There are several reasons why you might choose to hold an estate sale. A relative might have recently passed away and you are selling off their possessions in preparation to put their home on the market. You might be holding your own estate sale in preparation for downsizing or relocating to another state. Whatever the reason, holding an estate sale can be an exhausting and emotionally overwhelming experie

nce, and preparation is the key to staying sane at this time, and enjoying a successful estate sale. Here are some tips on how to prepare for an estate sale:

Remove items that are not for sale

No one wants the heartache of searching high and low for grandma’s silver wedding anniversary brooch only to discover that it has been sold for a bargain $20. Before the estate sale, thoroughly work through the house and remove all sentimental items that are not for sale. It is best that you remove them from the property for peace of mind, but if that is not possible, make sure that they are locked away in a room that estate sale shoppers won’t be able to access. To safeguard your family’s privacy, you should also check all drawers to ensure that all private paperwork, such as legal documents and diaries, have been removed.

Organize storage

You might find that you have a lot of sentimental items that you don’t want to sell, keeping them either for yourself or to distribute amongst the family as heirlooms. Or, you might still have a lot of unsold items after the estate sale but need to quickly empty the house for the realtor before you can properly decide what to do with it all. Self-storage units are the perfect solution as they are large and secure enough to store house clearances while you decide what to do next. Additionally, self-storage units are found in every state and you can rent one remotely. For example, if your deceased relative lived in Pittsburgh, PA while you live in Portland, OR, look for Pittsburgh storage at StorageArea.com.

Decide what to do with unsold items

While storage units provide a good temporary storage solution for house clearances, you should ultimately decide what to do with any unsold items from your estate sale. Assuming that all sentimental items that you want to keep have been separated, and junk has been thrown away, the easiest solution is to donate usable unsold items to charity. An estate cleanout service will be able to do this for you.

Organize private sales of collectors’ items

Your deceased mother might have amassed a collection of high value Royal Doulton figurines over her lifetime, or you might have a large vinyl collection that you are unable to take to your new home. In the case of high value collectors’ items, organize a private sale through experts who recognize your items’ worth. You will get a higher sale price than at a simple estate sale.