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I've been dealing with a very similar situation for the last 11 months! My grandmother passed away last May and she was a borderline 'hoarder'. She threw very little away and saved things in case she or anyone else could ever use them. Her house was around 1400 square feet and the main level and basement were full. There was also quite a bit in the attic and there was a full 300sf storage building on the property that was packed full.
Your plan seems pretty solid, IMO. The only thing I would suggest is to separate true 'junk/garbage' from things that could be donated to Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity or another charitable organization. Despite my grandmother's hoarding behavior, she was an incredibly neat woman and wouldn't leave the house unless she was wearing a suit. She had a closet full of beautiful clothes that my mom had spend thousands of dollars on...she had 87 pair of new or like-new dress shoes/pumps! I donated a lot of her clothes to a local organization that helps single mothers find jobs and they give them clothes to help them get started in their new career.
My grandmother was also an excellent seamstress and quilter. I conservatively estimate that she had 30 large storage totes full of high quality fabric that she had collected over the years. I'm friends with a local oncologist who told me about a lovely lady who makes quilts for cancer patients. She was thrilled to get the fabric and I was touched (I rarely cry, but I actually teared up) when she posted her first quilt made from my grandmother's material on Facebook.
Just don't throw away everything out of haste and/or frustration. Don't overthink it or spend a lot of time trying to decide, but donate the things that could still be useful instead of throwing them away.
A final bit of advice is that you should keep everything that you want, but don't feel guilty or obligated to keep everything personal. I went through that in 2012 when my other grandmother died and I ended up with my garage so full that I couldn't park in it and my attic was also packed. I felt guilty about getting rid of any of her prized possessions, but over the last few years, I realized that I was honoring her more by giving them to an organization where they could do some good rather than taking up every spare inch of space in my home out of guilt! =)
I wish you the best!
Well put! Are we related? Lol. I've got the "pieces" to a Yo-Yo quilt my grandmother was unable to finish, I'm working on finding someone that can finish it proper. Sewing, quilting, at least around here, is a lost art.
A lot of what is "junk" to you may still be useable. Find a local charity (Goodwill, Purple Heart, etc.) that is willing to come pick it up. Same with the furniture. There's no need to send a lot of that stuff to the landfill.
After my brother passed away, I managed to give away literally everything to someone else who could use it. I kept his CDs, records, some pictures and personal items. Then I started with his friends, neighbors and people who had helped him out during his long illness. They were able to use most of the furniture, bookshelves, etc. I donated his books, DVDs and videos to the public library. His hospital bed and medical supplies went to a charity that redistributes those items to needy families. Finally, a relative of a friend took everything remaining, including picture hooks, broken lamps, and mismatched kitchen utensils.
You might be surprised by how much "junk" can actually be put to use by someone.
Hire someone to have an estate sale for you. Why would you rent a dumpster and throw away perfectly good furniture? Even if you didn't want to have a sale, put it on the curb and put an ad on craigslist, "free stuff on August 1, at XXX".
When my mother died we had an estate sale. It wasn't worth it. We cleared about $6,000 in 3 days, that took six people almost a month to set up and tear down, and we still had stuff that didn't sell.
For the OP:
1. Take what you want.
2. Call your favorite charity and tell them they can have it if they take everything. If they won't agree to that, pick a different charity.
3. Call a painter and have the (empty) house painted inside and out. Consult with a realtor, but pick light, neutral colors.
4. Call a janitorial service and have the floors and windows done.
5. Staging is up to the realtor, with rented furniture if necessary.
I just went through this with my mother-in-law. 1800 square foot house with basement, sheds, under house, attic, all packed.
We took what we wanted and then got a dumpster. And by the way do not skimp on the dumpster get a driveway-sized one from the start. Also do not fling stuff as you will probably fill it up to the top so think "tetris" when throwing stuff in the dumpster. You cannot have anything protruding from the top as they must cover it in order to pick it up and drive it away.
Get an estate company to come out and do an estimate but know that sometimes it isn't worth it. My mother-in-law collected most of her stuff during the 1980-1990's, an era of cheap TV shopping made-in-China "collectibles".A lot of what people think are valuables aren't. Now if your parents had artwork or other possible collectibles an estate sale company will know. But most of the time it's not worth it and you are better off throwing it away/donating.
You've gotten great advice for everything else. One other thing that helped, when we were trying to pick through what my husband wanted to keep, it was an emotional time and he started to take more than we could feasibly handle. So I told him to take a picture of the item before donating/throwing away. That way he has a memory but does not have to hang on to so much stuff.
Your parents collected this over the years. It probably is not all throw away material. Can't you find a poor family to let them have a few of their possessions. Newly single moms could use everything. What's the rush? Find a charity or something.
Your parents collected this over the years. It probably is not all throw away material. Can't you find a poor family to let them have a few of their possessions. Newly single moms could use everything. What's the rush? Find a charity or something.
Dealing with a family estate is very complicated not just time-wise but emotionally. Having to sort through literally thousands of items, what to keep/throw away/donate is exhausting and can take weeks or longer when emotionally you just want to be done. Even sorting furniture and making arrangements to give it away to different people sounds good in theory but isn't always realistic.
Your parents collected this over the years. It probably is not all throw away material. Can't you find a poor family to let them have a few of their possessions. Newly single moms could use everything. What's the rush? Find a charity or something.
I agree.
The rush is all about getting the house emptied out so it can be sold as quickly as possible. There's no sentiment here; sadly it's all about money. Of course, alot of stuff will wind up in the garbage (and rightly so) but I fail to believe there aren't some items well worth keeping or donating. I went through this when my parents passed away and I carefully went through everything in their house to determine whether I should keep it, toss it, or donate it.
To the OP you have a good plan and if it works for you then move forward.
We went through this with my mom but having a good many close friends we opened the doors to them after we picked out a few things. The rest we donated.
On a separate note I work with apprentices just out of Highschool and in their early 20's, every year I get older and every year the new ones are the same age.
With that being said, they are not collectors for the most part. Their wants and needs are so different from ours (baby boomers).
What the Op is going through is just going to become bigger as we pass.........they do not want our spoons we collected from all the states we traveled, bell collections, silverware sets, thimbles, Hummels, and the many other things the boomers cherished.
This reminds me of a co-workers father in law who passed away. They drove out to help the mom and visited a storage unit the father had for over ten years at $100 a month. He said there was literally nothing in that unit they could use or sell, but obviously the father had some attachment to it.
Did not mean to get off topic.
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