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I was at my in-laws house during the estate sale getting ready period. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I was able to make sure some things that shouldn't go into sale (personal memorabilia overlooked) we're removed to the room(s) that were closed off for sale (for storing items not to be sold) Also was available for items they had questions about. In-laws did have a lot of expensive stuff and antiques and I happened to know something about some of the items. We did not stay at home the weekend of sale. We were from 800 miles away and staying in a hotel would have cost us too much anyway.
It is not unusual to close off rooms during sale. Even put a piece of furniture to block entry.
I get the OP's privacy and inconvenience concerns, and I would not do such a sale in a house I was living in.
OP: Is it possible to have items to be sold moved to an auction house, and sold from there?
Yes, there would be people in your house to move stuff out, but it would not be the stream of strangers an open estate sale would generate.
There are companies that specialize in moving property out of houses. Yes, there would be a cost, but privacy and convenience don't come free.
I know nothing about this company, but post them only as an example of such services: Estate Cleanout Services
We are going to have an estate sale in October and I'm starting to have SERIOUS second guesses about that decision.
I am going to have to be out of said house for two weeks with nowhere to go; my cat has nowhere to go. Cat "boarding" is $20/day, and "extended stay" hotels (yes, some of them are "pet friendly", but still) are like $50/day.
The caveat with this is...I am buying said house. It is/was our father's house, and we inherited it three ways, and I have qualified for a mortgage and will be buying their shares.
Is it too late to cancel this estate sale? With "boarding" my cat, and then being on the street for two weeks, minus maybe a day here or there where I check in to a hotel, the price tag for me just to get through the two weeks might not even be worth it.
Is it too late to cancel estate sale? I know I would tick a lot of people off, but sorry, I am buying the darn house, and If I am going to just "break even" having an estate sale, why bother?
Yes...Cancel. It doesn't make economic sense for you to spend any money living away for other people to gain something.
Just have a regular yard sale. Move stuff out into your garage, or onto your lawn. If it is too much to sell at one time, do it over one a few weeks. If there are family members helping.....then they can help you with an outside sale. Or, here folks will block off a bedroom, or part of the house while the sale is open....then you don't have to leave.
You could advertise the big stuff online, or in paper and sell that way. Donate little stuff, box it up and drop it off.....or call your local thrift stores and see who picks up large amounts of donations. We did that once before moving, it was awesome.....they came, parked on our driveway and we all moved box after box into their truck.....easy peasy!
No need to spend money living elsewhere for 2 weeks....Plus your house could get destroyed if you aren't there.
Here is a list of ideas if they try to back you down. Beside the donating idea above. Have them take the items that they want to sell to their homes, and have their own sale. Otherwise, outside on the lawn is doable if they are there to help. But no way does it take 2 weeks to have an estate sale. Staying home is not you being selfish, so don't let others convince you that you are being selfish.
i went through this with my own parents house and it was a heartbreaking fiasco.
to be truthful, i didn't realize you had to book these things months in advance, especially with the really vetted and popular sellers. I was very much under the gun, and took a company because basically they could do it that weekend i needed.
Right from the get go, they did not do one thing they promised.... NOTHING GOT PRICED. (THEY declared that there was too many things to price, they didn't have time) they promised to come the day before and price everything. they didn't. I was also promised 5 people to watch each room, I could watch the front door and the kitchen door if i placed a chair in the perfect spot... there were only two of them that arrived. they walked thru my mother's house chock full of Henredon GORGEOUS furniture, all in pristine perfect condition, not one little knick or scratch. The bedroom alone cost new over $7,000 and they priced that at $200!!!!! Everything was at give away prices. The worst thing that happened???? They priced my mother's Waterford service for 10!!!! with six different glasses, (cordials, water goblets, wine, champagne etc.) per place setting, plus the crystal huge wine decanter, the salt and pepper shakers, 12 brandy snifters.... 75 pieces of Waterford Lismore pattern, heck, i knew the water goblets alone cost around $49 EACH..... they sold them for $1.00 each. !!!!! That decanter that cost $400? $20 bucks. ARE YOU KIDDING? ME????? When i broke down, in utter shock, crying. i just couldn't stop, it was unbelievable they were doing this!!!!! they acted all offended and took their cut (60 percent of the take) and walked out, leaving me alone. I was out of the state one week when a friend called me and told me they had found out the Woman running the sale owned a business called the The Red Barn Classic Home Furnishings..... and she went, found my Waterford crystal 75 pieces being sold for $ 2,000. All the furniture was gone but for the dining room buffet (8 feet long) selling for $1,200. (the whole dining room furniture set sold for $150).
They had ringers appear at my house , their shyster friends posed as customers, and they lowballed EVERYTHING, and it eventually all showed up in her store.
I had no clue people would be so dishonest. Cherished things that really meant something to me, that were not supposed to be sold, like a port hole off my father's naval vessel, priceless, went for $5.... his American Flag that was all cotton, hand sewn and HUGE - took up the entire front of the garage door where he would hang it from the soffett, it disappeared.
If you do the estate sale, make sure the people you hire price every last thing in front of you. Make sure all your doorways are covered and watched. (i stupidly trusted the woman out in the garage, she sold my Bose speakers for $5 (cost me $500 and was responsible for letting that flag walk away) Make sure they do not own their own business. My only recourse was to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but I didn't have a formal sales contract nor did I even receive an itemized list of what sold and for what price. I was stoopid stoopid stoopid. I had no idea there were such vultures out there.
i went through this with my own parents house and it was a heartbreaking fiasco.
to be truthful, i didn't realize you had to book these things months in advance, especially with the really vetted and popular sellers. I was very much under the gun, and took a company because basically they could do it that weekend i needed.
Right from the get go, they did not do one thing they promised.... NOTHING GOT PRICED. (THEY declared that there was too many things to price, they didn't have time) they promised to come the day before and price everything. they didn't. I was also promised 5 people to watch each room, I could watch the front door and the kitchen door if i placed a chair in the perfect spot... there were only two of them that arrived. they walked thru my mother's house chock full of Henredon GORGEOUS furniture, all in pristine perfect condition, not one little knick or scratch. The bedroom alone cost new over $7,000 and they priced that at $200!!!!! Everything was at give away prices. The worst thing that happened???? They priced my mother's Waterford service for 10!!!! with six different glasses, (cordials, water goblets, wine, champagne etc.) per place setting, plus the crystal huge wine decanter, the salt and pepper shakers, 12 brandy snifters.... 75 pieces of Waterford Lismore pattern, heck, i knew the water goblets alone cost around $49 EACH..... they sold them for $1.00 each. !!!!! That decanter that cost $400? $20 bucks. ARE YOU KIDDING? ME????? When i broke down, in utter shock, crying. i just couldn't stop, it was unbelievable they were doing this!!!!! they acted all offended and took their cut (60 percent of the take) and walked out, leaving me alone. I was out of the state one week when a friend called me and told me they had found out the Woman running the sale owned a business called the The Red Barn Classic Home Furnishings..... and she went, found my Waterford crystal 75 pieces being sold for $ 2,000. All the furniture was gone but for the dining room buffet (8 feet long) selling for $1,200. (the whole dining room furniture set sold for $150).
They had ringers appear at my house , their shyster friends posed as customers, and they lowballed EVERYTHING, and it eventually all showed up in her store.
I had no clue people would be so dishonest. Cherished things that really meant something to me, that were not supposed to be sold, like a port hole off my father's naval vessel, priceless, went for $5.... his American Flag that was all cotton, hand sewn and HUGE - took up the entire front of the garage door where he would hang it from the soffett, it disappeared.
If you do the estate sale, make sure the people you hire price every last thing in front of you. Make sure all your doorways are covered and watched. (i stupidly trusted the woman out in the garage, she sold my Bose speakers for $5 (cost me $500 and was responsible for letting that flag walk away) Make sure they do not own their own business. My only recourse was to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but I didn't have a formal sales contract nor did I even receive an itemized list of what sold and for what price. I was stoopid stoopid stoopid. I had no idea there were such vultures out there.
I think this is why they need 2 WEEKS alone, in the entire house, to appropriately (at least to their best ability) and accurately price everything.
I believe it's someone my sister or her husband knows personally, as well, and is reputable as well.
Nevertheless, as I said, we have come to an agreement that they're going to take some of the stuff and sell it (not sure how the estate people are going to handle that) and then I guess we're going to do some sort of garage sale with bigger items or whatever.
This whole situation - my whole perspective on it - changed the other night when I started looking for "extended stays" for me for 2 weeks and 2 weeks of "boarding" for my cat (and my father's cat!) which alone, for just the cats, would have been almost $600 for two weeks, not to mention around $700 for two weeks for me at an extended stay. I get there are "pet friendly" extended stays out there, but the truth is as some of you have pointed out, it's now effectively MY HOUSE and I don't think it would be wise to have all manner of people trampling through it at this point.
By the way, and there might be too many variables for anyone to answer this, but does anyone know what estate sale companies make (ON AVERAGE) per estate sale they perform?
Like I said there might be way too many variables (mansion v. 700 square foot house, older person's home and so on) to make a definite statement on that, but if someone has some sort of ballpark idea, I'd be interested in hearing it.
I believe Estate Sale Companies work for a fee plus a percentage.
But if you know estate sales, you know that old furniture and cut glass isn't worth very much. Everyone has it. It has sentiment value. Nobody wants it.
Be glad you are out from underneath the aggravation. Give the stuff away and take a tax deduction if that is still available. The rest of it is more aggravation than it is worth. You might get a few grand, net, for the whole shebang. Hardly worth the disruption.
My siblings and I recently had an estate auction for our parents' home and it all went very smoothly. None of us are living there, but they definitely didn't need two weeks to prep. We went through everything and separated personal items from items we wanted to auction.
We had our auction outside, so that helped. Not sure if an outdoor estate sale is an option for you (I've been to some estate sales myself and a few were outdoors only). We moved everything to be auctioned into the garage the day before. Then the day of, they moved everything from the garage to the auction area as needed. They set up refreshments, porta-potties, etc. themselves. We put reserves on some of the bigger items and everything else started at $0 and went up from there. Anything that didn't sell, we donated.
They charged us 22% of the total sales, which I was glad to pay. They basically took care of EVERYTHING and sent us a check in the end. They only came out to do the original assesment, then came back the day before, and the day of. The day before and the day of, they never even walked into the house...nobody did.
ETA: ours was an auction, so it was a little different, but things sold for very little. My sisters ended up buying some furniture because it was going for nothing. For us, it was more about getting rid of everything before we sold the house, so we weren't looking to make money. But it was depressing to see the things they worked SO HARD for go for next to nothing. Logistically, it was easier than I thought it would be, but emotionally, it was awful.
It has something to do with - if someone is in the house during the two weeks, they might see that the estate sale people "underpriced" an item, and said person might take it or something along those lines.
Does that make sense? I feel like there is more to it than that, but that is one of the problems (apparently) with leaving a resident in the house.
I think the estate sale people may be used to handling only homes where everyone has passed away/is in a facility/no need for anyone to be around. HOWever, in this case, you own the home, are alive and well and, most of all , are LIVING there. So...they need to adjust to doing an estate sale with live, healthy owners in place.
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