Any Ideas?...Entire Contents Must Go! (Bradenton, Lee: for sale, condo, consignment)

[Ranrich]

My mother-in-law who lived in NW Bradenton recently passed away. My wife and I will be coming there the week of 7/15 to settle the estate, list the house, etc. We are working with a great realtor and feel sure everything will go smoothly with the sale even though we'll be 1000 miles away. Our concern is the contents of her 2 BR home. We thought about having an estate sale but are limited as we only have one week to take care of everything. I called a couple of companies that buy estates and it seems that since she didn't have a lot of antiques or valuable pieces of furniture, they weren't really interested. We plan on selling everything! Any suggestions other than a quick Craigslist type sale? Thanks in advance.

[vacoder]

Donate the furnishings to Goodwill and maybe you can take the tax write off.

[Macrodome]

When my sister and I had to sell the contents of my parents home several years ago (1994) in LI, NY, there were companies that specialized in tag/garage sales. We found a family business (dad and daughters) that would come in and run the entire sale. They priced the stuff, moved it out to the garage, haggled with the customers and ran the event for 2 days. They took a percentage of the sale. For some reason I think it was in the 20-25% range. My sister and I netted $1500.

[TamRE]

Estate sales want too much of your proceeds. But check around to see if someone will do it. You can do a garage sale yourself if you have time. Advertise it in the paper, you would be surprised how many people you get. If not, call a couple of consignment shops to see if they will take some of the items and ask if they can pick them up. Donate what is left to Habitat for Humanity or Good Will. You can also sell the home furnished, include it in the price or ask for a separate contract for the furniture.

[blueherons]

If your mother in law has nothing of value (I'm so sorry for your loss), I would call Goodwill. They will come pick everything up.

I have personally found garage sales are not worth my time. People will not give you decent money for your belongings and they are a lot of hard work.

Good luck with this.

I love the idea of selling the home furnished.

[MaryleeII]

Do make sure you go through everything first. You may be amazed! Older people (sorry, I don't know your MIL age), sometimes hide valuables, like money, jewelry, etc. make sure you give the place a thorough once-over first. If you consign, be aware any valuables found in the household belong to the consignor.

And Goodwill will not "take everything" Call and find out, but typically they will not take upholstered furniture, furniture that has to be moved down a flight of stairs, etc. Again, call in advance.

Don't think of this as a way to make money, think of it as a way to get rid of stuff. Otherwise, you have to pack it (materials cost money), somehow move it, store it---you're ahead if they take the stuff free!

[Macrodome]

I second MaryLeeII's suggestion to go through everything. My mother put money in the encylopedia under "M", there was jewelry in an old stove in the basement, and old silver dollars in the carpet sweeper. She wasn't eccentric- she just wanted to hide things so if someone broke in they wouldn't steal the good stuff.

Also, as was pointed out, the intent should not be to make money but to get rid of the stuff. We could have tried to sell all of the stuff ourselves, but we didn't want to take on the task or have the time.

[whakru]

You might even want to try SoFLGal daughter, Willow....she seems to know what to do with all the contents of people's homes. And, you know that you can trust a fellow CD'er!

Just a thought!

[wondermint2]

Be careful because I've found from personal experience some estate sales people aren't honest. If you let someone handle an estate sale for you check their references thoroughly and be present for the estate sale and watch everything like a hawk.

IMO the best solution would be to find someone willing to make you a "lump-sum offer" for everything and have them clear it all out. You might make less money compared to an estate sale that way - but the old saying is: "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush".

I found someone willing to buy-out all my stuff by going around to local antique shops/re-sale shops and speaking to the owners about it. I think if as you said most of the stuff isn't "high-end" - the big shot estate people will shy away. But you have a better chance with a mom & pop curio shop - of making you an offer for "everything".

[Avalon08]

Sorry about your loss. My mother lived in that area and she just passed away a few months ago. I am keeping her condo (for now) but I did get rid of her clothes and other things that people might be able to use. I brought some to the Goodwill store, and I called St. Vincent dePaul Society to pick up some of the larger items like kitchen chairs. Personally, I don't think you'll have time to organize and run a garage sale -- that would completely stress me out!!! It's going to take a few days to just go through everything. I would concentrate on whatever you need to do to prepare and declutter the home for sale. After you remove all personal items, you can leave the major furniture there while it is listed, maybe even selling it furnished (not unusual in FL).