Five Mistakes EVERYONE Makes When Dealing With an Estate

5. UNDERESTIMATING HOW DIFFICULT AND DRAINING IT WILL BE

The estate you’re attempting to clean out is not only full of objects but also filled with memories. Those memories, whether pleasant or unpleasant will be more unexpected and draining than planned.

4. UNDERESTIMATING HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE

 Know this: there are a LOT more items in the house than you  expect and far more to sort and categorize than you would ever imagine, Add this to  the emotional aspect and the process eats up more of your life than you expect or want.

3. OVERESTIMATING YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SECONDARY MARKET

You may think, “How hard can it be to price this stuff and hold a garage sale?”. Many people think this…. for about 45 minutes, until they actually begin the process. Then, they realize they have no idea of the current values prevalent in the Secondary/Used Goods/Antiques & Collectibles Market. This results in hours (turning into days and weeks) of sorting through websites attempting to discover what objects ARE before facing the task of determining pricing from MORE websites (often with conflicting information)

2. THROWING THINGS AWAY

It  is uniquely challenging to toss things attached to memories,  It is equally challenging to know WHICH things are dumpster-fodder and which are not. Quite often, some of the most expensive items in an estate and have wound up in dumpsters because no one recognized their value. I know this to be true because we’ve retrieved them from dumpsters once we were called in to assist.  In addition to Financially  valuable items we’ve also retrieved boxes of family photos etc. thrown away by people who didn’t look before they tossed.

1. LOSING MONEY IN AN ATTEMPT TO SAVE MONEY

By attempting to DIY an estate Sale, you can actually COST yourself plenty. In addition to the above mentioned difficulties in ascertaining values, and identifying items of value,  there is the wear and tear on your physical and mental health that result canin costly Medical visits or even missed work days.  There is the expense of repairing /repainting walls after they are gouged by helpers unaccustomed to moving furniture,  the hours and hours spent handling the logistics of advertising, signage, dumpster rental etc. and you still have the hassle of removing the unsold debris.  An Estate Liquidator/Consultant does charge a commission fee but more than makes up for that fee with the value you receive in terms of TIME, KNOWLEDGE and PEACE OF MIND.

Hiring a Professional Estate Liquidator or Consultant is a wise investment that truly reaps  multiplied dividends in the end.