MUSINGS ON ESTATE SALES

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August 28, 2016

AN ESTATE SALE
Before or After the House is Sold?

Many clients ask me whether they should hold an estate sale before or after their house sells. That decision should be between the seller and their realtor. However, here are some factors to keep in mind:

Although a house may seem “homier” when staged with your furnishings, are your items extreme or eclectic in their style, have busy patterns or oversized for the space? Are there lots of personal knick-knacks, photos, non-professional artwork and miscellaneous items on surfaces and walls? Is the carpet stained (often you won’t know until the furniture is moved out)? Will a potential buyer be able to imagine their furnishings, extremely different from yours, in your home?

If the realtor asks you to store a lot of your clutter in boxes in the garage prior to my doing a complimentary consultation, I won’t be able to view those sellable items and evaluate their potential value, thus affecting my decision as to whether it would be advantageous for us to do the sale. Since packing a lot of sellable items can be very time consuming and stressful, some sellers opt to donate or give their items to friends. As we sell everything, this can reduce estate sale revenue and leaves the space looking bare. However, if you have cabinets that can hold these items without packing them, that would be best as they’re viewable for me and less troublesome for you.

If items you’re taking with you will still be in the house during the sale, they’ll need to be stored in a room that can be locked or in the garage, if we don’t need those rooms for display. That includes furniture, as well as personal items. If we need all the rooms for display, those items you’re keeping will have to be removed from the house, as we cannot have “Not For Sale” signs all over. Estate Sale buyers want to know that everything they see (other than large appliances, built-ins, window treatments and other “stays with the house”) are for sale.

The Estate Sale will bring in potential buyers for the house itself. If you sell the house prior to the Estate Sale and have a short closing time, we may not be available to set it up in time or do the sale. Sixty day closings are best, when possible, but we can often do 30 day closings, as well.

These are just some things to consider and discuss with your realtor prior to deciding on whether to have your Estate Sale before or after selling your home.

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