We had a large yard sale before moving from our house in Venice, and there was a huge turnout. We were lucky because it was the same day as the Venice Art Walk, and so there were more than the normal number of pedestrians, and we lived on a busy, trendy street. Just make sure that you advertise very well and remember that there will be a lot of people who will arrive early to do some cherry picking, and so your prices should be fairly high early in the day - you can always lower the price if the early birds balk. Our most expensive items went first - the surf boards and the zebra skin outfit that I had made for the fetish ball. In fact, the zebra went first!

We gave away the plants in the back yard that could be dug up, including a very beautiful an fragrant ginger plant that made outrageous flowers. I'm not familiar with Hostas, however, but you could check on the hosta forum. When we got to our new house, we ripped out a lot of plants and trees that the former owners had planted - it's what happens. We got rid of a lot of rose bushes, and I gave most of them to a woman at work. The previous owners were trying to make the yards look like Connecticut, and we want them to look like South Africa.

I think digging up plants is too much trouble, and I would have the people who want them come and dig them up. As for some of your items, you could possibly put them into public storage until you have time to have an estate sale or sell them on eBay, if you want to do that.

Lars

Sharon, before digging up your lovely plants, can you have your Realtor contact your buyer to make sure what you heard about the pool is correct info?

I would be upset if I was a buyer and I moved in only to find that all the lovely gardens had been ravaged. Unless of course I was planning on ravaging them myself.

Yes, you could certainly sell plants at your yard sale. I am not moving but have enogh crap to outfit an entire army so I am having a yard sale at the end of the month. I am taking advantage by dividing up my perennials that need it and hope to make a few bucks on them.

Good luck. Things are sure moving fast for you!

Linfa

Oh, boy, Sharon, I feel for you. I've had several yard sales, mostly to sell kid's clothes, stuffed animals, etc, never anything good, so my prices were pretty darned low. My biggest seller was Beanie Babies, sold them all in the first hour and the girls had lots. I couldn't give away a wok a few years back, though, and last summer I couldn't give away a ping pong table, go figure.

No clue on the pricing OR the plants, I just wanted to lend you some immoral support. At least the kids will take the REALLY good stuff, won't they?

One day Elery and I will actually live together and our two houses will be one house, that's going to be interesting. Not too difficult, though, his stuff is WAY better than my stuff, LOL.

Annie

I second speaking to your sales agent. Here once a sale is concluded, anything attached to the property belongs to the new owner unless it was specifically excluded in the contract. In other words, a chandelier is presumed to "go with the house" and so do the plants.

But if the new owner doesn't intend to retain your landscaping, she may be perfectly happy to have your hostas find new homes.

Isn't moving fun?

Carol

I know that selling the plants is a no no without checking. I was just having a melt down! However I do intend to split some and transplant at the cottage...for the health of the plant!

The yard sale is a huge pain. I think I'm pricing things to high but on the other hand I'd rather donate than sell things for next to nothing. I can always mark things down later in the morning or even continue the sale the next day.

After that it will be all downhill. I'm doing very little packing, the movers are dealing with most stuff. We are living at the cottage for a few months so the furniture all goes to storage....no unpacking for awhile!!!

Thankfully we are off to the cottage today for 5 days so I can chill a bit...then the sale!

I don't know if this is an option but of late, I have been taking my decorator items to a consignment shop on load at a time. I have been getting several times the $$ that I would get from a yard sale (ex: $5 for a throw pillow).

This whole time you have been so casual about the move I was putting myself in your situation and it freaked me out! You are fortunate that you have the get-away option. Enjoy.

Sharon - I would definitely be digging and dividing my hostas - there isn't a single one I would want to live without. Back several years ago when we were thinking of moving to Ohio I had them dug, split and in pots ready to move. Then we decided to stay and back in the ground they went LOL! If you know the prices of what the plant would cost at a nursery that will give you an idea what to charge. Usually a few dollars for 2 - 3 eyes. If you have some huge ones, you might sell them as whole clumps and have the buyer dig them.

Good luck with the house stuff - it is so hard to organize and price everything. And I completely understand that it is easier jsut to donate.

A

One thing I know for sure I will give stuff to the Sally Ann before I will sell them for a buck or two!

The yard sale is a huge pain.

I'd rather donate than sell things for next to nothing.

My advice? Forget the yard sale and just donate the stuff and be done. Yard sales are all about haggling and getting stuff super cheap. So if you are pricing things too high, people are going to try to talk you down or they're just going to walk on by.

Figure out how much you REALLY think you can make from the sale. Is that amount worth sitting there all day long and dealing with the stuff and the people? Or are you going to be frustrated and annoyed and even insulted by people trying to get the price down?

I love to go garage sailing (as I call it) so I've seen it all. I've seen sellers arguing with buyers over a dollar. I've been to garage sales where it's clear why nothing is selling - too high prices and no interest by the seller in coming down.

In the end, it matters not a bit what you paid for an item or what the item is worth to YOU. It comes down to what the item is worth to the person standing there with money in their pocket. If selling your stuff for a buck or two is going to bother you, give it away and save yourself the heartache.

Although I love to go to them, I've only had about two garage sales in my life. Both times, I had several big ticket items to sell along with the little piddly stuff. As soon as the big items were gone, I wrapped up the rest of the stuff for Goodwill.

When my mother passed away, I simply could not bear the thought of haggling with potential buyers over her stuff. Instead I let it be known amongst my friends what I had and told them to tell anyone they knew that I'd be giving it all away. So all her furniture went to people who I knew or who knew someone I knew. They picked it up and I gave whatever was left to Salvation Army. I never regretted the few hundred I might have made by selling it all.

Sometimes, yard sales just aren't worth it.

(((Sharon))) my heart just broke for your gardens. Oy.

I have to say, I'll never do a yard sale ever again. I've only done it twice. The first time didn't turn out well because of a huge mishap, but the second time, I was well prepared, did everything right, people came and went... to no avail. Funny thing? What sold were my old university textbooks. Not the typical things. Who knows? But I did figure it, it wasn't worth the hassle. My sister and I both suggested to mommy to donate her stuff to charity, use the receipts for a tax write off and that was her money instead of cash in hand from a sale. So much easier though. But that's just us.

My upstairs neighbor's sister does yardsales all the time and she makes money. She must do something right. It could be worth it.

best wishes!

Have you looked online for companies who buy from estate sales? They will either buy your stuff or take them to their shop on consignment. I would also call local landscaping companies and small nurseries to see if they would be interested in taking your plants.

Lars, have you seen the plant called Lion's Tail? I inherited one. It has the most amazing orange blooms and it grows like a weed. Mine is not blooming yet as I cut it back in January, but I will send you a pic when it starts. Oh, it's a South African native.

Gina, I used to have Lion's Tail when I lived in Venice. You are correct that it grows like a weed, and I'm trying to stick to slower growers or succulents so that I will need to do less pruning and trimming.

Sharon, I think it is a good idea to have someone else do your selling for you, and if you have valuable items, you can get a fair amount of money. Perhaps you could have someone auction it for you if you have antiques and collectibles.

Lars

I knew I was thinking about you for a reason! Yikes, the gardens...I feel my heart racing at the thought of you leaving all the sweat equity! LOL!

If you have collectables, antiques or other fine items available for sale it may be worth e-baying or e-mailing me:-). Postage is outrageous but to a prime buyer it's worth it.

I second all that lowspark had to say about a yard sale...in my experience it's not worth the hassel unless you have tons of items and display everything for prime veiwing. All through out the day you will find yourself rearranging items, as the items sell, for optimal viewing. Lot's of work and dealing with the public can be upsetting.

Good luck and pretty PLEASE don't dig up your gardens. The new owners may come to love your hard work and decide against the pool :-)

Good luck my friend! I can't wait to see how you are enjoying your new digs!

Thanks for all your lind thoughts!

Although I have plenty to divest my self of I'm keeping anything that is really valuable, has memories or is collectible.

This stuff is mostly decorative pieces, framed prints and things I'm just plain tired of. Chris was able to take lots like the large stand up side by side freezer and fridge, computer desk and chair, linen closet, teak bookcase, chesterfield...the things that likely would have sold! LOL

Everything is sorted and priced, I'll probably change that, the tables are ordered ...so it all systems go!

Good Luck Sharon! I have a huge sale every two years. It IS a lot of work, but I always make $$ so it's worth it to me (even though I swore the last time I'd never do it again.) The trick for a successful sale for me is to invite like-minded people and turn it into a party. I like to play music, which helps some people stick around longer, since the longer they stay, the more money they spend. There is a hard and fast rule though, that anyone I invite to sell their things, has to be here to take their own money. That way they can make their own deals, and deal with their own issues.

I always try to price things a little below what I might expect to find, just to move it. Advertise your most expensive items, so if someone's looking for that, they know where to come. (Anyone who joins your sale should also help with advertising costs, with everyone advertising their best items, usually no more than 4-5 each.) If there are estate sales in your area, I find advertising in that section of the paper is beneficial, since people will often pay a little more for something at an estate sale than they would at a yard sale. (They won't buy the estate sale idea though, unless you have a Lot of stuff to sell.) Tell people at what time things will be half price, so they come back for deals. If you have a ''Bid Box'' front and center, you can also take bids on things that are more expensive, telling people at what time you'll call them back. I hope it all goes well for you!

I agree, when I've done sales, I've priced items to MOVE, not to make money. I combined my effort with a friend, and even though she sold for more, I made more money and got rid of my stuff. Price low enough and you won't have to haggle much, then don't haggle and you can always cart away what's left. But take the price tags off first before you donate, lol! Also could try Craigslist if you have some larger items left.

As for plants, I sure as heck would divide and sell! The folks who bought my parents house ranted and raved about the gardens then proceeded to tear them out when they moved in. Meanwhile my mom is dishing out money for a new garden at her new place. Would have been so much less waste for her to just transplant some of the stuff. You can do it in a way that no one would notice, IMHO. Some people are so wasteful of nature's bounty!

OK I'm in total meltdown and worse yet into total self pity.

Having selected the items I want to sell ,I've got most of the yard sale details worked out, rented tables, ads, pricing, signage, money for change etc.

In charge and ready to go....NOT!

First of all the weather forecast is for rain. So I'll have to have the furniture, pictures and electronics inside my house and my garage! Thankfully we have a very large rec room which is now almost empty, has a walkout to the back patio which is linked to the garage. I can cut the rest of the house off from the rec room. So I can make the rain thing work.

Secondly Clive, who is in charge of making the signs and placing them seems to need my involvement, in every single detail.

However the really serious issue that has me stressed beyond belief is that our Realtor called to say the buyers want to exercise one of their two house visits this weekend.

I told him that was just not possible given the yard sale and quite frankly the house and gardens are not in a state I would want them to see. He gave me serious grief saying I was being unreasonable.

Let me say this again...MY Realtor told me I was being UNREASONABLE because I would not agree to allowing the purchasers a house visit in the middle of me having a yard sale!

If I could fire him I would.........

Here is a virtual Grey Goose on the rocks for ya pal.

Sorry to hear you are having a bad day and a little stress. Not to mention the d@mn weather report. Hopefully it will be spotty showers and not a total rain out.

When I sold my first home years ago the buyer scheduled a walk through the day before my big sale. It worked out for the best for me. They bought several things including all my outdoor furniture and several antique furnishings. No haggling, paid cash for the asking price.

If I were closer I'd be there to help you out. I made a killing with my sale. Debi(DS) and a good friend of mine seem to do the same every other year or so. One thing I'll mention is if you posted a start time people (die hards and dealers) will show up early and be knocking on the door. They want to get the good stuff so be prepared. I had people at my door an hour before the advertised start time.

Hope it is a success despite all of the challenges!!

David

I can vouch for the fact that the folks who bought my parents' house also bought things from them. The odd thing about those folks is, they have never moved into the house, it's been three years. They tore out all the flooring and wall coverings though, and the landscaping and a brand new gorgeous fence my dad put in, thus exposing the neighbors dog and chain link fence, which is why dad put up a fence in the first place. They then removed a shrub border that was on the other side of the yard to create privacy from the street, and put up a fence exactly like the one dad did, except they did not reuse the other fencing they tore out, which was practically brand new. Not sure how they can afford to have two houses, one to fiddle with and one to live in. It's such a mystery, all our old neighbors wonder what's going on.

Sharon, it's late, so I hope you are sitting with a drink and a fist full of money after your sale...

Annie

Well it's over! It went well despite the rain! Clive put up a large tent. Between that and the garage everything and everyone was dry.

I did better than I had hoped. Got rid of just about everything I wanted to. I'm taking back a few things I was ambivalent about selling and what's left will go to the Sally Ann. I'm calling the truck and they can have it all!

The house looks pretty bare, especially with so many pictures and decorative pies gone!

Thanks for the hand holding.......glad it's over and would never do it again!

I'm just catching up with this; sorry it was such a hassle and that the weather didn't cooperate. But you seem to have handled everything well, and now it's over and you have fewer things to deal with and some cash.

I would have said no to a walk through also. The fact that they can have have two house visits does not mean they can have them at any time they choose - unless it specifically states that in your contract and I cannot imagine that it would.

Here's hoping that you have now had biggest glitch during your moving process, and thank heavens it's done with.

Sending you good thoughts for everything going smoothly from now on.

Lee

I am just now checking back in.

"The house looks pretty bare, especially with so many pictures and decorative pies gone!"

That is always the hardest part of moving for me. De-homing, is that word?, the place I am leaving. It's so hard to make it less me. Less home. Less. But it will be fun making the new place all YOU, Chase. So how are you holding up?

Sharon, when I first saw the title of your posting I thought for sure it was going to be a rant on people who spell 'lose' and 'losing' wrong! Okay, RADFC!!!!!!!!!

Duane I am not in the mood! LOL

The buyers are coming for a walk through today. I want every thing to be nice for them so we have been working our a$$es off. Power washing the house, top seeding the lawns, Clive even painted the cement wall on the lower patio.

The one thing I can;t get ahead of though is the gardens. It has been such a wet, cool Spring I simply can't keep the gardens clear of all weeds....I have huge gardens!

If this lady tells me today she is ripping everything out to put in a pool I cannot be held accountable for my actions!

Sharon, look at it this way - sooner or later the garden is going to change; if not this year, then ten years later or fifty years from now. Remind yourself that you can always take trips to the Toronto Botanical Gardens or the Tivoli Gardens in Italy. Embrace the new liberty that you have. Personally, I would rather have a pool than a garden (although maybe not in Toronto), but my back yard is not quite big enough. I felt sad about leaving my mango, fig, citrus, and other trees behind in Venice, but I also realize that the house could be torn down and replaced with something completely different. That would probably take care of the ghosts and spirits I had to put up with for the 15 years I lived there.

Get on with it already! You decided to sell -- what do you care what your buyer is doing with their purchase. Look forward to the new you and what you can do with your knowledge and new challenge. Good luck and stop whining!!

Annie, we are all different. It is very important to me that the place be as nice as I can make it for the purchasers.

As far as the gardens go, I have put a ton of money and even more work into those gardens and they matter to me. The thought of them being destroyed is sad for me.

That's the end of my whining.

Chase, I know how you feel. I often think about what someone would do to my wildflower area, fenced in herb garden, beds etc. that I have worked so hard on. Mine are very informal but a ton of digging in clay and trying to coax things to grow, went into the creation of them. Two very large, uprooted chestnut trees a couple of weeks ago came close to wiping out the wildflowers and I'm afraid I'll still lose some although we plan to wait until they are dormant to remove the downed trees.

I'd like to see pictures of your place before you leave it
to someone else.

Different things are important to different people.

jude

Go a head an whine all you want Sharon. I know how much you love your gardens and your home. Moving is never easy, especially when you are leaving a home that you have loved.

Ann

Thank you Jude and Ann. it is really difficult to leave this home.

It is where Meredith grew up, it is where I retired and then Clive, it has been the center of all family get togethers since my Mom passed. Every holiday has been celebrated here.

It has been where I've been honoured to host many showers, graduations and even a few wedding pictures.

I have also been blessed to have many Cooking Forum friends visit here and share a meal, Ann, Annie, Woodie, Stacy, and Janet.

My house is not fancy but it is our home and leaving it is tough, really tough......but other things await...doesn't make it less sad to say goodbye...and I don't think that is whining.

I don't think you are whining either, and the longer you have been in one place, the more attached you can become to it. I used to get very attached to places and then felt homesick or loss when I moved or left, and I had an extremely difficult time when I moved from San Fransico to Austin, even though I had the excitement of going back to university. It took me two years to adjust, and I never got over the culture shock, even though I grew up in Texas. I made quite a few trips back to S.F. to visit, but it was never the same. The one thing constant in my life is my parents' house, but at this point in my life, I would not mind if they moved.

I think downsizing is particularly difficult, and even more so if you have strong sentimental attachments. Ann should be a good help to you, since she has moved even more times than I have, I think. I'm sure you can talk with her about your feelings, and I do think it is best to talk it out with someone outside of your family.

I do recommend also that you take videos of your gardens before you leave so that you can at least visit them that way after you have left. I love taking pictures of my gardens and looking at them later. You may want to document your house with video for other reasons as well.

Lars

I understand what you are going through, genuine feelings of grief at what you are leaving behind; you know you'll get over it, but for now it's real and deep.
I've experienced this with one house in particular, I'd sit in the backyard at night and say to myself: "I can't believe I'm leaving this" .

You are not whining, you're sharing your feelings; this is the perfect place to do so.