I'm wondering... if everyone will be gone soon and an estate sale would take maybe half a day on a weekend, doesn't it sound easy enough to just do it anyway?

I haven't been in any, but I know that I've seen several consignment stores like My Sister's Attic. Also some near the Scottsdale airport. Check Yelp for consignment stores.

Most metro areas have thrift stores run by St. Vincent DePaul Societies. (Other churches have them too.) I think a lot of them take estates.

These groups do so much good work with the money they earn from reselling items. Among other things, our local one provides Christmas stockings filled with personal care items to our clients who have severe or long term mental illness.

Here is a link that might be useful: St. Vincent de Paul

when we cleared out our parents home in a city we didn't live, it was easy to find the local good will donation centers... they're all on line or in phone books.
we left some of the bigger furniture in the house and the realtor took care of that for us.

The VA will pick up furniture and other items. You wouldn't have to worry about things being moved. Do you know any of their friends not in an HOA that would have an estate sale? Or contact an estate sale group, they will move things too if necessary and combine with one scheduled in another place.

I never thought about estate sale agents doing a joint sale, I will look into that. Thanks for the tip about st. Vincent de Paul; they even run a "boutique" store near the house.

Upward foundation?
Goodwill will collect if you have a lot.

Most of the agencies will NOT enter your house - consider that if you have heavy things.

Salvation Army comes to pick up household items as well. If you suspect antiques call a dealer, to get cash for them on the spot.

Salvation Army and their record of accounting for donations and funding is very clear and honest.

here is one for the local hospice organization that will pick up items and take most everything....

Here is a link that might be useful: White dove thrift

In California, but I do understand the wrath of HOA's. Do NOT go against their rules. Their fines can be steep. Better to donate, and like others say, many charities will pick things up. We used the Salvation Army with success.

Most realtors like the home staged, so remove all family photos, and keep it neutral so a buyer can imagine themselves in it. Furniture in place gives them an idea of where they can put theirs.

Once it's sold, all can be dispersed to family.

Sorry about your loss, and good luck to you!

Thanks for all the tips! White Dove sounds good, too. The HOA issue is as much that it's a small gated community with very short driveways and no on-street parking. I don't deal in getting around rules, it just is what it is.

Desertdance, love your username, and thank you for the sentiments. M&D are still with us, live nearby, but these days they just can't get down to AZ. The loss is that I really love the AZ house, but none of us is in a position to take it on, individually or collectively, so we bid a heartsick farewell to it and bring back our favorite items.

habitat for humanity will come in to the home and take items away like working appliances, etc.

We just did this with my parents' Winter home in Florida last year. We used Habitat for Humanity and Salvation Army for the things we wanted to donate. It was a blessing twice: (1) to be able to give to people in need and (2) to get it gone so that we could then clean, paint and get the house on the market. One thing I'm very glad we took the time to do was take photos of the house before we started packing and then individual photos of Mom & Dad's most special things. I sent copies of everything to my parents and to all my sibs.
Lynn

Lynne, that's a good idea about the pictures. We are planning to take pics of things that folks have said they want, email them, and confirm that's the item. Taking other pics for posterity is an excellent idea.

Last year my father moved out of his home of 45 years to a continuing care retirement community. I am out of state and my two siblings were closer. We thought we could do it all ourselves but we wound up using an estate agent to help. She went though the house, determined what could be auctioned, what could be donated, and what simply needed to be trashed. She was ale to arrange for just about everything else we needed, including a shredding company to come through and dispose of decades of financial and medical records. (The only exception was disposing of toxic materials - we had to make arrangements for all the old cans of paint and ant spray etc etc.) Her fees came out of the proceeds of the auctioned materials - and to our surprise my dad still cleared about $5k from some piece of art that was apparently more valuable than we realized. My brothers worked hard to demobilize the house, and I spent a couple of weekends doing the same, but we couldn't have gotten it all done without a third party. This was in MA but I'm sure you could find a similar service in AZ. Good luck.

So smh, when,you said estate agent, at first I thought you meant a British realtor, but this was a person who runs estate sales? That type of help would be, well, helpful. I figured we'll just spend evenings shredding while watching HGTV lol! The more I think about the logistics, the more I think I'd better ask the realtor to recommend just such an estate agent. And I'd better make an appointment for disposing of toxic stuff, not that there's much of it.

When we were emptying out Dad's house, some of the older furniture was difficult to get rid of. At least in our area, Salvation Army and Goodwill have very picky rules about what they will take and what they won't take. A slight scratch on a piece of furniture was enough to make it unusable for them.

We contacted an organization in our area--it's a group of area churches of all different faiths. They have a "shop" where families who are down on their luck can go and get household items for free--kitchen things, furniture, curtains, rugs. Also clothing. They'll take just about anything that is in working condition. You might check to see if there is an organization like that in your area.

I probably got the terminology wrong, lol! Here's a link to the group we used in MA - they describe their services as 'move management.' they were very efficient and compassionate. I really was skeptical that we would need them - this was my childhood home and held all my memories of my awesome mother, so I wanted to do as much as possible ourselves. But in the end they were a godsend, both for logistics (things like arranging for a dumpster and for a final cleaning) but also for the judgment calls on what goes where. They knew the auction market well enough to advise us that a lot of my late mother's collectibles, china, etc, wouldn't fetch much, but other stuff we might have junked would sell (a replica of the USS Constitution?!) It also eased a lot of anxiety with my dad, who hated to leave and wanted to be sure whatever he couldn't take wouldn't simply be trashed. I think we got the number from my dad's new place (which is large and pretty fancy as these places go), so if you can't find one through a realtor, perhaps try calling some retirement communities or assisted living facilities. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Move managers in MA

There are other charities that will collect things for you. In our area, Big Brothers/Big Sisters is one. Green Demolitions is another. We had Habitat come and take some of our stuff. If you talk to them and explain that you have a special situation, a lot of stuff and are willing to make a monetary donation to help offset the cost of the truck, they may make an exception.

Home shredders are finicky, they won't chow through a huge pile without protest and plenty of cooling off time, plus lubricating sheets. If your time there is limited, I'd suggest bringing all the spreading to a mass disposal place. The places around here charge by weight or volume and are pretty reasonable. You bring in your paper, they put it in a locked receptacle, and a mass shredding company periodically collects the contents to put in a massive shredder. It's perfectly fine to use, most medical facilities use this method (though with on site bins) due to the volume of confidential paperwork they deal with.

I know our local UPS store does this, and I think some of the office supply places. Just separate out what truly needs shredding from the trash (since you are paying) as you sift through. Then use your tv time for other projects.

Thanks, everyone, for your ideas! clt3, it turned out that My Sister's Closet, and her cohorts Well Suited and My Sister's Attic, were just around the corner from my parents' house, as was a thrift store. We don't have My Sister where I live, and I wish we did. They are very choosy, especially about clothes, which is good...(and my brother found a tropical shirt with the tags still on for a steal). We brought decor, collectibles, fine housewares like china, and small furniture to the Attic; they are also choosy, they know their clientele and products! The only thing I don't like is that you can't actually go online to see your account, you have to request an email that takes a few days. And, since we don't have My Sisters around here, we have to take the consignment percentage in cash instead of the higher credit amount.

Our other find was the thrift store, also just around the corner. We took carloads over, and the nice thing is that they work with other organizations, too, such as a women's shelter and veterans' groups. So what they couldn't use, they passed on to them. If fact, on my second load one day, they told me that the DVD players I'd just dropped off had already been picked up by the Wounded Warriors, who also wanted all our trouser hangers. It was also good to know they would take some of the unopened women's items we had and send them on to the women's shelter.

Of course, the amazing library down the road got three boxes of books and DVDs for their shop. It was closer than Half-Price Books, and we didn't have to wait while they priced.

We liked taking things as opposed to having them picked up. One, the personal connection. Two, we never had a huge pile in the house or garage. Third, it gave us a break. We'd gather a carload, drop it off, have lunch, come back and start again.

Smalloldhouse, I liked your link! There was an estate auction that would have taken everything, and I mean everything (down to the Tupperware and Kleenex boxes), destining artwork and collectibles to the gallery-style auction versus the everything-else auction, donating whatever didn't sell, but by the time the larger items went to the people they'd been promised to, it wouldn't make sense dollar-wise, as they charge for the pickup. It would have been by far the easiest route, though!

We ended up doing the shredding ourselves;by the time I went through papers deciding what needed to be kept and shredded, it was just as easy to shred-as-I-went. Never thought I'd say it, but I got my fill of the Property Brothers! They were on non-stop while we sorted papers and more.

We also got to enjoy the smooth roads (no freeze-thaw!), beautiful desert and foothills, the off-season low traffic and uncrowded restaurants, and to meet some great cousins I'd never met, and to get to know a couple people who have been so helpful to my parents; all of them were able to take things for themselves or to pass on to others in need. The realtor is a gem of a resource. The neighbors were so kind and understanding about the flurry of activity, too.

I'm drained, and pleased with the outcome. Sad to see the house go; it's my ideal, but none of us are ready to have a second or retirement home yet. Just waiting for the shipment of some things we sent home. New stuff for me!

I'm glad it went so well; I know it's a huge burden lifted to be finished with that kind of task.