A year after my mom died my dad was ready to downsize into an independent living apartment. They had made 2 prior downsize moves from the house I grew up in so it wasn't like what I believe you are facing in terms of size. Given that and my experience as a buyer and a brief stint working for a house sale company, I thought I could do it myself with family helpers. Should not have done that but it all worked out in the end. There are good estate sale companies and there are thieves. It's a brutal business in a lot of ways.

My parents had distributed or designated who was to receive what all their ’important’ belongings to their 7 children before their deaths. My father died first and after my mother’s death, the 7 of us took turns claiming remaining items that we wanted. Her house still had plenty of stuff.

We had grand plans to hold an estate sale for everything else. A couple of us spent days pricing and setting up for the big sale. Ads were placed, signs were made. The night before the big sale we looked at each other and asked, why? The thought of having strangers come through their home and picking through their things was something none of us really felt comfortable with. We cancelled the sale. It was too late to cancel the ads, so our sign guy made a big ”Sale Cancelled” sign that we placed in the driveway. All her belongings were picked up the next week by St. Vincent duPaul Society.

This was back in the 90s when estate and garage sales still bought crowds with money.

If you are going to consider having a sale, check within the neighborhood to see how popular they are. Around here they just aren’t very popular anymore.

eta: We had several people interested in buying the house. A realtor handled the sale, my dad would have never believed how his purchase in 1959 had appreciated.

After about 2 years after my MIL passed, my FIL had me come to the house and go through things. They were "minimalists" and it didn't take me long. I took some things, what was left, he hired an estate sale place to sell thing. (Unfortunately, I think this is when my MIL's wedding ring & another ring disappeared.)

He then moved to another house.

10 yrs later, FIL remarries, a hoarder. When he passed, she opted to move out of the house. She had a life estate, (could live in that house until she died for upkeep & taxes only.) She vehemently declared she knew what was 'hers' and 'his.' And she left everything she didn't want behind. Ironically, a lot of the things she left were hers, but you should have seen all the crap she took with her! I really feel sorry for her kids when the time comes for them to deal with that massive mess.

But I digress....

We had a sale, I spent 2 months going through things, pricing and setting up. The house had sold about a week before the sale. In fact the young couple that bought the house bought a lot of the mid-Century furniture. That made us happy, knowing the couple was thrilled to have type of furniture they wanted. What didn't sell, we had arranged for pick up the next day by a charity group. We made a good amount of money.

I'm on an email list for local estate sales. I don't attend that many anymore, maybe 1 or 2 every 2 months. And when I go, I'm looking for specific things. But at ALL of the ones I've attended, there is always a crowd, and usually stuff flying out the doors faster than you can shake a stick at.

I'm curious about the guide, bpath. What kind of info was included?

We just did one for DH's family's house. They lived in a small town in the same large house for three generations so we knew there would be a lot of lookie-loos. One thing I insisted on was that we take out all the potentially embarrassing or private items - toiletries and medicine, lingerie and underwear, portable toilets, paperwork, etc.

DH's mom was bedridden at home for two years and in a skilled nursing facility for one. After she went into the nursing home she did not want anyone to do anything about the house, talk about the items in it, or let us know her wishes. We were left with a two-story barn, 4000 square foot house, attic and basement jammed full. After she died, we blindly divided things we liked, not knowing the stories or what she would have liked us to save. That was sad and frustrating.

We took our things out, the estate company held a four-day sale and then they emptied the house. We listed the house after the sale, before that it was just too crowded to show well.

DH's family was in the antique business so they knew the estate company and felt they did a good job. I'm sure we could have made more money selling some things ourselves but I'm not sure if the culling, research and selling gyrations would have been worth the effort.

I've held two, both back in the 1990's. For one, all of my grandmother's adult grandchildren got together and priced the items, set up the tables out on the lawn so people wouldn't be traipsing through the house and held the sale. My grandmother had already given special items to her children, so the sale only contained everyday items. I don't remember how much we made, but I'm sure it wasn't worth the effort. However, it satisfied all the grandchildren because they felt like they had participated and had received their fair share of the proceeds.

For my other set of grandparents, I had a local company come in and do it. They charged one-third of proceeds. There were no valuable items in that sale either. The estate sale company did everything and left the house empty. I did not attend the sale. I didn't worry about them cheating me because my only goal was to get the house cleaned out so I could put it on the market. I considered any proceeds I received to be a bonus.

ETA: I removed any potentially dangerous items like guns and liquor prior to the sale.

Never had one. When my grandparents passed away, we rented that house and just sold it this past spring. When my dad went into assisted living last year, he got to thinking about what to do with his house. In September a realtor approached us along with his partner (investor) and a designer. They wanted to buy the house and offered dad a good price. We had been cleaning the house out somewhat and had taken most things we wanted, but there were still a good many antique pieces in the house. The buyer made a list of things he would like to purchase and we took a few more things and that was that! I'm thankful it was so easy.

I hired an estate sale company for my deceased parent’s home about 10 years ago. Good experience for me. They helpers came in a few days early, moved some furniture to the first floor, labled and bundled like items together for display purposes. Prior to the sale, I removed and donated their clothes. (my preference). They also laid plastic runners to protect the carpeting. and blocked exits to minimize theft. My sale was one day and at the end of that day, I could decide if I wanted the remaining items to be donated or not.

If there are items in the house that you do not want included in the sale, either remove them or clearly label prior to the intial walk thru. I had to sign a contract that I would not remove items. For example, switching out a expensive chandalier for a big box model.

The estate company keeps a percentage of the profirts (20-25 % ??).

We have not hosted one but we got to a lot and have gotten some great stuff for the home and yard. The one company I am on a listerv for does a great job and I would certainly use them. They are not only estate but downsizing/moving auctions too. WIth the auctions being primarily online now, there can be some serious bidding wars for some items, though other items literally go for a few dollars. So, don’t discount online hosting. They catalog everything and small things are sometimes sold in lots. They use a SignUp genius if you want to actually go view the items in person to maintain crowds.

When we bought our MCM sofa and credenza, that was a live auction where we had to register and get a paddle. That was fun. Although we had to rent a U-haul cargo van to bring it home, LOL.

When Mother died, Sister and I went through the house took what we wanted (the china, sterling flatware, and crytal stemware mostly and a few of the better pieces of art), sorted and disposed of or distributed all of her papers, then hired an estate sale company to come do the rest.

Like ratherbesewing’s experience, the company sent their people to handle everything, including cleaning the house when the sale was over. Mother lived in a gated community. The estate sale company took care of getting the necessary permission to have the gates open and to provide signs for parking. I think it was a 3 day sale, Friday - Sunday. But for the few things we removed, they offered everything for sale including her clothing. We paid on a commission basis also, but I can’t remember what the percentage was. Neither my sister nor I went to the sale. We preferred to not have that memory.

I've not had one but I'm on a mailing list for an estate sale company in the area where our lake cabin is. I don't know if they only do higher end sales or what but I've seen some very nice things and I always think that's what should be done with our stuff when we're done/gone. Unless someone is in financial need, I think it would be money well spent for an estate sale company to do all the work for 25% of the proceeds. There's no way I'd do it myself - a garage sale is bad enough.

I've had a couple of garage sales and wouldn't dream of holding my own estate sale. There are too many considerations!

I thought I was about ready to have people in to discuss what's for sale but I realize that, though I've gotten the pictures and etc out, we are still deciding on some furniture and objets. And for me, so much is part of the fabric of my life! I think I would feel unraveled if I didn't know where things were. I know, I know, but that's how I feel. So when I say I've gotten the personal stuff out, the truth is that it's ALL personal stuff. I am regularly cautioned about removing an item from the sale, basically I'd have to buy it from the estate.

Companies I've talked to seem to have a minimum, that is, what it will cost them to run the sale, including setup, materials, and disposal and cleanup after. Then it seems to be 40-60 split! Ouch!

I definitely won't be here during the sale.

Some years ago my brother and I cleared out our parents' winter home. The community didn't allow estate or garage sales.. We gave a lot of housewares to the housekeeper, whose church helped distribute them. Good stuff to the three local consignment stores. And donated things to the animal rescue resale shop. And brought some back home. It was a lot of work but it was kind of fun. But it wasn't "the fabric of my life". This, however, is NOT fun. It's too final.

Now I'm considering an auction house. I really need to stop waffling and commit already.

@bpath, Sister and I looked at the estate sale as a way to have someone else clean out Mother’s house without our having to pay for it. It wasn’t an opportunity to make money.

I think in today’s market, whether it is an estate sale or an auction, things are going for far less than they are worth and far far less than we think they are worth. There are many articles floating around on how the generation that is currently in the acquisition phase of their lives do not want their parents‘ or grandparents’ stuff.

Oh, I absolutely understand it’s just a way to empty out. it’s not to make money. But apart of me wants buyers to know what they are getting. Plenty of knowledgable people come to estate sales, but so do those who say ”Knoll? Who’s that? I’ll give you $20 for the 1967 tulip table and chairs because I need to swap out the original yellow cushions for something that matches my grey and white kitchen” lol

Don’t worry, it won’t be priced like that, but people can be jerks. That’s why I don’t have garage sales anymore. I’ve heard people talk their buying strategy when they didn’t know I spoke their language. Oh Oh, and people swapping price tags. And I don’t want to get a phone call from someone who says they bought a lamp but when they got it home, it didn’t work.

I guess not dealing with that is worth the 40-60 split!

It would be to me!

In the estate sales I see online, people do seem to know the value of things. And the online bidding ensures no switching of tags.

It can be crazy the things that go for higher than you’d think: gun safes, really weathered concrete planters, electronics, appliances.

Word from my friends who have had them around here say you call the company and it doesn't seem to matter what is in the house or how large it is you end up making two thousand every time. When my in-laws died the four brother's divvied up the belongings they wanted then we had a sale for the rest. The proceeds went to their memorial fund, which was donated to their church. People knew where the money was going, they appreciated the prices we set and we were happy with how it all went. We did not sell any of my MIL's clothes. When she was alive she was not comfortable with her clothes staying local. She often had me take them to put in church sales where we lived. The house was headed for sale and we had many inquiries about it at the sale. None of us live in that community so it wasn't a big deal. If I did live there, and knew the people who came to sift through things I might have felt differently.

"Word from my friends who have had them around here say you call the company and it doesn't seem to matter what is in the house or how large it is you end up making two thousand every time."

Not true in our case.

After the kids and grandkids took what they wanted and after we disposed of personal items, we hired an estate sale professional for my inlaws’ home. The house was also for sale and the realtor left flyers at the sale. The estate sale company donated unsold items to charity and thorougly cleaned the home after the sale. It was well worth it IMO. The goal was not to make money, it was to get the house cleaned out.

I‘m sure there were lookie loos-they built the house in a small town in the 1940s and owned multiple clothing stores, one in that town and three in nearby ones and were well-known and respected. A local couple bought the house, which they had admired for years. That made us all happy.

Jana, was there any second guessing on “maybe we should have kept . . . ” not for the money, but for the sentimental value?