Packing Up...

Today begins an overwhelming task.

My elderly mom moved in with us last spring, no longer able to stay alone in her house. She seems to have accepted the fact that she can't go back, now begins the task of clearing out 60 years of accumulated stuff, both hers and some of mine, and preparing the property for sale.

I really don't know where to start. She will need to be there to make some decisions, but I'm afraid it will quickly turn emotional for her.

There is a LOT of stuff, she's somewhat of a hoarder, but a lot of it is good stuff. Not a lot of monetary value, but too good to trash, and I have no place to store any of it.

I've thought of a series of estate sales, but I hate to have strangers in there looking, then leave the place unattended.

There are people who will clean out properties, but I don't see enough value that there would be any profit in it for them or us.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

It is not a fun job to do. I had to do my folk and sisters when they passed away. Folk took me most of a summer on weekends to sort through and have garage sales to get rid of what I didn't need or couldn't keep. My sister lived 600 miles away and I took a week off and took my wife and sister in law with to clean out house. We did all the cleaning because there were family heirlooms that we were looking for.

Salvation Army they may take away unwanted usable Items.
Ypop

Was in similar situation myself 12 years ago, my Mother moved into a nice Church run warden controlled block of seniors apartments. She left it to me to decide what furniture, china & artifacts she liked to make the living room "a like her home and give her happy memories.

We had to sell her house to pay for the rent, and shortly afterwards for her nursing home fees.

I replaced some of my own furniture & china & pictures with some of her other stuff which I liked and brought back memories of my childhood from my family home.


The rest was taken to a local auction house which had been "recommended". I was mortified when they sent the final cheque for the sale. The b@st@rd who ran the auction charged a fortune for his haulage, auction fees and most of the items sold for peanuts!

Tough call!! Shortly after our son got married, his father in law passed away. His mother in law decided to sell everything and move into town. They hired a local auction co. that specializes in these kinds of auctions. I heard later that they charged her 50 or 60% for doing all the work and selling everything. I thought it was a rip off. Chris

Steve, After 38 years in the house we built when we married we decided to move to Condo because of wife's back problem. It was 2003 and housing bubble burst was looming. I knew we had to get our house on market quickly. I thought how can I handle clearing out my accumulation and downsize quickly ? Rented storage unit close to home. Worked out great, moved all stuff over there , got house on market, and first people that looked bought it. Got moved few months later and then took my time going thru items in storage and all worked well. I took my time and sorted thru, giving away, hauling stuff to auction, and even was allowed to have garage sale at the storage unit. Worked great as was able to work thru it all without pressure.

Good luck, Bill

We went thru Mom and Dads house and siblings took what they wanted and wife and I put rest in storage. In the following June had a auction at the storage place. Like Wizzo, by the time the auctioneer got done, not much of a check. Good china, silverware, ect. that we thought would bring good money sold for pennies on the dollar. Probably should have taken it and the clothes to the Salvation Army.

I and the wife did my parents house,brother didnt help untill time to take to auction house,he-his wife sorted through and took the best most expensive stuff. They also did not help take to auction house. Nice people.

I'm doing that now. Folks went to asstd living in fall and its clear they won't be coming back. Mom has Alzheimer and is happy wherever she is, dad not so much, but very weak and unstable so if he comes home it would be with hospice to die. We have been pecking away at closets full of personal items burning old mail, etc and keeping mementos for later and creating a "yard sale" pile. Its sad to touch all their "stuff" but I know they can't come home in their conditions. I still have his shed with shop and tractors to go through. I'm thinking yard sale(s). An acquaintance had an "estate sale" outfit do his dads for quick sale. They priced all the good quality items at fire sale bargain prices! I would rather give it away than do that. I'm under no time limit so I can take my time.

Try a service like (everything but the house). They specialize in selling those things and get top $. I believe recently they went nation wide.

I just went through that with my moms house.We invited all her friends. To come over and pick out anything they might want. Got rid of quite a bit.If you have brothers and sisters. Get ready for some fights and no help.What was left went to Goodwill or the dump

Hi Steve, went through that with my parents in 2008/2009. Now same is happening with MIL. I have a cousin that has an auction business and I consulted her about antiques and household items.
Her reply was virtually worthless at an auction house. Her advise was, if you have the time and space advertise on ebay or kijiji otherwise Salvation Army or other charitable organizations. Unless it is a known collectible antique or art work. Maybe different advice in your area.

Good luck
JimB

Went through similar about 15 years ago. One day Mom and Dad living on their own, the next day Dad suddenly passed, and Mom unable to care for herself, and also passed 5 months to the day later. They had lived there over 50 years, which means a lot of accumulated items, but not a lot of value on much of it overall. I had an auctioneer look to do a public sale, and he said not enough really, mostly because I wanted to keep the farm equipment. Ended up having a fairly large yard sale, gave some to Salvation Army, a few items went to ebay, and believe it or not I still have items stored, which obviously I do not need. I still have and use some of the farm equipment, chain saws, some tools, etc. I had no brothers/sisters, so no problems with fighting with other family members over it (advantages and disadvantages both on that from what I have seen). There were two small farms, I kept one, built a house on it, and sold one farm, and the house and lot I used to live on and that worked out well, since I was able to move back to the country, and retain one farm that had been in my family over 100 years. Bottom line, don't make quick decisions, think things over, and make a plan even if it takes 2-3 years to execute. I rented storage for a time, but looking back, I should have just built a small building vs. paying for rented storage. I have very few regrets. When my MIL passed, on the other had, we were younger, made quick decisions, and later regretted some of those decisions. On that one, we both wanted it done, and move on, which means quick decisions, and not always wise ones.

There are lots of ways to handle that, here are a few things we did.

Haul away the junk and trash as you sort through things and clean the house. Donate the un-needed clothes and small personal items to charity. Whenever possible get the donation receipts to reduce your mother's taxes or a family member's taxes. If you will be selling the house, talk to a few realtors to find out what to leave in the house and closets during showings. When the house sells you may need to move out faster than you expected.

Let family and friends have first pick of items they would like. Picking in rotation works pretty well. If there are fights over items, auction the item then and there, or take the item to an auction and let the squabblers bid on it there. If your mother has/will have bills to pay, ask people to pay her something for the items, especially those who can easily afford it. Or you could put prices on the bigger items.

After family and friends pick what they want, haul away the junk and hold an estate auction to "dispose of" the remainder. Auctions are much faster and less work than yard sales. Prices will be low, but most of it will be gone. If you are concerned about privacy, look into taking it all to a larger estate auction at a central location. It is more work moving things, but also more privacy. Tell your mother up front that it will not be a good idea to take her to the auction.

Good luck and be very patient.

Steve : I have done this several times over the years. I had four Great Aunts and Uncles that never married. It fell to me to do what your doing now. Three of the four where hoarders. So we had a lot of stuff to go through with little of it having much value.

You have not stated if your retired or still working full time. If your working full time then your time is limited to how much you can spend verse the money generated.

My one Aunt's was easy. She only lived in a smaller apartment and the only job she had ever done was the cleaning lady for the area Catholic Churches. Very low income so not many valuables other than some family heirlooms. So my first wife and I sorted the stuff over a few weeks of working evenings. Then I rented two enclosed trailers and a dumpster. On one Saturday I hired several high school boys to be pack mules. Keeping stuff went into one trailer. Goodwill stuff went into the other one and the balance went into the dumpster. The keeping stuff was put into a rented storage unit and dispersed over the next six months or so.

In your case it sounds like you have much more to sort through. IF your Mother's house does not have to sell quickly then just start sorting room by room. I would not sort everything before starting to liquidate things. Rent a storage unit or 2 or 3,lol. Then rent a dumpster. So whenever your get a room or two sorted then start hauling. Valuables and items you think will sell well into the storage unit. Junk into the dumpster and donated stuff off to Goodwill or whatever church that does that in your area.

When you get everything sorted out and moved then you can start selling the stuff you think has value. I would start out with a LARGE garage/storage unit sale. Then after that I would go to Graigslist or Ebay. When you down to things that just are not selling , sort it again and keep anything you feel you want and then donate the balance.

Whatever you do will take time to get anyways near the actual value of the stuff. Quick and easy would be an auction but it sounds like there is not enough stuff with value to do that. You also did not say where you located at. This makes a big difference in how house hold auctions go. In my area here house hold auctions rarely sell very high priced stuff.

A thing to remember is the younger generation to day is largely not an auction type buyer of household stuff. They will go to the BOX stores and buy new cheap stuff over the same priced GOOD older stuff.

I have never bough a new chair, couch, or just about any furniture other than mattresses new. Both my wives and myself have gone to auctions and now Graigslsit for the majority of our household stuff. That is not the case with the majority of the younger people today.

On a 3 day estate sale the first day dealer won't bargain on price. The second and third day you need some low ball numbers or you will be dragging everything back inside.The idea is to get rid of stuff not so much to make alot of money.My experience with people that do clean-outs or buy furniture is when they get to see the stuff they say they can't give you anything but will dispose of it for you.

Yeah, for small stuff auctioneers get 30 percent. Two guys and a truck costs $130/hour. Land fills get $20+ per ton for dumping. It pays to be organized and to use as much family help as you can possibly get, even if you have to pay them.

Hiring teenagers from the family or the neighborhood can be the most economical, but you have to have things organized before they start. Work out their wages with their folks. One time I hired some neighbor boys and their dad told me "Now don't pay them "Grampa wages" or they will expect that from me too!"

We are currently working on a similar project here. My wife passed away five years ago this month, and very little of her stuff had been touched. About four months ago, my daughter found about some "on line" yard sales, mostly on Facebook. She checked them out and has sold most of my wife's clothing and other personal stuff such as jewelry using these sites. She will post photos as well as description and prices. Most people around here arrange a mutually acceptable place to meet, such as a shopping center or grocery parking lot for the transaction, which eliminates everyone coming to your house.