Estate Sales Information
What is an Estate Liquidation?
An estate sale or estate liquidation is a type of garage sale, yard sale or auction to dispose of a substantial portion of the materials owned by a person who is recently deceased, or who must dispose of his personal property to facilitate a move.
An estate liquidation is similar to an Estate Sale in that the main concern or goal is to empty the home, garage, sheds and yard with an estate sale organization while also often adding the contents of a safe deposit box or more, family heirlooms too valuable to be left within the constraints of the family home, real estate, cars, boats, and other transportation including but not limited to motor homes and RVs, animals, livestock and whatever other assets the estate may encompass.
Most estate liquidations take the professional liquidator anywhere from four to ten days to set up in home, on the family property. They often bring in tables, linens, chairs, cases; locked and open for display, shelving, racks and signage. When the home is totally ready for the public sale (often beginning with an invitation only sale of private collectors and dealers who will pay top dollar for items to be sold) each item of value is reviewed, researched, evaluated, priced, tagged and inventoried while in home or on the way out the door as it sells on paper tally. This is most times done for the sake of the family and legal needs of tracking back what items brought in what value and money for the family to consider at a later time when monies are often split up or divided amongst heirs. Many liquidators also photograph in part or in total the home and estate before, during and after for records and also for advertising on the internet and other avenues.
When the sale is commenced, in a best case scenario, the home is empty, the garage, yard and sheds all cleaned out and broom ready for home to sell and close escrow making the entire process that much easier for the family at hand to deal with and lessen their grief in the relevance of losing a loved one and removing all the hassle the inevitable clean out can cause. Hopefully the outcome also brings a great deal of revenue into the estate as well. Most liquidators will charge a commission of the net (after costs of running the sale; labor, food, advertising and security) anywhere from 30-50 percent of proceeds and all initial costs to give the sale are paid out of pocket of the liquidator. The costs of clean up and dump fees are normally paid from the side of the estate prior to payment.
The main differences with a complete estate liquidation and a mere estate sale is the sphere of inclusion which can expand to stocks, bonds, real property, fine jewelry, coin collections and fine art. With an estate sale you may be limited to the contents of the home alone with a cap on profits for both the family and the liquidator receiving a commission of sales, while with an entire estate liquidation you are including often so many more variables like homes, vehicles, and monies saved. Estate liquidation takes a more knowledgeable assistant and professional than an estate sale and also much more time to complete. Often an estate liquidation is accompanied by realtors, attorneys, C.P.A.s, appraisers and licensed professionals while a mere estate sale can be done by nearly anyone with knowledge of value of household items and collectibles in question.
Why have an Estate Sale?
The most common reason for an estate sale is the death of the property owner, and the consequent need to quickly liquidate the deceased’s belongings. The survivors may have no interest in the bulk of the personal belongings left by the deceased, or may simply lack space to keep the belongings. In situations in which the survivors cannot agree to the disposition of tangible property, a court may order the goods to be sold in an estate sale with the proceeds to be divided among the survivors. Such a sale and division may also be mandated in the will of the decedent.
An estate sale may also occur because the property owner will be moving into a situation where he will be unable to keep his property—for example, a move to an assisted living facility, a retirement community, a rest home, or other living quarters.
How are Estate Sales conducted?
Estate sales are usually conducted by a professional, for a percentage of the revenues. The liquidator may also charge the estate for the costs to give the sale, including advertising, marketing, research, labor, security, refreshments and other fees incurred in giving a successful sale. The presence of a professional liquidator may be necessary because the scope of the process is likely to be overwhelming to the survivors. The liquidator often has a loyal following, consisting of dealers, collectors and the general public. The liquidator may be familiar to buyers who have been attending the liquidator’s sales for decades, and trust that the liquidator will price wisely and fairly and steer them toward finding their niches within each collector’s realm, and for the specialist’s knowledge and experience with pricing items, and general value knowledge of all types of household goods and personal property value, and the specialist’s experience in disposing of unsold goods in an unsentimental manner after the sale. These professionals often take a percentage of the net proceeds, anywhere from 20% to 50%.
Estate liquidators, when professional, honest, hard working and diligent, can make the families or executors and heirs extra monies in giving a successful sale. Antique and collectible dealers use estate sales as one of their more important wholesale sources. Estate sales are typically 1 to 3 days long, often with a price reduction toward the end. It is becoming more and more of a trend on the west coast that on the final day, with the family’s or executor’s permission, all leftover items are advertised and given away free to limit the amount of waste. Sometimes this can result in an empty house and less burdened landfill. Moreover, estate sales are being used to redistribute households where families have lost their ability to pay mortgages and are losing their homes to foreclosures.