FAQ - Questions  ?

FAQ / QUESTIONS !!

Our common questions we get from our clients about Estate Sales. If you have a question not answered below feel free to contact us.  

So What is an Estate Sale?

An estate sale is an indoor sale where the contents inside of the home are sold to the public. When a family member passes away, moves into assisted living or moving into a new location (often downsizing), this is a solution to selling the remaining items in the home.

We go through the items in the home to staged, de clutter, take pictures and advertise. Sales are typically done over a 3 day time frame, occasionally 4 day time frame if we have enough items to offer for a sale.

So what’s the first thing we need to do?

When you contact us and decided to proceed, we will set up a day and time to meet you at your home / location to evaluate what is left in the home for a sale. This is a free consultation with no cost to you.

How do I schedule an initial consultation?

Please call us directly. We will work with you to see when we can make a meeting day and time work that is comfortable for both of us. We typically can make a meeting work within a few days if needed.

Are there any upfront costs to me?

When we meet for our first consultations at your home this is FREE. We are paid commission after we do your sale.

Do I have enough items to do a sale ?

When we meet you the first time in the home, we will look to see what’s left in the home for a sale. We are looking to make sure there’s enough items as well as the right type of items to successfully do a sale for you. This is typically hard for a homeowner to judge so we will need to come to the home to see what’s left to make an educated decision.

If you do not have enough items left in the home this will affect how many people show up at the sale as well as how much we fell we can sell. We want to make sure we can do a successful sale for both of us.

We also look to see what unique items you may have left in the home. These items will help to make you sale stand out from all the other sales happening at the same time and draw customers. This is also another reason why we want to be clear on what is staying for a sale when we are making a decision on doing a sale for you.

How Much Time Do You Need To Get A Sale Ready?

We prefer at least 2-3 weeks or more if possible. We want enough time to advertise and get the sale completely prepped. Although we prefer not to do this, we have prepared sales in a week’s time frame.

There is a lot of things we need to do to get your sale ready. Prepping, advertising and researching items is part of that. Each sale is different with how much time is needed. We are often working on other jobs/sales at the same time for another client and it may involve juggling our time to feasibly get all the jobs done in a given timeframe. We try to make things work successfully as much as possible.

How Much Do You Charge for a Sale?

We work off a commission for payment. Fees typically starts at 35%. This gives us incentive to work hard for your sale as the better we do for you, the better we do for both of us.

Our fee will be discussed at our first meeting and also guaranteed when we sign a contract to run a sale for you. No hidden costs will be added.

We do not typically charge any additional fees when agreeing and signing a contract. However, there are a few exceptions. These are rare exceptions and WE WILL try to discuss any of these possibilities when signing your contract if we feel these may apply. 

1.        We typically cover the cost of any permits involved by your city to run your sale. Most cities we work in doing sales do not charge a permit fee. A few charge $5 which we cover. If we have to pay over that $5 or an excessive amount for a permit, we will pass this cost along to you. Warren charges $20 a day for a permit, so a 3 day sale permit will cost $60.00 in Warren to do a sale there.

2.        The other possibility is if we have an overabundance of work to prep and get the sale ready. While we know there is always a lot of work involved to get a sale ready, if there is more than normal amount of work involved to get the sale ready we may consider charging an additional fee. If we feel there is excessive prep work we will discuss fees when signing a contract.

3. One other possibility that has happened a number of times. We have already agreed to do a sale and signed a contract. 

We do not always immediately start to work to prep the house. Sometimes there is a few days to weeks before we start to prep for the sale. 

The family we are doing the sale for is moving and not yet completely out of the house or another family members goes into the home and ramsack it looking for stuff after we signed a contract. This now involves additional work we did not expect for prepping the sale. 

Should I clean and throw away the junk or donate unwanted items before you come ?

There are some items that are obviously junk and items no one will buy. Please talk to us before you go through and get rid of items. We can discuss any questionable items before you get rid of them. 

Most homeowners do not know what is good to sell at a sale and what is consider trash. You would be amazed what can be sold at an estate sale. As they say “Another man junk is another man’s treasure”. This is so true.  

It’s hard to judge what someone will be looking for at a sale and the more variety of items we have for a sale  the better to draw people. We tell all our clients some money is better than no money. You can always throw it away or donate it after the sale.

Who works for you at the sales?

We have family who work for us. My workers are a representation of my business so I need to be confident they will handle themselves honestly and professionally.

Note: Sorry! You, your friends or family are not permitted to help work at the sale. With a number of issues in the past, it has created uncountable problems, too many to mention. We thank you for your understanding. 

What do I need to do to prepare for a sale?

The only thing we require is that you know what is part of the sale and what is not before we sign a contract. If possible, we would like to have those items removed from the home before we start working to prep your sale.

Once we commit to you and sign a contract, can we take remove items from the house before the sale ?

You will need to let us know which items are not part of the sale before we sign your contract.  We will discuss this prior to signing a contract and if items are noted as not part of the sale we will list them on an exception list so we have a clear picture of any items that are not part of your sale. Once we sign the contract you cannot remove additional items from the home/yard that we have not discussed and listed on the exception list.

We will request that any small items that are not part of the sale should be removed ASAP preferably before we sign your contract and start to prep your sale. If any larger items need to remain in the home during the sale, they will need to be clearly marked not for sale.

What do you do with left-over items?

All the remaining items are your property after the sale. After the sale, there are a few options.

1.                When the sale is completed, the items are there for you to do what you choose. Many times family member’s want the opportunity to look and take items that are left after the sale. You can dispose of them as you like.

2.                We can offer you advice and information on places you can donate items if you choose to do that. We do not do clean outs ! We can suggest companies that do clean outs. 

Do I need move-out before the sale?

We would prefer to not have you living in the house when we do the sale for you. There are times we have made exceptions on this but it is often difficult to make this work. This gives us the most freedom to get your sale ready with little interruptions. We typically will work from day to day when we can fit it in our schedule. This time frame is not always predictable. We are going through items and setting up the home for customers to shop. We also move items around the home while prepping your home, this can make it hard for you to comfortably live in the house.

If we agree to do a sale for you while you are living in the home, we ask that you do not interfere with our process and allow us to do what we need to get your sale ready. Our time is limited and valuable while we are there working in your home.

 We also ask if possible that you do not stay in the home while we are working from day to day to setup your home.

During the sale days you cannot remain in the home while the sale is open. We ask that you find something to do during that time frame away from the home. While we are working at your sale we want to be able to concentrate on the job of selling and helping customers.

You are welcome to briefly and discreetly visit the sale if you want to see how things are done. Many homeowners are curious about the process of an estate sale. With our experience we know how to handle all the hurdles that may come up during a sale. Customers will often target homeowners on prices when they know you are present and this will result in loosing profits from your sale. Please leave that to us as we know how to handle customers when it comes to prices.

How quickly can I have my sale?

As soon as we can make it work for you. We are working to set sale dates all the time and we will make every effort to work your sale into our schedule in a timely manner.

How much will my sale make?

There are a lot of factors involved in this answer.

Short answer is as much as we can. While we can't make any guarantees, our goal is always to make you as much money as possible.

This is why we look carefully at what is left in the home to determine if there’s enough items left in the home to make it worthwhile for you and us to have a successful sale. We work on commission, so the more money you make the better we all do.

How many people can I expect to come to my sale?

Typically, 2000/3500 people attend our sales over a 3-day time frame. The draw of people will vary on what kind of items we have and how much we have to offer for sale. The size of the home will also vary. Some home are packed with items and some are on the lighter side.  This is why we advertising your sale and our positive reputation is important to have lots of customers come and shop at our sales.

How do you advertise?

We advertise online on a several estate sales websites as well as on local social media sites and through our private email list. We also place street signs near the sale location when the city permits us to do so during the hours your sale is open.  We work to make our sales a friendly place to visit and create a pleasant experience, to keep our loyal customers coming back to our sales.

What security precautions do you take?

We are careful to protect your home before and during the process of the sale. While we cannot be everywhere in the home during the sale, we do work hard to keep an eye on things during the process of doing the sale.

We also do not advertise the location of your sale until the day before the sale opens.

One of the other things we do is while prepping the home before the sale, we look for items that may need to be secured during the sale. We set up a feature area typically in the front room of your home. Here we can secure most of the small and high value items near the checkout counter while having other employees roaming  throughout the home to discourage theft.

Do you have references?

Yes, we have feedback left online in several online locations from customers and clients.

Have any more question that are not answered here? Please contact us for more information!