Do It Yourself
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Doing It Yourself:
The Essentials of Estate Liquidation
Contents:
Start-to-Finish
Timeline
Deciding
What to Sell
Deciding
How to Sell
Selling to
Private Buyers
Selling to
the Public
Donating
Unsold Items
Preparing
the Home for Sale
Recording Sales
& Expenses
Start-to-Finish
Timeline
Whether you hold a public or private sale,
liquidating the personal property and leaving
the residence real estate ready is a time consuming and
labor intensive job. At a
reasonable minimum, you will need to be on site for at least
9 full days, and possibly
more since unforeseen circumstances may arise during
scheduling.
Heres how the timeline looks:
|
Sales: (Scheduling, preparation, and re-staging) |
4 people, 4 days |
128 hours |
|
Labor: (Pricing, Staging, Organizing, Removing Debris) |
4 people, 4 days |
128 hours |
|
Labor: (Boxing,
bagging, removal) |
2 people, 1 day |
16 hours |
|
Charity Pick Up: (Someone must be onsite |
1 person, ½ day |
4 hours |
|
Hauling & Disposal: (Using a professional hauler) |
4 people, 1 day |
32 hours |
|
Final Cleaning: (Using
a professional hauler) |
2 people, 1 day |
16 hours |
|
Total Hours |
|
324 hours |
Additionally, you will need to set aside
time to:
Find and
schedule your buyers.
Supervise any
tradesmen you hire to repair or paint the house.
Do a final
walk-through with the family or real estate agent.
Perform the
final accounting.
All in all, first time do-it-yourselfers
will find it takes from 5 to
8 weeks
from start to finish, while a competent professional firm
can usually
complete the job within 2 to 3 weeks. In deciding whether to
do it yourself
or hire a professional firm to do it for you, be
sure to take into account
what your time is worth.
Deciding
What to Sell
Consult
with family members
Agree to have one
person take responsibility for all duties and activities connected with
disposal of the personal property.
Consider having
valuable items and collectibles professionally appraised.
Distribute
property evenly and fairly, taking into consideration both sentimental and
monetary values.
Consider allowing
friends of the family to take keepsakes or mementos.
In the event of irreconcilable
differences, consider retaining the services of a dispute resolution
professional.
Arrange to
store or move saved items
Agree on a final
deadline to move or store the items you want to keep.
Do*not*
attempt to store items you want to keep on the premises; they may be mistakenly
sold or dumped in the liquidation process, or become obstacles to tradesmen you
may hire after the liquidation.
Deciding
How to Sell
Private Buyers
Private
sales enables the disposal of
personal property more quickly with less expense and risk than holding sales
open to the public.
Dealers &
private buyers know the resale or collectible value of items and are willing to
pay more than the general public.
Liability and the
possibility of accident, breakage, and theft are lowered by inviting
professional buyers and dealers to visit the site.
Unadvertised
private sales reduce the risk of burglary or vandalism of the vacant residence.
Dealers &
private buyers buy multiple items or items in lots.
Dealers &
private buyers dont issue bad checks.
Dealers &
private buyers show more respect for the property.
Public
Sales
Holding public
sales incurs additional time, labor, and expense.
The public at
large is generally looking for bargains.
Liability and the
possibility of accident, breakage, and theft are increased with public sales.
Advertised public
sales increase the risk of burglary or vandalism of the vacant residence.
While buyers from
the general public may buy multiple items, they often purchase only one or two
items at a time.
Many estate sale
aficionados enjoy haggling.
Public buyers
leave the residence in a mess.
Classified
advertising is more expensive than you think.
Presently, a classified ad in the San Francisco
Tips
on Selling
Keep in mind that
the true value of an estate lies in the sale or rental of the real
property, not the personal property. And in real estate sales, time
to market usually counts.
Remember that in
most cases, the original retail value, even for antiques, is much greater than
the resale value of second-hand property, because the original seller
already made the profit. In other words, it might not be worth as much
as you think.
If you have the
personal property appraised, be sure to tell the appraiser what its for. There
may be vast dollar-amount differences in appraised values depending
on whether its for resale, retail, or insurance purposes.
If you sell to
private buyers and dealers, make it clear that you expect to receive at least
50% of what they think they will be able to resell it for. Most dealers
consider that fair, and will honor your fairness with their honesty.
Some buyers
prefer you to set the price, instead. Do your research.
eBay and second-hand stores are a good resources.
When in doubt, sell
it. A smaller price may be better than not selling it at all.
Whats Hard
to Sell
Pianos
and organs.
Whether you
sell or donate a piano, insist that it only be removed by a professional
piano mover, for purposes of liability.
Clothing, unless
its vintage, high-end famous-maker, or very fashionable.
Upholstered
furniture, especially if the occupant had a cat.
Grandfather
clocks
Very large items
such as display cabinets and king size beds.
Kitchenware
and appliances, especially microwaves & toaster ovens.
Blankets,
linens, & tablecloths. Lace
anything is a hard sell.
Most books,
except for first editions and collections of antiquarian value.
Knick-knacks
and modern commemorative anything.
Decorative
paintings, photos, & other eye candy for walls.
Pianos
Another Tip
on Selling
If
youre thinking of using an auction house for anything but the most valuable of
items, read this article first. Youll be glad you did.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/30/CM68148.DTL
EXCERPT:
Talk
to Michaan and his partner Jerry Goldman about the
genesis of their 1- year-old auction house, and you're bound to hear The Rug
Story. Michaan was redoing a room in his house a few
years ago and decided to consign a $400 rug to a local auctioneer.
"By
the time they finished shuffling it around from one auction to another and
charging me this fee and that fee and the other fee, it finally was sold,"
Michaan said. "I got my settlement papers and I
owed them $15."
Goldman
has an equally tragic sequel - The Chair Story. "I had a set of chairs
that were reserved at $2,500 at an auction house," Goldman said. "It
cost me $500 to get them back because they didn't sell."
Selling
to Private Buyers
Do Your
Research
Take an inventory
of what you have for sale, categorizing it first by type of item and then by
value.
First,
group by function, such as Furniture, Collectibles, Antiques, Books, Clothing , China
Second,
group by value, such as Desirable, Ordinary, Passable, and Junk.
Categorize your
buyers by value, that is Primary Buyers (for good
furniture, antiques, and high-end collectibles), Secondary Specialty Buyers
(for clothing, kitchenware, tools, collectibles, small items, yard & garden
goods, etc.) and Low End Buyers (for whatever the other buyers dont want).
Find comparable
items in retail stores and online auction sites to help give you a sense of
whats actually selling and what theyre selling for in stores.
Tips for
the Private Sale
Remember that you
will get about half the retail or auction prices you see because your buyers
are resellers themselves.
Ask your
potential buyers what their preferred buying schedules are. Some close their stores on Monday in order to
buy stocks for resale, some prefer weekends or certain
times of day.
Give your private
buyers plenty of lead time before the sale date.
Bring in the
furniture and high-end primary buyers first.
Regroup and restage
items by category after the first round of buyers in order to make it
convenient for your specialty buyers.
Remember that the
last round of buyers, or cleaners, will pay much less for the leftovers your
first 2 tiers of buyers didnt want, often just pennies on the dollar.
Selling
to the Public
Tips for
the Public Sale
Make sure any
items you dont want to sell are removed from the house.
Have a supply of
boxes and paper or plastic bags.
Have at least 3
people to help each other conduct sales.
Know what the
minimum amount is you want for sales items.
Be prepared for
haggling.
Make sure
everyone conducting the sale has a receipt book, and indicate whether it was
paid for by check or cash. If by check, note the name and drivers license number on
the sales slip.
Station one
person by the door.
Have a name and
number of a local hauler or moving company to give to the customer if the item
is large or heavy.
Make sure there is toilet paper, soap, and towels in the bathrooms.
Beware of people
adding to their pile of items after theyve already paid.
Keep an eye on
the kids so they dont break or mar anything of value.
Be prepared for
moments of sheer pandemonium, and keep a cool head.
No matter what
time you advertised the sale to start, you will have customers waiting for you
when you arrive.
Its smart to put
prices on any item you want to sell for $5 or more.
Chat up your
customers. Most of them will turn out to be quite nice people and theyll buy
more things if they feel comfortable with you.
Donating
Unsold Items
Choose the
Charity
Does the charity
pick up items or do you have to deliver them?
What types of
items will they not accept?
Most charities
will not accept mattresses, computers, or clothing and small items that have not
been boxed or bagged. Some charities will accept a wider range of donated items
than others.
Does the charity
have valuation guidelines?
Will the charity
give you a receipt for the items?
For charity pick
up, how much advance notice do they need?
Consider
different charities for different types of items.
For example,
the SPCA welcomes quilts, towels, and blankets for their ill animals. Personal
items of ethnic or historical interest may be of value to different cultural
centers. A local church may welcome the donation of an unsold piano or organ.
Preparing
the Home for Sale
Hauling
& Disposal
Consider hiring a
local hauler to do the job for you.
A reputable
hauler will dispose of everything for you in a legal manner that is kind to the
environment.
Separate large
metal objects such as appliances from other debris. Landfills charge extra for
appliances, recycle companies do not.
Landfills will
also often charge extra for some large items, such as mattresses and box
springs.
Make separate
arrangements for hazardous waste such as paints, thinners, fertilizer, and
motor oil. Landfills will not accept them.
Consider ordering
a disposal bin from your local waste management company. They will haul and
dispose of the debris for you.
Repairs,
Painting, & Final Cleaning
Your real estate agent can assist you
to do this, or you can find these contractors in the Yellow Pages.
The Final
Accounting
Make photocopies
of everything, including sales & expense receipts, appraisals, and other
relevant materials.
Consider putting
all sales and expenses in a spreadsheet for the convenience of your attorney or
accountant.
Keep a hard copy
for yourself and give one to all other interested parties, including family
members.
Lastly, if you dont want to do it
yourself, we can do it all for you
GTA
Estate
Liquidation Services
(916) 714-9937
(415) 806-1457
