The Process
I’m going to walk you through the estate liquidation process that we deal with everyday in situations such as yours. Hopefully, this will leave you feeling more knowledgeable and relaxed about what it is that you are about to go through. Panic and worry seem to melt away once you are informed and well read about the procedures that we liquidators go through to ready your home and personal items for complete liquidation prior to emptying your home for you.
- Assessing the home
- Finding your liquidator
- Beginning the basics
- Building the sale
- Giving the sale
- Catching all the bases
- Financial outcome
- Finishing with pride
To begin with, my company and myself will visit your home or the residence in question. We will walk through and do a thorough review of the contents and reach a decision on whether or not to proceed with an estate sale. Should your contents not be enough for a sale, rest assured we will put you in contact with a reputable and caring local charity which will best suit your needs, where your families belongings can be best used and appreciated by those who have little or nothing of their own.
In the case of the home having well enough content to actually proceed with a sale, now is the time for us to agree on a commission and negotiate the contract, and sign such to begin any further work on our part in order to liquidate your estate. We don’t like to waste either of our time in beating around the bush to decide when and where; it is best that you are ready when you call us to interview our company, so that you can make an informed decision on who will best fit your needs. We like that you choose us with an open and educated mind and that you will always be happy in the finished product, and that you did in fact make the right decision.
After setting a date for the sale itself to be held (at least seven to ten days after contract signatures) we will ask to have a key and full run of the home to work in day or night, depending on how much there is to do. We will then begin to unearth, clean, sort, photograph, research, and market your items for sale. Within a few days we will send out a flier of what is available in your estate to our trusted clients and loyal following. We shall send an additional email or more during the four days prior to the pre-sale, adding any significant items we find during the rest of the week. The mailing and flier information are costs we share from the gross proceeds of the sale itself, as well as any print ads, pre-sale or worker food, labor or crew and basic clean-up costs. This will all come out of our pocket and be reimbursed at the end of the sale from the proceeds, leaving the result of the net sale to be divvied up between the owner and the liquidators.
After we have organized your home by bringing in dozens or more tables, chairs, cases for display and anything else needed to give your sale, such as tarps and awnings for outside wet weather, we will then price all substantial items that we are able, for the pre-sale and sale beginning at four pm on Thursday evening. That night being an invitation only sale, your family, neighbors and whomever you so choose, are welcome to attend the sale and buy prior to the public who come from newspaper and public advertising. We begin with the general public sales at 7 am on Friday continuing on Saturday and Sunday from 7am until approximately 4pm.
Now comes the time for the sale once everything is in order and looking it’s best. In order to make the sale the best it can be, we ask that nothing be removed from the sale after our crew comes to work on the house, save personal items which we have set aside for your family, any monies found, fine jewelry we will ask if you would like to keep, as well as coin collections and guns or extremely valuable family heirlooms. We don’t want anyone to regret selling something that was part of their family and they are unable to replace. We want the end result to be a happy and contented one, never one of worry.
During the sale, if our crew has any questions for you or your family, we will need a contact number to be able to phone you at and ask any questions that may come up. Should we find something we have a question as to whether or not you might want to keep, we would like to ask you prior to adding it to the sale. As a matter of fact, we generally like the family to walk through the house on Wednesday evening once every thing is in place for the sale, and be sure that nothing they have hunted for and not found prior, is sold and gone before the public comes in to buy. We do ask that nothing we have advertised, or photographed for the website, be removed prior to the sale as this gives the clients a false sense of bad advertisement or the impression that we have pre-sold items, which we will not do.
As the weekend progresses, the first day will usually gross 60 percent of total sales, Friday an average of twenty percent, Saturday normally around 15 percent and on Sunday there is rarely enough meat left in the sale to pay labor. That’s okay, as we need Sunday for half off, and free giveaway at the end of the day, should you so choose for us to give your family’s items to the poor and needy at the end of the sale. The clean up will take place on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning until all is done. If you so choose, we will clean the yard, garage, entire premises and whatnot, adding this costs to the end of the families net results and paying for it from their end only.
Our goal is three fold; to make this as painless as possible for the family and help them heal from their loss, to enable our clients to find magnificent items to collect or resale as a fair and decent price, and in the end to make a living from a business we love being a part of in every way. With these things in mind, we do our best to please all of the people we deal with, while holding tight to our integrity and following our hearts with the knowledge that we are doing the best job we are able and leaving a track record to be proud of.
From our family to yours, good luck in your searches and best wishes with all the challenges life throws your way. Thanks for the read. Jennie
