another:
I sympathize. Lived in my old house 42 years. Before actually putting it on the market, I, of course, had several agents in to see what they thought.
Since I hadn't done much work in the previous couple/three years, mostly because my wife was dying/did die, I wasn't surprised when one agent gave me a list of things that needed doing. I guesstimated close to $50,000.
Next agent suggested trying to sell "as is." Guess who got the account?
The hardest part was, indeed, sorting what to keep, what not to keep. After long consideration, I finally took the few things I needed/wanted from the basement, then hired someone to just take everything else. If it was saleable, he was entitled to sell it. If it wasn't, he had to find the best way to get rid of it.
After the initial shock of simply throwing away years and years of accumulated
junk which I absolutely knew would never pitch, I realized how liberatling my decision was!
Bottom line: bite the bullet, say goodbye and pitch 99.6% of it!
SWR