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Originally Posted by Raen Dear
We live in Albany, NY and are getting the house ready to sell. Almost done. . .whew! We are planning to have an estate sale to get rid of practically everything in the house; we are only bringing personal items and such with us.
Anyone have any caveats with respect to estate sales. We are meeting with a woman who has experience and good references but are there things we should watch out for?
You guys are all so helpful. This is a great site.
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I would talk to some of her former clients. One thing to ask is how much was leftover at the end of the sale and what happened to those items.
An estate sale manager were I formerly lived would price items (especially antiques) so high that they would not sell. She in turn would offer the owner much lower prices and then put the items in her own antique shop.
Are you going to sort thru the items in preparation of her coming in pricing and then selling? If so do you remember all the items that may have significant value, if not those items may never appear in the sale.
Hiring an estate sale manager is one of trust between you and her. You will feel better about her after talking to her former clients.
One of the failings of an estate sale versus and auction is the items are sold for what one person feels they are worth. At an auction many more people (bidders) will be establishing the selling price. At an auction some things sell for more that anticipated and some less. The benefit is you get the best price that day and at the end of the day all items will be gone.
Good luck with the sale of your house.