10 Big Mistakes People Make When Doing an Estate Sale
10 Big Mistakes People Make When Doing an Estate Sale
Home clean-outs often occur at a difficult time. Estate sales after the passing of a loved one can bring an emotional layer and the process can become overwhelming. While real estate brokers are often eager to get heirs to empty out the contents of a home. To avoid added difficulty, here are ten common mistakes to avoid:
1. Throw things away. This is the mistake families regret the most. If the home is large or there are a lot of belongings to go through, renting a dumpster and un-cluttering might seem like a great first step in anticipation of meeting an auctioneer or an estate sale company. But this is a mistake. Don’t throw things away! We’ve saved many valuables from dumpsters that were assumed to be garbage. It’s best to hold back the urge to purge and leave things in place, until a knowledgeable professional evaluates everything.
2. Moving things. When taking the inventory of a home’s contents, it can be tempting to put items together or sort like items. However, the location of items can provide important clues for auctioneers like us. Sometimes items stored together give us valuable information when it comes to attributing a collectible or work of art. Art attribution is the process by which an auctioneer or other professional determines who the artist was who created, for example, an unsigned or illegibly signed artwork. Renting a storage space might seem like a good idea, but moving things in storage can also make them easy to forget about, bringing stress later down the road. Unpacking items can slow us down and if transported or store incorrectly artworks and rugs, for example, can be damaged. If you have been tasked with emptying the contents of a house, it’s best to leave things where they are if you can, at least until a professional has examined everything.
3. Cleaning things. Perhaps surprising, dust and grime are best left alone, too. When cleaned incorrectly, a work of art could be damaged or make authentication more difficult. Until estate items have been evaluated, it’s best to leave them how you found them. Believe it or not, we have witnessed the horror, and more than once, of a valuable painting having been “cleaned” with a vacuum.
Hugo Bruel (American, 1885 - 1910) Believe it or not, this important painting was damaged when it was “cleaned” with a vacuum! Though later it was saved by a very talented restorer, it’s not the first painting we’ve seen that was victimized with good intentions and a vacuum cleaner.
4. Not taking the time to plan. It is very easy to underestimate how long an estate cleanout will take. Typically, this process can run from 75 to 200 labor hours, depending on the size and scope of the home, so don’t let that sneak up on you. The more time we have, the easier it will be for us to maximize the value of the contents. It’s best to start pre-planning a few months ahead if you can, especially when conducting an estate sale in Rhode Island, where the winter can bring unexpected delays.
5. Not hiring professionals. If you’re short on time, overwhelmed, or simply want to ensure that everything in a home is identified, inventoried and valued and then sold in a way to maximize the highest price, it’s best to look to the professionals. While the ads on telephone poles for junk removal can seem like a quick and easy fix, it’s best to research your options. Check-out reviews and ask friends for recommendations. A true professional will see the estate through the lens of their expertise. What might look like just an old photograph might be a valuable and rare work. The eye of an auctioneer is keen to these details and will know how to handle and market valuable items. Every professional should be able to demonstrate successful past results.
6. Don’t see the value of grouping items. Along with appraising items individually, auctioneers can suggest grouping items to be sold together. When it comes to collections within a collection, sometimes the parts have a greater value than the whole, and sometimes the opposite is true. Knowing the difference can be crucial to finding the right bidders and achieving the highest result.
7. Assuming what an item is worth. In general, it’s important to separate any personal opinions from your valuations. Professionals have the tools and expertise to assess your estate contents; what was originally paid for an item or what the item was worth in the past, for better or worse, is not the way to value a work of art, antique or any other collectible.
8. Don’t ask for help. Selling the contents of a home in a way that maximizes the value is a big job and bringing in extra help goes a long way. If it’s an emotional time, ask for the help of a friend or coworker to help you make decisions and stay organized and act as a liaison with an auctioneer or other estate sale professional.
9. Don’t identify items correctly. Especially when it comes to art, antiques, rugs correct identification, attribution and authentication can make a tremendous difference in the value of a work of art.
10. Limit potential buyers to local area. Here in Rhode Island, we can sometimes feel a bit isolated from the world. Sometimes folks wonder if estate items on Block Island, Prudence Island, or the other more remote parts of the Ocean State will have buyers outside those locations. But no matter how isolated the home, auctioning items from an estate does not have to be limited to the local audience. A recent example is “a dusty old painting” that almost went in the rubbish bin, but was pulled out, auctioned, and sold for thousands to a buyer in Hungary. Don’t let the estate’s location limit your thinking about potential buyers.
Friedrich Feigl (Czech, 1885 - 1965) A heavily soiled oil on canvas, which obscured the identification of this important work of art. Vallot Auctioneers sold for $8450!
An estate cleanout does not have to be stressful. Avoiding these common pitfalls can make all the difference when evaluating the contents of a home here in Rhode Island and maximizing the value of its contents. Ready to get started? We are happy to offer you a complimentary evaluation of your art, antiques, rugs, collectibles and estate contents.