Sometimes doing an estate sale by yourself can be overwhelming, physically and emotionally. Estate sales are not just for handling the items of a deceased person, but can be used to downsize when a parent moves to an assisted-living facility or to a smaller, more accessible home. When should you consider hiring some else to handle your parents estate sale?

1. If you are overwhelmed and simply do not know where to begin. Calling in experts can alleviate the time and effort it takes to put on an estate sale.

2. Professionals can make the hard organizational decisions such as what to keep, what to sell, and what to give away. During this initial inventory be sure to remove items that family members/beneficiaries want to keep or items to be given to charity–although in some states donations will not be considered in the final accounting of owed estate taxes. Generally, after the professional inventory, the contract made with the estate company will prevent removal of any item after a certain date.

3. Experts can better determine asking prices for estate items. Besides their expert knowledge, pros also have reference materials and catalogs to assist them in pricing items. Identify length of sale and potential price reductions. A 2-Day estate sale will usually have the final day set for markdowns and/or bid awards.

4. Make sure that the estate sale experts are licensed and bonded. Liability issues including fair pricing practices can arise.

5. Free initial interview. Additionally, at the initial “free” interview and walk through, the experts should be able to give you a rough estimate of what the sale could net.

6. Any contract should stipulate the costs of the expert services. A minimum amount charge for their sale can either be a flat fee, say of $1500, or a percentage of the sale, usually 25%-40% depending upon the size of the estate sale and the number and size of objects to be priced and sold.

7. What You Pay For. Services rendered by the pros should include set-up, pricing, after sale clean-up and and disposal of unsold items to charity, etc. If any of these services have additional charges attached to them, make sure that is established and listed in the contract.

8. Set-up. An estate pro should be able to organize the sale by room, and should provide additional tables and linens for displaying your items advantageously. Small valuables items like jewelry should be displayed in locked glass display boxes.

9. Ask How Sale Will Be Advertised. Advertisement should include advertising in the classified, on the internet, signs, and fliers. Ideally advertising should include pictures and an inventory of items for sale. These costs should be indicated in the final accounting.

10. Final Accounting. Make sure that you get an itemized accounting that should include gross sales, all fees and services, value of donated items with net amount made out to the estate.

TIP: You can lower your costs by being involved in the process; however, some pros will prefer that family not be at the sale.

*photo courtesy of city data.com

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