Trusted estate liquidators and auctioneers in North Texas?
December 28, 2019 11:34 AM Subscribe
A friend is the executor for an estate in Greenville, Texas (near Dallas.)
She needs to empty an entire house worth of stuff (nothing antique but some potentially valuable newer household items.) Have you had a good experience with an auction company and/or estate sale company that serves this area?
Orgs that can do pickups of clothing and book donations would also be great - we've reached out to a couple but definitely appreciate backups. That said, maximising any profit from the estate is of primary importance since there is a dependent (not my friend) who needs all possible financial assistance. Memails welcome if you would prefer to answer confidentially. Thank you!
Orgs that can do pickups of clothing and book donations would also be great - we've reached out to a couple but definitely appreciate backups. That said, maximising any profit from the estate is of primary importance since there is a dependent (not my friend) who needs all possible financial assistance. Memails welcome if you would prefer to answer confidentially. Thank you!
When we needed to empty a house which had a full mix of collectibles and household furniture and furnishings we contact everyone we could find who would serve that region. What we learned is there is a trade-off:
If you have time to try to place each item for maximum value, it will take a lot of your own effort
The auctioneer we contacted only wanted the small handful of items that would sell at a significant value (minimum of a couple hundred dollars). Estate sale people would try to sell everything they could but they needed to know that there was enough value there to make it worth their while. If you pull out the stuff that is most valuable, there may not be enough left for them to want to bother with the rest.
Calling around, people/companies who were interested wanted to come to the house and get an idea of what we had before they would quote a price. We quickly narrowed it down the one company that was professional, responsive, and able to meet our goals (we needed the house emptied quickly as first consideration and maximizing $ secondarily). To be honest, it wasn't hard a choice although it was frustrating sorting all the inappropriate options.
posted by metahawk at 6:45 PM on December 28, 2019
If you have time to try to place each item for maximum value, it will take a lot of your own effort
The auctioneer we contacted only wanted the small handful of items that would sell at a significant value (minimum of a couple hundred dollars). Estate sale people would try to sell everything they could but they needed to know that there was enough value there to make it worth their while. If you pull out the stuff that is most valuable, there may not be enough left for them to want to bother with the rest.
Calling around, people/companies who were interested wanted to come to the house and get an idea of what we had before they would quote a price. We quickly narrowed it down the one company that was professional, responsive, and able to meet our goals (we needed the house emptied quickly as first consideration and maximizing $ secondarily). To be honest, it wasn't hard a choice although it was frustrating sorting all the inappropriate options.
posted by metahawk at 6:45 PM on December 28, 2019
Response by poster: Thanks so far for the responses! To clarify, I am not seeking general advice on how to make the most money off of the house contents, I'm looking for recommendations for specific auction or estate companies.
(We understand that selling pieces individually = greater net profit than using an estate company or auctioneer. My friend is not local to the area and does not have the time or resources to do eBay or Craigslist, unfortunately. What I meant by maximizing profit was that she would prefer to sell, even non-optimally, what can be sold, over donating stuff whenever possible. But specific charities/churches/etc we can contact for the unsaleable leftovers would be useful as well. Sorry for the confusion!)
posted by prewar lemonade at 7:19 PM on December 28, 2019
(We understand that selling pieces individually = greater net profit than using an estate company or auctioneer. My friend is not local to the area and does not have the time or resources to do eBay or Craigslist, unfortunately. What I meant by maximizing profit was that she would prefer to sell, even non-optimally, what can be sold, over donating stuff whenever possible. But specific charities/churches/etc we can contact for the unsaleable leftovers would be useful as well. Sorry for the confusion!)
posted by prewar lemonade at 7:19 PM on December 28, 2019
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An estate sell is more a way to get rid of a ton of stuff fast. If your friend needs to maximize what things are sold for, it might be worth throwing up the more expensive stuff on facebook market place or offerup Friday or Sat. and deal with a long weekend of dealing with people. That's what a friend of mine has done for clearing out a house he inherited.
posted by stray thoughts at 3:56 PM on December 28, 2019