Apartment clean out in Cambridge, MA but from afar
August 5, 2024 3:17 PM Subscribe
Someone I care about needs a small apartment cleaned out in Cambridge, MA after a death in the family. But they are not in Cambridge.
Besides a couch and two stools, everything can either be discarded or sold (whoever cleans it can keep the money). Furniture, art books, junk, it could also go in a dumpster, sold, or be donated, it just needs to be done quickly and in a way that doesn't damage the apartment itself. Someone quoted a price so high I dropped a phone. It's a 1200?sf apartment and the.previous.occupant was not a hoarder. A bunch has been removed, but there's some left. What do people do? Are there specific recommendations in the area? Advice appreciated.
Besides a couch and two stools, everything can either be discarded or sold (whoever cleans it can keep the money). Furniture, art books, junk, it could also go in a dumpster, sold, or be donated, it just needs to be done quickly and in a way that doesn't damage the apartment itself. Someone quoted a price so high I dropped a phone. It's a 1200?sf apartment and the.previous.occupant was not a hoarder. A bunch has been removed, but there's some left. What do people do? Are there specific recommendations in the area? Advice appreciated.
Definitely search MeFi for more threads about this (perhaps using Google and the "site:" directive) because I feel like this was just asked a couple weeks ago. (then ask the mods to add those threads' tags to this thread)
posted by intermod at 3:56 PM on August 5
posted by intermod at 3:56 PM on August 5
1-800-Got-Junk
Someone needs to be there with them, and agree with and pay the cost the day of, but otherwise you just got out of their way and let them go to work.
ETA: I have done this in Cambridge, MA - I know it works!
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:13 PM on August 5 [7 favorites]
Someone needs to be there with them, and agree with and pay the cost the day of, but otherwise you just got out of their way and let them go to work.
ETA: I have done this in Cambridge, MA - I know it works!
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:13 PM on August 5 [7 favorites]
It's not a service they advertise, but I would try reaching out to Intelligent Labor in Arlington. If it is not something they can do, they are likely to have local suggestions.
posted by phil at 5:34 AM on August 6
posted by phil at 5:34 AM on August 6
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What kinds of companies have you gotten quotes from? You probably want to be looking for "Estate Cleanout" service who will come through and sell/donate/trash as necessary. Some of them will put it in an online auction or hold an estate sale in the apartment. If some of the stuff can be sold, that will defray the cost. But a lot of stuff won't sell, and some of it will be expensive to dispose of (there are specific fees for disposing of things like mattresses, TVs, etc.). So, yeah, it can be expensive especially if you're trying to do it on a tight time scale in peak Boston moving season.
I don't have anyone to recommend, but I have bought from online estate sales run by Caring Transitions and they seemed nice (no idea how much it costs though).
posted by mskyle at 3:49 PM on August 5 [1 favorite]