I always loved the of George Carlin line ” people move because of their stuff. Too much stuff. A house is a place for their stuff” . However, when we all move, we do need to either sell our stuff, donate our stuff, store our stuff or discard our stuff!
As a Realtor, many times we are required to assist our clients who may live out of town, are ill, or are simply overwhelmed by the process. One recent client lives out of the country and the friends who were going to take furniture didn’t materialize and so we found ourselves looking to first sell and then donate the furniture a week before closing! A great site is Facebook! Since I live in Westchester, you can just search for Westchester County Sales, and a whole stream of sites will materialize. You can just post on one site and then have the great option to share that item for sale onto 5 plus more sites!
I was so fortunate last week as from the 70 plus responses I received for a free dining room set, and when one young man mentioned he was going to be fostering children. I reached out him, and not only did he pick up the dining room set, but also took unwanted paint cans, a Television, and a dehumidifier! So great! You have to be patient as I tried to respond to each person as they made their inquiry and you will come across questions like “do you deliver” , “are their any knicks on the table top (this all being free), ‘ and can you measure the chairs? Out of necessity, I had to just move on to the next person. The young man who picked up everything was lovely and even sent a photo of the dining room set all nicely placed in his dining room!
I always like to use Ron’s trucking for unwanted items if they need to be picked up and the town will not do so such as paint cans, etc. He is always responsive and his workers are always so helpful. Obviously, if you know beforehand that the paint cans will not be needed, just dry out the paint in the can by using kitty litter and then the town will pick up same.
I love GoGreendrop.com . You can choose from 5 non profit charity groups, and select where you you would like to donate your unwanted items. Perfect!
Estate Sales. I noticed last week a company in my area called Blue Moon Estate Sales . Their signage was professional looking and not handwritten tacky signs on cardboard.
My friend James Welker greatly recommends the following companies:
Greencastle Estate Sales “Great owner” Best for artsy-funky world traveler homes”.
Elizabeth Jackson Estate Sales & Consign It Greenwich . “Very professional owner. Best for high-end homes. Can work with very picky homeowners!”
Frans Tag Sales Ltd./ Appraisal Services, Larchmont , N.Y. “Easy Going owner. Best with older antique homes. Also great with ‘lived-in for 50 years’ homes.”
Consign it on Main – New Rochelle . “Downtown New Rochelle. Owners know furniture/design and give fair appraisals. Also great resource to purchase furniture and get design help for new home/apartments”.
Yard sales can be fun but be prepared to basically give your treasures away for nothing. People love to barter and I can always recall a good friend telling me that when he had a yard sale, he told people on the second day his price was “a dollar and smile!”.
A home must be broom swept clean at the time of closing, and as an aside the home should reflect the same condition as it was at the inspection.
It’s always my pleasure to assist my clients. Call me!
Westchester is great!
