Estate sales can be a great way to get rid of the clutter in your home and make some extra money all at once. While there are some definite positives, there can also be some hiccups. Estate sales can be tricky to plan, and it’s hard to know what will make them a success. Here are some tips to help you have a successful sale. Do Your Research You don’t want to price an item too low based on an instinct to then find out later it was worth substantially more. When you’re still in the planning phases, research items that you aren’t familiar with to see what similar ones are selling for. Places like Facebook marketplace, Kijiji, and eBay are good places to start. Clearly Mark Your Prices Bargaining is a normal part of estate sales. By having your prices clearly marked, it makes it easy for customers to see what you’re asking and make you a reasonable offer or begin negotiations. Clear prices make shopping easy for customers, and the easier it is the more you’ll sell. Make Sure You Have Enough Hands on Deck It’s not enough to just have one person available to collect money from buyers. You should ask for help from family and friends and have them dispersed throughout different parts of the home so they are easily accessible to shoppers. Setup a Place for Purchases You’ll need to set up a central place to receive payments. Make sure you have a table big enough so shoppers can set down their items, and handle their payments easily. Convenience is key. Get a Cash Box with Change A float is a necessity when holding an estate sale. You’ll need to be able to break bills and make change for customers. There is no way you want your customers to have to leave to get exact change somewhere else! Be Prepared for Crowds Many people who shop estate sales, do so first thing in the morning before items get picked over. It’s not uncommon for these sales to happen as early as 7 am so be prepared by prepping your home the night before and have everything set and ready to go. It makes for a long day but a successful one for sure. Keep your Pets Contained We all love our pets, but an estate sale may not be the perfect place for them. Check if your furry friends can go to a friend or family members house for the day to ensure your day isn’t spent chasing your dog or cat who got out or trying to quiet them down every time the doorbell rings. Advertise This is one of the most important points. How is anyone going to know you’re having an estate sale if you don’t advertise? Use your local newspaper, put flyers around town, post in local Facebook groups, put posters up on community bulletin boards, add your event to Kijiji and more. As your friends and family to share your event on social media for even further reach. Use Signs for Directions Many people stop by estate sales because they see signs while they are out and about. Place signs on major roadways and guide customers to your front door with clear, legible signs that are easy to read in a passing vehicle. Keep it simple-just add directional arrows and your address! Hire a Pro There are companies that focus on helping people set up for estate sales. Because this is such a big job you’ll need all hands on deck to be prepared. Relocate Stress Free makes preparing for an estate sale a breeze. Our friendly, and knowledgeable staff are able to jump in and give you a hand to ensure the day of your sale goes smoothly. With the spring weather finally here, now is the perfect time to prepare for an estate sale!
Decluttering estates
Losing a loved one can be an emotionally charged period. Sorting through the belongings of a deceased friend or family makes the mourning time much more difficult. The process may last longer than anticipated, disagreements may arise on what should be discarded, kept or donated. Luckily, there are a number of things that can be done to get over the decluttering process with ease. Relocate Stress Free can assist you and your family with the process. Accept the situation and push feelings aside Bear in mind that grieving is natural and different emotions may arise from it. Different emotions may come when about to decide what to do with the loved one’s properties hence ruining the whole plan. Therefore, accepting the situation and executing the decluttering plans when one is in their best state always makes things much easier. For most people, it’s pretty much easier to execute a task early in the morning than later on in the evening. Decide whether to include others or work alone When not in the mood of talking to anyone, it’s best to work alone. However, there will be moments when including others in the plan will be necessary, not because there are decisions to be made, but simply because it is helpful. Relocate Stress Free can help with the decision and ease the process. Create simple rules to work on Working on a plan will help minimize disagreements and fasten the process. Basic rules to be used should be created. Here are a few suggestions. Items that cannot be decided on should be temporarily stored in the maybe pile for later decision making. Tarnished items such as those with molds be discarded immediately. Unwanted items that are still in good condition be donated to charity. Valuable items be put on auctions, sold or given to certain family members. Take breaks regularly There are certain days when one is emotional, these are the days to take some time off the decluttering process. As for days when there are no emotions to ruin the process, regular breaks should be taken in the course of the day to avoid exhaustion or being overwhelmed too fast. Don’t expect everything to be complete in a single go Decision on what to do with certain items doesn’t have to be made at once. Neither will everything be gotten rid of at once. The decluttering process takes time. The more appropriate time it is given, the better the decisions will be. For the valuable properties, an appraiser may assist in determining their value and an executor decide on how to distribute the properties to family members if a will was left behind.
Decluttering the garage
Garage is often an ultimate choice for all additional stuffs present in a home, hence spending some time and effort in decluttering it is worth investment. Hiring the decluttering services of Relocate Stress Free to assist in the whole process of decluttering the garage is not different from other types of home maintenance services which require professionals. Most of the clutters are usually things that are no longer needed, hence can be sold through auctions to earn homeowners some extra cash. Here’s a simple guide to use when decluttering the garage. Create a vision for the garage When decluttering the garage focusing on the stuff should be abandoned and instead create a vision of what the garage should be. Things to consider include: Why is the decluttering process needed? What is the space to be used for? What will be the outlook of the garage after decluttering? Create a list of most important things Hoarding things in the garage always leads to a sentimental attachment to them. Creating a list of things that will be difficult to let go is necessary in identifying the clutter. After creating a list, items which are most important should be marked. Using two trash bags, fill one with items to be recycled or discarded such as broken toys. The other bag should be filled with items to be donated to charity. If this is done daily for a week, there will be 14 bags of trash and 14 bags of donation items. Label storage containers The garage is also commonly used for seasonal storage. Once the trash and items to be donated are removed, common items left include the seasonal items. Storage containers and boxes used to store seasonal items should be labeled clearly. If you have no room to store the seasonal items, locate a storage company (Crate It Storage Inc.) to store the containers. Utilize the vertical space Nothing should be stored on the garage floor. Creating vertical storage for items such as gardening tools, bicycles, sporting equipment is a good way of creating more space. In a span of a week, it is possible to reclaim the space in a garage and make it look less cluttered and more attractive.
3 Top Tips to Downsizing
3 Top Tips to Downsizing With a nice approach, it can be pretty simple to achieve. There are 3 Top Tips to Downsizing that can be used to downsize whether moving or just decluttering. To a greater part, moving can be really stressful, but downsizing is pretty much worse since the property size will be reduced with fewer rooms or space for the belongings. Downsizing is also be necessary when decluttering. This therefore simply means the owner needs to be ruthless and organized. Relocate Stress Free, a downsizing company in Calgary, provides solutions to decluttering, especially when homeowner can’t establish what to be disposed of. Start by simply moving around the house and creating a list of things that are really needed. Anything outside the list should be treated as expendables. It can be really painful losing some of the most cherished items, so homeowners need to give themselves a three months period to thin out their belongings. Maintain practicality on what’s needed When homeowner is looking for things to be disposed, they really need to be practical. For instance, if moving to an apartment, a ladder or lawn mower won’t be needed. If moving to a single bedroom from a three bedroom extra sheets, mattresses, beds and other such items should also be done away with. Donate, dump or sell? So the expendable items have been identified. A vast majority of items not needed can be sold through auctions or online at eBay. But selling can also be stressful, charities may be pleased to take a good number of items. They will accept bedding, clothes among other items not good enough to give away or sell. As for electronics, charities may not accept them so unless they are sold, other methods to dispose of them will be necessary. If stuck on what to do with most of the items, seeking assistance from Relocate Stress Free for downsizing services is a good choice. Establishing the available rooms Once settled on a specific property type, a realistic plan of the floor needs to be drawn so the homeowner can determine what can fit in which room without cluttering the space. When moving, there’s a higher likelihood that the new space will be crowded with plenty of full boxes. Therefore it won’t be nice to open one of the boxes and find it’s full of items that ought to have been disposed of.
Do you need help handling an Estate? Relocate Stress Free is here to help.
When the unimaginable has happened and a family member or friend has passed, there are many steps in handling their estate. Estates may seem overwhelming but we are here to help you every step of the way. Do you know how to you handle their belongings? Relocate Stress Free assists many families and executors in dealing with these situations. We assign a designated coordinator to handle all of your needs whether it is a small or large estate. The first step is we will meet with you and discuss all your options and the process of sorting the estate belongings. We understand this time is difficult for you and we are there for the entire process from beginning to end. Next our professional crew will assist in packing and sorting the items of the estate. In the sorting process the crew will help you decide where the belongings need to be distributed, whether they need are packed and given to a loved one or sent to an auction or a charity (of your choice or we will assist you with options). Our crew at Relocate Stress Free are experts in sorting, organizing and providing the best value for the dispersal of years of accumulation in the home. After packing, sorting and distributing estate items, our crew will assist in preparing the estate home for sale. Relocate Stress Free will ensure the house is cleaned thoroughly and is prepared for the sale. Relocate Stress Free understands that this can be a difficult and stressful time for clients. As a result, no one should have to do it alone. We will ensure that we handle every situation with complete discretion and in a professional manner. We handle estate services with individual clients, lawyer firms and banking institutions. If you require our services we would be happy to sit down with you to discuss your options.