What am I Going to Do With All My STUFF?

By Julie Hall and The Estate Lady LLC

Written by nationally recognized expert estate advisor, personal property appraiser and liquidator, Julie Hall, this book offers the full gamut of what you should know from an industry insider giving you a 360 degree view of your options when it comes to figuring out "what to do with all your stuff." When you have no idea where to begin, Julie gives you the brain of an appraiser and liquidator rolled into one, including the Pros and Cons of each possible option, for making solid decisions when it is time to simplify, downsize, or totally liquidate your personal property.

This 66-page book is packed with information! Based on decades of experience and insider know-how, you will learn how to:

* Where Do You Begin?
* Understand value and the characteristics of value
* How to thin out the house one room at a time
* Determine your options for selling: Pros and Cons
* Handle large collections and items of value
* Determine what to keep, sell, donate and discard
* Overcome potential obstacles and factors that hinder the process
* Find professional help you can trust
* Avoid the mistakes people make
* Make peace with letting go

This eBook was written specifically for consumers seeking to better understand what is involved in liquidating an estate or preparing to sell a large array of personal property when downsizing.

VALUE-ADDED: No pun intended, this eBook is like taking an Appraisers 101 course! You learn how items are valued for resell, why some sell for much less than expected and other items sell for more.

Plus, receive these BONUS items:
* BONUS ARTICLE: 10 lbs of Flour in a 5 lb Sack
* BONUS FORM: Home Inventory Record Form

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9780989252942

Julie Hall

Julie Hall, The Estate Lady®, is a nationally recognized personal property expert who has assisted thousands of individuals across the country in the daunting and often painful process of managing their deceased loved one’s possessions. With more than 28 years’ experience, she advises on the distribution and dissolution of personal property, valuation of items, how to minimize family feuds, and how to clear out the family home. Hall’s greatest passion is educating heirs, executors, and professionals who need to understand the complexity of personal property issues. Since 2007, she has directed the American Society of Estate Liquidators® (ASEL) and has led ASEL to become the #1 educational and professional organization for estate liquidators nationwide.   Julie enjoys being an empty nester, gardening, traveling, and nature walks with her Newfoundland puppy.

Book preview

begin.

Chapter 1

UNDERSTANDING VALUE AND THE REAL WORTH OF ITEMS IN TODAY’S MARKET

It’s best to begin with what every human being feels and experiences, whether downsizing or handling the estate of a loved one. Emotions are powerful; you feel the tug of nostalgia and the sentimentality of "remember when?" It is in our nature to place a very high dollar figure to mother’s or your beloved items. Is this a realistic view of what value is and what can be expected? No, not really.

The crucial first step is to understand different kinds of value and what makes something valuable, or at least of more value than other items. This will help you make clear and sound decisions as you move forward in this process.

SENTIMENTAL VALUE

A piece may not have much monetary value, but it can have priceless sentimental value. This item may mean even more if the loved one who gave it to you has passed away.

Possessions can trigger powerful emotions, both positive and negative. For some daughters, for example, it might be the memory of mom giving you a ring of hers that you always admired since childhood. Mom gave it to you in person; you always remember the smile, the feeling, the hug. This memory is a frozen snippet of time between the two of you and no one can ever take that away. You will have the same emotions when you give your child a possession that is special to you.

For sons, it may be camping or fishing trips during childhood with your dad. Later in life, dad may give you his coveted collection of fishing lures or fly rods. These memories are sacred, because they represent times spent together with dad; the collection now carries that memory.

Not always, but sometimes, these items that are precious to us do not have much monetary value:

Despite your feelings towards them,

Despite family stories, and

Despite how valuable mom believed them to be.

Sentimental value may be the highest measure of value for some people. Still when you face the daunting task of downsizing, you may see some dollar signs. It is wise to keep your expectations in neutral; the current market is not as strong as it used to be for secondary furnishings, it may not be the style or color someone is looking for, or others may not see the monetary value that you do in your items.

Recognize that these possessions may have been more desirable years ago than they are today in a very different 21st century market and economy.

Keep what is genuinely precious to you; make peace with letting go of the rest. Exercise careful judgment and restraint. If you’re not careful, you will take away or keep far more than you can store at your home comfortably. Make the best possible choices now.

Bottom line: If it’s special to you or was cherished by a close family member, that’s wonderful, but the dollar amount it may sell for may not equal your feelings for it. This is particularly true when you hire a professional appraiser/estate liquidator, who will know the pricing and values of items. They know the proper methods to objectively research the realized prices for these items.

MONETARY VALUE

Certainly, there can be items of significant value in your home or a loved one’s estate. Most of the time, people don’t even know they possess items of value unless they hire a personal property appraiser to conduct a walk-through of the home, before any decisions are made and before anything is sold, distributed or donated.

Sometimes, an old appraisal done many years ago will surface, yet this is not necessarily an accurate depiction of today’s values. Treasures are found in the nooks and crannies of attics, and in the back of closets, that have been buried and ignored. Some of these could have real monetary value. Other times, it may be a vase on the mantle, visible to everyone for decades, and no one realizes that the monetary value of this simple piece could be significant.

To establish what has value and what doesn’t, you should invest in a new appraisal written for fair market value, or at least seek the guidance of an appraiser. A formal written appraisal can be beneficial in an estate for equitable distributions between heirs. However, when you are planning to sell these items, the appraised values may have less benefit. The ultimate price at which an item will sell is the price someone will offer you for it. We are currently in a strong buyer's market.

Think of an appraisal as a tool to help guide you, whether you want to keep an item or sell it. It is never a guarantee of what the items will ultimately sell for.

Here, we separate the monetary value from the sentimental value.

Often, children have heard stories passed down through the generations, that great grandfather’s handmade bench is exceptionally valuable because it is at least 150 years old!

On the other hand, families may feel that mom and dad just kept a bunch of junk, only to discover a $60,000 vase in the basement among the myriad piles of National Geographic magazines. This is a true story and a wonderful example of monetary value and why you need an appraiser!

Heirs are often very surprised to learn that the monetary values of their parents’ estates may not be as much as they originally thought or hoped. The average on-site estate sale brings in between $6,000 and $20,000, with the majority being in the $8,000 to