Do you want to have success from the time you contact your first client to the signing of a contract? Do you want to understand how estate sales work? It is important that you understand the financial, familial, legal, and business aspects surrounding estate sales.
Check out the following steps to have a view of a complete guide on how estate sales work:
Set Up Appointments With Your Potential Customers
Once you realize you have some stuff that’s worth an estate sale, you can look for a credible estate sales manager who will reason with you and assess the value of your property.
It is also important that you do not make charged consultations at this stage.
You can then look for referrals from friends and relatives to know which estate sales companies or individual clients are near you. You can also search online for estate sale companies.
Once you have a list of potential clients and companies, confirm that each company has liability insurance. Choose a company with positive reviews and commit to the best company and/or individual client.
Create an Estate Sale Contract
While estate sale contracts vary from company to company, it is important that you have one. It should define your business and your business reputation. Your estate sales contract should also be an evolving document based on the changes in the estate sales market.
If you are wondering how an estate sales agreement looks like, here’s some examples of estate sale contracts.
While setting up an estate sales contract it is vital to seek professional help. An estate contract attorney can help you design one professional contract.
They are well informed and can start off the contract from scratch or combine different pieces of existing estate sales contracts to create a working estate sales contract that defines your situation appropriately.
Set Up the Sale
At this point, you should have decided what to sell and what not to sell. The next thing is to price everything up and make a tally of all your selling prices. Remember the process sounds simple but in reality, it is quite a tedious process that calls for your time and commitment.
While cleaning up your loved one’s home, identify the items you might need and make an inventory. Think about what other people might want and also create an inventory for the same to ensure you don’t sell out what you need.
Your list could vary depending on whether you are downsizing, selling the property of a deceased relative or simply cleaning your home.
Identify what to sell in an estate sale, including furniture, artwork, jewelry, and collectibles. Additionally, if there is a commercial real estate note associated with the property, it should also be included on the list.
At this stage, you also need to be proactive. Do not discard anything because while something might be old and outdated, it doesn’t mean you can’t find a suitable buyer for it. You can have a separate list of such items that you think you might not be able to find a buyer for.
Create an Attractive Display
Having an attractive display of your items on sale can increase your chances of selling the items. You can be more creative and divide the home into different departments where you shall display different items.
For instance, put the kitchen staff in the kitchen, the furniture in the nook area, garment racks in the bedroom, and the garage items in the garage. Make good use of the space you have for display. You can use your furniture to show off smaller items for sale. Mark the things you want to retain as not for sale.
Advertise Your Sale
You are almost there and it is important that you keep in mind that the purpose of an estate sale is to sell out everything. Your prices should therefore be attractive as people often go for estate sales to bargain and find cheap second-hand goods.
Be sure to tag your items each at a lower price than its current market value. You should have discounts for wear and tear. You can then proceed to pin adverts on your estate’s gate and pin them in several other public places.
Ensure the pinnings have your contact number and the directions to the estate as well as the days of the sales. You can devise a selling strategy where you sell your items at full price on the first day of a sale and keep reducing the prices as the days go by.
This shall ensure you sell all your target items. It is however important that you do not advertise the sale reductions before the first sale as it may bar people from coming to buy on the first day.
Manage Your Sales
Once you have sold your items, you can help your clients find a way to transport their items to their respective locations. Remember to announce the end of your sale to prevent more people from coming to your estate. Afterward, you should clean up and donate what is left if any.
You can identify charity organizations near you and donate the leftovers to them. You can then proceed to share your proceeds based on your family agreements. Also, ensure there are people around to help your customers to park large items.
Unfortunately, estate sales often happen during stressful and upsetting situations. It is therefore wise that you have a checklist to help you determine what to sell and what not to sell. Ensure you approach this process soberly and with some professional advice.
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