What's the best way to go about cleaning out a house before selling and make some money doing it?

Question

I am about to put my house up for sale, but the realty agent handling it says I have to clean it out before it goes on the market. It's a 2500 sq ft Victorian house with a full attic and cellar packed with stuff my parents collected in the last 35 years. I've already tried tag sales and posting to local newspaper classifieds and Craig's List. Not much interest. I've also contacted estate liquidators. Only one agreed to come to the house and his comment was "Get a dumpster and put everything in it!"

I feel the house contents are too good to just throw away. I don't want to give it away either - I need the money! It must have some value to SOMEONE. I don't have the time to fiddle around trying to sell on EBAY. I need something quick and even more important - PROFITABLE. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Yard Sale, handles by experts.

Answer 2

Yard Sale /Donation to Charitable resources ( tax  receipt )  Place items in paper , etc.

Answer 3

You are going to have to compromise some where.  Everything in the cellar/attic isnt all valuable to you or your family, so my way of going through it would be to just grab a box a day (or two) and just go through it.  Have a trash can in front of you so that you can toss anything that doesnt have any value.  Then, through everything you value into one of three places: a garage, an organized place in your attic/cellar, and/or a closet which you still will have easy access to.  Keep in mind, the items that you think are useless and worth being thrown away may fetch a big price at a yard sale (if you were to host one, which is a good idea to making money off your junk.)  

The best way to put less time into a yard sale and make the most profit, is to just put piles of things together that have the same price and then put a sign there that tells the customer that all this items are $5, $10, and so on.  At the end of the day, what doesnt sell, just write a sign that tells people its fifty percent off, or free (if you really want to get ride of it.)  You may not get the profit that you may have wanted, but you get ride of the junk.

With less junk in your house, the realiter can up the price because a less cluttered space is more likely to be bought on the market.  MORE SPACE=MORE MONEY!  good luck

Answer 4

dont

Answer 5

Have a look at local auctioneers. I often used to go to our local auction for an hour or so a i was fascinated at just what people bought - often the most unlikely things.

People often put things to a use that it was not originally designed for - simple example being those old square or oblong kitchen sinks (think they call them Butler sinks) - people now use them as Planters.

Answer 6

seems like your not going to get much out of that stuff, you might as well go through it and give what you don't want to good will or salvation army, take the rest with you and store it until someone shows interest for it on craigslist, have a yard sale in your new neighborhood. If you don't want to do ebay your options are pretty limited. Might as well work with what you can.

Answer 7

Maybe you can find out how much each item is worth and have an online auction. Give this website a try...hope it helps!

Answer 8

Seen the things you have aren't big bucks to place them in a state sale....it didnt mean arent worth something.

I will chose what is really worth selling and whats not  and place them in mark boxes ,if worth will do some storage until it solds.I will use eBay as a pricing reference guide.... them i will do the auction thing at eBay  for what i consider the hot quicker stuff  to sell , them consignment in a local antique store (some offer space for rent),I will try a garage/yard sale as well and finally whatts left i  will give it away to my  favorite charity they will do some profit from it and you will feel great about it....

Actually this is what i did before i move back to Peru lol ..and when my grandma and aunt died and left me the state...i also though about my relatives and friends...

Remenber what you consider trash sometimes gives the  big bucks...!

Answer 9

Garage sale.  Put up signs around your neighborhood/general area pointing to your house labeled 'Garage Sale'.

Answer 10

Emptying a house is usually a LOT of work and, unless your parents collected quality things and had good furniture, it's hard to unload.

Maybe you should have an "Everything's a Dollar" garage sale and just toss whatever's leftover.

You could also donate and take a tax deduction, but I think the limit is $250 a year.

Answer 11

I've never heard of a tag sale before, is it anything like a yard sale? If not, you could have a yard sale or you could find a consignment shop that will sell it for you. Of course they get part of the profit if they sell the item for you.

I hope that I have helped