Clearing my late dad's place

Yes, more money via Ebay etc but such a lot of effort!

Such great advice Dempi55 and 8 weeks is no time at all.
This is something I can share with my family as we will be having to go through this at some point too!

Hi, I had to clear my own home when my husband died. He was a hoarder with many interests- hundreds of war books, tools, musical instruments, electronics and radios etc. I started off EBay-ing stuff, but it took so LONG, what with all the wrapping and posting, that’s when I called in the auction house. They are not all posh, there will be someone near you who handles everyday items. I think I contacted them by email first, explaining my situation and then then replied suggesting a home visit. The auctioneer was so understanding and supportive, it was an absolute relief. We arranged a date for their team to come and collect everything to take to their storage place. (Took several trips with their van!) So then I just had to wait for the auctions, one auction was held every fortnight. If there were no bids for an item, it would simply be carried over to the next auction. I think it took about 8 weeks for everything to sell, then I got the money (minus their charges for doing the clearance and a percentage of the auction sales money.) This is good because you don’t have to find money to pay the auction house up front. Honestly, it was such a relief to walk through my empty house and garage! Don’t give yourself the hassle of selling stuff by yourself, it will take years!

If you are going to post a coffee set you will need to wrap it all very very well in newspaper or bubble wrap then put it all in a box. Then you need to put the packaged box into a bigger box and puts lots of packaging in the inner wall of the bigger box and the outer wall of the original box you have packed the coffee set in. You could state "collection only" then you wouldnt have to be posting it. Stereo's are becoming more popular and will sell well. You could list the large furniture for sale and state "collection only" also. It is good to post as many photos as you can, on ebay I think you can post 24 photos and add a very good description. You can search for similar items to the ones you have to sell and get an idea of the prices items are selling for. In most areas there is a website called "Freecycle" where you could list items to give away and again, collection only. Good luck.

Upcycle

Yes MOnica donate, recycle, recycle.

Try contacting a local auction house and ask if anyone would come out to assess if anything was suitable for them to sell. They charge commission but it might be worth it to have an expert tell you what can be sold by them.

Macaydia

The world has too much "stuff". Our children don't need more "stuff". Things that I have paid thousands for are now sellable for zero because no one wants stuff anymore. Different generation. Different values.

If that is the case why is so much sold at auctions, boot sales, charity shops etc.

What we need is more people to buy more secondhand 'stuff' and less new 'stuff'

I suppose that's not true of everyone and everything Macaydia.
My daughter is delighted to have my mother-in-law's washing machine for example.

There are probably very few things we have paid thousands for though.

The world has too much "stuff". Our children don't need more "stuff". Things that I have paid thousands for are now sellable for zero because no one wants stuff anymore. Different generation. Different values.

barmcake

A house clearance is the removal of unwanted items from a home. It can involve getting rid of everything in the home, just specific items, or waste from part of a property. House clearances are when multiple items or bags of rubbish are taken away from a house at the same time.

Ah, thank you for explaining. I was trying to see the difference between charity, auction and house clearance. I suppose house clearance encompasses all three at once and gets your house clear of every item.

I dont know how to send virtual bunch of flowers....good luck and let us know how things work out.

I was surprised at how much the auction house took but even the antique items sold for very little but in then end everything bar one travel trunk c 1910 did sell. Get some cardboard labels with strings to attach to larger items to identify which things can be taken when a van turns up to collect. The local council took I think 4 items such as mattress, old chair for c £30. I believe there is now an area in a recycle/refuse centre where decent items can be left aside such as radios. Books were hard... full of memories too.

We are seasoned auction attenders and buyers/sellers with antique dealers in our heritage.

I am surprised you are having difficulty finding a good local auction house. Do not look for adverts Just google the town your father's house is in and the two words 'auctions valuers' and that will bring up all your local ordinary auction houses.

They all try to give the impression they sell immensely valuable goods all the time, but they don't. Email or speak to them. If they do happen to be fine art auctioneers only they will tell you so and will probably be able to recommend another more suitable company.

One more point. Why do you allow your son and brother ride roughshod over you all the time? Tell your son to contact a storage facility near you to arrange to rent a storage space, to send you a list of all the things in your house that belong to him. When you get the list, hire a van and man and get them to move the stuff from your house to the storage space - and send him the bill for the van hire. Treat your brother just the same. tell him that as dealing with yur fathers house and contents is devolving on you, you are setting the agenda. Tell him what you intend to do and when, and do not change anything to suit his convenience. His behaviour over the funeral was outrageous.

Romola

Can I make another suggestion? Is there a branch of Emmaus near you? It's a charity which gives homeless men a place for up to a year, and meanwhile they learn how to restore and sell furniture and other items.
If you call them, they will come and take anything away that they can sell at no cost to you. And you will have the satisfaction of knowing you're helping others.

I can recommend this charity , we used them for clearing my fil house and my mums. No charge for clearing and film , Tv and Theatre use them for props . We couldn’t believe what’s they’d take and were told they need genuine stuff for props .

Thanks again for all your messages. Thanks especially to Cabbie21 for your knowledge and experience of selling at auction. I am doing this alone just as I looked after my dad alone and organised his funeral alone, but now I feel surrounded, not isolated , because of all your kind and compassionate message.
I was just exhausted as I am still caring for someone who is bedbound and commuting three hours to get to my dad's place. Cheers everyone.

Romola

Can I make another suggestion? Is there a branch of Emmaus near you? It's a charity which gives homeless men a place for up to a year, and meanwhile they learn how to restore and sell furniture and other items.
If you call them, they will come and take anything away that they can sell at no cost to you. And you will have the satisfaction of knowing you're helping others.

Yes they are a very good charity & also aged uk will pick up if you have fire labels. If selling on EBay, put collection only, but she would have to time it so that she was at fathers house.

Exactly what I wanted to post Pamela. I’m one of the softest, most emotional people, but I knew I just had to get on with it and clear my Dad’s house after he died. I’m not a hoarder and had no interest in any monetary value, so I
took a few things for myself and my DDs, but just ornaments, his ring, his fountain pen and his drawings. The solid
oak dining room suite went to the BHF who collected.
Parker Knoll chairs? Couldn’t give them away! Clothing went to Charity Shops, as did some bed linen, china and curtains. Obviously, no-one wanted old beds, so I hired 3 skips and everything just went in. They were just ‘things’. They weren’t him, he’s here in my heart.

I’d also give your son an ultimatum, it’s not fair expecting you to store his stuff ad infinitum. If he wants it, he should pay for storage and visit to physically move it to said storage.
You’re being put upon Penguin.

You’ve had some good advice on here and I can’t think of anything more useful.
Just be aware that once it’s gone you will probably not give it another thought. It’s the ‘getting rid’ that is the hard part.

Your father is in your heart, memories in your mind, not in things.

NotSpaghetti

We recently had a reputable auctioneer value my mother-in-law's possessions/household goods for probate.
Nothing is worth anything very much.

Her dining chairs (£400 each many moons ago) "may not sell" but if they did would not go for much. Maybe a few pounds each. One of her pair of signed prints (bought in the 80s for £90 each) is on ebay for £15.
Her Royal Doulton etc is barely worth bothering with. Even her gold watch is only worth the melt-down value of the gold.

We have offered all the family to come and take anything they like. We have had about three carrier bags go.
A magnifying glass, a table lamp, an atlas, a painting, her manicure set...
Really very little.

I think much of it will go to charity shops - if they will take it.

Excellent post.

Perhaps take a few small reminders, take pictures, call an auction house, they will take what they can sell, then call a house clearance firm.

I had many sisters, this fell to me, it's daunting, I'm sorry.

A house clearance is the removal of unwanted items from a home. It can involve getting rid of everything in the home, just specific items, or waste from part of a property. House clearances are when multiple items or bags of rubbish are taken away from a house at the same time.

Auction houses differ. In my nearest city there are at least three. One only sells rare or high quality antiques and specialist items at monthly sales. Another has several sales every week, one is Antique and collectibles of all sorts, not necessarily high end, then they have General including tools, machinery, old radios, anything. My items went for between £10 and £450. Most people would have just sent them to the tip, but one man’s junk is another man’s hobby.
NB there is commission to pay and a transportation fee, if required. The high end auction house also charges for photos in their catalogue etc.
In short, check out the T & C of your auction house. You may not make much but it is worth it to get the stuff out of your hands and to save it from landfill. Just don’t have high expectations of prices, though 70ies furniture sells better than true antiques.
Personally I don’t think e-bay and local Facebook selling pagers are worth the hassle, as people don’t always turn up to collect, or demand their money back if they reckon an item is faulty.

I got very little help clearing my late parents home but I did it! Sentimental items were chosen and collected by family members. Charity shops got all the lovely clothes, shoes, handbags etc. I organised a big skip for the rest of the stuff like mattresses and things the charities would not take. Contents of shed and garage went in there too. Disability aids were returned. Carpets and curtains stayed in the house. I cleaned the house from top to bottom and left a note for the new owners saying I hoped they would be as happy there as my parents were. Huge job done!

I had to do this when my Mother died and a lot of stuff went to the tip, it was hard but it got easier as I worked through it.
It was during the covid lockdown so fraught with difficulties as so many charity shops weren’t open.
Start by getting rid of a few items at a time, it will get easier x