Clearing out my mum's - advice?

PS.

Also paid a House Clearance Company to clear out the attic. It's something Estate Agents ask you to do these days.

I recently had to move house twice in 8 months and downsized with the help of my son.

What the local Charity Shops wouldn't take we asked a larger charity to come and collect (bigger items.) We also put several items on the wall (not electrical items) and they were all taken within a few hours.

Many Charities won't take books, but I eventually found one that did. I kept only books I thought I would read again and sorted keepsakes into about four boxes but I kept all the photos for future generations.

Glad I did it although it was so sad at times, but my grown up kids won't have a huge amount to sort out when I "shuffle off."

When my father died he left my brother and I a house stuffed full of ordinary, everyday things and a huge amount of bits and pieces collected over many years. He had never thrown anything away. It took my brother and I, and a friend, a week to clear the house with a hired panel-van. Most of the stuff went in the skips or to charity shops. It was a big job, and I resolved not to leave my family with the same problem, so we've started disposing of stuff now.

We rented out my late Mothers flat we put in new hardwearing flooring, repainted the walls and throughly cleaned everywhere. It made it easier as the place was 'depersonalised' and gave a blank canvas type of impression.This was on the advice of the estate agent who let the property for us. Cost was a few hundred pounds but well worth it as got a tenant right away we did most of work ourselves apart from the carpet laying.

Can I just ask - did any of you manage to rent out a property a parent used to live in? If so how much did it cost you to get the house ready? Thanks.

Thank you so much for all your replies. It's probably a blessing that neither my sister nor I have very limited space as it will mean we will have to be more ruthless than either of us would be inclined to be.

As chocolatepudding (great name) states its a good idea to stop thinking about the imagined resale value of all this 'stuff' and just think about the good it can do. Blankets and towels are also very welcomed at animal re-homing centres. We donated quite a lot of good quality china to a hospice shop but I persuaded my daughter to take some of the, originally very expensive, bone china and just use it as everyday china. Its classically beautiful and yet surprisingly very robust - she might as well use and enjoy it - and she does, saying it keeps food warm longer and washes beautifully.

However, as Purpledaffodil stated, its a depressing process and certainly keeps us from hoarding.

My brother and I had a charity come to look at my Dad's house after we had taken sentimental stuff. They only took a couple of things. Then a friend who was setting up home from scratch again took lounge and dining furniture. Finally we paid a clearance firm £600, the going rate here. They brought beds and wardrobes downstairs, took up carpets etc and swept the house out. I am sure they had a buyer for some stuff,
Sadly a lot went to landfill. It was a harrowing job and good to hand over the final task to sympathetic strangers. They were mainly off duty firemen! Good luck IloveLindt it is not a job I would like to repeat in a hurry and makes me much better at not hanging on to "stuff" we no longer need.

When I cleared my MIL's house I had some towels,bedlinen, kitchen stuff and an ironing board which I gave to the local Women's Refuge. These items were given to Mums who were leaving the refuge and setting up a home again. They were very grateful and whilst these items could have been sold in a charity shop they would have only fetched a few pounds and may have sat on the shelf for a long time.

I used a house clearance firm, they gave her a few £100s for it, mostly furniture. After getting rid of carloads of stuff at the Tip and relatives taking stuff.
She had some beautiful china, some in full sets, hardly used, which I took to an auction house for valuation, but they said it was worth very little.
In the garage there were piles of old newspapers, and beneath them I found some kitchen knives. It made me think, she must have been scared at times living on her own. She felt more secure living in a Care Home, especially since she had a stroke and was partially paralysed.

When we cleared my sisters house we used a chap with a van who did removals but also new what would sell and which auctions. He took commission but it saved a lot of hassle

I'd steer clear of anything described as an 'auction house'.....unless you had bone fide antiques with some recognisable provenance. We had one to value a few decent pieces that we felt might be of merit especially in a university city. All but a couple of pieces were described as 'late Victorian/Edwardian 'Brown' and therefore of little real value commercially. Only two unusual pieces (from an overstuffed 6 bedroom home) were worth the trouble as between them, after charges, they made just short of £1000. It really pays to mentally sort stuff first and be prepared to just let stuff go to good homes rather that be too hung up on making a profit.
Hand on heart, the only stuff you really regret not keeping is the old letters, photos and the odd battered child's toy. Thankfully both my Mum and Grandma gave me their little treasured bits and bobs in their later years. Its a habit I've already started with my daughters by handing on a couple of pieces of jewellery already.

I agree with Hilda about ensuring all family members being allowed to take out sentimental stuff. One of my brothers in law cleared his mother's house before his brother had been given the chance to have his say about it. The house is almost empty and on the market, but has had no viewers for six months. The brothers do not talk to each other, only by email.

Our local authority has a leaflet giving a chart of goods and recycling centres, such as furniture help schemes and Christian Centres who will take goods of most types.
The YMCA will take all categories and use them. The leaflet is also for people who want these goods, It gives times when they can go and collect from the re-use scheme.

As MIL's house was rented we had a very limited time to clear it. We sorted out some nice china that we wanted to keep in the family, gave away some of the furniture to friends and family, hired two skips for anything without fire certificates and rubbish, and took car full after car full down to the local charity shop which they seemed very pleased with. (Horse and Pony Protection if I remember correctly).
As far as I remember one of the bigger charities came and collected some furniture which went to a hostel for homeless men.

My sister is in the process of clearing our cousin's house. She invited an auction room to sell the contents of the house sounds practical but the reality is quite different. They chose carefully what they would remove and charged per load plus mileage for van plus a percentage of sale price and the result is that the few pounds made did not offset the inconvenience, the rest of the contents were given to a charity shop who were pleased to accept the goods.

I too recommended getting a decent small local house clearance to do the job properly once everyone has had a good look to rescue things of both sentimental and monetary value. Also do contact some of the charities that have furniture outlets. 'Help for Heroes' and some hospices will remove decent furniture for free (remember all sofas and armchairs will need their fire-proof labels intact). Its a dreadfully dreary process and can seem far more tiring and depressing than you first think.
To be honest, few of us (or the next generation) need furniture or large collections of old fashioned china so we might as well let someone else do the hard work and make a bit of a profit.

Thanks very much everyone.

I was quite happy to pay a house clearance firm (just a nice man and his 2 sons) to clear my mother`s house then our own when we moved. We had taken out everything of potential value or that we, or anyone else in the family wanted, first. That meant that the house clearance people had the hard task of manhandling furniture and ripping up carpets etc and taking them down 4 flights of stairs. We were just not up to the heavy work involved. Hiring skips is expensive as are repeated trips to the dump (which also don't do the car much good!) So all in all the money it cost was hard earned by them and well worth it to us. We had asked around for recommendations first though. The big name companies can be costly.

Unless you suspect there are valuable antiques among the items, I would go for a garage sale and also approach charities. A local hospice took most of my mother's furniture and a lot of charities will collect. House clearance firms charge for the service which I resent as you know they are selling what you have paid them to take away.

How about a Garage sale with the contents of the house in the house? After Christmas now though.
I think you do need to work your way through the stuff very carefully to see just what might be most likely to sell.

Thanks very much everyone.

I don't envy you. I still have loads of my mother's stuff to get rid of and it's stored in a building that we are about to convert so it's all got to go. I donated a lot of stuff to Emmaus - there might be one near you?

www.emmaus.org.uk/cambridge

I still have to take some nick-nacks to a charity shop and there is some vintage china that might be worth a little bit so I'm about to contact a dealer.

It was quite a task for us as Mum had hoarded stuff for years.

Good Luck!!

I agree, I would go for a car boot sale. Where I live there are indoor ones at least once a month. It would give you an excuse to look out some of your own items.

I would say a car boot sale is worth it- the problem is that most have stopped for the winter.