Sunset Estate

Are there any guides on how to clean a house prior to an estate sale?

My parents have left me a house full of stuff that needs to be sorted into keep, trash, donate, tag sale and/or estate sale. I'm just looking for a step by step guide to not reinvent the wheel.

Public Comments

1. Well, you've got the basics right there. What you need is some sturdy boxes to take into each room and use them to sort out what is to keep, trash, donate, or put aside to sell. As each box gets filled up, deal with it; put trash out, put stuff to be donated in the car, put stuff to sell in a designated place. It's going to be hard, but try not to get sidetracked by all the memories. If you're not sure whether to keep something, put it in the 'keep' box and think about it later, do not dwell on stuff. You might find it helps to give yourself some time limits. Spend 15 minutes going through each room deciding what furniture to keep, then spend 15 minutes in each room sorting out the smaller stuff. Don't try to do it all in one day, it's been a long time gathering, give yourself a decent amount of time to get through it all. Good luck.
2. The first thing I would do is move everything I wanted to keep into one room. Then I would throw away items that were useless and obviously trash. I would then have an estate sale. I would put a price on everything and open the house to the public. Enlist friends to help watch for theifs. Whatever was left after that, I would have a yard sale and price it to move. Leftover food in tins and in good conditon could be given to a food bank. You will do better if you put your prices on with tape rather than pins or staples. They leave holes and discourage ebayer sellers from buying. Also, block the room where your keepers are.
3. Boxes and garbage bags are the best way to go...take it one room at a time and enjoy the process, if you are a treasure hunter like i am...that would be a great way to pass time for me.. Start with 3 categories...Keep, Toss and Donate. Or hire a pro.
4. Hire an auction service for the sale after you go thru and remove the "keep" & trash. Donate after the estate sale.