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Estate Cleanouts
When a person needs to empty the entire contents of their home, it is known as an estate cleanout. One of the most common reasons for this is the death of a loved one, but those wishing to downsize, declutter, move overseas, or undertake a drastic lifestyle change should consider an estate cleanout.
Emptying a house full of stuff that you or a relative spent a lifetime acquiring may seem overwhelming for many. It is often an emotionally charged situation and care should be taken so that all relatives and responsible parties have clear communication about the intended course of action. When a loved one passes away, you may feel besieged with things in need of handling, such as legalities, logistical arrangements, and, of course, bereavement. Managing and dispersing someone’s precious belongings can add additional emotional weight to an already heavy situation.
Estate Cleanout Services
Estate Pros offers estate cleanout services to help you move forward whether you decide to donate the items for a tax deduction, distribute them amongst family members, or sell them in an estate sale. Our skilled appraisers can help you distinguish junk from treasure, enabling you to decide the best course of action going forward.
Many people choose to donate their items and experience the joy that comes from helping others in need. You can receive a tax reduction pursuant to the value of the furniture, artwork, jewelry, clothing, vehicles and other belongings donated to a 501(c)(3) charity or organization. After cataloging and assessing all of the belongings that you wish to donate, Estate Pros will provide you with all of the required documents for claiming your tax deduction. These include an itemized evaluation of your donated items, IRS Form 8283 and a donation receipt from the charity or organization of your choice. If you are not sure where you would like to donate your items, we can make suggestions for where your items will be most appreciated. Common places to donate to are women’s shelters.
Estate Pros makes performing an estate cleanout a cinch so you can focus your time and energy elsewhere while trusting that you are receiving a fair value for your belongings. The average estate sale earns about $20,000. Emptying an entire house can take days to weeks. Not everyone can set aside this amount of time or you may not be physically able to do all of the heavy lifting and you don’t want to burden your friends and relatives. Additionally, the sentimental nature of the belongings can make progress slower for relatives than it would for a professional. The deadlines of emptying a house for the sale of a home can be stressful and it is difficult to assess just how much time it will take to accomplish everything.
Cost of Estate Clean Out
The average estate clean out costs anywhere from $500 to $2,000, with most quotes hanging around the lower end of the range. The quote you receive from a company that cleans out homes will be governed by a number of factors like the size of the job and the amount of time and labor needed to sort through everything. The homes of those who have more spartan living spaces will take a lot less effort to go through than those of hoarders. If you’re organizing an estate cleanout on your own, you may be paying people by the hour and be unable to fully vet the candidates you consider for the job.
Hiring a professional estate clean out company will save you time, headache and worry, and give you peace of mind knowing that your stuff will be properly taken care of and evaluated during the process. There will be a lot of things that are considered junk in a whole house cleanout and they will need to be disposed of. The more trash and clutter that you can clear out yourself, the less expensive your clean out will be.
The top companies that clean out homes can provide you with all of the resources to make it as smooth and seamless as possible and will factor the pricing according to the size and scope of the clean out, as well as any additional logistical arrangements needing to be made. If it is a hoarding situation where there could be a high density of items, this could present an additional health hazard and the clean out will likely cost more given the additional cleaning and personal protection that may need to be employed.
House Cleanout Sale
If you decide to go down the road of holding an estate sale for the items following a house cleanout, they may be displayed in the house itself after it’s been cleaned or at another location. House cleanout sales can be financially lucrative if there are a number of valuable items in the house like sports memorabilia collections, furniture, art, jewelry, and wine collections. Hiring a professional will help you figure out what’s valuable and worth selling, what should be donated, and what to keep or toss.
Here are some ways to prepare for a property clean out sale:
- Communicate and collaborate – Oftentimes, multiple people are involved in the estate, and clear communication between family members is crucial to avoid disputes down the road.
- Legal Consultation – An attorney or financial advisor can help guide you through any legal requirements that may be related to the estate, will or inheritance tax.
- Inventory – Composing a detailed inventory of items in the estate will be helpful for record-keeping and decision-making.
- Remove personal or sensitive items – Make sure to collect any sensitive documents, photos or other personal belongings from the home prior to the clean out
- Photograph – In addition to detailed lists, taking photographs of the home’s contents can be helpful for documenting evidence of your donation.
- Remove trash – To the best of your abilities, any trash that you remove ahead of the sale will make the process go more smoothly and help the pros work their magic more quickly.
- Make decisions in a timely fashion – Making decisions ahead of time about what you want to donate and what you want to toss or keep will help the process go smoothly.
- Give Us Your Best Estimate – If you have had prior appraisals for items in the home and know the approximate value of certain items already, let us know so we can assess these evaluations and take them into consideration when determining final appraisal values.
Leave It To The Pros
Tackling a whole house clean out can be a daunting task for many, but it is a necessary process that most people will one day face. The emotional and physical toll of a property clean out can be too much for some people to bear; there are experts available to help ease the burden.
For information about our estate clean out services, call us to schedule a free consultation. Hiring professionals to do a whole house clean out can feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of your shoulders, leaving you with more time and energy to take on life’s other demands. If you’re worried about the cost, remind yourself that oftentimes the tax benefits or proceeds from an estate sale more than pay for the price of a professional clean out.
We have expertise in estate sales, estate cleanouts and personal property appraisals and have been providing Southeastern Michigan with top-notch service for over 15 years.
