Macomb County Estate Sale Companies

Estate Sale Macomb County, Michigan

Having an estate sale in Macomb County, Michigan is easy when you hire the Estate Pros. You’ll need to trust and feel comfortable with your estate professional as they will be in your private home, handling your personal items and handling your transactions. Do your homework, be choosy and insist on using a company with an esteemed reputation like the Estate Pros for your sale. We take care of everything needed:

Permitting – In most counties in Michigan, permits are needed for estate sales or garage sales. In many cases, the cost ranges from free to $20 per sale, with a limited number of sales allowed per year (such as three). This is to prevent people from turning their homes into neighborhood mom-and-pop shops, creating a disturbance in the neighborhood.

Parking arrangements– In areas with limited street parking, additional permits may be needed for attendees. Talking to your neighbors ahead of time is always recommended.

Advertising – Social media groups on Facebook, etc. and apps like Nextdoor are great places to advertise your estate sale. Springing for some ads on estate sale-specific websites like EstateSales.net and Estatesale.com can pay dividends, as they are specifically targeted to people who are already looking for estate sales. Don’t underestimate the value of word of mouth; telling friends and putting up neighborhood signs will also bring people through your door.

Accurate appraisal of items – It can be tough to ascertain the value of so many different things with pinpoint accuracy. You may not have personally purchased some of the sale items leaving you at a loss as to the value of the items your relatives may have collected. Having a trustworthy professional do the job for you is easier and ensures that you are pricing things accordingly.

Staging – Showcasing items in their best light is important. Just as with staging a house or clothes in a store, you want the setting to add value to the items, not detract from them. Tables, lamps, a thorough cleaning and thoughtful displays make a big difference in the bottom line and help you obtain maximum value.

Cataloging – This is one of the most important areas in which to be thorough. Go through every single nook and cranny of the home, take pictures of things, get rid of the trash, and set aside any personal documents or belongings that you do not wish to sell. Use your smartphone and snap away – pictures are very helpful for keeping a record of the contents.

Processing payments – Will your sale accept electronic payments such as Paypal, Zelle, Venmo, or Credit Cards? Will you accept checks? Know this ahead of time and make sure that all of your accounts are working properly. Meticulous recordkeeping is a must in ensuring that every dollar earned is accounted for.

Clean up after sale – Most estate sales last between two to three days, and though typically there is not a lot left after a sale, there may be some items remaining. You can decide which of these things you want to keep and what you would like to donate for a tax deduction. Most things that have no value for either donation or sale should be thrown out or kept, if desired, prior to the sale.

Estate Sale Planners

Most of the reasons people find themselves looking into an estate sale are stressful, such as:

• Moving
• Downsizing
• Death
• Divorce
• Debt

Chances are you’re stressed enough already, and successfully managing a large inventory of items that need liquidating can seem like an impossible task to someone who isn’t familiar with the process. In the event of the death of a loved one, for instance, it can be emotionally painful for their relatives to sell their belongings individually. Most of the work that goes into an estate sale lies in planning for one. There are many things to handle ahead of hosting an estate sale, from organizing the property ahead of time, cataloging things, taking photos, determining prices, and appraising higher-value items. Having a professional estate sale planner handle these things for you is well worth it.