Downsizing Beyond Friends and Family


 One of the most popular options to help downsize your things, after you’ve offered them to friends and family, is to have an estate sale. These can be especially helpful and lucrative if you have quite a few substantial items.
If you are in a hurry to sell, you may want to start talking to your estate agent as soon as possible, even while you’re still negotiating with family members, because you’ll have to organize a convenient time when both you and the estate agent can move forward with the sale. Professional estate agents can also help make sure you don’t undervalue an item, and they will assist you in the selling process to take much of the work off your hands.
Auctions are frequently utilized not only for very high-value items, but also when time is the most important factor in your downsizing.  An estate agent will be able to help you decide which items should go in the estate sale and which should go to auction, and that may determine the order in which you want to do things.
You may have chosen to hold some items back from auction for financial reasons, or perhaps there are leftover items from your estate sale.  What should you do with any remaining items?  That, certainly, is up to you, but consignments and donations are popular choices.  If you bring on an estate sale company they will be responsible for the items that don’t sell, but if you’re attempting to downsize on your own, remember that consignment shops are perfect for items that you just don’t feel comfortable letting go as a donation.  This could be high quality clothing, home accents, or even furniture.  Keep in mind, though, that most consignment shops work only with very high-end items that will be of interest to their target clientele.  For the rest, either find specific places to donate to (books could be donated to a school or library, for example), or load everything up and take it down to Goodwill or another charity shop of your choice.
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