10 Tips On Selling Your Home Quickly

Busy Bee Moving Sales - https://www.busybeemovingsales.com 615-864-8991 - Estate Sales Professionals in Nashville, Tn.

How do I get my house ready to sell?  I just got an offer on my home,  How do I move before closing?

All of these statements are typical when I talk with a client for the first time.  Many people are unaware of the benefits of hiring a professional company liquidate their personal property before they move.  I have listed the following tips to assist a seller before or after they sell their home.

1.  Staging - Before hauling away all your clutter to Goodwill consider using the revenue you would gain from those small items to assist in your move.  Some realtors will advise as to which furniture should be left for staging and what should be stored or removed in order for your home to "show" better.  An estate liquidator can sell everything except what you need for staging or sell everything and have the realtor stage accordingly through their resources.  Storing your excess in boxes in a garage, pod or storage until the house sells is also an alternative if you choose to have an estate sale after you have received a contract on your property.

2.  Sell Everything - In cases where the home needs repairs, maintenance, flooring or painting, selling it all before putting it on the market may be wise and it gives an older home a fresh new open look. This choice is also a great way to introduce your home to the market as hundreds of people will attend the sale and inquire of the home, possibly leading to a, "For Sale By Owner" opportunity.  Again, you must remove, or store your wanted items and be moved from the property.  These are actually the easiest sales to conduct.  Remember, the moving sales company will sift through everything, separating items and throwing away the trash.

3.   Downsizing - You want to sell your home or just received a contract but haven't moved yet.  How do I have an estate sale if I'm still in the house?  A moving sale company can advise you in what rooms of your home would be best in storing the items you want to keep.  Separating your items will take longer to set up but can be done in order to stay in your house until it sells or closes.  You must be very clear in this case of what does not sell even down to the electronics and appliances.  Remember, if you are still living in the home you may want to keep your refrigerator, washer, dryer and tv.

4.  Cleaning and maintenance before selling:  If you are planning a sale, wait until after the sale to have carpets cleaned and walls painted.  Even the most beautiful homes have dust bunnies and nail holes that can be more easily assessed after the sale is over.  Designate what areas can be used for parking and what areas of the yard need to be roped off.

5.  Removing items to be sold to another location:  In some rare cases, it may be necessary to have your estate sale at an alternate location.  Condos, apartments, gated communities and some Home Owner Associations prohibit estate and moving sales on the property.  In these cases you may need to seek out a company that has those capabilities.  Keep in mind you may be charged a higher percentage or extra fees for relocating your merchandise.  You may also be required to pick up the items that do not sell.

6.  No time to move:  Your dream came true.  The house sold quickly to a cash buyer and they want a quick closing.  Most moving sales companies can do the entire process in a week.  Before they come out to preview, label the items you want to keep so they can assess and staff the sale accordingly.  Communication is the key in a quick sale so be clear in your timeline and list of not for sale items.  Leave a few days after the sale for time to liquidate the leftover items and the final cleaning before the final inspection.

7.  What if we are not able to be there?  Our realtor called and said we sold the house but we are in another state and don't know how we can move in such a short notice.  I have done moving sales in which I never met my client.  They left a key hidden, communicated what to sell over the phone during an on site walk through, had me arrange for the final items to be removed and I mailed them a check.  Some estate sales companies have further services such as hauling, and cleaning as well.

8.  My parents' house needs to be put on the market but we do not have time to get it ready.  Whether you are nearby and able to personally guide the estate sales co. through the process of liquidating your parents house or live many miles away and need someone to do the entire process, it can be done.  With modern technology communication, pictures, video and face time can be great tools in deciding on the best plan to conduct an estate sale for your family.  Check the credentials of the estate sale businesses in the area, ask for references, research their reviews on Yelp, Facebook, and Better Business Bureau.

9.  How to have a garage sale to get my house ready to sell.  Before I moved I held 3 different garage sales and sold the large items one by one on Craigslist and Facebook.  It took the entire summer.  I found that after the first garage sale I had less people come to the following as they recognize the address and think it's the same old stuff.  Craigslist can not only be a bit risky but time consuming as arrangements and no shows leave you hanging.  Items taken to the garage to be sold WILL NOT bring as much as items sold in a home setting.  A moving sale company will provide their pricing knowledge, advertising, email list and materials to sell your items but will expedite the whole process and most likely increase your sales therefore covering their commission as well.

10.  OVERWHELMED:  This is the word I most hear when a client calls me the first time.  For whatever reason, they are overwhelmed with the whole process of selling their home.  Whether you are going through divorce and not able to agree on separating your personal property, cleaning out due to a hoarder situation,  emotionally too attached to deal with liquidating your keepsakes or simply too far away or too busy to deal with cleaning out the home to sell, a free consultation with a moving sale company can give you ideas and a plan to make the process quick and easy.

How to decorate with garage sale and estate sale finds.

Busy Bee Moving Sales - https://www.busybeemovingsales.com 615-864-8991 - Estate Sales Professionals in Nashville, Tn.

Decorating your home from weekend treasure hunting can be not only a smart money saving idea but fun and creative as well.  Start with a plan, make a budget and make some new friends.

1.  Plan and list for the items you are looking for by visiting your favorite home decor websites.  Mine is Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware.  Also plan a timeline for what items you need first and prioritize with your budget in mind.  You will not find everything you want in one weekend so be patient and find places to store your things until you need them.

2.  Research the current prices of furniture pieces you are looking for and know what is a good deal when you find it.  Although you have access to a mobile phone during the yard sale, sometimes a quick decision in a crowded estate sale doesn't give you the opportunity to do ample research.  Often pictures of estate sales are listed on www.estatesales.net and www.estatesales.org before the sale so you can have more time to research a fair market value.

3.  Keep an open mind when shopping that repurposing, painting and easy maintenance may be all it takes to turn that table into the red one on your list.  However, reupholstering furniture is quite expensive.

4.  Take advantage of all the places you can find second hand items.  Local Facebook buy, sell and trade pages are the newest and fastest growing sources of buying used merchandise.  Craigslist, Estate Sales and Moving Sales Companies, auctions, Flea Markets and thrift stores are listed weekly for weekend treasure hunting.

5.  Lastly, a well planned direction of pictures of your items and lists accessible on your phone either in notes, photos or Pinterest album will be accessible while you are on the road and eliminate random buying and an overabundance of items you thought were a good buy at the time.

How your HOA restrictions can effect your estate or moving sale.

Busy Bee Moving Sales in Nashville, Tn.
Before you plan or book an estate or moving sale you should contact your Home Owner's Association.  Our contract requires our clients to sign saying they are in compliance with their current HOA rules and regulations in regard to an estate sale and that any rules stated will be shared with us in order to conduct the sale.  However, are still finding issues with the communication between the homeowner and their Home Owner's Association.  No one wants to spend a week setting, pricing, advertising and working a sale only to be shut down shortly after it begins.

This does not mean you should read over your HOA packet you were given when you bought your home.  My last client read her manual that stated that she was allowed 2 garage sales or yard sales a year and was completely satisfied that a moving sale was permitted.  She was wrong.  The board had revised their restrictions in regard to estate sales since her signing of her regulations to  absolutely no estate or moving sales in their community.  Although we had previously conducted sales in that community, they went unnoticed and were not penalized.  The charge was 500.00 dollars for the sale and they told the homeowner 500.00 an hour unless we shut down.  The homeowner questioned the legality of a revision that was never presented to her and the fact that she had only signed one in which she was in concordance with and was told that they provided updates on their Facebook page.  It hardly seems fair that monetary obligations would simply be presented on a social networking site and not officially mailed to the recipients home address.  We contacted a lawyer to question this practice and they too confirmed that because Home Owner's Associations hold public meetings and vote on rules and regulations that it holds home owners accountable for all updated rules regardless of their efforts to contact the effected individuals.

We finished the sale with a 500.00 fine without any signage (which greatly decreased traffic).  We were also approached several times in  heated arguments between board members and the homeowner in which some information was not in the revised HOA document we found on the internet such as 500. dollars an hour fine.  Even when the home owner refused to pay the fine she was told they would place the fine on the next homeowner.

In conclusion, notifying your HOA board before your sale is necessary as your HOA packet may not be up to date even though your neighbor may have had an estate sale the week before.  HOA rules and regulations are binding by law and they can and will fine you for breaking them.  Although liens and foreclosures take time, they can proceed with legal action if they choose to.  Get involved in your HOA meetings and demand a vote for a moving sale to be allowed in your community even if it states no signage.  Most families need to liquidate some personal property upon selling their home.

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Mid-Century Modern is the HOTTEST thing going in Estate Sales

Busy Bee Moving Sales is a Nashville Tennessee Estate Sales Company.

When I started selling antiques 20 years ago, we turned our noses up at the 50's and 60's furniture.  I have heard it called motel furniture, doctor's office furniture and school furniture.  And yes, the simplicity of its design, durability and less is more approach is reminiscent to all of us who remember it from our youth.  Whether it's a decor you like or not, it is here to stay and going forward with potential value for your pocket if you are a dealer.
What should you look for?
1.  Look for quality.  Solid wood in good condition does matter greatly.
2.  Look for a furniture maker and then look for the designer.  Google images of the names you find until you find your piece of furniture.
3.  Danish mid-century modern furniture is in high demand.  Much of it is made from teak wood and very sleek in its design.  Very desirable look for new families.
4.  Search the name in craigslist.org as well as ebay.com and 1stdibs.com to find the value.

My client had no idea this John Widdicomb desk would bring 1200.00 and the upright chest 1500.00.  The value was added by the fact that the designer's name is Bert England and called the Persian design.  It is solid mahogany in a walnut finish with solid brass pulls.

This table brought 600.00 without any chairs and is a Danish design teak wood marked made in Sweden underneath.  It extends with 2 hidden leaves and breaks down into 3 parts for easy moving.

These two tables reeled in the most attention online and at the sale.  With absolutely no marks or tags they are apparent in their modern design to be of significant value.  Furniture designer Harvey Probber was the closest we could find to identify them.  The three drawer chest with silver handles sold for 450.00 as well as the console cabinet.

The mid-century modern rocker was clearly a danish design as well.

Busy Bee Moving Sales sold these Dux travertine top coffee tables in Nashville, Tn. for 800.00 each in January.

Books - Estate Sale finds that can make you money.

Busy Bee Moving and Estate Sales-

Every week people hit the roads in search of the garage sales and estate sales in their area.  Some are furnishing their own homes but many are looking for something to turn.  That is, get it for a bargain and sell it at a profit either online or in an antique booth.  Most dealers have an area of expertise in which they know what to look for but what about the novice that is wanting to get started and not sure what to invest in.  My suggestion is books and here's why.  Books are often found at every estate sale and priced very reasonably.  Also, many estate sales companies do not have the time to research every book adequately before the sale thus missing first editions, signed by the author and rare editions.  If you want to sell on ebay or amazon books are easy to ship and often at a lesser book rate at the post office.  You will need to ask for it but book rates still exist due to the postal service being first started in efforts to spread literacy. 

Remember these points when searching for books.  Not all first editions are labeled as such.  Many will only have one copyright date.  When searching for the value, keep in mind that book jackets are sometimes worth more than the book.  Just because it is old, doesn't mean it's worth more.  And lastly, offer a bulk price for all of the books for a better deal and you may be surprised.

Children's books are a wonderful investment as they are still purchased in hard copies and not digital downloads as adult books are.

Online Estate and Auction Sales - Is it a better idea?

www.busybeemovingsales.com
The new and upcoming rage in the estate sales business has combined the traditional on site estate and moving sale with the power of the internet.  By combining the local personal property, online bidding, shipping or local pick up, an auction platform for pricing, new estate sales companies claim they are going to lead the industry.

After reading several articles on one of these companies in which I will not name as I do not believe in building my business by discrediting others, I decided to try one of these companies out.  I must say I was at first very intimidated.  I saw raving reviews by bloggers that I later found were all contacted by the company to write positive articles about them.  However, another great strategy for search engine optimization as a marketing tool but I couldn't find many reviews from actual unsolicited customers with honest opinions.

I located a sale near my home and drove over to check it out.  There were no signs by the roads going to the sale and none in the yard where the preview was to take place.  Although you can not buy at the property, I think a sign would have helped greatly.  It was closed.  So, I logged onto my computer and found the sale with gorgeous professional pictures, descriptions and an easy online auction format.  I must say, technologically, this company was on top of their game.  I was a little apprehensive to have my credit card number on file for an estate sale company I was not familiar with but I took the chance.

Everything started at 1.00 which I felt was a very risky move but as a buyer, it was great.  I noticed the small items such as coins, jewelry and easily shipped items went up in price quickly.  The larger heavier items, even the BMW car were not getting bids.  I found an old antique radio that only went to 30.00.  I would have priced it at 150. for an estate sale.  However, not having the opportunity to inspect, plug it in, or see multiple angles and up close shots at it, 30.00 is all I was willing to pay.
I had to go back in 3 days to pick up my radio in which I was very happy with.  I noticed the girl working the sale was overcome in paperwork, computer transactions, and a phone.

Overall I had a good experience with my transaction but did not get the entire satisfaction as I would at an on site sale.  Ebay has proven that there is definitely a market for those that want to sit at home and take the chance that what they see in a picture is what they are going to receive as well as paying for that extra shipping.

My setback would be as the personal property owner that chooses an online auction company rather than an auction or estate sales company to sell their estate on site.  This particular company advertises that the average estate sale only gets 7,000. a sale as they claim they can get 27,000. a sale.  I did not see that possibility at all.  And this is why.  Opening up small items to an online auction will give a broader market to that item however, it's often a different customer altogether.  The impulsiveness of the buyer is lost when you have to preview one day, go home and bid, pay for the bid, then schedule to pick it up or wait for it in the mail.  Estate sales usually sale everything in the home including all of those little garage items and grouped or boxed items for the sake of clearing out a home.  I don't see that being a viable option in the online estate auction.  Also,  the BMW sold for 5,000.  Another item more customers would have viewed and considered in a traditional on site estate sale.

Again, technology has changed the estate liquidation business but has it made it better?  Online estate sales will never take the place of venturing out on Saturday mornings and digging through tables for hidden treasures.  The interaction of the buyer and salesperson is an age old custom of haggling that spreads across many cultures.  Pictures on a screen will never replace being able to touch, inspect and interact with the seller about the belongings they are passing along.  My advice is this.  If there is an online estate auction in your area, check it out for the big stuff because you will get a great deal.  If you are looking to liquidate your estate, beware, you may get more selling it straight from your home depending on the merchandise you have.

How to have an estate sale. 10 top tips.

Busy Bee Moving Sales in Nashville, Tennessee

When I am not having a sale I go out and shop both estate sale company sales as well as privately conducted sales by family and friends of the estate.  Below I have listed 10 tips to remedy the most common flaws I have witnessed at these sales.

1.  Advertising - Don't assume everyone has a GPS.  Make plenty of signs with arrows on all major intersections.  Laminate them to eliminate dew and rain damage for the duration of the sale.  Take advantage of Craigslist, and Facebook pages relevant to your sale.

2.  Staffing - The first day at opening is your busiest time so be prepared.  Make sure you have at least 2 people at the register and someone on each floor as well as outside at out buildings.  If you have jewelry or small valuables, you will need someone dedicated to that one area. 

3.  Set Up - Plan carefully for the flow of traffic throughout the home and outside areas.  Lock room doors, place do not enter signs, and consolidate like items to simplify shopping.  Block off hazardous areas.  (I just returned from a sale that didn't have signs on doors so people kept walking out the back door to leave despite the owners request.  I suggested she put up a sign but she said, "but the workers have to go out of it".  Hmmm.  

4.  Pricing - Put a price on everything!  Even estate sale companies sometimes do not mark everything and it discourages me from buying.  If the staff is busy I will often not wait and get a price for an item.  Even grouping items on a table with a single price or displaying signs for clothing, books, toys etc. are great for communicating with the customer and much easier on a very busy staff.  Just make sure the cashier is aware of those signs and prices. 

5.  Appraising - This may be the most common problem with private estate sales or garage sales.  If you are not very sure about appropriate estate sale pricing, find someone to help you with this.  Do not price antiques at the same prices as an antique store unless you are prepared to have some or most of them leftover at the end of the sale.  Do not price items for what they SOLD for on ebay unless it is a rare piece.  Do not let sentimental value determine your pricing.  Look at the item as if you were looking at it for the first time and what you might pay for it at a sale.  Also, do not let the price you paid for the item determine your pricing.  Most things lose value, even if they are NIB.  You should price items a little higher than that of a garage sale if they are displayed neatly inside of the home. 

6.  Merchandising - Don't throw everything away before the sale.  I went to a sale last week that had the largest dumpster I have ever seen outside the small home full to the top as customers stood on chairs to pull salvagable items out.  Purging and cleaning is an important aspect of merchandising a sale but pricing items according to their condition is better than tossing a potentially fixable item.  Use outside areas to display these items and your trash hauling cost may go way down as well. 

7.  Price Reductions - If you have priced it reasonably, there isn't much need in reducing prices at the beginning of the sale.  If someone is buying a large amount or an item you feel may be a hard sell, yes, a 20-30 percent reduction at the beginning of the sale is great.  If you have most customers walking away without buying, you've priced too high and you need to start reducing.  Encourage larger quantity sales by only giving reductions on multiples such as (books 4 for 5 dollars) etc.  Write down the name and phone numbers of potential customers that make offers on larger items such as a car or bedroom suit and call them at the end of the sale if you accept their offer.

8.  Security - Staffing wisely is the key to security but also flow of traffic.  Placing small valuables in clear view of personnel and behind glass will aid in theft.  Be aware of groups of people that may be distracting you.  Control how many people are entering the house at one time to eliminate these distractions.   If the cashier becomes tired, overwhelmed or in a conflict with a customer, relieve them immediately and remove the customer from the line to another location to settle the dispute.  Remove excess cash from the checkout often and lock staff belongings away.  Customers open closets, cabinets, drawers and enter closed off rooms as they curiously shop through.

9.  Parking - Think over the parking for your sale.  Notify neighbors about the sale and ask if they would like a no parking sign in their yard.  Rope off areas that parking may be hazardous and allow staff to park in designated areas as an example.  We have had sales lose money that required customers to walk a long driveway. 

10.  HOAs - Not everyone has a Home Owner's Association but those that do should be well aware of the rules pertaining to estate and yard sales.  Some require advanced board approval and fines given to home owners that ignore these rules. 


I am sure I have left out some very important ideas but these are a few that often get overlooked.  Estate Sales can be lots of work, don't let a simple detail cost you lots of money.  Visit several sales and talk to several estate sales companies before you decide so you can have the most profitable sale you can.

Selling a house? What to do first?

Call Busy Bee Moving Sales in Nashville, Tn. - 512-788-2544

You've put your home on the market and the realtor is on their way and you are worried it will sell too quickly.  Now what? So many times we get calls from someone that is selling their home and need us to help sell a few things they haven't been able to sell themselves.  What they don't know is that they may have already cleaned out too much for us to even conduct a sale.  I hear things like,  "I wish I would have known about your services before I gave it away to Goodwill or worst yet, threw it all away.  These small items cluttering the garage and falling out of the cabinets or flooding the closet are the very junk most people scavenger hunt for every weekend at estate sales.  When it gets down to the large pieces of furniture, pool tables, pianos, armoirs and collections of dolls, they call us when one big sale would bring more money and downsize it all at once. 

A downsizing sale is almost always the first step in preparing a home to sell.  Our moving and estate sales company  www.busybeemovingsales.com specializes in pulling out the contents of garages, basements, sheds, cabinets, drawers, and attics to set up for a decluttering sale so you can stage and maintenance your home for the market.  A home with less furniture and clutter will also appear to be larger as well as save you money and time when it comes time to move. 

 More than once we've dug books and antiques out of the trash and placed price tags on them that the home owner had tossed before we arrived.  The estate sales company will help you with the back breaking labor of setting everything out and throwing away the trash.  Of course you want to go through your belongings and make decisions on what goes and what sells so using a roll of colored tape you can identify items you wish to keep and separating them into an area off limits to the sale.  After that, let them do the work. 

After the sale, you can have them or someone else haul away the excess and begin staging your home for the real estate market.  Plus, you have some extra money in your pocket to cover moving expenses or repairs to your home. 

Selling musical equipment in Nashville Tennessee.

Busy Bee Moving and Estate Sales in Tennessee. www.busybeemovingsales.com
Can you sell musical equipment and vintage audio recording equipment?  This was how the phone conversation began with a client whose husband was a legendary fiddle player on the Grand Ole Opry Stage in Nashville, Tn., for over 48 years.  I replied, "If I can't sell musical equipment in Nashville, Tennessee then I should just quit my job."  At first sight, it looked like a room full of cords, tubes, boxes, dusty cabinets with big knobs and switches.  If I had not had the internet to research, I would have never known the value of these items.  Most of the brands such as Ampex, Teac, Concertone, Echo Plex and Altec, I had never heard of.  As we researched we were in shock of the value of these antique recording reel to reel pieces of musical gear.  After pricing and appraising, I then began to worry about reaching the musicians and engineers that would be interested in this type of equipment.  Most of our estate sales include antiques and collectibles and a few instruments such as guitars and band instruments and pianos. I posted as many pictures as I could on www.Estatesales.net and www.Estatesale.com as well as the Nashville Craigslist.org in the musical equipment section and sent emails to Nashville recording studios such as Third Man Records that I knew used vintage audio recording equipment.  The first morning we had over 75 people waiting to enter the sale and I sighed a sigh of relief.  My phone rang from all over the United States and audio engineers drove in to buy analog recording gear.  The Echoplex mastering equipment was the hottest item made in the 60's.  The Sony vintage microphones an RCA ribbon mics were also hot.  We had a MM 1000 Ampex 2" tape recording system tat was difficult to sell due to the size that we finally sold for 300.  The 1960's Slingerland drum kit sold for 500.  We had a Cadillac originally owned by Conway Twitty that sold to a local Nashville band.  It was great to see such collectibles from Nashville's musical history being passed on to collectors and admirers in the industry.  I enjoyed hearing the stories and history behind the musical gear as audio engineers from all over the city of Nashville shared information on why these items were so valuable.  We tripled my estimated revenue for the sale and sold it all.  My client was thrilled and we all walked away with a new appreciation for the world of vintage audio analog recording that we did not have before.

How to Price Garage Sale Items?

Busy Bee Moving and Estate Sales in Nashville, Ten.  www.busybeemovingsales.com
As an estate sales company we are faced with pricing thousands of items each week in a short amount of time.  I am often asked how we do it.  Ninety percent of the items we price are items we have priced in previous sales and knowing current prices of items as well as experience with going to neighborhood garage sales helps with pricing your own. 
If you do not frequent yard sales or thrift stores then ask someone to help you that does.  Remember, you want to sell something in 2 days so it should be significantly less than what you paid for it new, even if it is new in the box.  Clothing prices should be about 1/3rd less than that of Goodwill.  Glassware and toys that are clean and in good condition will bring more than the contrary.  You can price clothing on a sign that itemizes tops, etc. as one price but will not bring as much as if you price them separately.  Price large pieces of furniture significantly less as the common complaint is that customers do not have a way of moving it.  Price furniture sets separately and give discounts if they want to buy more than one piece.

Appraising rare or antique items can be done easily now on the internet.  Ebay.com is a good resource but make sure you are looking under the SOLD section.  Other apps such as Worthpoint.com are also excellent for researching collectibles as they will go back several years of online auctions.  For large items that would not generally sell well on Ebay due to shipping cost, your local Craigslist would give you an idea of what that item might sell for.  Although Craigslist.org doesn't give you the sold price, it will give you an idea of an asking price if you compare several ads.
Pricing too high because you are unsure of a reasonable set price, may sticker shock your customers and turn them away.  However, pricing a little high but announcing to your customers that you are flexible will open up negotiation with your customers.
As the day winds down you may want to post a percentage off for the sale to encourage sales or mark down items that no one has shown interest in.
I went to a garage sale this week that obviously didn't do enough research.  They had some Fostoria pieces they had way overpriced as well as a few other pieces of glass that they knew were collectibles but almost gave away some pottery pieces such as Weller and Roseville they didn't know was worth more than the Fostoria.  With the amount of antiques they had, it would have paid them to have had a dealer come in and help appraise.
If you have attempted to sell it online or Craigslist, don't expect it to sell for the same price at a garage sale.  Also, set aside your thoughts of what you paid for it or nostalgic value as that is not an indicator of fair market value.  Fair market value is what a customer will give you for an item on that given day.

Should I be present at my estate sale?

www.Busybeemovingsales.com  is an estate sale co. in Nashville, Tn. and serving the Middle Tennessee areas.

Should I be present at my estate or moving sale?  I am interviewing with an estate sale company and suddenly the tell me that I cannot be present at the sale.  Immediately, I realize that they have something dishonest going on and they either want to price my items too low or hide something they are doing.  After all, it is my home and my merchandise.  I have every right to be on my property to oversee the estate sale or auction to make sure it is legitimate.  So why would they ask me to not be present at my own estate auction or tag sale?

Reason #1:  Separating yourself from you or your loved one's collections and personal belongings can be more emotional than you think.  I pointed out that a side table had cigarette burns on it while previewing a sale and the lady lovingly looked at the table, smiled and said, "That was on my daddy's side of the bed and those were his cigarette burns.  I never had the heart to remove them.  They remind me of him."

Our memories are attached to our things in the most unusual ways and we often don't realize that until we start separating ourselves from them.

Reason #2:  Professional business practices.  You just researched, checked the company out with either references are local agencies such as the Better Business Bureau and are confident they are a trustworthy honest estate sales company.  Now you are going to try to help them do their job.  Standing between the employees and their job can not only bring stress between them and the customers but you as well therefore making the sale not as successful.  If you have communicated well and given the staff your contact information during the day to call on certain items, that should be sufficient in communicating during the sale.  Realtors have the same requirements.  You hire them as an agent to sell your home and as they negotiate, they will contact you if the limits of the contract are challenged.  Being present during these negotiations is not only good business practice but confusing to the customer.

Example of this past week I had with a home owner:
Our contract clearly states that occupants and pets are not to be present at the sale.  The homeowner texted me the day before to inform me the dog would have to stay at the sale locked on the back porch and all of the items we had on tables in that area would need to be moved.  We moved the items that morning and the large dog was sweet but very upset during the sale as customers walked by and he wanted attention.  Pets are often confused during moving situations anyway but a crowd of people in his territory for 3 days was very upsetting.  At one time he ran into the house, jumped on the sofa and I had a very hard time getting him back out.  Thank goodness he wasn't a biter.

To make things worse, the home owner decided to just hang around the last day.  He proceeded to walk around and talk with customers, make deals, quote prices which were different from ours so many customers came to the register saying, "he told me one price but the owner told me another.:  I was uncomfortable negotiating prices with him staring at me as I felt intimidated to quote a price that he was indifferent with.  At one point he pulled a man to the side that was interested in several pieces of furniture and told him to come back after we leave and he would sell it to him for a better price!  But the straw was when he plopped down on the sofa, turned on the football game and proceeded to watch it while people were browsing in the same room.  One lady was reluctant to walk between him and the tv.  I walked in and said, "You are not going to turn my classical music off, and watch tv in the middle of my sale!"  He said,  "I don't have anywhere to go."  I said, "You signed a contract saying you wouldn't be here during the sale."  He went outside but continued to make deals with customers.  It did not look professional.

What Is an Estate Sale?

Busy Bee Moving Sales Serving Nashville Tn. and Surrounding Areas. 512-788-2544
We are often asked this question in areas that do not have a local Estate and Moving Sales company located in their area.

An estate and moving sale company is not an auction.  It is a tag sale taking place in the home of the residents or a more convenient location.  It is much like a garage or yard sale but inside the home.  It will usually have a set time and dates and be advertised much like a garage sale.  Rather than the owners conducting the sale, it may be conducted by an outside company that will clean, organize, set up and sell everything on a commission basis.

You can find estate sales in your area by searching craigslist.org, estatesales.net and estatesales.com.

Whether you are downsizing, redecorating, cleaning, moving, probating a will or in financial need, an estate sale company may help you.

www.busybeemovingsales.com