I'm running into a stone wall trying to get an auctioneer or estate liquidator to come in and finish cleaning out my aunt's house. The ones I contacted have all asked if the family has taken anything out. When I reply in the affirmative, they say they don't want second choice after everything has been picked over and that I'm not looking as much for an auctioneer as I am for a junk removal service. Do they think they have more right to the house contents than the family?

They should at least come and take a look to determine if there is enough there of value to make it worth their time.

If you do find someone be certain to determine exactly what they will do. Most auctions here take place on site. The property owner generally is responsible for cleaning up after the sale and getting rid of the things that do not sell.

If you want the things to be taken to an auction house, etc. the auctioneer will most likely only take things that are of value. If you are looking for a quick removal of items, then you may need to find someone who makes an offer and then just takes everything.

As a former auctioneer, I can tell you that having a sale takes a lot of work! Often times it is someone elderly who had no help...so the auctioneer ends up moving furniture/everything else to the outside in order to be ready for the sale. Fortunately my husband and father helped me!

We have ladies who own their "tag sale" companies here. Groups of women who sort through everything, box and price items. Discard trash, and sell it all on site, usually within the home. (Best for you to take off for a few days.)

Second or third day half price, and last hour...make an offer. They are very good at pricing and EVERYTHING is gone at the end. That really is the goal, is it not?

We may end up doing this when we make our final move out of state.

Keep looking. After interviewing several estate companies here in my area, this is what I found to be the general procedure:

1) anything that is not for sale must be removed from the home
2) the estate sale is held on site, usually over a two-day period during the weekend
3) the estate sale company does all the set-up, pricing, tagging of items in every room, even outdoors.
4) they advertise the sale and send out bulletins to dealers and other interested parties in their data bank
5) they DO NOT want homeowners present or even occupying the home
6) they clean up after the sale is over.
Each company handles left over merchandise differently; some may buy what's left.

Now, if relatives want most of the estate, and there is very little left, or if it's a very modest estate, then an estate sales company may not want to invest the time, money and effort to conduct a sale.

Here is an interesting ste-by-step guide to conducting a DIY estate sale: http://fineestateliquidation.c...sales-10-step-guide/

Hope this helps.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aychihuahua,

Probably not your situation, but just to pass along:

One way to handle multiple relatives desiring the same certain piece is to have them come to the auction/sale and bid (or place an order bid off site that the auctioneer bids for them). They cap it at the most they would pay for said item. Yes they buy/pay for it, but a portion of the sale price can return to them, if they are included in the estate, thus fair for all involved.

If they are going to get a portion of the estate, including the profit that the auction generates, they can decide how much they REALLY want that item.