10 Tips on How to Conduct an Estate Sale

10 Tips on How to Conduct an Estate Sale

The spring season is upon us. This is a time of new beginnings and a time for change. For many homeowners this is the start of the spring home selling season. For seniors this may be a time of transition. This may also mean a transition from your home of many years into an active adult community or a senior care facility.

This often raises the question of what to do with your home contents. Do you want to keep them and bring them with you to your new home or do you want a change as you transition into your new home? If you want a change, and want to look into buying new furniture, then this presents another challenge; what to do with your current furniture and your other household contents?

Exploring an Estate Sale is one option.

This is part of a continuing series of article and helpful tips and insights into senior care and senior transition services by Nick Santoro and Joe Santoro of Personal Property Managers (www.personalpropertymanagers.com )  Personal Property Managers specializes in senior transition services such as downsizing, content clean out and removal, estate sales, full service real estate and property sale and moving.

Selling the house, de-cluttering, cleaning-up and clearing-out your house and its contents can be both an exciting and daunting challenge. With the cost of senior care and perhaps moving into an active adult community being extremely expensive, the desire to maximize the value of a lifetime of memories becomes especially important.

With the help of an Estate Sale professional such as Personal Property Managers (http://www.personalpropertymanagers.com/estate_sale_liquidation_services.htm ) the desire to convert a lifetime of possessions into cash can become a reality.

One of the first steps in downsizing is to recognize that not all the belongings you have in your current home can fit into your new home. Often parents would like to pass their belongings to their children. This presents  another challenge, because their  grown kids are often very busy or have totally different tastes. As a result, many parents will simply throw away, give away or donate everything in a belief that these items have no real value to others.  Nick Santoro of Personal Property Managers, a certified Estate Sale specialist says that you’ll be surprised as to what people will actually buy at an Estate Sale if it is conducted properly and advertised and promoted professionally. Nick says that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.  

Nick Santoro advises his Personal Property Managers Estate Sale clients that to get the most of out of your Estate Sale, clients should consider his 10 Estate Sale tips:

1. When client are trying to sell something, they should think like a buyer. Make believe that the shoe is on the other foot, and set up your sale accordingly.
2. The success of an Estate Sale will depend on three things – 1) marketing; to create awareness, 2) selection of items for sale with lots and lots of pictures (to be included in your advertising) and 3) realistic and attractive prices to get people to buy; remembering that what one paid for an item and what it will sell for at an Estate Sale are often two very different price points.
3. Selection – an estate sale should encompass a household of different items (furniture, appliances, tools and more), placed in an attractive and clean display, and staged to bring focus to the items that are most likely to catch people’s eye.
4. Pricing Estate Sale items at reasonable and realistic price points is critical. As a general rule of thumb, this usually means items may sell for about 20% of original cost…but this is a very general rule and depends on many conditions such as its condition, its uniqueness, its value and so on. Although many items will have great sentimental value or may have cost a lot originally, they will most likely not be worth as much to potential buyers as they are to you. Take the time to research various websites to make educated and professional price comparisons.
5. Understand that an estate sale is really a full house version of a garage sale. Things are spread throughout the entire home, not just the driveway. It is important to have professionals cover the entire home as salespeople and for security to avoid theft.  
6. Be prepared to negotiate. Negotiating prices is the foundation of every garage sale and estate sale.  
7. Valuables like gold, precious stones or signed artwork should be tested and appraised, or left out of the sale. Estate sale buyers may not be the right buyers for true valuables. You may need to find more specialized sources to sell these.
8. Proper Estate Sale promotion, marketing and advertising is critical to an Estate Sales success. Personal Property Managers designs special web pages dedicated to each of their client’s individual estate sale and then promotes them on a host of Estate Sale Websites and other proprietary venues. You’ll want to draw as much attention to the sale as possible by using signs along public roads. We have found that 40-50% of your buyers will come from the signs, so large noticeable signs with proper messaging and strategic placement is very important.  
9. Prepare a fanny pack for each staff member with sales materials to keep the sale running efficiently and smoothly.
10. Hand out tickets starting an hour or so prior to the sale to allow access on a first come, first serve basis. Make sure to only allow enough people in at a time to follow fire department regulations.

Personal Property Managers, LLC (www.personalpropertymanagers.com ) can help you in the process of asset liquidation, Estate Sales and moving. At Personal Property Managers we specialize in downsizing, content removal and liquidation, Real Estate / property sales and moving. With one call, Personal Property Managers does it all.

For more information please contact Nick Santoro or Joe Santoro of Personal Property Managers at www.personalpropertymanagers.com  or simply give us a call at 215-485-9272 or 908-368-1909. Personal Property Managers specializes in helping to transition elderly ones from their home of many years into senior care communities. Personal Property Managers services Pennsylvania and New Jersey and offers downsizing services, estate sales services, home staging, full service real estate services via its association with Every Home Realty to help sell homes and their contents.

How to Talk to Elderly Parents About Their Finances

How to Talk to Elderly Parents About Their Finances – by Nick and Joe Santoro, Personal Property Managers

Most caregivers or adult children don’t know much about their parents’ financial situation or their elder loved ones financial situation or end-of-life plans, but they need to. Getting up to speed on your elderly parents’ finances, insurance policies, long-term care plans and other information is important because some day you might have to help them handle their financial affairs or care, or execute their estate plan after they die. Without this information, your job becomes much more difficult.

This is part of a continuing series of tips and insightful discussion topics by Nick Santoro and Joe Santoro of Personal Property Managers www.personalpropertymanagers.com specialist in senior lifestyle transition services. Personal Property Managers handles downsizing, estate sale and content removal, full service real estate / property sale and moving elderly loved ones from their home to a senior care community in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

We suggest having a heartfelt direct talk with your parents or elderly loved ones to get a better understanding of their desires and their financial situation.

If you’re uncomfortable starting up a conversation like this with your parents,  it may be a good idea to get your siblings or other family members involved. This can help you head off possible hard feelings, plus, with others involved, your parents will know everyone is concerned.

When you meet with your parents, you’ll need to sit down and create several lists of important information, find out where they keep key documents and how they want certain things handled when they die or if they become incapacitated.

Here’s a checklist of areas you need to focus on.

Personal information

• Contacts: Make a list of names and phone numbers of close friends, clergy, their doctors, lawyer, accountant, broker, tax preparer, insurance agent, etc.
• Personal documents: Find out where they keep their Social Security card, marriage license, military discharge papers, etc.
• Secured places: Make a list of places they keep under lock and key or protected by password, such as online accounts, safe deposit boxes, safe combination, security alarms, etc.
• Service providers: Make a list of the companies or people who provide them regular services such as utility companies, lawn service, etc.
• Medical information: Make a copy of their medical history (any drug allergies, past surgeries, etc.) and a list of medications they take.
• Pets: If they have a pet, what are their instructions for the animal’s care?
• End of life: What are their wishes for organ or body donation, and their funeral instructions? If they’ve made pre-arrangements with a funeral home get a copy of the agreement.

Legal documents

• Will: Do they have an updated will or trust, and where is it located?
• Power of attorney: Do they have a power of attorney document that names someone to handle their financial matters if they become incapacitated?
• Advance directives: Do they have a living will and a medical power of attorney that spells out their wishes regarding their end-of-life medical treatment?
• Financial records
• Income and debt: Make a list of their income sources such as pensions, Social Security, IRAs, 401Ks, investments, etc. And do the same for any debt (mortgage, credit cards, medical bills, etc.) they may have.
• Financial accounts: Make a list of the banks and brokerage accounts they use (checking, savings, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, IRAs, etc.) and their contact information.
• Company benefits: Make a list of any retirement plans, pensions or benefits from their former employer including the contact information of the benefits administrator.
• Insurance: Make a list of the insurance policies they have (life, long-term care, home, auto, Medicare, etc.) including the policy numbers.
• Property: Make a list of the real estate, vehicles or other properties they own, and where they keep the deeds and titles.
• Credit cards: Make a list of all their credit and charge cards, including the card numbers and contact information.
• Taxes: Find out where they keep copies of past year’s tax returns.

For more information, on this topic or other elder care transition services, such as downsizing, content removal, estate sale, home sale and full service real estate services and moving, please contact Nick or Joe Santoro at 215-485-9272 or 908-368-1909 www.personalpropertymanagers.com your one stop resources.  Personal Property Managers, services clients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Where are Seniors Moving? A look at Senior Housing Trends

Senior Housing Trends – Where is the market going?

Where is the housing market going for our seniors? What are their options?

This is part of a continuing series of articles and tips into elder care and ideas on how to address topics such as downsizing, estate sale, content removal, home clean-out, property sale, moving and other real estate transition insights by Nick Santoro and Joe Santoro of Personal Property Managers (www.personalpropertymanagers.com). Personal Property Managers services Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

According to demographic researcher Arthur C. Nelson, aging baby boomers increasingly want to sell the large homes they bought to raise their families. This, in turn, could cause the next housing crisis later this decade.

But the single-family sector’s loss may be the multifamily industry’s gain, since many of those senior citizens are likely to downsize into newly constructed apartment communities – many of which emphasize multi-generational living.

Arthur Nelson, director of the Metropolitan Research Center at the University of Utah, calls the emerging trend “The Great Senior Sell-Off.” Nelson and Earl Blumenauer, in their book “Reshaping Metropolitan America: Development Trends and Opportunities to 2030,” say that by the end of this decade about 7% of seniors ages 65 and older will move each year. Furthermore, roughly 74% of new housing demand then could come from the current owners of the typical 1960s-1980s single-family homes: which are typically single family houses, many more than 2,500 square feet and some on large lots of at least a half-acre.

In an interview with “The Atlantic,” Nelson indicated that though the boomers hope subsequent generations will buy their homes, the demand might not be there as younger families choose condominiums or urban townhouses.

“That demand used to be almost zero percent (for condos and townhomes), and now its 25 percent,” Nelson told the Atlantic.

Nelson also said the growing population of lesser-educated minorities might cause an income gap that will further reduce the demand for the Boomers’ old homes. He blames the nation’s education system on this possible trend.

The next housing crash is predicted to take place around 2020 due to changing preferences and declining median household income due to unaffordable higher education, people just don’t have the money nor are they willing to spend it on education which may not produce the return on investment it once did.

But the seniors have to move somewhere if they’re able to sell their homes. That will likely be apartments.

“They’re going to rent,” Nelson told the “Chicago Tribune.” Some 80% of seniors age 65 are home owners, which is the highest of any age group. Currently, about 4% of senior homeowners move each year, and of this group, about 60% of them move into rentals of one kind or another.

It is predicted that two-thirds of all new housing demand between 2010 and 2030 will be for rental housing. An article in “Building Design and Construction” stated that 5% to 8% of those seniors will choose seniors-only facilities.

While the senior-housing market is building, another option is rapidly emerging: That of multi-generational communities, which serve everyone from millennials to baby boomers. These developments usually consist of several buildings, at least one of which is earmarked for seniors only. A common community area with dining facilities, recreation rooms, outside walking and sitting areas and, when climate allows, swimming pools allows all residents to intermingle.

And unlike many seniors-only facilities, children and younger adults can enter the senior building freely, allowing parents, their adult children and grandchildren to live separately, but very close if they desire.

In summary, while seniors might have trouble selling their homes at the end of this decade, the multifamily industry is providing some nice options once the “Sold” sign goes up.

For more information on the senior housing market or home downsizing please contact Nick Santoro or Joe Santoro of Personal Property Managers at  215-485-9272 or 908-368-1909 www.personalpropertymanagers.com  Personal Property Managers specializes in helping to transition elderly ones from their home of many years into senior care communities. Personal Property Managers services Pennsylvania and New Jersey and offers downsizing services, estate sales services, home staging, full service real estate home sale services.

Discover Your “Elder Care Transition Options”

Discover Your “Elder Care Transition Options”: 

Personal Property Managers, lead by its founders Nick Santoro and Joe Santoro services Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Personal Property Managers can be found on the Net at www.personalpropertymanagers.com  Nick and Joe Santoro have hosted many seminars to help senior and their caregivers to avoid the overwhelming tasks of downsizing, estate sales, home staging, real estate sales and content moves to assist in transition and long term care of our nation’s elderly.  If you are a senior care community, an assisted living community, nursing home or local civic organization seeking insights into the transition process of caring for your elderly loved one from their homes of many years into a senior community than Personal Property Managers is available for free speaking and education seminars.

Many older people strive to stay in their home as long as possible. For some, a few alterations, such as ramps, lever handles and hand rails can create a safer and more manageable environment.

For others, staying in their home is no longer an option. It can be daunting and even overwhelming for seniors considering downsizing. “What to do with all this stuff”? “How do I prepare my house for sale”? “What is my home worth”? How can I move some of my contents from my home into a senior care community”? These are just a few of the things that Nick and Joe Santoro can help with during their seminars and question and answer sessions.

Personal Property Managers also works with elder care attorneys to handle questions dealing with topics such as Powers of Attorney, Estate Planning, Elder Care Law, Wills, Trusts and Medicaid to offer a complete picture of elder care coverage and assistance.

Please contact Nick Santoro and Joe Santoro, a certified Senior Real Estate Specialist and elder care transition specialist at Personal Property Managers at 215-485-9272 or 908-368-1909 via www.personalpropertymanagers.com to book free seminars or speaking engagements.