You are now planning to put your home on the market, but you have a lot of stuff and accumulation of things over the years and most likely are not going to take everything with you when you finally move.
The question arises, are you going to procrastinate and wait for a buyer to sign your contract and then plan your garage (miscellaneous items, usually on the less expensive side) or tag sale (more moderate to expensive items, like furniture, dishes, silverware, T.V.s etc. or are you going to make it the first item on your agenda to proceed with and to get it accomplished?
Is it going to be an state sale (more expensive merchandise, where some of the best things and deals that I have ever found) for a spouse or relative that has passed? You will first have to decide what you will keep and what you will sell.
Then figuring out how to price what you have to sell will be next on your agenda. You can try going on Google, describing what the item is to determine what each might be selling for and decide how to price each item.
Yes, it will take time to do this and that is why you give yourself three to six months for your preparation and execution of your own tag sale. Once you have the prices, then you must tag each item with your price.
You can print up labels on your computer to make the prices clear to make it easy to read for your buyers. My suggestion is don’t overprice, so you will move more of your accumulated treasures the first weekend you stage your event.
But you probably will have several moving/ garage/tag sales to sell most of your stuff. What you have left you could donate to your favorite charity, such as St. Vincent DePaul, The Salvation Army (clothing, furniture, etc.), St. Jude (money from your tag sale), Animal rights or Environmental Charities, etc.
However, it is important to check with your C.P.A. to determine what tax deductions if any, the I.R.S will allow; and most important always ask for a receipt and make sure you save them in a safe place!
If you donate any type of vehicle, the I.R.S. rule today is your deduction will be based on what the charitable organization receives from your donation, not what the book value says it is. You must market and advertise your tag sale at least two to four weeks in advance to create the necessary exposure and buzz for your event. Obviously online advertising (craigslist.com, bonanza.com, half.com, etsy.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, linkedin.com, ebay.com are the most advantageous sites to best accomplish getting your merchandise sold!
However, if you google, “sites to sell my accumulated stuff”, you will find many additional sites to post to. Also, placing signs in and around your neighborhood, as well as any community boards in supermarkets and any other stores that have an area to do so, will add more exposure to your garage, tag or estate sale.
You must have the energy, fortitude, diligence and sufficient time to plan and create your tag sale. If this endeavor and the challenge to set this up seems too overwhelming, then my second suggestion would be to hire a professional tag sale company.
Also, keep in mind slick con artists and thieves as well as those who might be casing your home to potentially steal your possession might be attending your tag, garage or estate sale, so beware and make sure you have extra help to keep an eye out for suspicious or those who ask when you will be home to pick up their stuff.
Never tell them when you will not be home; just arrange for a specific day and time, but let them know you are always around and you will have to shut off your alarm to let them in, even if you do not have one!!!
There are several that are located on Long Island that are very good; but we have our favorites.
They will come in and provide you an estimated cost to perform the event. Whether they will charge you a flat fee or a percentage of the sales that occur will be determined by their policy and how you are able to negotiate.
Their responsibilities would include, but may not be limited to the following:
1. Appraise the value of all the items to be sold.
2. Clean all the merchandise as needed
3. Pricing and tagging each item or group of items
4. Organizing the entire event and setting up the necessary tables and arrange the items to be sold
5. Display all the items
6. Having several of their personnel watch over the sales for crowd control an
7. Collecting all the money from the sales
8. Cleanup after the event
9. Who will be responsible to pay the sales tax on taxable items, as required ?
Whatever your plan of action, I suggest you think it through thoroughly and decide what you are selling, how much time you will need, who will be doing the sale and whether you want to keep the proceeds or donate them to your favorite charitable organization.
This action will greatly help to begin to prepare your home for sale or eliminate as much clutter as needed to have your home presented in the best light as possible.
Bonus Information for our Readers:
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Phil is the owner of Turn Key Real Estate at 7 Bond St. in Great Neck. He can be reached by email: Phil@TurnkeyRealEstate.Com or by cell (516) 647-4289 to answer any of your questions. To search for any type of property or to see what your home is worth or homes that have sold in your area, go to:
WWW.Li-RealEstate.Com OR https://homeasap.com/471363 Or if you desire a free, no obligation customized comparative market analysis) to determine what your home is worth in today’s current market , just reach out to me for an appointment.
