FAMILY Do your research before estate sale

Many items families might think are worthless could be valuable to collectors.
By KORKY VANN
HARTFORD COURANT
For most seniors, there's no place like home. Whether tiny cottages or palatial mansions, our houses hold decades of memories and the accumulations of a lifetime.
But when older people can no longer stay in their homes or die, family members must decide what to keep, what to sell and what to donate -- and the decisions can be difficult.
"As long as people live in homes filled with items they've collected over the years, somebody someday is going to be responsible for dealing with those contents," says Mim Nagy, an Ohio estate sale operator and author of "The Complete Guidebook to the Business of Estate and Tag Sales" (TLC Tag Sales & amp; Publishing Co., $30).
"That somebody usually turns out to be an adult child who in many cases is not only dealing with the loss of a parent but also with the emotional impact of parting with objects from the past. It's one of the most traumatic things for people to do."
And while many seniors have made wills dealing with the distribution of money, stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets, Nagy says, few have discussed the specifics of who will receive such things as the family china, the piano or the mahogany credenza.
Unprepared
"Eighty-five percent of people make no arrangements for what will happen to their things after they're gone," Nagy said. "That can lead to lots of bickering and lots of hard feelings within families. It's really such a gift when parents divide things ahead of time."
In most cases, once family members have chosen the items they want, the remaining contents must be sold so that the house can be put on the market. Those contents, say experts, can be substantial.
Almost 60 percent of Americans own their own home, and more than half of homeowners over 65 have lived in their homes for 20 years or longer. The result is often attics, basements and rooms overflowing with furniture, dishes, clothing and more.
"The majority of estate sales are done in homes built between 1920 and 1950," Nagy said. "Everything -- including the silver, the collectibles, the mahogany furniture -- is still there and it's valuable. A lot of times, when a parent dies, the kids take what they want and then call a local charity to come pick the rest of the stuff up. They figure it isn't worth much."
Worth a lot
That assumption could be a costly mistake. The contents of a typical seven-room house, Nagy says, can earn between $7,500 and $10,000. While most people know the value of an antique chair or sterling silver tea set, they may not know that market prices for collectibles have skyrocketed.
So what should you do? Nagy suggests giving yourself time to deal with the trauma of losing a parent before rushing into liquidating the contents of the family home. Then take inventory of what will be sold and do some research. Bookstores and libraries are filled with pricing guides.
Estate sale services and auction galleries can come in and give you an idea of which objects are particularly valuable, while antiques or collectibles dealers can appraise individual items.
Finally, decide whether to hire professionals or to do the sale yourself. If you handle the sale yourself, you'll get all the profit, but you'll also have to clean, tag and display each item, as well as deal with advertising and customers.
If you hire professionals, they'll handle all the details for a percentage of the sale's profits -- anywhere from 20 percent to 35 percent.