When families begin clearing out a home, one of the first questions they ask is:
“Should we do an estate buyout or an estate sale?”
While a buyout may sound simpler at first, it’s important to understand the financial and emotional differences before making a decision.
We occasionally get a call from someone who wants an Estate Buyout. We do Estate Sales, Online Auctions, Cleanouts, Downsizing, and Senior Relocation. We don’t do Estate Buyouts.
Estate Buyout
Estate Sale / Online Auction
One flat payment
Items sold individually
Fast but lower payout
Usually, higher overall return
Little sorting involved
Careful review of belongings
Buyer profits from resale
Owner receives market value
Often little transparency
Full accounting provided
An Estate Buyout is when someone comes, pays you a flat sum for the personal property in the house, and takes it all away. To some folks, this sounds easier and faster than holding an Estate Sale or doing an Online Auction. The advantage is that the owner does not have to do any sorting and may receive funds sooner. The danger is that the purchaser will negotiate a purchase price that is strongly advantageous to the purchaser rather than the prior owner.
A company offering a buyout must leave enough room for:
- labor
- transportation
- storage costs
- dumping fees
- resale risk
Because of this, buyout offers are often significantly below true resale value.
A buyout may make sense in certain situations, such as:
- severe time constraints
- properties with very low resale value
- homes located in remote areas
- situations where the family prioritizes speed over return
However, many families are surprised to learn how much additional value can be recovered through a professionally managed estate sale or online auction.
In Torrance, and the surrounding area, there are no companies that do Estate Buyouts. The reason is that to be able to process and sell the items from a buyout, you need to have somewhere large enough to bring the entire contents of the home and have enough additional room to sort the items into sell, toss, and donate categories. With land prices being what they are in Palos Verdes and the South Bay, it becomes extremely expensive to maintain that large of a facility.
The advantages of having an Estate Sale or Online Auction are that the owner of the items, or their estate, can receive closer to true market value for their belongings.
One of the biggest concerns families have is accidentally losing meaningful items during the cleanout process. At Caring Transitions South Bay PV, we carefully look through belongings to help protect family photos, heirlooms, military memorabilia, and important documents. Decisions are made about each item.
Family mementos, documents and photos are put aside for the family. If someone in the family remembers an item that they want to keep, the Estate Sale company can usually locate it for you.
With an Online Auction, items will be bid up to their correct secondary market value. At an Estate Sale, attention is given to pricing each item, with research being done on items that have not been seen before to get the correct price.
If you opt for an Online Auction, special items can be featured on CTBids Auction Insiders, with photos, helping preserve the story and history behind meaningful items.
In many homes, families are surprised by the value of everyday items. Collections, vintage kitchenware, tools, costume jewelry, and even partially used household supplies often sell successfully during estate sales and online auctions.
Additionally, at Estate Sales and picker sales on Online Auction pickup day, we can sell things that would surprise the average person.
Many people who clean homes come, and purchase half used bottles of cleaner. People buy lots of little things, which can add quite a lot to your total proceeds.
After the Estate Sale or Online Auction, a Cleanout of anything remaining is done. Donations are taken to a local Charity, and the Trash is taken to the dump. Caring Transitions sweeps and vacuums the house after everything is removed.
Many people assume an estate sale will require months of work from the family. In reality, Caring Transitions handles the sorting, staging, pricing, advertising, selling, donation coordination, and cleanout process from start to finish. Caring Transitions South Bay PV usually completes the entire process in a month. With an Online Auction, you will receive a printout of what each item sold for.
If you’re trying to decide between an estate buyout and an estate sale, Caring Transitions South Bay PV would be happy to walk you through your options.
We provide compassionate, full-service estate sales, online auctions, downsizing, relocation, and cleanout services throughout Torrance, Palos Verdes, and the South Bay area.
Contact us today for a free consultation.