Fred and I have worked with The Out of the Attic Gang for about as long as we’ve been in business. When we first met Julie Maynard and Steve Farr, they were partnered with Mark McDonald. Definitely 3 Hard Working Amigos who had left the corporate world for the exciting life of estate sellers. Each Read more…
Choosing the Right Estate Sale Professional … Part 2
Avoiding the Less Than Wonderful Estate Sellers Fred and I have attended estate sales that never should have happened … haphazard setups … poorly managed staff … little or no research before pricing … and other poor business practices. We believe it’s due to the explosion of sales throughout the Metroplex and the rise of Read more…
Choosing the Right Estate Sale Professional Part 1
You might think choosing a Professional Estate Seller is as easy as picking up the phone. Do you choose your DOCTOR, LAWYER, or CPA that way? The estate sale business has made major strides in the past 10 years. It’s become a cottage industry that brings in multiple thousands of dollars weekly! So why wouldn’t Read more…
How to Pick An Estate Seller! JUST THE START!
It’s not easy choosing a Seller. Just ask Fred and me. We both took our pads and made a list of the most important factors to consider when choosing someone. When we compared notes, the fur flew all over the room. Fred was all business — cut and dried. Who looks at things that way? Read more…
The New Normal
Lots of good news the past few days. Social distancing seems to be working. The number of new cases of the coronavirus is down or at least flattening. Businesses may be allowed to reopen (slowly) sometime in May. Which means estate sales will rev up again with weeks worth of backlog. Fred and I have Read more…
On-Line Auctions
Long before the coronavirus pandemic began Fred and I noticed a definite uptick in the number of on-line auctions. Carol Matestic of JLA Treasures had partnered with Kyle Foster Auctioneers to handle items she acquired from gated communities that prohibited on-site estate sales. Cory Crites of DFW Estate Liquidators was working with Aurora Auctions to Read more…
Regarding Coronavirus…
Earlier this week Fred and I wrote … REMEMBER … Estate Sales are going to be conducted this weekend and we’ve listed them below. Homes are sold; families are moving; sales are running. To provide as much safety for shoppers and those working the sales, Sellers are using all known safety measures … 1. Crowds Read more…
Garage Sale vs. Estate Sale Part 2
Fred and I hope you enjoyed our fun article about garage sales. While you can find cool things driving around the neighborhood, garage sales are not where shoppers go to find quality furnishings and collectibles. Too many frogs to kiss before that Prince appears. Estate sales can, but rarely do turn out to be frogs. Read more…
Garage Sale v. Estate Sale (02/21/2020)
This past weekend I found myself working an estate sale for a seller who was seriously injured while staging the same sale. I promised to help and I did. But I’d long forgotten what it was like to jump out of bed at 6:00 am, shower, and put on makeup just to hit the road Read more…
Pioneer Series … Janelle Stone Part 2
You may wonder how someone like Janelle Stone reached the pinnacle of the estate sale business. For her, it started at the young age of twenty-four by engaging in lots of hard work – enduring double digit Texas summers while staging homes, pulling down the contents of attics, and arranging garages … washing and polishing Read more…
Part 2 … Too Many Pictures!
We heard from lots of estate sale enthusiasts FOR and AGAINST the number of pictures showing off an estate sale. It actually gave us good insight into what people are thinking like the following … Lyn … 1) Please limit the number to maximum of 50. 2) I skip over sales (don’t even bother to Read more…
Estate Sale Pioneers … Featuring Janelle Stone
Estate Sale Pioneers … Featuring Janelle Stone (Part 1) (No 2 in the Pioneer Series) Her estate sales can bog down traffic in Highland Park. Homeowners leave their houses early and return late to avoid crowds walking through their neighborhood when she’s on the job. Police Officers can be seen directing traffic and standing in Read more…
Too Many Pictures
Fred and I love pictures. We built our first full fledged website because we wanted to show estate sale enthusiasts what to expect at the advertised sales. It worked well until now. The new generation of Estate Sellers are loading 400 … 500 … 700 … and just this week, over 1,000 pictures of one Read more…
Pioneers of the Estate Sale Industry … Ralph Willard
Estate Sale Pioneers … Featuring Ralph Willard (No 1 in the series) It’s the mid to late ‘50’s. Country music star, Red Foley is hosting the national TV show The Ozark Jubilee live each week from Springfield, Missouri. It features local performers as well as new faces in the country music field. That’s where we Read more…