The Estate Sale

Is it just me, or does it seem logical that one must HAVE an estate in order to have an estate sale? I guess I’m thinking “estate” in terms of just brick and mortar. In my mind…the stately Wayne Manor…home of Batman and his ward (winky-wink) Robin…is an estate. Donald Trump and Bill Gates both live in estates! Anneke and I have a very nice home, but we don’t live in an estate.

The Encarta Dictionary supplied by Microsoft on this computer lists six definitions for estate. I suppose that we fall into number 2…”the whole of somebody’s property, possessions, and capital”.  Almost…but not actually the case. The house is already up for sale (and has been for MONTHS...and as of September 2006, October 2006,November 2006...it's STILL for sale!), and we hope to be able to manage the capital so that the last check we write bounces. I suppose that leaves just our “stuff”…our possessions…and do we have possessions!

Anneke contracted with a professional estate sale/liquidator firm to manage this MAJOR undertaking for us. I can honestly say that I have never frequented an estate sale, garage sale, or tag sale, and didn’t have a clue as to how they work. Shopping for me is right up there with oral surgery! I just HATE to shop. The person in charge (I’m not using her name because I don’t like her on a personal basis) and her band of snoops…appraisers…taggers…and displayers showed up a week before the three-day sale was scheduled and IMMEDIATELY took over our home. Fearing for our safety, we grabbed the cats and took refuge at a Marriott Residence Inn for a week. Anneke and I had already more or less…mostly less…segregated the items we wanted to either move aboard Prime Time or to place in storage. These items included some clothing, photos, tools, and a few other household objects that we MIGHT (bad habits are hard to break) need some day.

We had already taken a lot of our stuff to Prime Time in early September in preparation for the delivery cruise to Texas. Most of the clothing and household (boathold?) goods we wanted aboard were already there. Prime Time is a good sized boat with plenty of storage space. Even so, it was VERY obvious that we were going to have to give away, sell, or store a lot of our worldly possessions.

What was left to sell? EVERYTHING…furniture, washer/dryer, garage refrigerator, art, kitchen objects, clothing, carpets, Anneke’s leaded/stained glass inventory, books, tools, basement stuff…you name it…it was for sale!  They went from room to room…closet to closet…drawer to drawer…basement box to basement box (yes…we still had unopened boxes from the move TO Ohio almost 5 years ago stored in the basement)…and inventoried everything. They systematically placed similar objects (sports equipment, picture frames, vases, jewelry, tools, etc.) together in groupings…very organized.

By late Thursday afternoon, EVERY single item was tagged with a price. Anneke and I were shocked (pleasantly so!) at some of the price points that the person in charge suggested. She had placed ads in all of the local papers announcing the sale for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We walked through the house late Thursday night and could not believe how much stuff was being offered for sale! I thought that it might be sad to see our “precious possessions” laid out bare…ready to be fondled by strangers…haggled over…and then carted away forever! Take my word for it…IT WAS GREAT…even somewhat cathartic!

Why do we save things? Why can’t we strictly adhere to the old and sage “if you haven’t used something in a year” rule? Does one really need dozens of pairs of jeans, polo shirts, or even suits? Shoes are STILL sacred ground for Anneke…I won’t even go there! Old tools and hardware. I don’t think that I EVER found the type and size screw or bolt I needed in the thousands that I had collected in bins over the years. How about kitchen gear. .. We had pots, pans, utensils, gadgets, and bake ware that hadn’t EVER seen action! How can you miss a brand new bundt pan? I can’t remember the last bundt cake baked in this house! It was probably the meal where we had jello formed in the cute molds…

Well guess what…We sold just about EVERYTHING! It is truly amazing! Remember the price points we thought might be too high…they weren’t. We didn’t come around during the sale, but our neighbors tell us people were lined up outside to get in! The neighbors even added to their “stuffed to the rafters” homes with some of our ex-possessions.

Anneke and I are shocked…actually blown away…at the proceeds from this estate sale. Not only did we make some money, new homes were found for many of our treasures! It wasn’t happy…it wasn’t sad…it was just a real RELIEF! The really important items will be moved and probably placed in our storage unit. I can just see it now. Fast forward a few years, and we’ll be having another estate sale…this time out of a storage unit!

Hey…we’re off to Texas to live and play on Prime Time! Wish us luck…