Jan 28 2009
Appraisal Apprising
When I was thinking about resolutions for the new year, I knew one of them should be “Clean out Mom’s storage”, but I didn’t want to commit to it, since I was pretty sure I wouldn’t actually get around to it. And then I’d have to admit it to my adoring public, and you might adore me less. I just couldn’t take the risk.
It’s a pretty overwhelming job. It’s over an hour’s drive, and when you get there, it’s packed with things and stuff. Mom was a notorious pack rat, and when she got sick, we just stuffed her things in there, thinking she’d get better. When John and I separated, my stuff joined Mom’s, and it’s pretty much full to capacity. I couldn’t imagine how to even start sorting and disposing of it all, and the logistics just made my pretty little head swim, so I put it on indefinite hold. Hope it’s enjoying the Muzak.
I came across an appraiser/auctioneer who has had his own business for 40 years. He lives near the storage facility, and I went to meet him there today. He was a mover before he was an auctioneer, so he said he’d help me excavate and take away things that were worth selling.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been in this situation before, but here’s fun news: the items I had had appraised five years ago are not worth anywhere near the appraised value when I went to to sell them. Turns out that appraisals for insurance (replacement value) and appraisals for selling are two different things. Guess which one’s higher?
Why am I not surprised?
He’s interested in a lot of the furniture, though there are some items I can’t bear to sell. He took some today and we’ll meet up again at a later date so he can take more. Even after he does, there are about 900 boxes of books, etc. that I have no place for but don’t want to get rid of. Now who’s the pack rat?
2 Responses to “Appraisal Apprising”
I ran into many situations not unlike yours as an Antique Dealer. Lots of people are pack rats, we tend to want to keep everything just in case we should need one day. In many cases, they had to rent space to keep their treasures. Unfortunately, when they had to get rid of them which is eventual, they never got their moneys worth.It usually costed them more in rental space.
That’s one of the main reasons we want to clear it out – it’s expensive and I bet you’re right: it has probably cost more to rent over the years than the value of most of the stuff. ~sigh~