Best way to empty house after Mum's passing

Newly_retired

When my dad died, mum went into a home, so we removed all paperwork and valuables. To start with, we did not want to rush mum into a decision, so we took our time. All family members lived at a distance, so at weekends we each visited and removed bits and pieces, some to our homes, some to charity shops or recycling, as well as keeping the garden tidy.
We got an antique dealer in who gave us a decent price for some furniture.
As my parents were hoarders, it took three skips to clear the garage, outhouse, loft and spare room of junk.
Finally we got house clearance in. They assessed what was left (China, bric-a-brac, small pieces of furniture and kitchen items) as being saleable in their second hand shop, but the cost of removal of the rest of the stuff was about the same amount, so the cost was neutral. We did not have to pay them, but nor did they pay us. We did have to pay for a skip into which they put a good suite of bedroom furniture, after breaking it up. That was sad, and maybe a charity like the British Heart Fiundation would have taken it, but we were running out of time by then.

So the costs to us were our time, and the hire of four skips in total, which was covered by the items we sold to the antique dealer. Oh and the house clearance swept the place through, so it took very little effort to prepare the house for sale.
If the family had not done their bit, it would have been a huge job to clear all the junk and cost a fortune. But hopefully most people's homes are not quite so bad.
We sold it as a do-er-up-er as it needed new Windows, rewiring, boiler and central heating and full redecoration.
Hope my story helps.

Yorkshireman99

ThemeOne wrote: »

I'm just nearing the end of this process, which has been a massive amount of work.

Like the OP I don't live near the property in question, but fortunately had a lot of free time. Even so it took months and a combination of selling stuff on gumtree, giving it away on freecycle and numerous trips to charity shops and the tip.

If I had to do it again, which hopefully I never will, I honestly think I'd be tempted to pay the prices charged by house clearance companies, simply to get it done more easily.

I had two pieces of luck, when I advertised the house clearance on freecycle, one woman took almost everything. There were also a lot of tools to dispose of and I found a charity called TWAM who recycle tools and send them to developing countries - they took nearly all the tools.

British Heart Foundation will take furniture and electrical (they collect) but I found them very picky about what they'll take.

Whichever options you choose, best of luck.

They are going to take things that they can seek at a profit. You can't expect them to clear thing they can't sell.

Philis_Burrell

An auction house will make it easier for you to sort out everything.

ossie

Having just done this for a lady of 104 I found nobody would touch chairs that did not have a fire certificate, the wardrobes being 80's style were not wanted by charity shops either. I ended up taking everything up the tip. In hind sight I did wonder if we could have sold the flat fully furnished to save the hassle.....

jackyann

I too have done this and agree with Owain. I think that you can definitely do freecycle (I have, as people mostly collect quickly) and probably ebay.

The main thing is to do your homework beforehand:
Join the freecycle site and investigate gumtree etc online. Prepare to be clear & firm with freecyclers - I got rid of all that was possible within a week.

Pinpoint your charity shops and the kind of stuff they might want - if there is a lot of books, check that out as some shops turn them down (but the local library might take them) and check if any have a clearance service.

Also check charities & similar (schools, churches) as Themeone described for specific donations. My parents' mobility buggies went to the local country park, and their 'riser' chairs to the Day Centre, for example. All of these I set up to collect during that week.

Check the household rubbish and tip rules. I rang the council and said that I would be making extra tip trips for a short period of time and they were fine about it - they may even have a clearance service.

Get your boxes for stuff you are taking away, or that needs boxing. I used old clothes & towels to wrap.

Markers & labels, and a notepad

2 kinds of bags: black for rubbish and clear for everything else, so it can be seen, or you can write on a piece of paper and shove it so it can be seen.

Talk as a family about the valuables & sentimental stuff you are already aware of, so you can immediately know what to do with it.

That way you have saved a huge amount of time, and (assuming your mum was neither a hoarder nor in an enormous house) it can be done in a week . I personally found it therapeutic. I hope the replies have helped.

carlislelass

Browntoa wrote: »

british heart foundation do house clearance


https://www.bhf.org.uk/shop/donating-goods/house-clearance

Very picky though

Yorkshireman99

carlislelass wrote: »

Very picky though

Do you expect them to take things they can't sell?

Tuesday_Tenor

British Heart Foundation comments reflect confusion about what they do.

I'm only aware of them wanting furniture that they can sell in their shops.

If they are advertising as doing house clearances, that's a different thing. A complete clearance would be a service they would charge for, if the cost of removing everything was greater that the profit they'd make on the smaller number of items they could sell.

So if you're liaising with them, clarify what they do.

jackyann

I thought I'd add about the china: it is true that it doesn't, mostly, fetch much. However, I'd suggest this:

Could sister nip in and get an idea of what there is? Not the bits & pieces, but the number of sets, make & design? That won't take long.
Then you can investigate on line, and sister can ask around.
It might be worth an advert on gumtree. There is a bit of a fashion for 'mis matching' old china for tea parties & weddings, and someone may like it.
Charity shops will often take it as they can usually sell for those reasons.

ThemeOne

Of course British Heart Foundation only take what they can sell, and some of my comment comes from the system under which they have to work, such as insisting on fire certificates for any soft furnishings - obviously older items probably won't have these certificates - and when you're clearing the house of an elderly person many of the furnishings will be old.

I found that even with stuff that doesn't need certificates such as wooden furniture, everything had to be in almost perfect condition for them to accept it.

I offered them three items: a sofa-bed, a large bookcase, and a medium sized table. They wouldn't take the sofa-bed - it had some sort of fire certificate but apparently it was not the right kind, or had been attached in the wrong place or something, wouldn't take the bookcase, as there was slight damage to the back (nothing most people would worry about) so ended up just taking the table.

As well as all that, their whole attitude when they came seemed to be they were doing me a favour, when in fact it was me doing their charity the favour.

More recently I had a dining table and chairs to get rid of, and running out of time arranged for them to collect it. There was still some doubt about whether they'd take the chairs, as they had soft cushions, but anyway I'd had it advertised on gumtree for some time with no interest, but someone bought it at the last minute. I was very happy to phone BHF and cancel the collection!