House contents valuation for IHT

sparkiemalarkie

Hi is it necessary to get a professional to value the contents of a property for IHT purposes or can we do it ourselves?


Mum had nothing of value - everything is years old and worn out.


I have been through the contents and looked up anything that I thought might have some value but nothing of any note. for example an old dish inherited from great aunt approximate value £10 on Ebay if it even sold.


tia


sparkie

Flugelhorn

I think comments on here have indicated a nominal value for the whole lots - I looked at my mother's stuff and felt that there was very little that could be resold, she didn't collect anything valuable. I put £500 down for everything.

buildersdaughter

A nominal value is fine.
I got a valuation on a couple of books that a family member 'thought might be worth something' based on googling - and as you point out, just because someone is asking £10 on ebay doesn't mean it's worth it!
I don't know if you have the time or inclination, but we honoured our parents by giving away items of sentimental value to friends and relatives, then freecycling / giving to charity other items as appropriate. A homeless charity took a lot of simple everyday things to make up pack for people just moving into a basic flat. It left us with very little to throw away - but I should say that I am compulsive Old Styler and took a lot for dust sheets & rags!

Mojisola

sparkiemalarkie wrote: »

Hi is it necessary to get a professional to value the contents of a property for IHT purposes or can we do it ourselves?

Mum had nothing of value - everything is years old and worn out.

Flugelhorn wrote: »

I think comments on here have indicated a nominal value for the whole lots - I looked at my mother's stuff and felt that there was very little that could be resold, she didn't collect anything valuable. I put £500 down for everything.

We used a solicitor to do Dad's estate and he put £500 for the contents of a four bed house - while everything would cost much more to replace, most of it has very little or no value if you tried to sell it.

AnotherJoe

I put £510 for my mums and that was stretching it. Most* s/h furniture has essentially zero value. No one wants to buy an old microwave or crt tv. It will probably cost us to have the contents removed.

* unless its a specific brand and even then the value is a fraction of the price paid. Or its Queen Anne or similar antiques etc.

Yorkshireman99

AnotherJoe wrote: »

I put £510 for my mums and that was stretching it. S/h furniture has essentially zero value. No one wants to buy an old microwave or crt tv. It will probably cost us to have it removed.

It is a myth that secondhand furniture has no value. Good quality solid wood furniture always sells. You only have to look on eBay sold items to see what sells and for how much. I have five pieces of Ercol all bought on eBay for a fraction of the new price and far less than new chipboard items.

p00hsticks

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

I have five pieces of Ercol all bought on eBay for a fraction of the new price and far less than new chipboard items.

Isn't that proving the point ? You were able to buy them for very little.... and any money raised would probably go on paying for the rest of the stuff to be cleared ...

AnotherJoe

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

It is a myth that secondhand furniture has no value. Good quality solid wood furniture always sells. You only have to look on eBay sold items to see what sells and for how much. I have five pieces of Ercol all bought on eBay for a fraction of the new price and far less than new chipboard items.

That proves my point*, "fraction of the price", eg not worth much, even for a brand like Ercol, let alone 40 year old beds and sofas, and wall cabinets that went out of fashion before the Bay City Rollers were a thing.


* OK i used hyperbole but the point stands, s/h furniture has very little value (even brands) and that assumes its practical to sell it. Which it isn't if you live nowhere near the house. The transport cost of it to my house would be greater than the value of sales, if i had somewhere to store it.

Yorkshireman99

AnotherJoe wrote: »

That proves my point*, "fraction of the price", eg not worth much, even for a brand like Ercol, let alone 40 year old beds and sofas, and wall cabinets that went out of fashion before the Bay City Rollers were a thing.


* OK i used hyperbole but the point stands, s/h furniture has very little value (even brands) and that assumes its practical to sell it. Which it isn't if you live nowhere near the house. The transport cost of it to my house would be greater than the value of sales, if i had somewhere to store it.

You clearly have not checked.the facts! An Ercol bookcase, table or sideboard readlily fetches £150 to £300 so is not worthless. That is quite apart from any antiques that may be around.A responsible executor will not just throw away saleable items. There are plenty of dealers who will buy good quality furniture, and collect it, albeit they have to make a profit. I agree that a lot of cheap urniture is of little value.

Tom99

I used £0 since it was a mix of charity shop and local tip, so there is no actual minimum you need to use if goods are worthless on the open market.

sparkiemalarkie

Tom99 wrote: »

I used £0 since it was a mix of charity shop and local tip, so there is no actual minimum you need to use if goods are worthless on the open market.

Thanks.
It has been decided to have the contents valued at the cost of £200+VAT - such a shame, but I suppose it keeps someone in a job.


sparkie