Pay for company to clear property?

enthusiasticsaver · 14 September 2017 at 11:21PM

This is the first time I have had to arrange this so I wonder if any more experienced property investors could advise.

I have to arrange clearance of a flat we own as a second home as it has been sold. Some of the furniture/contents is being gifted to friends and family but due to lack of time I have rung a property clearance company to get them to advise on clearing it. I am unsure from the advertising they do as to whether they purchase the contents from me or will bill me for clearing it. They will be selling it in their warehouse as I have looked at their website and this is what they do.

The property in question is 13 years old and was an ex show flat with modern furnishings and it is all in pristine condition still. How do I get a fair deal and is there something I should be asking? I would expect to get a fair price (what they would get for selling it less a percentage for their efforts)and also deduct the costs of travel and labour for getting the furniture/goods from the property to their warehouse. Am I being realistic here or will I be stung for a large bill for clearing it? There is no mention of prices whatsoever on their website.

G_M · 15 September 2017 at 12:12AM

Do you have a realistic estimate of the value of the contents? Have you considered it item by item? Compared against ebay values? Identified any special items of value like antiques?

2nd hand furniture has limited value and will go for very little at an auction or warehouse sale, but of course it depends how much there is and what each item is.

What did the clearance company say? Are they coming to make an assessment? Did they list their charges? Or say they would buy? Or give a % of whatever they sell for?

It's hard to advise, but the starting point must be for you to value it all yourself. Only then can you see if anything they offer is reasonable, or whether the best you can hope for is for them to clear it for free and then sell it.

But doing it in a hurry will cost you. If you had time, you could sell it yourself for the best price.

enthusiasticsaver · 15 September 2017 at 12:29AM

G_M wrote: »

Do you have a realistic estimate of the value of the contents? Have you considered it item by item? Compared against ebay values? Identified any special items of value like antiques?

2nd hand furniture has limited value and will go for very little at an auction or warehouse sale, but of course it depends how much there is and what each item is.

What did the clearance company say? Are they coming to make an assessment? Did they list their charges? Or say they would buy? Or give a % of whatever they sell for?

It's hard to advise, but the starting point must be for you to value it all yourself. Only then can you see if anything they offer is reasonable, or whether the best you can hope for is for them to clear it for free and then sell it.

But doing it in a hurry will cost you. If you had time, you could sell it yourself for the best price.

Good advise and I will go through gum tree to try to get a rough idea. There seems to be a massive variation though and I do understand the value of 2nd hand furniture is low. No charges have yet been mentioned or any regards of whether they pay.

I know probably the best option is to try and sell privately but with only 2 weeks between exchange and completion time is limited.

None of it is antiques. There is a canteen of silver plated cutlery but I am not sure how much even that is worth.

G_M · 15 September 2017 at 12:38AM

When clearing my mum's house we approached an auction company/clearance house. They came and identified items they would put in their auction (with a % of the sale price going to them). They also offered to 'clear' the remainder for £50 for their time. I have little doubt even those items would have been sold by them but for a pittance.

But it all comes down to what the stuff is worth.

Silver cutlery is not popular these days and its value is probably no more than the weight of the silver itself - which will be negligible in silver plate, but you could always remove that and other smaller items yourself to deal with later.

p00hsticks · 15 September 2017 at 2:33AM

I'd expect them to charge for clearing it.

davidmcn · 15 September 2017 at 6:30AM

Any charity options? Salvation Army furniture shop took the bulk of it the last time I had furniture to dispose of.

eddddy · 15 September 2017 at 7:21AM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

I would expect to get a fair price (what they would get for selling it less a percentage for their efforts)and also deduct the costs of travel and labour for getting the furniture/goods from the property to their warehouse.

Maybe see the type of stuff they sell in the warehouse, and what price they achieve.

Furniture shops (both new and secondhand) will expect to achieve a markup of at least 100% i.e. if they pay £25 for something, they will need to price it at least £50.

In this case, the extra travel and labour means they would almost certainly offer you quite a bit less than half what they can sell it for.

Perhaps the best plan is to get 2 or 3 home clearance firms to quote - and then take the best offer.

glentoran99 · 15 September 2017 at 7:39AM

Can you not put whatever you don't want on the fixtures and fittings list and leave it?

getmore4less · 15 September 2017 at 8:11AM

The property in question is 13 years old and was an ex show flat with modern furnishings and it is all in pristine condition still

Are their really anything decent high value lifetyle items in show house dressings?

if you still have stuff left after you and all your friends and family take what they want that will give an idea of what the rest is worth to others.

How time poor are you?

Any new build where people are moving in nearby?
they may be interested in some of the bigger stuff, beds wardrobes tables but that would need time might get lucky and someone wants the lot.

would you be prepared to spend a weekend at the place and use gumtree/freecycle/charity to get the place cleared

We have charity warehouse near us and they get good money for their better stuff(they collect/clear) but even stuff that new cost £ks only gets low £100s as that is what their market will take so you get the odd bargain but most goes at utility prices.

As time is critical if they know they may wait a bit to make your time pressure no choice, check out other options now.

Norman_Castle · 15 September 2017 at 8:45AM

https://www.bhf.org.uk/shop/donating-goods/book-a-free-furniture-collection

00ec25 · 15 September 2017 at 9:04AM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Good advise and I will go through gum tree to try to get a rough idea. There seems to be a massive variation though and I do understand the value of 2nd hand furniture is low. No charges have yet been mentioned or any regards of whether they pay.

Gumtree will not give you any idea of what stuff actually sold for, it will merely show the wide range of expectations people priced it at.

i think you will need to be ready for a disappointment as to how much you will get in cash, particularly if the "better" stuff has already been taken by relatives.

what about white goods? I well recall one instance where my relatives withdrew the white goods from the collection and gave them to their children at which point the house clearance company said they would now be charged for the clearance - of a 5 bed property!

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

None of it is antiques. There is a canteen of silver plated cutlery but I am not sure how much even that is worth.

silver plated cutlery in a canteen on ebay is anywhere from £7 - £30 asking price. As GM says expect very little for it by the time the dealer takes their margin

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Pay for company to clear property?

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