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Thank you all for answering my first question about the estate sale or appraiser. Can I ask what does it cost to hire the estate sale expert? Also, will the estate be charged taxes for this? Thank you again in advance.

No, you don't pay taxes on the items you sell in an estate sale. Like Lea says, the agent takes 40 or 50% of the proceeds. The one we hired cleaned my MILs house for $300, after the sale, to get it ready for selling. We hired a realtor to sell the house.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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The net proceeds of the estate sale would be added to aunts income for the year.

As I said in my last post to you, estate sale companies generally take 40 to 50% of the proceeds of the sale, depending on the condition of aunties home, the trash involved, how much organization and sorting needs to be done, etc.

A decent estate sale co uses an appraiser for certain items if they are unsure of value. You do not pay extra for this. If you hire an appraiser, how are you going to SELL those appraised items? The true value of something is the amount people are willing to spend for it. Furniture is hard to sell, and goes for little, as a rule.

MY advice to you is to call the estate sale company as a first step and let THEM tell YOU the terms.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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Liz, you will need to speak with the estate sales company for their prices, check out a couple of them to compare services vs rates.

I just had an appraisal done for donation purposes and I was quoted 500.00 to 2,500.00 for 3 items to be appraised. If you want them to do the leg work, it's time consuming because they HAVE TO look at what the items are selling for on multiple public platforms and then determine condition and average prices accordingly. My personal opinion is that this is an expensive route if it is a lot of little items that need researched for value.

The tax thing is going to be completely based on Aunties finances. I would encourage you to speak with a tax professional.

Example: my dad made +/-2500 monthly social security, he sold a property and received a 15k down payment and he carried the rest getting monthly payments, none of this was taxable because of his age and personal financial situation, I knew this because I spoke to my CPA. My dad did not need to file a tax return for several years before death. Please ask a tax pro.
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Reply to Isthisrealyreal
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Are you selling the belongings of someone who is alive, or already gone?
This is crucial to know.

As to what they charge, I would take a few snapshots and would contact those who run estate sales in your area for information. We as a Forum of strangers from around the world would be guessing about all of this.

Most who ran estate sales back in the day came to visit and assess and were quite brutally blunt in whether to tell you to call 1-800-JUNK or have a sale. If a sale, then they would tell you how they arrange and do it all and what percentage they keep of the sale. They would then do all set up in most cases.

If your loved on is alive and you are simply eliminating a house full of treasures for them, then the money goes into their own assets accounts, with careful records you, as POA keep.

Do discuss all this with people in your area. And good luck. Look up "Estate Sales" online for your area. Hope you will update us how your search goes; your postings here will educate others.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Isthisrealyreal Aug 1, 2025
Alva, Liz has other posts and she is looking at liquidating her aunties home and belongings to pay for her care.
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