Estate Sales: More Than You’d Think
Estate sales help clear out a home completely. The reasons for emptying a house usually involve major life changes for the owner(s); everything from a desire to downsize and move to a smaller home to the passing of the owner(s). Speaking to employees of Chesapeake Transitions, a Senior Move Manager® who helps seniors and their families with major life changes, one can see that as trying and stressful as the events leading up to an estate sale can be, the sale itself can be a positive and sometimes joyful event.
In her years of helping set up Chesapeake Transitions’ estate sales, long-time employee Donna has come across items and wondered, “Who would ever want to buy this?” Inevitably, someone comes to the estate sale and says, “I love it!” or “I’ve always wanted one of those!” Remembering what she describes as “a particularly ugly, large multi-branched candle,” she was surprised and pleased when a woman at a sale was immediately drawn to the candle and bought it. Donna says she’s realized an item that she has no attraction to may become a treasure for someone else. While she initially found sorting through another’s belongings sad, Donna now says estate sales often bring her joy as she sees items find new lives whether it’s a coffee table bought by a young couple looking to furnish their first home or an unexpected new treasure for someone else.
For Becky, another long-time Chesapeake Transitions employee, estate sales showcase “the amazing lives our clients have had. Not the monetary value necessarily but rather the unique and interesting items from around the globe.” With the Naval Academy, Fort Meade, and Washington DC nearby, Becky points out many area residents were stationed overseas and brought home artwork and other interesting items from every place in the world. Becky remembers a very eclectic collection of rocks, wood, and other small objects gathered by a couple during their travels. While a few were valuable, they told the unique and interesting story of the couple’s world travels over decades, something Becky felt honored to share. Having traveled extensively herself, Becky feels she also travels the world through the objects she handles.
Watching the excitement of children attending estate sales is a bonus for Chesapeake Transitions employee Drew. Children often see possibilities in objects at an estate sale that adults don’t he says and are thrilled to see items they might be able to afford. Drew says this brings back fond memories of visiting estate sales when he was a kid, specifically being able to afford a toaster with his allowance money that he could take apart to see how it worked—something his parents were not willing to let him do with the family’s toaster.
Jason, Chesapeake Transition’s youngest employee, says he enjoys helping sort through “interesting and sometimes old stuff.” Jason shares an interest in old stereo equipment with his father, objects that they can find at estate sales. Most of all, Drew says “It’s nice to see stuff doesn’t get thrown away but lives on in the hands of new owners.”
Estate Sales do mark big changes in someone’s life and letting go of a lifetime’s worth of possessions is difficult under any circumstances. But with the new “lives” many objects find and the pure joy new owners sometimes find, estate sales are more than you’d think.
AUTHOR: Marilyn Leek, a Certified Senior Move Manager® and owner of Chesapeake Transitions, has provided guidance and support for Maryland seniors and their families for almost 15 years.