Disposing of House Contents

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lukeskywalker

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I am currently dealing with the estate of my father who recently passed away, and I am one of the executors of his will.

His house contains items like some silverware, old books, waterford & other crystal glass, mahogany furniture etc. These items are of unknown value but some of them would be antiques. Most of the stuff would be 50-60 years old at least. The beneficiaries are not interested in these items as younger people are not into this kind of stuff.

How do you go about disposing of these items? Can you get antique dealers in or people who buy this kind of stuff / house contents?

I'm reluctant to go the done deal.ie / adverts.ie route once restrictions are eased as I don't want randommers turning up at my house etc etc & its very time consuming.
 
Most house contents would be valued at very little for Probate purposes- for good reason.

Most executors find that there is no real market for old style items.

I've cleared a number of properties over the years for deceased relatives and, frankly, after having Age Action take what they wanted, I was glad to pay people to remove everything bulky/not of value, sentimental or otherwise, rather than end up with a pile of other family members stuff in my garage/attic.

I still have the original family special Christmas dinner set ( a wedding present to my parents in the late 50's) years after my mother died. Unused. It will definitely come in useful some day.

NCBI also used to take good quality items that they could sell- not sure if they still do.

Otherwise a google search will show up clearance services in your area.

mf
 
If you are in Dublin there is an auction house, Hermin White, in Rathmines that does these. They will take away whatever and auction them and if you are lucky the collection price will be covered by the sales. As mf1 has said, while you may feel they have value, they seldom do and if you feel they do then put them in your garage for a decade or two. All my siblings are now trying to clear their sheds from my parents probate 5 years ago.
 
What we did;

Children had first call on any item, followed by grandchildren, then if any of the extended family or someone we knew wanted something, they could have it.

There was nothing of any great value, most of the smaller stuff like ornaments, lamps etc went to charity shops.

For the remainder, mostly perfectly usable but not modern furniture, kitchen table & chairs, TV, beds, sitting room suite, fridge, cooker etc we put pictures up on Done Deal and Adverts with modest prices saying viewing and collection this Saturday only, 10am - 4pm. We also had a freebie corner on the day.

We got a mere €260 odd in total. It paid for the skip for what was left, which was better than having to pay for several skips needed to dump all.

Most don’t want second hand household items.

Some who turned up were possibly landlords, and some possibly were going to sell items on, best of luck to them, we got the house cleared.
 
My husband put a few items on done deal (after giving away everything he possibly could). He sold a piano to a lady for €20 which promptly fell apart when the man with the van arrived. Husband then paid the man with the van €200 to take anything left that could be moved. There is very little value even in the stuff from the good room.
 
I used DoneDeal and Adverts. Got about €3,000 in total.
Regarding antiques, unless it’s high end antique in perfect condition, expect to get DoneDeal prices.
 
In France, local councils collect any unwanted items once a month or thereabouts - it was free in that the cost was included in the local taxes

You put whatever it is out on the street the night before and they come and take it all away the next day and dispose of it correctly.

Or at least, they take away whatever hasn't disappeared overnight - and it was always surprising how much was taken overnight by scavengers!

It's pity local councils here don't do the same - it would undoubtedly reduce fly tipping and the like. Oh, we don't do local taxes in Ireland - at least not really - Co Councils only get some of the property tax, the rest goes to Central Government
 
Actually just before lockdown last year I was in the process of similar, I have a lot of Waterford glass in particular and I had been at an antiques fair and met a couple of traders who dealt in it. I have arranged for one of them who would be attending another fair close to me to view it but of course all that changed with Covid and fairs cancelled etc so I am still looking at it! Waterford glass comes up regularly for sale on FB marketplace, whether it sells or not I don't know.

Old silver if good, again some at the fairs dealt in that but most of the silver I have are old golf prizes, engraved trays and the like, of no use to anyone unfortunately. It's very difficult to just dump this stuff that meant so much to people once, I feel like I'm throwing out their memories :(
 
Monbretia said:
Actually just before lockdown last year I was in the process of similar, I have a lot of Waterford glass in particular and I had been at an antiques fair and met a couple of traders who dealt in it. I have arranged for one of them who would be attending another fair close to me to view it but of course all that changed with Covid and fairs cancelled etc so I am still looking at it! Waterford glass comes up regularly for sale on FB marketplace, whether it sells or not I don't know.

Old silver if good, again some at the fairs dealt in that but most of the silver I have are old golf prizes, engraved trays and the like, of no use to anyone unfortunately. It's very difficult to just dump this stuff that meant so much to people once, I feel like I'm throwing out their memories :(
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Old silver - scrap metal dealers would buy this stuff,as well as other metals too
 
Thanks guys this is really helpful. Basically is done deal or throw out or give to relatives unless is "high end" stuff
 
I've used Adverts for this type of stuff as the interactivity of the platform is better ( for this type of stuff) than Donedeal. But you can jointly list. Be realistic about what it's "value" may be. Offer whatever you may think as valueless for FREE.
There's a bit of "management" in getting the stuff away but " one man's junk is another man's treasure"
Oh and , as always, description is paramount.
Got around 1k ...... during a pandemic........and no skip..
 
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