Clearing out a home after inheriting
If you’re faced with clearing out the home of a loved one you’re probably on an emotional roller coaster. I can be a bittersweet process. You’ll expectedly come across items that make you laugh as well as cry. Whether you’re the executor of the will or not, you’ve been given an important task. The process is similar to preparing your home for sale (your own home) but with a few variations. A home is likely to be the largest asset of the decedent’s estate. If you’ve been entrusted with this responsibility, here are some things to keep in mind:
Change the locks – You just don’t know how many people might have the key to this house. Cleaners, friends, dog walkers, all could be key holders. By changing the locks (and the garage code if applicable) you’ll rest assured that no one will enter the home without your permission.
Forward the mail – if you are not residing at the home while preparing it for market, have the mail forwarded to your home or office. Have newspapers cancelled. You don’t want letters, bills and newspapers piling up in or around the mail box. Nothing says “empty home” like the accumulation of mail; a clear invitation to vandals and burglars. Go to USPS.gov to fill out a change of address form. Don’t forget about email as well. Assuming you can get into the decedent’s email account, you can request emails be sent to you. This may help you determine who creditors are, whether payments are current as well as seeing if any subscriptions need to be cancelled.
Keep paying the bills – While you’ll want to stop some services, there are others that need to continue until the home is sold. Homeowner’s insurance, mortgage and utilities are just some examples of services that need to stay current. You may also want to continue such services as the landscaper, pool service, and exterminator.
Legal and financial papers – Start with the most obvious places to look for these kinds of papers such as the file cabinet and desk drawers. But don’t limit your search to the obvious. Check for papers under the mattress, taped to the underside of a drawer or inside a book. Of course, check the computer as well for electronic files.
Ask your realtor – if you’ve chosen a realtor to list the home, now is the time to ask them for their input with regard to staging the home for sale. This just means that they have a vision of how the home should look in order to attract the most potential buyers. If the home has tasteful furnishings, the realtor might ask that you leave the home “as is”. A furnished home usually sells more quickly and an empty one. If the existing furnishings are outdated and don’t enhance the property, they may ask that you completely empty the home. You might want to have a conversation then about staging the home with a professional stager who will bring in lovely furnishings and accessories for a fee. There is an option that lies somewhere between a completely empty home and a fully staged home; staging with a mix of existing furnishings and new furnishings or accessories. You can try this yourself but you may want to call in a professional such as the Ready, Set Move Group to guide you through the process. Remember, it’s best to find out early on if the realtor thinks items such as the dining room set or bedroom set need to stay in order to help sell the home before you ship it off to a family member.
Sort personal belongings – This will probably be your most emotionally charged task. While it may seem overwhelming, try to chip away at it each day. Create useful sorting categories and physically place the items in groupings or use color coded stickers. Main categories such as: keep, sell, donate, and discard are a great way to start. You may want to divide the “keep” category into items for different family members.
Home furnishings – As with personal belongings, create categories for large pieces of furniture. You and the realtor may decide the furnishings should stay while the home is on the market but have a plan for the items once the home sells. Create categories such as: ship to family members, sell, donate and dispose.
Consider hiring someone to manage the process of preparing the home for sale, especially if you don’t live nearby. Someone who can compassionately sort through a lifetime of belongings, knows the ins and outs of staging a home, shipping resources, local charity resources and guidelines (you’d be surprised at how difficult it can be to donate certain types of items!) as well as reputable auction houses and affordable disposal companies. They can also continue to maintain the home, manage local professional services such as roof cleaners and painters and will keep you in the loop every step of the way, feeing you to get back to your normal activities. The Ready, Set Move Group has experience with both local and international clients who have inherited homes and needed to prepare them for sale. Call us for more information.
Whether you are tackling this process alone, with family members or have delegated it to a pro, taking the proper steps in preparing the home for market can result in a less stressful, more peaceful process and will likely increase the value of the home.
Contact us today for a free phone consultation.