Estate Cleanout, Estate Sale, or Junk Removal? How to Decide What You Need

Do you need an estate cleanout, an estate sale or junk removal, and how can you tell the difference when everyone seems to use the terms a little differently?

When a family home needs to be emptied, these three services often come up. They overlap, but each one is built for a different situation. Understanding what each one does can help you choose the right help, or the right combination, without spending more time or energy than you need to.

What an estate sale does

An estate sale is about selling the contents of a home. An estate sale company, sometimes called an estate liquidator, typically sorts and prices items, advertises the sale, runs it over one or more days and handles payments. They usually keep a percentage of the proceeds.

An estate sale tends to make sense when:

• The home has furniture, collections, tools, art or other items people may want to buy
• You have some time before the property needs to be empty
• The family would like belongings to go to new homes rather than be hauled away

Estate sales rarely clear everything. There are almost always items left over, which is where a cleanout often comes in.

What an estate cleanout does

An estate cleanout is about emptying a property. A cleanout company removes belongings, sorts what can be donated or recycled and disposes of the rest. Many will also set aside papers, photographs and items the family may want to review.

A cleanout tends to make sense when:

• There is not much of resale value, or the family has already taken what they want
• A deadline is coming up, such as a closing or the end of a lease
• What is left after an estate sale needs to go
• Nobody in the family is able to do the work themselves

Cleanouts are often more thorough than junk removal. They may cover a whole house, from the attic to the shed, and can include a final sweep.

What junk removal does

Junk removal is usually the simplest of the three. A crew comes, loads what you point to into a truck and hauls it away. Pricing is often based on how much space your items take up in the truck.

Junk removal tends to make sense when:

• You have already sorted everything and only need certain items taken
• The job is a single room, a garage or a few large pieces
• You need old furniture or appliances gone quickly

Many junk removal companies also offer full cleanouts, so the line between the two can be blurry. Reading their listings and asking questions will tell you what each company actually does.

When families use more than one service

It is very common to combine services. A few typical patterns:

• Estate sale, then cleanout. The sale handles items with value, and a cleanout company clears what remains.
• Family sorting, then junk removal. Relatives go through the home over a few weekends, then call a hauler for the leftover furniture and boxes.
• Appraisal, then sale or cleanout. An appraiser looks at a few pieces first, so the family knows what might be worth selling separately.
• Senior move, then cleanout. A senior move manager helps a parent settle into a new home, and a cleanout company clears the old one.

There is no single right order. It depends on your timeline, how much value is in the home and how much the family wants to be involved.

A few questions to help you decide

• Are there items you think might sell, or that someone should look at first?
• How much time do you have before the property needs to be empty?
• Can family members be on site, or is everyone far away?
• Do you want help sorting, or just hauling?
• Does the home have areas that will need extra work, like a full basement or outbuildings?

A practical example

A son is settling his mother's estate. The house has some good mid-century furniture and a large collection of dishes, plus a basement full of old boxes. He contacts an estate liquidator, who agrees to hold a sale. After the sale, a cleanout company clears the leftover items and the basement, donates what it can and sweeps the house before the listing photos are taken.

Two services, each doing what it does best.

Keep reading

• What Does an Estate Cleanout Cost? What to Ask Before You Book
• How to Start Cleaning Out a Loved One's Home When You Feel Overwhelmed

Explore your options

Browse all service categories on Estate Pro Directory, including estate liquidators, junk removal and hauling, appraisers and senior move managers.