My estate sale clients will hear me say, “Choosing to have an estate sale is easy. All you do is decide what to keep and we handle the rest.” And it’s true! However, depending on the situation, the process of deciding what to keep can be difficult.  To simplify and speed up the decision process, these are my top 5 suggestions.
1) Make a Plan  
Start by giving yourself a deadline and stick to it.
Get index cards or post-it notes to mark items as “NFS” (Not for Sale).
Map it out. Go one room at a time. Once you finish a room, be confident with your decisions and don’t go back. 
2) Think “Fit, Feeling or Forget it.”
FIT: Consider the new space the family is moving to or the space the heir has available. Is there room for the piece? If so, where will it go?
FEELING: Consider family meaning attached to the piece. Keep in mind that what has meaning to one family member may not hold true for the other.
FORGET IT: If the item does not fit in the new space or there is no significant meaning to it, forget it. Put it in the sale and make a profit from it.
3) Simplify
If you haven’t used it in the past 2 years, you don’t need it.
Kitchens, closets, basements and garages are the worst offenders for storing hundreds of items that don’t make the 2 year cut-off.
4) Don’t throw anything away!
This is why you are having an estate sale. There is profit in the items you no longer need, even in the items you may think are trash. Your Paint & Patina estate sale pros will discern trash versus treasure. You will be amazed!
5) Get Help
If you are overwhelmed or up against a fast approaching deadline, ask a neutral, third party to help. Having someone there with no attachment to the items (or to the stories associated with those items – this means don’t ask the close family friend!) moves the process along twice as fast. Paint & Patina offers this as a specialty service for a fee. You might consider hiring a professional organization company. Another great resource is your neighborhood stay-at-home mom. Many times they are great at organizing and enjoy occasional, part-time work. 

The estate sale business is largely unregulated in most areas. It’s up to you to choose a reputable company with experience and credentials behind them. To get you started, these are Paint & Patina's Top 10 Suggestions for “what to ask” and “what to search” when choosing an Estate Sale company.

1) Registration
 Search your Secretary of State business archives online to verify that the company is legitimately      registered as an estate sale business.
2) Certification
 Ask for any appraisal certifications, auctioneering certifications or other related credentials. Then    search the certifying organization to verify that they are still up-to-date.
3) Insurance
  Ask to see their current certificate of insurance.
4) Conflict-of-Interest
  Find out if the owner has a resale shop, booth or other such business. Knowing this allows you to ask     about potential conflicts-of-interest with regard to marketing and fairly pricing your items.
5) Experience
 Search their website for current and past projects, including client testimonials. Ask about a specific  project and it's outcome.  
6) Pricing
  Ask about their pricing philosophy and how they arrive at their asking prices.
7) Accounting
  Find out how they provide confirmation of sale totals or if they can provide transaction logs.  
8) Security
  Ask about their procedures regarding the security of your property during sale operations.
9) Trust
  Ask for examples of when their business ethics came in to play and how they handled the situation.
10) Contract
   Make sure you get a written contract signed by both parties before any work begins!