An Estate Cleanout Guide for Families

Before anything is sorted or moved, go through desks, filing cabinets, nightstands, freezers and the backs of closets for documents and valuables. Wills, deeds, titles, insurance policies, tax records, savings bonds, jewelry, cash and firearms.

Older generations hid things. Check inside books, coat pockets, coffee cans and taped under drawers. It sounds paranoid; it's routine.

Walk each room with a phone camera and record video. This protects against later disagreements among family members about what was there, and it gives you a reference when someone asks about an item three months from now.

Decide who gets what before anything goes to a donation center. The single most common source of lasting family conflict in estate cleanouts is an item that got hauled away before a sibling knew it existed.

A workable method: each person lists five items they want most, in order. Work through the lists in rotation. It resolves most disputes without anyone feeling steamrolled.

Most household furniture, china, crystal and collectibles are worth far less than families expect. Brown furniture in particular has almost no resale market right now.

Genuinely valuable categories: mid-century modern furniture, quality tools, firearms, coins, sterling silver, certain jewelry, and some art. If you're unsure, an estate sale company will do a walkthrough for free and tell you whether a sale is worth running.

If there's enough value, an estate sale company will run the sale and typically take 30 to 40 percent, then leave you with whatever didn't sell — which is usually most of it.

Donation handles the middle tier: clean furniture, housewares, clothing and books. Local San Antonio charities will often pick up larger items.

The remainder is a haul job, and it's typically larger than families estimate. A full single-family home usually runs one to two full truckloads.

Remote estate cleanouts are very doable. A hauler can do a video walkthrough with you, quote from that, work with a key from a realtor or neighbor, and send photo documentation as they go — leaving the house broom-swept and ready to list.

The physical work of an estate cleanout takes one to three days. The emotional work takes longer. Plan for at least two visits if you can, and don't schedule the cleanout for the same week as the service.