House clearance in 21st Century
Discussion
other thing i would add - is to check everything before binning it.
My dad told me years ago where to look for stashed money, most of which was located, but i did miss one place which my mum remembered and found a thick wodge.
Then after my mum died almost on the last day of clearing, I opened a drawer and found £500 in an envelope and the wife found one of my mums handbags with a few grand in it as well.
Before my dad died I took him to Goodwood FOS - he met all his hero's and wanted their autographs - he didn't have any paper, so he got them to sign the only paper he had on him - namely £20 notes - I never did find those sadly despite checking inside every single file, envelope, technical book and magazine he had. Pretty sure he had a £20 with Murray Walkers scribe on it as well.
My dad told me years ago where to look for stashed money, most of which was located, but i did miss one place which my mum remembered and found a thick wodge.
Then after my mum died almost on the last day of clearing, I opened a drawer and found £500 in an envelope and the wife found one of my mums handbags with a few grand in it as well.
Before my dad died I took him to Goodwood FOS - he met all his hero's and wanted their autographs - he didn't have any paper, so he got them to sign the only paper he had on him - namely £20 notes - I never did find those sadly despite checking inside every single file, envelope, technical book and magazine he had. Pretty sure he had a £20 with Murray Walkers scribe on it as well.
I’ve been down at my MIL’s this week. More or less cleared the garage which was 4 car loads to the dump.
Mrs CoupéKid pointed out that it’s sad that a lifetime’s possessions are basically being thrown out.
If the MIL had bought anything that ended up being a classic bit of furniture then we might have held onto it but it’s mostly very average stuff bought from department stores and it wasn’t particularly nice when new. She dressed smartly but had no taste in interior design at all. That’s not me being particularly snobby - everything really is mismatched and ugly.
Mrs CoupéKid pointed out that it’s sad that a lifetime’s possessions are basically being thrown out.
If the MIL had bought anything that ended up being a classic bit of furniture then we might have held onto it but it’s mostly very average stuff bought from department stores and it wasn’t particularly nice when new. She dressed smartly but had no taste in interior design at all. That’s not me being particularly snobby - everything really is mismatched and ugly.
After my Dad died my Mum realised that she couldn't get up into the attic anymore. We cleared it and she sold a lot of the stuff or gave it to charity. Now that she has recently passed away herself I have a slightly easier job to do. Of course there is the rest of the house to sort out. Being an only child has its pros and cons. There will be no arguments with siblings over things, but there are things that will be difficult to let go for sentimental reasons, but will not fit in our house, such as a grandfather clock that has been in the family for 200 years. I am offering it to my cousins and if they don't want it I will sell it and buy a piece of art that can be passed down the generations. Obviously all the photos and family history stuff will be kept along with certain paintings, books, etc. Luckily in Edinburgh there is a company that clears a house and auctions off the contents which I will be using. Reading that people just pay someone to take everything away makes no sense to me. Be strong and go through cupboards and drawers as you will discover stuff you never knew about. It is important to keep physical objects to remember and discover the past from. In our social media led lives this is more relevant than ever.
It’s sad, but doesn’t surprise me.
My dad passed away on Sunday and although survived by my mother, due to a house fire back in early May we have had to go and retrieve certain items, and then back again to find various paperwork which got us thinking.
Not sure if mum will go back, or maybe rent it out and use the income for a smaller place for mum so considering various options, some things may have to go.
They have some nice furniture, most is teak and I think from g-plan, so decent quality, however I suspect the resale value is low. There is a decent piano, and although that will stay within the family, I suspect it’s resale value is a fraction of its purchase price.
There is a nice dinner service and decent glassware, again, quite expensive when bought but little value now. Thousands of pounds worth of sheet music if bought now, resale very little, if you could even find a buyer.
Ultimately, the entire contents built up over a lifetime is of relatively little value compared to the effort of getting rid of it, or compared to the value of the house.
There are however many items of sentimental value, and whenever the day comes, nothing will just be discarded.
My dad passed away on Sunday and although survived by my mother, due to a house fire back in early May we have had to go and retrieve certain items, and then back again to find various paperwork which got us thinking.
Not sure if mum will go back, or maybe rent it out and use the income for a smaller place for mum so considering various options, some things may have to go.
They have some nice furniture, most is teak and I think from g-plan, so decent quality, however I suspect the resale value is low. There is a decent piano, and although that will stay within the family, I suspect it’s resale value is a fraction of its purchase price.
There is a nice dinner service and decent glassware, again, quite expensive when bought but little value now. Thousands of pounds worth of sheet music if bought now, resale very little, if you could even find a buyer.
Ultimately, the entire contents built up over a lifetime is of relatively little value compared to the effort of getting rid of it, or compared to the value of the house.
There are however many items of sentimental value, and whenever the day comes, nothing will just be discarded.
Edited by mph999 on Wednesday 1st June 01:09
G Plan and other mid century teak furniture had enjoyed a real resurgence in the past few years.
However, I wouldn’t get hung up on monetary value. The value of these tons has been had already in their use or just ownership.
If you can recover some cash, great. If not, giving them to people who will make use will contribute to extend their value.
(I’m 45 and am now slowly - very slowly - trying to move from owning stuff, to offloading stuff. Precisely to avoid this situation in the future.
Have a read of Margareta Magnusson’s book on Swedish Death Cleaning.)
However, I wouldn’t get hung up on monetary value. The value of these tons has been had already in their use or just ownership.
If you can recover some cash, great. If not, giving them to people who will make use will contribute to extend their value.
(I’m 45 and am now slowly - very slowly - trying to move from owning stuff, to offloading stuff. Precisely to avoid this situation in the future.
Have a read of Margareta Magnusson’s book on Swedish Death Cleaning.)
Vasco said:
Younger families, and anyone in modern (small) houses don't want the 'junk' that deceased's generate.
Charity shops are inundated with similar 'junk' and often turn away supposedly good stuff. There's simply no buyers.
One charity shop near us now has a policy of if you donate something and it doesn't sell you have to go and collect it, I think there were a lot of people in lockdown who were clearing out their own houses, plus the extra deaths meant more elderly people's houses were being cleared out and the charity shops were overrun with 'junk' that no-one wants in their home any more.Charity shops are inundated with similar 'junk' and often turn away supposedly good stuff. There's simply no buyers.
MesoForm said:
One charity shop near us now has a policy of if you donate something and it doesn't sell you have to go and collect it, I think there were a lot of people in lockdown who were clearing out their own houses, plus the extra deaths meant more elderly people's houses were being cleared out and the charity shops were overrun with 'junk' that no-one wants in their home any more.
My mum worked in a charity shop for a while. A man came in one Saturday with bags and bags of stuff. As she was inclined to do she thanked him most effusively. "That's okay," he said, "you're nearer than the tip "DickyC said:
My mum worked in a charity shop for a while. A man came in one Saturday with bags and bags of stuff. As she was inclined to do she thanked him most effusively. "That's okay," he said, "you're nearer than the tip "
I work for a charity and that is very, very common. We get people coming with furniture in their cars telling us that they were on their way to the tip but thought they'd see if we want it first. Then the people who drop bags of tat outside the door whilst we're shut which is the exact opposite of help as it costs to get rid of it and then theres those that are just getting rid of rubbish - dirty plates still with food on, damaged toys, that sort of thing.Thankfully, the majority aren't like that and most people donate with the best of intentions and even donate good stuff that we can resell to generate the money we need to survive. But one day, I might write a book on it.
On a sadder note, last year we had - amongst other stuff - an load of paperwork relating to a guy who had served in WW2 - discharge papers, list of ships he'd served on, birth / death & marriage certificates plus a few photos. Proper personal stuff that i'd have like to have seen if it was my family. Managed to trace a surviving grandchild who said she'd come in and get them at some point. You could tell she wasn't really bothered though and six months later we gave them to a local historical organisation.
Edited by 4F6 on Sunday 5th June 14:30
DickyC said:
In the case of deceased relatives, there is a requirement to have the house contents valued for probate. The solicitor acting for the estate would almost undoubtedly be able to recommend someone. If it is the valuer from a local sale room they would not only value everything, they would also say what they could sell at auction for you, which stuff to consider giving away and which stuff to scrap. If it is the solicitor's choice of valuer, their word will be accepted by the Probate Court - or has the three times I've been involved.
This is assuming you've taken the obviously valuable stuff out to meet bequests in the will or to have valued appropriately by someone like a specialist auction house or jeweller.
From my experience most people take home the valuable stuff first, then leave the tat for probate valuation.This is assuming you've taken the obviously valuable stuff out to meet bequests in the will or to have valued appropriately by someone like a specialist auction house or jeweller.
Export56 said:
DickyC said:
In the case of deceased relatives, there is a requirement to have the house contents valued for probate. The solicitor acting for the estate would almost undoubtedly be able to recommend someone. If it is the valuer from a local sale room they would not only value everything, they would also say what they could sell at auction for you, which stuff to consider giving away and which stuff to scrap. If it is the solicitor's choice of valuer, their word will be accepted by the Probate Court - or has the three times I've been involved.
This is assuming you've taken the obviously valuable stuff out to meet bequests in the will or to have valued appropriately by someone like a specialist auction house or jeweller.
From my experience most people take home the valuable stuff first, then leave the tat for probate valuation.This is assuming you've taken the obviously valuable stuff out to meet bequests in the will or to have valued appropriately by someone like a specialist auction house or jeweller.
Does anyone ever think about ‘digital’ house clearance
No, not the browsing history
Photos. In twelve years of iPhones I have 20k photos on this phone alone plus thousands more from older phones, cameras etc. Kids growing up, house moves, holidays, even the minutiae of daily life that might be interesting to the generations ahead
Expand that number over decades (hopefully!) how many photos are we leaving for the next generation to sort through, archive or just delete all ? We treasure the odd handful of photos that have survived from our grandparents’ generation, what do we do when there’s 200,000+ to sort through?
No, not the browsing history
Photos. In twelve years of iPhones I have 20k photos on this phone alone plus thousands more from older phones, cameras etc. Kids growing up, house moves, holidays, even the minutiae of daily life that might be interesting to the generations ahead
Expand that number over decades (hopefully!) how many photos are we leaving for the next generation to sort through, archive or just delete all ? We treasure the odd handful of photos that have survived from our grandparents’ generation, what do we do when there’s 200,000+ to sort through?
essayer said:
We treasure the odd handful of photos that have survived from our grandparents’ generation, what do we do when there’s 200,000+ to sort through?
As you say - delete. Ain't no one got time to brush the surface of someone eles's digital noise.
If it's that meaningful then print it.
For actual historians I guess they'll be able to geolocate and age a digital pic with some cleverness so they'll all be hidden away ready to be drawn upon at the right moment.
essayer said:
Does anyone ever think about ‘digital’ house clearance
No, not the browsing history
Photos. In twelve years of iPhones I have 20k photos on this phone alone plus thousands more from older phones, cameras etc. Kids growing up, house moves, holidays, even the minutiae of daily life that might be interesting to the generations ahead
Expand that number over decades (hopefully!) how many photos are we leaving for the next generation to sort through, archive or just delete all ? We treasure the odd handful of photos that have survived from our grandparents’ generation, what do we do when there’s 200,000+ to sort through?
Does that mean that you lose all those photos if your phone gets lost/broken ? - or are they also backed up somewhere else ?No, not the browsing history
Photos. In twelve years of iPhones I have 20k photos on this phone alone plus thousands more from older phones, cameras etc. Kids growing up, house moves, holidays, even the minutiae of daily life that might be interesting to the generations ahead
Expand that number over decades (hopefully!) how many photos are we leaving for the next generation to sort through, archive or just delete all ? We treasure the odd handful of photos that have survived from our grandparents’ generation, what do we do when there’s 200,000+ to sort through?
My sister and I went through all this in 2020.
Luckily Mum had moved from a 3 bedroom house to a retirement flat in 2002 (Dad died in 1988) as she was struggling with stairs so there was a big clear-out then - including some G-Plan that was worthless at the time!
Then in July 2019 Mum had to move to a residential home as she just wasn't coping on her own so we had to put her flat on the market to meet the fees. There was very little of value but luckily the few things of monetary or sentimental value weren't big so we took care of those.
Then the sale was due to complete in May 2020 so even charity shops were closed. We binned loads of worthless stuff but ended up paying to get the bigger items cleared because the clearance company couldn't retail or auction anything at the time.
We both felt a bit sad sorting through her life, but when she passed away in November we agreed it would have been much more painful doing it then.
As I'm the wrong side of 60 it has made me realise I need to have a clear-out!
Luckily Mum had moved from a 3 bedroom house to a retirement flat in 2002 (Dad died in 1988) as she was struggling with stairs so there was a big clear-out then - including some G-Plan that was worthless at the time!
Then in July 2019 Mum had to move to a residential home as she just wasn't coping on her own so we had to put her flat on the market to meet the fees. There was very little of value but luckily the few things of monetary or sentimental value weren't big so we took care of those.
Then the sale was due to complete in May 2020 so even charity shops were closed. We binned loads of worthless stuff but ended up paying to get the bigger items cleared because the clearance company couldn't retail or auction anything at the time.
We both felt a bit sad sorting through her life, but when she passed away in November we agreed it would have been much more painful doing it then.
As I'm the wrong side of 60 it has made me realise I need to have a clear-out!
I’ve been doing this for my mum since she passed away 10 months ago.
The digital stuff was a chore as there were some “shenanigans” that came to light after she died that I needed to get details and evidence of digitally. This took hours and hours trawling through crap (you can imagine how well an 80 year old curated their PC and email account) to find bits I needed. There were bits in there that made me sad, angry, amused, basically everything.
The house I’ve been more matter of fact about (context is that we moved into it when I was 6 months old, I’m 47 now so it holds my whole childhood as it were). I have been on about 10 dump trips with the car (3 series touring) full apart from space for me to drive it. Just so much junk. She wasn’t a hoarder in the clinical sense but kept so much “rubbish”. This made worse by everything wrapped and triple wrapped in plastic and paper. I’m pretty much there now down to the basics and the furniture. Have a home for the latter but just need the person having it to get their arse in gear and move it as the house is sold.
The digital stuff was a chore as there were some “shenanigans” that came to light after she died that I needed to get details and evidence of digitally. This took hours and hours trawling through crap (you can imagine how well an 80 year old curated their PC and email account) to find bits I needed. There were bits in there that made me sad, angry, amused, basically everything.
The house I’ve been more matter of fact about (context is that we moved into it when I was 6 months old, I’m 47 now so it holds my whole childhood as it were). I have been on about 10 dump trips with the car (3 series touring) full apart from space for me to drive it. Just so much junk. She wasn’t a hoarder in the clinical sense but kept so much “rubbish”. This made worse by everything wrapped and triple wrapped in plastic and paper. I’m pretty much there now down to the basics and the furniture. Have a home for the latter but just need the person having it to get their arse in gear and move it as the house is sold.
OMITN said:
There’s an extension to this as well - access to digital accounts.
Most probably aren’t relevant but some - eg email - will be really important. I have a few accounts - the main one I’ve had for nearly 25 years….
That is a very good point, I think there is a huge lack of awareness of this issue. Very good idea to include a note of your digital assets with your will. Most probably aren’t relevant but some - eg email - will be really important. I have a few accounts - the main one I’ve had for nearly 25 years….
Also the issue of photos etc, I backup all my data onto a couple of drives. At the last count I had 78,000 images.
I reckon in the future we'll have companies like Ancestry getting in on this and I bet you'll be able to buy access to your ancestors' social media accounts. It's probably already buried away in the terms and conditions.
Mr Tidy said:
My sister and I went through all this in 2020.
Luckily Mum had moved from a 3 bedroom house to a retirement flat in 2002 (Dad died in 1988) as she was struggling with stairs so there was a big clear-out then - including some G-Plan that was worthless at the time!
Then in July 2019 Mum had to move to a residential home as she just wasn't coping on her own so we had to put her flat on the market to meet the fees. There was very little of value but luckily the few things of monetary or sentimental value weren't big so we took care of those.
Then the sale was due to complete in May 2020 so even charity shops were closed. We binned loads of worthless stuff but ended up paying to get the bigger items cleared because the clearance company couldn't retail or auction anything at the time.
We both felt a bit sad sorting through her life, but when she passed away in November we agreed it would have been much more painful doing it then.
As I'm the wrong side of 60 it has made me realise I need to have a clear-out!
Username checks out! You should be done in minutes, surely? Luckily Mum had moved from a 3 bedroom house to a retirement flat in 2002 (Dad died in 1988) as she was struggling with stairs so there was a big clear-out then - including some G-Plan that was worthless at the time!
Then in July 2019 Mum had to move to a residential home as she just wasn't coping on her own so we had to put her flat on the market to meet the fees. There was very little of value but luckily the few things of monetary or sentimental value weren't big so we took care of those.
Then the sale was due to complete in May 2020 so even charity shops were closed. We binned loads of worthless stuff but ended up paying to get the bigger items cleared because the clearance company couldn't retail or auction anything at the time.
We both felt a bit sad sorting through her life, but when she passed away in November we agreed it would have been much more painful doing it then.
As I'm the wrong side of 60 it has made me realise I need to have a clear-out!
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