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NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 12:55 PM Sep 2014

Moving to a TINY HOUSE (condo). How does one go about DOWNSIZING????

Sorry for the caps but I am frustrated!

I'm trying to move from a 950 sf house with outbuildings to 450 sf with only 81 sf of storage.

The current outbuildings are filled with a lot of valuable or useful materials, most of which (by volume) I'd give away.

But I don't want to throw them away. I would have a yard sale, have done it before, and the nearest Goodwill that got the bulk of my last purge has closed.

I'm happy to give away agricultural and industrial items to local museums, and I'm happy to give away scientific and other goods to science teachers, but it still leaves me with nobody to help do it.

Other than Estate Sale liquidators and Organizing consultants, what strategies or services or assistance can be found to help me handle the mess?

I don't mind parting with it, but the mere labor and movement and such just freezes me.

Has anyone else gone through this kind of thing?

TIA

20 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Moving to a TINY HOUSE (condo). How does one go about DOWNSIZING???? (Original Post) NYC_SKP Sep 2014 OP
Anything you haven't used in a year you don't need. grahamhgreen Sep 2014 #1
I like that one, I definitely use it with clothing. It's harder with tools. NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #2
I took what I really wanted and could fit in my car. cbayer Sep 2014 #3
Well yeah! I love you and your life, trying to copycat, frankly. NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #4
So what do you want to do with all those tools and examples of work? cbayer Sep 2014 #5
Digitally archive flat work, donate most of the tools NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #6
Is there a school nearby? cbayer Sep 2014 #7
I'm thinking craigslist, and you know me and schools. NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #8
Why are you opposed to estate liquidators? Curmudgeoness Sep 2014 #9
I spoke with three firms last year with my parent's estate, only one was available. NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #10
We do have firms that take it off site here. Curmudgeoness Sep 2014 #11
The going rate for our locals was 40%, they sell everything and get rid of the rest. NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #12
Auction houses "want" the cream Curmudgeoness Sep 2014 #13
If you are me, you stuff it all in a storage place... hunter Sep 2014 #14
Thanks for that link. We don't have that but we do have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #17
I hire help when I need it. WhiteTara Sep 2014 #15
Thanks, one needs to find help with the lifting and moving, etc. NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #16
Yes, well only you can know what to keep WhiteTara Sep 2014 #18
To a certain degree I've been through similar. IrishAyes Sep 2014 #19
Wow, I'm glad you got out of that alive! NYC_SKP Sep 2014 #20
 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
2. I like that one, I definitely use it with clothing. It's harder with tools.
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 01:08 PM
Sep 2014

I may not use a soldering iron annually but I have several, so need to keep one, I guess.

In any event, that's a great tip, thanks!

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
3. I took what I really wanted and could fit in my car.
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 01:17 PM
Sep 2014

I told my kids and friends and other family to go in and take everything they wanted.

I told them that they could either have a yard sale or call Good will.

I haven't regretted a moment.

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
4. Well yeah! I love you and your life, trying to copycat, frankly.
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 01:25 PM
Sep 2014

And I moved twice from NY to CA and everything I owned fit into a pickup truck with camper shell.

However, in the 34 years since I returned, I've had 3-4 different careers and accumulated a lot of tools and examples of work, mostly flat work and prototypes, which could fit back into a truck probably.

My need is for labor and sales strategies: do I take pics of my lathes and hand tools and antiques, etc, and sell on eBay? Go to the depressing flea market with this shit, or what????

Like I said, I think, you don't own property, your property owns you.



But for my personal creations, many of which I can just record digitally, I don't need to keep very much and all of the furniture in this house is free shit, except the little oak desk I'm at now that I bought on the sidewalk on 3rd Ave or the Bowery as a student. It's small and awesome.

What I need is a SERVICE like students with an organizing angle to whom I'm happy to give 50%.

Ideas?

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
5. So what do you want to do with all those tools and examples of work?
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 01:53 PM
Sep 2014

Store them with the intent of pulling them out at some point?

Display them so you can look at them now?

If you are not sure whether you will eventually need them or when you might need them, maybe put them in a pod or other storage facility.

If you want to sell them, then I can't help you, except to suggest that you find someone interested in doing this and give them a commission.

It's hard to do, but well worth it to just walk away.

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
6. Digitally archive flat work, donate most of the tools
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 02:04 PM
Sep 2014

Selection is not so hard, finding physical helpers is harder

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
8. I'm thinking craigslist, and you know me and schools.
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 02:25 PM
Sep 2014

I have a van load each to give to my favorite two teachers, or three if you count girlfriend.

I would like to see, for the rest of it, if there is such a thing as an estate buyer who would come over and remove everything.

Craigslist for 500 items means a lot of calls and downtime and meeting people who might not show up.

I'm thinking better some kind of one-day sale with lots of Craigslist and other listings, but even that sounds tough after surgery and on a homesite with no parking.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
9. Why are you opposed to estate liquidators?
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 02:30 PM
Sep 2014

If you would be overwhelmed by the work involved, and you have things of value, this would be the way I would go. They get a commission, you get something out of it, and since you said that you would be willing to give away most of it, I see this as a win/win.

When I moved, I did a little of everything. I had a yard sale and a few friends helped me with that. What was left, I donated to charity. This was before Craig's List or eBay or FreeCycle, or I would have used those resources as well.

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
10. I spoke with three firms last year with my parent's estate, only one was available.
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 02:36 PM
Sep 2014

And they kind of screwed us in selling things that weren't authorized, removing and replacing other goods, but I won't write off the idea.

One problem is a lack of parking, they typically work one weekend, but everyone needs to park someplace.

It's work a try, I'm thinking about it and wondering if any services exist that would take it all off site to sell, just to have more time for prep and better presentation.

Thanks!

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
11. We do have firms that take it off site here.
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 02:51 PM
Sep 2014

These firms are auction houses, and they clear out everything and put it in their auctions. I am sure that the commissions are higher for this service, but what do you have to lose? And since you have some experience with them, you will know what to watch for. You may have to sort through everything ahead of time to get what you are keeping so that they don't take it.

We also have people who buy up estates and take it all, I think they have stalls at flea markets and antique stores, etc. I do know that these people pay very little, but they do take it all.

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
12. The going rate for our locals was 40%, they sell everything and get rid of the rest.
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 02:53 PM
Sep 2014

And it's worth it.

If not for the parking restrictions, I would take what I want plus a few precious things I prefer to sell online, and put all that in a secure spot and have them sell the rest.

An auction house that removes things would probably take the cream, but that might be worth it to do in advance of an ordinary estate sale onsite.

Thanks.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
13. Auction houses "want" the cream
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 03:10 PM
Sep 2014

but they have to take the whole bucket of milk to get that cream. Most of the auctions in this area have different sorts of buyers and sell the crap in boxes full of junk. Usually, the flea market and perpetual yard sale crowd buys the junk. Not that it matters to you if they will take it all.

hunter

(39,011 posts)
14. If you are me, you stuff it all in a storage place...
Sun Sep 21, 2014, 09:41 PM
Sep 2014

... and then discover it's easier to pay the bill every month for a long, long time than it is to sort all the stuff out.

Don't do that.

Some communities have awesome recycling facilities like this:

http://www.mrwmd.org/programs-services/last-chance-merchantile

It's a blast to visit, and odd stuff that lands there does find a home. I bought my current laptop there for $10, and a couple of film cameras that were unobtainium to me when I was a kid.

In our family inherited crap ends up on my brother's small farm. He has a huge metal shed and a bunch of shipping containers. But he also gets a thrill selling stuff, even if it's stuff that belonged to our great-something-grandparents. Frustratingly, most in our family hear our ancestor's voices in our heads scolding us not to let their stuff go.

My parents fled the family burden of stuff (leaving it with us kids) to live simple in a tropical rain forest. They drink and bathe in water that falls on their roof and they eat food from the local market.

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
17. Thanks for that link. We don't have that but we do have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Mon Sep 22, 2014, 10:43 AM
Sep 2014

And I can bring a lot of hardware and furniture there.

WhiteTara

(30,201 posts)
15. I hire help when I need it.
Mon Sep 22, 2014, 10:30 AM
Sep 2014

If you live in a city, go to Home Depot and there is always someone who is looking for work.

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
16. Thanks, one needs to find help with the lifting and moving, etc.
Mon Sep 22, 2014, 10:42 AM
Sep 2014

The sorting and selecting is a bit tougher!

WhiteTara

(30,201 posts)
18. Yes, well only you can know what to keep
Mon Sep 22, 2014, 12:14 PM
Sep 2014

and what to get rid of! And yep, it's the hard part. I know, I'm there too! Our place is much too big for me to take care of anymore, but the idea of the work it will take to move makes me just sit right down.

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
19. To a certain degree I've been through similar.
Tue Sep 30, 2014, 12:33 AM
Sep 2014

Went from a huge house on a ranch in AZ to a merely big house in the Midwest. But then I had the added incentive of trying to stay alive when it turned out my cash buyer was a drug dealer who tried to force me out early because he wanted to move in wayyyy before my time was up. He started telephoning and harrassing me, even drove up and down the road waving a shotgun out his vehicle window. I put a no trespassing sign on the gate so I could shoot him if it came to that.

Everything possible went wrong. I'd been packing for weeks but on moving day we had to load the van with that fool driving by and watching us. Made things very nerve wracking. We'd dragged everything out in the yard because we didn't know exactly how much could be crammed in the Penske, and I'd promised my friends anything left over. But they were in such a hurry to leave that we simply took what wouldn't fit in the van and made a nice little bonfire. Even the volunteer fire department didn't show up for that one because everyone knew the situation.

From what I heard later, the buyer didn't exactly thrive. The Hells Angels HQ was less than a mile from the ranch. They didn't appreciate competition or the way that nutjob riled everybody around. People like that have a way of disappearing. He also got hit by a severe flash flood because he tore down the berms that slowed ingress and egress on the property. For some odd reason he wanted to be able to do that rapidly at will. I pretty much figured if the law didn't get him, the HA's would soon enough.

Anyway, instead of paralysis, I wound up downsizing in a frenzy!

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
20. Wow, I'm glad you got out of that alive!
Tue Sep 30, 2014, 07:55 AM
Sep 2014

It's amazing how nutty people can be.

There's a lot I'll be giving away, but even that takes effort in sorting through it.

I'm not particularly interested in selling the valuable things if there are friends or even strangers who can use the useful things they can have them.

Your bonfire ending reminds me of my uncle John who, upon hearing me say "look Uncle John, there's a Victorian house downtown that's free to anyone willing to move it" replied, "I'll move it. I'll move it with a match."



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