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If you suddenly find yourself needing to make decisions about what to do with a household full of belongings, you may feel overwhelmed. This is completely understandable. There are seemingly many choices to make. If you, like most people, have limited (if any) experience with this kind of thing, you may struggle to know how to proceed. This issue may be exacerbated if you aren't sure about the value of the belongings. Do you have hidden treasures? Might there be a valuable an

The Emotional and Practical Reality It is a sad fact of life that many of us will have to face sooner or later. Mom and Dad will both eventually pass away or move into a senior living facility or there will otherwise be some major life change one consequence of which will be that a household full of belongings will need to be emptied. This is undoubtedly a circumstance that frequently brings with it stress as well as grief. There is often guilt over decisions made or not made

You have determined that you do, in fact, need an appraisal. Now you just need to choose the right appraiser to do the job. This is a crucial step as choosing the wrong appraiser can be worse than never getting the appraisal done in the first place. So what should you look for? Read on. Mid-century modern furniture may be worth more than you think! Clarifying Roles First, let's clarify that a professional appraiser has a very different role than others than might offer valuat

On July 15, I attended an auction in Atlantic, PA. Atlantic is a very small town (pop. 77) located in Amish country in Northwestern Pennsylvania. This was a charity auction and was very well attended, with nearly a thousand people in attendance. Most of the action took place in the large barn pictured above, but there was an outdoor tent sent up as well where farm equipment, animals, and even logs were auctioned. Being in the middle of Amish country, run by an Amish auctionee