How an estate clearance proceeds

Before anything happens

Nothing starts until you're ready for it to start. Houses here often sit for a while between the funeral and probate, between family visits, between decisions, and that's normal. When you first get in touch, all that happens is a conversation: who you are, where the house is, roughly what's in it, and what the timing looks like. If the answer is "we don't know yet", that's a perfectly good answer.

The walk-through

When you're ready, we walk the house together, or on your behalf with photos and a call if you're interstate. Room by room, including the garden, the shed and the under-house, we agree what happens to each category of thing: what the family is keeping, what goes to charity, what goes. You hear one all-in figure for the whole clearance at the end of the walk, before anything is touched, and it covers everything: the sorting, the carrying, the charity runs, the tip fees, the final sweep-through.

The part that matters most

Every long-held house holds things that were never meant to be rubbish: photographs, letters, medals, a ring at the back of a drawer, the document folder every family spends a week looking for. Our first rule is that anything that looks like it matters is set aside, onto a cloth on the dining table, the moment it's found, and the pile waits for your eyes, not ours. We would always rather set aside too much than one thing too little. If we find documents that look legal or financial, wills, deeds, bank records, they go straight to you or the executor, unread.

Where things go

Good furniture and household goods go to charity where they'll be accepted, and we'll tell you honestly what charities will and won't take, because a promise that "it'll all find a home" is rarely the truth. E-waste, whitegoods and mattresses go to the right facilities, as they must in NSW. What remains goes to a licensed waste facility, sorted, not shovelled. If it helps the family to know what went where, we'll say so plainly.

The finish

The house ends swept and airing, the garden tidied if you wish, keys back in the right hands. Some families want to do the last walk through an empty house together; some would rather not. Both are right. If the property is going to market, we're happy to coordinate timing with the agent so the photographer follows us by a day or two.

Questions families actually ask

Do we need to be there? No. Executors run clearances from interstate through us regularly. You stay in control through photos and calls, and the set-aside pile waits for a family visit or ships to you.

How long does it take? It depends on the house, and we'll tell you honestly at the walk-through rather than guess here. What we won't do is rush you into starting.

What does it cost? One figure, given at the walk-through, covering everything. Estate clearances are priced on inspection because every house is different, and you'll never see a number from us before we've seen the job.

Can part of the house wait? Yes. It's common to clear the main rooms for sale and leave a locked garage for the family to finish in their own time.

When you're ready, or just want the first conversation: arrange a clearance, quietly. The service itself is described at downsizing and estates.