Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc.

Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc. is now in the process of creating an estate liquidation referral page. As our blog’s traffic increases we get more requests from people all over the country who are asking us to refer them to estate liquidation companies in their area. Would you like your estate liquidation company to be one of the firms we refer the public too?

First some facts:

1. More people then ever are using the internet to find estate liquidation companies in their areas. They want information now. They don’t want to wait.
2. Many heirs live far from the decedent’s home, so they check the internet for local listings. If your company does not rank high on the search engines, then these heirs will not be able to access valuable information about your services.
3. When people lack estate liquidation information they make poor quality decisions.

Think of this estate liquidation referral page as version 1.0 with additional benefits to follow.

Here are the initial benefits we are offering now:

1. A place to list your service on the internet.

a. It’s a free resource for advertising your estate sale service.

b. It will drive traffic to your website, and remember this sort of traffic increases your website’s “relevancy.”

c. You will become part of a larger estate sales community.

d. Access to an estate liquidation chat room where you will be able to post questions to the larger estate liquidation community (in development).

The requirements to include your estate liquidation companies contact information on our referral page are as follows:

1. Only active estate liquidation companies will be listed here. Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc. defines an estate liquidation company as a company whose primary business is the organizing and staging of on-site estate sales on behalf of their clients. Note: At this time estate sale companies whose primary focus is buyouts or auctions will not be listed.
2. To be listed on this referral page your company must agree to place a link on your website to www.fineestateliquidation.com .
3. Only two estate liquidation companies per city will be listed on the referral page.
4. You must provide two professional references, such as those that come from attorneys, fiduciaries, realtors, conservators etc.

Note: www.fineestateliquidation.com is the information blog of Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc. The primary focus of our information blog is to provide useful and relevant information to the estate liquidation community and the public they serve.

Here are the four steps to get started.

1. Complete and sign our user agreement (This will be automated soon).
2. Provide us contact information
3. Show us how you want to be listed.
4. Demonstrate that you have added a link to our information blog on your website.

After the above four steps have been completed and verified, we will then add your company to our referral page.

Note: Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc. has provided this estate liquidation page to the general public as a public service. Listing on this referral page is in itself not an endorsement of the ethics and business practices of this pages’ listees. It is our advice that you check the voracity of each of these estate liquidation companies claims against their references.

Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc. will request from the general public, positive or negative feedback about their personal experience working with companies listed on the referral page. All public feedback will be kept confidential and is meant solely to protect the public.

Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc. reserves the right to remove without notice any listee that it finds to be engaged in what “we” find to be poor business practices.

The Do it Yourself Estate Sales Kit

Estate Sale Fulton Street

I have received a lot of inquiries from people who want to get into the estate sales business. Here are some of their questions:

SW asks: I am just curious as to how to get into this type of business…could you possibly give me any information or some websites I could check? This would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

JJ asks: My question to you is what are the ins and outs to establish an estate sale business? I live in a small but fast growing area of central Arizona and I would like to get into the estate sale business.

I once worked with a woman in Phoenix who is now out of business. I loved it. She is now gone and I need to know from another source how to go about creating an estate sales business in a legal manner, and how to conduct the business in a moral and ethical manner. Please give me a little advice, and where I might turn for more information.

AS asks: I just read your article on how you got started in the estates sales business! I own an antique mall and will soon be starting my 11th year in business. I feel I am missing a good income source by not getting into the auction/estate business, what would you suggest I do?

The best way to get into the estate sale business:

1. Ask everybody: clients, attorneys, realtors and other people in the business a lot of questions.
2. Model the successful behaviors of others who are in the estate sales business.
3. Expect to pay for advice.
4. Read everything you can find on the subject. Read it all again and then read between the lines. Estate Liquidators are very secretive people. They are one of the few business groups who do not freely give information away.
5. Listen.
6. Ethics is not something you acquire. It is something you either have or don’t have. If you do not have ethics you will never make it in the Estate Sale Business.
7. Start small and work towards bigger and better projects.

What I offer:

1. Fee based consultations/coaching.
2. A written plan.
3. Services/Contacts.
4. Resources.

My name is Martin Codina and I am an estate liquidator who loves his job.

The Do it Yourself Estate Sales Guide

Here is a question I get all the time, “Does your company allow previews of its estate sales”? My answer is always the same. Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc. does not allow dealers or anyone else to preview its sales. For us it is a question of fairness to the many people who eagerly get up early and stand in line.

We don’t even allow our staff to pre-purchase items from our estate sales before the general public has had a chance to shop. In fact our staff has to wait until after 1:00pm of the first day of the sale to do their shopping.

Martin Codina, Fine Estate Liquidation, Inc.

415-235-7238

http://www.finesf.com/

The Do it Yourself Estate Sales Guide

I just received a question from someone in Ross, Ca. who wants to know if my company (www.finesf.com ) brings in additional sales items from outside of the home where the estate sale is being conducted.

Here is the short answer: Yes, but only with the permission of the estate executor.

Here is the long answer:

People who go to estate sales are motivated to do so by their own agendas.

1. Dealers looking for inventory.
2. Collectors wanting to fill out their collections.
3. People who are trying to uniquely decorate their homes.
4. Curiosity seekers, “amateur social anthropologist” – trying to understand how people live.
5. Neighbors, sad at the whole mess seeking a memento.

Each of the categories above are really communities of people with special needs and interest. The estate liquidator has to find ways to serve each of these communities and by serving each of these communities serve the interest of the estate.

How you might ask:

It’s all about variety. If the estate does not have enough variety, four of the five communities above will not come to the estate sale and that will hurt the sale.

What do you as consumers or as executers do?

Executors: Ask your estate liquidator for a clear written explanation of:

1. What type of items will be brought in.

2. How much will be brought in.

3. What sort of separating accounting system will they use.

Consumers: If it is important for you to know where estate sales items came from, ask:

1. Did this item come from this estate or another.
2. What is its history.

If you have any questions about the above you can always respond to this post.

My name is Martin Codina and I am an estate liquidator who likes his job.

415-235-7238

http://www.finesf.com/

The Do it Yourself Estate Sales Guide

Eleven years ago through a series of events, I found that I had acquired a talent for buying and selling used furniture. Great! I quit my business as a painting contractor and headed into the great unknown. I entered into an underworld of antique sellers and antique buyers. I became a picker. I went to garage sales, flea markets, estate sales, and auctions.

One day I got the idea that I should be an estate liquidator; I have been here ever since.

Here were a few of my early surprises.

1. The first 20 or so people in line at an estate sale form a community of knowledgeable semi-experts who collectively have as much information about collectibles as any Kovels’ price guide. If you want to learn about the hottest trends in the world of collectibles and antiques, then try to go to as many estate sales as you possibly can; get there early and listen to what these estate sales pros talk about. ( www.finesf.com )
2. These people come from every walk of life. Some started as collectors going to estate sales and auctions, and others were drawn by its semi-nomadic and independent lifestyle.
3. For the most part they are friendly, and are willing to help the serious new comer to estate sale “picking”. Remember this is their livelihood, if at first they are a bit standoffish, it’s because they are preserving years of hard won information about what is valuable. Watch what they buy. This is the best way to begin acquiring information about the hidden value of collectibles.
4. There are basically two times to discover a bargain at an estate sale: a.) Early in the morning of the first day. b.) and late in the afternoon of the final day.
5. Professional estate sales companies charge more then people conducting “do it your self sales”, no real surprise there, except that when a pro knows that you are a serious repeat buyer, you can often get deeper discounts from them. You can learn more from them too. They know the more they teach you about collectibles, the more you will buy in the future.
6. You can make money buying from estate sales and then selling what you buy at flea markets or in your own space within an antique mall. At first it won’t be a lot of income, but it will be income that will grow and grow as your experience does.
7. Estate sale companies love the collector, because they are generally trying to fill out their collections, and will pay more to do so then a person who is a dealer.
8. Dealers and collectors are the life blood of the estate liquidation business they represent at least ½ of all the sales here at www.finesf.com
9. If you are conducting a non pro sale here is a tip: Welcome dealers and collectors. Sure they are looking for a bargain, but if you are properly prepared with the right information, you can also get them to pay more then you might have thought.

My name is Martin Codina and I am an estate liquidator who loves his job.

415-235-7238

http://www.finesf.com/

The Do it Yourself Estate Sales Guide

The interesting world of the estate liquidation business:

Estate Liquidation is one of the more unique jobs that one can have. It is a back stage pass to the greatest story never really told. In theater, there is something called the fourth wall. It is the imaginary wall made of thin air that separates actors from their audience.

Each of us has a wall like this in our homes. It is what divides our private space from our public space. Since childhood we have been taught not to enter this private space. We learned that we are never to go into their drawers, closets, or bedrooms unless we are invited.

Very few people ever get this permission. One such person is the estate liquidator; some one like me. My name is Martin Codina I founded Fine Estate Liquidation 10 years ago (www.finesf.com)

Everyone that calls me has a problem. They’re moving, downsizing, retiring to a home, or they have suffered the terrible loss of a loved one dying. What are they to do with all the excess “stuff” in their homes? Who do they call? Who do they trust to go behind the scene with them and help them decide?

My job is to help them come up with rational solutions to the kind of problems they never have had to face before; accomplish for them, something few people have had the training to do.

I am an estate liquidator and I like my job.

415-235-7238

http://www.finesf.com/

The Do it Yourself Estate Sales Guide