Find the hidden treasures in your home

There is an old quote by Yotam Ottoleghi “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. First, I would like to update this quote to: “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure”!

I have been a certified personal property appraiser for 25+ years and have been buying and selling household contents for 30+ years. One thing I have learnt time and time again is that many items that people think are valuable have little value and many items that people think are trash do indeed have a least some monetary value.

Approximately 60-70% of my business is estate related appraising household contents for probate, distribution, donation and to sell.

I cannot count how many times people thought there was little to no value of their parents or relatives household items. Often, I arrive to appraise the items the family feels has value and there is a large metal garbage bin in the driveway or yard. I always have a quick peak before I go into the house. My estimation is that in roughly 90% of the time there are items in the bins that look like trash but are indeed treasures.

Vintage dining room chair held together with string as they are suspended in the air

Basement, Garage, Attic

I have visited thousands of homes in my years of buying and appraising household contents and in my experience the hidden treasures are usually not in plain sight. Usually, the treasures are located in the basements, garages, attics, crawl spaces and sometimes tucked away under stairs. Often stored in unmarked boxes or bins. . Many times when families are trying to determine the worth of items they are swayed by their personal preferences and styles. Many times i have witnessed the worn out leather chair in the corner that everyone thinks is not valuable is actually an Ikea vintage lounge chair by Karin Mobring from 1969 which is now a trendy and sought after item. A certified appraiser can let you know what treasures are hiding in plain sight right under your nose!!

Online Auction

Last summer I managed an online auction downsizing sale. There were several boxes and items located in the basement that were organized by my client beforehand to go to the trash and for donation. I convinced my client to let me put these items in the online auction.

There were several 1980’s toys, 1990’s video game systems & games plus a Commodore 64 personal computer system. I turned this trash into over $2000.

This is only one instance of many where an experience professional certified appraiser has turned trash into thousand of dollars.

Contact an Appraiser

If you are an executor of an estate or downsizing yourself or a loved one, before you throw anything out, my advice is to have a certified appraiser come and visit. This will help give direction on which items have value, which items to keep, which items to donate and which items to throw out. Just the piece of mind of knowing that items worth hundreds and even thousands of dollars did not end up in a landfill is worth the few hundred dollars to hire a certified appraiser!