Estate Sale and Downsizing Services Editing and Proofreading Services

The check is for $1,400. The family had expected several thousand, because their mother's house held a good deal of decent furniture, and the clearance ran for nine days. Everything sold, the arithmetic on the statement is correct, and the fees were charged at the rate the family signed. What nobody set out in advance was that brown furniture now sells for almost nothing, that the fee comes off the top, and that four dumpster loads cost more than the china raised.

The documents we edit for Estate Sale and Downsizing Services

Agreements and the fee structures explained inside them, settlement statements and their itemization, valuation and expectation guidance given before a job starts, and disposal cost documentation are the papers a family actually reads. Inventory and high-value item records, consignment and auction route explanations, charitable donation and recycling documentation, timeline and access arrangements, sensitive item handling procedures, and pre-engagement material for families still deciding come to us as well. Our editors work on the statement that arrives at the end and the conversation that should have preceded it.

What the editing involves

The figure at the bottom of the statement is rarely why a family feels cheated. The reason is the silence before it. A family told at the survey that the mahogany dining set will probably make $60, that the dinner service is worth more than the sideboard holding it, and that the attic will cost money to empty is disappointed once. That disappointment lands in week one, delivered by somebody who was straight with them. A family told nothing until the check arrives has to reconstruct the whole job backward from one number.

The fee should be stated with its basis and then worked through on an example, because a percentage of gross, a percentage after costs, and a fixed fee plus disposal produce different results from the same house. Disposal belongs there as a real cost rather than a footnote. Four dumpster loads at $320 each come to $1,280 against the sale total, and a clearance that ends in a net charge is common enough to be named before signing. The itemized settlement does the rest, showing what sold, what it made, and what each fee line took, so a family can follow the arithmetic instead of accepting a total.

Unsold goods are the part families ask about most. A statement recording that the remainder "was disposed of" tells them nothing. A list naming each lot and its destination answers the question before it is asked: sold at a later auction, donated with a receipt from the charity named on the line, recycled, or taken to the dump. Anything found that should never have been sold deserves its own short list, covering the documents, the photographs, the medals, and the letters, with where each went. The timeline belongs there too, including the date after which nothing can be retrieved. Families keep their goodwill through a disappointing number when the number is the only surprise.

Confidentiality and the limits of our role

Everything you send us is treated in confidence, including agreements, inventories, and family correspondence. We are editors, not appraisers, auctioneers, or probate advisors, and we offer no opinion on values, fees, or process. What we can do is help set the expectation before the check arrives.