Downsizing How To Get Rid Of All That Furniture
Watch for 6 ways to get that furniture a new home.
A question that I frequently get asked from my clients who are downsizing, How do I get rid of old furniture? And that’s a great question. Hi, I’m Paula Quinn with RE/MAX Central and I’m a certified seniors real estate specialist, focused on helping baby boomers and above downsize for their current homes and getting them into right-sized homes. With over 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day in North America, and most of them downsizing, there’s a lot of unwanted items that are needing to be disposed of. Large furniture pieces are the most challenging to dispose of due frankly to their sheer size. There are a lot of options to dispose of big furniture pieces but it takes take to figure this portion out so it’s best to start early, do your homework, and don’t leave it til the last minute. Other than a dumpster, headed to the dump, here are some options how to dispose of those large pieces that you’re not taking with you.
Number one, an estate sale or an auction. If you have a lot of furniture that you’re not taking with you and other belongings, to your next home, then an estate sale or an auction may be a good option for you. Some people have had great success with these estate sales an auctions where others thought it wasn’t worth the effort and for the amount of money they received for their belongings in the end. It really depends upon how many belongings you have to get rid of. If you’re doing a major clear out of furniture you may want to do the sale after the house is sold since the furniture may be used for staging. I always recommend having me walk through your home with you to earmark those items best needed for staging your home for that great showing.
Number two, selling the items on social media. With social media so popular now, it’s a lot easier to sell unwanted furniture yourself. Marketplace on Facebook, local buy and sell Facebook groups are just a few popular sources where people are able to sell their stuff. Be aware, when you have strangers come into your home you may wanna have another person with you just to be safe. You can also use these sites to check out items that are like yours to see what the asking price should be.
Number three, family and friends. Check with family and friends to see if they want to take anything off your hands. They may want some or they may know of someone who may need furniture. One person I know setting up their new home was able to get quite a bit of furniture from a friend of a friend who was downsizing. Or there may be grandkids who need couches for college. Your daughter-in-law would have a perfect place for that antique china hutch.
Number four, women’s shelters and low income support groups. Women’s shelters, organizations working with refugees, and low-income families are always looking for furniture to help their clients get established again. Contact the organizations in your area, again I have lists for you as well, to see what they need. Some of these may even pick up at your doorstep. Again, planning ahead is key.
And then there’s your not-for-profit organizations. Not-for-profit organizations like Habitat For Humanity, Restore, Furniture Banks, Epilepsy Foundation, New To You, etc. are looking for good quality items they can sell in their not-for-profit stores to earn money to support their organizations. Most of them will pick up your items for free but there’s typically at least a two to three week waiting window for that pickup date so you need again, planning ahead.
Thrift stores, a lot of thrifts stores take furniture that is in good condition. Depending upon the size of that store it’s best to call to see if they can take your items before you drop them off. Some of these stores are even getting full of large older and bigger size furniture sets since smaller houses and condos can’t take these pieces either.
And then finally pianos. Pianos are just a little bit more of a challenge to get rid of. Ask your adult children if they want the family piano, certainly. If not you can contact schools or churches to see if they need or want a piano. Unless it’s a fancy grand piano, you probably can’t expectation much money, if any for an old, upright piano. Unfortunately upright pianos are a dime a dozen it seems right now. You’re lucky if someone would be willing to pick it up and carry it away for free. Placing an ad on Marketplace advertising a free piano will hopefully attract a person willing to take it off your hands.
There are a lot of places that you can get rid of your excess and old furniture if you plan ahead. Use me as a resource to help as I can give you names and numbers of these places that may be able to take the items off your hands. Creating a tradition of trust, your realtor for life, Paula Quinn with RE/MAX Central. If you do what you love, people love what you do.
Downsizing How To Get Rid Of All That Furniture
Paula Quinn, Realtor, SRES
Paula@remax-centralmn.com, (612) 810-3907
www.thePaulaQuinn.com
