Roseville Summer

Missy on Etsy featured our Roseville Magnolia vase in her lovely treasury:

Let Us Spend The Summer In Roseville... by Missy on Etsy.

Visit our EEstates Etsy shop for our full selection from a charming Santa Clarita estate.

14 Expert Estates Promises

A good buyer beware article on estate sales from Market Watch. If you need an estate sale, be careful who you hire. Excerpt:

There are roughly 14,000 estate liquidators in the country, according to Julie Hall, an appraiser and estate expert in Charlotte, N.C., and the executive director of the American Society of Estate Liquidators. Members of that organization must meet certain education or experience requirements and abide by a code of ethics. But most liquidators have no formal training, Hall says. Anyone can set up shop as an estate seller, and plenty of folks who lost their jobs in the recession did just that, she notes.

At Expert Estates, your interests are protected and we promise that:

• We are members of the American Society of Estate Liquidators and the BBB.
• We are owned by a CAGA Certified Personal Property Appraiser.
• We work with other appraisers to value anything in the estate that falls outside of our expertise.
• We work with auction houses for items that are best sold in that venue.
• We are licensed, bonded and insured.
• Even after our commission, most families do best if they use our services. Families don't know the value of their own things, missing even just a few special items can cost a family thousands of dollars. We have dealers and special collectors on our customer lists, and our loyal customers come from all over the region. Our estate sale shoppers are not just curious friends and neighbors.
• We use a sealed bid system when we have something with multiple potential buyers, we have seen sealed bids bring in even more than bids at a live or online auctions since the bidder reveals the most they are willing to pay. We have had sealed bids that brought $500 more than the runner up offered.
• We always provide a clear contract and go over exactly what it says with you.
• Your secrets are safe with us, we always disclose hidden treasures we find and we always protect the privacy of our clients.
• We keep jewelry and high end items secure; we hire security for big sales.
• We are not "snagging" your stuff. At the end of your sale, we will broker and consign special items to get them sold for you. They are your things, not ours. We don't have an automatic buyout clause in our contract, nor do we secretly cart off your leftovers for our inventory.
• Our staff is not compensated with your property. And we also don't allow staff to buy before the public, ensuring that our staff is not just working to get the best items out of your estate before anyone else.
• We can clean out the house for you if you want us to, and we will get smaller unsold items donated to charity for you. We provide an itemized tax receipt for your records.
• We do cover the topic of estate owners being at our sales in our contract. Working with us means that everything is clear from the beginning.

At Expert Estates, we tell! You can read the full article from MarketWatch here:

10 things estate sales won’t tell you - 10 things - MarketWatch.

We are proud to have addressed the coverage gaps that clients experience with other estate sellers. If you know anyone who needs an estate sale or appraisal, share this with them. Contact us at 661-474-7201 for a consultation.

Home Inventory Checklist

Keeping track of purchases prices and inventory at home is much easier if you have a single document with everything on one list. Download my home free home inventory checklist for insurance purposes.

Most homeowners can keep their own lists. If you have collections, antiques, fire arms, jewelry fine art or other high end purchases at home, your special items might need an independent appraisal for insurance coverage. When you write up your list take your camera and create a photo album or digital file with pictures, if you have a loss later, the images and your list will make the insurance claim much simpler. If you need to file a claim, that is generally a time when you probably won't want extra complications.

Free Home Inventory Checklist PDF

Check your coverages with your insurance agent. Find out if your personal property covers you for fair market value, replacement value, or actual cash value. They will all result in different pay outs in the the event of a loss. Generally, replacement value would be the best option for the highest payout. Actual cash value and fair market valuations might be beneficial coverage if your premiums would be too expensive for replacement coverage.

Call me at 661-238-3999 if you have questions or when you need a written appraisal report from a Certified Appraiser.

Finding Qualified Appraisers

Here are and tips from Estate Sales News with links to appraisal associations. ASEL does not certify appraisers, but does provide contact information for their local member estate liquidators. Expert Estates is a member of both the American Society of Estate Liquidators and the Certified Appraisers Guild of America.

Personal Property Appraisers – several different associations | Estate Sales News.

There are several appraisal societies and each one has certain criteria that members must meet. Some estate sales companies offer appraisal services, however, that does not make them appraisers. They may be experienced and knowledgeable, but belonging to one of these associations includes a code of ethics as well as specific appraisal education.

Interview with 2nd Hand Social

Read my interview with Tagsellit's 2nd Hand Social Blog! Excerpt:

Hello Everyone! I have had the fortune of interviewing Lisa  Kroese of Expert Estates. Lisa recently released her Estate Sale Company starter kit to help out anyone who wants to start their own Estate Sale business. I had a lot of fun interviewing her and she really gave some wise words of wisdom.

Kate:  What inspired you to get into the Estate Sale business?

Lisa: I was always interested in the business. I used to work for an auction house and I did appraisals. When we moved from Pennsylvania to Tehachapi, California, I realized how silly we were to pack and move all of our furniture. The move was expensive, the movers broke or damaged a lot of our furniture. In hindsight, we should have sold our things in PA, and used the money we made and the money we saved on the moving costs to just buy “new” things (from estate sales of course!) once we were settled. I didn’t know anyone here and I wanted work to do. Shortly after we settled in here, I developed my estate sale business plan. ...

Full Article Here

Estate Sale Starter Kit

via Estate Sale Company Starter Kit with Estate Sale Contracts by EEstates.

My business has grown extensively over the last three years thanks to my business plan, solid contracts and good marketing. If you are or know someone who is considering opening or operating an estate liquidation business and need some affordable support and direction, I want to help. Estate Sales are hard work, but I can make starting up a little easier.

I will send you three PDF documents with my templates that you can modify, customize and review and with a local business attorney for compliance with your state's requirements.

You will get:

My Custom Estate Sale Business Plan, 7 pages

My Custom Estate Sale Business Kit, 23 pages- 2 different Estate sale contracts,- 1 Consignment agreement contract,- 1 Moving and garage sale contract,- 1 Household clean out agreement,- 1 Consulting agreement contract,- 1 Introduction Letter to Lawyers,- 1 Estate Sale Press Release,- 1 Sample Settlement Statement- 1 Sample Excel Spreadsheet

My Estate Sale Company Brochure Sample, 1 page

Avoid Family Conflicts During Estate Planning

Great information on estate planning. I pasted in some details for you, but follow the link for the full story. Estate sales and/or written appraisals can be an important component of the division of assets. Call me for a free consult when you need help with personal property or business asset liquidation and appraisals: 661-474-7201.

Avoiding Family Conflicts During Estate Planning | Estate Planning content from WealthManagement.com.

Excerpt: Unfortunately, estate planning can also cause family feuds over inheritance, often leading to litigation that can become lengthy and costly with no clear winner. From our experience, family litigation occurs not from a lack of trying to solve the issue, but from a lack of planning. Below are key tactics we suggest to help take advantage of potential tax cuts, as well as to avoid family battles over wealth transfers.

• Overcome the concept of fairness. One of the most common issues is when parents try to be “fair” in order to ensure their children get along. In this situation, the parents are also typically trying to protect and keep the legacy asset, whether it is a business or a home, in the family and on a growth trajectory. If one sibling is invested and interested in the family business, while the other sibling is not interested ... splitting the business “fairly” between the two siblings, i.e. giving each sibling an equal portion of the business, is likely to cause tension ...

• Transfer assets based on a natural flow. Instead of transferring assets equally, focus on what makes sense for the individual you are transferring the asset to. For example, if only one sibling is interested in the family business, he or she should be considered to own the family business in the future. If the other sibling is not interested in the business, other mechanisms can be set into place for transferring different assets to that child.

• Protect family assets. Each sibling's desires and needs are different.  The individual might be young with other goals, might not have the same interests as the family, or might have special needs. In these situations, certain mechanisms such as trusts can be set up to protect both the individual and the family assets. For example, an individual can receive income for life and have a trustee appointed to manage the financial assets.

• Make major decisions with every family member in the room. When it comes to transferring assets or discussing the future, the family needs to be on the same page. Not doing so can lead to family tension and legal battles in the future. ...

• Do not wait for the original founder of the family business, or a parent, to pass away. A simple fact: the more you talk now, the better it will be for your family’s future. Many problems arise after the individual who has the majority of the wealth is out of the picture. When mom or dad doesn’t address an issue, the siblings begin to feud.

• Evaluate what you can and can’t afford to transfer. The first step in beginning the estate planning process is to get an estimated current value of the asset portfolio of the estate. Determine the assets that are more likely to appreciate in value, giving considerations to those that also carry other intangible values, such as the family legacy. ...

• Treat estate planning as an ongoing process. Every individual has life-changing events - marriage, children, divorce, sale of a business, stock options, IPO - along with changes in beneficiaries. We often refer to this as a “milestone review.” When a financial or significant life milestone occurs it is critical that the estate plan is updated. ...

• Pick the right professional advisor. Estate planning is a very personal business for both the advisor and the individual client. Look for someone you trust who will bring a personal interest to the relationship. As gifting involves giving up some control and is not something that can easily be reversed, understanding family dynamics and getting family members comfortable in all facets of the gift is important.

Communication and coordination are essential to make sure the overall tax, financial and personal outcomes are the best in the current tax regime. Keep in mind assistance from multiple advisors will be needed during this process. Trusted professional advisors can bring significant value in helping to select the best assets to transfer, for example, attorneys are essential to producing the legal documents needed to carry out the intention of the estate plan.

When planning one’s estate, don’t delay discussions about difficult inheritance and wealth transfer issues.  A family willing to have an honest and open discussion now will avoid scorched relationships and negative financial impact later.  ...

Vintage Wedding Ideas: 1940s Ideas

Great ideas for vintage loving brides: Vintage Wedding Ideas: 10 ways to channel wartime brides of the 1940s - Life News - handbag.com.

Sunday: WWII letters purchased at estate sale reunited with family | Tulsa World

Sunday: WWII letters purchased at estate sale reunited with family | Tulsa World. Just a little post Memorial day feel good news story about a long ago estate sale purchase being returned to the original family.

Certificates of Inauthenticity

In the course of doing fine art and personal property appraisals over the years, I can't count the number of times I was called to do an appraisal for a work of art that was completely fake but came into the buyer's hands with a Certificate of Authenticity. And you know I hate to be the bad news bear, right? In some cases, the certificate in question was meant to go with an authentic work by the artist but got attached to a fake instead, in other cases it stated the work was authentic but was not issued by right authority, foundation or expert in the artists' work. But which were the cases I hated the most? When the fine print or a little digging would show the buyer on their own that the certificate had no merit before they spent their money.

Ending soon on eBay, there is a listing that falls into that last category. It's heading states it is an "Original Watercolor Ink Signed Andy Warhol with COA" Well that sounds like you would be bidding on the real thing, doesn't it. But let's see, who issued the certificate?

Well, the seller has a photo attached of a fancy looking paper issued by a group called the National Fine Arts Title Registry. If you visit the nice title registry folks online, you'll see that in exchange for a payment, they will create a record of an art work based on the owner's input. I am sure that they are providing a great service for folks who are using them to document their own collections. But this paper in no way proves that the Warhol in question is authentic, and in the case of this listing, the document pictured even states that the work is "Attributed to Andy Warhol". An attribution statement is always a red flag. So not only is this not a certificate, if you read it, you will know that the seller is not really telling you it is by Andy Warhol. Convenient for them, isn't it?

We can talk more about recognized experts and having a work of art correctly authenticated another day. This work has a letter from someone in Italy but the person is not a recognized expert in Warhol authentication.

For now, just read the fine print, remember that anyone who will mislead you about what they are selling will also go to great lengths to convince you that they are not being misleading. For too many people all it takes is a little ole "certificate". But not you, because you shop smart!