What has been the best approach - hire a company to go through and box up what can be sold or donated (somewhat like EBTH.com) , then hire a realtor to sell the property, OR sell the entire place "as is" and let new owner deal with clearing out everything not claimed by family or friends? I realize having the loved one present when any such activity occurs would be a huge mistake so that won't happen.
You can PM me with the name, to avoid any inference of advertising.
Thanks.
Selling a property "As Is" does NOT mean you leave everything in the house for someone else to deal with. "As Is" simply means that any inspections are for informational purposes only and the Seller(s) will not be making any repairs, etc.
You will also need proof that you're legally able to sell the house.
I'm a licensed Realtor in MD.
I hope this information is helpful to you. Good luck!
I've also been told repeatedly by the wannabes as well as one realtor who represents investors that "no cleanup" or removal of items is necessary.
I doubt though that these are licensed realtors.
There may be a Realtor in the area who specializes in selling estates. (Check Yelp again for that.) This whole process can be much easier than you think.
EBTH only accepts items to auction off online if you live in Ohio, otherwise, they'll take 'smalls' when you box them up and ship them to their Ohio offices. If you live in Ohio, they'll send a truck to the house and load it up; but they're only looking for certain types of items in very good condition, etc. Check out their website at EBTH.com.
Your best bet is probably to hire a local estate sale company to come into the home and conduct a sale on the premises. Go to Estatesales.net and search out a local company who has good reviews on Yelp or Google, and they can conduct a 3 day sale and get rid of everything; whatever is left over they can hire a clean out company to cart it all away. They normally charge a 40% fee; they take 40% of what comes in, you get 60%. But they will organize, set up and price everything, you will do nothing. You'll also be advised to be out of the house while the sales take place. You will take out what you want to keep before the estate sale people come in, and they'll do the rest. Easy peasy.
Good luck!