I had gotten a call about six weeks ago from some people in a nearby town. They were going to be coming to town to “clean out” the mother’s house. I always cringe when I hear that, but I gave them the usual speech about “Just make it easy on yourself. If you want it keep it, if you don’t want it, leave it where it is.” Yesterday they called me and said that they wanted me to come by and give them my opinion on some things. I met with them today.
The house was a beautiful six bedroom Victorian, quite rare in this area. When I pulled up I saw that there was a full 30 yard dumpster in the yard. While I knew this did not bode well, I was totally unprepared for what I found inside. The house was 99% empty! They took me on a tour of room after empty room. There was a piano, an organ, a chest freezer and a few pieces of ho-hum furniture. One room had been a library and all the walls were full of empty shelves. I asked what happened to the books and they informed me that “Nobody reads any more, so they went in one of the ten dumpsters we have filled. The house has been in the family since 1912 and was FULL of stuff like that nobody would want. We got rid of it so we could sell the house. Closing is next Wednesday.” When I asked what they thought I could do for them they said: “Oh we just wanted your advice so we don’t make any mistakes with the antiques.”