Realtor Turns to Orion’s Attic After Estate Sale Backfires

Estate sale backfires happen all the time. Redfin Realtor Dina Gorrell turned to Orion’s Attic after a client’s attempt at one in a pricey Alexandria, Virginia neighborhood delayed getting the house on the market for two months.

Orion’s Attic accomplished in one day what the well-intended family couldn’t achieve with its Alexandria estate sale. Check out our interview with Gorrell here. For folks who would rather read than watch, a transcript follows below the video.

Alexandria estate liquidation success

Chris Lancette: Hey, everybody. Chris Lancette. We just finished this job in Alexandria, brought to us by Dina Gorrell, a realtor with Redfin. If you need a realtor in Alexandria, here’s where you’re going to start.

Dina Gorrell: Thank you.

Chris: This was our first project together, and you saw what it was like before. You’ve seen it now that we’re done. What do you think?

Dina: My first words walking in the door, Chris, were, “Oh my gosh.” It’s so immaculate and pristine, and it was a lot of hard work. I know it was.

Chris: When we first met, you asked if this was too much for us, and I laughed. So now, you see that we can liquidate any estate no matter what’s in it.

Dina: Well, I wish people would take that advice ahead of time, because-

Well-intended client attempts to conduct estate sale at home they inherited

Chris: Well, I was going to ask you about that. So the very sweet, well-intended family that owns this house, inherited this house, tried to do things the hard way, which we always say, “Don’t do things the hard way.” What did they try to do, and what were the consequences of that from a perspective of making money?

Dina: Well, very well-intended. They really took their time. The whole family came over to price every single item in the house, from wine glasses to forks, and pictures, and —

Chris: George Foreman grills for $8 that nobody’s buying.

Dina: I know it took hours and hours of work for them, and they probably really belabored the process. But the truth is this house should have been on the market and sold by now, so time really is money.

Comparing the huge value of a home to the microscopic value of the home’s contents

Chris: This is a beautiful neighborhood and a beautiful house. In general, what do houses in this neighborhood sell for? What’s a reasonable comp?

Dina: Well …

Chris: Ballpark, just so we can give people some math.

Dina: $700,000.

Chris: That’s what I was thinking. $700,000. So from your perspective as a realtor who’s in the position of making them the real money, how important was it to spend two months trying to sell George Foreman grills — not that we have anything against George Foreman, he was a great man — for $8 that didn’t sell anyway? Was that a solid economic strategy?

Dina: A lot of it is nostalgia and sentimentality. I understand that, and I appreciate that. But once they work through that, they get tired of it, and they’re like, “Okay. Enough’s enough. We have to get rid of this stuff.” That’s where Chris came in.

Advantages of using Orion’s Attic to liquidate estates and clean out homes instead of running estate sales

Chris: We came in, and we smiled. Because we see these situations all the time, where people tried so hard messing around with this, as I always say — selling Hummel figurines for $3. But they did all this work, and not a lot sold at the estate sale. We used to run estate sales. We don’t run estate sales, because they’re going the way of the dinosaur.

Dina: Mm-hmm.

Chris: It’s just faster to hire us, let us sell the good stuff, donate so much. We had Community Forklift here today. They got the refrigerator. [See video and story “Donate appliances, change lives with Community Forklift“.] They got the microwave. And they were able to give second lives to so many things and get them to people in need, and now, you can do your thing. Right?

Dina: It’s beautiful. You can see the floors. They’re shiny wood floors. This is going to sell in a hot minute, folks.

Chris: That’s all we got for today. Thanks for watching this. I’m with Dina Gorrell from Redfin. We’ll put up her contact information, hopefully right here. Otherwise, I’m pointing in the wrong place. Somewhere is her contact info. See you next time.

Dina: Thank you, Orion’s Attic.

Chris: Thank you.

–end–

What are the disadvantages of estate sales?

Check our story on 13 reasons why estate sales aren’t the best way for you to sell your stuff and clear your home.

Learn what you need to know about selling your home’s treasures in our Estate Liquidation and Downsizing Guide.

Contact us today and let us know how we can be of help. Check out our new YouTube channel, too.