Last Winter I represented a couple who bought a home from a pair of ancients who had lived in their house for over 30 years. During their long tenure, they never ran across a memento that they didn’t want to keep. So although we gave them a long escrow, by the last 5 days they hadn’t made a dent in emptying their nest. The seller’s agent, Dan Peacock, a fine Realtor whose license is currently with Homesmart, worked some magic and the house was empty at close, and at the time that’s all I cared about.
But, have you ever found yourself in this situation: surrounded by mountains of stuff, so much that you no longer have any idea of what you have, so much that it’s crowding you out of enjoying your home? And so much that you’re overwhelmed at the thought of how to go about getting rid of it? I was there earlier this year when I sold the family home, which I had bought from my parents eight years earlier. The home was full of memories. Memories of my youngest sister going to Senita Elementary then learning to drive and cruising MetroCenter then going to prom at Moon Valley. Her wedding gown was still hanging in the laundry room and her children’s kindergarten projects for Grandma and Grandpa were still tacked to walls and taped to cupboards. On top of those were my own memories. Memories of my life in the house during the last years of my late husband’s life: Decorating ideas we had cut out from Phoenix Home & Garden and Architectural Digest. Pretty stones we had collected along the shores of Southern California. And more recent memories with Greg and Cameron: Dried flowers from my wedding bouquet. Michael Jordan and Star Wars posters in Cameron’s bedroom. Memories that will last a lifetime, but stuff that was consuming my thoughts and my time. We had moved from that house over a year before, but still all that stuff was there, and we had sold the house.
There was a solution. Yesterday sellsius° real estate blog mentioned it by citing archenemy’s recommendation.
I had a good experience today with 1-800-GOT-JUNK. They showed up on time (1 hr into a 2 hr window), quoted me a price, did all the heavy lifting, charged me the quoted price and were gone in an hour. They took away construction waste related to new front and back doors and a porch rebuild, as well as a big pile of half rotted firewood. They swept up after themselves and exceded my expectations, something that hasn’t happened since I began to do work on my new house.
Allthough its a bit more expensive than renting a dumpster, I highly recommend them.
I thought that’s who I was calling when I found the listing for Got Junk AZ. Turns out they are a local company that has since changed its name to The Junk Guys. Same great experience. After I took from the house the things I couldn’t bear to leave behind, like my wedding bouquet, they came through the house and without me suffering any further angst, the house was empty. I mean move-in ready. Not even a dustball was left for the buyers to deal with. This was a perfect solution. I highly recommend using professionals when you’re feeling like you’re in over your head.
Alex Reo says:
I have a guy that does my trash outs for reos who sells half the stuff on ebay and craigslist. I pay him to get his own product. This is better then goodwill.
September 15, 2008 — 11:57 am