Are You Facing a Major House Clearance and Wondering Where to Start?

When a loved one passes, one of the largest jobs for those left behind is clearing out the deceased's property and preparing it for sale. Often, before the home can be properly cleaned, you will need to dispose of possessions which have been accrued over a lifetime. This task would be daunting at any time, but when you are going through the grieving process, it can be overwhelming. Normally, in this situation you have two options: you can struggle through on your own, or you can call in a professional deceased estate cleaning company to carry out the job for you. Before you make a decision about whether you can carry out deceased estate cleaning on your own, it can be helpful to understand exactly what is involved in the task. Here are some things to consider while planning your deceased estate cleaning project.

How much work is involved?

One of the greatest challenges involved in estate cleaning is to work out exactly how much time will be involved in the clearing process. Every home is different, but it can be surprising to consider how much stuff can fit in even a small flat. If you are determined to undertake the clearing alone, then you must be aware of how many hours you will need to dedicate to the sorting, boxing and disposal of the home contents.  

What is the objective?

Depending on the nature of the job, there are a couple of objectives that you could be working towards, and the objective you choose will define the way your work. If you want to maximise the value of the home contents, then you will want to take your time and find the right market for each item. This can be particularly important when you are dealing with potentially valuable antiques or unique items of furniture. Alternatively, you could consider that it is more important to focus on the value of the property. In that situation, you will want to focus on minimising clearance costs by emptying the property as quickly as possible without worrying too much about income gained by the sale of the contents.  

Dividing the contents

Once you know what your objective is going to be, it is time to start dividing up the contents. Before you start boxing items, it can be helpful to label each item so you know exactly where it is going and no mistakes are made during the clearing process. You will probably want to split everything into at least three piles:

• Items for the family
• Items for sale
• Items for donation/disposal

If you can face taking on the task yourself, you now know how to start. If you would prefer to allow a deceased estate cleaning company to take on the work, then at least you know what is involved and what type of questions they will be asking you before they can start the clearing.

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