08/12/2026
Estate Transition 101 | #01 ✏️
Start with what you're KEEPING—not what you're getting rid of.
It sounds backwards, but this is one of the first things I tell families.
When you're downsizing, settling an estate, or preparing a longtime home for sale, the instinct is usually to start here:
What can we get rid of?
--- Stop.
Instead Start with:
What matters to us?
Family photos.
Important documents.
Sentimental pieces.
The furniture going to the new home.
The things the kids actually want.
Grab the Post-it Notes. Label those things.
You can even label things with a ? If you aren't sure.
But, the important part is to label them and get them out of the equation.
Stop Again.
You don't need to decide the fate of everything else yet.
You don't need to know what's valuable
You don't need to start making donation runs.
And you definitely don't need to spend your Saturday answering 47 Facebook Marketplace messages about a $20 end table. 😂
Once you know what's staying, you can make a plan for everything that's left.
Some may be sold.
Some may be donated.
Some may go to auction.
Some collections may need an entirely different approach.
And some of the things you assumed nobody would want may surprise you.
Keeping first. Discarding second.
It's a small change in the order of operations
—but it can save an incredible amount of time, stress, regret and not to mention, money.
And after six years of doing this, it's probably the one thing i wish every family had heard before they started.
And before you start deciding what happens to everything else,
This is a really good time to make a few phone calls.
An estate sale company shouldn't be the last call you make once you've already emptied half the house.
Call early.
Ask questions.
Learn what your options are.
A reputable company should be able to walk through the home with you, explain what may be sellable, what might be better suited for auction or another sales channel, what can eventually be donated, and whether an estate sale even makes sense for your situation.
You may decide an estate sale isn't the right solution at all—and that's okay.
The important part is knowing your options before you start eliminating them.
That's lesson #1.
