Renaissance Household Sales, LLC
“where everything old becomes new again”
About the Owner
After a successful career as a Antique furniture refinisher Mike Sullivan started Renaissance Household Sales in Rochester, New York. For the past seven years, the company has sold personal property for clients who were downsizing or putting a house on the market.
According to Mr. Sullivan, “The most important aspect of conducting a successful sale is to establish a trusting relationship with the client. I need to fully understand the honest goals of my client, and my client needs to believe that I will work hard to meet those goals.”
How it Works
There are two types of household sales: estate sale and moving sale. The purpose of an estate sale is to liquidate the personal property in a home so that the house is empty and ready to be sold. Usually, this happens when a death of a family member has occurred, and the executors of the will need to clean out a home. This is an emotionally difficult time for family members and, often, they turn to an estate liquidator to organize, price, and sell the personal possessions of the deceased. A moving sale takes place when someone is downsizing and wants to sell a percentage of their personal property. When a family contacts Renaissance Household Sales, we:
Can't wait to see you at our sale. Setup was 3191.
1. Schedule a time to meet with you at the home,
2. Tour the home with you to look at the personal property that is being sold,
3. Discuss your goals for the sale,
4. Establish sale dates,
5. Review the pre-sale, sale, and post-sale processes,
6. Offer a flat fee (or flat fee plus percentage) for conducting the sale,
7. If deemed necessary, recommend that a dumpster be placed on the property for a seven-day period,
8. Leave a contract with you if you express an interest in considering us to do your sale.
Once you have decided to work with Renaissance, we return to the home to pick up the contract and take pictures of the personal property for marketing purposes. At that time, we also establish a timeline for preparing for the sale and a way to access the home during this pre-sale period.
The pre-sale period takes between one and two weeks, depending on the size of the home and the amount of personal property to display and price. Before the pre-sale period begins, we ask family members to remove personal property from the home that they want to keep, or store not-for-sale merchandise in a designated room of the home that will be off-limits during the sale. (Please know that as we are going through the home, we will put aside for the client any personal property that may have inadvertently been overlooked, such as family photos.) Our company cannot sell firearms or liquor, so those must also be removed before the sale.
During the pre-sale period, everything in the home is cleaned, as necessary, displayed on tables that we bring into the house, and priced. Most personal property is divided into two categories: furniture and smalls. People tend to collect an enormous number of smalls over a lifetime, and smalls bring a considerable amount of income to a sale. Renaissance takes pride in displaying merchandise that is easy to see and access by our customers. Occasionally, clients ask us to include cars, golf carts, boats, etc. in the sale, and we gladly do this, as long as proper documentation is provided.
Sales generally run for two days and are advertised on estatesales.net, other social media, road signs, and on occasion, in local papers. Special requirements about parking are included in our advertising. On sale days, Renaissance has staff members to monitor the shoppers in your home, as well as a cashier at the cash-out table. We provide packing materials and bags for our customers and accept cash, Venmo and cash app for the merchandise they buy. At the end of the sale, our client receives copies of all sales receipts, as well as a spread sheet of all of the sales.
On the first day of the sale, Renaissance Household Sales does not negotiate prices put on your personal property. We will, however, accept lower than asking price bids on furniture, and those bids will be presented to you at the end of the first day, if the furniture has not sold at full price. You have the option of accepting or rejecting a bid, and your decision will be conveyed to the bidder. On the second day of the sale, prices are reduced by a percentage agreed upon by the client. A discount percentage on the final day of the sale is normal in this industry, and it helps to move merchandise that might not otherwise sell.
Renaissance’s post-sale responsibilities are discussed during the initial interview and can include anything from consolidating the items that did not sell and leaving them for the client to turning over a “broom-ready” home to the client. (Broom-ready means the house is empty and ready for cleaning.) If it is decided that Renaissance will leave the home “broom-ready,” this means that we will box left over smalls and donate those, along with furniture, to local charitable organizations. The client may request receipts from these organizations.
Renaissance cannot be responsible for the removal of pianos, large appliances, pool tables, chemicals (including paint) or unsold electronics after the sale.
After Renaissance Household Sales has met its responsibilities, the client will receive a check for the proceeds of the sale, minus the contracted fee, and the receipts and spread sheet from the sale. Generally, this takes place within two days after the end of the sale to allow time to adit invoice and receipts.
The flat fee includes:
1. Time and effort put into the pre-sale process at a cost of $30 per hour per employee
2. Use of tables, tablecloths, pricing stickers, receipt books, signage, and customer packing materials.
3. Marketing which includes the costs associated with using the estste sale website and strategically placing professionally created signs in the neighborhood to assist the customer in easily finding our sales.
4. $30 per hour per employee during the days of the sale.
5. $30 per hour per employee for post-sale responsibilities.
No extra costs are ever added to the contracted flat fee.
The flat fee is deducted from the proceeds of the sale; the balance is given to the client. If the sale does not make enough money to cover the flat fee, the client will be responsible for making up the difference.
It is important to us to do a good job for you because we want you to refer us to your friends!