What the 35% covers
Research and appraisal-aware pricing of the full contents. Tagging every item. Staging the home so buyers can walk it room by room. Marketing the sale to a regional buyer list rather than a yard sign. Staffing and supervising the sale for its full 3-day run, with controlled access and staffed checkout. Then clearing what did not sell — routed to donation or recycling, documented — and handing the property back emptied and ready to list.
There is no separate setup fee, no marketing fee, no staffing charge, no dumpster line item, and no per-hour add-on invoiced afterward. If a cost is part of running your sale, it is inside the 35%.
Why we publish the number instead of quoting it later
Because the alternative is what families keep describing to us. A commission that only appears after the walkthrough, when the house is already committed and the executor has no leverage left, is not a quote — it is a negotiation the family loses. The rate is the same before you call as after, and it does not move because the contents turned out to be better than expected.
The minimum threshold guarantee
Small estates are where percentage-only pricing quietly fails: a sale that grosses very little still costs a crew a full weekend, and someone absorbs that. A minimum threshold guarantee, typically $2,000, is how we absorb it instead of leaving the family behind where they started. If the walkthrough shows a sale is the wrong tool for the property, we say so and lay out the alternative rather than signing you to one.
When a sale is not the right answer
A commission model only makes sense when there is something worth commissioning. If the contents are ordinary household goods, if the timeline is measured in days, or if the family is out of state and cannot support a weekend of foot traffic, a single cash buyout is usually the better instrument — and that comparison is laid out in full on the estate sale versus cash buyout page.
Pricing questions
What commission do you charge, and what does it cover?
35% of gross sales. That single number covers the appraisal-aware research, pricing and tagging, staging the home, marketing to a regional buyer list, staffing and supervising the sale, and the post-sale clearance. There is no separate setup fee, marketing fee, or staffing charge added afterward.
Do I have to pay anything before the sale?
No. $0 out-of-pocket. Every cost of running the sale is absorbed and settled out of the proceeds, so an estate with no cash on hand can still be liquidated properly.
What if the estate is small and does not sell for much?
A minimum threshold guarantee, typically $2,000, protects smaller estates so the sale does not leave the family behind where it started. If a walkthrough shows a sale is the wrong tool for the property, we say so and outline the alternative rather than signing you to one.
Can I still get into the house while you are setting up?
Yes. You are the executor and you carry the legal duty to maintain the property, so locking you out of it would be indefensible. We coordinate access rather than restrict it, and we never attach a penalty to an owner or executor entering their own property.
How long does the whole process take?
Most estates run 7 to 14 days end to end: staging and pricing, the 3-day weekend sale, then final clearance and the accounting reconciliation.
What happens to everything that does not sell?
It leaves the property. Unsold contents are routed to donation or recycling with documentation where a receipt is available, and the home is emptied and ready for photographs and listing. Clearing the leftovers is not a separate job you are handed back.
I live out of state. Can this run without me there?
Yes. Remote executors are the common case, not the exception. One lead runs your sale start to finish, sends the walkthrough assessment and the sale results in writing, and coordinates access with whoever holds the keys locally.
Nothing has been sorted or cleaned. Is that a problem?
No. Sorting is the work, not a prerequisite for it. Do not clean, box, or haul anything before the walkthrough. Pull out the items the family is keeping, and leave the rest exactly where it is.
Get the number for your specific estate
Free on-site walkthrough and valuation anywhere in Del Mar. 35% commission, $0 out-of-pocket, in writing before anything moves.
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