The Estate Sale Diaries: Real Estate Parallels and Bravo's Million Dollar Listing

Despite all the reality shows featuring antiques, pawn shops appraisals, picking and collecting, I still find Million Dollar Listing on Bravo to be the most relatable to the estate sale business.  

Bravo's logo.  Image from Wikipedia and used to illustrate the network that shows Million Dollar Listing (LA and NY versions).

By no means am I valuing any item we broker the sale of at a million dollars, but the realtors' explanations to their clients are incredibly familiar.  

This is a good offer – the client wanted more, but the price is still fair.  We will start it lower than you want.  You paid a premium to personalize it; it is what you like, but the new owner will want something different. 

Whether buying from an individual or selling for them, the psychology of the seller is the same, whether it is the sale of the house or the items that filled it.

The seller always sees his item (whether a house or porcelain bowl) as better than anyone else's.  It is the professional’s job to objectively value the item.  Sometimes an item will be sold at a loss because the market changed.  The real estate market has taken an incredibly well-publicized and gut-wrenching hit.  Less publicity has been received by the dramatic downturn of Victorian furniture, Fostoria, depression glass and other decorating pieces associated with the typical grandmother's house in the wake of mid-century modern’s rise in demand and price.  You can either wait out the market, hope for the perfect buyer who will pay the premium for the item he's been looking everywhere for, or move it at a loss.  The market and the professional set the price, not the owner.

Image via hermanmiller.com.  Customizable and starting at $4499 (new).

This Eames chair was your father’s favorite chair and you have many fond memories of him relaxing in it with his New York Times.  It holds many memories for you, but to a professional and every potential buyer, it is a used Eames chair.  I do not mean any insult to your father’s memory and I am sure he was an incredible father and a wonderful human being.  The reality is that unless he was famous, his chair does not have an increased monetary value.  Even if he was famous, to sell it at a higher price than a comparable Eames chair (in style, condition and age) requires proof of ownership – either photographic documentation or documents signed by you or your father’s representative certifying that it was in fact part of his estate.  Ownership only matters when it is significant.  I'm sorry, but sentiment has no monetary value.

If an interested buyer makes an offer lower than what the seller is asking, that is not a personal insult.  While a seller often views the professional’s price as firm, most professionals set an item at a price that would be both ideal and fair.  The professional expects offers and negotiation.  The word negotiate should not be anathema to the seller, it is the reality of the exchange of goods.  The only time negotiation is off the table is at auction – and even then, it is only the truly exceptional pieces (as evaluated by objective professionals) that can actually command prices above their estimates.  (Consider the ultra-high-end art market, where the sale of one painting could buy several houses featured on Million Dollar Listing).  Negotiation is expected in any person-to-person sale.  You cannot negotiate at Barneys, but you can in real estate, antique stores and estate sales.  Set your expectations lower than what you are asking, not higher.

For all the stress inherent in these person-to-person sales, maybe I would get a higher return on my investment of time and energy working in real estate.  Something to consider. . .