Estate Sales by Tom Roberts

Our mother's sudden death in August 2013 was so devastating to my sister, my brother and myself that none of us could face going into her house for more than a few minutes until early 2014 -- and the thoughts of having to go through and dispose of her belongings was still something that we could not handle. Fortunately, a dear friend and neighbor told me that Tom Roberts had extensive experience in handling situations such as ours and that she had no doubt that we would find comfort in having someone as compassionate, trustworthy and knowledgeable as Tom to conduct an estate sale for us. Taking her advice and contacting Tom was the best decision we could have made -- throughout our dealings with him, Tom not only lived up to all that she told us we could expect, but far exceeded those expectations. Because we were not familiar with how estate sales were conducted or what we needed to do, Tom met with us at our mother's home in late January. Throughout our meeting, he expressed his heartfelt sympathy for our loss, but still carefully and patiently explained the options of services that he could provide. Our mother did not possess a great number of antiques and costly items, as we thought were usually found at estate sales, but she had an overabundance of household items, personal belongings and possessions that she had accumulated since she built and moved into her home 25 years ago. Knowing how hard it would be for us to go through everything, Tom suggested that we just select the items that we wanted to keep ourselves and explained that he and his crew would go through all the drawers, closets, cabinets -- everywhere -- to sort out the items that could be sold and dispose of those that could not. When asked about what would we be done with items that did not sell, Tom advised us that he has someone who would buy the excess so that the house would be completely empty after the sale. Although none of us knew anything about some of Momma's things, Tom readily identified the pattern of her silverware, the manufacturer, age and approximate value of clocks and furniture, and much more. The manner in which he gave this information was in simple conversation -- not in the least bit condescending or arrogant as you might expect from some experts, but comforting and reassuring to know that we were entrusting our mother's belongings to someone who was incredibly knowledgeable and respectful. Tom's cost was to be based on a percentage of the total amount derived from the sale and he provided us with a contract to review and consider before making our decision. We immediately decided to have Tom conduct the sale and chose the first weekend in March for it to be held. He told us that they would need one week to sort through and set up for the sale, which allowed us time to remove things that we wanted to keep. In early March, we were hit by a snow storm so that it would have been difficult for Tom and his crew to get into the house. Although he was willing to try, we told him that it would be okay to delay the sale until the following weekend which he had available. We did not want to attend the sale but I did come up the night before it was held to see the set-up. What Tom had done to display all of our mother's possessions was beyond anything that we could have anticipated -- furniture was expertly arranged and used, along with counter space and additional tables, to artfully display everything. No interior decorator could have done a better job at staging and Tom showed me the areas that were marked to handle the sales. The sale was conducted all day on a Saturday and during Sunday afternoon. After the close on Sunday, I drove by the house and saw a large truck outside, belonging to the person who was buying the remaining items. When I went into the house a few days later, it had been cleaned so that you would not have known that it had been completely filled a few days earlier with items and people. Because of the dangerous weather that had continued prior to the sale, we knew that Tom and his assistants had worked long and hard to get ready for the sale -- and that our mother would have been thrilled with the respectful and artful manner in which her belongings were handled. For that reason, we decided that we did not want our proceeds from the sale and told Tom that he was to keep those. Tom told us that he did not feel right doing that but because we were insistent that he should, Tom said that he would donate that amount to a charity of our choosing or to one that he supported, the Cocker Rescue. Because Momma loved dogs, we said that would be fine -- and we received a very nice thank you note shortly afterwards from the group, letting us know that Tom had donated the proceeds in Momma's memory. The loss of a dearly loved parent or family member is devastating and difficult to deal with, but we were truly blessed in having Tom Roberts to take away the burden that we could not face -- disposing of our mother's possessions. Without any hesitation whatsoever, I recommend Tom Roberts to handle the disposition of a loved one's estate -- or to conduct a sale if you have that need yourself -- as his compassion, professionalism, expertise and knowledge are far beyond superior.