Downsizing options in Fairfield can be like ordering from a menu: A la carte or prix fixe. Where you may spend more on individual services, you can save money by skipping unneeded services. If you do need a full service option then a move manager may be a better value. However, for help in just a few key areas, a professional organizer might be the right fit. Here is a menu of downsizing options in Fairfield County.

Move Manager

A move manager covers everything in a move, from soup to nuts. My friend Pinny Randall of The Settler describes her services as “a wedding planner for a move.” Her team takes photos of everything in your home and creates a complete inventory. They take care of all the packing, disposal, and coordination with the mover. They not only take care of all the unpacking, but every little detail. This includes orange juice in the refrigerator for the next morning and the flag on the pole!

Traditional Estate sale

Maybe you have the time to prepare for a move, but you have a lot of items to sell. An estate sale may make sense in this case. An estate sale manager would come in and prepare your home for a sale.  He or she would advertise a sale and it would happen at your home. In my experience, most condominiums don’t allow for estate sales. You need to have a lot of parking, for one thing. 

Auction House

If you can’t have an estate sale, an auction house can take your furniture and decor to sell. We recommend Greenwich Auction, owned by Dave Johnson. Dave advises that you stand to profit more from smaller items, because of shipping costs. Larger pieces of furniture are harder to sell and cost more to transport.

eBay Sale

If you have a lot of collectibles or designer items, you may do better with an online auction. We recommend Lisa Bregman Burba of LBB Global Consignment and Sales.Lisa is a top rated seller, who really knows her business and is a delight to work with.

Online Estate Sale

Increasingly, estate sales are done online. How this works is, the unwanted unsellable stuff is discarded, then the rest is organized into lots for sale. This is often done by professional organizers. The estate sale team then photographs and catalogs these lots for an online auction. The sale lasts two weeks. Then the buyers come to your house over the course of 2-4 hours and the managers run the sale. One of the biggest online estate sale companies in the country is Max Sold. One that is local to Fairfield county is Black Rock Galleries. They do higher end sales, while a sister company, Clearing House Estate Sales does lower end sales.

Discard

If you have a large amount of stuff to discard, the most affordable option is to rent a dumpster. City Carting charges $424 for a 12 yard dumpster.  If you can’t have a dumpster in your driveway, we recommend College Hunks Hauling Junk. They cost more than a dumpster, but they have several advantages. Their truck comes with two strong HUNKS, who can carry out any heavy discards that you can’t lift. They can also take donates.

Donate

Speaking of donates, if you have a lot, you can call Vietnam Vets or Salvation Army to remove them. For furniture, building materials, and appliances (less than 10 years old) Habitat For Humanity is great. All these services require 1-2 weeks lead time, but they are free. If you want someone to come at your convenience, again call the Hunks. They are a great one-stop-shop for discards and donates.

Movers/storage

For great movers, guess what? College Hunks also does moving.  For cross country moves, I recommend JB Moving. One piece of advice on moving: look at your home owner’s insurance policy. See if items in transit are covered. If not, it’s best to let the movers pack at least the fragile items. They can offer insurance for your move, but they must be the ones doing the packing. For the rest you can do it yourself or hire a professional organizer.

Shredding

Got some boxes of confidential papers that you don’t want to pay to move? You’ll need a shredder. We like Shred Station Express out of Fairfield. They have a four box pickup minimum or they have drop off locations, including at JB Moving.  For on site shredding, I recommend On Site Shredding in Stamford. They not only shred your paper, they pulverize it.

Professional Organizing

So when does a professional organizer make sense for downsizing? Professional organizers are great at helping with decision-making. So if you are overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin, call a professional organizer. We know exactly where to begin, how to see the job through, and how to make next steps easy. 

One thing that move managers generally don’t like to do is paper. Professional organizers are great at sorting out paper. An organizing team like Matt Baier Organizing can prioritize large quantities of paper fast. A shredding company won’t help you if you’re not comfortable with what to shred. 

All our organizers are great at organizing, very physically fit, and compassionate. It’s amazing what can be accomplished with that combination. We can dispense with tons of your excess stuff, in a way that you can feel good about.

Another great reason to hire us is that we come with a lot of great resources to recommend. These have been just a few. We’ve got more!

So if you need to downsize and you don’t where to begin, give me a call at 203.428.6294. I’d love to answer your questions and remember, the consult is always free!