Clearing out your home

On the whole, there are four reasons for house sales. These are births (needing more space), inheritance (death), marriage (upsizing) and divorce (downsizing). As the property market appears to be picking up for spring anyone needing to move should consider clearing out cupboards, which can identify selling opportunities and turn junk hidden in attics into cash.

One of these in your attic?

With average moving house costs of £9,000* before you think about curtains, carpets, new furniture, it makes sense to have a clear out and get your hidden treasures valued to help with the costs. You could get a pleasant surprise when you discover how much has accumulated in the loft, cellar and spare room that has a resale value.

Thanks to specialist valuation website: www.valuemystuffnow.com (VMSN) homeowners can decide whether it’s worth selling their ‘stuff’ to help towards moving costs and get an idea whether to go to a dealer or auction house.

The website is the brainchild of Patrick van der Vorst, a former director of Sotheby’s, who has assembled a team of valuation specialists from Christie’s, Sotheby’s and other leading auction houses. VMSN has been able to give a number of people the good news that collectables and antiques are worth a lot more than they thought.

“When you move you discover just how much has accumulated and rather than just getting rid of it, you could make substantial inroads into the moving costs,” commented Patrick van der Vorst. “A recent example is a toy elephant that was made by the company famous for producing the original Winnie the Pooh. This was very collectable and valued between £100 and £150.”

Recent valuations have included:

• Eighteen items totalling £2,450, which consisted of 10 ceramic plates and seven pieces  of silver averaging estimates of around £120-180 together with a watercolour worth £200-300. The client was going to throw these away until he found out their true value.
• English stained oak ‘Grandmother’ clock, 58in. high circa 1935 £300-400. The ‘Grandmother’ size is very popular at the moment
• A builder’s model of a cargo ship: £2,000 – 4,000.
• A Derby Porcelain Figure Of A Shepherd £700 – 1,000
• A pair of candle sticks bought for £80 at a local auction and subsequently valued at £500-600
• And most valuable was a Picasso painting at £400,000-£600,000

There’s no conflict of interest or ties with auction houses, so the service can give a fair and reliable valuation to help subscribers decide whether to buy or sell. Increasingly the site is being used by clients planning to bid at auctions.

Don't overlook something like this

The site, www.valuemystuffnow.com offers online valuations for antiques, collectables, paintings, jewellery and other valuables at £3.99 a time. Customers upload photographs and descriptions of their items and receive a valuation within two days or their money back.

*Moving costs can mount up to £9,000 for a £200,000 property and circa £65,000 for a £1million property. Assuming that you are selling a £180,000 house and moving to a £200,000 house you would expect: estate agent commission, HIP report, stamp duty, solicitor, removal firm, mortgage application fee and postal redirection to cost up to £9,000. For someone buying a £1million property then the figure is likely to be £65,000, £40,000 for stamp duty, around £20,000 for the estate agent, with the mortgage fee, solicitor and removal costs making up the rest.

For further information about obtaining a valuation for your objects, contact Patrick van der Vorst on 07730 680220

Relevant information

A key feature of the service is that www.valuemystuffnow.com does not buy or advise on where to sell items. All data and images sent to the secure service are kept confidential. Users must attach a photograph and provide a description. Prompts are given to gather relevant information, for example: condition, provenance, signatures and labels. Art owners who don’t have a photograph but have an old auction reference can have the item tracked by the experts.  However this may take slightly longer than 48 hours.

The 21 categories are:

Paintings, ceramics, silver, contemporary art, furniture, drawings, carpets, clocks and watches, prints, glass, books, manuscripts, sculpture, memorabilia, toys, musical instruments, photography, wine, oriental art, classic cars and contemporary.

www.ValueMyStuffNow.com expects that they can value at least 90% of the items based on the pictures that they are sent.  For the other 10%, they might get back to the client and give two opinions.