What to Do with All the Stuff: Dealing with Estate Property Contents

You have just inherited a home. You walk in and face 30, 40, maybe 50 years of accumulated belongings. Closets full of clothes. A garage packed with tools. Shelves of dishes, books, and photo albums. A basement with holiday decorations from three decades. The emotional weight of sorting through a loved one's life is enormous, and the physical scale of the project can feel paralyzing.

We work with executors in Durham Region regularly, and this challenge comes up in nearly every estate sale. The good news is that there are systems, services, and professionals who can make this manageable. Here is our step-by-step approach.

The first instinct for many executors is to rent a dumpster and clear the house as fast as possible. Resist that urge. Valuable items, important documents, and irreplaceable family keepsakes get thrown out in the rush more often than you would expect. Tax returns, insurance policies, safety deposit box keys, jewellery tucked into jacket pockets, and cash hidden in books are all things we have seen families nearly discard.

Before anything leaves the home, do a thorough walkthrough room by room. Open every drawer, check coat pockets, look behind furniture, and go through the filing cabinet carefully. Set aside anything that looks like a legal document, financial record, or item of sentimental or monetary value.

We recommend sorting everything into four categories: Keep (items beneficiaries want), Sell (items with resale value), Donate (items in good condition that charities will accept), and Dispose (items that are damaged, worn out, or have no value). Use coloured stickers or labels to mark items as you go through each room.

For the Sell category, consider hiring a professional estate sale company. In Durham Region, several reputable companies will organize and run an estate sale at the home, pricing everything, managing buyers, and handling cleanup. They typically take a commission of 30 to 40 percent of sales, but the alternative is pricing and selling hundreds of items yourself, which is not practical for most executors.

Charitable donations from an estate can generate tax receipts that benefit the estate's final tax return. Organizations like the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and local Durham Region charities accept furniture, clothing, housewares, and appliances in good condition. Many will pick up large items for free.

Keep detailed records and receipts for every donation. The estate's accountant can use these to offset estate income on the final tax filing. For larger items or collections (art, antiques, specialty tools), a professional appraisal may be worthwhile to establish fair market value for the tax receipt.

For the Dispose category, professional junk removal services like 1-800-GOT-JUNK or local Durham Region operators can clear an entire home in a day or two. Costs typically range from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on the volume. Some items (electronics, paint, chemicals) require special disposal and should not go into a standard dumpster.

If the home has significant cleanup needs beyond contents removal (deep cleaning, odour treatment, minor repairs), we can coordinate that through our network of service providers. Getting the home clean and empty is a prerequisite for staging, photography, and showing, so this step directly impacts your sale price and timeline.

We understand that dealing with a loved one's belongings is deeply personal. Our role is to provide structure, recommend trusted service providers, and help you plan the cleanout in a way that aligns with your listing timeline. We have relationships with estate sale companies, donation coordinators, and cleanout crews across Durham Region and can connect you with the right people quickly.

If you are an executor facing a home full of contents and wondering where to start, reach out. We will walk through the home with you, help you build a plan, and make sure the process supports both your emotional needs and your financial goals for the sale.