LIVE: Estate Saling - Being Prepared

I’m going to give you some of my helpful hints for making Estate Saling a pleasant experience.  Lord knows, that it definitely has the potential to make a person detest crowds and stinky old houses and possibly develop a severe anxiety disorder when faced with these things.  So these tips might prevent all that fun stuff from happening.  I've learned all of this the hard way and now I pass my wisdom onto you!

1.       Have your GPS ready to go!

Chances are, you won’t know how to get to all the addresses of the sales, so a GPS is a necessity!

2.       Pack a Snack Pack

Take water, pop, something salty and something sweet.  Make sure not to leave without having your coffee first!  My preferred snacks include Smart Water, Chex Mix, something fruity and some Pepsi Next.  If you get too hungry, it will make dealing with crowds and pushy people much more difficult!

3.       Always know where the nearest bathroom is. 

Most estate sales will not let you use the residence restroom.  Most pharmacies with in-house minute clinics or urgent cares have public restrooms to use.  And if you drink a huge cup of coffee early in the a.m., you can bet you’ll need to go a few hours later.

4.       Prepare yourself mentally for the crowds. If you aren’t prepared, it can get ugly.  There have been many a time when I wanted to deck someone.  People have a habit of finding the smallest hallway that YOU want to walk through and they just stand there staring at the wall for some unknown reason.  Prepare yourself to stay calm.  Because IT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU.

5.       Get plenty of sleep.  Saling is exhausting! 

6.       Take a large vehicle for any big loot you find.  If you’re taking a truck make sure to have a tarp (in case of rain) and bungee cords for tying

stuff down.

7.       Bring along reusable shopping totes or boxes to stash the little stuff in in your car.  You don’t want everything flying around when you’re racing to the next sale.

8.       Check the weather and dress appropriately!

A lot of early mornings are much chillier than the temp at 11am.  It’s best to wear layers and start peeling them off as the temperature rises.  And wear comfy shoes!

Check back tomorrow for the finale of this series: Estate Saling – What to Buy and How to Buy It.