Friday, 19 June 2015

Anna Helps conducts a contents sale in a house

Important service business for estate sales or down-sizing
Anna Holmes organizes, evaluates, and prices items, but she certainly is not an auctioneer 

By Mark Schadenberg
When you have a house to sell, call me – a Realtor.
When you have a house full of contents, which must also be sold, you may call Anna.
Anna helps!
Anna Holmes is not an auctioneer, but she certainly is a specialist at what she does – organizing and pricing and selling and displaying items inside a residence.
There are many reasons to call Anna (519 532-9613). The obvious is an estate sale or to assist someone moving to a long-term care facility, but families moving a long distance and those down-sizing should also contact Anna to help.
I visited with Anna today while she was preparing for her next sale at 419 Ingersoll Avenue in Woodstock, which is a house I recently sold.  Anna explained the main three differences between her service and an auctioneer.


Firstly, if you attend an auction you may have to sit through 50 or 60 items until the lot you were interested in is actually up for sale.  At an Anna Helps Estate Liquidation Professional Consultant Services (actual full business name) event, you simply have to attend the sale early enough and purchase it. It truly is like going to a two-day store
For the vendor (Person actually selling the merchandise), there is the knowledge that Anna has the credibility and knowledge to place a correct, realistic and accurate price on all items.
“This is my 10th year in the business. I know what things will sell for. I also spend some time before the sale researching. We know the fair market value prices,” said Holmes.
The 419 Ingersoll Avenue ‘estate’ contents sale in Woodstock is Saturday and Sunday, both days 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. 
If you look at the list online and see something intriguing, don’t wait until noon on Sunday to have a look, but rather be there early on Saturday. A complete list of items available can be perused at www.annahelps.com, but I can say that if you have an avid woodworking hobby and seek a couple more pieces of equipment  be sure to attend the sale.

While the house will be open as a ‘store’ for six hours on Saturday and six more on Sunday, Anna and her family spend many many more hours sorting, pricing, evaluating, organizing and preparing. . . and also assisting the sellers in knowing what has no value.
“I do two or three sales a month,” says Anna, who relies on many forms of advertising, including an active email list of over 1,000 contacts to circulate info on upcoming events.
Anna Holmes has been so successful, her business now enjoys a waiting list of more than three months for a sale.
Her website also describes her passion for antiques and unique heirlooms, but also the many reasons why she created a business to assist anyone with home contents to sell.

()()()()()()()()()
From the basement to the attic, the garage and garden shed. I will discretely and confidentially sort through the contents, determine what is saleable and what may have sentimental value for the family. Large and small appliances, electronics, antiques, china and glass, books, paper and magazines, linens, jewelry, toys and games, and even the contents of the pantry. I have an extensive library of books and when I can’t find the exact information needed, I search a multitude of sites online, or consult with specialized associates. It is my goal to find out any relevant information and the current monetary value. I then utilize this information to plan and conduct the sale, HELPing to ease the family’s needs. 
()()()()()()()()()

Anna Holmes most certainly works on commission. You can discuss the parameters on how that works with her.
Certainly in an era when we live in an aging society – where the median age continues to increase and where people reluctantly want to sell their property to re-locate to an apartment, I would firmly believe there will be more opportunities in this business sector. Call me for contact information on other similar or related companies.
It’s also not easy to sell everything on consignment at an auction house as there are seemingly fewer of those than in the past.
I remember attending an auction when the London Knights were leaving the olde London Ice House arena to move to the downtown Budweiser Gardens. I waited for more than three hours for anything I had interest in, to actually get near an auctioneer’s gavel. At an Anna Helps event you walk in the front door and shop.
In the case of an estate sale, the Anna Helps work is not finished until they also assist in removing all unsold items from the house as well.
The 419 Ingersoll Avenue ‘estate’ contents sale in Woodstock is Saturday and Sunday, both days 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. 



Thinking about down-sizing; possibly moving into an apartment?
Contact: Mark Schadenberg, sales representative
Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
Woodstock, Ont
(519) 537-1553

Twitter: markroyallepage

No comments:

Post a Comment