What to keep, sell, donate or toss when clearing a home

Sorting is the part of a cleanout that only the family can do. This guide is the checklist most estate cleanout companies wish their clients had before the crew arrived.

Keep, at least for now

• Wills, deeds, titles, insurance policies, tax returns from the last seven years, and anything with an account number.
• Photographs, letters and journals. Digitize later; do not decide in the garage.
• Jewelry, coins, watches and anything a family member has asked for by name.
• Medications (return them to a pharmacy take-back) and firearms (transfer them legally).

Sell

• Solid wood furniture made before about 1970, especially mid-century pieces.
• Tools, especially hand tools and stationary power tools.
• Vehicles, boats and trailers.
• Collections with a market: coins, stamps, records, cameras, watches, vintage toys.
• Sterling silver and gold, by weight at a minimum.

An estate sale service takes 30 to 50 percent of proceeds and handles everything. For a few valuable items, a specialist auction house pays better.

Donate

Working appliances, clean upholstered furniture, clothing, books, kitchenware and linens. Habitat for Humanity ReStores take furniture and building materials and most pick up for free. Get a receipt for every load.

Nobody will take

• Mattresses older than a few years, stained upholstery, particleboard furniture.
• Old televisions and CRT monitors (recycle them at the county e-waste site).
• Opened food, opened cosmetics, used pillows.
• Encyclopedias, magazines and most paperback books in bulk.

Put these in the disposal pile without guilt. The cleanout crew prices by volume and removing them is what you are paying for.