How an estate cleanout works in Rockland County

Start with the family walk-through

The first step belongs to the family, not the crew. Before anyone carries anything out, one or two family members should walk every room, closet, drawer, and storage space and pull out what they want to keep. That includes photos, letters, jewelry, heirlooms, and anything with a name on it.

Go slower than you think you need to. Cash, savings bonds, and jewelry turn up in coat pockets, books, freezer bags, and shoe boxes. Once a room is cleared, those items are gone, so the search has to happen before the cleanout date, not during it.

If several relatives are involved, agree ahead of time on who gets to choose first and how disagreements get settled. A cleanout day is a bad time to sort that out, and a crew standing by while a family decides costs everyone time.

Take photos of each room before anything moves. They help if a relative later asks what was in the house, and they give the executor a simple record for the estate file. Photos of the contents of safes, jewelry boxes, and collections are worth taking even if those items are going to a family member.

Documents need their own pass

Paperwork gets its own search, separate from keepsakes. Look for wills, deeds, titles, insurance policies, bank and brokerage statements, tax returns, pension and Social Security letters, and account passwords written in notebooks. The executor or the estate attorney will usually need these, and some of them are hard or slow to replace.

Put everything that looks important into labeled boxes and take them out of the house. Anything with account numbers, Social Security numbers, or medical information that is not needed should be shredded, not thrown out loose. We do not sort through paperwork for you, so if a file cabinet is still full on cleanout day, we treat its contents as going.

Check the mail for a few weeks before the cleanout as well. Statements that arrive after the death often point to accounts the family did not know about.

Keys are worth collecting too. Safe deposit box keys, spare car keys, and keys to storage units or sheds often sit in kitchen drawers and bowls by the door. Tag each one with what it opens if you know, and keep them with the papers.

Mark keep items, then donation and estate sale

Once the family has taken what it wants, mark anything that stays with the house or goes to a relative later. Blue painter's tape on furniture works well, or move keep items into one room and close the door. We walk the house with you before we start and confirm what stays.

Donation comes next. Many charities will pick up clean furniture and household goods if you book them ahead, and some want photos first. Schedule those pickups before the cleanout date so the donated items are already out of the way.

If the house has a lot of furniture, collectibles, or tools with resale value, an estate sale company can run a sale first. They sell what they can and leave the rest. We come in after the sale and clear what did not sell, which is usually most of the volume.

The full cleanout

After the sorting is done, the crew clears the house room by room. That means furniture, beds, rugs, clothing, kitchen contents, appliances, boxes in the attic and basement, garage contents, and sheds. We also clear yard debris and outdoor items such as playsets, above-ground pools, and old hot tubs if they are part of the job.

We work top down, usually attic first and basement last, so the crew is not carrying through rooms that are already clean. Larger pieces are disassembled when that is safer than forcing them through a stairway or door frame. Floors and door frames are protected on the main carry path.

Most single-family homes in Rockland take one to three days with a full crew. A small ranch with the family's sorting already done can be finished in a day. A four-bedroom colonial with a full basement, attic, and two-car garage packed to the ceiling can take three days or more. We give a time estimate with the price after we walk the house.

What cannot go in the truck

Some materials cannot go out with a general cleanout, and we leave them in place for the family to handle. That list includes liquid paint, paint thinner, stains, pool chemicals, pesticides, motor oil, gasoline and other fuel, propane tanks, and any container with chemicals you cannot identify. Dried-out latex paint cans are a separate conversation, so ask during the walk-through.

Anything that may contain asbestos also stays. In older Rockland homes that can include pipe and boiler insulation, some vinyl floor tile and its adhesive, and old duct wrap. New York regulates asbestos work under Industrial Code Rule 56, and that work is done by a state-licensed asbestos contractor after testing. We do not pull or bag any of it.

We point these items out during the walk-through so they do not hold up the job. The family handles them separately, and it helps to set them aside in one spot, such as a corner of the garage, before we arrive so the crew does not load them by mistake.

Broom-clean for a sale or rental turnover

Broom-clean means every room is empty, floors are swept, and closets, cabinets, and the garage are cleared. It is the standard most buyers, landlords, and lenders expect at closing or before a new tenant moves in. It does not mean a deep clean of kitchens and bathrooms, which is a separate cleaning service.

If the house is going on the market, the realtor usually wants it empty before photos. If it is a rental turnover, the landlord needs it empty before the painter and the carpet installer come in. Tell us the date that matters and we schedule back from it.

Some families keep a few pieces of furniture in the house to help it show better. That is fine. We mark them and leave them, and we can come back after the sale to take them out.

Working with executors, realtors, and pricing

Many estate cleanouts are arranged by someone who does not live nearby. We can meet the executor, a relative, or the listing agent at the house, walk it together, and then work with a lockbox or a key. We send photos when the job is done so the person paying can see the result without driving in.

Pricing is based on volume. We estimate how many cubic yards, or how many truck and trailer loads, the house will produce, then add labor factors such as long carries, stairs, and disassembly. We give a written scope and a fixed price on site after the walk-through. The price covers the scope, not the hours, so a slow day does not raise it.

For estates, the executor usually pays from the estate account and needs an invoice for the file. We provide one. See our junk removal services page for the rest of what we haul, or contact us to set up a walk-through. Junk removal is offered in Rockland County only.

For how we run the job itself, see house and estate cleanouts.

Questions