An estate liquidation is similar to an

estate sale An estate sale or estate liquidation is a sale or auction to dispose of a substantial portion of the materials owned by a person who is recently deceased or who must dispose of their personal property to facilitate a move. Reasons for an estate ...

in that the main concern or goal is to

liquidate Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign coun ...

the estate (home, garage, sheds and yard) with an estate sale organization There is no government regulation of the industry. There is also no formal training for estate liquidators. Estate liquidation of assets can be all-encompassing: appraising, donating, cleaning, packing, transporting and auctioning. In the United States, while it is necessary in most states that a

realtor A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

be present to write up the documents for the sale of real land, most other items do not require any other license or permit other than the local

licenses A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

needed to run a business in that city, county or state where the liquidation is taking place. Oftentimes the family will retain a lawyer to oversee the process of liquidation and to keep the system straight on legalities of

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

s and bonds being traded,

investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

s liquidated and any real property changing hands legally. However, in European countries such as

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, there are firms which solicitate non-binding initial inspection first and then rolling out the contract. Estate liquidations happen mostly like estate sales, with the liquidators making the home and items to be sold ready for a public sale. Most liquidators will charge a commission of a percentage of the

net profit In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, a ...

Differences from estate sales

The main differences between an estate liquidation and a mere

is the sphere of inclusion which in a liquidation can expand to stocks, bonds, real property, fine

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

, coin collections and

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

. Often an estate liquidation is accompanied by realtors, attorneys,

Certified Public Accountants Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

, and

appraiser An appraiser (from Latin ''appretiare'', "to value"), is a person that develops an opinion of the market value or other value of a product, most notably real estate. The current definition of "appraiser" according to the Uniform Standards of Prof ...

s, while an estate sale can be done by anyone with knowledge of value of household items and collectibles in question.

Forms of estate liquidation

Besides estate sales, liquidating the estate may be done in the form of an

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

or the estate liquidator will offer a cash buy-out for the entire contents of a home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estate Liquidation Real estate Sales Contexts for auctions Corporate liquidations