When David Morris downsized to a condo half the size of his house, he took friends’ advice and hired Estate Sales & Liquidations by Jessica to sell his excess holdings.
“My friends said you don’t want to be there to watch your personal stuff leave,” Morris explained. The professionalism of Jessica Kuykendall and her team impressed him… and left Morris with an almost empty house following a pre-sale and the two-day estate sale.
“The pre-sale was huge. You have to witness her following,” he added.
The business of liquidating assets, whether personal or commercial, keeps a handful of Valley auction houses and estate sales companies busy. Their websites are well-stocked with photos of the items in upcoming sales. Email alerts invite loyal customers to limited-entry pre-sales. Whether it’s antiques and kitchen implements or massage chairs and surplus vehicles, selling off unwanted assets has never been easier.
Heirlooms and hard work
Jessica Kuykendall, who shopped at estate sales with her mother-in-law, decided 15 years ago to go into the business herself and arranged several estate sales annually until three years ago.
“Once I got my website, the business mushroomed. I spent a lot of money on the website because I knew it would pay off in the end,” she said. It certainly has. Kuykendall now averages three estate sales per month in cities across the Valley and is booked several months in advance.
Most estate sales occur after a person has moved into assisted living or has passed away, and the family doesn’t know what to do with everything in their house, according to Kuykendall. “I make wonderful discoveries of things I think the family should have. Some things break my heart.” She has found cash stashed away and called the clients, who often say they knew their mother would hide money.
The pre-sale is the most beneficial to the client, according to Kuykendall who has had up to 250 people show up for the night-before event. Nothing is discounted then, but the customers get to skim the cream of the collection. Kuykendall enjoys her work but it is time-consuming. “People don’t realize the time it takes to organize and price a houseful.” Nevertheless, Donna Bowling, Kuykendall’s assistant, worked on estate sales for free, for the fun of it, until Kuykendall insisted she accept a wage.
One estate sale shopper leaving with a ‘new’ fur stole, joked, “If we keep buying from her, when we move, she’ll have to do our estate sale.” It’s no joke, really, because Kuykendall’s customers and their families have become clients often enough.
Two-ring circus
“We’re in a different neighborhood every time. It’s like we’re the circus come to town,” said Ruben Balboa at the Betty Cashin estate sale he organized in San Benito. Long lines had formed outside the house before he opened the doors at 8 a.m., admitting small groups in an orderly fashion. Balboa, a licensed auctioneer who runs Balboa Auctions, offers clients his turnkey service. “
After the client has chosen the heirlooms to keep, we take over and try to relieve them of the stress of liquidating the estate. We pay for all the estate sales details: signage, permits, advertising and taking dozens of photographs for the website.”
For that service, Balboa charges 35 percent of the gross sales. He considers that percentage his budget. If an estate sale is not going to bring at least $3,000, it’s not worth the effort for anyone involved, said Balboa who has grossed up to $45,000 on larger estates. “We don’t price to go half price. We try to price reasonably.”
Greg Garcia, who has attended enough estate sales to know the best prices on some vintage items, discovered an old-fashioned waffle iron priced at $10. “This is priced perfectly. This is following me home.”
“We’re friends with the museums, and when something deserves to go there, we call them,” Balboa said. “It’s very interesting, this whole business.” Hunting non-historic mementos and bargains, estate sale customers packed the Cashin house, opening bathroom cabinets to spot nail polish dotted with price stickers and poking through kitchen cabinets filled with vintage porcelain tureens and well-used pots and pans. Yes, there is a hint of voyeurism at estate sales.
Balboa primarily holds estate sales, ending the largest ones with an auction to clean out the house. His goal is to use the methods that give his clients the most proceeds. The Cashin sale attracted buyers from New Braunfels and Corpus Christi. Balboa and Kuykendall coordinate their calendars to avoid both having major estate sales the same weekend.
Balboa, also, has a bevy of loyal customers and clients. “In some situations, our company name has been put in the will. Others have told me, ‘When I die, you’re going do my estate sale.’ People like to have the comfort of that closure. Their cherished items will be treated with respect and get a fair value put on them. It’s a big responsibility to liquidate a family’s assets.”
Amid the teapots, silverware, keepsake boxes and beaded evening bags, articulated toys are pieces that remain puzzles. Overheard conversations: “I don’t know what it is? Do you?” “ I have one but I don’t know what it is either.” Overall, the most sought-after pieces are 14 carat gold jewelry and vintage kitchen items. On the last day of an estate sale, prices drop to 50 percent on most items. The client normally donates the leftovers to a charity. Both Balboa and Kuykendall decline to store things that didn’t sell.
Going once
The rhythm of the auctioneer’s relentless chant mesmerizes his audience at a Saturday morning auction held at TSTC to dispose of surplus vehicles and equipment. Bond & Bond Auctioneers, in business since 1976, specializes in city surplus and school surplus auctions with business liquidations and farm machinery sales rounding out their top clients for 50 to 70 auctions held annually. Depending on the contract, Bond & Bond usually receives between ten and 30 percent of the gross.
“One of our big attractions is that we do every avenue of advertising: website, flyers, Craig’s List, phone calls, newspaper ads,” said Joe Galindo, who has auctioned off everything from confiscated parrots to police cars for the San Juan-based business. “We’re the only company that does online live auctions selling to all parts of world. That lets local customers buy from the world, too.”
In the TSTC warehouse filled with long rows of surplus filing cabinets, desks, calculators and a desk topped with 16 microscopes, Terri Zamora, TSTC executive vice president of finance and administration, explained the reason for the auction. “It’s the quickest way to get rid of everything at once.” The items had already been offered to sister colleges and local school districts. “This may be our final in-person auction,” she added. “Our future is going to be online auctions.”
Before the auction started, electrician Javier de la O looked over tools bundled on display tables. While he has gotten some good deals at past auctions, this one doesn’t have anything he needs. On the other hand, Hector Zamora checked out the lots of rolling chair lots, seeking swivel chairs suitable for his hunting blind, and is ready to bid when the lot number comes up.
By helping one person’s treasures find a second life or a new home, estate sales businesses and auctioneers have become an unheralded segment of the recycling industry.
For more information see the Web sites: estatesalesbyjessica.com, balboaauctions.com and bondauctioneers.com.
July cover story by Eileen Mattei