How to Rent a Dumpster to Tackle an Estate Cleanout?
Whether you’re moving, downsizing or handling a clean out of a loved one’s home, dealing with an estate cleanout can be a very overwhelming task.
Proper planning and organization is an essential to making this type of cleanout run smoothly. Once you have separated the items you and your family want to keep, it is time to dispose of the other items. Using a Residential or Commercial Roll-Off Dumpster is the ideal solution for this specific type of project.
How do you clean out a vacant home?
Estate cleanouts involve cleaning out an entire property, often due to the fact a loved one has passed or they (or you) are downsizing to a smaller property. Cleaning out an entire property is a tremendous task for families due to the amount of possessions which need to be considered. Decisions have to be made concerning if items in the estate will be sold, donated, or if someone in the family will keep a particular item. If not sold, donated, or kept, the item is trash and needs to be disposed of. Most estate cleanouts ultimately lead to the property being sold so it essentially means that the property is emptied completely. Families can either hire a business to help with the organization and planning of a cleanout or complete the task themselves. Regardless of doing it themselves or hiring a service, the items being disposed of need to be removed from the property prior to sale. Renting a dumpster can make this task easy and affordable.
Some things to consider before tackling an Estate Cleanout Task include:
- The Emotional State of the people involved in the clean-out. It has to be stated that any change in domicile status, whether from someone moving to an adult care facility, the death of a loved one, or downsizing, can be an emotionally taxing event and the people who have to make decisions must be given space and care to persevere through what potentially could be an experience fraught with difficult emotions;
- The Time Frame for an Estate Cleanout. Does the property have to be listed right away? Are people traveling from out-of-town to handle family business and are under time constraints? Or can the Estate Cleanout be handled at a leisurely pace?;
- Are there Legal Complications or Financial Complications with the Estate Clean-out? Before Donating, Selling, Keeping or Throwing anything out, there may be a Will or Probate considerations on the disposition of the property being handled. An Estate Lawyer should be consulted if necessary before beginning those clean-out projects.
How do you decide what to do with the possessions in an Estate Cleanout?
After consulting an Estate Lawyer if needed and following the dictates of a Will if present, we suggest you make a Decision Tree to consider what to do with items from the Estate Cleanout. The factors of the decision tree will be influenced by the emotional needs of the people doing the clean-out, financial considerations, and time restraints.
Here is a sample decision tree. The decisions you will have to make do not always apply to every Estate Cleanout, and are not in a particular order, except for the last decision below;
- Can this Item be Sold? Most possessions in an Estate Cleanout do not have significant value. Often people who have an emotional attachment to an item have an inflated opinion of the financial value of that item. Selling things takes time and effort. If something has significant value, and you have the time to sell it, this is an ideal solution. You could use an Estate Sales service, a Yard Sale, or sell items individually on an online platform. Antiques or unique art should be brought to an Antique Dealer or an Estate Sales service.
- Can this Item be Donated? Some items do not have a resale value, but could still be used for a family in need. Some non-for-profits require you to transport the item to their location and are picky about what they will take. But this can give a possession a second life in another home.
- Should the Item Be Kept? Whether it will be moved to a new home or a family member wants to keep it, some things are kept for their emotional value or utility and will remain with the family. For large items such as furniture, this may require renting a Moving Truck or hiring Movers to bring the items to their eventual new home.
- Should the Item be Trashed? The majority of items in an estate clean-out can not be sold, donated, or kept by a family member. Anything which doesn’t have financial value or emotional value should be promptly disposed of. This is the final and last choice in your decision tree.
Can you rent a dumpster for an Estate Cleanout?
Once the items to be disposed of are identified, the quickest and most efficient way to clean out an Estate is to rent a dumpster. Renting a dumpster is the most efficient way to remove a large amount of items at one time. Here are some key benefits to renting a dumpster:
- Convenience - The dumpster can be rented when you are ready to trash the unwanted items without taking multiple trips to the dump. It is delivered to the home and the family has seven days to fill the dumpster.
- Efficiency - When the dumpster is on site, you can dispose of items as you sort through, making the time you take more efficient. We can dump the dumpster when it is full and return the bin if needed.
- Sizing Options - Dumpsters come in many sizes. Depending on your estate cleanout, we have a size which can meet your needs. Flex Dumpster has three different sizes, 12 yard, 15 yard and 20 yard.
- Time-saving - The logistics to cleaning out an estate is the most time consuming part. The dumpster rental will be the easiest part. With a dumpster rental you just need to fill the dumpster with the trash. We come and pick it up when you’re ready.
What Size Dumpster Do You Need?
Once you have organized and decided which items are going to be disposed of, it is time to call a Dumpster Service to complete the estate cleanout. Flex Dumpster can provide solutions to your removal needs.
Flex Dumpster offers 12-yard, 15-yard, and 20-yard roll-off dumpsters for residential or commercial dumpster service. We will be happy to assist you if you’re not sure what size dumpster you need.
How to Rent a Dumpster for an Estate Cleanout
Steps to Rent a Dumpster
Visit www.flexdumpster.com or call 518-207-0732 to book a dumpster. Call, text, or E-mail us with any questions.