EstateMax Estate & Downsizing Sales & Auctions

From beginning to end, this was a professional job! Laurie and Steve answered all of my questions (as I had not done this before, there were many), and were very patient with me! They showed up when they said they would, and took care of the house as if it was their own. We were on a very tight timeline, as a buyer for the house wanted to close more quickly than I was ready to. The sale went well, and the clean out was done right before the buyer's last walk-through. The buyer and his realtor were very impressed with how clean the house was. I would use this company again!

I had an extremely similar experience to another person who wrote a review. We spoke with them and there were some things in the contract they sent that I wasn't comfortable with. A woman tried to bully me into signing the contract. I found them to be very pushy. One of their sales reps, Steve, tried to friend me on Facebook through his personal page and his personal page and postings made me extremely uncomfortable so I decided not to go with them. I sent them a text telling them we would not be proceeding. I immediately received a barrage of escalating and angry texts and phone calls insisting I sign the documents and give them the job. I explained that I found them unprofessional and wasn't interested in working with them. Steve proceeded to text me saying that "I was crazy, a wacko, a crazy bird, I didn't know what I was doing", and despite me telling him repeatedly and politely the conversation was over, we would not be using them, he persisted. He threatened to slander me on social media. I finally said that all of his text messages would be documented and that if he continued with his course of action, either privately or publicly, I would contact my attorney regarding a defamation of character and slander suit. I then blocked him from my phone. This guy frightened me.

We are very please how everything worked out for us. Everything was done in a timely manner and the communication was excellent. We were in a tough situation where my parents home was not near us kids and there was a pending sale of the house. We needed to clear out the house as well as remove the items we wanted to keep. They worked with us to coordinate everything. EstateMax photographed and took video of the auction items and promoted the sale. After the sale they donated items and took the rest the dump for us. We are very happy with their services.

We were amazed at the attention to detail everyone put into the sale at our house. They photographed and made videos, marketed the sale widely, and did a lot of research into some of the items we were selling. It turned out that some of the pieces we had were actually worth a lot more than we ever dreamed! While we did not go to the house on the days of the sale, we did stop in the day before and were impressed with the extent of the preparation they put in. There were signs everywhere, and they did everything they could to protect the property. One thing that really impressed me was that they told me they had contacted the local police to arrange for some extra patrols near the property, since it could be a tempting target. They were very honest about how they would conduct the sale, and did not try to overinflate the potential sale proceeds. They were quick with follow-up and prompt with payment. Thanks to them, we were able to get a fresh start in our new home.

Everything happened within about a week. Basically we had initial contact, a few emails, they came out to look at my stuff and then a few more emails took place. I decided to not go with their services and when I replied to their follow up email I received an email back that I did not find professional. "Hi, What are your objections to doing "this type of sale?". It is the most cost effective way to sell items such as you are wanting to sell, the most efficiently, and the work is totally taken off your plate for us to deal with and handle for you. There is no other way other than sending to auction where you have a limited audience and no guarantees and it will all start at a dollar and end up low end. I really would like to understand what the misunderstanding or concerns are. I wish your husband had been present during our meeting so that he could have heard our presentation and asked his questions. We made a special trip t see you because it was so difficult for you to take photos of the items because you were on vacation. We typically ask people to send us photos and a list of items. " My response was this: Hi, I honestly was politely declining your services. However after your email I figure I will fully explain. I found your entire process a bit pushy and unprofessional. When I first contacted you on Friday Jan 13 you told me to send a few general pictures so you could see if what we had was a good fit for an online auction which you have just recently started doing. I sent you what pictures I had, since I was out of the state on vacation. Then you emailed me asking for more pictures. Right after that email I received another saying that what I had looked good and to answer the previous email. I then replied asking if you did need more pictures because you said you only needed a few. (to see what i had and gauge if it was enough for the sale) and if you needed more I could have them to you by Sunday. At this point you told me no the pictures were fine and it "looks like a good candidate for an online auction and lets talk Monday. " Before I could contact you on Monday you asked for my phone number and you called me asking to come see the furniture and give me options. On Tuesday we scheduled to meet at 3 to 3:15 and you didn't get there until after 330. Then once we met and I started giving you the tour, you were bickering with each other constantly. When I asked questions about your process you seemed very confused and uninformed especially when you were arguing about who should explain it to me. It was also not very professional to tell me that "nothing I have was nice or unique enough to need a reserve" and "it bring what it brings, that's how auctions work". Finally, I reply politely and short to your email declining your services and you send me a very unprofessional email. The overall tone of this email was very rude. Not only does it should like you are guiling me about your choice to come look at the stuff when everyone else takes their own pictures. But you also tell me my husband should be there to hear what you had to say. This has nothing to do with him and I do not need him to make my decisions for me. Even though I choose not to use your services, I wish you well in the future. I Hope this answers my "objections" to your auction. Please do not contact me about this again. Four days later I received another email from the other person saying: Just learned that we will not be doing your sale. If your husband changes his mind, please contact us. Our schedule is getting full, so will need 2-3 weeks notice soon for an Online Auction. At this point I realized it is not worth the time or effort to speak to them. I did not reply and I hope they do not contact me again.

The Estate paid EstateMAX a minimum retainer of $3500 to conduct the entire sale. A bonus commission of $900 was earned by EstateMax based on final sales, over and above $10000. Well worth the dollars spent. Pleased with the outcome and results of the on site Estate Sale. The net at site is very much acceptable. I didn’t contract for Bulk to be removed - but what was left was manageable and what was expected, after items taken to consignment. The property was left in order and neat and EXCEPTIONALLY pleased with this! Awaiting positive results of what failed to sell at site, and is now in consignment. Am pleased with online marketing as well. The Frederick location shop reflected the big items taken to consignment. This Co really hustled. One does not see that too often. Laurie and Steve worked tirelessly. This particular Estate Sale was no easy task – as I have been involved in several. Initially, I had another Co in line to complete this effort, though after the Family removing some 30,000 books, the initial co backed out. Laurie and Steve jumped right on and took on the job, with no hesitation.

Very well! Laurie Zook and her partner, Steve Berryman, consulted with us and explained their services. We set a date for the Estate Sale. A few days before, they came to the house after we had moved and began sorting and pricing an assortment of furniture, art, jewelry, knick knacks -- you name it. After the sale, what was left was removed to their consignment shop or charities. They did all the work, which was great, and were always very responsive to my questions. Never could have done this without their assistance.

They performed as promised. They estimated that my mother's possessions should yield somewhere in the $9000 range. They did everything! We simply had to pack what possessions my mother wanted and leave the key. They did everything else to prepare the house for the 3-day estate sale then remove all the belongings that didn't sell to their consignment shop. After the sale was completed my mother received a check for almost $10,000. Possessions in the consignment shop COULD yield even more. She was so delighted! EstateMAX could well have saved my mother's life since she didn't have to deal with any of the stress related to packing and disposing of all the stuff.

The process went smoothly, in stages. Being so far away, I could completely relax knowing they were sensitive to my belongings. They also handled mailing items to me and storing others till I return. Couldn't be more pleased with their service. They handled all the moving arrangements, storage, mailing, etc. Great.

The Estate Max team was truly professional from the beginning of the process of the estate sale to the end. They were on time for every appointment or scheduled home visit. Phone calls, text messages and emails were answered promptly. They did exactly what they had said they were going to do ! ! ! Estate Max advertising and marketing of our furnishings was superb. The video presentation was fantastic. Their experience in this business gave us the confidence that they would reach the most potential buyers and we would get the most money from the sale. After the sale we received our proceeds in a prompt manner and was given an account of all sold items. We would not hesitate to recommend Laurie and the Estate Max team.

Laurie was committed to selling this car for us. So much so, it was towed to her home and sat in her driveway for two months saving us on storage fees. There were at least 8 qualified buyers who ultimately had price and condition objections to a purchase. In the end, they wanted a "cherry" that needed little or no work, and they wanted to buy at a below market price. Unless a 1958 vehicle has been reconditioned and restored (and has the price tag to match) it's not likely to be in perfect condition. How many 60 year olds do you know that are in perfect shape?? By the time the interested buyer was located, Laurie had practically become a mechanical expert on our Rolls. She had also prioritized selling our car over many of her other duties and responsibilities. Ultimately, she found a buyer from Chicago who flew into BWI to take a look. Laurie even picked him up from the airport! Selling our Rolls Royce was an amazing effort in persistence on Laurie's part. Though we were a bit disappointed in the final sales price, it wasn't for lack of effort on Laurie's part. The market isn't what it was when the car was purchased.

We tried auctioning some of our treasures off in the past and had been very disappointed with the results. All in all, the weekend was a success. If you have a house full of items you need to liquidate, I feel Laurie's services will allow you to get the most for your stuff - definitely more than other options like auctions, yard sales and flea markets. Her pricing seems fair to the buyer and seller. And, if an item remains on the final day, the buyer gets a nice discount which inspires last minute sales so fewer items remain at the end. What happens to what's left over? Laurie manages a warehouse where items go for a second chance to be sold. That's a wonderful option because sometimes what's left after an estate sale is just too good to give to Good Will or another charity but it must go somewhere because you have to vacate your home. Laurie also went above and beyond helping with some specific challenges which were unique to our sale. She and her staff helped make a very stressful time in our lives easier to handle. A few big items were sold before the weekend of the estate sale and, even though she didn't have to, Laurie helped support us so we had extra funds available to pay our own personal movers. After the sale, our final check was lost by the post office. (It went on a very long trip around the east coast.) Laurie worked h****** our behalf with the post office and the bank until the issue was resolved. We recommend her services highly.

The process has been very smooth. We paid about $800 in upfront fees to cover the move and initial inventory. We receive 50% of the consignment sale. Thus far, we have received about $380. This was a major life transition for my mother and our family. We spent a great amount of prep time to prepare for the transition, distributing items to family members and disposing of clearly unusable items. EstateMax has been a one-stop solution to clearing the condo. They very efficiently provided moving services and they are taking care of the consignment sale at their site. This allowed us to move quickly to prepare the condo for sale. (We did not want to have an on-site sale because of the logistics involved.)

Laurie and Steve did what they said they would do. Items that were not sold were left in the house and they did not need to clean it out since it was a knock down. There are still items at their consignment shop and I just received a small check via PayPal.

Estate Max held a three day sale, which netted proceeds double of what I had expected. I understand that they had a sale approximately every 8 to 12 minutes during those three days due to the volume of traffic they were able to create through their advertising. My only criticism was that when we were first establishing the date for the sale, there was some confusion, which I suspect was due to their being extremely busy with other sales. Other than this minor criticism, I couldn't be more pleased with the job they did or the results.

Candid, professional initial meeting to discuss and agree on contract. Lengthy review and photo shoot of all furniture, clothing, household goods (smalls) to be sold. Posted numerous photos in appealing way to website and numerous linked sales and auction sites in advance to drive attendance. Lengthy staging session to price and arrange all items a few days before the sale started. Totally professional operation of sales time for three weekend days, including control and monitoring of visitors. Professional and timely move out of remainder of furniture, clothing and smalls that did not sell to showroom for consignment sale, and charity. Regular, clear communications. Prompt follow up and wrap up with sales records and payment of proceeds. All went well. Sale was successful, although late August weekend may have reduced buyers, but that timing could not be altered. LOTS of traffic through the house indicated very successful effort to drive attention and attendance through the various web sites to which EstateMax posts.. The staging for the sale was great, attractive and appealing, and the team changed staging appearance as weekend continued. Would retain the team again. Laurie and Steve, and others from EstateMax were a pleasure to work with and thoroughly professional in their approach to this service and performing.

This service went very well. Lauri and Steve did everything that they promised and after the estate sale, they cleaned the house so that the new buyers could move in. I would highly recommend them to our friends or anyone that needs Estate Sales service.

I thought the items were well priced and some even sold for more than we originally paid for them. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a number of the items that we thought would remain unsold did sell at reasonable prices. A number of the items I was sure would sell (dining room furniture and a few antiques) did not sell which surprised me. However, they went to consignment, on a separate contract with Estate Max, so I am hoping for a positive outcome on those things as well. I believe that Laurie & Steve were knowledgable about the items we were selling and took good care to display and price them appropriately. Since we were not present during the sale, we relied on their procedures for keeping our house and sale items secure during the sale while encouraging as much traffic as possible which they successfully accomplished.

Laurie Zook & Steve Berryman spent hours with me - helping me with pricing, valuation and most of Support for my situation. I definitely felt like I made New Friends ! They are Super! Couldn't be happier and would recommend them 150% !

Laurie Zook is a "take-charge" person who gets things done, and was of enormous help to me in my downsizing. All areas of the house that were not off limits to the sale were completely cleared and clean when I returned. Steve Waterman, her business partner and Director of Business Development, was also a big help to me in a number of areas including managing the move of non-sale items to a storage unit for another family member.

Laurie is personable, professional and efficient. This was a downsizing move from the home that I shared for 22 years with my late husband, so it was logistically and emotionally difficult. Laurie spent two days before my move helping me to tackle the hardest areas of the house and to sort and pack up books, records, photographs etc. Throughout the period leading up to the move, she answered questions and provided advice. Most important, once I moved out, she took control, organizing and conducting a sale, donating clothing and other unsold items to appropriate charities, clearing out all trash and leaving the house ready for closing - all in a very compressed period of time. She was completely reliable - showing up when she said she would , and accomplishing what she promised in the required timeframe. Quite simply, I could not have managed this move without Laurie's help. Laurie's business is demanding and requires super efficiency. So it is my impression that she would not have a lot of time for warm and fuzzy hand-holding, if that is what you want. But she provides excellent service, efficiently and professionally. I would definitely recommend her to a friend.

She thought of every possible way to encourage traffic at the sale from paying for meter parking spaces for the weekend to previewing pictures of items on line and in social media outlets. Great ability to promote special items with prospective buyers in mind. Arranges the final clearing of any remaining items for charity donations. Terrific service and attention to detail, would recommend her services to anyone needing to handle someone's estate sale.

Ms. Zook steered me in the direction of an auction house, which she felt better suited my needs. She was professional, knowledgeable and very helpful.

WOW is all I can say... but let me provide more. Absolutely fantastic. I had been dreading this but the care and concern for me by Laurie and her team were fantastic. My wife had just passed and it was an emotional period for me. Laurie was like a family member in her concern for not only doing the sale in my best interests, but also for my emotions during this challenging period.

It went great...she ran the sale over 2 weekends due to volume and interest. One was a Thursday-Monday sale and the second weekend was a Friday-Sunday sale. I received a check from Laurie within a week along with copies of each sales receipt. She took control of a highly emotional task enabling me to focus on moving to Florida to be near my grand kids.