Don't forget your pets when planning your estate!

Certificates of Authenticity can be bogus. Ask for a provenance instead.

People tell me this all the time. Doing estate sales must be so much fun. Look at the interesting things you find! Okay, I do love my...

Anyone who is my friend me or follows my Instagram knows that I love animals as I post a lot about them. We have five pets (too many...

Not that classic sung by The Kingsmen, the furniture! Louis XIV, XV, XVI, there are lots Louis’s, and how do you know what you’ve got or...

As an appraiser, I can only appraise what the client says is there. I do not have x-ray vision and cannot see the Faberge egg hidden in...

You just discovered the wonderful world of estate sales! Congratulations, you have a lifetime of bargain and treasure hunting to look...

Estate sales are odd birds. While it’s not Neiman Marcus, it is still a shopping experience and at Sophia’s Estate Sales, we strive to...

I sincerely meant to write this up sooner, but TSA at LaGuardia “lost” my laptop (long story), so I have been sans laptop for a few days,...

Oh, such a beautiful day in Chicago! I went to Navy Pier to go see Expo Chicago 2023. It was sunny and warm and lots of art, all in all,...

You all walk into an estate sale and think that you magically turn into wily traders, but most of you do not have a clue. We want to work...

Okay, I get clients and friends asking me for estate sale company recommendations in other parts of the country. Florida, Virginia,...

Women may be 50% of the population, but their collective voice may be 25% of the conversation, at best. Although the expectations that...

At Sophia’s Estate Sales, the answer is yes! I do pre-sales. I am very happy to offer pre-sales. Not all companies allow this, but I do....

Dear Realtors: I understand how your job works (years ago, I was a Realtor) and what the home selling process is, now here is some...

LAKE FOREST, IL 2022 THE NEED: This client was downsizing was an enormous home in West Lake Forest to a town house. I had originally been...

You are retiring, downsizing, moving, an executor of an estate. There are lots of circumstances that merit an estate sale, but where do...

Not only are antiques green, but so are estate sales! Today, many charities will not accept many of your donations: they will not take...

So you want to have an estate sale? Here are answers to some of the most common questions we hear at Sophia's Estate Sales. So, you are...

The Federal government and the IRS have changed the rules for appraisals: starting in 2022, appraisals must contain a USPAP*...