How to shop and get the best bargains at L.A. estate sales
As Amy Solomon made her strategy to the royal blue entrance of a Hollywood dwelling on a sunny Friday afternoon, a bevy of enthusiastic buyers scurried previous, clutching gadgets starting from flourishing fiddle leaf fig bushes and snake vegetation to ’80s-style clothes and vintage china. These have been the products they’d scored at an property sale for late actress Audrey Marlyn Singer, who co-founded the nonprofit group Actors Discussion board Theatre.
Solomon, 31, had simply missed the push of patrons who’d come early to get their fingers on genuine Mart Stam eating room chairs — which usually price upwards of $800 every however offered for roughly $250 as a consequence of put on and tear — and classic pendant trumpet lights. However Solomon wasn’t apprehensive about lacking out. She needed to seek for tchotchkes and different quirky gadgets for her dwelling in peace.
Objects bought at an property sale are positioned on a shelf, additionally bought at an property sale, inside the house of Amy Solomon and her boyfriend Greg Kestenbaum. Solomon runs a preferred TikTok channel known as Property Sale Freaks.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
Amy Solomon seems at outdated magazines obtainable for buy at an property sale on Alcyona Dr. in Los Angeles.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
“It’s such an environmentally pleasant strategy to store, which is essential to me,” says Solomon, a TV producer who runs a preferred TikTok account known as Property Sale Freaks. In 2022, she went to greater than 100 property gross sales. “The curiosity of what you may discover burns within me,” she says. Among the many seven gadgets she purchased for a complete of $20 at Singer’s sale have been a Mickey and Minnie Mouse mug with Hebrew textual content for her sister, a e book about wind chimes for her artsy good friend and a fanny pack with “Hollywood” inscribed in shiny pink letters for herself.
In a metropolis the place top-charting musicians, famend cooks, illustrious style designers and Hollywood stars dwell and finally die, L.A. property gross sales supply an perception into the lives of the wealthy and well-known you wouldn’t in any other case get, however on a secondhand shopper’s funds. It’s the rationale lots of of individuals lined up exterior the Studio Metropolis dwelling of beloved “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek after his dying final 12 months for the chance to purchase — or set their eyes on — his director’s chair, awards and memorabilia equivalent to a Spalding basketball signed by Lakers icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Each week, there are not less than just a few property gross sales, additionally generally known as “tag gross sales,” taking place in L.A. It’s not simply celeb treasures which can be up for grabs but additionally the beloved belongings of on a regular basis individuals, in addition to gadgets from TV exhibits and movies which have stopped manufacturing and defunct companies like ladies’s co-working house the Wing, which in March attracted lots of of buyers searching for one thing cool for a discount value.
“I used to be at a sale the place the particular person was a magician, and he had a stage with all of the props, and it was unreal,” says Mahan Safaei, proprietor of Golden Age Property Gross sales, which hosted Singer’s current property sale. “After which two homes down, you’ve a Victorian home that’s stuffed with antiques from 200 years in the past. So there’s simply quite a lot of stuff. You by no means know what a home might need within it.”
The most typical causes individuals have property gross sales are generally known as the three D’s: dying, divorce and downsizing. So, in contrast to buying at a yard sale or thrift retailer, the place you may decide up an merchandise somebody has determined they now not need (and would really like a bit money for), an property sale presents the prospect to buy a curated assortment the proprietor, for no matter purpose, can now not maintain onto.
Espresso mugs bought from property gross sales are located on a shelf contained in the kitchen of Amy Solomon’s dwelling in Glendale.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
Carly Frondell and her boyfriend Alec Thompson take a look at gloves whereas buying at an property sale on Alcyona Dr. in Los Angeles.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
“I take a look at [estate sales] as somebody passing on their gadgets so different individuals can take pleasure in them and get good use out of them,” says 30-year-old Sprint Anderson, who’s been going to property gross sales since she was a toddler. “I really feel honored to the touch one thing that another person has touched and it’s not simply being thrown out. I’m additionally discovering use and which means out of these things, and I can hopefully cross them on to another person” sometime.
Because the pandemic, there’s been an uptick in Gen Z buyers going to gross sales to search out distinctive items, particularly classic clothes and niknaks, because of influencers like Solomon and “thrift queen” Macy Eleni of Beverly Hills, who runs the Blazed and Glazed accounts chronicling her property sale finds on TikTok and YouTube.
“A lot of my viewers are youthful individuals and Gen Zers who’re so into sustainable style and wish to study alternative ways to buy,” says Eleni. “It appears like a complete totally different world from after I went to my first property sale in 2020, and I used to be in keeping with 10 different individuals who have been of their 50s and 60s. Now, there’s like huge strains of each demographic.”
Determining easy methods to sort out the enchanting world of L.A. property gross sales can really feel daunting, however one of the best ways to study is from the specialists. (I used to be new to this world too, having simply attended my first sale in November.) I spoke to social media influencers, property sale liquidators — primarily, the individuals who host the gross sales — and people I met whereas buying to get ideas for locating the most effective ones, dodging prolonged strains and securing an merchandise you desperately need.
Procuring sustainably, saving cash and exploring a probably well-known stranger’s dwelling for one-of-a-kind items is a enjoyable weekend exercise in and of itself. And it’s even higher whenever you go dwelling with a tremendous merchandise you’ve discovered.
Hannah Masresha seems at gadgets on the market at an property sale on Alcyona Dr. in Los Angeles.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
Begin by studying the itemizing
Ask any property sale aficionado how they discover property gross sales, and so they’ll probably direct you to estatesales.internet — the trade’s premier website — which chronicles gross sales nationwide and allows you to set filters by ZIP Code. The listings are usually submitted by property sale liquidators or personal people, in line with a consultant from the location. Notice that not all property gross sales happen at individuals’s homes; some are held on-line or at companies which can be shutting down, for instance.
When you’ve discovered a sale — or just a few — you’d like to go to, fastidiously learn by way of the complete itemizing. That is the place you’ll discover precious data equivalent to what time the sale begins and ends, whether or not there’s going to be a sign-up sheet or it’s by appointment solely, how early you can begin lining up on the property and what cost varieties are accepted. Many property sale liquidators settle for funds through bank card or digital apps like Venmo or Zelle, however some gross sales are money solely. Professional tip: Authorized tender reigns supreme at property gross sales and may enhance your odds with haggling. Additionally, the total deal with for the place an property sale can be held usually isn’t unveiled till the morning it launches.
The listings generally function pictures of the gadgets that can be obtainable for buy however don’t all the time present all the pieces. For that reason, it’s smart to learn the textual content description as nicely, which can embrace extra particulars on issues you should buy, says Solomon of Property Sale Freaks. A number of the greatest stuff may not even be talked about in an inventory.
The images “can provide you a way of the type of stuff there may be, however then whenever you go, it’s like, ‘Oh, they didn’t even seize wherever close to the quantity of stuff that’s right here,’” says Solomon. “So there’s all the time this query mark of what’s there, and if I don’t go, I’ll by no means know.”
Max Bennett Kelly, 26, of Hollywood, masses the again seat of his automotive with gadgets he bought for pals at an property sale on Alcyona Drive in Los Angeles.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
Don’t decide a home by its exterior
Simply because an property sale isn’t being held at a luxurious dwelling in Beverly Hills or Bel-Air, that doesn’t imply that you just gained’t discover any gems. Dan Jordan, proprietor of Once more L.A. Property Gross sales, mentions an property sale years in the past run by a household in South Central.
“The mother had been a housekeeper in Beverly Hills,” he says, and “she had probably the most wonderful stuff — actually outdated crystal, high quality china, antiques and belongings you would’ve by no means pictured.”
In the event you’re attempting to keep away from lengthy strains, Solomon recommends going to property gross sales which can be off the overwhelmed path and even on the outskirts of L.A. County.
“At Silver Lake or Los Feliz property gross sales, persons are going to see the indicators within the neighborhood and can simply stroll up,” says Solomon, who waited in line for 2 hours to get right into a Silver Lake sale as soon as. “However if you happen to go to Sherman Oaks or Northridge or Covina, these locations are in all probability going to be fairly rattling chill.” In the event you’re visiting a neighborhood for the primary time due to an property sale, Solomon recommends making a day of it and discovering a espresso or lunch spot to go to afterward.
A picket determine obtainable for buy at an property sale, left, and Amy Solomon in her dwelling in Glendale proper subsequent to cabinets and tchotchkes that have been bought at property gross sales.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
Reductions come to those that wait — however not too lengthy
In the event you’ve noticed one thing you actually need in an inventory, it’s a must to be strategic about it.
On the primary day of a sale, hosts usually aren’t versatile with pricing. If there’s an merchandise you simply can’t think about your life with out, you can purchase it proper then and there, in line with the specialists.
By the second day, there’s usually a value reduce — generally 25% off or extra — on the remaining gadgets. The low cost continues to say no — generally to as little as 75% off — all through the remainder of the sale, which might final a number of days.
You’ve bought to weigh how a lot you need issues and whether or not you’re keen to attend till the final day to get stuff actually low cost — but additionally threat dropping it, says Solomon. “And if you happen to’re an absolute property sale freak, you possibly can return” and purchase the merchandise that you just have been on the fence about at a cheaper price if it’s nonetheless there.
Derek Fu, left, and his brother James Qi, from Walnut, put together to position a hardwood oriental fashion cupboard that they bought at an property sale on Alcyona Drive in Los Angeles, into the again of their SUV.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
Don’t be afraid to ask for assist
After I attended my first property sale in November at a Beverly Hills dwelling, a surprising classic Teac A-7010 tape recorder caught my consideration. As I brushed my hand alongside one in every of its wheels in awe — I wasn’t conversant in the machine beforehand — I felt like I used to be breaking some form of trespassing legislation. Not solely had I been given free rein to roam by way of a stranger’s dwelling — minus just a few blocked-off sections — I might additionally forage by way of their prized possessions. I ultimately felt extra relaxed as soon as I noticed different individuals slinging open kitchen cupboards, peeking beneath mattress frames and rummaging by way of closets with none interference.
Solomon urges first-timers to be assured after they go to an property sale whereas additionally being well mannered. In any case, you’re a visitor in somebody’s dwelling. “It’s very egalitarian,” she says. “There’s all kinds of individuals going by way of there, so that you gained’t look bizarre. There’s no manner you possibly can look bizarre.”
Amy Solomon, left, leaves an property sale together with her purchases, a pair of cocktail glasses, a fanny pack, a espresso mug, a e book on wind chimes, and a golf-themed bottle of after shave. Solomon’s “I Dream of Jeanie” toy, proper, was bought from an property sale.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
When Solomon discovered a 1969 Uten Silo — an aesthetically pleasing desk organizer value upwards of $500 — promoting for $8 at an property sale, she boldly requested the host if she might borrow a screwdriver to take away it from the wall. “They’re prepared that can assist you,” Solomon says. So long as the property sale host isn’t busy with different clients, “ask them no matter you need,” provides Safaei of Golden Property Gross sales.
Some property gross sales even have a maintain desk the place you possibly can reserve gadgets briefly — that manner you don’t have to hold them round as you’re buying. There’s often a staffer keeping track of the desk so that you don’t have to fret about somebody swiping your reserved merchandise. And if you happen to purchase a heavy merchandise like a sofa or mattress, some hosts will allow you to preserve it on website for some time, so you’ve time to borrow your good friend’s truck or lease a U-Haul.
A girl seems at a hat on the market whereas buying at an property sale on Alcyona Drive in Los Angeles.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
Haggle, however don’t be a jerk about it
A key distinction between property gross sales and different secondhand buying experiences, like yard gross sales, is that the vendor is aware of how a lot the gadgets are value. It’s their job to do the analysis and set the worth of the gadgets they’re promoting. Plus, they’re on this to make cash for his or her consumer too.
So sure, you possibly can completely discount with the vendor. “However don’t haggle like an a––gap,” says Monica Tyson, 29, who owns Classic Finds Property Gross sales, an L.A.-based property liquidation firm. “If somebody says $100, don’t say $20.”
“That’s why, if you need the most effective deal, go the final day as a result of they’re simply attempting to do away with all the pieces,” Eleni of Blazed and Glazed advises. “Then you definately’re going to have the ability to get a sofa for tremendous low cost, as a result of nobody else can transfer it, and so they simply wish to get it out of the home.”
Additionally, being respectful to the property sale host can get you a great distance: Eleni, who’s set to launch a e book about secondhand buying in spring 2024, notes the quantity of people that have given her reductions “or gadgets actually without spending a dime with my batch of issues, as a result of I’m simply being type and pleasant to them. So be good, go in with a very good angle and have an open thoughts for what an merchandise can turn out to be, not simply what it’s.”
Transferring ahead, I’ll now not contemplate shops like Ikea, Dwelling Areas or CB2 because the important retailers for bringing my Pinterest board to life. As a substitute, I’ll begin my hunts at native property gross sales for uncommon gadgets that may make my house stand out from these on my Instagram feed — or not less than spark a enjoyable dialog when my pals come over.
Decorations bought from property gross sales are displayed on the eating room desk of Amy Solomon and her boyfriend Greg Kestenbaum at their dwelling in Glendale.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
Amy Solomon and her boyfriend Greg Kestenbaum sit for a portrait subsequent to paintings inside their bed room, all bought from property gross sales.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Instances)
