Extremely pleased. Here's the short version why, followed by a long one…read more..
SHORT VERSION ----
Our situation: a cluttered 3-bedroom home in a different state that needed to be handled. Ideally, of course, we sell and donate what we can-but even just the clearing out aspect was looking like a nightmare logistically, financially... not to mention time... not to mention STRESS.
True to their name and promise, Stress Free Estate Services truly handled it all. Quick, communicative, under budget & ahead of schedule.
In fact, I feel so strongly about my recommendation, I feel compelled to write a long version for the benefit of anyone who is in the same place I was before we chose to go with Dennis...
LONG VERSION ----
When I found/called Dennis, I was surrounded by notebook pages and spreadsheets full of quotes and timelines, becoming increasingly overwhelmed trying to do everything myself. (Everything from dumpster people, to donation people, to cleaning people, to scores of potential buyers, AKA randos, on several buy/sell apps). It was a classic, "There's got to be a better way!" Quick search online, and I found Dennis. I feared a company called "Stress Free Estate Services," with a website claiming to provide EVERY service I was trying to handle on my own, might be too good to be true.
There's a level of trust inherent in this kind of arrangement, trust that was earned after the fact by outstanding work. The better I can describe our positive experience, the more I can hopefully shorten what can feel like a leap of faith-especially in a situation like ours, where we were out of state, a bit overwhelmed, and, honestly, a bit reeling, trying to do it all on our own. It's a vulnerable place to be.
The service was as good as advertised. My only regret is that I didn't find Dennis earlier. I could have saved weeks of work and worry-as it is, he saved me months of the same.
I was far enough along in the process to be able to compare Stress Free Estate Services with quotes I received from all the different parties which would have been required to do it on my own. Even if Dennis had not sold anything, his up-front cost was still less than it would have cost to clear out the house on my own. But he did sell-quite a bit. Enough that a check is in the mail. We are RECEIVING more money than it would have COST to do it on our own. Amazing value-even before you account for TIME/ENERGY saved and STRESS avoided.
The only thing Dennis can't compete with is some idealized version of what doing it myself could have looked like. (I was far along enough in the process to know.) Even if I could have made it my full time job to try to get top dollar for every item in a cluttered house, the reality of my earnings would have failed to meet what I instinctually felt things were worth. The endowment effect is reel... And buyers will not pay to cover the sentimental value I'd helplessly fold into my pricing.
The only way to counteract this? Have someone else do it. Someone who knows how. Make it back in time saved. Stress saved. Ultimately, even in the money earned-because I do not know how to do this on my own (not well, anyway).
And I couldn't have made it my full time job. I wasn't even in the same state. We needed the house cleared-whatever could be donated, donated, and whatever could be sold, sold.
Dennis solved all these problems, on budget and ahead of schedule. Now we can sell the house. Stress-free, indeed!
Very grateful!
