Not every estate sale is created equal. Some homes can be prepared in a matter of days. Others require weeks of planning, organization, research, and careful execution before the doors ever open. The difference isn't usually the size of the house. It's the size of the project. Longtime family homes, inherited properties, collector's estates, workshops, barns, garages, and homes where "nothing was ever thrown away" require an entirely different approach than a typical household. These projects...

It’s never easy to handle the estate of a loved one. That goes without saying. But of all the families we’ve worked with in New Braunfels and surrounding areas, there’s one demographic that seems to be carrying an especially heavy load right now: Gen X. Most Gen Xers are currently between the ages of 46 and 61 and are part of what’s often called the “sandwich generation” — simultaneously caring for aging parents while still supporting children of their own, whether financially, emotionally,...

When families inherit a home, one of the most commonly overlooked items are found in dressers, old shoe boxes, and jewelry boxes. The costume jewelry. The tangled necklaces. The clip-on earrings. The rhinestone brooches. The chunky plastic bangles. The pieces that look outdated. We hear it all the time: “Nobody wants this stuff anymore, right?” You’d be surprised…Vintage costume jewelry is one of the most shopped categories at our estate sales — and some pieces can be surprisingly valuable....