Written by Lisa Taylor, Founder of Rainier Estates
Over nearly 40 years of working with families through estate transitions and downsizing, I’ve seen one costly mistake happen time and time again: families rushing to move household contents into storage simply to get a home on the market faster.
Here’s a scenario I encounter frequently.
A family member passes away, or a parent decides it’s time to downsize. The family contacts a real estate agent, who suggests keeping a few pieces of furniture for staging and moving everything else into a storage unit so the house can be listed quickly.
It sounds like a reasonable plan. But is it?
The Storage Unit Money Drain
Before long, the family is paying movers to transport old sofas, beds, dining sets, boxes of household goods, and decades of accumulated possessions into storage.
Then come the monthly storage fees.
Three months turn into six. Six months turn into a year. And eventually, someone still has to decide what to do with everything.
Meanwhile, the family has paid to move, store, and ultimately move or dispose of items that may have had very little resale value to begin with.
In many cases, the cost of storing these belongings exceeds what they’re actually worth.
And here’s something else families often overlook: valuable items may have been packed away alongside everyday household goods without ever being properly evaluated.
There’s a Better Way
At Rainier Estates, we approach the process differently.
Before anything gets packed into a storage unit, we evaluate the contents of the home. We identify items with resale value, determine what can be sold through estate sales, auctions, consignments, or other markets, and coordinate donations and the final clear-out.
The goal is simple: Handle the personal property once, thoughtfully and efficiently, rather than paying to move it multiple times.
Depending on our calendar and the scope of the estate, this process may add three to four weeks before the home is ready for market.
But consider the alternative: months of storage payments, multiple moving expenses, and the inevitable task of dealing with everything later.
Those few extra weeks can save families considerable money, stress, and unnecessary work.
What About Staging the Home?
Another common suggestion is to use the existing furniture to stage the property.
While there are exceptions, older furniture and decades of accumulated household furnishings rarely present a home in its best light.
Today’s buyers respond to clean, bright, thoughtfully presented spaces. Sometimes professional staging makes sense. Other times, an empty home with beautiful photography and virtual staging is the better choice.
The decision should be based on what best showcases the property—not simply on which furniture happens to be available.
Think Before You Store
Of course, storage units have their place. If family members genuinely want to keep certain belongings but aren’t ready to receive them, temporary storage can be a practical solution.
But renting storage simply to empty a house quickly, without first evaluating what’s inside, can become an expensive mistake.
My advice? Before you rent that storage unit, take the time to understand what you have, what it’s worth, and what really needs to be kept.
A few weeks of thoughtful planning can save months—or even years—of unnecessary expense.
And when you’re managing an estate or helping a loved one downsize, that’s one less burden to carry.
About the Author
Lisa Taylor is the founder of Rainier Estates, established in 1986, and a top producing real estate broker with Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty. Specializing in estate transitions, downsizing, personal property liquidation, and residential real estate, Lisa provides a comprehensive Real Estate Concierge Service to families throughout Seattle, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, Redmond, and the Greater Eastside.
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